Captain America #292
An American Christmas
At home with his girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal, Steve Rogers tells her how he has been attacked twice already by a massive crow while out on patrol as Captain America.[1] As the two begin to get romantic, they have to stop when Steve’s roommate Jack Monroe returns home from shopping for some new clothes. Jack is making an effort to fit into the present day by finding a day job after SHIELD set him up with credentials.[2] After Bernie leaves to teach an art class, Jack makes Steve a cup of hot chocolate and talk about their struggles before Steve has to head to work over at Bennett Advertising.[3]
Meanwhile, in Queens, the massive crow that has been attacking Captain America begins to shrink in size as it enters an apartment. There it lands on a wheelchair where it transforms into a Native American man named Jesse Black Crow. His minds jumbled by these strange experiences, Jesse looks in the mirror and thinks about his past. How he grew up on a reservation and was told stories about how his people were dominated by white settlers hundreds of years ago. He also recalls how when he became an adult he started working in the city as a construction worker until an accident left him confined to a wheelchair. Suddenly, Jesse screams in agony as his mind is flooded with visions of the past. He witnesses the hundreds of years of American colonialism that brutalized his people and how modern American institutions have spent years trying to erase the culture and language of his people. Jesse then sees a vision of a flaming crow that tells him that he has been the chosen champion of the Old America and that he must fight and destroy the embodiment of the new America, Captain America.
Three weeks later, Steve Rogers is still working for Arthur Bennett on a new advertising campaign for Kiwkkee Burger. However, Steve questions the ethics of the company since it seems to seek profits over anything else. That’s when Bernie arrives to take Steve out shopping and since the holidays are coming up and Bennett has no plans for the evening, she invites Steve’s boss over for Christmas dinner. As they head out, Bernie expresses her excitement to celebrate Christmas for once since she grew up in a traditional Jewish family that only celebrated Hanukkah.
However, the merriment is interrupted when the street suddenly fills with a dense mist. Suddenly, Jesse Black Crow — transformed into the warrior known as Black Crow — appears in a flash of lightning and begins attacking Steve. Although Black Crow has the element of surprise, Steve fights off his attacker before he can fatally stab him with a ceremonial knife. Then, just as suddenly as he appeared, Black Crow transforms into his name sake and flies away. The mist also disappears as if it was never even there to begin with, leaving both Steve and Bernie wondering what exactly happened.
However, Steve Rogers becomes pre-occupied with his job as a freelance artist and his duties as Captain America, including his membership in the Avengers. Meanwhile, Jack Monroe continues to pound the pavement but has little luck finding a job.
On December 24th, Jesse transforms into Black Crow once again and heads out to face Captain America once more. At that moment, Steve Rogers is celebrating Christmas with Bernie, her family, and all their friends. That’s when a crow appears in the window and pecks at Steve when he goes to investigate. Realizing that this is the Black Crow again, Steve excuses himself from the party so he can go looking for his foe as Captain America. Realizing that there is some kind of trouble going on, Jack also makes an excuse to leave the party. Soon after they are both gone, Bernie goes out looking for them as she is worried for Steve’s safety.
The pair change into Captain America and Nomad and go out looking for Black Crow. Cap and Nomad eventually find Black Crow on the Brooklyn Bridge. The Native American is incredibly powerful, able to transform his body into lightning to move around quickly. When Nomad tries to help Steve, Black Crow causes him to stop dead in his tracks with a simple glance. He then explains that he has come to battle Captain America to preserve the ways of his people. As Captain America tries to fight his foe in vain, Bernie arrives on the scene and watches from the sidelines. Eventually, Steve realizes that this is more of a symbolic battle between two different ideologies. Having sympathy for the plight of Native Americans and the history of cruelty and oppression they have faced, Steve stops fight and simply kneels before Black Crow, surrendering himself full to him.
Seeing this makes Black Crow realize that they are not enemies, but brothers and arms and that rather than one of them representing the future of America, they both will — together. After hugging Cap, Black Crow then vanishes in a flash of light. Running to Steve’s side, Bernie is relieved that he is safe and then asks Steve to marry her.
Several days later, a strange metallic construct has appeared in the middle of Central Park. Captain America joins his fellow Avengers as they go to investigate the strange construct. Arriving at the gate, they are compelled to enter the massive structure and suddenly vanish in a blinding flash of light.[4]
… This story continues in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Black Crow, Nomad, Bernie Rosenthal, Arnie Roth, Arthur Bennett, Ann Brennan, Avengers (Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Starfox), Mockingbird
Continuity Notes
Steve was attacked by a giant crow in Captain America #290.
Jack Monroe was the Bucky of the 1950s. He was put in suspended animation for decades after the super-soldier serum used on him drove him mad. Revived in more recent times, Jack had been cured of his madness and has been living with Steve Rogers until he can establish a new life for himself in this era. See Captain America #155 and 281 for all the details.
As revealed in Captain America #296, Jack laced the hot chocolate with a drug that will cause Steve to start rapidly aging as part of a final revenge scheme of the Red Skull. This scheme comes to fruition over the course of issues #293-300.
For the full story on how the Avengers detected the Beyonder’s whatsit in the middle of Central Park, see Avengers #242.
Topical References
The 1950s are stated as happening 30 years prior to this story. That should be considered a topical reference due to the fact that the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time, widening the gulf of years between its beginning and the 1950s.
The narrative of this story refers to Jesse Black Crow as an Indian. This is no longer the correct term and to many is considered racist. It is derived by Christopher Columbus mistaking the “New World” for South East Asia because he was a shithead colonizer who didn’t know shit. At any rate, the proper terms are Native American, Native Peoples, or Indigenous American.
Based on the Sliding Timescale, this story wouldn’t actually fall on Christmas. As such, you may want to consider all references to the holiday as being topical.
