Captain America (vol. 5) #6
Out of Time: Part 6
Somewhere beneath Philadelphia, Aleksander Lukin’s private assassin has just rigged up a bunch of explosives that will decimate the entire city above him.[1] Calling in to his handler, the assassin informs him that Jack Monroe’s body has been stashed there as a scapegoat for the bomb.[2] Returning to the surface he checks on Sharon Carter who he has tied up in the trunk of a car and reports back that she is exactly where his boss wants her.
Meanwhile, aboard the SHIELD helicarrier, Agent Neil Tapper expresses his concerns that Sharon Carter hasn’t come back from her mission to find Monroe yet. Fury knows that Neil and Sharon had been dating but thought it was over. Neil admits that they argued over her becoming Captain America’s SHIELD liaison given their past history together.[3] Regardless, he still cares about her and is worried about her well being. Fury reminds Neil that Sharon is tough as nails but either way they are doing a sweep of the area to try and find her. Still, Fury allows Neil to take one of the flying cars down to Philadelphia to help with the search. Before leaving, Tapper asks if Cap knows that Sharon is missing. Fury admits that he does not, saying that Cap has more than enough on his mind at present.
At that same moment, Captain America has been taken to a remote island on the English Channel. When they arrive, the SHIELD pilot who brought him here remarks that this island isn’t on any maps and why it is so significant. Cap will only say that this is the place where he died.[4] As Steve makes his way up to the castle he thinks of all the conflicting memories and reports he has read over the years about this incident. He wonders how much of what he remembers is really true.[5] However, when he sees the ramp that the explosive packed drone plane used to take off, Steve is certain that there is always one part he always remembers correctly: The explosion that send him plunging into the waters and decades of suspended animation. The explosion that kill his wartime partner, Bucky.
Heading into the dungeon, he is surprised to find that the room where Bucky was tortured — one of his recent memories — was real. In the meeting hall, he is even more astonished to find Baron Zemo and a team of Nazi soldiers there. Zemo orders the soldiers to open fire, but Cap deflects the bullets with his shield. Seconds later, the soldiers fade away, but Steve is certain that this wasn’t a hallucination because he can still smell gunpowder in the air. He deduces that whoever has the Cosmic Cube must be using it to mess with him. That’s when he sees the ramp the drone plane was launched on up close. Suddenly, the memories of that day flood back, but this time he remembers an extra detail. As always he and Bucky raced after the drone on a motorcycle. Jumping onto the remote aircraft, Steve lost his grip and began to fall. This time, when he orders Bucky to let go, his young partner complies. However, this time, he sees that Bucky’s sleeve got caught on the plane preventing him from falling away safely when the plane exploded.
Remembering this has Steve even more confused than ever. What memories are real? Which ones are false? As he heads back to the SHIELD aircraft his mind is forcibly fed an illusion of Sharon Carter chained up on a rooftop in Philadelphia. He orders the pilot to get them there immediately.
Meanwhile, aboard the SHIELD helicarrier, Nick Fury is going over the photos in the Winter Soldier file. He looks at them in disbelief and can’t understand how he missed something so obvious. That’s when Steve calls in to tell Fury that Sharon was kidnapped. Nick reveals he already knows and tells Cap not to rush in blind. Unfortunately, Nick’s warning comes too late as Steve is already parachuting down to the rooftop where armed men are holding her prisoner. Taking them out, Steve begins to untie Sharon who tells him that this is all a trap and that the man who captured her looked a hell of a lot like his old partner Bucky.
This man, the Winter Soldier himself, is observing the pair through the scope of his sniper rifle. He asks his handler — Aleksander Lukin — if he can take the shot. Lukin refuses his request, telling him to follow the plan as ordered. The Winter Soldier then pulls a detonator out of his pocket and presses the button.
At that same moment, Agent Tapper is calling in to tell Fury that he followed Sharon’s GPS locater into the sewers where he has found the body of Jack Monroe and another massive bomb. Seconds later, the bomb arms and then explodes. The blast takes out tons of city blocks that can be fully seen from Captain America’s vantage point. Sharon tearfully hugs Steve and tells him that her captor picked this spot so he could see all of the destruction.
High above the city, Aleksander Lukin and his assistant, Leon, are passing by in the Kornas Corporation’s private jet. Lukin has set up a device to absorb the energies from the blast. Leon pleads with his boss to stop with this madness. However, the plan pays off and the devastation from the explosion expends enough energy that totally recharges and restores the Cosmic Cube to full power. He dismisses Leon’s concerns that the authorities will tie the bomb back to their company. Holding the Cosmic Cube in his hands, Lukin says that an investigation will take time and by the time it’s done, it will already be too late.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Sharon Carter, Neil Tapper, Teresa Lockett), Winter Soldier, Aleksander Lukin, Nomad (corpse), (flashback) Captain America, Bucky
Continuity Notes
As explained back in Captain America (vol. 5) #1, Aleksander Lukin stole a rebuilt Cosmic Cube that is in need of a recharge. This could only be facilitated by massive explosions that cost massive loss of life. The Red Skull was going to blow up Manhattan, London, and Paris to accomplish this but Lukin had him killed and scuttled his plot over the next three issues. While we’re on the subject, the Skull managed to cheat death by using the Cosmic Cube to bounce his consciousness from his own body into that of Aleksander Lukin himself, as we’ll learn in Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Jack Monroe was murdered by the Winter Soldier in Captain America (vol. 5) #3.
Captain America and Sharon Carter fell in love with each other almost from the moment they first met in Tales of Suspense #75. The two have been in an on-again-off-again relationship for years. As of Captain America (vol. 3) #50 they have been on the outs once more, but will get back together in Captain America (vol. 5) #16 (Sorry, Neil, no competing with the Living Legend of World War II after all).
Or, more specifically, this is where everyone thought Captain America died in 1945. I’m sure the fact that he was frozen in ice for decades has been pounded into your head enough already. If not, Avengers #4 holds the tale.
There have been many, many, retellings of the events that led to Captain America getting frozen in suspended animation. Many are straight re-caps, others have added additional details. The facts:
Per the Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Captain America, the following stories add details that are considered fact: Avengers #56, What If? #4, Captain America #215, 220, (vol. 5) #4, 6, 8, 11, 25, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #12, Captain America: Reborn #1, Captain America: Man Out of Time #1.
This narrative also puts the final nail in the coffin for the revised tale told in Captain America (vol. 4) #10 and 12, which attempted to change the established story to one where Cap was intentionally frozen by his own government when he protested Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are considered false memories and outright fabrications.
Steve also mentions an account that said he fell into the waters off the coast of Newfoundland instead of the Channel River. This was originally stated in Avengers #4, but was already addressed in Captain America #220. He crashed in the channel river, was recovered by Nazis, fought them in Newfoundland before falling into the waters a second time.
Topical References
The SHIELD pilot flying Captain America states that his aircraft can fly faster than the Concorde. The Concorde as a super-sonic commercial airliner that could travel up to Mach 2. It could get you from New York to London in just under three hours. However, it was extremely expensive to operate and as traveling habits changed post 9/11, the Concorde was retired in 2003. This should be considered a topical reference as a more contemporary example could be used instead.