Captain America (vol. 4) #14
Ice: Part 3
After receiving documentation that claims that Captain America was actually put in suspended animation by his own government,[1] Steve Rogers is attacked by assassins from the undersea continent of Lemuria. In the aftermath of the battle, Hana — Steve’s new Atlantean ally — suddenly knows why they have come after him.
She now remembers how she was the Atlantean ambassador to Lemuria. There lived a former surface dweller who had been transformed by an alien hand grafted to his body. His real name lost to time, this man had become known to the Lemurians as the Interrogator. One day, he called her into his presence and asked her to bring him Captain America from the surface. When she refused to do so, she barely noticed when he scrapped his alien hand along her back. Suddenly, the walls came to life as duplicates of Hana formed from them and attacked her. She managed to fight off her attackers and fled, but not before the Interrogator could get her with his probing tendrils and make her forget all about this encounter.
However, part of her still remembered Captain America and she now believes that she sought him out subconsciously and perhaps her need to keep him safe and her growing love for him stemmed from that need.[2] She changes the subject and starts examining the bodies of their attackers and discovers that they got here using teleportation devices. Steve still wants to talk about her feelings for him. She knows he doesn’t love her back and he apologizes for nor feeling the same way. Observing this from afar is the Interrogator who says “aren’t we all?” to nobody in particular.
Rather than going to Lemuria and confronting the Interrogator, Steve decides to get to the bottom of the evidence that has thrown his past in to question. To this end, he has tracked down General Chester Phillip, his old commanding officer from Project: Rebirth.[3] If anyone can confirm or deny the truth it will be him. Hana still thinks this is a waste of time, that they need to tackling the real threat instead of digging around in the past. Steve, who is very exhausted by all of this, wonders why everything needs to be resolved with violence these days.
Soon, a nurse comes to wake up General Phillips to tell him he has visitors, one of them is Captain America and the other is a young woman. Excited to meet a young lady than Cap, Phillips gets out of bed and gets dressed in his old military uniform. As he dresses he recalls how he first met Steve Rogers at a recruitment office. How he was inspired by his refusal to accept his 4-F rejection ranking as he wanted to fight the Japanese and Nazis. Steve Rogers turned out to be the only recipient of Project: Rebirth as Abraham Erskine, the scientist who invented the Super Soldier Formula was killed by a Nazi spy.[4] Later, in 1945, when the military was planning to bomb Japan with atomic weapons, Captain America protested this. Unable to convince him otherwise, Phillips and had recommended his removal. However, it could not be done by conventional means as Rogers would be able proven to be unstoppable in the face of normal convention. They ended up freezing Captain America in ice before the atomic bomb drops.
Soon, Captain America and Hana are brought into General Phillip’s room. Steve still salutes his former commanding officer even though Phillips has been retired for years. However, before he can ask any questions about his past, the wall of the General’s room suddenly explodes as more Lemurian assassins arrive. They demand that Cap surrender to them or die and Steve, naturally, refuses to give up without a figth. Despite his advanced age, the General joins in the fight, finding this better than having dick pills, because he’s a gross old man.
Seeing that they can’t win the fight, the assassins steal Captain America’s shield and flee, knowing that he will follow them to get it back. General Phillips suddenly suffers a fatal heart attack from over straining himself in battle. Before he dies, he seemingly confirms the film Steve saw by saying that the things they had to do were in order to save the world. Hana doesn’t think that this proves anything as they are the ramblings of a dying man. Cap is ready to go to Lemuria, but not to recover his shield, but because a good man died and needs to be avenged.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Hana, Interrogator
Continuity Notes
This revelation contradicts the long-standing explanation from Avengers #4. In Captain America (vol. 4) #16 it is revealed that the proof sent to Steve here is phony evidence created by the Red Skull.
Hana showed up out of nowhere in Captain America (vol. 4) #10 and saved Captain America from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean. She has remained by his side ever since, the pair growing attracted to each other over time. Issue #16 reveals that she was actually sent by the Sub-Mariner to protect him from the Interrogator.
General Phillips was responsible for recruiting Steve Rogers into Project: Rebirth and was regularly his point of contact among the upper brass starting in Captain America Comics #1. Per Avengers, Thor & Captain America: Official Index to the Marvel Universe #14 and the Chester Phillips profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 confirms that this is an impostor.
This is an accurate telling of Captain America’s origins from Captain America Comics #1. However, there are some factual errors. See below.
Topical References
Steve Rogers is depicted as having a CRT-model television in his apartment. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
While it was possible for Chester Phillips to still be alive in 2003 when this comic was published, this becomes increasingly impossible as the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward in time as it increases the gulf of time between the end of World War II and the start of the present day. Even though this is probably an impostor (see below) convincing Captain America that Phillips is still alive would become harder to pull off as well.
When fighting the Lemurian assassins, the fake General Phillips quips that fighting is better than Viagra (gross). Viagra is a brand of erectile dysfunction pills. Its reference here should be considered topical as Viagra is a brand name. The generic name for the drug is actually Sildenafil, which probably sounded too on the nose for the marketing people at Pfizer.
Errors
During the flashback when Steve Rogers tries to enlist, he says he wants to fight Hirohito and Hitler. His referencing Hirohito is not factually accurate. All Captain America origin stories point to Steve’s recruitment into Project: Rebirth as happening in the fall of 1940. Americans did not care about the Japanese until they attacked Pearl Harbor in December 7, 1941, well after Steve became Captain America.
The General Phillips Impostor
Sources from other points in the fiction state that this “General Phillips” is an impostor of some kind. This stated in Avengers, Thor & Captain America: Official Index to the Marvel Universe #14 and the Chester Phillips profile in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1. It points to the fact that Steve gets the General’s location from the files he received, which were mailed to him by the Red Skull, as we learn in issue #17. Next issue he calls himself Albert Phillips. However, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #2 identifies him as Chester. All Marvel Handbooks published that reference General Phillips state his first name as Chester. The profile for Phillips in Captain America: America’s Avenger #1 states that he retired shortly after the war and that, at least by the time the impostor came around, was deceased.
That all said, as I’ve stated above, due to the Sliding Timescale it will become increasingly impossible for Chester Phillips, or someone around the same age, to pose as him. Generally speaking a General (ha, ha) would be somewhere in his mid-to-late 40s when they were appointed to the position since most would have served at least 22 years in the service. Assuming Phillips joined the military at 18 the bare minimum age he could have been appointed general was at age 40. Assuming he was put on Project: Rebirth right away, being 40 in 1940 (when the project recruited Steve Rogers) would mean he would have been 103 when this comic was originally published. Not impossible but starting to get into the realm of being far-fetched.
When factoring the Sliding Timescale and using it to measure how old he was in this story from when I am writing this (February 2023) Chester would have been 118 years old. Which is really pushing it. The oldest person to ever live made it to 124, and that kind of longevity is rare.
What I am saying is that even if this guy is an impostor and he’s faking his age, there’s a certain point where Captain America wouldn’t trust that Chester was still alive unless there were extenuating circumstances. The only way Cap would have bought this is if the doctored evidence also had convincing evidence that Phillips has lived this long because he slowed his aging process down or something ala Nick Fury’s Infinity Formula.
