American Nightmare Chapter I: The Bite of Madness

Baseball star Jack Patterson is signing autographs following a big game when suddenly, he begins accusing his fans for being ingrates and begins attacking people with his bat. Police arrive on the scene and quickly incapacitate the athlete with a taser. When investigators arrive on the scene, they are joined by SHIELD agent Sharon Carter. Sharon has come to investigate because Patterson is just the recent in a string of bizarre incidents involving prominent American citizens. This all started when General Ulysses Chapman revealed the details of a commando raid in Moldavia on live television.[1]

Steve Rogers is just hearing the news of what happened to General Champman. This is not the only trouble Steve has encountered recently. With the Avengers recent clash with the Kree Lunatic Legion, the team was forced to remove Warbird from their roster over his increasingly insubordinate behavior and drinking problem.[2] Going for a walk, he stops at the local grocery store when he notices the owner, Mr. Genuardi appears to be bothered about something. Asking what’s wrong, the grocer points to the new condo development going up across the street and complains that gentrification is ruining the neighborhood. Steve, however, doesn’t think new buildings are necessarily a bad thing as long as there is a maintained balance between the old and the new both can coexist in the city.

Steve then heads down to his old apartment for the first time since the Onslaught incident and is glad that the Avengers kept the building rented for this entire time.[3] When arriving at the front door to his apartment, Steve hears movement inside and suspects that it might be some kind of ambush. Kicking down the door, Rogers orders whoever is slinking around to show themselves. As it turns out, the intruders aren’t one of his old enemies but a family of people. They panic and try to flee, but Steve blocks their exit and asks what they are doing in his home.

The husband and wife introduce themselves as Luis and and Alma Ramirez. They and their children — Rosa, Javier, and Marta — are immigrants from Puetro Rico. Recently, Luis lost his job and they were evicted from their home. They were living on the street until a rainy night and desperation prompted Luis to break into Steve’s apartment — which they believed to have been abandoned — for shelter and have been staying there ever since. Learning that the local shelters are beyond capacity, Steve decides to let the Ramirez family stay in his place until they can get back on their feet.

When Sharon Carter arrives to recruit Steve on her latest mission, she arrives on the roof and looks down through the skylight. Seeing Steve playing with young children, she decides it would be better to come in through the front door. Steve introduces Sharon to the Ramirez family and the instantly believe that she is Steve’s girlfriend, something that both she and Steve correct.[4] Needing to speak in private, Steve takes Sharon to his room. There she tells him about the rash of prominent Americans who have been going berserk for no apparent reason. As Steve changes into Captain America, Sharon gives him a gift — an upgraded version of the photonic shield he used during his brief exile from America.[4] This one can project an image similar to Cap’s lost shield and has a bunch of other features as well.

As Sharon continues to tell Steve about her mission, Cap heads out to the construction site he saw earlier. He asks to speak with the man running the site — Mike Ranier — to see if he would be willing to employ Luis Ramirez and other unemployed construction workers in exchange for lodging until they can get back on their feet. Ranier suddenly snaps and calls the unemployed construction workers freeloaders. He then decides to destroy the building he has built, summoning the Rhino, whom he hired to do the job.

Captain America and Sharon work to try and stop the Rhino before he can damage the building. While this experience proves that Cap’s photonic shield works as promised, he becomes distracted when a construction worker is imperiled by the damage being caused by the Rhino. While Steve tries to save the man’s life, the villain causes the ruined building to collapse on him and Sharon seemingly crushing them to death under tons of steel and concrete.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Nightmare, Sharon Cater, Rhino, Rosa Ramirez, Javier Ramirez, Alma Ramirez, Luis Ramirez, Marta Ramirez

Continuity Notes

1. Chapman’s sudden loose lips are due to the fact that he is under the influence of Nightmare, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 3) #11-12. The United States has been in conflict with Moldavia for some time now. See Captain America #450-452.

2. Warbird had rejoined the Avengers in Avengers (vol. 3) #4, this came at a time when her Binary powers were fading and she had picked up a drinking problem. This came to a foot during the Live Kree or Die! event, resulting in Carol getting booted off the team. See Iron Man (vol. 3) #7, Captain America (vol. 3) #8, Quicksilver #10, and Avengers (vol. 3) #7.

3. Captain America started living out of this building in Captain America #425. More recently, Cap was missing in action when he seemingly sacrificed his life along with the other Avengers and the Fantastic Four in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were transported to a pocket universe where they lived reimagined lives until they were rescued and returned to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.

4. About Captain America’s new shield. The facts:

   • 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.

   • Since then Cap had been wielding a triangular shield that was a replica of the weapon 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. This shield was taken from the Smithsonian in Captain America (vol. 3) #3. It was subsequently destroyed last issue.

   • The photonic shield given to Steve here is an upgraded model he used during a period where he was exiled from America on treason charges circa Captain America #350-352. Once Steve cleared his name, he was given his trademark shield back. Rogers will continue using the photonic shield until his regular weapon is recovered and restored. The footnote here also incorrectly attributes issue #353 to this story arc, however that was not part of the Man Without a Country event.

Topical References

• Sharon says “welcome to the nineties” when Steve complains about doing an internet search on “American Dream” netted nothing but real estate agencies. This should be considered a topical reference relative to the date of publication.