Peggy Carter returns to comics just in time for Steve Rogers to quit

Sometimes it seems like the only thing Steve Rogers likes more than being Captain America is quitting being Captain America. Case in point: He quit being Captain America in the pages of last week’s Captain America #12.

The mighty shield was already tarnished by a fascist Captain America pretender, and in the last 11 issues of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Adam Kubert’s Captain America series, Steve himself has been framed for murder, thrown in prison, and made to seem like he was cooperating with a jailbreak. So in Captain America #12, he hangs up the shield for good.

And he then immediately picks up his old energy shield to take up the uniform of Captain Rogers, Super Soldier, the identity he worked under for a bit while Bucky was Captain America. You can’t keep a good man down.

What else is happening in the pages of our favorite comics? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. There may not be enough context. Let’s start get started!

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Captain America #12

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Adam Kubert/Marvel Comics

The return of Captain Rogers, Super Soldier wasn’t the only reveal Captain America #12 had up its sleeve. In Marvel Comics canon, much like Marvel movie canon, Peggy eventually retired from SHIELD, succumbed to dementia in her old age, and passed away. How did she come to be alive, de-aged, and working with the Daughters of Liberty as the mysterious operative known only as Dryad?

Find out next time, in Captain America, presumably.

Manor Black #1

Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurt, Tyler Crook/Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse’s Manor Black is a gothic horror series about the aging patriarch of a mage dynasty choosing an unexpected heir to his power, and the first issue starts off strong.

Batman: Last Knight on Earth #2

Much like Diana does with her opponent here, Greg Capullo is absolutely slaying me with his work in Last Knight on Earth.

Powers of X #1

Holy shit, guys, Hickman is doing his own Days of Future Past.

Batman Secret Files #2

Andy Kubert, Amancay Nahuelpan/DC Comics

This last week was the fifth Wednesday of the month — traditionally a light day for comics releases when you might see a lot of one-shots hit stands. Like this one-shot of three short stories, including this one where Batman’s cape makes him a cosy lil burrito when threatened.

Death’s Head #1

Tini Howard, Kei Zama/Marvel Comics

Look. I don’t know anything about Death’s Head. But from Death’s Head #1, I have gathered that he is a robot alien bounty hunter. In this comic, his employer tells him he’s obsolete, and tosses him in an Earth dumpster. Then a metal band makes him into their amp for a while, and then he comes back to life just in time to menace the peaceful lives of everybody’s favorite boyfriends, Hulkling and Wiccan.

What I’m saying is, I love Death’s Head now. It’s a four-issue miniseries and I’m gonna read every one.

Fantastic Four #12

Fantastic Four #12, in which the Thing goes on his honeymoon, only to have to fight the Hulk, who is being mind controlled by his estranged supervillain father-in-law, is superhero soap opera at its finest.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #9

Tom Taylor, Ken Lashley, Juann Cabal/Marvel Comics

While Cap’s quitting in the modern day, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, which you should not sleep on if you like Spidey slice of life stories, is showing how he reacted to America’s Japanese detention camps.

Runaways #23

Rainbow Rowell, Andrés Genolet/Marvel Comics

Only among the Runaways would being a secret vigilante be secret because you didn’t want to pressure your super-powered friends into being superheroes. Also Runaways might be the best it’s ever been, currently, so if you’re a fan you should pick it up.