Captain America Annual 1999
Full Court Press
A trio of men have broken into the United Nations building in New York City in order to steal files from the organization. With them is the anti-nationalist terrorist known as Flag-Smasher who passes the time by spray painting one of his slogans on the wall. He is caught by a security guard and kills him. The three men who brought him there quickly drug Flag-Smasher. Two of the men carry the villain out while one stays behind and allows himself to be arrested.
The following morning, reporter Sid Franken is woken up by his boss Joe Robertson at the Daily Bugle and assigns him to cover the murder/burglary that happened at the UN the night before. He is joined at the court house by fellow reporter Dan Davis to cover the proceedings. They are surprised to hear that the accused — Ken Bradley — is a retired security consultant that once worked for the Brand Corporation.[1]
This, combined by the anti-nationalist graffiti at the crime scene makes for a bizarre story. When Franken and Davis write up their findings and hand it in to Joe Robertson, he thinks the connection between the two is very thin and but is convinced to let them roll with it. Soon, the pair are called in to J. Jonah Jameson’s office. Fearing that Jonah is going to make them kill the story they are instead surprised to see that Captain America is there to go over their notes since something about the case has taken his interest. Jonah is compliant with Captain America’s request and after he is done going over Sid and Dan’s notes is told not to make a habit of this in the future.[2]
Captain America has correctly deduced that the graffiti is connected to his old foe Flag-Smasher, who has been missing since trying to destroy the Chunnel between England and France recently.[3] Still, he cannot make sense how Flag-Smasher ties in to what appears to be a botched robbery.
Meanwhile, Sid and Dan continue their investigation on Ken Bradley. Contacting a former Vice President at the company they learn that Bradley didn’t use his phone call to summon a lawyer after getting imprisoned. More interestingly, the former VP makes mention of how Bradley used to perform “covert operations” for the company, but doesn’t elaborate. Through their information gathering they find a connection between the Brand Corporation and the Roxxon Oil company. Interestingly enough, Brand was the center of Roxxon’s Covert Activities Division.
As the two Daily Bugle reporters are making these discoveries, Captain America is doing an investigation of his own by checking the SHIELD database for clues. What he finds there prompts Cap to stake out Roxxon’s head office in downtown Manhattan.
Inside the office building, Roxxon CEO Calvin Halderman hold a meeting to discuss the situation with Ken Bradley. In order to cover up Roxxon’s involvement in the break in, he decides that Bradley needs to be eliminated. Calvin and his team then head down into the room where they are keeping Flag-Smasher sedated. Injecting him with drugs to make him compliant, Calvin convinces Flag-Smasher that Roxxon shares his anti-nationalist ideals, saying that corporations will be the force that unifies the world into a single nation. Halderman then leaves his two subordinates locked in the cell with Flag-Smasher to be killed for questioning his plans.
Later, back at the Daily Bugle, Dan and Sid meet with Joe Robertson and the senior staff to petition the publication of their story so far. Although there are still missing pieces of evidence and fears of Roxxon becoming litigious, Robertson decides to run the story.
Soon, Ken Bradley is going to be transferred as local authorities hand him off to the FBI. However, as the exchange is happening, Flag-Smasher arrives to eliminate Bradley. Luckily, Captain America arrives on the scene to try and stop him. Unfortunately, as the two battle the armored car carrying Bradley passes by some propane tanks. Seeing this, Flag-Smasher tosses his mace at the tanks causing a massive explosion that sets the jail on fire. Captain America is then forced to let Flag-Smasher go when the fire spreads to the jail, putting people in harms way. Without question, Captain America races into the burning building to save those trapped inside.
The following day when the Daily Bugle merely reports a jail house fire, Captain America pays a visit to Sid Franken to find out why they didn’t publish the whole story. Sid explains that without the proof to back things up there is a limit to what they can publish for fear of legal reprisals. When Captain America gives him a speech about the importance of the free press, Sid agrees in the principals, it’s just the reality that they don’t have the proof.
Cap’s speech prompts Sid and Dan to dig deeper into the story. First they meet with Calvin Halderman at Roxxon. He agrees to speak with them off the record. He avoids talking about the break in at the United Nations and the theft of information regarding the oil wealth of Trebekistan. Instead, he tells them how corporations are the way of the future and how they will one day replace governments. With nothing more to say on the manner, Halderman tells the two reports to see their way out.
The next day they meet with Bradley who agrees to talk to the reporters without his lawyer present because he wants to blow the whistle on Roxxon. Little do any of them know that Captain America is posing as one of the prison guards in order to keep a closer eye on Bradley. Ken spills the beans, telling Sid and Dan that Roxxon was trying to get insider information on oil rights in Trebekistan so they could buy them all up and make a hefty profit. When the pair bring this back to the Daily Bugle, they bring their findings directly to Joe Robertson and J. Jonah Jameson. Despite their continues reservations about going after Roxxon, they agree to run the story and it becomes the front page in the following day’s paper.
Naturally, the explosive story is completely denied by Roxxon and Halderman himself predictably says that he will be suing the Bugle. Joe Robertson calls in Sid and Dan shortly thereafter, not to warn them about the pending lawsuits, but to inform them that Ken Bradley was murdered in prison by another inmate who smuggled in a shiv. With their lives also on the line, Sid is visited by Captain America in the Daily Bugle’s parking garage. Cap warns Frankin that he and Dan’s lives are in jeopardy but it is up to them to lure out their would-be assassin so Captain America can stop them.
Sure enough, when Sid and Dan are working late at the office, Halderman sends Flag-Smasher to eliminate them. Luckily, Captain America is there to protect their lives. Seeing that Flag-Smasher is drugged out of his mind, Cap stops him hard and turns him over to the authorities. With Flag-Smasher’s arrest, his connection to Roxxon is exposed validating Bugle’s story. As a result, Halderman instantly resigns from his post and is replaced by a new CEO Don Kaminski.
Although Sid is discouraged by this, he is visited by Captain America once more to commend him for a job well done. He tells Sid not to feel defeated by Halderman getting off with a slap on the wrist, reminding the reporter that he is doing important work.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Roxxon (Flag-Smasher), J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Kate Cushing, Scarlet Witch, Edwin Jarvis
Continuity Notes
The Brand Corporation was a subsidiary of Roxxon Oil, first seen in Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #11. Prior to this story this subsidiary was shut down after it was discovered that they were experimenting on human beings, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #236. This should not be confused with the new Brand Corporation, first seen in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #26, which is an independent business that has no direct ties to Roxxon.
There are a lot of allusions to J. Jonah Jameson’s dislike of super-heroes and Spider-Man in particular. Jonah has hated Spider-Man and costumed heroes in general since Amazing Spider-Man #1 after the wall-crawler “upstaged” Jonah’s son — astronaut John Jameson — by rescuing him from a space launch that went sideways.
Flag-Smasher attempted to destroy the Chunnel in Marvel Team-Up (vol. 2) #3.
Topical References
The computers in this story are depicted as having CRT monitors. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
In this story, Dan Davis states that his grandfather once fought alongside Captain America during World War II. Due to the Sliding Timescale, the possibility of someone being directly related to someone who fought in World War II becomes increasingly impossible. Modern readers should interpret this to mean that Davis had an ancestor who fought alongside Captain America during the war and not his grandfather.
