Captain America #402
Man and Wolf Part 1: The Prowling
In the woods of upstate New York, a man flees for his life in the middle of the night. He doesn’t get far as he is ambushed and killed by a werewolf. The following morning, the body is found by Wolverine who picks up the attacker’s scent with his enhanced senses and follows the trail.
At Avengers Headquarters in Manhattan, Captain America is hoping exercising with the recently found Demolition Man will help restore his memory and ability to speak but is having little luck.[1] Steven then meets with the Black Widow to tell her that he is taking a leave of absence from the Avengers to find his other missing friends: Diamondback and John Jameson.[2]
Steve decides to start with finding John Jameson first. He goes to Peggy Carter to look up information on the Avengers database for clues. That’s when she tells him about the bizarre wolf attacks happening upstate. This reminds Steve that John once transformed into a werewolf called the Man-Wolf some time back and decides to look into this part of John’s past. He learns that these transformations were caused by the Moongem, an artifact that John had brought back during a mission to the moon. However, the gem was reportedly destroyed when Doctor Curt Connors was able to find a cure for John’s condition a few years back.[3] Steve decides to pay Dr. Connors a visit at Empire State University. Unfortunately, Connors is unavailable and Steve talks to a Dr. Mifune instead.[4] She takes him to the filing cabinet where they have been storing the fragments of the Moongem since its destruction and is shocked to discover it is missing.
Elsewhere, an sliver armored man calling himself Moonhunter is taming a pen of werewolves with a whip, trying to figure out how one of them managed to get out the night before. When hsi master — Dreadmund — orders him to speak with him, Moonhunter is ambushed by one of the prisoners. However, the creature didn’t anticipate that he was covered in silver and Moonhunter easily breaks free and climbs out of the pen to meet with his master.
Meanwhile, Captain America meets with John Jameson’s father, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson to see if he has heard from his son. Jonah tells Cap that he hasn’t spoken to his son in a while ever since he took up a classified government job.[5] Cap reveals to Jonah that his son was working as his personal pilot. Jameson figures his son didn’t tell him the truth because Jonah hasn’t approved of some of the recent additions to the Avengers ranks.[6] With this being a dead end, Cap thanks Jonah for his help and promises to find John. After the hero leaves, Jonah pulls out a photo of his son and stares at it silently in his darkened office.
Deciding to see if there is some kind of super-natural bent to John’s disappearance, Steve tries to contact Doctor Strange but learns that he is currently out of town for the time being.[6] With the Sorcerer Supreme busy, Captain America decides to head to Boston and enlist the aid of Doctor Druid instead.[7] Strange is surprised to see that Druid is a much younger man that he remembered, the result of a recent rejuvination.[8] Hearing about Captain America’s situation, Druid agrees to help him find John Jameson as he wants to atone for the wrongs he committed while on the Avengers.[9] Using a photo of Jameson, Druid tries to try to get an impression from it but gets nothing. When Steve explains John’s connection to the Moongem and how it might be tied to the werewolf attacks upstate, the Doctor agrees to accompany Captain America on his investigation.
The arrive in the area on Cap’s sky-cycle at night fall where they search the scene where the latest victim was found. Doctor Druid senses that there is another presence nearby. That’s when the pair are attacked by a female werewolf. As Cap struggles to get the monster off of him, Moonhunter arrives on a sky-cycle of his own who snares the werewolf in a nose and hoists it up into the air.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Demolition Man, Black Widow, Doctor Druid, Moonhunter, Ferocia, Peggy Carter, Wolverine, J. Jonah Jameson, Dredmund the Druid (voice only)
Continuity Notes
D-Man was lost in the Arctic during a battle with ULTIMATUM back in Captain America #349. It was later revealed that he ended up frozen in ice for a time, as seen in issue #384. He was recently found and brought home by Falcon and US Agent in Captain America #400-401.
Diamondback disappeared back in Captain America #396 as she was kidnapped by Crossbones. Steve will finally find her in issue #411. John Jameson took off on his own sometime after Captain America #398, after feeling inadequate next to Cap. We’ll discover that he is one of Dredmund’s werewolves in issue #407.
A footnote here recounts John’s first transformation into the Man-Wolf in Amazing Spider-Man #124. It also cites the Man-Wolf’s solo adventures in Creatures on the Loose #30-37. The Moongem was destroyed and John cured in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #3.
At the time of this story, Curt Connor’s alter-ego — the Lizard — was believed to have drowned during a battle with Spider-Man. See Spider-Man #1-5. The Lizard will resurface shortly after this story in Amazing Spider-Man #365.
The last time readers saw Jonah and John together was during Jonah’s wedding ceremony when he married Marla Madison in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #18. John started working as Captain America’s personal pilot in Captain America #358.
Jonah is referring to Spider-Man and Sandman, who were given reserve and Avenger-in-training status back in Avengers #329, something Jonah wasn’t impressed with.
At the time of this story, Doctor Strange was off in another dimension with Spider-Man to stop Xandu. See Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death #1.
Druid made himself younger when finally attaining his full druidic power in Avengers Spotlight #37.
Doctor Druid joined the Avengers #278. However, shortly after his joining the team he was seduced by the time traveler named Nebula. She forced him to usurp control of the Avengers and have then venture into a Time Bubble some 20 years in the future to obtain an ultimate weapon, see Avengers #291-297. This plot failed, and Druid freed himself from Nebula’s control in the aforementioned Avengers Spotlight #37.
Topical References
For some reason there is a McDonalds takeout bag on top of Dr. Mifune’s filing cabinet. This should be considered a topical reference as McDonalds is a real world brand.
J. Jonah Jameson states that he last saw his son almost two years prior to this story. Comparing this to the Sliding Timescale, this is an accurate measurement of time. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #18 was published in February, 1985 or “Year 6” of the Modern Age while Captain America #402 was published in July, 1992 or “Year 8” of the Modern Age.
The Pit and the Pitiful
A prisoner of Crossbones for weeks on end, Rachel Leighton has been taken to an abandoned bomb shelter in New Jersey. There, Crossbones forces her to train under him so she can learn how to fight once more. Rachel resists his efforts to train her, explaining that she retired from being Diamondback after she was almost drowned by her old enemy Snapdragon. She tells Crossbones how she was clinically dead for a few minutes and in that time a voice told her to retire otherwise she will meet a violent end.[1] Frustrated by her continued resistance, Crossbones decides to leave an get some fresh air. Before sealing Rachel in the bomb shelter, he reminds her that if anything happens to him on the outside, she will likely die down there.
Left alone in the dark, Rachel begins to be filled with a panic and wonders why her boyfriend Captain America hasn’t come to rescue her yet. When she tries to picture him in her mind she is shocked to discover that she is now starting to forget what he looks like. She then realizes that only she can get her out of this situation alive and vows to do whatever it takes to survive. Outside, Crossbones wonders why the Red Skull hasn’t told him to come back yet and for a brief moment he fears that his boss might have found someone to replace him.[2] As he drives away from the shelter in a stolen car he considers calling Mother Night to see what’s up.
Crossbones’ fears are correct, the Red Skull has hired someone else to replace him, the mercenary Cutthroat.[3] When Mother Night happens past his quarters, Cutthroat notices that she is wearing sunglasses and asks her what happened. Taking them off her face, Cutthroat is shocked to see that her face is sporting two black eyes, the latest injuries sustained from the Red Skull’s regular beatings.[4] Mother Night insists that she deserves the beatings for disappointing the Skull. However, Cutthroat tells her that she deserves better and kisses her on the lips.[5]
Recurring Characters
Rachel Leighton, Crossbones, Cutthroat, Mother Night
Continuity Notes
Diamondback was almost drowned by Snapdragon back in Captain America #388, convincing her to retire from her costumed identity.
The Red Skull fired Crossbones in Captain America #394.
Cutthroat was hired to replace Crossbones as the Red Skull’s right hand man in Captain America #395.
After the Red Skull made it appear that he and the Skeleton Crew were killed in Captain America #393-394, Mother Night inadvertedly exposed the truth in issue #396. The Red Skull punished her for this by beating her in issue #398.
