The Center Cannot Hold

Captain America is by the bedside of his friend Dave Cox, who has been in a coma after being brainwashed by Mother Superior into attacking Cap and his partner Nomad.[1] However, Dave’s wife Julie doesn’t blame Cap for what happened and encourages him to keep fighting to bring the people responsible to justice.

Meanwhile, Steve Rogers’ old friend Arnie Roth is being terrorized in his apartment by Baron Zemo and Mother Superior. When Roth passes out from the torment, they pick him up and teleport back to their hideout at Skull House.

Elsewhere, Bernie Rosenthal has taken Jack Monroe out to see a modern movie. Unfortunately, film has changed a lot since Monroe has come out of suspended animation and it is all a little too real for him so they leave before he ruins the show for everyone else.[2] They are greeted by Steve Rogers, who is concerned for Bernie’s safety after the Red Skull mailed a gift to her home. Bernie notices that Steve looks like shit, saying it looks like he has aged five years in the last day.[3] Going home and checking his message, Steve receives a voice mail from a panicked Arnie Roth and he, Bernie, and Jack race to his home. There they find what appears to be Arnie laying next to a wall with the Red Skull’s face burned into it. When Steve checks on “Arnie” he discovers that this is nothing more than a fragile robot of his friend. As they robot comes to pieces, it delivers a message saying that Arnie has been kidnapped by the Red Skull and that if Steve wants to save him he will follow the co-ordinates hidden in the robot’s eye casings.

Back at Skull House, the Red Skull’s long time assistant Horst Linder has died in his sleep due to old age.[4] Baron Zemo offers his condolences but they are rejected by the Skull, who explains he wasn’t mourning the loss of his assistant, but observing his death up close and personal. The Skull then leads Zemo down into the lower levels of Skull House so that they can talk about the next phase in his revenge plan. When Zemo asks why Mother Superior isn’t being included in this conversation, the Red Skull tells him that this is a conversation that can only be made between men.

A short time later, Captain America and Nomad have followed the co-ordinates to Skull House. Having looked into the property, Steve has learned that it was purchased some years ago by a reclusive millionaire named Johann Shmidt. Inside the duo are ambushed by the Sisters of Sin, who use their varied powers and abilities against them. While they are disorientated by the lust powers of Sister Pleasure and the illusions of Sister Dream, Cap and Nomad are physically attacked by Sister Agony and Death. Sister Pleasure really gets to Nomad as she had manipulated him in the past. After Captain America knocks Pleasure out with his shield, Nomad returns the favor by saving his mentor from Sisters Death and Agony. When Sister Dream tries to make Steve lose himself in a fantasy where he and Bernie are living an ideal marriage together, Nomad knocks her out as well.[5]

As reality begins to reassert itself, Cap and Nomad see what appears to be Baron Zemo laughing at them from a church podium. Steve attacks the figure but when he unmasks “Zemo” it turns out to be his friend Arnie Roth. As they make this startling discovery, walls come down from the ceiling trapping all three men in a steel prison.

Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn Heights, the Wasp and Starfox have been dispatched to act as bodyguards for Steve’s girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal. However, before she can answer the door she is snatched by Mother Superior.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Red Skull, Nomad, Sisters of Sin (Mother Superior, Sister Agony, Sister Death, Sister Dream, Sister Pleasure), Baron Zemo, Bernie Rosenthal, Arnie Roth, Dave Cox, Julie Cox, Wasp, Starfox, Horst Linder

Continuity Notes

1. Dave Cox’s brief stint as the Slayer happened in Captain America #293-294.

2. Jack Monroe was the Bucky of the 1950s until the super-soldier serum in his body drive him mad forcing the government to put him into suspended animation. Revived in the present day and having his mind healed, Jack has been struggling to find a place in the modern world. See Captain America #155 and 281.

3. Little does Steve know is that Jack was brainwashed into the Skull to slip a drug into Steve’s drinks that causes him to rapidly age. He started doing so back in Captain America #290. Steve won’t discover this until next issue.

4. Linder was one of the Nazis who ended up in suspended animation with the Red Skull during the end of World War II as seen in Tales of Suspense #79. Horst’s frail age and death here is revealed also happening to the Skull because the process that kept them alive for so long is starting to wear off, as explained in Captain America #297.

5. Nomad had been brainwashed by Sister Pleasure, as seen in Captain America #287-288. The full scope of her manipulations are revealed next issue.

Topical References

• Captain America states that Skull House was purchased in the late 60s. The intent here is that the property was bought around the time the Red Skull came out of suspended animation. This is topical due to the Sliding Timescale. The decade referenced here is in regards to the publication history of the Red Skull and not an accurate measurement of time. The Red Skull made his re-appearance in Tales of Suspense #79, published in July 1966. Per the Sliding Timescale that was the 2nd year of the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe. As this story takes place in the 6th year, then modern readers should interpret this to mean that Skull House was bought about 4 years prior to this story rather than 20.