Avengers #4
Captain America Joins… The Avengers!
Following his battle against the Avengers, the Sub-Mariner flees north to get away from the heroes.[1] Reaching the arctic, Namor goes to the surface and comes across a tribe of Inuits that worship a man frozen in a block of ice.[2] The Sub-Mariner decides to take out his anger on the tribe by throwing the frozen man into the nearby water and then goes on a rampage.
Not far away, the Avengers are continuing their search for both the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk.[3] They come across the body and after Giant-Man brings it inside they examine the body. The man is wearing a tattered military uniform. Underneath they discover that this man is wearing the costume and carrying the shield of Captain America, the legendary hero from World War II. That’s when the Wasp discovers that this man is still alive after all the decades frozen in ice. Suddenly, Captain America wakes up screaming the name of his wartime partner Bucky. He fights back against the Avengers when they try to hold him down until Cap gets himself together. After displaying his fighting skills, the Avengers are convinced that this is the real Captain America and they ask how he ended up frozen in ice for decades.
Captain America explains that during the final days of the war, he and his partner Bucky attempted to stop one of their foes from launching a drone plane filled with explosives.[4][5] Racing after the drone on a motorcycle, the pair manage to leap toward the plane. Bucky manages to grab on but Cap doesn’t make it. He was in the middle of telling Bucky to let go when the bomb suddenly went off. Captain America then landed in the frigid waters off the coast of Newfoundland where he apparently entered a state of suspended animation that preserved his body all those many years.[6][7][8]
When they return to New York City, the Avengers go out to address the press gathered outside their sub. However, the team is suddenly turned into stone statues in a flash of light. Thinking this is some kind of stunt to duck the press, the reporters leave. Moments later, Captain America emerges from the sub and, thinking the statues were erected in honor to the Avengers, goes about trying to make sense of the era that he has found himself in. As he sees how much New York has changed people being to notice who he is. While seeing the United Nations Building, a police officer openly weeps when he realizes that Captain America is back. Getting a hotel room, Captain America is surprised to see how far television has become since he was gone.
Going to sleep for the night, he is woken up when Rick Jones enters his room looking for the Avengers. At first, Cap mistakes Rick for his former partner as Rick resembles Bucky. Realizing that the statues he saw outside the sub were actually the Avengers, Cap and Rick work together to figure out who turned them to stone. They come across a photo of the gathered press and notice that one of the men in the crowd is holding some kind of weird gun. Rick then gets in touch with the Teen Brigade and has them search the city looking for the mystery man. They track the man back to a nearby apartment. Captain America rushes in and takes out the man’s hired thugs. Overpowering the man responsible for turning the Avengers into stone, Captain America pulls off what turns out to be a life-like mask revealing that the man responsible is actually an alien from another world.[9][10] The alien explains that he has been trapped on Earth for centuries after his ship crash-landed in the ocean. He wandered the Earth for years, keeping humans away with his weapon that can turn living beings into stone. More recently, the alien encountered the Sub-Mariner who promised to free his ship if he agreed to turn the Avengers into stone.[11] Captain America instead offers an alternative: If the alien frees the Avengers, they will help free his ship.[12]
Learning that his plan has failed, the Sub-Mariner heads to the alien’s ship to attack the Avengers himself. Along the way, he encountered a number of his royal guard who has come back because they are still loyal to him. They arrive just as the Avengers have pulled the alien ship out of the muck of the ocean floor. While the alien works underwater to repair his ship, the Avengers and Captain America defend it from Sub-Mariner and his warriors. The Avengers hold off Namor long enough for the alien to finish his repairs. When his ship begins to blast off, the Sub-Mariner thinks this is a sneak attack and orders his minions to retreat.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Avengers are so impressed with Captain America’s skills that they invite him to join the group. This is an offer that Captain America gladly accepts. Meanwhile, Rick Jones worries what the Hulk will think when he learns that Captain America replaced him on the team he helped found.[13]
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp), Sub-Mariner, Vuk, Teen Brigade (Rick Jones), (in flashback) Bucky, Baron Zemo (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
Namor mentions how his people recently abandoned him. This happened in Fantastic Four Annual #1. This will remain the status quo until his people take him back in Fantastic Four #3, per Saga of the Sub-Mariner #9.
Per Age of Heroes #4, this tribe has been worshiping the frozen body of Captain America since shortly after World War II.
They have been searching for the pair since last issue. The Avenger’s search is expanded upon in more detail in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #2.
What If? #4 reveals that the following events happened on April 18, 1945.
This foe is unidentified here, but is revealed to be Baron Zemo in Avengers #6.
The death of “death” of Bucky has been expanded upon in many other stories. Namely Captain America #215, 220, Marvel Saga #1, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #11-12, Captain America: Red White and Blue #1, Captain America (vol. 5) #6, Captain America: Man Out of Time #1, Age of Heroes #4, Captain America: Reborn #3-4.
Bucky didn’t really die here but Captain America will not learn this until many years later (about 12 years per the Sliding Timescale) in Captain America (vol. 5) #11. Bucky’s body is recovered by Russians who brainwashing him into becoming the assassin called the Winter Soldier.
Captain America makes a comment at the end of his explanation about how he struck the water off the coast of Newfoundland. Something that would have been impossible if the drone was launched from the UK. Captain America #220 reveals that Cap was recovered by Lyle Dekker a Nazi spy out for revenge for an earlier defeat. Escaping Dekker’s hideout in Newfoundland in a plane filled with nerve gas, Cap was shot out of the sky. A combination of the nerve gas, the Super-Soldier Serum, and the cold Atlantic waters is what put him in suspended animation.
Captain America: Man Out of Time #1-2 expands on Captain America’s exploration of the modern world, his encounter with Rick Jones, and confronting the alien. It presents a more diverse look at New York City. In this version of events, Captain America does not believe he is in the future and gathers intelligence for an eventual military report. This account also has Rick uncertain about Captain America’s usefulness.
The alien in this story states his name cannot be pronounced with a human tongue. However, All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #3 reveals his name is Vuk. Vuk’s race is identified as the D’Bari in X-Men #135.
Hearing Vuk’s tale, Captain America theorizes that it led to the myth of the Medusa. However, the Medusa of Greecian myth does exist in the Marvel Universe. It first appeared in USA Comics #6. It (or rather its severed head) will turn up in the Modern Age in Moon Knight #14.
Upon hearing the Sub-Mariner’s name, Captain America says “I seem to remember that name from the dim past!” and later, the Sub-Mariner does not remember Captain America at all. This appears to contradict the fact that the pair had encountered each other many times during World War II. The earliest recorded encounter is a flashback in Captain America #423 that dates back to late 1940. In the case of Captain America, he doesn’t fully remember Namor because his memory has been marred from false memory implants, see Captain America #247 and 253 for the details. Marvel Saga #12 explains that the reason why the pair don’t really recognize each other is due to spotty memory when both men were revived in the Modern Age. At the time of this story, the Sub-Mariner just recently had his memory restored after decades with amnesia in Fantastic Four #4, see Sub-Mariner #1 for those details.
The Hulk was a founding member of the Avengers in Avengers #1. He quit the following issue when he discovered that his teammates did not trust him. It’s later explained in Avengers (vol. 3) #4 that not only did Captain America take the Hulk’s place on the team, but he was retroactively given the Hulk’s position as a founder of the group.
Topical References
The indigenous population worshiping Captain America’s frozen body in this story are referred to as Eskimos. This term has long gone out of use and is considered by some to be racist. This group of people is now called the Inuit.
It is stated multiple times that Captain America had been frozen in suspended animation for 20 years. This should be considered topical. The length of time between the end of World War II and the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe grows longer with each passing year due to the Sliding Timescale. I get into the math behind it here.
Captain America is depicted watching a black and white television in his hotel room.
Teen Brigade is depicted using ham radios in this story. Per Avengers: The Origin #1-5, this has been changed so that the group is now a team of hackers.
Captain America and Rick Jones are depicted using a dark room to enlarge photos. This is also an outdated means of blowing up photos. Captain America: Man Out of Time #2 instead shows Cap and Rick using a computer.