Captain America Annual #9
The Terminus Factor: Stage One - You Are What You Eat
Stark Enterprises is testing out a brand new device — Persephone-1 — which can explore the inside of a volcano. Scientist Ramona Napier is then brought to Mount St. Cloud in Washington state to test the device out. Accompanying her on the maiden voyage is Captain America who was personally asked by Tony Stark to join the maiden voyage to keep Ramona safe. Everything is going smoothly until they get close to a mysterious metal canister hidden deep in the flow of lava.[1] It suddenly bursts open unleashing a stream of bizarre green energy that shorts out the Persephone’s controls.
This is detected on the surface by the tech crew monitoring things on the surface. When they warn Tony Stark of the situation, Tony tells them that he needs to go into the woods and think up a solution. This is merely to give Tony a means of slipping away and changing into Iron Man. Since his armor can withstand the tremendous heat of the volcano, Iron Man dives into the lava and recovers the Persephone-1. Once it is brought to the surface, Captain America is able to break out and carry Ramona to safety.
What nobody notices is the strange energy that leaps out of the volcano and lands in a nearby river where it contaminates the fish. A bear scoops one of the infected fish out of the water before being frightened off by some fishermen of the Walakima Native American tribe. They have come to net a bunch of fish for the annual Georgeville Trout Festival. Captain America and Iron Man make an appearance at the festival as guests of honor. While Iron Man enjoys some of the “fresh” caught fish, neither Cap nor Ramoa are very hungry after their brush with death.[2] The contaminated fish begins to affect everyone that have eaten it, turning them into mindless zombies that attack the uninfected.
Captain America swings into action, something that proves difficult due to the sheer size of the infected mob. While trying to subdue an infected child, Cap tosses the boy into a drum filled with ice water that was used to keep soft drinks cold and is surprised when the sudden cold restores the boy to normal. Cap also notices that the mob of infected people are attacking Iron Man, drawn to him by the energy given off by his armor. Coming up with a way to cure everyone, Captain America and Ramona hop into a helicopter and use it to lure Iron Man up into the mountains. Although they are shot out of the sky by Iron Man’s repulsor rays, neither are seriously hurt.
Cap then climbs out of the wreck and engage Iron Man in battle until the cold mountain snow purges his body of the infection. As Cap anticipated, the infected horde followed Iron Man up into the mountains and they too are eventually cured. Since they have no idea what caused this bout of madness or why, both Captain America and Iron Man hope this is the last they have seen of it.
Unfortunately, the two heroes won’t have that luxury as somewhere down river the infected bear from earlier is still roaming the forests.
… This story is continued in Iron Man Annual #11.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Iron Man, Terminus, Ramona Napier
Continuity Notes
This canister is later revealed to contain the genetic virus that can be used to create a Terminus entity. It was left here by the original Terminus during a period where he was trapped deep below the Earth’s surface. See Fantastic Four #269-270 and Thor Annual #15 for all the details.
Here, Captain America wonders if Iron Man is Tony Stark or if it is someone new in the suit of armor. The reason for this is complicated:
Captain America learned that Tony Stark was secretly Iron Man in Avengers #215-216.
More recently, Tony discovered that his Iron Man tech had been stolen and sold to others. This prompted Iron Man to go on a mission to brick all this stolen tech making the hero very unpopular. Once he completed his mission, Tony faked Iron Man’s death and his double identity wasn’t known publicly at the time convinced the world that he had put someone new in the armor. See Iron Man #225-232 and Captain America #340.
Tony has been doing a shit job convincing his fellow Avengers that he is a different man in the armor, leading Cap to grow suspicious of the truth since Avengers #314-318.
Iron Man drops all pretense that he’s someone else in the suit of armor by Avengers West Coast #72.
Topical References
Here the eruption of Mount St. Helens is stated as happening in the recent past. The mountain became an active volcano in 1980 when it erupted. While most of its activity has remained relatively benign in recent years, the volcano saw increased activity between 2004 and 2008 but nothing nearly as powerful as the 1980 eruption. At any rate, specific references to the 1980 eruption happening in the recent past should be considered topical.
While exploring the volcano, Ramona remarks about how Captain America was revered as a legend in her house and that she was regularly told stories about Cap’s adventures by her grandmother. The implied meaning here is that Ramona’s grandmother was alive during World War II. This would be come increasingly impossible due to the Sliding Timescale. That said, being told stories about Captain America by her grandmother wouldn’t be impossible in and of itself, just the idea that she was alive during WWII.
Ramona makes a quip about their exploration being better than CBS’s prime-time schedule. This is a pretty sick burn for the time. That said, references to CBS should be considered topical as this is a real world television network.
A Soldier’s Story
Washington, Now
Senator Robert “Rebel” Ralston, co-chairman of the Senate Defense Committee is wrapping up a public speech. Among those in the crowd is Captain America, who is proud to see that Ralston continues to be the same man of principal he knew from back in the war.[1] After the speech is over, an assassin storms the stage and shoots Ralston twice in the chest before anyone can act. Captain America quickly incapacitates the assassin but the damage is already done and Ralston is blacks blood loss. As the senator drifts between life and death he thinks back to one of his missions…
Germany, 1944
The Howling Commandos are being airdropped into Nazi territory to rescue Howard and Maria Stark who have been kidnapped by the Red Skull. The couple have been taken to a stronghold in the Bavarian Alps so the Skull can extract information pertaining to the United States work on the atomic bomb.[2] Parachuting to the ground, the Howlers split up to secure the area before meeting up with their reinforcements in the rendezvous area.
The group ends up getting ambushed by Nazi soldiers, separating Rebel Ralston from the rest of his comrades. Pinned down by enemy fire, Ralston becomes frozen with fear. When the Nazi soldiers find him they are suddenly attacked by the Howler’s reinforcements: Captain America and Bucky. Seeing the duo in action makes Rebel feel like nothing more than a coward by comparison. Soon they are joined by Nick Fury and the rest of the Howling Commandos. With the foot soldiers dealt with, they all press on to the Red Skull’s fortress.
There, the Red Skull has Howard Stark shackled to a wall and demands he reveal the secrets of America’s new atomic bomb program. Stark refuses, prompting the Skull to threaten to burn Maria with a swastika shaped branding iron.
Meanwhile, the Howlers and their allies are scaling the mountains in order to reach the Skull’s fortress. Still down on himself for choking under pressure, Rebel loses his grip and almost falls to his death but is saved thanks to the rope around his waist that is tied to the other. Rebel then finds himself suddenly afraid of heights until he gets a pep talk from Captain America himself, which instills Rebel with newfound courage.
When they reach the top they discover that the access pipe they were going to sneak through is blocked by a grate that will take hours to remove. Luckily, it is small enough for both Bucky and Rebel to squeeze through. The pair are sent off to rescue the Starks while the other Howlers and Captain America create a distraction topside.
Working with Bucky, Reb finds the courage to take down the guard left to keep an eye on Howard and Maria while the Skull goes upstairs to help repel the invaders. After freeing the Starks, Howard picks up a machine gun an joins the fight. They fight their way outside where they rejoin Cap and the Howlers. With the Starks safe, they then steal a Nazi aircraft to try and escape. Reb stays behind to provide cover fire while they get the plane warmed up. With the plane about to take off, Ralston makes a break for it and is pulled on board by Captain America as they enter take off.
Washington, Now
While Rebel was reliving this moment from his past, he underwent emergency surgery. When he wakes up in his hospital bed, Captain America is there to congratulate him on pulling through. Rebel then thanks Cap for helping him pull through for the second time in his life.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Howling Commandos (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Rebel Ralston, Gabe Jones, Izzy Cohen, Pinkie Pinkerton, Dino Manelli), Red Skull, Nazis, Howard Stark Sr., Maria Stark
Continuity Notes
Rebel Ralston was a founding member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos back in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1. He first met Captain America in issue #13 of that series. How Ralston could appear in the Modern Age in his relative prime is due to exposure to the Infinity Formula in Nick Fury’s blood during the war, as explained in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #1.
According to the Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Captain America, the Howard and Maria Stark seen in this story are supposed to be the adopted parents of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. However, due to the Sliding Timescale this becomes increasingly impossible without some means of artificially prolonging their lives. As of this writing (July, 2022) the Howard Stark timeline is a mess that has yet to be properly explained. My theory is that this isn’t Tony Stark’s father, but Howard Stark, Sr. Tony’s father.
Topical References
Here, Captain America states that World War II ended forty years prior to this story. This measurement of time should be considered topical due to the Sliding Timescale. As the Modern Age is pushed forward in time the number of years between the end of World War II and the start of the Modern Age will continue to grow. If you like math, read this, as it’ll explain it to you.
Walking the Line
Nomad is in Savannah, Georgia observing the funeral of Patty Joplin, one of his informants. Patty was a drug addict who was helping Nomad bring down her pimp and dealer, Umberto Tafilios. Tragically, she was murdered before Nomad could bring Tafilios to justice.[1] Watching things from a distance, Nomad is angered and disgusted to see that Umberto Tafilios is one of the attendees of the funeral and offering his condolences to Patty’s parents.
This angers Nomad so much that he follows Umberto back to the airport where he takes one of his men hostage and demands to know why he showed up at the Joplin funeral. Umberto finds this all very amusing and tells Nomad that if he wants to know the truth about his connection to Patty’s family he should ask the Joplin’s himself.
Deciding to get answers, Nomad goes to the Joplin estate and fights his way through security and finds Patty’s mother on the grounds. She understands Nomad’s quest for answers and tells him that he can get them from Patty’s father, Miller. After Nomad leaves, she tells one of the guards to get a gun just in case things get ugly.
When Nomad enters the mansion he finds Miller playing with a little girl. Miller knows who Nomad is and why he has come. Nomad expresses his confusion why they would invite Umberto Tafilios — the man who murdered their daughter — to her funeral. As it turns out, the little girl in his arms is Patty and Umberto’s daughter. When Petty was seventeen she returned home with the child and left her in the care of her parents. However, she revealed that she revealed a number of her father’s improprieties in his business dealings. Since both Miller and Umberto have dirt on one another and both want Patty’s daughter to grow up safe, they are locked in a stalemate. This stalemate is also the reason why the Joplin family were unable to stop Umberto from showing up at the funeral. While Miller finds this acceptable, Nomad does not and decides to do something about it.
By the time the vigilante rides back to his home in Miami, he decides that it is time to take Umbert Tafilios for good. Buying a shotgun and designing a new costume better suited for the warm southern climate, Nomad if finally ready to get his revenge.
… This story is continued in Nomad #1.
Recurring Characters
Nomad, Umberto Tafilios
Continuity Notes
Nomad’s attempts to bring down Umberto Tafilios were chronicled in Marvel Comics Presents #14.
