Captain America #398

Jun 27

Jun 27 Captain America #398

Operation: Galactic Storm Part 1: It Came From Outer Space

Rick Jones is having a nightmare about the Kree homeworld of Hala.[1] In it, he witnesses a bright flash of light in the sky of the alien world and millions of people collapse to the ground dead. The only man left standing is Captain America, who mourns the massive loss of life until, suddenly, his head rips open revealing the tentacled head of the Kree Supreme Intelligence.[2]

Waking up from the dream, Rick finds himself safe and sound in his quarters at the Pantheon’s headquarters. He decides to go and see the Hulk for advice, but Bruce Banner is in no mood to talk. Instead, Rick goes to Delphi, the Pantheon’s resident clairvoyant to get some insight on what he saw in his dream. Rick tells her about the Supreme Intelligence and his involvement with the alien intelligence and how it once gave him great power.[3] Delphi tells him that in order to find the truth he will need to reach out to Captain America, something Rick is reluctant to do as they haven’t been on speaking terms for a while.[4]

At that moment, at Avengers Headquarters, Captain America finds Peggy Carter burning the midnight oil and lectures her on getting a good night sleep. She tells him that his girlfriend Rachel Leighton didn’t return from her classes that night, even though John Jameson was supposed to take her too and from.[5] That’s when he gets a call from Rick Jones asking that they meet up to discuss his dream. Cap agrees that anything involving the Kree Supreme Intelligence is important and has his pilot, John woken up to fly him there. Along the way, there is something bothering John who suggests to Steve that hiring his girlfriend to be his secretary might not be such a good idea. Steve tries to figure out what is eating John, but Jameson is illusive about whatever is bugging him.

An hour later, Captain America arrives at a roadside diner in the middle of nowhere to meet with Rick Jones. Steve is looking forward to patching things up with Rick since they never really parted on good terms. When they sit down for breakfast, Cap finds out what Rick has been up to since publishing his book and learns that he has joined back up with the Hulk.[6] As they are getting down to talking about Rick’s dream, a robotic arm smashes through the window next to their table and yanks Rick outside. Captain America doesn’t recognize the robot as Warstar of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, and wonders if it was sent by the Kree. When he tries to free Rick from its grasp, he is ambushed by B’nee the secondary robot that makes up Warstar with his larger counterpart C’cil.

Cap manages to fight off B’nee and free Rick from C’cil’s grip. Tossing Rick his Avengers ID card, Cap tells him to escape on his sky-cycle and use the card to call the Avengers for back-up. It takes Rick time to figure out how the sky-cycle works and as he flees the scene decides to head back to the Pantheon’s headquarters and get help from the Hulk. However, Rick soon finds himself under the mental control of Oracle — the Imperial Guard’s resident telepath — who commands him to their ship. With their objective complete, Oracle orders a retreat, telling the others that Warstar is expendible.

Meanwhile, on the planet Hala, the Supreme Intelligence — who has been deposed as leader of the Kree — is putting his master plan in motion. At the Hecnic Vault — a robot salvaging center — a long dormant android made in the Supreme Intelligence’s image has remained hidden for some time. Having a need for it now, the Supreme Intelligence gives the android life by imbuing it with a portion of its vast intellect. Naming the android Supremor, the Intelligence makes it the first member of the Kree Starforce, an army that will help the Kree finally reach their genetic potential.[7]

… This story continues in Avengers West Coast #80.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Rick Jones, Warstar, Oracle, Peggy Carter, John Jameson, Delphi, Hulk (voice only), Supreme Intelligence

Continuity Notes

Rick remembers Hala, stating that he has been there twice in the past. The first time was when he was captured by the Supreme Intelligence during the Kree/Skrull War circa Avengers #89-97 and the second when he was bonded to Captain Marvel in Captain Marvel #41.
Rick is seeing a prophetic vision that details the mast plan of the Supreme Intelligence over the course of Operation: Galactic Storm. The artificial intelligence has been covertly manipulating a war between the Kree and the Shi’ar in order to trick the Shi’ar into unleashing a Nega-Bomb in Kree space that will kill countless lives, but also jumpstart the Kree’s stagnant evolution. The Nega-Bomb will be unleashed in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9 and the Supreme Intelligence’s master plan revealed in Avengers #347.
This was during the Kree/Skrull War again, the Intelligence awakened the Destiny Force within Rick’s mind in Avengers #97. This power won’t be woken in Rick again until Avengers Forever #1-12.
Rick mentions how he bombed when he took on the role of Bucky as Captain America’s sidekick. Rick partnered up with Cap almost from the moment he was revived in Avengers #4. He would pressure Cap to let him assume the role of his former partner Bucky. Rick finally convinced Steve in Captain America #110. However, the partnership didn’t last very long, ending in Captain America #115, wherein the Red Skull used a body swap with Steve to push Rick away.
After having a near death experience in Captain America #388, Rachel retired as Diamondback and decided to try out to become Steve’s executive secretary. When John dropped Rachel off for her classes in Captain America #396, he made a pass at her that wasn’t very well received and she told him not to bother picking her up after. She was then kidnapped by Crossbones in the following issue. She will remain his prisoner until issue #410.
Lots of Rick Jones exposition going on here. The facts:
- Rick Jones confirms that he is playing sidekick to the Hulk again. Jones was responsible for Bruce Banner getting caught in the gamma bomb explosion that turned him into the Hulk, prompting him to become the Hulk’s sidekick early on as seen in Incredible Hulk #1. Rick has been in this role on-and-off over the years in Incredible Hulk #1-6/Avengers #1-2, Tales to Astonish #68 through Incredible Hulk #110, again in Incredible Hulk #245 to 285, and 319-346. His most recent tenure started in Incredible Hulk #373 and will continue until issue #470 of that series.
- Rick states here that Bruce Banner is doing “great” these days. At the time of this story, Banner had a minor reprieve from the Hulk’s destructive tendencies when three of his personas were merged together into a more controllable form in Incredible Hulk #377. This will remain the Hulk’s status quo until issue #425 of that series.
- Also mentioned is the fact that Rick published a book called “Sidekick”, which tells of Rick’s experiences being a sidekick to various heroes including the Hulk, Captain America, and Captain Marvel. Rick published the book in Avengers Spotlight #25.
The Supreme Intelligence was deposed as ruler of the Kree after its mind was scrambled by the Soul Gem in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #8. Although its mind was restored in issue #31 of that series, it has been satisfied letting others rule the empire while it manipulates things behind the scenes.

Topical References

Rick Jones likens the Kree Supreme Intelligence to the Wizard of Oz and a head of lettuce. Typically, pop-culture references are considered topical. However, this would not be the case with Wizard of Oz, as the story itself has been in public domain for decades and is an enduring part of the cultural zeitgeist to this day.

Silence of the Night

Cuttthroat, Blackwing, and Jack O’Lantern are staked outside of a police station in Upstate New York. They are planning to break out Mother Night after she was captured by Captain America. However, before they can act, Mother Night walks out the front door as she was able to make bail on her own. After explaining this to Cutthroat and introducing herself to Blackwing and Jack O’Lantern, she slaps Cutthroat across the face. She is furious that they allowed Captain America take her into custody but quickly apologizes for lashing out at them.

They then head back to the Red Skull’s new hideout in the Rocky Mountains. There, Mother Night is told by the Machinesmith that the Red Skull wants to see her immediately. Mother Night complies and is unhappy to see that the Viper is still hanging off the man she loves. The Skull sends Viper away so he can speak to Mother Night in private. He then savagely beats her for allowing Captain America to discover that she is still alive and thus deduce that the Skull is still alive as well.[1] Taking full blame, Mother Night accepts her punishment and begs for him to put her out of her misery. However, the Red Skull spares her life deciding that death would be too east a punishment and decides to let her live so she can know the full depth of how disappointing she is to him, saying that she will deserve all of the abuse he has in store for her in the future. As the Red Skull leaves the room in disgust, Mother Night breaks down sobbing.

Recurring Characters

Skeleton Crew (Mother Night, Machinesmith, Blackwing, Cutthroat, Jack O’Lantern), Red Skull, Viper

Continuity Notes

With the authorities closing in on him, the Red Skull faked his own death and that of the Skeleton Crew in Captain America #393-394. This ruse worked until Captain America discovered that Mother Night was still alive last issue.