Stop Making Sense

Following the defeat of Modred the Mystic, Captain America is flown to London’s Heathrow Airport by Captain Britain so he can take a flight back to America. Arriving just before the flight is scheduled to take off, Captain America uses his Avengers priority card to secure passage aboard the plane. Sat next to a chatty passenger, Cap prepares for a long flight. Hearing about the war, Captain America is amused that most people in Britain don’t remember him from his current activities with the Avengers, but due to his wartime exploits among the Invaders.[1][2]

Meanwhile, in New York, Bernie Rosenthal comes knocking at the shared apartment of her fiancée Steve Rogers and his roommate Jack Monroe. She wakes Jack up who was out late fighting crime as Nomad. Since Jack has been looking for a day job, Bernie questions how being out all night and sleeping half the day away can help him get a job. Jack is annoyed by this and after Bernie leaves he decides to prove that he can handle getting a job and establishing a life for himself since he wants to get out from under Captain America’s wing and be fully independent.

A short time later, a man enters the Ace Costume Shop in midtown Manhattan. He pulls a gun that sprays the owner with bubbles that make him think he is a chicken. While the owner is busy clucking away, the man grabs different costume pieces for his new identity.

At that same time, Jack Monroe meets with the manager at a grocery store on the Upper West Side. He is applying for a job as a bag boy and despite the fact that he is overqualified for the job, the owner decides to give Jack a chance, but expects Monroe to take the job seriously. Jack begins working right away and even though its not the most glamourous job, he’s glad he finally has one.

In Greenwich Village, the situation is much more grim at the Glass Menagerie. Bernie and her friend, Annie have just received notice from their landlord that the rent on their shop is being increased by 300%. They are just barely scraping by as-is and the two have to make the hard choice of staying in business or shutting down.

Back up town, the man who robbed the costume shop appears on the street in his new costume. Calling himself Madcap, he tells the people on the street that all life is meaningless and nothing makes sense. To punctuate his point, Madcap is spraying everyone he encounters with his bubble gun, causing them to begin acting crazy. When a police officer shoots Madcap, he goes down instantly. However, moments later the bullet wound completely heals and Madcap continues creating chaos in the street.

Nearby, Jack Monroe is getting to know one of his co-workers, Carmela, and is smitten by her. When one of Madcap’s victims throws a rock through the store window, Carmela is injured by the broken glass. Seeing that people are getting hurt from the chaos outside, Jack wants to go out and try and contain the situation as Nomad, but his boss catches him trying to go and tells him not to abandon his post. Jack can’t bring himself to stay and slips out anyway, hoping his new boss won’t notice.

As Nomad, Jack discovers that Madcap is the cause of the pandemonium on the street and tries to stop him. Avoiding the villain’s bubble gun, Nomad attacks him directly. However, Madcap’s ability to instantly recover from his injuries allows him to get back up moments after he is knocked down. Ultimately, Nomad fall victim to Madcap’s bubble gun and is driven mad as well. As Madcap retreat, Jack catches his reflection in a shopwindow and due to the hallucinatory nature of Madcap’s abilities, sees himself as half Nomad and half Captain America. As Madcap flees into the subway, Nomad leaps around the street singing a song about how he is not Captain America until the hallucinations finally wear off. Going back onto the street he discovers that everything is back to normal and the police have the situation under control.

Slipping away to change back into his civilian guise, Jack realizes that he has been gone for over two hours. When his boss finds him, Jack is told he is fired and after being paid for his work that day is told to get lost. Hearing how Carmela is in the hospital due to her injuries, Jack goes to see if she is okay and is dejected to discover that she has a boyfriend. Feeling like a total failure, Jack takes the subway back home, little suspecting that Madcap is riding in the next car over. Back at home, Jack is visited by Bernie who is once again seeing if Steve is home yet. He isn’t interested in hearing about her problems and tells her to go away. After she goes, Jack decides that he has been mooching off Steve for too long and begins packing up his things.

Elsewhere in the city, the Anaconda, Black Mamba and Death Adder are tracking down their old boss Sidewinder. When their latest lead turns out to be a dud, Anaconda assures her allies that they’ll find their former employer and make him pay.[3]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Nomad, Madcap, Anaconda, Black Mamba, Death Adder, Captain Britain

Continuity Notes

1. Captain America formed the Invaders back in Giant-Size Invaders #1, and the group spent much of the war stationed in London with their headquarters located inside Big Ben. See Invaders #1-41.

2. We don’t see Captain America for the rest of this issue, but his trip back to America is chronicled in Secret Wars II #1.

3. As the Serpent Squad, this trio of snake themed villains were hired by Sidewinder to assist Roxxon in recovering the Serpent Crown from the ocean floor. The were thwarted by the Thing, Stingray, and Triton of the Inhumans. See Marvel Two-in-One #64-66.

Topical References

• In this story, Captain America is depicted taking a British Airways Concorde jet back to the United States and that he boards the plan from a runway staircase. All of this should be considered topical. British Airways is a real world company, runway staircases have been replaced with concourse tunnels, and the Concord was retired from service in 2003.

• The man Captain America sets next to states that he served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. This should be considered a topical reference. This is because the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward in time, increasing the number of years between the end of World War II and the start of the Modern Age. As such, becomes increasingly impossible for an ordinary person who served in World War II to be alive in the Modern Age without some means of extended his life span. It seems unlikely that is the case for the dumpy guy Cap is setting next to on the plane.