Savage Land Showdown

Captain America and his allies Falcon and Diamondback had agreed to help the Black Panther investigate who has been illegally mining Vibranium from the Savage Land and put a stop to it before its sale ruins the Wakandan econdomy.

Lost in the jungle, Captain America and Zabu the sabretooth tiger have run afoul of Advance Idea Mechanics, the culprits responsible, as well as their new allies humandoid dinosaurs called the Saur-Lords. Surrounded on all sides by armed soldiers, Steve wonders how he is going to get out of this mess. Luckily, he has been found by Diamondback who ambushes one of the AIM troops in the back and steals his uniform. She then gets in close enough and begins opening fire on the others creating enough confusion for Cap and Zabu to attack. Once the soldiers and Saur-Lords are dealt with, Diamondback strips off her disguise and reveals that it was her who started shooting.

Elsewhere, the Black Panther’s fight with a mind-controlled Ka-Zar has come to an abrupt end when both men find themselves stuck in a tar pit. T’Challa strips off his shirt and uses it to pull down a vine and pull himself out of the mire. Getting to safety, the Panther figures that Ka-Zar will be able to get free on his own, but he’ll be long gone by then. He then returns to his craft where his guide — a tribal princess named Maza — is waiting impatiently for him.

In another part of the Savage Land, the Falcon has found a strange metal citadel in the mountains. There he discovers it is the domain of the High Technician who orders the Mutate known as Lorelei to hypnotize the hero. The High Technician then takes Sam on a tour of his facility. He explains that he was trained in genetics under the High Evolutionary during his time in the Savage Land.[1] Whereas his master evolved ordinary animals into humanoid form, the High Technician has been evolving dinosaurs in the same fashion to become his Saur-Lords. In order to fund his continued experiments, the High Technician has sold the mineral rights to the Antarctic Vibranium to AIM. Fearing that Falcon’s allies might interfere with their plans, he then sends the Falcon out to stop his comrades.

Back in the jungle, Captain America is a little disappointed that Diamondback rescued him as he wanted to be captured to figure out AIM was doing. This annoyed Rachel who expected some appreciation. Suddenly, she spots what appears to be Snapdragon leaping behind a tree and opens fire. However, when she realizes that there was nothing there, Rachel begins to freak out and tells Steve that there is something wrong with her but won’t explain what it is.[2] That’s when they are contacted by the Falcon who tells Steve that he has found someone who can give them answers. Meanwhile, the Black Panther and Maza are high above the jungle in a sky-cycle when they are also contacted by the Falcon. However, before T’Challa can join his friends, Maza is snatched off their ride by the flying Saur-Lord known as Pter. As Maza’s safety takes precedence over anything else, the Black Panther follows after them hoping that Cap, Falcon, and Diamondback can handle things on their own for a while.

Not far away, the AIM soldiers have recovered from their battle with Captain America. Realizing that they’re going to need reinforcements, the leader of this squad calls another unit to join them. However, the leader of this other unit isn’t interested in joining up with them as his team just found large chunks of some kind of machine in a nearby plain and are investigating what it is.

As Captain America and Diamondback head off to rendezvous with Falcon, Steve asks what is wrong with Rachel. He suspects that it might have something to do with the period in which she was a prisoner of Crossbones, but she tells him its something else.[3] However, Cap doesn’t get an explanation as Falcon has just arrived. He leads them to the High Technician’s citadel. The Black Panther is already there, having been led to its location by Pter. However, when Steve tells him to wait, T’Challa goes inside anyway because Maza could be in danger. When Cap and the others arrive, Falcon takes them down to meet the High Technician. However, before Lorelei can enslave Cap and Diamondback, the Falcon attacks. As it turned out, he was never under their control to begin with because the high tech devices in cowl blocked out Lorelei’s hypnotic power.

With Lorelei down, the High Technician summons all of the Saur-Lords to deal with the intruders. Cap and the others try to fend off their attackers, but the Saur-Lords are incredibly strong and durable. They are soon joined by the Black Panther who has been unable to find Maza in the Technician’s citadel yet. However, the battle comes to an abrupt end when some thing begins shaking the entire facility. Looking outside they are surprised to see the armored form of Terminus is responsible.[4]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Diamondback, Black Panther, AIM (Marcus Macross, High Technician), Lorelei, Saur-Lords (Allo, Anky, Bront, Pter, Stero), Terminus, Maza, Zabu

Continuity Notes

1. The High Evolutionary was last in the Savage Land during the Evolutionary War. See Uncanny X-Men Annual #12.

2. Diamondback drowned her old enemy Snapdragon back in Captain America #413 and has been haunted by visions of her foe since last issue. Despite being dead, Snapdragon will 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.

3. Diamondback was a kidnapped and held prisoner by Crossbones from Captain America #396 to 410 (this issue incorrectly ascribes her captivity to issues #397 to 404).

4. This really isn’t Terminus, as we’ll learn next issue this is a suit of Terminus armor piloted by a member of AIM. This isn’t even Terminus’ armor either. It was the suit worn by the Deviant named Jarro who briefly posed as Terminus. See Avengers #256-257 and Thor Annual #15.

Errors

Here, Falcon states that the infrared lenses of his cowl were what blocked out Lorelei’s hypnotic powers. However, this doesn’t make any sense since Lorelei’s powers are sound based as she enthralls men with her singing voice — hence her name — so lenses wouldn’t have any affect on them. So you’re guess is as good as mine on how that all makes sense.