If the MCU did anything for Captain America, it helped solidify his place as the leader of the Avengers. However, Cap was always known as a team player and rarely missed a chance to join some of Marvel’s best teams in the comics.
Whether in temporary alliances such as the Secret Defenders or longer-term partnerships such as operating with SHIELD, Captain America always works well with others. Although he joined tons of teams over the years, only his best partnerships left an impression on the reader and were truly memorable teams.
stars and stripes
Less of a cohesive team and more of a superhero helpline, Stars and Stripes was formed by Captain America with the goal of helping more civilians. Cape Town used his back pay from the US government to fund a hotline for people in need to get help from a team of heroes.
Stars and Stripes was the team that usually answered these calls and consisted of civilian characters and superheroes. Although the arrangement did not last long, it perfectly reflected Cap’s idealism and proved that he truly had the public interest in mind when spending his own money on the project.
Team Venom
As if Venom wasn’t menacing enough, the Maximum carnage The storyline introduced an even more powerful symbiote to threaten the Marvel Universe. Team Venom was formed by an alliance between Spider-Man and his old nemesis Venom, as they band together to stop serial killer Carnage from claiming more victims.
The team ran the full gamut of Spider-Man characters and put up a valiant fight against Carnage. Unfortunately, the team was seemingly beaten until Captain America’s late arrival put them on top and helped save the day. Although Cap is barely a member of the team, it was still a treat for readers to see him working alongside the crawler.
SHIELD
Although SHIELD is more of an agency than a team, Captain America has always been an integral part of the organization, even serving as its executive director. Although the acronym has changed several times over the years, the core of the organization is counterterrorism, espionage, and surveillance of superhuman activity.
Along with fellow Avenger Iron Man, Cap’s involvement with the group ranges from minor to major, and they usually play a big part in some of the best Captain America comic book stories. The scale of SHIELD has made for great storytelling, and they remain one of Marvel Comic’s most enduring organizations.
HYDRA
Not every team Captain America has been on has been a force for good, and he even briefly joined one of Marvel’s most evil groups. HYDRA quickly gained a reputation in Marvel Comics as a despicable organization, and the shocking twist of the secret empire storyline was that Steve Rogers had actually been a secret agent.
Proving just how ruthless an evil Cap could be, Agent HYDRA’s version nearly wiped The Avengers off the map before being stopped by his good alter-ego. Like SHIELD, HYDRA is a collective of agents, not a traditional team. Despite this, by adding Cap to their ranks, they have turned into a deadly force to be reckoned with.
cosmic champions
the original Secret Marvel Superhero Wars The storyline was an ambitious attempt to unite most of the Marvel Comic Universe into one massive team. The Cosmic Champions loosely formed when the Beyonder kidnapped most of the Marvel Universe in order to study them.
The team was so massive that it included heroes and villains, and even saw itself split into different groups based on moral grounds as the arc progressed. Although Cape Town has been in tighter groups over the years, readers have seen the possibilities for crossover events in Marvel Comics, and Marvel has never looked back since the first Secret Wars.
Captain America Corps
The Captain America Corps proved that the only thing better than one Captain America was two, and the team was filled with patriotic heroes. Assembled by a mysterious interdimensional being, the Cap Corps featured caps from two different universes rolled into one.
Traveling to an alternate timeline where they are considered traitors to their nation, the Corps teamed up to fix everything that had distorted the events of history so badly. The team only came together for a brief storyline, but they showed off the power of Captain America’s character and illustrated why he’s usually in charge of whatever team he joins.
Love at first sight
While Captain America isn’t usually the first name that comes to mind when mentioning the most powerful members of the Thunderbolts, he nonetheless had a brief stint with the group. Originally formed as a task force for the evil Baron Zemo, Thunderbolts eventually got good and have been around as an anti-hero team ever since.
Cap briefly acted as a mentor for the group, although his methods were not particularly popular with many of its members. While most teams are perfectly clean in terms of image, the Thunderbolts often have to work very hard to overcome their negative public perception. This adversarial nature makes them much more interesting though, especially when they include villains like Taskmaster in their ranks.
The invaders
Because Cap got his start in the Golden Age of comics, he’s been on teams for over half a century. The Invaders were a send-off to the golden age team, the All-Winners Squad, and they fought in World War II against the Axis powers.
Comprised of members like the first HumanTorch and Namor the Submariner, the team took off in the 1970s as flashbacks in the Captain America comics. Considering the character’s age, The Invaders was a representation of the pre-Marvel era of comics and helped plant the seeds for future teams like The Avengers.
secret defenders
Although The Defenders often stood in the shadow of the more popular Avengers, the team was still a powerful force in Marvel Comics. The Secret Defenders were formed after the original team disbanded and featured heroes recruited by Doctor Strange for one-off missions.
Due to the nonchalant nature of the team roster, many of Marvel’s top heroes have been involved at one time or another. Captain America joined the team on occasion and was one of the few times Marvel’s two biggest factions actually crossed paths. The team’s secret era didn’t last too long, but the temporary rosters gave fans a chance to see amazing teams every month.
The Avengers
Even though Cap has been involved with tons of teams over his long history, there’s only one faction he’s synonymous with, and that’s The Avengers. Originally put together to stop the dastardly Loki, the first Avengers roster was loosely put together and didn’t even feature Captain America.
It didn’t take him long to join the team, and he was the glue that ultimately held the band together over the years. Even as the core group grew, Rogers’ consistency made him a constant presence one way or another throughout the massive storyline changes. The most telling thing is that when a movie version of the team was imagined, Captain America was given the nickname “the first Avenger”.
About the Author
