On Your Belly You Shall Crawl! And Dust Shall You Eat!

Captain America has been captured by the Viper. Injected with opium, he is dumped in his cell where he is haunted by hallucinations of his friends and enemies. Trying to maintain his sanity, Steve Rogers is visited by a vision of his father who reminds Steve about the talks they would have when he was younger, reminding his son that in order to succeed in this world he is going to have to fight.[1]

He is being observed by Viper and the Constrictor and he tells them that he will get out and make them pay for drugging him like this. Viper doesn’t think so and orders her men to take Captain America to his cell. When they try, Cap tries to break free but is quickly jolted into submission by the Constrictor’s electrified adamantium coils. As he is being hauled away he is observed by Gail Runciter, a SHIELD agent who has infiltrated Viper’s nihilist organization. Even though this will blow her cover, Gail contacts Nick Fury to tell him what’s going on.

Meanwhile, Jack Monroe — the Bucky of the 1950s — has returned to Steve Rogers’ apartment to tell his girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal that Steve has been captured. Bernie suggests that they go to Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon and Captain America’s old partner, and recruit him for a rescue mission. However, when they visit Wilson, he tells them that he promised to retire as the Falcon when he began running for congress and cannot actively help them.[2] However, Sam has some connections with SHIELD and puts in a call to Nick Fury for help. They arrive just as Fury loses contact with Gail Runciter.[3] As they figure out their next move, Fury gets contacted by Spider-Woman who reports her own encounter with Viper, but can’t help because she has her own problems to deal with.[4] However, Fury gets a moment of inspiration and believes that the 50’s Bucky will be useful in this plan.

Back at the Viper’s hideout, Captain America is still suffering hallucinations from the opium he has been drugged with. He has a vivid memory about reading the newspaper with his father before the start of the Great Depression. This fantasy is interrupted when the Viper communicates with him through a closed circuit television. She tells him that her organization has set up operations below the small town of Hartsdale. She explains that she has created a powerful strain of the bubonic plague and plans on releasing infected snakes on the town to spread the disease. Vowing to stop Viper, Cap tries to break out of his cell but is blasted with more opium gas. Overhearing all of this is the Constrictor who is now realizing just how insane Viper is and decides to betray her in order to save his own skin.

Meanwhile, Sam Wilson wakes up from a nightmare and wonders if he’s going to regret not getting involved in the rescue mission. Bernie Rosenthal is also deeply concerned for Steve’s safety that she doesn’t hear when Fury apologizes from snapping at her earlier.

At that moment, Jack Monroe is being flown to the location of Viper’s hideout by Dum Dum Dugan. Jack has been dressed in Steve’s old Nomad costume as a means of psychologically shaking her since Viper was last defeated by Nomad and has no idea that he and Captain America were the same person.[4] when Dugan chokes on some of his words, Jack asks him what’s wrong and Dugan dismisses it as nothing.

Soon, the new Nomad is air dropped outside Viper’s base where he is ambushed by her men. Luckily, he is rescued by Captain America who had just been freed from his cell by Gail. The trio race back inside to stop the Viper’s mad plot. However, inside they find Viper, the Constrictor, and an army of guards waiting for them. That’s when Nomad triggers a device to signal Dugan to call in reinforcements. Unfortunately, Dugan has suffered a heart attack and passed out and is unable to respond.[5]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Nomad, Viper, Constrictor, Falcon, Bernie Rosenthal, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gail Runciter), Spider-Woman

Continuity Notes

1. The depiction of Steve’s father depict him as a well read man who bears a striking resemblance to Steve himself and that he wears glasses. This is at odds to the Joseph Rogers we see Captain America (vol. 7) #1-2. In these flashbacks Joseph was a bitter and abusive drunk who took out his failings on his family. Joe Rogers later died of influenza in 1926 when Steve was still a boy. See below.

2. Sam Wilson was Cap’s partner from Captain America #133 to 222. He began his run for congress in issue #275.

3. Fury mentions how Gail recently asked to move from a research position to active field duty, that was in Captain America #278. He also mentions how Viper used to be called Madame Hydra, this was the name she called herself when she was in charge of the terrorist organization in Captain America #110. Eventually ousted from her position, she renamed herself after killing the original Viper in Captain America #180.

4. After exposing the President of the United States as leader of the Secret Empire in Captain America #178, Steve gave up being Captain America and eventually became Nomad in issue #180. He later went on to defeat Viper in this identity in issue #182, but was forced back into the role of Captain America by the Red Skull in the following issue.

5. This story presents Dum Dum Dugan with a hear problem. However, this seems impossible as this is not the real Dugan — at least not physically. It’s revealed years alter that Dugan has been in suspended animation since the 60s after a near fatal injury and that his mind has been controlling a Life Model Decoy. However, Nick Fury has kept this a secret from everyone, including Dugan himself. See Original Sins #5 and New Avengers (vol. 4) #17. See below for some possible explanations for Dugan’s apparent heart attack in this story.

Topical References

• Lost of time measurements in this story. World War II is said to have happened 40 years ago, the 1950s having happened 30 years prior and that this story takes place in 1983. The Sliding Timescale bumps the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time so that the years in between the 40s and 50s and the present will grow longer and always be subject to change. Likewise, the date of the “present day” bumps forward as well and is not static.

The Depiction of Joseph Rogers

As stated above, the depiction of Joseph Rogers in this story is vastly different from later portrayals where Joe Rogers is described as an angry drunk. The first reference to this being Iron Man #172, published just one month after this story. The alcoholic Joe Rogers is the most consistent, being referenced as recently as Captain America (vol. 7) #1-2 (as of this writing).

The representation of Joe in this story is actually somewhat typical of a story written by J.M. DeMattis in which a character views a parental figure as larger than life, an object of perfection that the child strives to become but feels that they cannot live up to the expectations of the parent.

Marvel has not provided an explanation for this discrepancy as of this writing (November, 2021) and it seems unlikely that they will. However, I think there are reasonable explanations in the fiction that can explain this disparity.

Since Steve was hallucinating due to the fact that he was high on opium. I’m not an expert on opium, but a half-assed Google search tells me that while hallucinations are uncommon they are possible and that someone on opium experiences a euphoric effect and often experiences things as though they are dream like. I think it’s reasonable to assume that the hallucination of Steve’s father isn’t based on who Joe Rogers was, but rather who Steve longed for him to be.

Then there’s the idea that victims of abuse by a family member can often recall memories of the abuser in a more positive light that is in no way reflective of the reality. It’s actually quite common that someone suffering abuse related trauma can often have conflicting and contradictory memories of their abuser.

Dum Dum Dugan’s Heart Problem

This story ends with Dugan suffering from a heart attack and that he takes medication for his condition. This becomes difficult to explain after it has since been revealed that this is not Dugan’s physical body. As detailed in Original Sins #5 and New Avengers (vol. 4) #17 which reveals that for years, Dugan’s body was kept in suspended animation and that his mind was remotely piloting a Life Model Decoy. On it’s surface, the idea that Dugan could have heart problems and need medication for them seems somewhat outlandish.

Again, this is not something that Marvel has explained at the time of this writing. However, looking at the fiction I believe a reasonable explanation can be inferred.

However, when examining the revelation that Dugan had been piloting a LMD, it has been stated that this was kept a secret from everyone, including Dugan himself. The only person who knew the truth was Nick Fury who did everything he could to sell the deception. Although this seems like a short sighted way to sell the lie, it’s entirely possible that the Dugan LMD — which is virtually indistinguishable from a real person — that Fury programmed the LMD with physical limitations — such as a heart condition — to convince Dugan and everyone around him that he was a regular human being. As seen here, that issue spectacularly backfires, however I think this is the only instance where Dugan suffered a medical emergency (if I’m wrong please let me know) and it’s possible that Fury corrected this issue in the future.