Captain America #290
Echos
At Avengers Mansion, Captain America does a training exercise to show off his skills to his girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal, who is still getting used to the fact that she is dating a legendary hero. Bernie is impressed and is even more in love with him than ever before. Going up to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat, Steve admits that he wonders if he’s too old fashioned but Bernie tells him that this is what she loves most about him. That’s when she notices what she thinks is a fly in the room and swats it away. It turns out to be Cap’s fellow Avenger the Wasp, who wanted to peep on the couple but ultimately decides to give them some privacy. She is happy to see her teammate so fully in love.
Heading back home, Steve tells Bernie about his recent trip into the future where he helped Deathlok save the entire world and how, after coming back to the present, he prevented the event that kicked off that dystopian timeline.[1] Steve can hardly believe that he altered the course of history and changed the world, and Bernie admits that contemplating it gives her the creeps.[2]
Elsewhere, Captain America’s partner Nomad — aka Jack Monroe — has a nightmare where he is being chased by some unseen threat in a cloud of fog. He runs into Captain America and is relieved. That is until Cap rapidly ages into an old man draped in an American flag and walks away, leaving Nomad with the entity lurking in the mist that peers out at him with red glowing eyes.[3] Jack wakes up screaming and is relieved that it was all a nightmare, however he can’t remember the events of the night before. As he pours a glass of milk, Monroe is startled when Steve Rogers finally returns home to their shared apartment. Hearing about Jack’s nightmare, Steve understands and tells Jack that nightmares are a common thing in their line of work.[4] Pouring Steve a glass of milk, Jack admits that his fears chalk up to the struggle he is having to make a name for himself as Nomad, that deep down all he’ll be is Bucky, boy sidekick.[5] Steve decides that Jack needs to get some fresh air and the pair go out on patrol.
They are observed leaving Steve Rogers’ apartment by a seemingly non-descript man. This individual is visited by a woman calling herself Mother Superior. She knows that this is actually Baron Zemo and pulls off the false-face mask he has been wearing to cover up his horribly disfigured face. As Zemo puts on his trademark hood, Mother Superior tells him that she is his friend and when she touches his forehead he suddenly understand and agrees to go with her. As they walk into the night air, they are suddenly teleported away.
Meanwhile, Captain America and Nomad stop by the former campaign office of Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon. There they are greeted by Cap’s old partner, who is back to crime fighting after losing his congressional election bid. As the trio go on patrol together, Falcon tells Cap about how his election was a challenge as he struggled with his past as “Snap” Wilson being brought up.[6] They soon come upon a young African-American boy trying to break into an apartment. While Nomad wants to go in with fists flying, Falcon tells him to hold back and watch Captain America at work. Cap confronts the young boy and convinces him that breaking and entering is a bad idea. The boy is convinced and he leaves without issue. Sam then reveals that the kid is one of the children that he sees in his job as a social worker and intends to give him a stern talking to when they meet again.
Elsewhere, Arnie Roth — Steve Rogers’ old friend — has a nightmare where he is visiting the grave of his boyfriend, Michael. In it, Michael rises from the grave as a zombie and pulls Roth into the ground with him. When Arnie wakes up screaming he finds Mother Superior and Baron Zemo both in his apartment. Before he can do anything about this, Mother Superior touches Arnie’s forehead, causing him to pass out.[7] When Arnie wakes up again he finds Captain America, Nomad, and the Falcon standing in his living room. Chalking up his encounter with Superior and Zemo as part of his bad dream, he tells the three heroes that he has been struggling with insomnia ever since Michael died. However, rather than bum them all out with his problems he invites them in to play a game of cards.
This is observed from across the street by Mother Superior and Baron Zemo. Superior tells Zemo that everything is going according to plan and teleports him back to her hideout. Inside the mansion, Mother Superior tells Zemo that they are working on a final revenge scheme against Captain America being orchestrated by his mortal enemy, the Red Skull. Zemo is then taken up to the mansion bedroom where he meets the Skull in person, and seeing the villain without his iconic skull mask on comes as a shock.[8]
Back in Manhattan, Arnie Roth is cleaning up after Cap and the others have left for the night. Its then that he notices muddy footprints on the floor and realizes that the earlier visit by Baron Zemo and Mother Superior was not a dream.
Unaware of this revelation, Captain America and Nomad are heading for home when Cap is suddenly attack by a massive crow. Knocked off the rooftops, Steve breaks his fall thanks to his shield and while Nomad check to see if he is okay, the massive crow vanishes leaving them to wonder just what had attacked them.[9]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Mother Superior, Baron Zemo, Nomad, Falcon, Bernie Rosenthal, Arnie Roth, Wasp, Redwing
Continuity Notes
Captain America’s involvement with liberating Deathlok’s era was chronicled in Captain America #286-289. By preventing the events that made Deathlok’s future come to be, he caused the Prime Marvel Universe (Earth-616) to diverge from that reality. Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Realities 2005, Deathlok’s future endures as part of Reality-7484.
Here, we see campaign signs for Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon. At the time of this story, Sam is trying to win a seat in congress. See Captain America #272 and 276-278.
This is foreshadowing the Red Skull’s current plot against Captain America, which involves brainwashing Nomad into drugging Cap with a serum to cause him to rapidly age. See Captain America #293-300 for all the details.
Here, Steve Rogers apologizes for the speeches, saying he gets to making them because of his father, saying that Joe Rogers was a frustrated writer. This appears to be in contradiction with Captain America (vol. 7) #1-2, which depicts Joe as a working man who was an abusive alcoholic during the Great Depression before his death in 1926. See below for more on this.
Before becoming Nomad, Jack was the Bucky of the 1950s. See Captain America #155 and 281 for more details.
Sam Wilson’s past as “Snap” Wilson is some what complicated:
When Sam Wilson first met Captain America in Captain America #117, he appeared to be the ideal sidekick to Cap.
Later, in Captain America #185-186, the Red Skull revealed that Sam was once a petty crook named “Snap” Wilson and that he used the Cosmic Cube to alter Wilson’s personality to create a sleeper agent hiding as Cap’s crime fighting partner. Sam event went to trail for “Snap’s” crimes in issue #189 and was released on probation.
Sam’s criminal background came up during his campaign trail where even his sister recalls Sam becoming “Snap” Wilson in Captain America #276-278.
Years later, in All-New Captain America #3, the Red Skull’s daughter Sin revealed that “Snap” Wilson was a fabrication created by the Cosmic Cube and was used to make Sam doubt who he really is. This is in apparent contradiction to the above. I posit a theory on this here, as as of this writing (November, 2021) Marvel has yet to explain this discrepancy.
Arnie Roth’s boyfriend was killed thanks to the machinations of Baron Zemo who was using Roth as part of a revenge scheme. See Captain America #270, 272, 275-279. How Roth can still be alive when he was Steve’s childhood friend is not explained, but I provide a theory in my summary of issue #270.
Captain America #293-300 reveals that the process that put the Red Skull in suspended animation until he was revived in the Modern Age is starting to wear off and he has begun to rapidly age.
It’s revealed in Captain America #292 that this Captain America was attacked by Black Crow, a Native American mystic who is testing him in order to determine if he is worthy as the embodiment of America.
Topical References
This story states that Deathlok’s future timline is in the 1990s and that the present day is the year 1983. Both of these dates should be considered topical due to the Sliding Timescale. For more on this index’s position on Deathlok’s timeline, go here.
Joe Rogers (Again!)
In this story, Steve Rogers refers to his father as a frustrated writer. This seems out of character to the man we see in flashbacks in Captain America (vol. 7) #1-2. In those stories, Joe Rogers is depicted as a laborer and an abusive alcoholic. They certainly do not paint him as the intellectual that Steve is suggesting here.
However, that all said, anyone who doesn’t think an laborer with a drinking problem couldn’t be a profound thinker or a writer has never heard of Ernest Hemmingway.
