Twisted Tomorrows: Part 2

Captain America and the Falcon have been sent on a mission to Idaho to investigate the disappearance of General McAllister Groves — a decorated African-American soldier — and Nick Fury, who was first sent to find him. The pair were then captured by a group of Neo-Nazis who are being led by the Hate-Monger. The two are captured and chained to a piece of military equipment and taken back to their base, a converted barn. Inside, both men are disgusted to see it decorated with Nazi flags an memorabilia as well as hoods commonly worn by the Klu Klux Klan.

With his prisoners restrained, the Hate-Monger explains his master plan. After stealing a massive supply of anthrax, they intend to fire missiles containing the toxic substance at Europe and the Middle East. This, they hope, kill kick off a war that will wipe out all other races they view as inferior so they can rise up and take over the world.

Captain America breaks loose and fights his way to the the Hate-Monger who fends the hero off with his own shield. That’s when the villain’s second-in-command — a skin-head named Branson — puts a gun to Falcon’s head and threatens to shoot him if Cap doesn’t stop struggling. They then trot out General McAllister, and the Hate-Monger explains how he and the Falcon will be strapped to the missiles they are using to unleash the anthrax bombs. Then, the Hate-Monger commits the ultimate insult, using spray paint he draws the Swastika on the front of Captain America’s shield. With his plans all laid out, the Hate-Monger has Captain America tossed into a pit under the barn to wait out his own execution.

Down in the bone strewn pit, Captain America discovers that this is where they have been keeping Nick Fury since his capture. Fury apologizes to Cap for making him think he was dead and the two begin planning how to get free.[1] Suddenly, water begins pouring down to flood the pit and drown the two men. As Captain America struggles to get free from the chains that bind him he asks Fury to explain who the Hate-Monger is. Fury explains that he first encountered the Hate-Monger years ago back when he was still with the CIA alongside the Fantastic Four. When the Hate-Monger was shot and killed, Fury unmasked him and was shocked to discover he looked exactly like Adolf Hitler. He learned later that the Hate-Monger was a clone of Hitler created by Arnim Zola, and he came back every time he was killed.[2]

Meanwhile, in Virginia, a trio of SHIELD agents have been assigned to re-catalogue the contents of a top secret government storage facility. This was after they botched a job to bring Captain America to SHIELD headquarters for his current mission. As they toil away, they come across a startling discovery. That’s when one of them — an agent named Clete Billups — kills his comrades because he is secretly a double agent. Billups thinks it is a shame to blow his cover so soon, but he believes that this recent discovery will more than make up for it.[3]

While over the Antarctic, Sharon Carter tries to navigate through a blizzard. She has flown here from Turkey to repatriate a talking dinosaur — which she has nicknamed Barney — to his home, the Savage Land.[4] Barney fears that they are going to die and Sharon tells the verbose creature to shut up and let her think. Unfortunately, the engines on their plane stall out sending them spiraling into a crash landing.

Back in Idaho, the pit is quickly filling with water and Captain America is still struggling to get them free from their chains. Now treading water and running out of space, Cap thinks they might be able to use the tab on his belt to pick the locks on their chains and get free. Fury dives under the water and loosens Steve’s belt. When Rogers successfully picks the locks on Nick’s chains, he returns the favor for Cap. The two then break free from their prison just as the water fills to the top.

They then rush outside where they discover that the Hate-Monger strapped the Falcon and General Groves to the front of missiles that he is preparing to watch. Cap and Fury then charge at the launcher to try and stop them. Unfortunately, they are quickly swarmed by the Hate-Monger’s loyal followers. As they try to fight past them, the Hate-Monger pushes the launch button.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Sharon Carter, Dum Dum Dugan, Hate-Monger, Clete Billups, Barney, Protocide (unidentified)

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, it was generally believed that Nick Fury was killed by the Punisher in Double Edge: Omega #1. In reality, Fury was on a secret mission and the Punisher only killed a Life Model Decoy. Fury was found and recently recovered in Fury/Agent 13 #1-2. Cap learned Fury was still alive last issue.

2. The whole Hate-Monger origin is a bit complicated and there are details that are left out here. Allow me to explain:

   • In the Marvel Universe, Adolf Hitler was killed during World War II just like in real life. The only difference being that in the comics Hitler was immolated by the Human Torch. This was beautifully told in Young Men #24.

   • However, as told in Super-Villain Team-Up #17, Hitler had a back-up plan. He had geneticist Arnim Zola implant a device in his mind that would transmit his mind into a clone body at the moment of his physical death. While this story says that this is a clone of Hitler, it’s actually Hitler’s mind in a cloned body.

   • The incident that Fury is referencing here happened in Fantastic Four #21.

   • Every time the Hate-Monger is destroyed, Hitler’s mind is downloaded into a new body at some undisclosed location. He’s been destroyed on a number of occasions over the years, notably in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #9-11, Creatures on the Loose #34-3.

   • When last we saw the Hate-Monger, his mind had been trapped in an imperfect Cosmic Cube in Super-Villain Team-Up #17. It was seeingly destroyed along with said cube in Captain America #448. However, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 3) #48, the Red Skull used the power of the Cube to bring the Hate-Monger back.

   • While Fury states here that he was a member of the CIA at the time he first encountered the Hate-Monger, Original Sins #5 reveals that he was also a member of SHIELD at this same time as well. However, per History of the Marvel Universe #2, that incarnation of SHIELD was secret until a public version of the organization was formed in Strange Tales #135.

3. Billups and his crew screwed up their task to get Cap last issue. What they have found here is the body of Clinton McIntyre a man who received a prototype of the Super Soldier Serum in the 1940s. Clete is a spy for Advance Idea Mechanics who will revive McIntyre and turn him into their assassin called Protocide. See Captain America (vol. 3) #30.

4. It’s later explained in Captain America (vol. 3) #30 that Barney is one of many creations of Count Nefaria. He is trying to create living ionic batteries to feed his own powers and settled on “intelligent dinosaurs” for some reason.

Topical References

• Sharon starts calling the Ankylosaurus “Barney” here. This is in reference to Barney the Dinosaur, the titular character of the children’s show Barney and Friends. It ran from 1992 to 2010. The series was at the height of its popularity, or infamy depending on how you looked at it. The series spawned a lot of Anti-Barney humor at the time that was so notable they made a documentary about it called I Love You, You Hate Me in 2022. At any rate, the connection between this Barney and the one that was part of the culture at the time should be considered topical.