Captain America #269
A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste!
Steve Rogers and his neighbors Josh Cooper and Mike Farrel have been invited over to their landlord, Anna Kappelbaum’s, apartment for a large breakfast. Anna takes the opportunity to talk about the problems that Steve has been having in his relationship with Bernie Rosenthal. Steve admits to her that he’s not used to how forward Bernie is with her feelings toward him but still cares for her very much. That’s when Bernie arrives to make peace with Steve. He accepts her apology for storming out on him the day before but has to hurry out the door.
This is because he has agreed to appear as Captain America for a motorcycle stunt show at Madison Square Gardens that is for charity. He is to perform motorcycle stunts with a new group of daredevils called Team America. When he arrives at the Gardens, one of the security guards tells him that Nobel Prize winner Alfred Knopfler is in the crowd and hopes there is no danger as other scientists have been gone missing recently.
Without giving this much thought, Captain America participates in the event with Team America which consists of members R.U. Reddy, Wolf, and Honcho. Captain America and Team America both develop mutual respect for one another over their motorcycle skills. Suddenly, the event is interrupted when a portal opens in the middle of the arena and a massive yellow-skinned android nabs Professor Knopfler from the the crowd. Captain America follows the android through the portal with Team America following behind as the group decides to see if they can lend Captain America a hand.
They arrive in the town of Ponder, which appears to be fashioned after a small American town at the turn of the century. There they are shocked when they are greeted by a man who claims to be noted author Mark Twain. Twain then impossibly introduces them to Albert Einstein. Twain then invites them down to the town hall where he promises everything will be explained. There they are even more surprised when they discover that the hall is occupied by some of the greatest thinkers in human history. They are welcomed by the Mad Thinker and his android. Rashly, Team America tries attacking the Mad Thinker but his android knocks them all out and imprisons them in an underground cavern via a trapdoor. The Thinker tells Captain America that they aren’t in danger as he has retired from super-villainy.
Taking Cap on a tour of Ponder, he explains that he created the town and populated it with androids based on the world’s greatest minds so that he can be kept company with his intellectual equals. Unfortunately, the androids can only be as brilliant as the records as the records about their lives and cannot come up with any new ideas of their own. The Thinker then takes Cap to his lab and explains that he has been capturing living Nobel Prize winners in order to transfer their minds into android bodies so that he can satisfy his intellectual needs. Captain America refuses to allow the Thinker to enslave people in this way. Having anticipated this, the Thinker has set up a trap to ensnare the Avenger so he too can turned into an android slave.
Suddenly, there is an explosion from the mine where Team America was being held and a black clad motorcyclist comes riding out. Crashing into the lab, this mysterious biker crashes his motorcycle into the machines freeing Captain America. This mystery man is then swarmed by the Thinker’s androids who have come to defend their master. Moments later, the members of Team America emerge from their prison and help Captain America trash the androids. Seeing his “friends” destroyed causes the Thinker to have a total breakdown. In the aftermath of the battle, Captain America asks Team America who the mystery man who helped them was but they have no idea who he is talking about. When he looks to where the mystery biker fought the androids he discovers that there is no trace of him and tells them to never mind.[1]
Soon, Nick Fury and a team of SHIELD agents arrive to clean up the mess. After Team America take off, Captain America tells Fury that this experience gave him a lot to think about and heads for home himself.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Mad Thinker, Awesome Android, Team America (Honcho, Wolf, R.U Reddy, Dark Rider), SHIELD, (Nick Fury), Bernie Rosenthal, Mike Farrel, Anna Kapplebaum
Continuity Notes
The mysterious biker, later dubbed the Dark Rider, is later revealed to be a construct created by the mutant powers of Team America. This is not revealed until New Mutants #5-6 when the group is examined by Charles Xavier.
