US Agent #3
Bloodlines
US Agent, aka John Walker, has been captured attempting to infiltrate the Scourge program. As a result, he is chained up in a steam chamber and interrogated by a woman named Carapace. The interrogation technique causes John’s mind to drift and relive moments of his past.
The first, he finds himself in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle where his brother, Mike, fought in the Sin-Cong Conflict.[1] John is surprised to see his brother in action and reveals his true identity to him and they have a happy reunion. John has no idea that this is just a vivid dream he is having in his mind and that he is inadvertedly telling his captors all about his past.
Listening to John’s ramblings with Carapace is another Scourge operative known as Bloodstain. He finds this interrogation a waste of time. Carapace doesn’t agree, as Domino will find the intel they are gleaning from US Agent to be valuable. While they primarily target super-villains, having detailed dossiers on heroes will be useful to avoid them, or take them down if they ever go bad. Still not liking this, Bloodstain decides to leave Carapace to her work.[2] Bloodstain then reports all of this information back to Domino who wants to know more about their prisoner. Still, he is intrigued by what they already know and begins looking through the database of known superhumans for any known connections. There are none under the Daniel’s alias, so he decides to try cross-referencing with other patriotic themed superheroes. The list is a long one,[4] and decides to narrow down the search by seeing how many of these individuals underwent the Power Broker’s power augmentation process.[3]
Back in the interrogation room, US Agent is forced to relive the moment his parents died. This time however, having a vague recollection of what really happened, John tries to make the situation play out differently. This time, when the Watchdogs attempt to hang him, he doesn’t try to break free until they leave the barn. Unfortunately, tragedy still strikes as seeing his son being hung causes Caleb Walker suffer a heart attack. The commotion brings the Watchdogs back in and they end up shooting his mother, Emily, in the back. By this time, Bloodstain has returned and Carapace orders him to report the identities of US Agent’s parents back to Domino.
Meanwhile, Priscilla Lyons continues to stand guard over the captured Scourge of the Underworld. This is at the home of Reverend Ned Nordstrom who is becoming more and more concerned about the well being of their prisoner since he has not been allowed to give Scourge any food or water since they imprisoned him. When Scourge starts begging for something to eat, Priscilla insists that it is a trick and they need to wait until US Agent gets back. Troubled by all of this, Ned begins to pray.
Back at the Scourge hideout, US Agents interrogation continues. This time, he relives the fight with Left-Winger and Right-Winger following the death of his parents. In this fantasy, John tries to spare their lives as he has been haunted by their deaths in real life. Unfortunately, when he tosses the torch that led to the Winger’s immolation, it lands on a trail of spilled oil that still ignites the entire oil storage facility.
This time, when Bloodstain enters the room he tells Carapace to stop her interrogation as they finally cracked US Agent’s secret identity. Domino has also decided to give John Walker the chance to join them and he has come up with a means of convincing him. Sending Carapace out, Bloodstain then releases John from his restraints. Bloodstain then removes his mask, revealing that he is apparently to be John’s long dead older brother, Mike.[5] He explains that he faked his death during the war and got involved with the Scourge program, using the skills he learned in the military to train their operatives. He also claims that the Scourge program is a top secret operation sanctioned by the United States government. While John wants to be reunited with his brother, he can’t condone the Scourge Program for wanting to kill Pracilla. “Mike” tells him that they don’t actually kill failed Scourge operatives, only fake their deaths so they can be placed in brand new identities.
US Agent needs time to think things over and Bloodstain hands him his phone number and sends him on his way to do just that. John then heads to the nearest payphone to call Ned Nordstrom. He ignores Ned’s concerns over their prisoner’s well being and asks Nordstrom to have that talk he promised to give. As John heads back, Carapace pulls up and offers him a ride back to her car. Back at the Scourge base, Bloodstain contacts Domino and reports that he is 90% certain that John Walker will join them.
Recurring Characters
US Agent, Pricilla Lyons, Scourge of the Underworld (Carapace, Bloodstain, Domino, Angel)
Continuity Notes
It says Vietnam, but this has changed per History of the Marvel Universe #2. See below for details.
Here, US Agent reveals his real name to be John Walker, but also tells Carapace that he is alternatively known as Jack Daniels. During the time he was Captain America (circa Captain America #333-350), John’s true identity was publicly revealed in Captain America #341. This led to the death of John’s parents in issue #345. When Steve Rogers returned as Captain America, the government still had a use for John and faked his death in Captain America #351. When they gave him the US Agent identity they also set him up with a new civilian identity under the name Jack Daniels, as seen in Captain America #354.
The only name that Domino has under “Daniels” is the Texas Twister, aka Drew Daniels. He first appeared in Fantastic Four #177. As the records shows, he has no known connection to US Agent, but you already figured that out didn’t you?
The list of patriotic themed superheroes is a long one indeed but is by no means comprehensive. That said, the list represents known characters at the time of this story, if I were to list every patriotic character we’d be here all day and that list would likely grow. So let’s keep it simple and just talk about the names that are here. They are:
It should be noted that repeating characters have Roman numerals next to their names. At the time this story was published, this is how Marvel differentiated from different characters who had the same names. It was based on when a character appeared chronologically. This standard was adopted during the first volume of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. This method was scrapped by the time the 2004 handbooks were being published. This is because other characters with the same name have been seen appearing chronologically earlier than others, making this system invalid and therefore scrapped. The reasoning being that someone could have operated under the same name prior to a given character in a story that was written later, or has yet to be written. That said, all of these numberings were valid at the time this story was published but should no longer be accepted as the method of differentiating similarly named characters.
The American Avenger, whose civilian identity was Don Caldwell, as also known as El Gaucho. He was briefly active during World War II, appearing only once in USA Comics #5. His current status as of this writing (January, 2023) is unknown.
Battlestar, aka Lemar Hoskins, was one of the Bold Urband Commandos back when John was the Super-Patriot circa Captain America #323. When John became Captain America, Lemar was his Bucky starting in issue #334. However, he didn’t like the racist connotations of the name and rechristened himself Battlestar in Captain America #341. He also underwent the Power Broker’s strength augmentation process.
Bucky I: At the time this story was published, this was referencing James Barnes, the original partner of Steve Rogers. James became Bucky in Captain America Comics #1. James served as Cap’s sidekick until 1945 when he was seemingly killed in action, as per Avengers #4. The world at large won’t learn that Bucky actually survived and became the Russian assassin known as the Winter Soldier until around Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Bucky II: At the time of this story the 2nd Bucky was known to be Fred Davis, Jr. A batboy for the Yankies in Marvel Premiere #30, he was selected to succeed James Barnes as Bucky in What If? #4 when the original was presumed deceased. Davis would somehow survive into the Modern Age only to be murdered a Russian assassin in Winter Soldier #6. As of this writing (January, 2023), he is still considered among the deceased.
Bucky III: Was Jack Monroe, aka the Bucky of the 1950s, who first appeared in Young Men #24. Per Captain America #150, he was roped into being the sidekick of the 50’s Captain America and was given an imperfect version of the Super Soldier Serum. At the time of this story, Monroe was currently active as the vigilante known as Nomad starting in Captain America #282. He will remain active for years until he is murdered by the Winter Soldier in Captain America (vol. 5) #3. As of this writing, he is still considered among the deceased.
Captain America I: Is in reference to Steve Rogers, the best and original Captain America who first appeared in Captain America Comics #1. Although there have been successors during periods that Rogers was presumed dead or had given up the identity, he remains the most consistent Captain America. See below for more details….
Captain America II: Was William Nasland, a wartime hero who began his career as the Spirit of ‘76 per Invaders #14. When Steve Rogers went MIA in 1945 and was presumed dead, Nasland was selected to become the next Captain America in What If? #4 until his death shortly thereafter. As of this writing, he is still considered among the deceased.
Captain America III: Jeff Mace, another wartime hero, who got his start as the Patriot in Human Torch Comics #4. After Nasland was killed in action in What If? #4, Mace took over as Captain America. He remained in the role until he retired in 1950, per Captain America: Patriot #4. He would somehow survive into the modern age before succumbing to cancer in Captain America #285. As of this writing, he is still considered among the deceased.
Captain America IV: Per Captain America #605, he was born William Burnside. Obsessed with Captain America he legally changed his name to Steve Rogers. He uncovered an imperfect version of the Super Soldier Formula and became the Captain America of the 1950s, also in Young Men #24. At the time of this story, Burnside is believed to be dead after he seemingly immolated himself in Captain America #236. However, he survived and will turn up again in Captain America (vol. 5) #37.
Captain America V: Was a body builder named Roscoe Simmons (full name revealed Captain America #615.1) He became Captain America during a period where Steve Rogers was disillusioned with what the role represented and quit in Captain America #176. Simmons took over the role in Captain America #181 until his death at the hands of the Red Skull in issue #183. As of this writing, he is still considered among the deceased.
Captain America VI: Was John Walker who took over as Captain America after the US government reclaimed the identity from Steve Rogers. This lasted from Captain America #333-350. John gave the identity back to Rogers when he realized he could never measure up to the genuine article.
Fighting Yank: William Prince is another obscure World War II character who made a single appearance in Captain America Comics #17. He would later have a brief appearance in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #2. He was among other long lived wartime heroes that survived to the Modern Age who were later seen at Valhalla Vistas in Ant-Man: Last Days #1.
G.I. Max: An unnamed American soldier who was given a new experimental version of the Super Soldier Serum. He died fighting the original Captain America in Captain America #331, his only appearance. As of this writing, he is still considered among the deceased.
Left-Winger and Right-Winger, aka Hector Lennox and Jerome Johnson: Also members of Super-Patriot’s Bold Urban Commandos circa Captain America #323. When Walker and Hoskins were selected to be the new Captain America and Bucky, they were let go as the government had no use for them. Adopting their Winger identities the pair were responsible for outing John Walker’s secret identity. After the death of his parents, John (as Captain America) left the pair to die at an exploding oil storage facility in Captain America #347. The two survived but reportedly committed suicide in Captain America #381 because of the constant pain they were in. As of this writing, both men are still considered among the deceased. They also received the Power Broker’s strength augmentation process.
Major Liberty aka John Liberty, also known as Mister Liberty. A wartime hero that could summon the spirits of historical American figures. He first appeared in USA Comics #1. Per All-New Invaders #1, Liberty died during a battle with a Nazi controlled Hela. He is still considered among the deceased.
Miss America, aka Madeline Joyce, one of the few female superheroes during World War II. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49. She died during childbirth per Giant-Size Avengers #1. As of this writing, he is still considered among the deceased.
Patriot: This is in reference to Jeff Mace since, at the time this story was published, there were no other known heroes that went by that name. The identity would be taken up by Elijah Bradley years later in Young Avengers #1. Time of this writing (January, 2023) the identity is also being used by Rayshaun Lucas since Secret Empire: Brave New World #2.
Spirit of ‘76: This is in reference to William Nasland who, at the time this story was published, was the only known character to use that name. Time of this writing, nobody has taken up this identity since.
Super-Patriot I: Was a ultra-nationalist terrorist who was killed battling SHIELD. See Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #13.
Super-Patriot II: Is in reference to John Walker, who operated under this identity starting in Captain America #323. He abandoned the identity when he was selected to replace Steve Rogers as Captain America.
US Agent: Is of course the identity that John Walker has been using since Captain America #354.
While this story makes this claim somewhat ambiguous, next issue confirms that Bloodstain is absolutely not Mike Walker. Here, “Mike” states that he last saw John when he was 14 years old. However, Captain America #380-381 states that John was 13 when Mike was killed in action. One could assume that Bloodstain made an error and John was too out of it after his torturous interrogation to pick up on the inconsistency.
Topical References
This story states that Mike Walker served in the Vietnam War. However, due to the Sliding Timescale this has become an impossibility. As such, since History of the Marvel Universe #2, Modern Age characters that were originally said to have fought in Vietnam are now said to have fought in the Sin-Cong Conflict instead.
The monitor screens that Domino uses are depicted as CRT models. This should be considered topical as this is an obsolete technology.
Speaking of obsolete technology, Domino states that he will fax a dossier on John Walker to Bloodstain. Fax machines were quite common at the time of this story. They are practically obsolete now thanks to the advent of digital communication such as e-mail and instant messaging. As such, their reference here should be considered topical.