Captain America #320
The Little Bang Theory
On the shores of Lake Erie, Captain America agrees to meet up with the villain known as Water Wizard. He is attacked by animated water as a test to make sure that this is the real Captain America and not the Scourge of the Underworld in disguise. The Water Wizard is nervous and for good reason. He takes Captain America to the Bar With No Name, the scene of a slaughter of some 18 super-villains. They had all gathered to discuss how to deal with the Scourge only to be slaughtered by the vigilante. The Water Wizard was supposed to be to attend but a flat tire kept him delayed, and this saved his life. Seeing the charnel house the bar has becomes horrifies Captain America, who agrees to place Water Wizard in protective custody until the Scourge of the Underworld is dealt with.
The authorities are soon called to clean up the bodies, and Captain America asks the local sheriff to work with him to set up a trap to lure Scourge out so they can put a stop to his murder spree. Returning to his mobile headquarters, Captain America checks in on Water Wizard before going to sleep.
At that moment, the Scourge — who has is own mobile headquarters — is awoken by a call from Domino, the man who provides him with information on his targets. After being given a list of possible targets, Scourge decides to go after whoever is closest to him. This turns out to be Rachel Leighton, aka Diamondback.[2]
At that same moment, the Cobra had been sent by the Serpent Society to help Diamondback escape from the hospital as they are concerned that she might become a target of the Scourge of the Underworld.[3] As they make their retreat in a Serpent Saucer, Scourge arrives on the scene and tries to shoot it out of the sky, but fails. Little knowing how close they came to death, the pair head back to the Serpent Squad’s hideout.
The following morning, Captain America goes to the local police station with his plan: The authorities are to plant a story in the media that one of Scourge’s victims survived in the hopes of drawing out the killer and capturing him. Later, Scourge is watching the news and sees the fake news item that announces that the villain known as Mirage survived and is currently under police protection. This of course, is actually Captain America in disguise and after the announcement, Domino begins tailing him back to a remote cabin in the woods. Soon, Scourge arrives and tries to eliminate “Mirage”, only to learn that it is Captain America in disguise. Scourge tries to justify his murders by saying that he is carrying out the same cause as Captain America himself, even though he takes things much farther.
Unmasking Scourge, Captain America is surprised that he’s just an ordinary guy and that. The killer insists that he is not insane and that his cause is just. He tells Captain America how he is the son of a film director who was known for his popular westerns. These films set the tone for Scourge’s sense of right and wrong. He decided to murder super-villains after discovering that his brother was a criminal known as the Enforcer, and he became Scourge’s first victim.[4] This story doesn’t convince Captain America that the Scourge’s cause was justified in an way. Moments later, someone fatally shoots Scourge from afar, announcing that justice has been served — the Scourge’s trademark line after a kill. As Scourge dies in his arms, Captain America is left more questions than answers about this whole sorry affair.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Scourge of the Underworld, Water Wizard, Domino, Diamondback, Cobra, (corpses) El Jaguar, Mirage, Hellrazor, Rapier, Turner D. Century, Vamp, Ringer, Commander Kraken, Shellshock, Letha, Bird-Man, Mind-Wave, Cheetah, Firebrand
Continuity Notes
Scourge’s slaughter is not as cut and dry as it appears here:
Bird-Man, Cheetah, Cyclone, Firebrand, the Hijacker, Letha, Mirage, Turner D. Century, and are absolutely killed here. Years later, they are among Scourge victims resurrected by the Hood to use against the Punisher. See Punisher (vol. 8) #5.
Not all of Scourge’s victims were later resurrected by the Hood. They are:
Commander Kraken at the time of this writing is still considered to be deceased. He has since been seen in the Olympian underworld of Hades in Incredible Hercules #129-131.
The Grappler has remained dead, although he was seen in a flashback that took place prior to his death in She-Hulk (vol. 2) #3.
Hellrazer, the Jaguar, Shellshock, and were so forgettable that they have never been seen since or succeeded by anyone else.
Before they were resurrected, the corpses of the Cheeta, and were used by the shapeshifter known as Dead Wringer in Captain America #427.
Later, DNA samples from the Bird-Man, the Cheetah, Cyclone, Mirage, the Ringer, Turner D. Century, and Vamp were used by geneticist Arnim Zola to create Proto-Husk clones. See Deadpool (vol. 3) #0. Vamp has the distinction of being cloned by Zola twice, as seen in Deadpool (vol. 3) #6.
Cyclone would be succeeded by others who took up his identity: Gregory Stevens (Marvel Comics Presents #97 & Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #21-22) and Pierre Freeson (Thunderbolts #3 to present)
Firebrand was succeeded by Russ Broxtel in Web of Spider-Man #77 (until his death in Amazing Spider-Man #700.4), Richard Dennison (Iron Man (vol. 3) #4), a woman only known as Amanda (Invincible Iron Man #513), and another unidentified man (who appeared once and was killed in Deadpool (vol. 5) #27)
The Ringer actually survived and was rebuilt into a cyborg called Strikeback, as seen in Lethal Foes of Spider-Man #3-4. When he was believed dead, the Ringer’s identity was taken over by Keith Kraft in Marc Spector: Moon Knight #10. More recently, the identity was up for sale as part of the Hobgoblin’s super-villain franchise business as seen in Superior Spider-Man #25.
Steeplejack has also remained dead, but he his identity was another that became part of the Hobgoblin’s super-villain franchise business. See Superior Spider-Man #25.
The various targets that Domino has intel on include:
Kraven the Hunter, whom Scourge attempted to eliminate in West Coast Avengers #3, but couldn’t get a clear shot.
He states that Solarr had just recently died in a mishap at a government facility. He is referring to the events of Power Man and Iron Fist #113.
He also states that he learned the truth identity of the Hobgoblin. At the time of this story, there was a lot of speculation swirling around the true identity of the Hobgoblin since his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #238. Domino doesn’t mention a name so it’s left up in the air if his theory is correct. It’s entirely possible that he has been fooled like everyone else as the true Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley, had tricked everyone into believe that Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin. See Amazing Spider-Man #289 and Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives #1-3.
The Serpent Society have already lost one of their own at this point. Death Adder was murdered by Scourge in Captain America #318.
The Enforcer was murdered by Scourge in Iron Man #194. This backstory is probably a lie as there are many contradictions to this story to the greater Scourge of the Underworld narrative. Although this Scourge claims to be operating on his own, US Agent #1-4 reveals that the Scourge of the Underworld is actually a group that is funded by the golden age hero known as the Angel. Later members of the Scourge program would go on to claim that they had been wronged by villains in the past, such as the 2nd Scourge in Captain America #362.
Topical References
Water Wizard is depicted driving a 1980s model Volkswagen Beetle. This should be considered a topical reference.
Captain America’s van is identified as being a Chevy vehicle. This is topical as well.