J. Michael Straczynski returns to Marvel this fall to write ‘Captain America’

Jesús Saiz joins the writer for a story set in Steve Rogers’ past and present.

After more than a decade writing for other publishers, J. Michael Straczynski will return to Marvel to write Captain America in September.

Artist Jesús Saiz will join Straczynski on the title, which will feature Steve Rogers. In an interview with io9, Straczynski said he’ll focus both on current-day Steve Rogers as well as a younger, pre-World War II Cap prior to gaining his super powers.

“One thing about Steve Rogers that’s never really been addressed is the period between when his parents died, and when he became Captain America,” Straczynski said. “We’re talking about a sickly, skinny 17 year old kid, trying to survive on his own for because he’s stubborn and independent, on the street for several years, hustling for any gig he can get, even if it’s bigger than he is, trying to afford food and a place to stay. So we will counterpoint a present-tense story in which Captain America faces off against a new villain of supernatural origin, with a story about his younger self, with both stories tightly interwoven.”

Here’s the description from Marvel.com:

Decades ago, Steve Rogers changed the world forever. Now powerful and insidious forces are assembling to ensure he never does it again. Past, present and future collide as the man out of time reckons with an existential threat determined to set the world on a darker path at any cost…

We already knew that Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Carmen Carnero’s time on the character was drawing to a close, as Marvel announced Captain America Finale last month in the wake of Cold War. There’s been no word on the fate of Captain America: Symbol of Truth, which stars Sam Wilson as Captain America, although the character is currently appearing in Avengers.

Straczynski, meanwhile, has written a few small pieces for Marvel in recent years, including a Thor anniversary issue and Marvel Age 1000, but his focus has been on other publishers since he left Marvel in 2009 after long runs on Amazing Spider-Man and Thor. Since then, he’s written several Earth One graphic novels for DC, briefly revived his Joe’s Comics imprint at Image and worked on titles like The Resistance for AWA Studios, where he has also served on their creative council.

Captain America #1 arrives in stores Sept. 20.

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