Avengers #15
Now, By My Hand, Shall Die a Villain!
The Avengers have adjourned another meeting and each member leaves to conduct their personal affairs. Giant-Man and the Wasp go to dinner together, while Thor goes about his business as Doctor Donald Blake. Captain America and Rick Jones also depart, leaving Iron Man to change back to Tony Stark and recharge the chest plate that keeps him alive.
Meanwhile, in South America, Baron Zemo takes out his frustrations on the indigenous population he has enslaved. He is furious that he keeps on being defeated by the Avengers but has come up with one last plan to defeat them once and for all. Meeting with his pilot, Zemo orders the man to follow his orders to the letter.[1]
Back in the United States, Captain America has written a letter to Nick Fury. Cap has learned that Fury has gone on to head a new spy agency and hopes to get a job working for it so he doesn’t have to rely on handouts from Tony Stark.[2] As he mails off the letter he spots the Enchantress and the Executioner driving by in a car. Cap tries to follow after them by swinging down the street from lamp posts until the Enchantress spots and trips him up with one of her spells. Returning to their hideout, the two Asgardians are contacted by Baron Zemo who informs them that they are going to attack the Avengers via their weakest link.
Moments later, Captain America has returned to Avengers Mansion and summoned his teammates to inform them of his encounter with the Enchantress and Executioner. Suddenly, Rick Jones is pulled into the air and onto Baron Zemo’s ship. Thor, Iron Man, and the Wasp try to save him, but a bomb knocks Thor and Iron Man aside. Luckily, the Wasp manages to hitch a ride to see where Zemo’s men are taking Rick. Captain America is desperate to rescue his sidekick and so Iron Man contacts Stark Industries to have their new experimental XL-750 rocket plane brought to him.
At that same moment, the Enchantress and the Executioner break out the Melter and the Black Knight so they can rejoin the Masters of Evil and battle the Avengers. They are more than happy to rejoin. With their weapons, the Knight and the Melter begin attacking the XL-750. All of the Avengers except for Captain America abandon ship to fight their foes. With the rest of the Masters of Evil being handled, Captain America continues on his course to South America to save Rick from the clutches of Baron Zemo. When he arrives he spots Rick being held in a glass dome and flies past the anti-aircraft weapons that Zemo has set up to stop him.
Back in New York, the Avengers gain the upper hand prompting the Masters of Evil to try and flee. Unfortunately for them, the Avengers soon surround them. However, the Executioner points out that they are evenly matched and a battle in the middle of the city could lead to innocent people getting hurt. Realizing that his foe is right, the Avengers find themselves in a stand-off. While in South America, Captain America frees Rick. When Baron Zemo and his men try attacking them, Cap throws his shield at a nearby mountainside causing an avalanche that cuts Zemo off from his men. When Zemo tries to shoot Captain America with his disintegration ray, the hero reflects the sun off his shield to blind his foe. This causes the Baron to fire wildly. This causes a second avalanche and tons of rockfall on Zemo. With Baron Zemo finally dead, Captain America has avenged the death of his wartime partner, Bucky.[3][4]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp), Rick Jones, Masters of Evil (Baron Zemo, Black Knight, Melter, Enchantress, Executioner), Franz Gruber
Continuity Notes
The pilot in this story is not named. He is later identified as Franz Gruber in the 1999 Avengers and Thunderbolts novel. Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers confirms that Gruber’s name is part of continuity, even if the novel in question is not.
This spy agency would be the public version of SHIELD that first appeared in Strange Tales #135. In his letter, Cap says Fury wouldn’t remember him but they fought together in the war. This is an odd statement to make since Captain America fought together many times during the war. The earliest instance dates back to 1941 as seen in Wolverine: Origins #17. This could be chalked up to Steve Roger’s memories being affected from being in suspended animation for so long. Captain America is cited as having memory problems due to implanted memories in his mind, see Captain America #247 and 253 for the explanation.
At the time of this story, Captain America believes that Bucky died in 1945 trying to disarm a bomb aboard a drone plane, as seen in Avengers #4. However, Cap will learn years later that Bucky survived and was transformed by the Russians into the assassin called the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Captain America’s battle with Baron Zemo is expanded upon in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #6.
Topical References
Iron Man is depicted having a rotary dial built into his chest plate like he’s some kind of old-fashioned telephone.
