Captain America (vol. 3) #42
Fractured
Now
Captain America is being flown into the former Soviet state of Khamiskan. A god forsaken place that has experienced a total societal collapse in the years since and is plagued with endless violence. In order to sneak into the country undetected, Cap is outfitted with a stealth suit that will make him nearly invisible to radar.
However, he has the bad luck of landing near rebel soldiers, but quickly dispatches them. With the job done, Captain America strips off the stealth gear, ready to handle whatever comes his way.
As he races across the ruined landscape, he thinks back to why he has come out all this way — the revelation that David Ferrari, the brother of his girlfriend Connie, might still be alive….[1]
Earlier
Thing began when Connie went over to Steve’s for dinner that night. After doing the dishes, she presented him a gift to celebrate their relationship. When Steve tore off the wrapping paper he was amazed to discover she got him a framed advertisement for the old Midnight Racer radio program.[2] As he hung it on the all, Connie took note of all the photos of World War II that Steve has on his wall. They made her feel sad because it made her think about her brother and how he died in a hazing ritual gone wrong instead of in combat like a real soldier.[3]
The night came to an end when Steve got a call from SHIELD Director Sharon Carter. After Connie left, Steve booted up his computer and he and Sharon had a video conference.[4] She told Steve that Nick Fury went MIA on his current mission.[5] Using a tracking device they have been able to pinpoint his location in Khamiskan. Sharon warned Steve that this country is incredibly unstable after the fall of the Soviet Union years earlier. Fury gave very specific instructions on what to do if they lost contact with him: Send Captain America. Alone. Sharon concluded the call by warning Steve about a mercenary in the region called the Answer, who has been exploiting the instability in the reigon.
Now
As Captain America finishes his recollection he can confirm that everything Sharon warned him about is true, Khamiskan is in very bad shape. He soon comes upon a family camped outside. Luckily, Cap can speak Russian and convinces them all he means no harm. Noticing that the mother is sick, Steve offers up some of his medical supplies to help ease her fever. The father tells Cap how they were run out of their family farm by the butchers who terrorize people in the country. He also has a great deal of respect for Captain America as he often heard old stories from the war about how the American hero helped his people. While he is administering penicillin, Steve lets the man’s two boys — Dimitri and Anton — play with his shield.
That’s when the Crimson Dynamo arrives and ambushes Captain America. Although he has the element of surprise, Steve quickly recovers his shield from the boys and defends himself. Unsure if this is somebody new in the armor, Cap exploits the fact that being in Khamiskan has left the Dynamo armor in a state of disrepair.[6] First he manages to cut through the plating in the front, exposing a power source. Then dousing the Dynamo in gasoline, he lights his opponent on fire. Unfortunately, the flames don’t last very long as the armor sprays its extinguishers.
That’s when a man clad all in black tells the Dynamo to let him finish the job. Caught off guard, Captain America fights back against this new attacker but he is well trained. They are evenly matched and the battle would have gone on for a while if not for the Crimson Dynamo grabbing Captain America from behind. Cap thinks that this is the Answer, aka David Ferrari, however he is surprise when the man unmasks and reveals that he is actually Nick Fury!
Recurring Characters
Captain America, SHIELD (Sharon Carter, Nick Fury), Connie Ferrari, Answer
Continuity Notes
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 issue next issue.
We learned about Steve’s love of the Midnight Racer in Captain America (vol. 3) #27.
Connie states here that her brother was put through the hazing ritual because “he was different”. The explanation was given a more descriptive explanation in Captain America (vol. 3) #20. The reasoning is topical, see below.
Here Steve asks if SHIELD has any leads on the Red Skull. At the time of this story, the Red Skull had stolen the SHIELD helicarrier as seen in X-Men (vol. 2) #91/Annual 1999. It will remain in his possession until it is recovered in Captain America (vol. 3) #45-48.
Sharon states here that the President of the United States insisted that Nick Fury have a locater device implanted in his body because he was almost killed in action recently. They are referring to the events of Captain America (vol. 3) #25-27 when he was captured by the Hate-Monger.
At the time of this story, there have been a total of 6 different Crimson Dynamos:
Anton Vanko: The original and the creator of the armor. He first appeared in Tales of Suspense #46. He defected to the United States after one outing as the Dynamo.
Boris Turgenov: First appeared in Tales of Suspense #52. His first and only mission was to eliminate Vanko. He succeeded, but at the cost of his own life.
Alex Nevsky: Built his own suit of Dynamo armor between Iron Man #15 and 21. Per the Crimson Dynamo profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #3, Nevsky was assassinated for his constant failure.
Yuri Petrovitch: Was given the armor next he was active from Champions #8 through 10. For his failures he ended up in a Siberian gulag where he will rot until we see him again in Captain America #616.
Dimitri Bukharin: Then took over as the Crimson Dynamo in Iron Man #109. This is the Dynamo that Cap has met in the past, as seen in X-Men vs the Avengers #1-4. He would carry on the role until Incredible Hulk #393 upon which time he retired per Hulk: Winter Guard #1.
Valentin Shatlov: First appeared as the Crimson Dynamo in Iron Man #255. However he was demoted from the role in issue #316-317 of that series.
Captain America’s deduction that this is someone new in the armor is confirmed in the Crimson Dynamo profile in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update #2. Time of this writing (February, 2023) the identity of this individual has yet to be revealed.
Topical References
When describing the state of Khamiskan, the narrative and characters all refer to it as a former part of the Soviet Union. They talk about the collapse of the USSR as happening recently as it was bout 9 years prior to when this story was published. References to the fall of the Soviet Union happening recently should be considered topical.
What Connie means by David being “different” is that he was gay. At the time this comic was published, the military refused to admit soldiers that were gay. In 1994, a “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule was passed, in which gay and lesbian people could enlist but they couldn’t talk about it or be asked about it. This actually made things worse as outed soldiers were routinely subject to verbal and physical abuse/assault from their fellow troops. The backward practice was ended all together in 2011 by the Obama administration. While they are no longer discriminated against by the administration, that doesn’t entirely mean that harassment has stopped. That all said, any implied taboo surrounding the fact David being gay and in the military should be considered topical.
The man that Captain America helps with medicine talks about the “old timers” and their stories about World War II like they are still alive. This should be considered a topical reference as it becomes increasingly unlikely for someone who was around to see Cap in the 1940s to still be alive today. Modern readers could assume that these stories were passed down generationally and how this character heard about them.