America Lost: Part 3

Now

The Avengers — Iron Man, Thor, the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Qucksilver, Vision, Warbird, Triathlon, and Jack of Hearts — have all arrived in a secluded location for a very important funeral.[1] They join SHIELD agents Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and Sharon Carter. They are waiting for the final guests to arrive when the Sub-Mariner shows up to pay his respects as well. Upon his arrival, Namor confirms to the Wasp that he was involved in the incident that happened a few days earlier…

Louisiana, Three Days, Twenty-One Hours Ago

Captain America had tracked down the SHIELD helicarrier stolen by the Red Skull to the Gulf of Mexico.[2] Getting inside, he learned of the Skull’s insane plan to ramp up racial hatred in America to the point where its own people topple the entire world. When Cap vowed to to stop him, the Skull opened a trap door in the floor that sends Captain America plummeting to his doom. Luckliy, Sharon Carter was patrolling the area in one of SHIELD’s flying cars. Swooping down to match his speed, Sharon get close enough for Steve to grab one of the door handles. Moments later, the helicarrier’s main batteries fire, blowing the flying car out of the sky and seemingly killing both Carter and Captain America in the process. Pleased that his eternal nemesis is finally dead, the Red Skull can now focus his full attention to his operations in Lousiana.

In one of the local towns the Red Skull’s ally, the mysterious Adam Hauser, uses his power of persuasion to to rile up local class and ethnic groups to rally against one another. His appearances changes to match that of the groups he addresses. He goes from a white, to Black, to Asian, to Jewish and in one instance he even appears as a woman in order to create a divide between the sexes as well.

Meanwhile, Sharon Carter and Captain America managed to bail out of the flying car before it was blown up. However, they hit the water hard and are knocked out. But, before they can drown they are rescued by the Sub-Mariner who was alerted by Iron Man. Once they are on dry land, Captain America convinces Namor to put aside his animosities toward the surface world and help them stop the Red Skull before he destabilizes America with a massive countrywide race war. Captain America’s noble words are enough to convince the prince of Atlantis to fight by his side.

At that same time, many of Hauser’s followers have been selected to boost the ranks of the Red Skull’s personal army aboard the helicarrier. As Hauser gives a status update, he is reminded by the Red Skull that they are working together. Hauser doesn’t bristle at this, but instead offers up a gift — the captured Nick Fury. Although he has been defeated, Fury continues to be defiant toward his captors. This angers the Red Skull who promises to give the SHIELD director a front row seat to the downfall of the United States.

Not far away, Cap and his allies have smuggled themselves aboard the helicarrier once more. Seeing that Fury is a prisoner of the Red Skull, he leads Sharon and Namor in a charge against their enemies. While Sharon and Namor deal with the guards, Cap tries to fight Hauser. However, Steve is stunned when Hauser somehow fires beams of energy from his eyes. The trio are then incapacitated by one of the helicarrier’s stun rays.

With their foes at their knees, Hauser decides to reveal his true identity. Removing his life like mask, the heroes watch as the glowing aura underneath briefly takes on the appearance of Adolf Hitler before assuming the form of his current guise: The Hate-Monger![3]

The Present

After telling the Avengers all of this, they wonder how the Hate-Monger got his new powers from. Sharon and Fury point out that the Red Skull had recently internalized the power of the Cosmic Cube and that is the source of his power.[4] That’s when they hear a chopper in the distance making its way over to them. They hope it is the last few guests needed to make this funeral meaningfuly….

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Sub-Mariner, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter), Red Skull, Hate-Monger, Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Vision, Warbird, Triathlon, Jack of Hearts)

Continuity Notes

1. Next issue we learn that this is a funeral being held for Bucky, Captain America’s wartime partner. At the time of this story, everyone believes Bucky died in 1945 as per Avengers #4. The coffin here is empty and is mostly ceremonial. This funeral is being put on because Steve noticed that Buck didn’t have a gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery when he visited it in Captain America (vol. 3) #39. What nobody realizes is that Bucky’s still alive, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 5) #14.

2. The SHIELD helicarrier was stolen by the Red Skull in X-Men (vol. 2) #91/Annual 1999. It will remain in his possession until it is recovered in issue #48.

3. The reason why the Hate-Monger briefly resembles Adolf Hitler is because that’s who he really is. In the Marvel Universe, Hitler was immolated by the Human Torch in Young Men #24. However, the Nazi leader has been able to cheat death time and time again by transferring his mind into cloned bodies, as seen first in Fantastic Four #19 and explained in Super-Villain Team-Up #17.

4. After being vaporized by the Cosmic Cube, the Red Skull was able to restore his body with the Cube internalized within it. See Captain America #445-448 and (vol. 3) #14-19. Falcon also mentions the time he and Cap recently fought the Hate-Monger. That was in Captain America (vol. 3) #25-27.