Captain America #601
Red White and Blue Blood
An Undisclosed Location - During the Superhuman Civil War[1]
Nick Fury is monitoring the on going conflict between Iron Man and Captain America over the implementation of the Super-Human Registration Act.[2] That’s when he is visited by his new operative the Winter Soldier, aka James “Bucky” Barnes. Bucky doesn’t find the current war all that strange, as he recalls a time when the Red Skull turned the Avengers against him.[3] However, that wasn’t the worst time during the war when he and Captain America had people turn against them.
Bastogne, Belgium - February, 1945
Captain America came upon a dying American soldier dying in a ruined building. Unable to do anything to save his life, Cap remained by his side for the soldier’s final moments. The man remembers seeing Captain America in battle once in France and figures the hero wouldn’t have the time of day for a grunt like him. Steve assured him that wasn’t true, reminding the soldier that he was a frail young man who wanted to do his part to fight in the war, just like him.[4] Steve admits that he never expected this war to take so damn long and looks forward to the day when he can return home and experience America again. That’s when Bucky informs him that the soldier died during his speech.
Once he is gone, Bucky asks if Cap is certain about this. Second later the soldier springs up and bars his fangs — the tell tale sign of someone has been turned into a vampire. Cap knocks the newly born blood sucker to the ground, allowing Bucky to run a stake through his heart. With the vampire weakened, Captain America then uses his shield to decapitate the monster. He apologizes for having to do so but it is necessary to ensure his eternal soul will finally rest. With the grim work out of the way, the two burn the building to the ground to incinerate the body and ensure the vampire won’t be coming back.
Someone has been turning their boys into vampires so they decide to radio Union Jack back in London to make sure that Baron Blood’s body is still in his grave.[5] However, it turns out that the Baron is still undisturbed in his final resting place.
This was not long after the Battle of Ardenne, which was long and the winter harsh. General Patton decided that the boys needed something to boost morale so a USO show was being arranged for the troops. However, that’s when someone or something started turning soldiers into vampires. The creatures also spooked the locals who were just slowly starting to return to their homes after the Nazis drove them out.
While Captain America and Bucky worked on stopping the vampirism at its roots, preparations were being made for the big USO show. The celebrity guests even arrived early, lifting spirits, particularly starlet Mary Arnett.
Meanwhile, Captain America find a villager who has their house lined with crosses and garlic to ward off vampires and figure she might know exactly who is responsible for turning the troops into vampires. She tells them that one of the Nazis that came to their village during the invasion was one Helmutt Von Schuler, who later displayed abilities commonly associated with vampires. When they show her a drawing of Baron Blood, the old crone remembers seeing the being flying from Von Schuler’s castle headquarters shortly before he was turned. Cap and Bucky then make the grim deduction that one of Von Schuler’s victims may have survived and is the one turning their boys.
That evening, they have to kill another soldier turned vampire, this time at camp in full view of the others. This causes the troops to become paranoid and there is an accidental shooting the same night. With the situation growing more dangerous, Captain America decides that the safest thing to do is cancel the USO show. When they go up to tell Mary Arnett the news, she attacks them, as she too has been turned into a vampire. She admits to turning a number of soldiers before they force her outside to be incinerated by the sunlight.
However, that Mary Arnett turned soldiers into vampires doesn’t line up with the facts since they were dealing with vampires before the Hollywood actress even showed up. The key to finding out how Arnett was turned should lead them to finding the vampire responsible for all of this horror. When questioning the troops, one of them recalls seeing Miss Arnett going for walk with a little girl. The child was a refugee from the invasion and has been hanging around the camp bringing food and water the the boys. Her name was Esme Ceorces. When Captain America and Bucky head down to the local cemetery, they find a grave belonging to the little girl who has been buried since 1941.
Since it was nightfall, Captain America and Bucky were then ambushed by the little Esme, who was absolutely the vampire turning everyone…
Now
Bucky stops his story there, not wanting to repeat the horror of what happened next, telling Fury that he can figure it out. As he said, he is no stranger to friends turning on friends. This reminds Fury to swap old war stories.[6] Fury remembers meeting up with Patton and his troops not long after Bucky’s story and notes that he didn’t remember seeing Captain America or Bucky at that time. Bucky reminds him that was because they were put on the fateful mission to stop Baron Zemo’s plot to use an experimental plane to attack London. The mission that got both Captain America and Bucky blown to hell and back again.[7]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Bucky, Baron Blood, Nick Fury
Continuity Notes
This story takes place during the events of Civil War #4 and 5.
At the time of this story, Nick Fury was operating underground following the revelation that he was responsible for an unsanctioned invasion of Latveria in Secret War #1-5. While he was invading the law, it was because he uncovered a Skrull invasion plot and needed to go into deep cover to try and thwart it. See Mighty Avengers #12 and Secret Invasion #1-8.
The Red Skull brainwashed the Invaders to be loyal to him except for Bucky whom he believed to be useless since he had no superhuman abilities. Bucky proved him wrong by forming the Liberty Legion to help free his friends. See Invaders #5-6 and Marvel Premiere #29.
An obligatory reference to Captain America’s origins, as seen in Captain America Comics #1.
The only time recorded time that Baron Blood was “deceased” (as far as vampires go) during World War II was when he was first defeated in Invaders #7-9. He was later revived in Invaders #39 and as far as all of his other chronological appearances during World War II, remained as such for the duration of the war. I think it is safe to assume that Baron Blood was “killed” and placed in a tomb sometime between his last chronological appearance before this story and as of this writing (March, 2023) that tale remains untold.
Nick Fury tells Bucky to remind him of the time that he and the Howlers fought Baron Strucker in Paris. Time of this writing (March, 2023), the only recorded clash between the Howling Commandos and Baron Strucker in France took place in the town of Cherbeaux in 1943 as told in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #28. One could assume that the Paris battle is as yet unrecorded.
This, of course, is an obligatory reference to the events of Avengers #4, which saw Cap put in suspended animation and Bucky turned into the Winter Soldier as documented in Captain America (vol. 5) #8 and 11.
Topical References
One of the celebrities who has come out to do a USO show for the troops is comedian Bob Hope. Typically real life individuals appearing in a story would be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale. However, since this story is specifically set during World War II and not the Modern Age, a period when the comedian was active, this would not be considered a topical reference.
