Captain America (vol. 5) #20
Twenty-First Century Blitz: Part 3
At a small airstrip outside of London, Crossbones is busy rigging a small aircraft with explosives. He plans on flying it into the new Kronas Building that is opening in the city in order to kill Aleksander Lukin and avenge the murder of the Red Skull.[1] His partner in crime is the Red Skull’s daughter Sin, who doesn’t like such an impersonal attack as she’d rather strangle Lukin to death with her bare hands. While Crossbones understands her desire, he insists that this is be best way to do it, what with reports of Captain America being in town. An airborne attack, he says, will be the last thing they expect.
However, little do they know that the Red Skull is alive and sharing a body with Lukin himself. Nor are they aware that the Red Skull is planning an all out blitz on London as well. Captain America (Steve Rogers) and his allies Sharon Carter, Union Jack (Joe Chapman), and Spitfire (Jaqueline Falsworth) have just learned about the plot and are trying to raise the alarm. Unfortunately, the best their MI5 — Phil Gavin — contact can do is halt all air travel for the time being. While this annoys Steve to no end, Sharon points out that it is the best he can do with the miniscule evidence they were able to find. However, Steve knows that the attack is going to happen during the gala to celebrate the newly opened Kronas Corporation building in London. Regardless of his political connections, Captain America vows that Aleksander Lukin is going down. Cap only wishes he knew what it was that Lukin was transporting underground.
At that same moment, Bucky is in the underground tunnels on a mission to get revenge against Lukin for using him as his personal assassin, the Winter Soldier.[2] Coming across a piece of scrap metal, Bucky recognizes what it came from and wonders how Lukin could have known about it. Considering it for a second, Bucky races off to stop whatever it is Lukin has set into motion.
Later that evening, Steve and his team have some downtime. Taking in the city from the balcony of the flat they are staying in, Steve has a conversation with Jaqueline. She can tell that Steve and Sharon care for one another and asks if its serious. Steve admits that his relationship with Sharon is complicated, but she seems more serious about it than usual.[3] He keeps expecting her to break it off, but is surprised when she doesn’t. Women’s intuition tells Jaqueline that Sharon is taking it serious this time. Steve then admits that he misses his heart-to-hearts with Jaqueline and suggests that she join the Avengers.[4] Jackie is flattered, but says she could never leave Britain.
The following evening, as the gala begins, Captain America and Sharon monitor things in the air in a SHIELD flying car. As part of the celebration, Lukin has gotten a number of vintage aircraft to fly around the new Kronas building to entertain the attendees. Steve figures that this is to obfuscate the aircraft that will be responsible for the attack, but he figures it’ll be the massive blimp.
Inside the building, Aleksander Lukin is freshening up in the bathroom before going out and greeting his party guests. As he washes he has a conversation with the Red Skull, who has taken up residence in his head since a botched assassination attempt. The two bicker over how their current scheme is going. When Lukin insists that he is the better tactician, the Red Skull points out that Aleks doesn’t know if he is really coming up with his plans or if the Red Skull is manipulating him into thinking he is. This gives Lukin pause and rather than give an answer, he tells the Skull that he has to get back to the party. The response makes the Skull grin.
While aboard the blimp, Master Man is trying to force the crew to pilot it on a collision course with the British House of Parliament. That’s when Captain America comes crashing in through the window. He is soon joined by Spitfire and Union Jack, who get aboard thanks to Jackie’s super speed and a good running start. While Cap and Union Jack deal with Master Man and what’s left of his Master Race, Spitfire searches the blimp for explosives. She is too late to stop one of the Master Race from setting a fire on the blimp.
At that same moment, the crowd notices the blimp is now on fire and is about to crash. Aleksander Lukin assures the people he doesn’t know what has gone wrong. As he says this he is unaware that Bucky has him in the sights of his sniper rifle. However, when Lukin starts to smile, Bucky realizes something is up. He looks up and sees the blimp is about to crash and races off to save Captain America.
Back aboard the ship, Captain America orders Union Jack and Spitfire to get the crew to safety while he stays behind and makes sure that the blimp crashes harmlessly in the Thames River. While Cap succeeds in redirecting the blimp, he is tackled by Master Man, sending both men falling out of the ship moments before it crashes. Cap manages to fight off his attacker and grab onto the side of a building.
In all the chaos, this is when Crossbones and Sin make their attempt to fly into the Kronas building. As the plane is about to collide, the two maniacs jump ship and parachute to safety. Seeing the plane coming toward them, the Red Skull tells Lukin to stop stalling and activate his back-up plan. Pressing a button on a device, Lukin activates an old Nazi Sleeper robot which emerges from under the street.[5] Looking up, the Sleeper blows up the airplane with its eye beams. The Red Skull hopes the message is clear: He’s back.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, SHIELD (Sharon Carter, Union Jack, Spitfire), Winter Soldier, Red Skull/Alexander Lukin, Sin, Crossbones, Master Man, Sleeper
Continuity Notes
Crossbones believes the Skull is dead because Lukin sent the Winter Soldier to assassinate the Red Skull back in Captain America (vol. 5) #1. What he doesn’t know is that 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.
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.
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.
Steve makes a point of specify in that he’d like her to join the new Avengers. At the time of this story the original team was decimated when the Scarlet Witch went mad and attacked her own teammates in Avengers #500-503. A short time afterwards, Tony Stark form a new, more scaled down, version of the Avengers. See New Avengers #1-5. As of this writing (March, 2023), Spitfire has yet to become a member of the Avengers.
This Sleeper is one of many robots constructed by the Nazis during World War II to use as a contingency plan should Germany lose the war. An early prototype was used during the war, as seen in Captain America 65th Anniversary Special #1. The first three were activated in Tales of Suspense #72-74. A fourth Sleeper was activated in Captain America #101 and was last seen in issue #410 of that series. Others (time of this writing) include the so-called “Final” Sleeper in Black Widow and the Marvel Girls #3, and another which was hidden in Egypt until it is later found by the Kingpin in Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business #1.
