Happy Independence Day, America!  Or happy 4th of July. Either way.  We have the freedom to call it either one.

I got my fireworks fix on Saturday at the Red Sox-Astros game, but I still have plans to grill some burgers and eat corn and watermelon.  But more importantly, today, we’re just a couple of weeks away from the release of the new Captain America movie!

One of my favorite comic books from back in the day was Captain America.  Captain America was sheer awesomeness.  Who else was awesome enough to lead Earth’s mightiest heroes, when Norse gods and billionaire inventors wearing jet-propelled armor were around?  The guy had a shield that could stand up to the Hulk, and he was even worthy to lift Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor!

What really grabbed me first about Captain America was when I was reading one of the old Official Marvel Index to the Avengers, seeing the cover of Avengers #4 from 1964, and then seeing the same scene on the cover of Captain America #337 soon afterwards.  I guess this was in 1988, based on the publish date of the issue, making me an impressionable 12 years old. This was during Mark Gruenwald’s epic run, and I got hooked on so many things in that one issue — the storyline of Cap’s friends trying to get him back into costume, the snake-inspired villains that would go on to be part of the Serpent Society, that awesome cover art, and especially the black costume.  Man, did I ever love that black Captain costume…

So, here on the Fourth of July, 2011, I give you some of the most patriotic covers of Captain America books out there, from the 2002 relaunch, all by John Cassaday.