Power and Glory Chapter Three: Hoaxed

During a nationally televised event, a Skrull posing as Captain America has tricked the American people into thinking that 1 in 20 people are actually Skrull invaders.[1] As expected, this has caused people to panic and the paranoia. Americans all over the country are giving into their darker instincts and have been attacking anyone they suspect might be a Skrull spy. This has led to a disproportionate amount of attacks on immigrants and other marginalized people.

Since it was “Captain America” who publicly said this, Steve Rogers has taken to the streets out of costume to try and quell the violence breaking out in New York City. This is much to the frustration of the Skrull mastermind behind this plot as he hoped that Captain America fighting against this surge in violence would continue to undermine the public trust in authority figures. While the rest of the Avengers are busy dealing with the crisis, Tony Stark and Reed Richards have been asked to build a device that will help Steve track down the Skrull responsible.

When Quicksilver finds Steve Rogers out on the street out of costume, he asks why Captain America isn’t out in the open. Steve explains that he can’t be Captain America because it was his fame and celebrity that allowed the Skrull to subvert people into violence.

Luckily, the Skrull grows impatient and — disguising himself as Cap once more — decides to make another televised address to warn the American people that the entire government has been replaced by Skrull impstors. At that same moment, Stark and Richards have finished their device and activate it, forcing the Skrull to resume his true form on live television. Steve then arrives in his Captain America costume to confront the alien. As Cap is busy fighting the Skrull, Mister Fantastic pulls members of the media aside to inform them of how the crafty alien tricked everyone and that its claims that the planet is being invaded by Skrull impostors is not true.[2] Although the Avengers and the Thing are there to lend a hand, Captain America insists on dealing with the Skrull alone.

After defeating the alien, the real Captain America addresses the nation. Cap takes responsibility for what had happened because he allowed himself to accept all the fame and recognition he was getting recently and that was wrong. He then lays out who Captain America is and what he represents. He tells them that is not a leader, he is a servant to the people. He realizes that in recent times he has failed to do that as he reacted to super-villain threat after super-villain threat. He realizes that he needs to focus on being preventative instead of reactive to threats, that he needs to focus on combating injustice, cynicism, and intolerance directly before they can take hold on the people. He vows from now on he will take a more focused approach on fighting for the American Dream and do his best to make it a reality.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Sensational Hydra, Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver), Mister Fantastic, Thing

Continuity Notes

1. This Skrull had been boosting Captain America’s popularity since issue #2 in order to take his place and trick everyone into thinking the Earth was being invaded. Posing as Captain America, the Skrull used a nationwide broadcast to trick everyone last issue.

2. Actually, a Skrull invasion is true, however the actual Skrull infiltration of Earth has been a slow burn taking many years and will come to fruition in Secret Invasion #1-8. However, at the time of this story our heroes remain ignorant of this wider invasion plot.

Topical References

• The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as these buildings were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.