Captain America (vol. 4) #21
Homeland: Part 1
Captain America has travelled out to Bowen County, Florida, to help federal authorities nab some sex traffickers working out of the swamps. Heading in alone, Captain America tells them they are surrounded and to give up. When they refuse Captain America swings into action and takes the slave traders down all by himself. In a panic, their leader grabs one of the women and tries to use her as a hostage. When Captain America asks the man how badly he wants to get hurt, he wisely lets the woman go and surrenders. After the hostiles have been subdued, the FBI comes in to clean things up. Cap wonders what will become of the women that were enslaved by these men. One of the FBI agents in charge tells him that they’ll be filtered through the immigration system, but ultimately they’ll be sent back home to wherever they came from. When one of the rescued women asks if they will be going to America soon, Steve discovers that he doesn’t have an easy answer for them.
Steve Rogers returns to his home in New York City and the following morning he is having breakfast at the diner he half-owns in Red Hook, Brooklyn with local named Phil. As Steve scarfs down a double serving of breakfast they both listen to the radio. The news of the day is focused on Fernand Hedayat a Iranian born immigrant who just has his immigration revoked and is now being detained at an off-shore military prison reserved for captured terrorists. The decision has led to condemnation in human rights circles. Phil finds this disgusting and doesn’t understand how a man who has lived in America since he was 7 years old could possibly be arrested for treason.
Their conversation is interrupted by Rebecca Quan, another regular looking for a spot to sit. The diner is full up but Phil figures that there’ll be a free seat in 15 minutes. That’s when Steve says he doesn’t mind if she eats with him. Rebecca takes him up on the offer, who looks forward to talking to the man who is Captain America.[1] Rebecca is a commercial artist who has moved to Brooklyn recently from Seattle. Steve is fascinated by Rebecca’s artistic analysis of his trademark shield and the two go for a walk so he can hear more about it.[2] Their outing is interrupted by two agents from the Department of Homeland Security. They have come because their regional director, General Lincoln Barron has been calling for him and he hasn’t answered his phone. Steve realizes that he had his phone on silent and agrees to go with them, telling Rebecca that he’ll meet up with her later.
On the ride to Manhattan, the car is attacked on the Brooklyn Bridge by armed men in a mini-van. With the two Homeland agents killed in the attack, Steve grabs one of their sidearms and shoots back. While the shooters escape, he manages to hit one of them in the hand causing them to drop their machine gun on the ground. Getting a closer look, Steve notes that the automatic weapon is the same model used by the military. After the incident, Steve reports to Hal Toliver and General Barron at the Federal Plaza to report the shooting. Unfortunately, the men involved have managed to evade capture.
They then get down to business, why they called in Steve to begin with. They show him the file they have on Fernand Hedayat, a case which they believe they have enough evidence to win. However, given the controversial nature of Hedayat’s arrest and recent reports of detainee abuse, there is concerned that Fernand isn’t going to get a fair trail. In order to combat this perspective, they are asking for Captain America to sit on the jury. Steve wonders how this is going to matter since the trails are conducted by secret tribunals. While this is true, they fully expect there to be a leak of information.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Rebecca Quan, Linc Barron
Continuity Notes
It takes Rebecca a minute or two to recognizes Steve Rogers as he had only just recently revealed his true identity to the public in Captain America (vol. 4) #3.
When talking about the composition of his shield, Steve states that it is made of Adamantium and Vibranium. However, this is not correct. Early editions of Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (#2, 15, and Deluxe Edition #2) that incorrectly state that the Shield was a mixture of Vibranium and Adamantium. References to Adamantium being part of the composition has been expunged since Cap’s profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004 #1. However, the Adamantium entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #1, refers to this unknown metal as “Proto-Adamantium”. This was previously corrected in the fiction in Avengers Annual 2001.
Topical References
This story is stated as happening in the year 2003. This date should be considered topical as it is relative to the time of publication.
The United States immigration agency is referred to as the Bureau for Customs and Immigration Services or BCIS for short. This should be considered a topical reference as this organization has since changed its name to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS for short. Not sure when the name change happened, but it happened sometime after this comic was published in 2004. You figure it out.
This story makes multiple mentions of and partially takes place at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, and the early incidents of prisoner abuse that occurred since its inception. This military prison was created in 2002 to house those who were captured on terrorism related charges during the War on Terror. At its height, the prison was home to 780 prisoners who were being held indefinitely without trial. The place is a human rights nightmare that it too complex to cover here. Anyway, time of this writing (February, 2023), there are less than 40 people still detained there and the current administration seeks to shut the place down by 2024. Its days are basically numbered. Modern readers should already be considering it a topical reference. One could assume that rather than taking place at Gitmo, the story takes place at a fictional military prison that happens to be in the same region.
One of the people protesting the arrest of Fernand Hedayat is Shirin Ebadi. She has been a champion for human rights in Iran for most of her adult life. She won the Nobel Peace prize for her work in 2003. However, since she is a real world person, he mention here should be considered topical.
When talking about commercial branding, Rebecca references American On-Line, aka AOL. This is an internet service provider that was at its height during the early days of the internet due to the fact that they flooded the market with CDs that offered a free number of hours on the internet back when that was a thing. Their marketing campaigns were viral before that even had a name. The logo she is referring to is a triangle with a circle in the middle representing A and O in “America Online”. The company used this logo or some variation until 2009. Its reference here should be considered topical because this is a real world company.
Steve compares the composition of his shield to Hydrox brand cookies. This brand of sandwich cookies actually pre-date the advent of Oreo cookies by about 4 years, coming out in 1908. Oreos surpassed them in popularity in the 1950s. Since Steve grew up prior to them it explains why he’d be using Hydrox as a comparison instead of Oreos. This could be considered a topical reference as it is a real world brand. However, you could argue it’s not since Steve is referencing something from his childhood and not what’s available now.
Also mentioned is the INS, or the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Formed in 1933, it was the US immigration organization before it was replaced by the USCIS in 2004. INS is being referenced here because this comic as published in the year the agencies changed. This distinction should be considered topical.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 are referenced as though they had happened in recent times. This should also be considered a topical reference.
