Far Worse Than Death!

The Red Skull has used the Cosmic Cube to swap bodies with Captain America. Now, the real Captain America watches in horror as Sharon Carter seeks comfort from his worst enemy.[1] The Skull then leaves Cap’s hotel room with Sharon, leaving Steve to figure out how he can convince everyone what has happened. Outside, the Red Skull sees Sharon off and gloats over how easily he tricked her into thinking he was the real Captain America. He then uses the Cosmic Cube to teleport the real Cap to a nearby military testing facility.

Sure enough, someone looking like the Red Skull causes security to chase after Captain America. Watching through the Cosmic Cube, the Red Skull gleefully uses it to cause an explosion. This is of course blamed on the phony Red Skull who is then arrested. Unable to convince the authorities that he’s really Captain America, Steve fights free and runs to a nearby house where he finds a car to hotwire.

Meanwhile, the Red Skull walks through the city and is impressed by the fact that average Americans revere Captain America and decides to use this situation to his advantage. Going to a local police precinct, he gives the police the location of the “Red Skull”. Pretty soon, the real Captain America finds himself in a high-speed chase with the police on highway 107. However, with his stunt-driving skills, Cap is able to swerve around police blockades. The police chase is being monitored by the Avengers and Captain America’s partner, Rick Jones. While Yellowjacket wonders why Cap isn’t pursuing his old foe, Rick points out that this proves his concerns that something happened. While the Avengers aren’t willing to mobilize, Rick decides to go after the Red Skull alone in the hopes he can find Cap in the process.

However, Rick ends up running into the Red Skull outside of Avengers Mansion. Unaware that the Red Skull swapped bodies with his foes, he tries to get answers out of his “friend”. The Skull takes great pleasure in telling his enemy’s sidekick to get lost. Hurt by this rejection, Rick storms off convinced that he could not live up to the legacy of the original Bucky.[2]

By this time, the real Captain America has arrived at Avengers Mansion. Entering the building, he tries to convince the other Avengers who he really is. They don’t believe his story and quickly overpower the “Red Skull” and leave him tied up when they are called away on SHIELD duty. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity to strike, the real Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to compel Sharon Carter to go to Avengers Mansion and kill Captain America. Unfortunately, something deep inside Sharon Carter knows there is something amiss and can’t bring herself to pull the trigger. Furious that the woman won’t do his bidding, the Red Skull teleports Captain America away to the island of the Exiles, knowing his allies will finish the job.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Red Skull, Sharon Carter, Bucky, Avengers (Yellowjacket, Wasp, Goliath, Vision), Exiles (Baldini, Cadavus, General Ching, Gruning, Iron-Hand Hauptman, Krushi), Edwin Jarvis, SHIELD

Continuity Notes

1. Cap and the Red Skull’s body swap remains until Captain America #119.

2. James Barnes was the original Bucky, who first teamed up with Steve way back in Captain America Comics #1. Per Avengers #4, everyone believes that James died in 1945 while trying to disarm a bomb on a drone. Years later it will be learned that Bucky survived and was transformed into a Russian assassin known as the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol. 5) #14.

Topical References

• Captain America is depicted driving through a toll booth in order to get away from the police. However, while Route 107 had toll booths at one point, that is no longer the case. I can’t find an exact date, but their appearance here should be considered topical. Modern readers could assume that instead of a toll booth, Cap merely drove through a second blockade.

• Dated pop-culture references: The Wasp states here that she’d rather be watching Julia, a sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1971. I had to look this up because I never heard of it before, I guess Stan Lee over-estimated how much cultural relevance this show would have.