#Review: Strange Tales by ChineseSpyware (1965 comics)
snow spade
barren rune
Tales of Suspense (1959) #70 [B Story] - "If This Be Treason!"
Captain America: “If This Be Treason!” is a solid but very familiar continuation of the Greymoor Castle storyline. Stan Lee leans hard into his usual habits here: melodrama stretched thin, half explained secrets, and villains who exist primarily to escalate danger rather than logic. It works moment to moment, but cracks show the longer you sit with it.
Artistically, the issue is smoother than expected. Jack Kirby only supplies layouts, with George Tuska handling finished pencils. Tuska clearly follows Kirby’s visual language, sometimes too closely, but the action flows well and the book remains easy to read. It’s competent, if a little derivative, and never visually collapses.
Plot-wise, Cap reaches Greymoor Castle to rescue Bucky Barnes, only to fall directly into the Nazis’ trap. The Red Skull’s allies betray their own scientist Cedric, ignore his fixation on his sister, and strap Cap, Bucky, and the sister to a V-2 rocket aimed at London. It’s pulpy and effective, but riddled with unanswered questions: Cedric’s backstory remains vague, Cap’s unit somehow assumes he deserted, and the sudden appearance of a rocket strains credibility.
Still, the pacing is brisk and the cliffhanger lands. Nothing groundbreaking, just a serviceable Silver Age chapter.
Final verdict: 5.99/10.
@tall bramble@rigid silo
barren rune
Tales of Suspense (1959) #71 [B Story] - " ... When You Lie Down With Dogs ... !"
Captain America: “…When You Lie Down With Dogs..!” closes out the extended WWII flashback arc with competence, if not much spark. Picking up immediately after the cliffhanger, Cap and Bucky Barnes recover from the gas attack, clash with Nazi forces, and attempt to save Celia, an effort that ends in tragedy. Her death finally breaks Cedric, who spirals into madness even as he redeems himself by diverting the V-2 rocket away from Allied targets, triggering the destruction of Greymoor Castle in the process.
From a craft standpoint, Jack Kirby and George Tuska make for a strong visual pairing. The action reads cleanly, the explosions have weight, and the finale feels appropriately large-scale. There’s a sense of closure here that the previous chapters often lacked, even if some dangling questions, like Cedric’s mechanical hand, are never addressed.
That said, the emotional beats don’t quite land. Cedric’s tragic turn is rushed, with little room to breathe before the castle comes down, and the story overall feels formulaic. As a capstone to the WWII detour, it’s fine, but the arc itself has grown repetitive, leaning more on Golden Age serial rhythms than deeper character exploration.
From a modern perspective, it’s serviceable rather than gripping.
Final verdict: 6.06/10
@tall bramble @rigid silo