Captain America #376
Streets of Poison Part 6: Cross Purposes
Daredevil just got the shit beat out of him by a drug fueled Captain America.[1] After his defeat he is found by Crossbones, who wonders what happened to the hero. After looking under Daredevil’s mask he loses interest and decides to go because he has more important work to be doing.
He then goes into the Italian restaurant where the Kingpin is having a private meal. He has come to assassinate the mobster for his boss, who is in charge of the Ice trade that has been muscling in on Fisk’s territory. The Kingpin is defended by his bodyguard Typhoid Mary until Daredevil recovers and joins the fight. With Crossbones busy with his greatest enemy, the Kingpin takes this opportunity to flee.
Elsewhere in the city, Captain America is starting to wear down after being awake for days, thanks to the Ice that is coursing through his system. He is suddenly haunted by hallucinations of the Red Skull, the head of the Commission on Superhuman Affairs, Fabian Stankewicz, John Jameson, and Diamondback.[2] Cracking up, Cap tells them all to get out of his head. Realizing that he has been up for a week straight, Steve decides that he just needs a little sleep and goes looking for somewhere to rest where he won’t be disturbed.
Meanwhile, Diamondback and John Jameson are about to go back out looking for Captain America now that they know that he has been affected by drugs. John suggests that Rachel stay behind because she is still recovering from a drive by shooting, however she refuses to do so.[3] When they go up to the roof of John’s building, they are confronted by the Black Widow who is also out looking for Captain America.[4] Although Diamondback is suspicious of her, John assures Rachel that the Widow can be trusted and she’s welcomed aboard.[5]
Back in Little Italy, Crossbones defeats Daredevil and races outside to get the Kingpin. Unfortunately, he arrives just in time to see the mobster’s car speed away. Deciding to take out his frustration on Daredevil, Crossbones goes inside and finds that the hero has fled as well. Up on a nearby rooftop, the Man Without Fear chastises himself for his poor performance against both Captain America and Crossbones. He blames this on his recent ordeals in Mephisto’s realm.[6] and as he walks away he starts going into a fuge state and begins forgetting his past.[7]
Meanwhile, the Kingpin is furious that an assassin was allowed to get that close to him and vows to find out who is responsible within the next twelve hours.[8] When Typhoid Mary offers her assistance in this matter, the Kingpin elects to send Bullseye instead, telling Mary that Lester is expendable, unlike her.
By this time, Crossbones has retreated to Battery Park where he contacts his employer, the Red Skull, to tell him that he flubbed his mission. The Skull isn’t happy to hear this and tells Crossbones that he is heading into New York and to meet him at the usual place to discuss his punishment.
Uptown, John Jameson, the Black Widow, and Diamondback are scouring the city for Captain America. They are soon contacted by Peggy Carter, who tells them that Cap has been spotted ten blocks from their current position.[9] They find Steve terrorizing a pair of teens whose only mistake was getting caught experimenting with drugs. Diamondback and Black Widow order him to let the kids go. Pushed over the edge, Rogers attacks them but his exhaustion causes him to be sloppy. Unfortunately, he won’t listen to reason either, denying that he is on drugs at all. With no other option, the Black Widow is forced to blast Cap point blank in the face with her widow’s bite, knocking him out so they can finally bring him back to Avengers Headquarters for help.
The following day, Crossbones meets with the Red Skull in a expensive hotel. There, the Skull demands all the details on his minion’s failed attempt on the Kingpin’s life. Little do either of them know that Bullseye is hanging out outside their window waiting for the right opportunity to strike.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Diamondback, Crossbones, Typhoid Mary, Bullseye, Kingpin, Red Skull, Daredevil, Black Widow,
Continuity Notes
Cap was caught in a meth lab explosion in Captain America #372. He is high on Ice, which is having a prolonged effect on him due to its mingling with the Super Soldier Serum in his veins. Steve will need to undergo a full blood transfusion in Captain America #377.
There are some exposition drops in this hallucination, which proves that you can’t escape the continuity man in Marvel comics, even when you’re cracked out on meth. The details:
The head of the commission calls Captain America a disgrace and threatens to take away his title again. Steve recently went through an ordeal where the United States government took away the title, uniform, and shield of Captain America and gave it to John Walker. Walker bombed out as Captain America, prompting everything to be given back to Rogers. See Captain America #332-350.
Fabian likens being on Ice to Cap getting the Super Soldier Serum. Fabian was discovered to be on Ice in Captain America #372 and forced to go into rehab in the following issue.
Steve Rogers transformation into Captain America did technically involve drugs that he had injected into him as well as taken orally. See Captain America Comics #1 among many other tellings of Cap’s origin.
Rachel was struck by bullets in a drive-by shooting in Captain America #374. She wasn’t seriously hurt thanks to the Kevlar that lines her costume.
Mention is made of Diamondback’s earlier fight with the Black Widow, this was in Captain America #373.
Rachel doesn’t trust the Black Widow because her past as a Russian spy. John reminds her that Natasha is an Avenger now. The Widow defected in Avengers #30 and became an official member of the team in issue #111 of the team. She has been a member on and off over the years and is current a reservist.
Daredevil spent time trapped in Mephisto’s Hell in Daredevil #278-282.
Daredevil is stricken by amnesia here due to the trauma he experienced in Mephisto’s realm. He’ll go through a period of rediscovering who he really is that will run from Daredevil #284 through 290.
Typhoid Mary suggests that the attempt on the Kingpin’s life might be the work of the Chameleon and Hammerhead. These two criminals have been active again in New York City and their activities would put them at odds with the Kingpin. Kingpin had recently clashed with Hammerhead in Spectacular Spider-Man #165-169, while the Chameleon recently disguised himself as the Kingpin to set a number of villains against Spider-Man in Web of Spider-Man #64-65.
Here, John Jameson goes by the radio codename “Carwolf”, this is a nod to the fact that John used to transform into the werewolf known as the Man-Wolf thanks to a strange stone he recovered while on a space mission to the moon. This first happened in Amazing Spider-Man #124. However, at the time of this story John had long been cured of this condition since Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3.
Topical References
Crossbones says Matt Murdock resembles a model in an issue of Playgirl magazine. As you can guess Playgirl is a pornographic magazine like Playboy, only its filled with men. This should be considered a topical reference not only because it is a real world publication, but also because they stopped printing it in 2016 because nobody bought it, not even to read the articles.
The hallucination of Fabian mockingly refers to the Super Soldier Serum as Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid is a flavored drink powder that you add to water to make it taste vaguely like fruit. It’s reference here is topical as it is a real world product.
Stronghold of the Weak
Battlestar has been captured along with other recipients of the Power Broker’s strength augmentation process. This is to allow Doctor Karl Malus to experiment with a new machine that can reverse the process. This is to ensure that the cure will work on the Power Broker, who has been jacked up so much by the process that he needs to wear an exoskeleton just to move around.[1] When they run the machine in Battlestar, it causes Lemar to lose all his muscle mass, leaving him a scrawny weakling.
Although this proves that the process is more or less possible, Malus still needs to run more tests to make sure it is safe for the Power Broker. Battlestar tries to break free, but Malus’ bodyguards overpower him and toss him in a room with the others who have been de-powered. He is horrified to see that the process hasn’t been perfect for everyone and many have been horribly disfigured as a result. Among them is Red Zeppelin, who has given up all hope and believes that there is nothing they can do.
Lemar, on the other hand, refuses to surrender and over the next few minutes musters up the strength to get up and wander to the door. There, he waits for Malus and his men to come back. There he jumps Malus and threatens to harm him unless they restore everyone back to normal. That’s when the Power Tools — Malus’ enforcers — come in from behind. As Lemar tries to think of his next move, the US Agent comes smashing through the ceiling.
Recurring Characters
Battlestar, Power Broker, Doctor Malus, Power Tools (Jackhammer, Buzzsaw, Drill), Red Zeppelin, US Agent
Continuity Notes
The Power Broker, aka Curtiss Jackson, tried to jack himself up when his home was attacked by the Scourge of the Underworld. The process doesn’t always work and in Jackson’s case he had been left completely immobilized by the excessive amount of muscles his body produced. See Captain America #360-364.
