5 Weirdest Captain America Stories Ever (and #1 Is Just Bizarre)

As superheroes go, Captain America is one of the most venerable, and not just for Marvel fans. The patriotic-themed Super Soldier is widely known and loved by comics fans of all kinds for being wholesome and honorable in his heroic efforts. He’s not perfect — no one is — but he’s a great example of one of the “good guys” who is actually a good guy. Still, while most of Captain America’s adventures are about doing the right thing as a hero, that doesn’t mean that all of his stories are, well, normal. There have been some wild Captain America stories over the years, over the top adventures that have seen the hero in some very unexpected situations and fighting some downright weird battles.

Here are five of the weirdest Captain America stories that have ever graced the pages of Marvel Comics. Some of them are weird just because they’re a little odd or unexpected, but some are honestly pretty out there — but if we’re being honest it’s the weirdness of these stories that actually make them much more fun.

5) “Man and Wolf” (Captain America #402-408)

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Captain America was a werewolf, then this is the wild story that answers it for you. In the 1992 story from writer Mark Gruenwald, Captain America teams up with Doctor druid to investigate the disappearance of the former superhero Man-Wolf. Captain America then ends up captured by the villain Nightshade and as a result, transformed into a werewolf and, more than that, finds that he’s been captured along with other superheroes that have werewolf-like powers, including Man-Wolf, Wolfsbane, and Werewolf By Night.

It’s a strange premise, but a very cool story. Cap teams up with the werewolf-themed heroes and they defeat Nightshade and then destroy the magical stone that gives Dredmund the Druid his powers (because he’s been controlling werewolves that have overrun a small Massachusetts town. Cap is ultimately cured of being a werewolf, but not until after he has to defeat a doppelganger of himself.

4) “Trapped in the Nazi Strong-Hold” (Captain America Comics #2)

For this one, we have to go back to the early days of Captain America stories. Many early Captain America comics dealt with themes and issues around World War 2 and this one is no different. In the story, a “timid financier” who is set to offer major financial aid to Britain’s war effort against the Nazis is kidnapped by said fascists — right out from under Captain America and Bucky’s noses. So, Captain America comes up with a plan that they will go to Europe on a rescue mission and to avoid being detected, Cap is going to dress in drag as a grandmother and Bucky will be dressed as “her” grandson (this was when Bucky was Cap’s child sidekick.)

It is actually pretty bananas. Cap even knits like a grandma on the flight over to Europe and keeps up the disguise for a bit once they arrive. The story also features a poem written by the Nazis as a clue to the kidnapped financier’s location and Bucky and Cap hiding in the barrel of a cannon, popping out like cartoon characters to thwart the bad guys. It’s wild, Cap isn’t necessarily convincing in drag, but the duo does end up being pretty effective so there’s at least that,

3) “Fighting Chance” (Captain America #425-437)

“Fighting Chance” is less weird in terms of the concept and more weird in terms of its execution — and by that I mean that they use a fairly plausible idea as a way to shoehorn Cap into a weird 1990s armored costume with weird shoulder pad looking things and random gadgets, too. In the story, Captain America starts having some weird symptoms that are determined to be the result of the Super Soldier serum breaking down. He’s losing his powers and he ends up paralyzed. Fortunately, Tony Stark has a solution of sorts thanks to an exoskeleton armor.

The armor is where we get Cap in the weird costume that seemed to be required of all heroes in the 1990s, but Cap’s was pretty insane. It let him fly, gave him missiles he could use, and it even had vertigo-causing beams. Cap carried out various missions and such whilst wearing this wild costume and there was also a plot about a cure for his affliction trying to be developed. The storyline ended with Cap disappearing — seriously, they find his empty armor but no Cap — and the story itself isn’t bad. It’s just the armor that is weird.

2) “Streets of Poison” (Captain America #372-378)

It might not be a huge surprise to find that this list contains another Mark Gruenwald story, but don’t worry. This one doesn’t see Cap become a werewolf. This time, he just does drugs. In “Streets of Poison”, there’s a new designer drug, “Ice”, ravaging New York. As he’s investigating the drug, however, Cap ends up exposed to it. The drug has a strange interaction with Cap’s Super Soldier serum and it leads to serious side effects for the hero, including inducing serious rage.

There’s a lot going on in this story. You have Kingpin and Red Skull battling over the control and distribution of Ice. You have Daredevil and Black Widow showing up, along with Crossbones and Bullseye, too. But you primarily have a drug addicted and afflicted Cap trying to deal with his predicament. It’s a good story, but it’s also just really weird and, at times, had a little bit of an “after school special” vibes that feels like a reminder to just not do drugs.

1) “Don’t Tread on Me” (Captain America #344)

If you had “Captain America fights a snake person Ronald Reagan” as the weirdest Captain America story ever, then you and I are on the same page. Captain America #344 from 1988 is one of the time when Cap wasn’t on the best terms with the U.S. government, which means he technically wasn’t Cap at the time as he’d been stripped of his title and his uniform and his shield. However, that didn’t stop Steve from being a hero so when he hears of a wild conspiracy involving a plot to turn Washington D.C. into snake people via contamination of the water supply, he has to act.

Steve goes to the White House to try to help the President and First Lady but isn’t able to save Reagan. He’s already a snake person. However, Steve forces him to sweat it out, saving the President and the day. But don’t think that means Steve is back in the government’s good graces. The story is wild.

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