Captain America #418
To Have and To Have Not
Dennis Dunphy, aka Demolition Man, has stumbled upon the secret underground domain of the Night People.[1] Seen as an threat because he will not talk, Brother Wonderful orders him tortured. No longer remembering his past, Dennis recalls how he got lost in Central Park and then attacked by one of the Magus’ doppelgangers who tried to drown him. Instead, he found himself in the Night People’s underground domain. However, he has no idea why any of these events happened, not is he able to communicate them.[2]
Seeing Dennis’ D-Man costume under his tattered clothing Brother Have-Not tells the other that he is a hero, but not one for them, as the heroes of the surface world overlook the forgotten people of Zerotown. Have-Not convinces everyone that Dennis needs to be locked up and they put him in a cage. Once this is done, the Night People head off to line up for food rations that were stolen by Brother Have-Not on the surface. With everyone gone, Brother Have-Not uses his powers to leech some of D-Man’s strength.
Meanwhile, Captain America and his allies have arrived in Wakanda to get Diamondback medical attention after she was involved in a crash in the Savage Land.[3] Rachel is taken into emergency surgery. Afterwards, the doctors tell Steve that she is going to make it but is still in a coma with no sign of when she will snap out of it. Steve sits by Rachel’s bedside praying that the Super-Soldier Serum in her blood will help her pull through.[4]
Back in Zerotown, a young boy named Jikjak visits D-Man and asks for the heroes help. He explains how the Night People are prisoners in their own town thanks to Brother Have-Not, who has used his powers to trap them all underground so only he can go up to the surface and steal supplies. Hearing the boy’s anguish reaches Dennis’ mind in a way that hasn’t been done since his accident and he breaks out of his cell and silently asks the boy to lead him to the tunnel out of Zerotown. Sure enough, the exit is blocked by a massive boulder which Dunphy tries to move. However, he is still weak after his powers were drained and he collapses to the ground. They are then found by Brother Have-Not who begins beating on Jikjak for freeing the prisoner. Waking up to see his friend being slapped around, Dennis Dunphy speaks a single word: Don’t.
While in Wakanda, the Falcon is ready to head back to the United States. He convinces Steve to leave as well, pointing out that there isn’t much to do but wait for Rachel to come out of her coma. Cap reluctantly agrees and they two make preparations to head for home.
In Zerotown, Brother Have-Not puts down Jikjak as he is ordered and decides that they can use D-Man after all. He decides to take the new comer up to the surface with a group of scavengers to gather supplies. On the surface, Brother Have-Not orders Dennis to break into a store, however D-Man refuses to commit thievery to provide for the others. Angered by this defiance, Brother Have-Not shoves D-Man without enough force to send him crashing through the door of the shop.
Meanwhile, Moonhunter is flying Captain America and Falcon back to the United States. Along the way, Sam expresses his concerns about Steve’s relationship with Diamondback due to her criminal past.[5] Cap points out that despite her checkered history she is basically a good woman, then reminds Sam that he too has skeletons in his own closet.[6] Sam apologizes, telling him that he was just curious as to what the attraction was. Moonhunter wisely stays out of the conversation.
Back in the city, D-Man refuses to comply with Brother Have-Not’s orders to loot the store. Rather than letting the others steal food he fights Brother Have-Not. This is a difficult battle since Have-Not can absorb Dennis’ powers with a touch. However, the battle draws police to the scene, prompting Brother Have-Not to throw a pipe at one of the officers with enough force to be lethal. Luckily, Captain America — who just arrived in New York and heard about the D-Man situation — is there to deflect the pipe with his shield. D-Man then leaps off a rooftop and lands on top of Brother Have-Not with enough force to knock him out, ending his threat.
Explaining what happened to Captain America, Dennis tells his friend that he is going back down to Zerotown to help the Night People so they do not have to resort to thievery to survive. Steve finds this commendable and wishes Dunphy the best of luck.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Demolition Man, Falcon, Diamondback, Moonhunter, Night People
Continuity Notes
The narrative here states that Zerotown exists an abandoned domain of a cabal of sorcerers. Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 confirms that this was the former hideout of the Conspiracy. See the Bloodstone stories in Rampaging Hulk #1-8.
Lots going on with D-Man at the start of this story. The facts:
Dennis’ condition — selective amnesia — occurred after getting caught in a Quinjet explosion and spending an extended period of time frozen in the Arctic Ocean until he was found and rescued. See Captain America #349, 384 and 400.
Taken on a walk by Cap’s ex-girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal, Bern lost track of him after she chased after some purse snatchers who grabbed her bag in Captain America #405.
He was then attacked by his doppelganger in Captain America #408-409, leading to his discovery of Zerotown and becoming their prisoner in issue #410-411.
Captain America, Falcon, and Diamondback were assisting the Black Panther stop an illegal Vibranium mining operation in the Savage Land that was affecting the Wakanda economy, as seen in Captain America #414-417. Last issue, Diamondback crashed a sky-cycle into an AIM piloted suit of Terminus armor. This is because she has been haunted by the image of Snapdragon, the woman she seemingly killed in Captain America #413. Snapdragon turns up alive again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #2. A profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that Snapdragon faked her death.
Back in Captain America #372-378, Steve had to undergo a full blood transfusion to get serum out of his body after it was tainted after getting caught in a meth lab explosion. The blood was scrubbed free of drugs and later stolen from Avengers Headquarters in Captain America #405. Diamondback was subjected to a blood transfusion by the Red Skull’s doctors to test out the blood’s viability in issue #410-411.
Diamondback was a career criminal, first meeting Cap when she was a member of the Serpent Society in Captain America #310. Attracted to Steve, Rachel decided to go straight following the events of Captain America #344 in order to win him over. The two have been dating since issue #371.
Steve is referring to the revelation that Falcon also had a criminal past. In Captain America #186, the Red Skull revealed that Sam was once a drug dealer named “Snap” Wilson. However, All-New Captain America #3 will go on to reveal that the whole “Snap” Wilson thing was a fabrication created by the Red Skull using the Cosmic Cube.
Topical References
There is an advertisement for Cookie Crisp cereal hanging on the shop window that is being robbed by the Night People. It features former company mascots the Cookie Crook and Chip the Dog. This should be considered topical not only because this is a real world product, but the Cookie Crook was retired in 2005 and Chip the Dog was later redesigned as a wolf.
