Captain America #304
Undercover of the Night
Learning that his stolen shield has been sold to Stane International, Captain America heads to SHIELD headquarters to enlist Nick Fury’s help in getting it back.[1] Although SHIELD has weapons contracts with Stane International, Fury agrees to help since he is certain that the company is up to some shady business, as its owner — Obadiah Stane — engaged in a hostile take over of the company back when it was Stark International.[2] Unfortunately, Fury hasn’t been able to get enough proof to investigate the company.
In the meantime, Captain America asks Fury to get in touch with Myron MacLean, the creator of his shield, to see if he can make a temporary replacement.[3] Although MacLean has since retired from SHIELD, his home is under constant surveillance for security purposes. When Fury tries to contact the scientist they discover that his house in shambles, an obvious sign that he has been kidnapped. Fury has a hunch that Stane might have something to do with it — since they designed the security system monitoring Myron and would be the only organization outside of SHIELD who knew how to bypass them. Although Captain America declines to help Fury look for MacLean — as finding his shield takes more priority — Nick figures that they will probably discover that the two cases are connected.
Meanwhile, MacLean — a prisoner at Stane International — continues trying to find a way to recreate the alloy in Captain America’s shield. He is under the watchful eye of Arons, one of Stane’s henchmen. However, when the thug has his back turned, MacLean tries to dump a cast of his latest batch of alloy in Arons instead of using it to coat a suit of battle armor. Arons manages to avoid being scalded alive by using Captain America’s shield to protect himself and warns Myron not to try that again. Losing all hope of escape, MacLean gets back to work.
At that same moment, Captain America arrives at Stan International disguised as an Australian arms manufacturer and arranges a meeting with Obadiah Stane himself. While in this meeting, Steve has Nomad break into the facility and create a distraction. Although it takes some effort, Nomad manages to cause enough of a commotion for the alarms to sound. Alerted of the situation, Stane cuts his meeting with “Anthony Schwarz” short, allowing Steve to slip away and change into Captain America.
While Nomad keeps security at bay, Captain America breaks into the lab where they are keeping MacLean. In order to stop Captain America, Arons uses the battle suit to try and stop the hero. Cap finds himself on the defensive as he tries to single out his shield among a number of failed copies. Finding it, Myron tosses it to Captain America who quickly demolishes Aron’s armor, proving that the alloy that MacLean made is just as faulty. With the battle over, Cap and Nomad retreat with MacLean. Although they were able to rescue MacLean, they unfortunately were unable to get any evidence to prove Stane International’s illegal business dealings.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Nomad, Nick Fury, Myron MacLain, Obadiah Stane, Batroc’s Brigade (Batroc, Zaran, Machete)
Continuity Notes
A footnote here reminds readers that SHIELD’s current headquarters has been in operation since Captain America #232. This was after their previous headquarters — hidden beneath a barber shop — was destroyed in Captain America #228, when the spy agency was compromised by the Corporation.
Obadiah Stane’s hostile take over of Stark International began back in Iron Man #162 and ending in issue #174. It threw Tony Stark into a spiral of alcoholism and poverty. Tony will eventually pick himself up and confront Stane who takes his own life in Iron Man #200. Stane International would then fall into the ownership of Justin Hammer until Tony manages to buy back his old company in issue #283.
MacLean’s hand in creating Captain America’s shield was detailed last issue. Per Captain America #255, the shield was created in 1941. Marvel has yet to explain how MacLean can still be alive in the Modern Age. I posit a theory in my summary of last issue.
