Out of Commission

The Flag-Smasher has just learned who has been secretly funding his anti-nationalist organization, ULTIMATUM. Horrified to learn who this is, Flag-Smasher soon finds himself on the run as his own men try to hunt him down and kill him. Escaping two of his pursuers, Flag-Smasher realizes that he is in over his head and — as much as he hates to admit it — there is only one person who can help him save the world: Captain America.

Meanwhile, in at the assembly chamber of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Captain America has been brought before the Council. They are furious that John went out and tried to kill Left-Winger and Right-Winger, the two men Walker blames for the death of his parents.[1] The Commission has been able to cover up all of John’s missteps to date but this is the final straw and he is to be put into detention until they decide if they are going to pursue criminal charges. The meeting is then interrupted by the outgoing President of the United States who has just now heard about the newly appointed Captain America and wants to give his blessings before leaving office. When asked what happened to Steve Rogers, Raymond Sikorski tells him that they fired him as Captain America and that he has been held since assaulting the President earlier. Since he was under the influence of the Viper at the time, the President orders Rogers released right away as he deserves a medal for saving the country, not incarceration.[2]

This leaves the Commission wondering what to do about John Walker. They decide to keep him active until the new administration takes over in January and let them decide what to do. Douglas agrees and goes to tell John of this decision.

At that moment, Flag-Smasher arrives at an arctic ice station and quickly takes its entire staff hostage. He then orders them to radio Washington and ask for Captain America’s help.

Sometime later, Douglas Rockwell reports back to his master and inform him that the President has overridden the Committees plans for John Walker and Steve Rogers. The news that Walker will remain Captain America and Rogers being released are all good news to his master as everything is going according to plan.[3] As Rockwell ends the video call, Valerie Cooper comes in to tell him about Flag-Smasher’s message. When asked which Captain America to send, Douglas insists that it be John Walker.

Elsewhere, Steve Rogers is still waiting in his cell, thinking about the past few months since he was stripped of his Captain America identity. He believes that he is being testing himself ever since he nearly lost a fight with the Super-Patriot, that all of these trials and tribulations were to see if he still had what it took to be Captain America or if he was just getting too old for the job.[4] Suddenly, the power goes out and the door to his cell swings open. Deciding that turning himself in was the wrong move, Steve decides to take advantage of the situation and get out. Unable to find any sign of his friend D-Man, Steve recovers his shield and gets moving. Unsure if this is a trap or not, Steve decides to get out before he finds out the hard way.

Later, the new Captain America and Battlestar are en route to the arctic ice station. On the way, Lamar goes over the records of Steve Rogers’ previous battles with Flag-Smasher.[5] John doesn’t say a single word the whole ride, leaving his partner to wonder what he can do for his friend. When they arrive, Captain America goes in and finds Flag-Smasher who threatens to shoot one of the ice station staff unless he turns over the shield. However, when John refuses, Flag-Smasher realizes that he’s not dealing with the original Captain America. This leads to a battle and while, John goes into the fight with sadistic glee, the tide quickly turns when he discovers that Flag-Smasher is wearing an exo-skeleton that has been sapping his strength. Overpowering Walker, Flag-Smasher puts a gun to his head and orders Battlestar to summon the real Captain America or his friend will die. When word gets back to Douglas Rockwell, he tells informs them that they are out of luck because Steve Rogers has been released.

Elsewhere, Steve Rogers connects to his hotline to see if there are any important messages waiting for him. However, when he is connected the screen is filled with gibberish, prompting him to head back to Brooklyn Heights to find out what’s wrong.

Recurring Characters

The Captain, Captain America, Battlestar, Demolition Man, ULTIMATUM (Flag-Smasher), The Commission (Valerie Cooper, Raymond Sikorski, Douglas Rockwell, Adrian Sammish), “John Smith”

Continuity Notes

1. John Walker became Captain America in issue #333. Later, his former partners exposed his identity in Captain America #341. This led to the Watchdogs kidnapping and murdering John’s parents in issue #345. He got revenge against the pair last issue. Although they survived the attempt on their lives, they will later commit suicide, as we’ll learn in Captain America #383.

2. Rogers was forced to resign as Captain America in issue #332 when he refused to work for the government. When the Viper tainted Washington’s water supply, turning everyone into snake people, it was Steve who saved the day, as seen in Captain America #341-344. Despite this, the Commission had him arrested as he disobeyed their orders to stop fighting crime. See Captain America #345.

3. This mysterious benefactor is the Red Skull, as we’ll learn in Captain America #350.

4. Steve Rogers fought the Super-Patriot in Captain America #327. While the battle ended in a draw, Steve found himself doubting himself. What he doesn’t know is that Super-Patriot is the new Captain America, something he won’t learn until issue #350.

5. Lamar particularly focuses on Steve’s battle against ULTIMATUM in which he was forced to use a gun to kill one of the terrorists in order to save the lives of their hostages. See Captain America #321-322.

Topical References

• The President of the United States is depicted as Ronald Reagan here. However, this should be considered topical as he left office in 1989 and subsequently died in 2004.

• Steve is depicted needing to connect his terminal computer to a pay phone in order to connect to his database. This should be considered a topical reference since wireless computing has since become ubiquitous in society.