Partners In Crime(fighting)

From the double-sized Captain America #350, where Steve Rogers put aside his identity as "The Captain" and reclaimed his Captain America uniform and title from John Walker, here's an interesting look at a few bonus pin-ups that bring us up to speed on the characters we've seen in play up to that point.

First, a collection of men who, like Walker, stood in for the good Captain:

It seems clear that artist Tom Morgan wants to avoid a lineup of six men all dressed as Captain America--but depicting the 1950s Cap in his brainwashed Nazi zealot guise as the Grand Director perhaps kept this pin-up from a few walls.

Next, we learn that Steve really needs to get out more, if we're going by this pin-up that scrapes together the women he's been involved with--a collection which includes a woman who simply had Cap over as a dinner guest, as well as, of all people, the Viper:

(Jeez, Cap, talk about sleeping with the enemy!)

Finally, artist John Buscema brings together all of Cap's former partners:

Despite the implication of the word "partner" as someone who comes aboard long-term and battles with you regularly, it's funny how Cap has gone through a number of partners and nevertheless spent the bulk of his appearances in comics flying solo. Perhaps only the Avengers can be considered Cap's partners, at least in a semi-regular sense, with the special ops assignments of WWII that had Bucky attached to him no longer a factor in Steve Rogers' life. (Though perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D. would beg to differ!)