Captain America (vol. 3) #3
Museum Piece
In Washington, DC, Hydra has taken over the Smithsonian and demanded that Captain America face them. Heading the police response to this threat is Federal Crisis Negotiator James McElroy, who laments that these things always seem to happen on his watch.[1]
Nobody is aware that two boys — who hid from their school fieldtrip — are still inside and playing around among the various exhibits. They are soon found by the Hydra agents who then take the boys hostage.
Meanwhile, at Avengers Mansion, Captain America is trying out a new shield created by Tony Stark to replace the one he recently lost at sea.[2][3] Unfortunately, the weapon is not very well balanced and his throw is off. That’s when the Sub-Mariner arrives to inform Steve that his recent attempts to search the ocean floor has turned up nothing. Namor vows that he will spend whatever free time he has searching for the lost shield.[4] Going for a walk, Captain America can’t get a moments peace because he is suddenly swarmed by a bunch of fans, as his popularity has somehow exploded since coming back from near death.[5][6] That’s when Cap sees a new report coming from a TV in a shop window about the hostage situation at the Smithsonian and races off to do something about it.
While at Hydra headquarters, the group’s new leader — the Sensational Hydra — entertains himself by fooling his minions into thinking the inert body of MODAM is still alive.[7] Then, taking Baron Strucker’s sword off its display decides to have some fun by seeing if the Hydra motto about cutting off a limb is true by chopping off the arm of one of his subordinates. He then asks if everything is ready at the Smithsonian and is pleased when he is informed that everything is going according to his plans.
Arriving at the Smithsonian, Captain America charges into the building where he finds the two boys who stayed behind when the building was evacuated. Trying to get them to safety, Cap discovers that Hydra has rigged many of the displays with hidden traps. Leading the kids to the exit, they run into a group of Hydra operatives. Throwing his new shield, it’s imperfect nature causes it to go off course and not return to Steve’s hand. When one of the agents opens fire on the children, Cap leaps in the way and takes a bullet to the back of his shoulder.
Back in New York, Sharon Carter shows up at the barbershop that operates as a front for SHIELD.[8] Sitting in the chair, she demands the “barber” send her down into the secret base. Once lowered into the spy agencies headquarters, Sharon is greeted by Director Timothy “Dum Dum” Dugan, who demands to know what she has come sniffing around for.[9]
While at the Smithsonian, the Hydra agents are too busy marveling over what they think that Captain America’s trademark shield that they don’t notice that Steve took off when they weren’t looking. Threatening the kids with violence, they demand they reveal where the hero went. That’s when Cap comes charging in with a replica of his original shield that he took from the Captain America exhibit.[10] With the Hydra agents down, Captain America gets the kids outside. Once the authorities have cleared the place out, the administrator for the Smithsonian thanks Captain America personally and allows him to keep the triangular shield as a gift. Feeling that it works better than his current shield, Steve accepts the gift.
Returning outside, Captain America is swarmed by the media who have a million questions for him. Steve decides to use this to his advantage and uses the reporters to announce that he’s going to war against Hydra. Watching this, the Sensational Hydra is pleased that everything is going according to plan and orders his men to bring him Batroc the Leaper.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Hydra (Supreme Hydra), Sharon Carter, Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Hercules, Black Widow, Tigra, Spider-Woman, Sub-Mariner, Machine Man), SHIELD (Dum Dum Dugan), MODAM (corpse), James McElroy
Continuity Notes
McElroy previously headed a law enforcement response to terrorists who kidnapped the President and held him hostage at the Jefferson Memorial. They too demanded Captain America but were stopped by the Avengers as Cap was MIA at the time. See Captain America #444.
Captain America lost his trademark shield in the ocean while on a mission last issue. It will remain lost until Captain America (vol. 3) #13. However, it will not be functional to use until issue #22.
There is a mish-mash of past and present Avengers in the mansion here. This is because this story takes place where nearly every past Avenger had returned to the team in Avengers (vol. 3) #1. The group will be pared down to a core team in issue #4 of that series.
A footnote here states that Namor will be busy in Marvel Team-Up. He was the feature character in this series for issues #8 to 11 of volume 2.
Captain America along with the Avengers and Fantastic Four were sacrificed their lives in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were transported to a pocket universe by Franklin Richards where they lived reimagined lives. They had just recently been found and rescued as seen in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
Since returning in Captain America (vol. 3) #1, Steve has discovered that Captain America’s popularity has exploded. This is being manipulated by the Supreme Hydra, a Skrull operative, as part of a complex plot to destabilize the world and make it ripe for conquest. See Captain America (vol. 3) #5-7.
MODAM was last seen being sacrificed by AIM to try and stabilize a new Cosmic Cube they were attempting to build. See Avengers #386-388 and Captain America #440-441. As of this writing (August, 2022) this has been MODAM’s last known appearance to date.
This marks the resumption of SHIELD using the barbershop as their New York base of operations. It had been mostly abandoned for years since Captain America #228 after it was compromised by the Corporatrion.
As we’ll learn next issue, Sharon Carter is looking for answers as to why SHIELD cut her loose while she was on a deep cover mission. Sharon faked her death in Captain America #237 in order to go on this mission. She was cut loose under mysterious circumstances and was left to fend for herself for years until she turned up again in Captain America #444. As we’ll learn in Fury/Agent 13 #2, Nick Fury believed she was killed in action and this is the reason why SHIELD abandoned her.
This was the triangular shield that Cap first wielded in Captain America Comics #1, he switched to his trademark round shield in the following issue. The original triangular shield was destroyed by Baron Zemo during the Masters of Evil’s raid on Avengers Mansion in Avengers #273-277. It will later be restored in Thunderbolts #105.
Topical References
Tony Stark is depicted using an adding machine that uses ribbon paper to keep track of numbers. This should be considered a topical reference because this is an outdated technology.
TVs in this story are depicted as being CRT models, this should be considered topical because this is an obsolete technology.
