Twisted Tomorrows: Part 3

Captain America and the Falcon were sent on a mission to rescue Nick Fury and General McArthur Groves from the Hate-Monger. Captured, Cap and Fury were too late to stop the Hitler clone from strapping Falcon and Groves to missiles loaded with anthrax. This was all part of some mad scheme of wiping out lives in Europe and the Middle East to kick off a global race war.

Trying to stop this from happening, Cap and Fury are restrained by the Hate-Monger’s Neo-Nazi followers long enough for the missiles to be launched.

Unwilling to give up, Captain America pushes through the Neo-Nazis and lunges at the Hate-Monger atop the missile launcher. Struggling with his foe, Cap pushes his right arm — which holds Captain America’s shield — and pushes it into the rocket’s ignition flares to burn off the Swastika that was painted onto it earlier. Although Cap recovers his trademark weapon, Fury believes it is too late to do anything. As the Hate-Monger gloats that his victory is at hand, Captain America refuses to let him win. Tossing his shield high into the air with precision the weapon cuts through Falcon’s bonds allowing him to get free.

Falcon then removes the anthrax payload from his missile, rendering it harmless, then goes to rescue Groves from the other. As the heroes fight their way through the enemy ranks, Fury is reminded of his favorite radio show growing up as a kid, The Midnight Racer. Cap offhandedly mentions how he misses that show as well. As Fury, Falcon and Groves deal with the Neo-Nazis, the Hate-Monger and his second-in-command — a skinhead named Branson — try to escape in a jeep. Cap leaps onto a motorcycle and gives them chase. When he catches up, he leaps onto the jeep, forcing it off the road and crashes. After dealing with Branson, Cap chases the Hate-Monger to the edge of a cliff. Refusing surrender, the Hitler clone leaps into the river below. Jumping in after him, Captain America catches what he thinks is his foe, but it turns out to be his discarded cloak and hood. Although his foe has gotten away, Captain America vows to that he will not rest until he has captured the Hate-Monger.[1]

By the time Cap gets back to the farm, SHIELD agents have arrived on the scene to take the Hate-Monger’s men into custody. He, Falcon, and Fury explain to General Groves that the man who held him hostage was the reincarnation of Hitler himself.[2] Looking at one of the Nazi flags hanging in the barn brings up bad memories for both Cap and Fury, who lived through World War II. Saying that once was enough, Fury then uses his cigar to light the flag on fire.

Meanwhile, Sharon Carter on a bizarre mission to return a talking dinosaur — which she nicknamed Barney — back to his home in the Savage Land. Although their plane went down in the middle of an Antarctic blizzard, they crash landed in the Savage Land. With her plane wrecked, Sharon has no choice but to venture into the prehistoric jungles below. When Barney cautions her about the dangers of the Savage Land, she assures him that she can handle herself. As if on cue, the pair step on a hidden net that pulls them up into the treetops.[3]

While back in America, a double agent named Clete Billups returns to an Advance Idea Mechanics hideout. His superiors are mad that Billups blew his cover, but Clete did so because he was able to recover something amazing from a top secret government storage facility. When they look at the contents of the crate they are amazed with what they see. Clete smiles, knowing that they would be pleased with what he brought them.[4]

In New York, Steve Rogers pays a visit to Nick Fury at his apartment, as Fury has a surprise for him after their mission together. Grabbing some beers from the fridge, Fury has Steve put on an audio recording he dug up for him. Steve is delighted to discover that the recording is of the Midnight Racer radio program. The two sit back and enjoy an evening of reliving their childhood together.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter), Hate-Monger, AIM (Clete Billups), Barney

Continuity Notes

1. Captain America will get his chance again when the Hate-Monger resurfaces in Captain America (vol. 3) #45-48.

2. First appearing in Fantastic Four #21, the whole Hate-Monger is the surviving mind of Adolf Hitler in a cloned body. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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.

• Fury has episodes of the Midnight Racer on a CD which is then played in a CD player. While CDs and players are still around, they have fallen out of favor due to the advent of digital and streaming audio formats. As the format is on its way to obsolescence its reference here should be considered topical.

Supplement Material

This issue features a pin-up of Captain America by Dan Jurgens.