Captain America (vol. 2) #12
Heroes Reunited Part 4: Let It Be
This story continues from Iron Man (vol. 2) #12…
In Philadelphia, Rikki Barnes returns to her family apartment annoyed. She went through training to become Captain America’s partner and with the world on the brink of destruction due to the threat posed by Galactus she has been sidelined.[1] That’s when she notices that someone has broken into the apartment. Inside, she is ambushed by Doctor Doom. The Latverian monarch has gone back in time three two already to prevent the destruction of the Earth and failed each time.[2] This time, he has decided to investigate Rikki Barnes who, according to Doom, is a chronal anomaly and should not exist.[3]
Thinking that Doom harmed her grandparents, Rikki tries to attack him but his armor easily shrugs it off. That’s when Captain America arrives, ordering Doom to let her go. Since he has more important work to do, the Latverian rule complies. He then warns Captain America that they are all in grave danger thanks to the world devourer known as Galactus. As they are speaking the Fantastic Four are currently fighting for their lives against the herald of Galactus which include Firelord, Plasma, Terrax, and Air-Walker.
Luckliy, Captain America decides to listen to Doom’s warnings and mobilizes the Avengers and the Hulk to assist the Fantastic Four, saving their lives in the process. Doom also arrives and uses an energy siphon to drain the Heralds of their power, putting an end to their threat. When Doom is about to pull his usual superiority, Captain America reminds him that they need to work together in order to save the Earth.
While in planetary orbit, Galactus grows impatient and wants to consume the Earth as soon as possible. He then dispatches his final herald, the Silver Surfer, to deal with any remaining opposition that may stand in his way.
Doom grudgingly agrees to his former friends, aka the Knights of the Atomic Round Table — Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Ant-Man and Bruce Banner — to develop a means to defeat Galactus.[4] Doom shows him the various devices he built the previous three times he went up against Galactus. Looking them over, Banner suggests a means of giving Galactus exactly what he wants.
While the eggheads are all working, the other heroes are milling about Avengers Mansion, passing the time with idle conversation. Among them is Bucky who feels so out of place around the adults. She is also deeply disturbed by what Doom said about her being a chronal anomaly. She then decides to go out and get some air where she encounters the Silver Surfer. The final herald of Galactus warns her that Galactus cannot be stopped and advises her to tell the other heroes to work on a way of escaping the planet as that is the only way any of them can survive. She cusses the Surfer out, saying that the combined forces of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four will stop them. When the Surfer tires to leave, Rikki is not done talking to him and leaps onto his surfboard.
Seeing this, Captain America follows after them on a sky cycle. As they approach Galactus, he takes offense to a lowly human sullying his Silver Surfer and blasts Bucky with his cosmic power. Cap leaps off the motorcycle to try and shield her but is too late and dives into the waters below to get her.[5] Cap then rushes her back to Avengers Mansion to get Rikki immediate medical attention.
By this time, the “Atomic Knights” have completed their new device, called the Ultimate Nullifier. However, whoever is to wear it will be sacrificing their life to stop Galactus by super-charging him with more power than he can handle. Captain America volunteers for the job. However, that’s when the Silver Surfer arrives — having been touched by Bucky’s near death — and offers to turn against his master instead. While Doctor Doom is reluctant to believe him the others agree to let him help. They then equip him with the Ultimate Nullifier as well as Captain America’s indestructible shield to protect himself. As the Surfer goes to face his former master, the other heroes channel their combined power through Thor’s hammer which transmits the energy needed to power the Ultimate Nullifier. Sure enough, Galactus is overcharged with too much power and he suddenly explodes into a burst of energy. The only thing in proximity that survives this burst of power is Captain America’s shield, which is quickly recovered by the hero.
In the aftermath of the battle, Mister Fantastic thanks Doctor Doom for his help and extends his hand in friendship. Doom refuses to take it, saying that where he goes he goes alone. However, Doom calls Reed by his first name for the first time they have ever known each other.
A few days later, Captain America pays a visit to the grave of Abraham Wilson to pay his respects.[6] There he is greeted by Richard and Peggy Barnes, Rikki’s grandparents. They have come to thank Captain America for saving Rikki’s life during the battle with Galactus. Cap has a vague feeling that he should know who they are. That’s when Nick Fury arrives and tells him that he can’t know the truth about the Barnes as a matter of national security. Fury has come by to tell Captain America that everything that SHIELD told him about how he was put on ice for protesting President Truman’s use of atomic bombs during World War II was all done in order to convince Steve to put the uniform back on, but that doesn’t make it the truth.[7] Climbing aboard his motorcycle, Cap tells Fury that he knew all along.
As he rides off, Captain America he is observed by the Watcher, who is pleased to see that these heroes reunited to face a global threat and doesn’t doubt that this will be the last time either, as this is only one of many tales of Heroes Reborn.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Silver Surfer, Doctor Doom, Avengers (Thor, Iron Man, Vision, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Wasp, Ant-Man), Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Hulkbusters (Hulk, She-Hulk, Doc Samson), Galactus, Terrax the Tamer, Firelord, Air-Walker, Plasma, Nick Fury, Watcher
Continuity Notes
It should be noted that Bucky, Galactus, his Heralds, She-Hulk, Doc Samson, and Swordsman are all constructs created to populate Franklin Richards’ pocket dimension. See Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
Doom has failed to stop Galactus from consuming the Earth in 12th issues of Fantastic Four (vol. 2), Avengers (vol. 2), and Iron Man (vol. 2). What’s unexplained is that whenever Doom goes back, events play out radically different. I posit a theory on what that is in my summary for Avengers (vol. 2) #12, check it out.
Doom gets this information from files he took from SHIELD in Iron Man (vol. 2) #12. Rikki being a “chronal anomaly” is never explained.
Iron Man mentions how Connor “Rebel” O’Reilly was also part of their university group. This was first noted in Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #6. Rebel’s backstory is complicated, needless to say the guy has a habit of dying (Iron Man (vol. 2) #1) and being resurrected (Iron Man (vol. 2) #9). At the time of this story, Rebel died again in Iron Man (vol. 2) #11. However, he will be resurrected a second time in Heroes Reborn: Rebel #1.
This whole moment is based off moment when James Barnes — Captain America’s wartime sidekick who also went back the name Bucky — seemingly died in a drone plane explosion. See Avengers #4.
In the Heroes Reborn reality, Captain America was made to forget who he really was and placed in a cover identity. Abraham Wilson sacrificed his life to revive Captain America so he could face the renewed threat of the Red Skull. See Captain America (vol. 2) #1.
Captain America was told that he was taken out of circulation because he refused to support the use of atomic weapons. See Captain America (vol. 2) #3 and 7 for the details.
Topical References
Here, Captain America states that it has been an entire year since he was revived in issue #1. However, this denotes the passage of time between publications. Per the Sliding Timescale, only four months would have passed in universe.