Twenty-First Century Blitz: Part 2

The Red Skull and Aleksander Lukin are plotting something during the opening of a new Krona Corporation building in London.[1] However, Captain America (Steve Rogers) has come snooping around a Krona owned freighter with Union Jack (Joe Chapman). This has led to a battle between them and the new Master Man and his Master Race. Taking control of the situation, Lukin decides to clean up after the Red Skull’s mess by detonating the freight vessel to eliminate all evidence of what they suggled into the UK. Luckily, Union Jack is knocked into the part of the ship where the bomb is counting down. He is able to give enough warning so Spitfire (Jaqueline Falsworth) can race back and rescue them just seconds before the ship explodes. Master Man and his team of Neo-Nazi thugs aren’t so lucky. The heroes then watch as Master Man is sent flying into the air by the blast.

The incident makes the national news and is watched by Bucky Barnes, who has come to London to get revenge against Aleksander Lukin for enslaving him as the Winter Soldier for decades.[2]

The following morning, Captain America and Union Jack are dragged into Thames House, headquarters to MI5, the British Secret Service. There, Union Jack is scolded by his superior, Phil Gavin, who is upset that he went on an unsanctioned mission the night before. Captain America steps up and say Jack and Spitfire were helping him and because of their help, they made sure there were no loss of civilian lives in the explosion. While Gavin finds that all well and good, he has been getting demanding phone calls from both the shipping company and the Kronas Corporation. He then asks Captain America what exactly he should be telling them. Cap bristles at this and reminds Gavin that he doesn’t work for him. That’s when Sharon Carter enters the room and reminds the MI5 agent that Captain America is a member of SHIELD and, as of a few moments ago, so are Union Jack and Spitfire. She has authorization from the British Prime Minister himself if Gavin wants to complain about it. As expected, this shuts the asshole up.

When they leave the meeting, Sharon also gives Steve an earful because of last night’s incident as it cost them the element of surprise. Realizing that Joe hasn’t met Sharon before, Steve makes introductions and suggests they find Jackie and figure out their next course of action.

The following evening, Union Jack and Sharon go together on a steal mission to investigate a Kronas property to figure out what the company is up to. By this time, Union Jack knows that they are also keeping an eye out for Bucky in order to prevent him from killing Lukin. As they talk about how Spitfire also knew Cap’s old partner,[3] Joe lets slip that Jaqueline once had a thing for Captain America. Sharon acts like this doesn’t bother her since she is her own woman, but finds herself asking if Spitfire still has a thing for Steve or not.[4]

Meanwhile, Steve and Jaqueline are trying to get a line on Bucky. They make a trip to a local pawnshop, Gerry’s Oddities, that is a front for illegal arms dealing in the country. When the owner, Gerry himself, denies his shady dealings, Jackie uses her super speed to take out his two heavies. Steve then demands that the pawn broker tell them if he has recently sold weapons to the Winter Soldier. The gun dealer tells them that he didn’t sell to the Winter Soldier, but he head that he was back in town just this past few days. Gerry promises to tell them what they know, figuring it won’t do them any good since the Winter Soldier will be gone like a ghost once he is finished whatever he is planning.

At that same moment, Bucky is following a trail through an underground tunnel when he hears voices coming from the rear. Ducking into the shadows, he sees that Sharon Carter and Union Jack are on the same trail as he is. Sharon deduces that these old tunnels are being used by the Kronas Corporation to smuggle illegal goods between buildings away from prying eyes and is impressed by the scope of such an operation. Before the pair can investigate further they are contacted by MI5 who tells them that Master Man and his Master Race have been sighted. Sharon decides to cut their search short to deal with this threat, contacting Captain America to get him up to speed along the way. This entire conversation is overheard by Bucky who presses onward once Sharon and Union Jack are gone.

Twenty minutes later, Captain America and Union Jack rush into the building and find nothing but dead members of the Master Race and members of Radical Ideas in Destruction, an offshoot of Advanced Idea Mechanics. As it turns out, someone beat them there and killed everyone in sight. Luckily, Spitfire is able to search the entire building in seconds and finds plans for an areal assault on London.

While in the Kronas Building, Master Man is furious that he was not allowed to finish off Captain America, particularly since half his face was burned in the explosion the night before. Now in the drivers seat in Lukin’s body, the Red Skull assures Master Man that he’ll get his chance soon enough as he just sent an open invitation to Captain America to come for them.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, SHIELD (Sharon Carter, Union Jack, Spitfire), Red Skull/Aleksander Lukin, Master Man, Winter Soldier, Phil Gavin, RAID

Continuity Notes

1. When Lukin sent the Winter Soldier to assassinate the Red Skull back in Captain America (vol. 5) #1, things didn’t go exactly as planned. The Skull used the Cosmic Cube to escape his body and now has taken up residence in Lukin’s mind, as we learned in issue #14. They will remain like this until Captain America (vol. 5) #42.

2. For years, everyone though that Bucky had died in 1945 as per Avengers #4. In reality, he was recovered by the Russians. Vasily Karpov had him transformed into an assassin called the Winter Soldier. When Karpov died, the Winter Soldier ended up in the possession of Aleksander Lukin who used him to commit various acts of murder and destruction. See Captain America (vol. 5) #1-9 and 11-14 for the gory details.

3. Spitfire was a member of the original Invaders alongside Captain America and Bucky. The road to becoming a superhero and joining the team happened between Invaders #7 through 12, which involved a vampire’s bite and getting a blood transfusion from an android. This also slowed her aging process. A second blood transfusion from the Human Torch caused her age to regress in Namor the Sub-Mariner #11-12, which is why she appears to be a woman in her early 20s here.

4. Spitfire’s fancy for Captain America was established in her appearances in the Invaders, however it never went beyond that. Steve and Sharon on the other hand have a long history that started in Tales of Suspense #75. They have been dating on-and-off for years. Most recently, they had a romantic evening together in Captain America (vol. 5) #16.

Topical References

• Bucky is depicted watching BBC News in this story. Usually, a real world television station would be considered a topical reference as they are corporately owned and could change their name and branding, or go out of business. However, in this case the reference could be considered factual as the BBC is a state run network, getting much of its funding from the British government.

• What is topical though is the depiction of the televisions in this story. They are drawn to resemble CRT model TVs. This should be considered topical as this technology is no obsolete.