Captain America #408
Dark Dawn
Infinity War continues from Spider-Man #24…
With Dredmund the Druid’s werewolf scheme ended, Captain America is having Nightshade administer antidotes to the people they had transformed into lycanthropes. The next person to be changed back is the white wolf that forced Nightshade to create the antidote in the first place. Just as Captain America suspected, the white wolf turns out to be his long lost pilot, John Jameson.
Captain America is the next person to be cured and as Nightshade administers, one of the Magus’ doppelgangers comes crashing in through the wall to attack the real Captain America.[1] As Captain America slowly reverts back to human form he tussles with his evil duplicate. In the ensuing clash the evil Cap’s serrated shield gets imbedded in a nearby wall. When Doctor Druid detects that the attacker is not truly alive, the real Cap kicks it into the bladed shield, killing the creature.
With everyone in the town of Starksboro cured of lycanthropy, Guardsmen from the Vault are sent to gather up the villains involved in the scheme. As she is being hauled away, Nightshade vows that her boss, Superia, will avenge her.[2] With that the heroes who helped Cap deal with the werewolf threat all say their goodbyes. Wolfsbane heads back to Washington to be reunited with her friends in X-Factor, while Jack Russel — aka the Werewolf by Night — hitches a ride out of town with Wolf, formerly of the Thunderriders.[3] John Jameson also decides to head off on his own. Speaking to Steve in private, he explains his sense of inadequacy since working with Captain America. He explains that he was considered a hero as an astronaut until superheroes started appearing in the world. Since then, John has been trying to show the world he still had the “right stuff” to be a hero and thought becoming Captain America’s pilot would help. However, as he continued to work with Steve and got sidelined whenever there was trouble he discovered that he was never going to reattain his former glory. Steve understands, but tells John that as far as he is concerned, he always had and will have the right stuff.
As Captain America and Doctor Druid are wrapping things up, the learn that Zach Moonhunter is a capable pilot. Since he’s in need of a new one, Cap asks Moonhunter for a lift back to Avengers Headquarters so he can offer him a job.
Meanwhile, Dennis Dunphy — aka Demolition Man — sits by the lake in Central Park trying to figure out who he is and where to go from there after he was abandoned by Bernie Rosenthal who was taking care of him.[4] He is suddenly ambushed by a doppelganger of his own who pushes him into the lake in an effort to drown the addled superhero. After a moments struggle, the D-Man doppelganger emerges from the water alone, cackling like a madman.
… Infinity War continues in Deathlok (vol. 2) #16.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Doctor Druid, Moonhunter, John Jameson, Demolition Man, Nightshade, Dredmund the Druid, Jack Russell, Wolfsbane, Wolf, Guardsmen
Continuity Notes
As revealed in Infinity War #1, the Magus used the Dimension of Manifestation to create twisted versions of Earth’s heroes. This evil version of Captain America is the first of many.
Nightshade was previously in the employ of Superia as seen in Captain America #387-392.
The identity of Wolf in this story is confirmed in Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Captain America.
D-Man was lost in the Arctic for some time after getting caught in a Quinjet explosion in Captain America #349. He was later shown to be frozen in a block of ice in issue #384. He was freed from the ice and later rescued by US Agent and Falcon in Captain America #400. He was left in Bernie’s care while out on a walk but she lost him after chasing after some purse snatchers in Captain America #405.
Night of the Knife
Diamondback finds herself a prisoner of the Red Skull at his secret compound in the Colorado, Rockies. She is then visited in the middle of the night by Cutthroat, one new members of the Skeleton Crew. Removing his hood, Cutthroat reveals that he is her long lost brother, Danny Leighton.
Naturally, she wants to know what happened to him after the incident with the Savage Crims years earlier. Danny explains he was shamed when he didn’t join his brothers Ricky and Willy to confront Brock Rumlow — the Crims leader — after he raped and beat their sister.[1] He then ran off to Europe where he became a mercenary for hire and developed the identity of Cutthroat. Wanting to become a big time super-villain, Cutthroat returned to America briefly, but after being defeated by Spider-Man and Nightcrawler he returned to Europe to work on his skills.[2]
Finally becoming the best he could be, Cutthroat returned to the states to try out for the Skeleton Crew after Crossbones was kicked off the team.[3] However, now that Crossbones is back, Danny fears that he might lose his hard won position and vows to his sister that he’s going to eliminate his competition before that can happen. Rachel tries to warn her brother that Crossbones is much more dangerous than he appears but he leaves before she can warn him. Rachel then finds herself conflict between her ties to the past and her current feelings for Crossbones.[4]
Meanwhile, Crossbones is meeting with Mother Night to find out what has been going on since he was fired. He learned that Viper recently left to carry out the mission the Red Skull hired her for, but things still remain tense between Mother Night and her former lover.[5] That’s when Cutthroat comes barging in and seeing that there is something up between the two, Crossbones decides to leave. After kissing Mother Night, Cutthroat tells her his plans to kill Crossbones that evening.
Later that night, Cutthroat breaks into Crossbones’ quarters intending to kill him with a sword. However, Crossbones was laying in wait and after a brief struggle wrests the sword from Cutthroat’s hands. He then ironically slashes Cutthroat across the neck. The commotion brings the rest of the Skeleton Crew to come rushing in to find out what’s going on. When Mother Night turns on the light she sees Crossbones — bloody sword in hand — standing over Cutthroat’s body. Explaining that he was acting in self-defense, Crossbones asks if anyone has a tourniquet.
Recurring Characters
Diamondback, Crossbones, Skeleton Crew (Cutthroat, Mother Night, Jack O’Lantern, Blackwing)
Continuity Notes
The destruction of the Leighton family unit was chronicled in Captain America #400.
Spider-Man and Nightcrawler clashed with Cutthroat in Marvel Team-Up #89.
Crossbones was canned after speaking out of turn to the Red Skull in Captain America #393. Cutthroat passed the initiation test in issue #395.
Prior to her imprisonment at the hands of the Red Skull last issue, Rachel has been a captive of Crossbones since issue #396. He has tormented her to the point where she has developed Stockholm Syndrome while in captivity.
The Red Skull broke Viper out of prison in Captain America #394 thinking her similar nihilistic views would be a benefit to his plans to destabilize the United States. This will prove to be more trouble than it is worth, as we’ll see in Captain America #419.
Joyride
The Falcon is out and about testing out his newly modified wings and costume.[1] As he soars above Manhattan, he spots someone flying around on one of the Avengers sky-cycle and tries to flag him down to see who it is. The rider instead gives him chase all the way back to Avengers Headquarters. There, he learns the man riding the sky-cycle is Captain America’s new pilot Zach Moonhunter and he was testing out the latest modifications made by Fabian Stankewicyz.
Since he is already there, Falcon heads inside to see what the Avengers are up to. Captian America and the Black Widow have just finished up a meeting with various reserve members of the team to bring them up to date on what happened during the Infinity War and the Avengers recent battle with Kang.[2] When Falcon asks why the Black Widow was taking the lead in the meeting, Steve explains that he is taking a leave of absence from the Avengers in order to search for his missing friends,[3] Diamondback and D-Man. Falcon offers to lend a hand, and Cap accepts, looking forward to working with his old partner again.[4]
Recurring Characters
Falcon, Moonhunter, Fabian Stankewicyz, Avengers (Captain America, Black Widow, Quicksilver, Doctor Druid, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel)
Continuity Notes
The tale of when Falcon received his new costume is told in Captain America Annual #11.
This is in reference to both the Infinity War and Citizen Kang events. The Infinity War issues are listed below, and you can follow the events of Citizen Kang in Captain America Annual #11, Thor Annual #14, Fantastic Four Annual #25, and Avengers Annual #21.
Captain America had decided to step down as Avengers leader in Captain America #401. He will return to the team in Avengers #360.
Captain America and the Falcon have been crime fighting partners on-and-off over the years. See Captain America #117-119, 132-220, 275-301, and 336-350. This current pairing will last until issue #418.
Topical References
Falcon refers to his new wings as the “Nineties model”, this should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication.
Infinity War Reading Order
Infinity War #1, Alpha Flight #109, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #7, Fantastic Four #366, Spider-Man #24, Captain America #408, Deathlok (vol. 2) #16, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #42, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #67, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #43, Infinity War #2, Fantastic Four #367, Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #68-69, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #44, Guardians of the Galaxy #27, Quasar #37, Infinity War #3, Marvel Comics Presents #108-111, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #8, Fantastic Four #368, Alpha Flight #110, New Warriors #27, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #4, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #41-42, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #13, Nomad (vol. 2) #7, Quasar #38, Daredevil #310, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #45, Infinity War #4, Alpha Flight #111, Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #5, Guardians of the Galaxy #28-29, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #9, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #14, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #43, Quasar #39, Infinity War #5, Sleepwalker #18, Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #46-47, Fantastic Four #369, Warlock and the Infinity Watch #10, Wonder Man (vol. 2) #15, Infinity War #6, Fantastic Four #370, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #44, Alpha Flight #112, Quasar #40
