Danger in the Air

Advance Idea Mechanics are raising Fort Colon Army Base. Luckily, US Agent is there on a tip. He looks forward to try out his new Vibranium made shield.[1] However when shot at, the shield shatters, sending the Agent crashing into some weapon crates.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Javier Ramirez has set up a dinner with Steve Rogers and his employer Connie Ferrari. He takes off the moment the two sit down for dinner, making his intentions pretty obvious — he’s trying to set the pair up on a date. After dinner, Steve looks at the photos that Connie has hanging on the walls of her apartment. One of them is of her brother, David, who served in the military. When he brings it up, he learns that Connie is critical of the service since his brother was tragically killed in a hazing incident.[2] Hearing this, Steve decides that it might not be the best idea to tell her that he’s really Captain America.

When the subject of Sharon Carter comes up, Steve tells Connie that they are old co-workers and she vanished recently after he told her something.[3] He doesn’t tell Connie that he told Sharon that he still loved her, but picking up on the fact that it was something series she asks if he had meant it. Steve isn’t sure, but this doesn’t change the fact that he’s worried about her. Connie tells him that if that will help making him feel better to go ahead and do that, suggesting they can pick things up another time. As Steve leaves her apartment, Connie chastises herself for letting a good guy walk out the door. She rushes to the window to watch him as he walks down the street and when Steve turns back to look up at her apartment, Connie takes it as a sign that he likes her.

Sharon Carter, meanwhile, has fled to Turkey where she is spending time sitting in a bar. There she is approached by another American who tries to chat her up. Sharon says she isn’t interested in talking. When he insists and introduces himself as Steve, Sharon suddenly and violently punches him out.

Back in Manhattan, Captain America pays a visit to SHIELD headquarters to see if they know where Sharon could have gone. Dum Dum Dugan unfortunately doesn’t know, reminding Steve that Sharon is a freelance agent and comes and goes as she pleases. Suddenly, there is an explosion in one of the training room where agents are training to use Mandroid armor. Rushing inside, Cap and Dugan witness the suits of armor suddenly starting to explode. Captain America quickly gets an agent out of the suit he is trapped in and they all flee before the rest of the suits explode.

The danger isn’t over yet, as the Vibranium contained nuclear reactor that powers SHIELD’s operation also begins going critical. Despite the risks, Captain America puts on a radiation suit and goes inside to rescue the workers and then manually shut down the core before the Vibranium explodes, narrowly avoiding a nuclear disaster. As they are trying to figure out what is going on, Cap gets a call from Tony Stark who has just discovered the reason why Cap’s original shield crumbled and the situation is much more dire than it appeared, saying that an entire country is a ticking time bomb.[4]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, AIM, SHIELD (Dum Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter), Connie Ferrari, US Agent, Javier Ramirez, Tony Stark (voice)

Continuity Notes

1. Here, US Agent mentions how he has been hunting down the Thunderbolts. This has been since Thunderbolts #23. The team has been on the run since being outed as former members of the Masters of Evil as seen in issue #12 of that series.

2. Although Connie believes that her brother died, this was actually a cover story. In Captain America (vol. 3) #35-36 that he was secretly a SHIELD agent. After using an a bioweapon called the Omega Compound to destroy the enemy while on a mission, he was believed dead for years. However, he faked his death and has been secretly operating as the Answer and plotting to take over the world. See Captain America (vol. 3) #41-43

3. Steve and Sharon’s relationship has been complicated. They had an on-again-off-again romance since they first met back in Tales of Suspense #75. This came to an abrupt end when Sharon appeared to die in Captain America #237. In reality, Sharon faked her death in order to go on a deep cover mission for SHIELD. Per Fury/Agent 13 #2, Nick Fury believed she died on that mission and pulled out all other SHIELD agents. Sharon assumed that the spy agency cut her loose and she was being left to fend for herself. She would only return to Captain America’s life in Captain America #445. Their relationship has been combative ever since as Sharon’s experiences hardened her. He told her that he still oved her last issue in order to snap her out of the Red Skull’s mind control spell and she took off after the fight without explanation. The pair won’t be reunited until issue #31.

4. Captain America’s shield mysteriously shattered back in issue #13. Next issue it is revealed that its sudden shattering was due to the fact that a single atom was improperly repaired the last time the weapon was damaged circa Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #11-12. This in turn has reverberated out and is now affecting all things made of Vibranium, threatening the massive mound that is located in Wakanda which will destroy the planet if it explodes. Obviously Captain America will resolve this issue and restore his original shield to normal in Captain America (vol. 3) #22.

Topical References

• In this story, Connie implies that David was set apart from his fellow soldiers due to a “different life style”. This heavily implies that David was gay. It had been a long standing requirement that all members of the US military had to be heterosexual. Those in the service who were outed as gay would be dishonorably discharged for a very long time. In 1993, the US government passed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” Act which was an effort to tolerate LGTBQ people in the military. This didn’t improve things very much for them. Eventually, in 2010, the DADT Act was repealed and the military could no longer discriminate against LGTBQ individuals who wanted to join the military. As such, the context of David’s death is topical. You could argue his dying in a hazing incident could still be tied to the fact that he was gay. Just because they’re allowed in the military on paper LGTBQ people serving in the military are still subject to discrimination from their fellow soldiers because the world is a horrible dumpster fire.

Bloodline Part 1

World War II

Nick Fury is writing a letter to his mother about a strange experience he had while on a mission with the Howling Commandos. Clashing with Nazi forces. They were winning the fight when the battle field was suddenly filled with a strange fog that knocked the entire unit out.

Fury then woke up to find himself tied to a chair inside the Nazi base. There, other captured soldiers were being tortured in horrific ways. Among the other prisoners was a soldier who was captured earlier, Colonel William Poprycz. William tells Fury that their captors has been bloodletting all the other prisoners for refusing to defect to their side.

This preposterous idea is confirmed when Fury is visited by the man in charge of this operation: Baron Blood a Nazi operative who was reportedly a vampire. Blood explains to Fury that if he and his Howling Commandos don’t agree to join up with him, he will exsanguinate them all. However, in siding with Baron Blood, they have to agree to be turned into vampires. After laying out his terms, Blood bares his fangs and asks Fury if he is ready to taste the gift.

Recurring Characters

Howling Commandos (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Rebel Ralston, Gabe Jones, Izzy Cohen), Baron Blood