Captain America's Bicentennial Battles #1
Bicentennial Battles
Captain America has accepted a strange invitation of a man calling himself Mister Budda.[1] When the hero arrives, he is surprised when Budda’s astral form returns to his body which is meditating within a so-called energy pyramid. Budda explains that he seeks to understand all time and space and impart this knowledge to others. Captain America, not buying Budda’s pitch, decides its time to leave.
As he tries to leave Budda’s home, the Star-Spangled Avenger finds himself transported to Nazi Germany where he discovers his former partner, Bucky Barnes, is a prison of Adolf Hitler and other high ranking Nazi officials. Captain America can hardly believe this is real since Bucky has been dead for years. Still, even though he is ambushed by the Red Skull, Cap fights through the Nazis and rescued Bucky and the pair flee into the nearby woods for cover.[2] Suddenly, Captain America finds himself back in the present in the very room he tried to leave. Mister Budda is intrigued by the insights Captain America gained from seeing his old partner again. While Steve is thankful for the experience he is not interested in anything else Budda is trying to sell. The mystic bids Captain America farewell and shakes his hand, secretly transferring a mystical talisman onto the hero’s hand.
As Captain America exits the building once more he begins to see images of a Civil War battle appearing on the wall. Fearing that he is about to be transported through time again, the Avenger races outside before this can happen. He then takes a taxi where he is due to give a speech at a Independence Day luncheon. That’s when he a strange talisman imprinted on his glove. It soon begins to glow, transporting Captain America from the back of a taxi into the back of a stagecoach. Walking out of the coach, Captain America is shocked to discover that he is in the year 1776. As the local gawk at his strange clothes and manner of speaking a young boy tells him that his employer wishes to speak with him. When Cap follows the boy he is shocked to discover that the employer is none other than Benjamin Franklin. Franklin invites the strange visitor into his printing shop where Cap is introduced to Betsy Ross who finds the time-traveler’s costume as a source of inspiration. The realization that his costume design was the actual inspiration of the American flag is almost too much for Captain America to contemplate and he rushes out of the building to try and keep his head straight.
When somebody checks to see if he’s okay, Captain America turns around and discovers that he has shifted forward in time to the Great Depression. He attracts the attention of a newspaper boy who is selling a paper with the headline about John Dillinger’s escape. When the a gang of mobsters try to take a newspaper for free, Captain America attacks them. The gunfire draws the police and the mobsters flee, leaving one of their own behind. The mobster insists that he didn’t do anything wrong, prompting the newspaper boy to threaten to plaster the mobsters face in every comic book he intends to write.[3] Once again, Captain America finds himself sent to another time period, this time materializing in the deserts of the south west. While wandering around, Captain America is surrounded by the Geronimo and members of his Apache tribe.
Seeing a white man in their territory as a threat, the Apaches attack Captain America. The hero only acts in defense and convinces Geronimo and his people to stop fighting as he isn’t seeking to harm anyone. The legendary Native American can see that Captain America is telling the truth. When he learns how the Apaches are willing to fight and die for their freedom, Cap views this as the core of the American way. Suddenly shot rings out as the Calvary comes for Geronimo and his people. As the two sides begin exchanging gunfire, Captain America tries to get between the two factions and convince them to stop fighting. However, before he can stop the bloodshed the hero finds himself transported through time yet again. This time, Captain America finds himself trapped in a collapsed mine. As the miners trapped with him try to keep from panicking, the situation becomes dire when a gas leak is discovered. Needing to get these people out, Captain America uses his strength to push through the rubble to freedom. As the freed miners turn to thank their mysterious rescuer, they discover that he has vanished into thin air.
Captain America next finds himself in a fighter plane during World War I in the middle of a dogfight with a German pilot. Although Captain America bests his opponent he loses control of his plane and crashes into a German observation balloon. Instead of getting killed in the resulting explosion, Captain America finds himself back in Mister Budda’s home. By this time, Captain America is getting fed up with constantly being bounced around to different points in American history. Budda however insists that this is necessary to give Steve Rogers a better understanding of who Captain America is and what he represents. Despite his protests, Captain America finds himself transported to the 1890s where he is forced to spar with boxing legend John L. Sullivan. Cap manages to knock Sullivan out when, suddenly, the illegal fight is busted by the police.
While Steve tries to get the boxer to safety he shifts in time yet again. This time he finds himself helping a slave escape captivity when they are caught by a team of bounty hunters trying to recover the escapee. Captain America tries to reason with them but they will not listen to the Star-Spangled Avenger. The bounty hunters are eventually forced to flee when they are shot at by a boy who lives in a nearby town. With the danger over, Captain America and the liberated slave part company, little knowing that the boy who saved them was the son of John Brown, who went down in history fighting to abolish slavery. Riding across the desert on horseback, Captain America is thrown when his steed is spooked by a passing lizard. He is then found by a military patrol jeep. The soldiers recognize who he is and take him back to their base where Captain America realizes that he is at military testing range and witnesses he first successful nuclear bomb explosion.[4]
After witnessing the nuclear blast, Captain America finds himself in the middle of the Chicago fire of 1871. He helps people get to the safety of the nearby pier. When someone falls into the water and begins to struggle in the water, Cap leaps in to save them. Instead of being a rescuer, Captain America needs to be rescued when he is instead transported back to the present day deep below the ocean. After fighting off a shark he is rescued by deep-sea divers who take them back to their underwater laboratory where scientists hope their research can help the world. Once Captain America is treated with oxygen, the hero is brought back to Mister Budda’s home. With his talisman already beginning to fade, Mister Budda says that Captain America needs to see the future in order to fully understand what America stands for.
Cap suddenly finds himself wearing a space suit on the moon where America is in conflict with another nation on the its surface.[5] Coming upon a destroyed tank, Cap tries to look for survivors only to fall backward in time again finding himself on the set of a Hollywood studio during the Golden Age of Cinema. Made a center piece of a musical number, Captain America has had enough and tells Mister Budda to stop toying around with him. The mystic obliges and returns Captain America to the present and then gives the hero control of the fading talisman so he can show Budda what he has learned. Captain America first travels to a peaceful meadow in the south to listen to a man play the fiddle. Next they appear outside the window of an African-American man studying hard so he can get out of the ghetto he was born into. These things all encompass what being American is all about, that the constant struggle to be the best one can be. Believing that Captain America has learned the lesson he set out to give, Mister Budda departs sending Captain America to his proper time and place. Appearing in the street, Captain America is greeted by a number of children who he greets and listens to their hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Mister Buda, Nazis (Adolf Hitler, Red Skull), Benjamin Franklin, John Stacey, Betsy Ross, Jack Kirby, Geronimo, Captain America (Revolutionary War), Captain America (American Frontier)
Continuity Notes
“Mister Buda” is depicted as something like a human mystic in this story. However, Captain America Annual #6 reveals that he is actually one of the Elders of the Universe and prefers going by the name the Contemplator.
Per Avengers #4, Captain America has believed that his partner died in 1945. However, Bucky survived and was transformed into the Russian assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Steve won’t learn this truth until many years later in Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
I think it’s being implied here that the young newspaper boy is Jack Kirby as a kid. I’m not that much of an expert on Kirby’s life so I’m not sure if he ever worked as a newspaper boy in the 1930s, but I could see it TBH. Anyway, Marvel creators do exist in the Marvel Universe. However, they usually appear in the Modern Age in their relative prime. How you can reconcile a young Jack Kirby in the 1930s and also have him exist in the Modern Age (first seen in Fantastic Four #10) is anyone’s guess. This is one of those times where you can’t really apply the logic of the Sliding Timescale. As I’ve said in the past, it’s a guideline but has imperfections and inconsistencies and things that cannot be explained.
The soldiers here are confused by Captain America’s presence but accept it. The first successful nuclear bomb test happened on July 16, 1945. Per Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #11, Captain America went MIA in April of 1945. While his death was reported by the Daily Bugle (per Captain America #155), President Truman quickly selected successors to continue fighting as Captain America and Bucky (per Captain America #255), hence why they might be confused by Captain America’s presence on base.
While most possible futures are given a reality number. At the time of this writing (June 2021), one does not appear to have been assigned to this world where America is at war with another nation on the moon.
Topical References
This story is stated as happening on the day of America Bicentennial, a celebration of America’s 200th anniversary that happened in 1976. This should be considered a topical reference. Modern readers should interpret this story as happening on the 4th of July, but not on a specific cultural milestone.
All measurements of time in this story are done as though this story takes place in 1976, for example when he goes back to the year 1776 it is stated that he had gone back in time 200 years in the past. The Sliding Timescale makes it so that the gulf of time between these historical events and the Modern Age to grow wider with each passing year.
This story refers to Geronimo and his people as Indians. This was a misnomer that dates back to the days of early colonialists who thought that the “New World” was India. While this term is still used somewhat in the United States it has become increasingly inappropriate and often times considered racist. Currently, the accepted terms are Native American, Aboriginal People, or — if you don’t want to sound like a ignorant dick — identifying them by their actual culture. In the case of Geronimo his people were the Bedonkohe band of the Apache tribe.
Supplementary Material
This comic also features pin-ups of Captain America re-imagined in different eras of American history. One is a War of Independence version of the character circa 1776. Another depicts Captain America as gunfighter from the American Frontier. Lastly, a NASA inspired version of Captain America on the moon, complete with an Apollo branded shield.
Two of these Captain Americas are revealed to have actually existed in the Earth-616 universe. The colonial Captain America was hinted at in Captain America #194. He is an ancestor of Steve Rogers who existed during the 1700s. He was depicted in his own unique Captain America costume in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #6-7, X-Men: Hellfire Club #2, per Ruins of Ravencroft: Sabretooth #1, this version of Captain America died in 1783 after getting struck by a cannonball.
The other, is the American Frontier version of Captain America. Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files #1 features a profile of the character, calling him the “Captain from Texas” named Roger Stephenson an American Ranger on the hunt for an outlaw. The only information about him was a short story written about one of his exploits.
