Punisher/Captain America: Blood & Glory #3
Establish the Blessing of Liberty
The Punisher and Captain America have travelled to the nation of Medisuela to expose a conspiracy where members of the United States government are selling firearms to its dictator, Miguel Navatilas. The weapons are bought with money from drugs being dealt in America. On top of all of this, the weapons being sold to Medisuela are intentionally defective.
During their investigation on the island, both men were caught in an explosion. While Captain America was captured, the Punisher was knocked into the jungle. Navatilas sends his men into the jungle to search for the vigilante. Having experience in jungle combat, Frank Castle is able to get a the drop on the commandos and slaughters them all. This is made easier thanks to the fact that Cap tossed Frank his shield before the bomb went off.
In a nearby hut, Captain America is strung up by chains. His captors are about to kill him by smothering him with a bag of rice. When Frank arrives, he lets Cap know he is there by tapping out a message in morse code. He then tosses Cap’s shield into the room, distracting the guards long enough for Steve to bite through the bag of rice, ripping a hole in it and causing the grain to spill to the ground. While two of the men scramble to clean up the mess, Captain America is able to kick them. That’s when a bomb stashed under Cap’s shield goes off, killing the last man. It also sends the shield flying across the room where it cuts through the chains binding its owner.
Before the Punisher and Captain America can leave, they are ambushed by a truck load of reinforcements. Noticing that they are using brand new weapons, Cap tries to tell them to stop shooting. Unfortunately, this warning falls on deaf ears and after a few rounds the guns begin to misfire and explode putting a quick end to the fire fight. After taking some supplies and a radio, the two unlikely allies press onward.
Moments later, the mercenary known as Terror arrives on the scene. He finds a mortally wounded survivor and plucks his eye out so he can learn the dying man’s secrets.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, government officials reveal that they have tapped the phone lines in Medisuela. They managed to record Miguel Navatilas ordering the execution of Captain America. With this evidence a press conference is called where Attorney General Roger Mollech announces that he will be indicting Navatilas and recommending to the President that they need to extradite the dictator to answer for his crimes. Unfortunately, for Mollech, the President refuses to allow an invasion of the Central American nation, spoiling Roger’s plans. He wanted to force a conflict between the US and Medisuela so that his tampered firearms would wipe out Navatilas’ army allowing for him to easily install a new ruler that is loyal to him. Once Roger finishes his rant his assistant Angela Stone points out that their plans aren’t entirely bust. She then has Colonel Max Klee go over a plan to send his covert unit into the country and stir up a conflict instead.
However, things in Medisuela are rapidly changing, as the Terror meets with Navatilas and reports what he discovered. He reveals that the weapons that his soldiers were using exploded in their hands killing them. This infuriates Miguel who is now realizing that his American ally is trying to double cross him. He decides to take it out on Terror by ordering his men to kill the demon. Terror easily slays his attackers but decides to spare Navatilas since he might be a potential customer in the future.
Meanwhile, Navatailas’ forces are gearing up for a potential conflict with the United States. As the Punisher and Captain America watch the troop deployments they both agree that they need to stop this conflict before it can start. For Captain America — thinking to how he volunteered to be subjected to the Super Soldier Serum during World War II — it’s a matter of duty, he doesn’t want America to go to war for someone else’s profit.[1] For Frank Castle, its to prevent the deaths of innocent people, like his family, who were gunned down by criminals many years earlier.[2]
Soon, American military helicopters arrive on the scene and begin opening fire on the city. Navatilas’ men respond with anti-aircraft cannons but these two have been sabotaged. The Punisher and Captain America then swing into action, with Castle shooting at the choppers with an anti-aircraft machine gun. Captain America, meanwhile, takes a more direct approach by leaping onto one of the choppers. One of the choppers is shot down and the other two land. While Captain America is busy fighting Theopolis, Colonel Klee’s right hand man, Klee and another one of his soldiers manage to run into Navatilas while he attempts to flee his estate. After impaling the dictator on his own wrought iron fence, the pair run into the Punisher who kills them both. After Theopolis is beaten into submission, Captain America rejoins Castle and the two are approached by Terror. He offers to pillage one of Navatila’s body parts so he can learn the person in the United States government was responsible for all this violence.
With information gleaned from Terror, Captain America and the Punisher return to the United States. There, they prevent Rober Mollech and Angela Stone from fleeing the country in a private jet. Disabling the plane with his shield, Captain America boards the aircraft and confronts Mollech. While Cap lays into the Attorney General, furious that he would soil America with his dirty deals, Angela tries to make a run for it. Unfortunately for her, she runs into the Punisher who executes her for tricking him into trying to assassinate Captain America earlier.[3] Frank then heads to the plane and sees that, unless he steps in, Cap will kill Mollech with his bare hands. Castle convinces Captain America to stop, telling him that if he crosses the line it’ll be near impossible to stop killing. Steve gets ahold of himself and thanks Frank for talking sense into him. However, this distraction allows Roger to grab a gun. Luckily, the Punisher is faster at the draw and shoots Mollech in the leg, incapacitating him so he can be taken in and face punishment for his crimes.
Sometime later, Steve Rogers and Frank Castle meet up at Arlington Cemetery. There, as soldiers pay their respects to the fallen, Steve gets Frank up to date on what happened after they nabbed Mollech. He tells Frank that Roger will be indicted for his crime and he also managed to convince the Justice Department to drop all charges against the Punisher for attempting to murder him. Before he goes, Frank hands Steve a medal that was awarded to soldiers that fought during his time in the military. Before departing, he says he wishes Captain America could have been there to fight in that war, because they needed a good man on their side. As Frank walks away, Steve calls out to him and when Castle turns he is saluted. Frank ponders this grimly for a moment and salutes back.[4]
Recurring Characters
Punisher, Captain America, Terror, Inc., Miguel Navatilas, Roger Mollech, Angela Stone, Max Klee, Angela Stone
Continuity Notes
Captain America has a flashback which recounts his origin, which was originally told in Captain America Comics #1.
Frank Castle recounts the murder of his family who were gunned down for witnessing a mob killing. See Marvel Preview #2.
Using phony intel, Angela succeeded in tricking Frank into shooting Cap in Punisher/Captain America: Blood and Glory #1. Cap survived and it was only after the fact that the Punisher discovered that he had been tricked, as we saw last issue.
Since History of the Marvel Universe #2 changes Frank’s backstory, making it so he fought in the Sin-Cong Conflict instead of the Vietnam War, this exchange is kind of odd. This is because the Sin-Cong Conflict came to an end during the early years of the Modern Age. As such, Captain America did get involved in a few skirmishes in that region, notably in Avengers #18 and Captain America #125. One could assume that Frank means that he wishes Captain America was there when he was serving specifically as Frank’s service ended prior to the start of the Modern Age.
Topical References
Frank Castle makes a number of references about serving in the Vietnam War. This is also increasingly impossible due to the Sliding Timescale. That said, since History of the Marvel Universe #2, all Modern Age characters who have stated they fought in Vietnam now have fought in the Sin-Cong Conflict instead.
The news station that carries the story about Captain America’s alleged assassination is identified as CNN. This should be considered a topical reference as CNN is a real world television channel.
The recording of Navatilas’ order to execute Captain America is depicted as being recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
The TVs and computer models in this story are depicted as CRT models. This should also be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
One of the newspapers on Roger Mollech’s desk has a headline that reads “President: “Just Say No!”” The Just Say No Program was an anti-drug campaign spearheaded by First Lady Nancy Reagan in the 1984. It pushed an anti-drug narrative targeted at children in the form of commercials, celebrity endorsements, and other marketing. The campaign extended into the early 90s before it was discontinued. Later studies found that it didn’t really make an impact on drug use. Anyway, its reference here should be considered topical.
The Apache helicopters depicted in this story are early models of these attack helicopters (Likely the AH-64A). This depiction should be considered topical as this model has long since been decommissioned for more advanced versions of the aircraft.
Angela Stone’s cell phone is depicted as an analogue model with push buttons, no screen, and an antennae to pick up signals. This should be considered a topical reference as these styles of phones are now obsolete.
