Schrodinger's CapWolf: An Introduction

I'm really going to do it this time.

I'm going to read “Captain America: Man and Wolf.”

I've wanted to do it since 1992, when I spotted comics (written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn by Rik Levin) on the spinner rack at Waldenbooks featuring a lupine Captain America fighting with or alongside feral Marvel characters like Wolfsbane and Wolverine. And Cable.

Hey, it was the '90s.

I didn't know what the “Man and Wolf” storyline was about. I didn't know a lot about Captain America, except that he always struck me as kind of boring.

But werewolves? I liked werewolves.

I'm not sure why, except characters that transform have always appealed to me. The Hulk was my earliest favorite superhero (although he was later displaced by Squirrel Girl). (No, I'm not kidding.)

I never picked up any of the issues. I was probably buying Hulk, Spider-Man and Fantastic Four around then and just didn't pull the trigger on this bizarre Captain America concept.

But it always stayed with me.

Over the years, I learned that Captain America wasn't necessarily any more or less boring than any other character: It was all about the writing. There have been times I considered Superman insufferably dull and other times I've loved the direction writers have taken him. I'm a longtime Hulk devotee, but certain takes don't pique my interest.

Captain America can come off as a bit uptight, maybe even a little preachy. But stories like Rick Remender and John Romita Jr.'s “Castaway in Dimension Z” are excellent examinations of the character, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has certainly boosted his iconic status.

Several years ago at a comic show, I stumbled upon the “Captain America: Man and Wolf” trade in a $5 bin. I immediately snatched it up. I've since read a couple stories where it was referenced (one where Sam Wilson as Cap wolfs out; another during the latest “Secret Wars,” where Cap goes werewolf again to keep from being turned into a spider monster). A friend and I have an ongoing joke in which we “spoil” almost every movie and TV show we share an interest in by claiming CapWolf shows up.

But I still haven't read the original story.

I think this is why: Once I read “Man and Wolf,” I'll know what it is, and that's all it can ever be. Good, bad, epic, disappointing, all the possibilities suggested by a wolf in the stars and stripes, running alongside characters I didn't usually associate with “boring old” Captain America will be reduced to that one story.

Am I building this up way too much in my mind? Absolutely. Am I making too big a deal of this? Yep. If facing the reality of a nearly 30-year-old oddball comic book story is the worst problem I face this week, month or year, am I even more fortunate and blessed than I thought? You bet.

However it goes, I can't imagine it not being fun. So I'm inviting you along for the ride: starting Wednesday, a weekly, issue-by-issue look at “Captain America: Man and Wolf,” with the man who has wondered about it – and even feared it – more than anyone else.

Join me... if you dare.

Part 1