>>149263351
That could be a true too, I can see how one could see Kirby's later Cap as more grounded compared to the initial look.
Part of what made it click for me was seeing Kirby's colonial Captain America, and how the boots and gauntlets, while more detailed,aren't that far from how he was drawing them for modern Cap
With Hitch's cap, he's more thinking in lines of how to make those elements work for reality- though I will say looking at it again I don't think the modern Ult Cap look he gets after he's revived really looks all that tacticool compared to how movie designs would get. Like even the movie wouldn't attempt the scale texture until the end, and only in a half-assed way.
>>149261859
I think I get what it's going for- it's meant to give an explanation for why he'd have a cowl in the first place. Otherwise he'd just have the helmet. The helmet gives him the "A", and the cowl comes from the mask, and since the goggles are a standard part of that sort of mask it's there. When it's streamlined for his mask in his modern gear, the goggles aren't needed because it's superfluous to the look.