Every week, we will be examining comic book stories, plots and ideas that were abandoned by a later writer while still acknowledging that the abandoned story DID still happen. Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of Abandoned Love. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.

This time around, based on a suggestion by Omar Karindu, we'll take a look at the odd way that Captain America's short-lived super-strength was handled during the 1970s.

In Captain America #157, Captain America and Falcon are poisoned by the evil Viper. The next issue, Cap heroically saves them both...

Soon, though, Cap notices weird goings-on with his strength...

It continues the next issue...

Later in the issue he realizes that the poison has given him super-strength...

Writer Steve Englehart would make sure to refer to the new strength every issue or so, even nearly a year later...

However, even when Englehart left the book, the super-strength was still there. Here Tony Isabella references it in Captain America #189...

But when Jack Kirby took over the tile in Captain America #193, the super-strength is implicitly dropped, as Cap is now evenly matched with Falcon in arm wrestling...

You could tell during Kirby's run that it was pretty clear that Cap no longer has super-strength.

However, it was not until Don Glut in issue #218 (TWENTY-FIVE issues after the initial abandoning!) that we learned what the deal was, and the answer was quite simple...

I like that. Just a real simple "Oh, you wonder why I'm not super-strong anymore? That wore off off-panel."