Going Ballistic

Across the street from Avengers Headquarters in New York City a group of men have been hired to eliminate Captain America. To send a message to the hero, they destroy a statue of Cap that stands on the front lawn of the property.

In Central Park, Steve Rogers is out on a jog with his friend Dennis Dunphy. Dennis is telling Steve about how he is helping the Night People of Zerotown.[1] This piques Steve’s interest and he is about to accept a invitation to visit when he gets a call from Peggy Carter telling him about the situation back at base.

Not long after Steve Rogers takes off, some young men in the part are confronted by a new costumed vigilante calling himself Blistik. He has come to order them to turn down the music they are listening to as it is violating city ordinances regarding noise pollution. Naturally, the young punks don’t accept his authority prompting Blistic to use his energy charged staff to shatter their stereos to pieces.

At Avengers Headquarters, Marilla is working in the kitchen to make breakfast for her charge Luna when she is suddenly tripped up by one of Fabian Stankoewicz’s robots. She is furious and when he apologizes for the run away automation she vows to get him kicked out.

Outside, Captain America and Michael O’Brien are going over the damage done to the statue outside when the snipers open fire on them. Steve blocks the bullets with his shield and spots the shooters making a getaway in a van. Running after the vehicle, Cap suddenly feels himself getting uncharacteristically winded.[2] Fearing he might lose the car, Steve hops in a cab and orders the driver to follow after it. However, the chase comes to an abrupt end when Blistik flies onto the scene and orders the gunmen to pull over. When they refuse, he uses his energy staff to blast their vehicle and then departs. As emergency crews are arriving on the scene, Captain America pulls his would-be killers out of the burning vehicle. When Moonhunter — Cap’s pilot — arrives on the scene on a sky-cycle the pair head off to find the man who attacked the van.

Back at Avengers Headquarters, Fabian has become depressed after the reaming out he got from Marilla. Taking her threats seriously, he thinks that he has finally screwed up a sweet gig. Deciding to leave, Stankoewicz writes a goodbye letter and leaves. When Steve returns to headquarters later he finds himself exhausted again and wonders what’s wrong with him. That’s when he bumps into the Black Widow who tells him about Fabian’s latest episode. Steve promises to sort things out in the morning.

Meanwhile, Diamondback wakes up at a hospital in Wakanda and discovers that she has been in a coma after crashing her sky-cycle in the Savage Land.[3] The call comes to Steve as he is laying awake in bed. He is told that Diamondback is on her way back to America and her plane will arrive in 12 hours. Unable to sleep because he feels guilty about leaving her behind and wants to talk to someone about it. Deciding to get advice from Fabian, Steve discovers that the inventor not in his lab. Instead he finds the goodbye letter and fears that Fabian may have gone off somewhere to commit suicide.

Cap’s hunch is right as at that very moment, Fabian is atop the Brooklyn Bridge trying to find the nerve to jump. His presence has tied up traffic as emergency crews arrive on the scene to coax him down. Also arriving is Blistik who encourages Fabian to jump, finding his life trivial compared to the flow of traffic in the city. That’s when Captain America arrives and tries to convince Fabian that he has every reason to keep living. This leads to a battle with Blistik where Cap is knocked off his sky-cycle. Grabbing onto one of the bridge’s cables, Steve is suddenly struck by another wave of fatigue making it difficult for him to climb back up to safety. Once he has accomplished this sudden herculean task he defeats his foe by tossing his shield at Blistik’s staff. It snaps the weapon in half and since it was his method of propulsion, the villain ends up falling into East River.

Fabian is gracious that Captain America saved his life. After hearing about how Marilla yelled at him, Steve assures Fabian that he wasn’t going to get fired. However, Cap has decided that he needs to get a space of his own away from the Avengers and decides to get a new base of operations where Fabian can have a working space where he can work uninterrupted. Fabian instantly comes up with an idea, telling Steve that storefront that shares space with Cap’s Stars and Stripes Hotline has just gone up for sale and would be an ideal place to set up operations.[4]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Blistik, Diamondback, Demolition Man, Moonhunter, Black Widow, Crystal, Fabian Stankoewicz, Peggy Carter, Michale O’Brien, Luna, Marilla

Continuity Notes

1. D-Man became the protector of Zerotown in Captain America #418.

2. This is the first sign that Steve’s Super-Soldier Serum is starting to wear out, the results of which will have a catastrophic effect on his health, as we’ll learn in Captain America #425. This condition will ultimately get cured thanks to a bone marrow transplant and blood transfusion from the Red Skull in Captain America #445.

3. Rachel was injured in the crash Captain America #417. It was caused by a panic when she saw a vision of Snapdragon, the woman she seemingly murdered in issue #413. Despite apparently being dead, Snapdragon will turn up alive in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #2. A profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that Snapdragon faked her death.

4. Captain America’s Stars and Stripes Hotline was established in Captain America #312, giving the average person a means of contacting Cap and requesting his assistance or give tips on criminal activity that would interest him.

Topical References

• Steve is wearing a t-shirt emblazed with the logo for B.U.M. Equipment. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world clothing brand.

• The punks in the park are listening to “Whoomp! (There It Is)” a 1993 song by Tag Team on boom boxes that have tape players. This comic was published at the height of the song’s popularity and its reference here should be considered topical. Likewise should the tape decks since that is an obsolete technology.