Hostile Takeover

Captain America, Diamondback, and the Falcon had gone undercover to the Advance Idea Mechanics weapon expo to shut it down as well as give Diamondback the opportunity to track down her foe Snapdragon.[1][2] Disguised as Crossbones, Mother Night, and Jack O’Lantern, the trio had to stay in character. This resulted in “Crossbones” having to follow through with a wager with Batroc the Leaper. This involved fighting five opponents in the ring and in doing so, Cap’s unique body language and fighting stance gave him away to Batroc. Blowing Cap’s cover, the Star-Spangled Avenger now finds himself surrounded by super-villains on all sides. Despite the overwhelming odds, Captain America continues to fight, taking advantage of the villain’s numbers and lack of planning. However, he worries what’s happening with Falcon and Diamondback now that their covers are blown as well.

Elsewhere on the island, Diamondback has finally caught up with Snapdragon. She intends to get revenge against her former friend and enemy for almost drowning her in their last encounter. This time around, Diamondback has been enhanced by the Super-Soldier Serum and is more than a match for her enemy.[3] Above them, Blackbird and Iron Maiden are flying up to the head office of Advance Idea Mechanics leader, Alessandro Brannex, as their leader Superia is in some kind of trouble. When Iron Maiden spots the fight below, Blackbird refuses to go back down and help Snapdragon as their leader takes priority. However, when they reach the window they are struck by a mind-blast by MODAM who has come to punish Superia for seemingly killing Brannex.[4] The two clash briefly, but MODAM soon grows tired and uses her mental powers to incapacitate Superia.

While on the pier, Falcon has been searching for Diamondback when he was ambushed by Shang-Chi, who has also come to Boca Caliente to find out why AIM has purchased his late father’s equipment.[5] However, the battle comes to a quick end when Shang recognizes who Falcon is and explains that he is working for British intelligence.

Back in the arena, the battle rages on as Captain America slowly picks off his attackers one-by-one. Watching from the stands are Batroc and his allies Zaran and Machete who find this brawl to be very entertaining.

Meanwhile, Diamondback overpowers Snapdragon and knocks her into a nearby found. Knocking her enemy out, Rachel removes Sheoke’s Snapdragon mask and wig so she can see her true face when she begs for her life.

While in Brannex’s office, Superia has been properly restrained by MODAM. That’s when Brannex suddenly gets up off the floor and the hole in his chest heals up. Alessandro then reveals to Superia that the real Brannex was killed and replaced long ago and that it is really the Super-Adaptoid.[6]

In the arena, Captain America decides to get some space between himself and the swarm of villains. He manages to get out from under the swarm thanks to a hole punched in the wrestling arena by one of Stilt-Man’s legs. He then disguises himself with a cape he took off one of the others to get to the doors of the arena unseen. That’s when Falcon arrives and helps Cap escape outside, there they join up with Shang-Chi and are able to make a round of introductions before the pursing villains catch up with them. Captain America then heads off to find Diamondback while Falcon and Shang-Chi stay behind to hold off their pursuers.

By this time, Diamondback has given into her rage and begins drowning Snapdragon in the fountain. At that same moment, the Super-Adaptoid orders MODAM to dispose of Superia by dumping her body into the ocean. When Blackbird and Iron Maiden try to stop her, they are quickly incapacitated. Spotting MODAM flying in the air, Captain America mistakes Superia for Diamondback — thinking she is still in her Mother Night disguise — and commandeers an AIM flying platform to chase after them. Following MODAM out to sea, Captain America leaps onto her and smashes the crystal on MODAM’s forehead that allows her to channel her mental energies. It’s only then that Cap realizes his case of mistaken identity but by this point, MODAM has dropped Superia into the ocean below. Captain America then leaps down into the waters to save his enemy regardless. He hopes that Diamondback, wherever she is, is still safe.

At that moment, Diamondback has finished drowning Snapdragon and leaves her floating face down in the fountain and walks away.[7]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Diamondback, Falcon, Shang-Chi, AIM (“Alessandro Brannex”), Anaconda, Batroc’s Brigade (Batroc te Leaper, Machete, Zaran), Beetle, Blackbird, Blizzard, Boomerang, Boomslang, Dragonfly, Eel, Firebrand, Flying Tiger, Frenzy, Iron Maiden, Killer Shrike, Knockout, Man-Ape, Man-Bull, MODAM, Oddball, Piledriver, Puff Adder, Rhino, Ringer, Rock Python, Scorpion, Shocker, Shockwave, Snapdragon, Speed Demon, Stilt-Man, Stiletto, Sunstroke, Superia, Tarantula, Titania, Triple-Iron, Thermo, Trump, Whirlwind, Wrecker

Continuity Notes

1. Cap, Falcon, and Diamondback disguised themselves as Cross, Jack, and Night in Captain America #411 because they captured them in the previous issue.

2. Diamondback wants to get revenge against Snapdragon for almost taking her life in Captain America #388.

3. Diamondback received a blood transfusion of Cap’s Super-Soldier Serum infused blood in Captain America #409-410. This blood was taken from Cap’s body when it was previously tainted by drugs after a meth lab explosion. See Captain America #372-378.

4. Superia thinks that MODAM was on her side, however the cyborg tells her that her loyalty was only part of the lease she took out with AIM. They are referring to MODAM’s involvement in Superia’s failed attempt to sterilize every woman on the planet except for those on Superia’s private island. See Captain America #387-392.

5. At the time of this story, Shang-Chi believes his father — Fu Manchu — was killed in Master of Kung Fu #118. He will turn up alive again in Marvel Knights #4.

6. The Super-Adaptoid took Brannex’s place sometime after his first appearance in Quasar #9. As of this writing, the circumstances surrounding Alessandro’s death and replacement have yet to be detailed.

7. For a time, it is believed that Snapdragon died here. In fact, Captain America #429 reveals that her brother had her body cremated. Despite this, she’ll turn up alive again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #2. A profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that Snapdragon faked her death.

Theory: Snapdragon’s Survival

Other than this story, there are two other issues that support that Snapdragon died when Rachel drowned her. Captain America #428, when the villain Dead Ringer adopted her form. Dead Ringer had the power of “necro-mimicry” allowing him to assume the form and abilities of any dead body he had come into contact with. He gained access to her corpse when it was being stored in a police morgue in New Orleans. After this, in Captain America #429, Snapdragon’s brother Kono stated that he has his sister’s body cremated.

Then, seemingly contradicting all of this, Snapdragon turns up alive again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #2 with no explanation.

As of this writing (July, 2022), Marvel has not provided an explanation for how Snapdragon survived. However, given the number of characters who have faked their death it is not impossible to believe that Snapdragon somehow survived being drowned and then faked her death.

In Captain America #429, we only have Kono’s word that he cremated his sister’s body. This could easily have been a lie. When you have countless evil geneticists out there that can create a bio-duplicate of someone, faking a dead body in the Marvel Universe is not that hard if you got the money and the resources. Or maybe she was resurrected by an organization like the Hand. Really, the possibilities are endless.

The other issue is that Dead Ringer was able to mimic Snapdragon’s appearance as well. However, the Dead-Ringer profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that his powers aren’t specific to a dead body, but rather dead organic material. It points out that severed flesh from a still living individual. He is later shown to imitate both Purple Man in Captain America #425 and Nighthawk in Captain America #439 even though those characters were later revealed to have never really died.

It’s entirely possible that Dead Ringer got ahold of a DNA sample and wasn’t actually in any kind of contact with Snapdragon’s alleged corpse.