Who Calls me a Traitor?

Captain America is at SHIELD headquarters helping Nick Fury test out a new invention, a protecto-suit invented by Doctor Ryder.[1] The suit’s built in force-fields are not only able to deflect Captain America’s shield, but can withstand the blast of a cannon powerful enough to destroy a tank. With the test over, Captain America decides to leave ignoring Nick’s attempts to get him to talk about Sharon Carter.[2] After Fury congratulates Ryder for his work he pulls Sharon aside to tell her the bad news. However, she already knows because he overheard Fury’s conversation with Cap. While on the street, Steve Rogers tries to convince himself that ending things with Sharon was the right thing to do as he has nothing to offer her but danger, sorrow, and death.

Later, Nick Fury leads a team of SHIELD agents into battle against an AIM terror cell. They enter the field wearing their new protecto-suits but AIM has found a way to disable their protective force-fields. This leads Fury and the others to suspect that there is a spy within SHIELD feeding information to their enemies. Covering their escape with tear gas, Nick and his team flee back to SHIELD headquarters. There he calls a private meeting with everyone that knew about the protector-suits and how they work. This includes Doctor Ryder who points out that Captain America has not been called in also. Although Nick trusts Captain America implicitly, it is pointed out that the man they tested the protector-suits with could have been an impostor. Although the agents of SHIELD are reluctant to accept the possibility, the seeds of doubt have been planted.

Meanwhile, Steve Rogers has returned to his apartment where he continued to lament over his love life. After the death of his wartime partner, Bucky Barnes, he has not brought himself to bring anyone into his life for fear that their association with Captain America might lead to their death.[3] That’s when he gets a call telling him that his A-1 security clearance with SHIELD has been revoked by Nick Fury himself. Angered by this, Steve decides to pay Fury a visit and changes into Captain America. As Rogers storms his way across town, Nick Fury meets with Joe Robertson a reporter for the Daily Bugle. Joe has come to confirm rumors that Captain America has been stripped of his security clearance. Fury doesn’t want to talk about it and asks Robertson to sit on the story for at least another day before publishing it, promising that everything will be revealed then. As Joe Robertson leaves Nick’s apartment, he runs into Captain America. Joe tells Cap how his sources tell him that SHIELD suspects him of betraying them. Hearing that the spy agency thinks so lowly of him angers Cap, who then storms off.

Later, Dum Dum Dugan drives Nick to Stark Industries where he meets with Tony Stark. He tells him about his fears that there is a mole within SHIELD and has Stark complete the construction of a new super-powerful android. Since it is a two-man operation, Stark has Fury assist him in finishing the construction of the android. Once it is complete, Fury is impressed with how lifelike it appears.

Soon, Steve Rogers receives a call from Nick Fury asking him to report to SHIELD headquarters. There, Fury has Captain America fight against the Stark android to prove that he is the real Captain America and not a spy. However, this is a cover for Fury’s real investigation. Suspecting that the real mole would tamper with the android, Nick has given Sharon Carter a tracking device that can follow signals going to the android. Sure enough, when the android begins trying to kill Captain America, Sharon is able to follow the signal into one of the labs where she catches Doctor Ryder manipulating the android. She quickly knocks him out with a gas tablet and then reports her findings to Nick Fury. Fury explains that he had to set up the whole test to draw out the real traitor. However, Captain America is not happy with being manipulated by the people he thought where his friends and decides that he’s finished working with SHIELD.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter, Jasper Sitwell), AIM, Tony Stark, Joe Robertson

Continuity Notes

1. Doctor Ryder’s first name is not revealed in this story. The AIM profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1 reveals it to be Ralph, because alliteration sells! That profile also confirms what’s not very clear in this story — that Ralph Ryder was also an member of AIM.

2. Captain America broke up with Sharon Carter in Captain America #124 when she broke her promise not to put herself in danger to warn him that he was walking into a trap. What an unreasonable dick, eh?

3. At the time of this story, Captain America believes that Bucky died in World War II, as depicted in Avengers #4. However, Bucky — unknown to Cap — survived and was transformed by the Russians into an assassin called the Winter Soldier. Cap won’t learn the truth until Captain America (vol. 5) #14.

Topical References

• The communicator that Captain America uses to communicate with SHIELD in this story is depicted as the massive walkie-talkies they used in the military in the 60s and 70s. This should be considered topical as such technology is laughable in a world with cellphone that can fit in your pocket.