Captain America #346
Ambush
Captain America, aka John Walker, snapped after the Watchdog’s murdered his parents. In response, he killed everyone responsible and subsequently arrested by the sheriff of Custer’s Grove. Since then, John has silently sat in his cell in a state of shock until Battlestar and Raymond Sikorski come to bail him out. He finally snaps out of it when they ask if he is ok. John tells them how the Watchdogs kidnapped his parents out of revenge and how they killed them all after they murdered his parents.[1]
After Sikorski arranges John’s bail, he is taken back to the barracks at Fort George M. Mead for punishment. There, two members of the Commission on Superhuman Activities — Douglas Rockwell and Val Cooper — question Dennis Dunphy, aka D-Man, who has been arrested for assisting Steve Rogers in his vigilante activity.[2] However, Dunphy refuses to talk and demands to be allowed to talk to a lawyer.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, the Resistants are attacking a prisoner transport heading to the Vault where they rescue their fellow mutant, Mentallo. The Guardsmen transporting the master telepath are no match for the Resistants mutant abilities.[3]
Back in Washington, John Walker has finally arrived and Douglas Rockwell personally chastises him for the damage he has done to the Captain America brand by murdering members of the Watchdogs. Furious, Rockwell tells John that he is suspended until further notice and orders him to turn in his costume and shield. After Walker departs, Rockwell uses a private video link to contact his superior what happened. Surprisingly, his master is pleased to hear about Walker’s screw up and tells Rockwell that John needs to be reinstated as Captain America because his continued service is important to the world. Rockwell is then ordered to cover things up the best he can and then to release the Taskmaster into his custody for reassignment.[4]
Meanwhile, Battlestar is learning about how the Commission is suspending John until further notice and is upset that they would punish him so harshly after a single crew up. He is about ready to quit but John convinces him not to jeopardize his future. That’s when Lamar is called into a meeting. He is going to be assigned to assist the Freedom Force to capture the Resistants. To this end, they are going to try and lure them out with a phony trail for a mutant. To sell this raise, Mystique uses her shape-shifting abilities to pose as the outlaw known as Quicksilver to make for an enticing target.[5] As they are going over the details of the briefing, Douglas Rockwell goes to John Walker’s room and tells him that he is being reinstated as Captain America and being assigned to help Freedom Force capture the Resistants.
At that same moment, Mentallo has been brought back to the Resistants’ hideout, in the ruins of Mesmero’s old mutant city.[6] Many of its members reveal that they were once members of the government sanctioned Mutant Force before they were pushed out by the Freedom Force, and changed their codenames since becoming the Resistants.[7] Since all the known mutants in the Resistants have taken on new codenames, Mentallo decides to take on the name Think-Tank. Having fallen for the government’s trick, the Resistants then begin preparing to rescue “Quicksilver” from police custody.
The following day, in a Nevada court room, a mock trial is put on merely for appearances. As the Freedom Force goof off, Captain America watches from a hidden vantage point outside. As the Resistants head to the court house on a giant boulder piloted by Meteorite, their arrival is observed by Cap. While inside, Destiny’s precognitive abilities kick in and she warns the others that they are about to be attacked. When the Resistants begin their attack, they start putting people on the street in harms way. This prompts Captain America to break cover and attack them. He is savage and relentless and incapacitates the entire group with deadly precision. Once they are all defeated, John has to be stopped before he beats their leader to death.
The members of Freedom Force are furious that John disobeyed orders, but he is beyond caring. When Battlestar tries to get John to chill out, he tells him that he missed his parent’s funeral to go on this mission.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Battlestar, Resistants (Quill, Lifter, Mist Mistress, Burner, Mentallo), “John Smith”, Watchdogs, The Commission (Valerie Cooper, Raymond Sikorski, Douglas Rockwell, Adrian Sammish), Guardsmen, Demolition Man, Freedom Force (Mystic, Avalanche, Blob, Destiny, Pyro, Spiral, Crimson Commando, Stonewall, Super Saber)
Continuity Notes
John Walker’s first mission as Captain America was to investigate the Watchdog’s and get evidence of their criminal activities in Captain America #335. After John’s secret identity was exposed on live television in issue #341, the Watchdog’s kidnapped his parents, as seen last issue.
This is a bit of a long one: Steve Rogers was forced to retire as Captain America in Captain America #332 and was under orders not to fight crime. Walker took his place as Captain America in the following issue. Steve continued his crime fighting career as simply “The Captain” in issue #337. In issue #341-344, the Viper’s terrorist attack on Washington, DC alerted the Commission to the fact that Steve was still fighting crime. D-Man and Cap’s other allies were arrested, forcing Steve to surrender to the Commission last issue.
One of the Guardsmen makes mention to how their suits of armor are not as durable since Iron Man bricked all their Starktech. This happened in Iron Man #228. At the time, Stark was neutralizing all of the unauthorized users of his technology. See Iron Man #225-232.
The Taskmaster has been in the Commission’s custody since his arrest in the Thing #32. He was forced to train John Walker so he could emulate Steve Rogers’ fighting style and shield throwing techniques in Captain America #334. Rockwell’s mysterious master is actually the Red Skull, as we’ll learn in issue #350.
Here, Quicksilver is referred to as a mutant. However, years later, it’s revealed that this is not the case. Per Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #5, Quicksilver was actually experimented upon by the High Evolutionary when he was a baby. In order to cover up his work, the Evolutionary made it so that future DNA tests would have Pietro register as a mutant.
Yeah, believe it or not, Mesmero tried to build a Mutant City out in the California desert. Old school X-Men stories were pretty weird sometimes. See X-Men #49-58.
These would be Burner, Lifter, Peepers (yes, Peeper), and Shocker (no, not the Spider-Man villain) They were first formed by Magneto in Captain America Annual #4 as a one-off incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They became Mutant Force in Defenders #78-83. They became government operatives in Defenders #125-130. Ironically, Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants became Freedom Force in Uncanny X-Men #199.
Mention is made of the Resistants last battle with Captain America. This was in issue #343.
