Captain America #378

Jun 28

Jun 28 Captain America #378

Street of Poison Part 8: Grand Stand Play

After being exposed to concentrated amounts of Ice — a new designer street drug — Captain America has undergone a complete blood transfusion. As a result, Cap has been purged of the Super Soldier Serum that made him the hero he is today.[1] Even though he should be resting, Cap has gone out to prove to himself that it is the man, not the drug, that makes Captain America. Wanting to shut down the flow of Ice into the city, Captain America wonders where to resume his search for the source of this new drug. That’s when he notices the stadium lights are still on at the nearby baseball stadium even though it is 2 am. Finding this fishy, Cap decides to go and check things out.

As it so happens, the Kingpin and Red Skull have agreed to meet at the stadium to negotiate the end of the drug war they have been waging against one another. The Red Skull proposes that the two work together as they could use their combined influence to take full control of the local drug trade, particularly since the Kingpin has been clashing with rival gangs as of late.[2] Wilson Fisk flat out rejects this offer as he has no interest in allying himself as a Nazi. Their differences are ideological ones, Fisk is driven by profit while the Skull wants to use drugs to weaken America and destroy it from the inside. The Kingpin wants no part of such a plan as it will affect his bottom line. The Red Skull then proposes a wager: a one-on-one hand-to-hand fight between the two of them. If the Skull wins, his Ice operations will continue to work in the city without interference from the Fisk, and if the Kingpin wins he’ll agree to sell his drug operations to Wilson for a modest prince.

The Kingpin agrees and the two men strip down to their underwear and are searched for weapons so nobody cheats. Once this is done, both the Kingpin and Red Skull’s men form a circle around the two combatants. Before the fight can begin, the Skull triggers a device hidden under the heel of his foot that causes an impenetrable dome to be erected around them to further ensure that nobody interferes with their fight. The Skull figures that this will be an easy fight, mistaking the Kingpin’s girth for fat but quickly discovers that the mobster is all muscle.[3]

Meanwhile, back at Avengers Headquarters, Diamondback goes to check on Steve and discovers that he is gone. She then tells John Jameson and Hank Pym that Cap has left and the trio head out to find him.

As the battle between the Kingpin and the Red Skull continues, Crossbones senses something amiss and leaves the Machinesmith to keep an eye on the boss while he goes to investigate. Going up into the stands, Crossbones runs into Captain America. Since there was no clear winner the last time they fought, Steve reminds himself not to show any sign that he no longer has the Super Soldier Serum in his system as it could give his opponent the edge he needs to win.[4]

Back down on the field, the Red Skull’s attacks are all easily deflected by the Kingpin thanks to his massive frame. Ultimately, the mob boss manages to best the Skull by grabbing him by the wrists and falling over on him. Pinned under the Kingpin’s considerable weight, the Skull admits defeat. While up in the stands, Crossbones manages to separate Cap from his shield and then comes at the hero with a knife. Steve lucks out by dodging out of the way and grabbing the ties at the back of Crossbone’s mask, allowing Cap to throat punch his foe with sufficient force to knock him out.

With the duel below over with, the Red Skull escapes the scene thanks to a passing helicopter he arranged for in the event he lost. As he leaves, he tells the Kingpin he is glad to be rid of his Ice operations as they were becoming more trouble than they were worth. As Captain America heads down to the field, the Kingpin tells him that the drug war is over thanks to his own actions. Cap is unimpressed and mockingly tells Fisk that he’ll arrange to get him a balloon for the annual Thanksgiving Day parade. With Crossbones having fled while he was not looking, Captain America leaves that stadium and returns to Avengers Headquarters. Diamondback, John Jameson, and Hank Pym are all happy to see that he is alive and well. That’s when Pym tells Steve that he was able to purge the Ice from his tainted blood and can restore the Super Soldier Serum to his body. However, Steve declines to have this done, telling Pym that he doesn’t need it anymore.[5]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Crossbones, Red Skull, Kingpin, Machinesmith, Diamondback, John Jameson, Henry Pym

Continuity Notes

Technically speaking, the Super Soldier Serum is a drug that was injected into Steve way back in Captain America Comics #1. 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.
The Kingpin has been facing opposition from both Hammerhead and the Chameleon at the time of this story. See Spectacular Spider-Man #165-169 and Web of Spider-Man #64-65.
The Kingpin guesses that the Red Skull must be 70 years old. While this is a topical reference (see below) it’s interesting that he brought up the Skull’s age. In Captain America #298 the Red Skull claimed to have been born in 1899. However, it was later revealed in Red Skull #1 that he was actually born in 1914. That said, the reason why the Skull is such fit shape is because his mind was recently transferred into a cloned body created from Captain America’s DNA, as explained in Captain America #350.
Captain America last fought Crossbones one-on-one in Captain America #363-364.
Captain America will remain sans Super Soldier Serum until Captain America #445 when he is given another transfusion by the Red Skull.

Topical References

The meeting between the Kingpin and the Red Skull is depicted as happening at the old Yankees Stadium. This should be considered a topical reference as the original stadium was replaced with a new facility in 2009 and the original was demolished a year later.
Here, the Kingpin refers to the Red Skull as a 70-year-old Nazi. While Fisk is very likely to be estimating the Skull’s age, the age given here to be relative to the date this comic was published and therefor topical. The Red Skull’s age is always in a state of change due to the Sliding Timescale, which increases the period of time between the end of World War II and the start of the Modern Age. Click here if you want to know more about the math behind all that. If you want to see a fun exercise about the Red Skull’s age, scroll down to the bottom of the page.
At the end of this story, Captain America quips “If I can’t say no, who can?” The slogan “Just Say No!” was an anti-drug advertising campaign spearheaded by Nancy Reagan during her time as First Lady of the United States. It’s interesting to note that the “Just Say No” did more to stigmatize and criminalize addiction and did jack shit to reduce the use of drugs. It was a complete fucking failure. Just another pointless exercise in America’s ongoing War on Drugs that accomplishes nothing.

Grave Concerns

The Power Broker and Doctor Karl Malus had used a machine to de-power Battlestar. However, thanks to the intervention of the US Agent, Lemar’s powers are restored. When the Power Broker insists on being restored to normal next, Battlestar refuses to let this happen until all of the others that Malus depowered are restored to normal.[1] However, once all the prisoners have been treated, US Agent smashes Malus’ machines in order to prevent the Broker from being restored to normal.[2]

US Agent and Battlestar then leave in Lemar’s sports car and the two get to talking. As it turns out, US Agent tailed Battlestar after their recent encounter. However, he still refuses to believe that he is John Walker, or that his parents are dead.[3] In fact, Agent tells Lemar that he still gets letters and phone calls from his parents, something that would be impossible if they were killed by the Watchdogs as Hoskins said.[4] when Lemar suggests John contact his sister, US Agent says he can’t because it would blow his cover.[5] Lemar then offers to talk with her instead so they can get to the truth out once and for all.

With information gathered by Kate Walker, Lemar then drives John to the cemetery where his parents were buried. Seeing the tombstones for himself convinces Walker that Lemar was telling the truth the whole time. Devastated by this revelation John mourns the loss of his parents for the second time.

Recurring Characters

Battlestar, US Agent, Power Broker, Doctor Malus, Red Zeppelin, Ethan Thurm, Kate Walker

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. He has been trying to undo this since Captain America #374.
Although apparently being stuck in this form, Jackson is restored to normalicy by the time we see him again in US Agent (vol. 2) #3. How he was returned to normal is never really explained.
John Walker and Lemar Hoskins were long time buddies dating back to Captain America #323, including a stint as Captain America and Bucky/Battlestar that ran from Captain America #333 to 350. When Steve Rogers took back the role of Captain America, the government faked John’s assassination in the following issue. They then brainwashed Walker and installed him in a new identity as the US Agent. Not believing his friend was truly dead, Lemar spent that entire time trying to learn the truth. He ran into John in Captain America #372-373, but attempts to get Walker to remember his past had failed.
US Agents parents were indeed killed by the Watchdogs, as seen in Captain America #345.
After the murder of his parents, the United States government put John’s sister into the Witness Protection Program in order to hide her away from others that might go after John through his family. We only see her in shadow here and she won’t be seen or heard from again until US Agent (vol. 3) #1-2.

Topical References

Battlestar is depicted driving a high end car of some kind. Not really sure what model vehicle this is supposed to be (a Bentley?) but its a specific model that was available in the 1990s. As such its depiction here should be considered topical.
On the family tombstone the birthdates for Caleb and Emily Walker are listed as June 2, 1930 and August 22, 1936 respectively. The year of their deaths are obscured, but it shows that they died on May 3. These dates should all be considered topical relative to the date of publication. Assuming the year of their deaths is 1988 (the year the comic featuring their deaths was published) Modern readers should interpret this to mean that John’s parents were in their late 50s early 60s when they died as opposed to any specific date.

How Close is the Kingpin at Determining the Red Skull’s Age.

I thought it might be a fun exercise to see how far off the Kingpin was in determining the Red Skull’s age, even though its a topical reference. We’ll break it down by the different references to the Skull’s date of birth.

1899

In Captain America #298, the Red Skull claims that he was born in 1899. If we use that date and assume that the above story takes place in the year it was published (1990), that would have made the Red Skull 91 years old. Which is way off.

If we were to adjust the time frame by measuring up the publication date to the Sliding Timescale we can see how much different it would be. Assuming that we’re measuring from the year 2022, Captain America #378 was published during “Year 8” of the Modern Age. Stories that are being published between 2022 are part of “Year 16”, that means from 2022 this story happened 8 years ago in 2014. By this perspective, the Red Skull would be 114 in this story from the perspective of 2022.

If we were to jump ahead to the next “year” of the Sliding Timescale, which begins in November, 2025 and measure backwards, this story happened 9 years prior. 2025 - 9 = 2016, making the Red Skull 117 years old.

1914

More recently, in Red Skull #1, it was revealed that Schmidt was actually born in the year 1914. If we use that date and assume that the above story takes place in the year it was published (1990), that would have made the Red Skull 76 years old, which is a lot closer assessment on the Kingpin’s part compared to the 1899 birth date.