I loved his covers during his Avengers run, but was never blown away by the interior art. I remember being very happy when he was replaced by Mike Deodato Jr. (his female characters were sexy :-D)

Look at Steve now!

I think the first time I read a comic with Cap was an issue where he fought Batroc the Leaper. I remember nothing about the issue, but later on I would read Secret Wars, and I believe it was here that he would be cemented as a favorite in the Boothe Hall of Heroes. No powers (serum doesn’t count here), but still earning the trust and respect of Earth’s mightiest heroes and villains.

Of course my (and many others) favorite Cap moment was when he stood face to face with Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet mini series. A definite classic Marvel moment.

I took a lot of flack from my X-friends for liking the Avengers family of comics. Overshadowed by the Claremont/Byrne/Silvestri/Jim Lee eras of X-Books, they were seen as lame by many of my friends. I stood by them though, mostly due to my love of Captain America, but also because a lot of their stories felt a lot more old school, and a little less convoluted.

Definitely not hating on the X, though. A lot of great stories came out of that end of the Marvel Universe.