O’er the Ramparts We Watched

Falcon is on patrol when he spots Nighthawk fly by, something that should be impossible because he is supposed to be dead.[1] When Falcon tries to question him, “Nighthawk” tries to flee the scene. Unable to lose Falcon on his own, he sets the side of a building on fire with his weapons in order to make a clean getaway.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn Heights, Jack Flagg and Free Spirit are training in Captain America’s headquarters while Cap is visited by Countess de la Fontaine on behalf of Nick Fury. She wants Cap to plan an attack on Boca Caliente, the island nation run by Advance Idea Mechanics.[2] The job has to be done with plausible deniability so SHIELD cannot get directly involved. Cap agrees to take the mission, telling his inventor Fabian Stankewicz to prepare robots to help with the invasion. That’s when Falcon calls in to report his encounter with Nighthawk.

Meanwhile, Cap’s ex-girlfriend Bernie Rosenthal has tracked down Super-Patriot to determine if she her hunch about his true identity is true. Brought into his apartment, Super-Patriot decides to reveal his true identity, that of her former neighbor Mike Farrel. Mike explains that he took on the Super-Patriot identity. He explained that after serving jail time for his involvement with the Watchdogs, he was unable to get his old job as a firefighter back.[3] He then explains that he blamed Captain America for what happened and took on the Super-Patriot identity to get revenge by ruining Cap’s reputation.

That’s when Dead Ringer — Mike’s partner in crime who has the ability of necro-mimicry — returns home. Seeing Bernie, Dead Ringer warns Mike that she could land them in prison again. Mike insists Bernie, a lawyer, can help them. This angers Dead Ringer — who takes on the form of Basilisk — and reminds him that they had big plans.[4] Mike, on the other hand, doesn’t have it in him anymore and just wants things to be over.

Meanwhile, Captain America meets with the Falcon atop the Brooklyn Bridge. Sam is surprised to see his friend wearing a suit of flight capable armor. Steve quickly explains his recent health troubles and why he needs to wear the suit before they go out looking for the seemingly resurrected Nighthawk.[5]

Elsewhere, Superia is working on a possible cure for Captain America’s condition, this is all part of an agreement made with Diamondback in order to former Cap’s former girlfriend to work for her. However, in order to see if it works she needs to test it on someone else with the Super-Soldier Serum in their body. Since Rachel was recently treated with some of Steve’s blood, she decides to undergo the test herself even if there is a 50/50 chance it could kill her.[6]

Back at Super-Patriot’s hideout, Bernie makes a grisly discovery: Dead Ringer has a box full of severed fingers. When Mike demands to know why, Dead Ringer explains that he can only take the form of a dead villain once after making contact with their bodies, requiring him to make repeat contacts if he needed to use a specific identity more than once. He assures him that his trophy collection is one out of necessity. When Bernie asks why Dead Ringer is also seeking to ruin Captain America he tells her that he doesn’t have to explain his reasons to her.

By this time, Cap and Falcon are searching Harlem when Cap gets a distress call from Bernie Rosenthal. This is of course a trap, but Cap decides to answer the call anyway. At that same time, Jack Flagg and Free Spirit abruptly end their training session when the alarm goes off. Heading into the costume shop that operates as a front for Cap’s operations they discover Steve’s friend Arnie Roth has collapsed to the floor and needs immediate medical attention.[7]

Meanwhile, Super-Patriot has tied Bernie up while they wait for Captain America to show up. With time to kill, she decides to try and get Dead Ringer talking again. She manages to get him to start blabbing about his powers and how they work. He explains that he discovered his ability to assume the form of dead people when he was thirteen years old. He came home from school one day to find his father dead on the floor. Upon touching the dead body, Lou Dexter was suddenly transformed into his father. After concentrating real hard he was able to return to his normal form as as he got older he learned to control his powers. He would practice by attending funerals and touching the deceased, learning how to remain in these other forms for longer periods of time. He soon decided to dig up the graves of super-villains, but he was caught by the police the first time he tried. That’s how he ended up in jail and met Mike Farrel leading to the pair deciding to work together to get revenge against Captain America.

Unfortunately, Bernie doesn’t the rest of the story because Captain America comes crashing in through the wall. Unprepared for Cap’s new body armor, Dead Ringer takes on the form of Death Stalker a powerful villain who can kill with a touch as well as become intangible at will.[8] While trying to use his death-touch on Captain America, Dead Ringer reveals that the reason why he is coming after Cap is to kill so he can template the hero and take over his life. Realizing his partner has gone off the deep end, Mike tries to stop him and makes the mistake of touching Dead Ringer’s hand, killing him instantly.[9] Because Dead Ringer had to become tangible to use his hands, Captain America is able to use the compressed air cannons in his armored gauntlets to knock him out. Dying, Mike’s final words to Bernie are apologizing for how badly he has screwed up. With the danger passed, Cap calls for an ambulance.

Meanwhile, Superia has run a test of her cure for Steve Rogers on Diamondback and is happy to report that it works![10]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Dead Ringer, Super-Patriot, Falcon, Jack Flag, Free Spirit, Diamondback, Moonhunter, Arnie Roth, Fabian Stankowicz, Peggy Carter, Bernie Rosenthal, Countess de la Fontaine, Superia

Continuity Notes

1. Nighthawk seemingly died in an explosion in Defenders #105. Its later revealed that he survived and had been living in a coma this entire time. He’ll turn up again in Nighthawk #1-3. The Dead Ringer profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that his necro-mimicry abilities don’t necessarily need the person dead, just some discarded DNA that is technically dead. A skin sample or severed limb is good enough.

2. This is setting things up for the Taking AIM story arc which takes place in Avengers #386-388 and Captain America #440-441.

3. Mike was involved with the Watchdogs in Captain America #385-386. He used the Super-Patriot identity to try and ruin Cap’s rep in issues #425-427.

4. Basilisk, aka Basil Elks, was killed by the Scourge of the Underworld in Fantastic Four #289. He will later be resurrected in Punisher (vol. 8) #5.

5. Captain America’s health has been in decline since Captain America #425. His body became completely immobile last issue. Tony built Steve’s suit of armor in Iron Man #314. This health condition will persist until he is cured in Captain America #445.

6. Lots going on here between Diamondback and Superia. The details:

   • Superia convinced Rachel to work for her back in Captain America #433. This was to atone for the alleged murder of Superia’s bodguard, Snapdragon, whom Rachel seemingly drowned in issue #413. Snapdragon actually survived and will turn up again in Moon Knight (vol. 6) #4. Her profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that she faked her death.

   • Accidentally dosed with a massive amount of drugs after a meth lab explosion, Captain America had to undergo a full blood transfusion to get it out of his system, as seen in Captain America #372-378. The blood was scrubbed clean of the drugs and stored at Avengers Headquarters until Rachel was forced to steal it by Crossbones in issue #405. She was then used as a guinea pig to test to see if the blood would work on anyone else in issues #410-411.

7. It was revealed last issue that Arnie is in the final stages of terminal bone cancer and has less than a year to live.

8. Death Stalker met his demise when he accidentally solidified while passing through a tombstone, killing him instantly as seen in Daredevil #128. As of this writing (July, 2022), Death Stalker has yet to be brought back to life.

9. Mike does indeed appear to die here. It’s later revealed in Captain America #600 that Mike was suffering from a brain tumor which is used to excuse his strange behavior here. In that same issue, Bernie and her friend Josh Cooper spread Mikes ashes in New Mexico. Mike certainly seems dead for good and as of this writing he is still considered among the deceased.

10. Except that we learn that the effects are only temporary, as seen in Avengers #387.