Captain America (vol. 3) #33
Impending Rage
Advance Idea Mechanics have recently revived a man who had received the Super Soldier formula before Captain America.[1] Dubbed Protocide, their new assassin is sent out on one last field test before his big mission. Running across the rooftops of New York City, Protocide leaps down onto the top of a garbage truck and springboards off it back up to the rooftops without an injury. AIM is very impressed by their new soldier’s durability and strength. They have just one more test to run before they send him after his target, Captain America.
Meanwhile, the Star-Spangled Avenger and his partner the Falcon have caught two people trying to break into an office building owned by Parliamech, a tech company. The pair are rank amateurs when it comes to this sort of thing and they are quickly nabbed. Unmasking the two — Josh Hoard and Dawn Ridgeway — they learn that they are breaking in to Parliamech because they are convinced that they are illegally collecting data on every user on the Internet. Captain America and the Falcon find this to be nothing but a groundless conspiracy theory. However, Josh insists that it’s all true because he was the one who created Parliamech. Worse, now that they know the truth, Parlamech has been trying to silence them. In fact, the company fire bombed Josh’s apartment and all the evidence he had been gathering. Having heard about the fire himself, Captain America is starting to believe the pair enough to investigate this further.
At SHIELD headquarters, Sharon Carter is settling into her new job as director of the spy agency. It feels weird for her being back on active duty after being freelance for so long.[2] When Dum Dum Dugan comes to her with concerns about Advanced Idea Mechanics, Sharon is a little out of it. She tells him not to worry about it and orders him to tell her everything they got on AIM.
In Saudi Arabia, SHIELD’s former director Nick Fury has arrived at the spy agency’s training facility. He has come to meet with the facility’s training coordinator, a man named Berger, who is surprised to see him. Nick tells him that he has come to get information on Agent David Ferrari.[3]
Back in New York City, Captain America and the Falcon have decided to take Josh and Dawn’s concerns about Parliamech directly to the CEO of the company. When the front desk calls upstairs to inform the boss that Cap and Falcon are there, they are invited up to his office.[4] However, once they enter the elevator it stops partway up and begins to rapidly plummet. Captain America then pushes his shield through the elevator doors an effort to stop their fall. The CEO of Parliamech responds by flooding the elevator with gas allowing it to continue its fall to the basement. Holding their breaths, Captain America and Falcon break out of their would-be tomb only to be swarmed by an army robots. However, the fight is short lived because the CEO was wise enough to use gas that can be absorbed through the skin. Soon enough it starts taking effect and both heroes pass out.
Meanwhile, across town, US Agent has uncovered an AIM facility on the pier. After wiping the floor with the operatives in the area, he is then ambushed by Protocide. AIM’s new assassin easily overpowers US Agent, wrestling him to the ground in submission. Then, using the pointy end of his shield, Protocide drives downward. US Agent feebly tries to protect himself with his shield, but Protocide shatters it with his strength. The pointed end digs deep into the Agent’s chest. He feebly asks who his attacker is before passing out. Getting back up, Protocide calls himself US Agent’s executioner.[5]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, SHIELD (Sharon Carter, Dum Dum Dugan, Nick Fury), US Agent, AIM (Cache), Protocide, Cache (unidentified)
Continuity Notes
As per Captain America Comics #1, the Super-Soldier Formula was famously lost when its inventor, Abraham Erskine, was killed by a Nazi spy. Although Steve has been commonly referred to as the "only” recipient of the formula, that’s not entirely true. The man found by AIM was a soldier named Clinton McIntyre. As will be revealed in Captain America Annual 2000, he was a rejected candidate due to not meeting the psychological profile. However, one of the military brass stole a second dose of the formula and gave it to McIntyre. However, this was only one part of a three part process, and without the other three components of the formula, Clinton went on an insane rampage until his heart gave out on him. The military then quickly covered it up and lost his body in a top secret storage facility. His body was recovered by AIM in issues #26-27.
Sharon Carter had been a SHIELD Agent for years since she first appeared in Tales of Suspense #75. After faking her death in Captain America #237 she went on a deep cover mission. She turned up again in Captain America #445. By that time, SHIELD had cut her loose, erroneously believing that she had died behind enemy lines. In the years since, she had become a freelance espionage agent. That was until last issue when Nick Fury appointed her Director of SHIELD while he went on a secret mission. Sharon will maintain this role until Captain America (vol. 3) #45.
David Ferrari is a SHIELD agent and sister to Connie Ferrari, who is dating Stever Rogers at the time of this story. In Captain America (vol. 3) #20, we learned that Connie believes that her brother died after enlisting to the military and dying in a hazing ritual gone wrong. This was actually a cover story. In Captain America (vol. 3) #35-36 that he was secretly a SHIELD agent. After using an a bioweapon called the Omega Compound to destroy the enemy while on a mission, he was believed dead for years. However, he faked his death and has been secretly operating as the Answer and plotting to take over the world. See Captain America (vol. 3) #41-43.
The identity of Parliamech’s CEO is left a secret here. Next issue we learn that he is an artificial intelligence called Cache. Even more surprising is that he is an operative working for AIM as we’ll learn in Captain America Annual 2000.
One might wonder how Protocide is able to shatter US Agent’s shield as it is supposed to be made of Vibranium. This is a presumption due to the fact that Walker was given a Vibranium shield when he first became US Agent in Captain America #354. However, Walker’s Vibranium shield exploded in Captain America (vol. 3) #20. Also, John isn’t killed here, but left in serious condition, as we’ll see next issue.
Topical References
The inciting concern in this story is that prompts Josh Hoard and Dawn Ridgeway to break into Parliamech is because the company was collecting personal data on everyone who has access to the Internet. This level of data collection was practically unheard of in the year 2000 when this story came out as the Internet was still relatively new to the general public and still in its infancy. That said, this concerned compared to the world today — where websites and social media apps routinely gather personal data, and we let them — makes the concerns in this issue almost laughable. Modern readers could assume that the data collection in this story is unauthorized, which is still (thankfully) very illegal.
Falcon and Captain America made a big deal about Dawn’s facial piercing and hair dye colour in this story, saying that it outs her as a conspiracy theorist. Back in the early 2000s multiple piercings in the ear and eye brow were quite uncommon as was dying one’s hair an unnatural colour. Given the culture at the time, this was commonly associated with individuals who were part of the punk scene, anarchists, and hackers. With these forms of expression becoming more common place, the old stereotypes and stigmas around them have disappeared. Nobody gives a second thought if you have purple hair anymore.
