Captain America #354
Reawakening
[Note: The pages of this story are divided in two with one half telling the Captain America story and the other half being about Battlestar and US Agent. For the sake of clarity I tell both stories separately]
Captain America
After the attack on SHIELD headquarters, Captain America suspects that the Machinesmith might be responsible and goes to investigate the scene of their last battle.[1] He realizes that without SHIELD around anymore, the Avengers are going to have to step up with cleaning up the scenes of their battles.[2] Looking around, he finds that the hideout has been undisturbed since the last time he was here. Still, he decides to take a severed head from one of the Machinesmith’s robotic duplicates for further examination.
Returning to Avengers Island, Captain America meets with Fabien Stankowicz, who has accepted his offer to become a part of the Avengers Support Crew. Cap has hired him on since they are in need of an inventor and to keep an eye on him since he has been a threat to the group in the past.[3] It’s then that Cap gets a report about a robot that has been sighted in Massachusetts and takes Fabian with him to collect it. It turns out to be the inert form of the Fourth Sleeper robot once used by the Red Skull.[4] While Fabian is excited because he read about the Sleeper in an old issue of Captain America,[5] it is a somber encounter for Steve as it reminds him of the dearly departed Sharon Carter.[6]
They bring the Sleeper back to Avengers Island where a hanger has been converted to contain other robots the team has recovered recently: The Kree Sentry, TESS-One, the Awesome Android, and the Mad Thinker’s Awesome Android.[7] However, before they can put the Fourth Sleeper in the same stasis field as the others it suddenly comes to life and begins attacking them. Ordering the crew to evacuate and summon Thor and Gilgamesh, Cap stays behind to keep the rogue robot at bay. Although it has been stripped of most of its powers, the Sleeper is incredibly strong and more than a match for Captain America. It’s during this fight that the Machinesmith’s severed head comes to life and confirms that he was responsible for the attack on SHIELD. Steve shatters the Machinesmith’s head against the Sleeper, but this doesn’t stop the robots rampage. Luckily, Captain America is able to get ahold a live wire that he uses to jolt the Sleeper with enough power to shut it down.
With the danger passed, Cap calls back in the crew so they can help him finish containing the robot.
Battlestar and US Agent
Ever since his friend John Walker was murdered right before his eyes, something about the incident hasn’t say right with Lamar Hoskins, aka Battlestar. He was particularly troubled to find out John’s sister recovered and cremated John’s body without informing him.[8] However, when he went to meet with her, he discovered that she had mysteriously disappeared.[9] With no other clues, Battlestar breaks into the morgue where the shooter — allegedly one of the Watchdogs — was examined.[10] The Watchdog’s body is already long gone but Lamar finds his personal effects in one of the storage lockers. Looking at it the equipment and clothing, it is of poorer quality than the Watchdog’s actually wear, leading Lamar to believe that it is fake. Unfortunately, this raises more questions then they answer.
Going to a payphone, Lamar calls Val Cooper at the Commission for Superhuman Affairs to tell her what he learned. He also raises his suspicions that John might still be alive. Val is shocked by this and promises to look into it further for him. However, as Lamar hangs up the phone he is convinced that Cooper doesn’t’ believe him.
Hours later, General Lewis Haywerth — another member of the commission — arrives at Stane International where he is shown their Iron Monger battle suit. After being told of its capabilities and how it is the only suit of armor that still contains Starktech, Haywerth decides that it will suit his needs.[11]
Three hours later, Haywerth calls a meeting of the members of the Commission and unveils their new operative. Decked out in Steve Rogers’ previous black costume and shield, the operative called US Agent demonstrates his fighting abilities by taking on a soldier wearing the Iron Monger armor. As the demonstration begins, the other members — particularly Henry Gyrich — express their displeasure that Hayworth was unreachable during the John Walker fiasco and demand to know who this new operative is and where he came from.
That’s when Hayworth drops a bombshell: US Agent is John Walker. In fact, he faked Walker’s death so they could reinvent him as their new operative without the bad public image created during John’s tenure as Captain America. To further cover things up, Walker has been given a new identity, had his memories altered, and even undergone speech therapy to eliminate is Georgian accent.[12] This comes as shock to everyone else on the Commission however they have nothing to protest against when the US Agent succeeds in taking down the Iron Monger all on his own. As the Agent is being congratulated by Hayworth, Raymond Sikorski wonders just what they are going to do with him.
… This story is continued in West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #44.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, US Agent, Machinesmith, Michael O’Brien, Fabien Stankowicz, Valerie Cooper, Henry Gyrich, Lewis Haywerth, Raymond Sikorsky, Kree Sentry 459, TESS-One, Awesome Android, Super-Adaptoid, Fourth Sleeper
Continuity Notes
Captain America last fought the Machinesmith in Captian America #248-249. The attack on SHIELD HQ happened in issue #351. Cap states here that he was busy dealing with the Soviet Super Soldiers and Super-Nova before having time to check things out. See Captain America #352-353 and Avengers #301-303.
At the time of this story, SHIELD has been dissolved after the organization was infiltrated by rogue Life Model Decoys called Deltites. See Nick Fury vs. SHIELD #1-6. Fury will begin rebuilding the organization in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (vol. 3) #1.
Fabien is an inventive genius who tried to make a reputation for himself by attacking the Avengers on a few occasions. See Avengers #217, 221, 239, as well as Marvel Two-In-One #96.
Captain America first fought the Fourth Sleeper with Sharon Carter in Captain America #101-102.
Fabian references a number of actual Marvel Comics. The comic book company exists in the Marvel Universe and has been publishing licensed comics based on the adventures of various superheroes. This has been the case since Fantastic Four #10.
At the time of this story, Steve believes that Sharon was killed in action after being brainwashed by National Force in Captain America #237. In reality, she faked her death in order to go on a deep-cover mission for SHIELD. She will turn up again in Captain America #444.
These robots were gathered by the Super-Adaptoid to form a group called Heavy Metal in order to the Adaptoid to gain the power of the Cosmic Cube. This plot was thwarted in Avengers #285-290. Here, Fabian lists the first comic book appearances of all these robots: Fantastic Four #64 (the Sentry), Tales of Suspense #84 (the Adaptoid), and Captain America Annual #8 (TESS-One), he is cut off by Cap before he can mention the Awesome Android’s first appearance, which was in Fantastic Four #15 for anyone who cares to know.
John Walker was seemingly murdered in Captain America #351. As we learn later in this story, his death was faked so the government could reinvent him as US Agent in order to get around the negative publicity John generated during his tenure as Captain America from issue #333-350.
Lamar discovered that John’s sister disappeared last issue. It’s never clearly explained what happened to her. Since her parents were murdered in Captain America #345, presumably she was put under some kind of protection program. She will turn up again years later in US Agent (vol. 3) #1-5.
Early in his career as Captain America, circa Captain America #335, John Walker infiltrated the Watchdogs to expose their criminal activities. When John’s secret identity was exposed in issue #341, the Watchdogs began targeting his family in the aforementioned issue #345. An alleged Watchdog was the one who “killed” John in issue #351 only to get murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld.
Mention is made of the Iron Monger armor’s previous outings. These were in Iron Man #200 and 212-213. It is also mentioned that it is the last piece of Starktech driven armor in existence. At the time, all other unauthorized use of Tony Stark’s technology were bricked by Iron Man. See Iron Man #225-231.
Although Hayworth has attempted to submerge John’s past memories, he eventually begins to remember and reclaims his past. See Captain America #380-383.
