Captain America and the Falcon #11

Mar 7

Mar 7 Captain America and the Falcon #11

Brothers and Keepers, Part 4: I, M.O.D.O.K

Captain America (Steve Rogers) and the Falcon (Sam Wilson) have been investigating the connection between the Rivas cartel, MODOK, and the United States Navy. While Steve was checking out the Rivas mansion, where he found a mindless MODOK, Sam and the so-called Anti-Cap sunk the private yacht of Jimmy Westbrook, of the Office of Naval Intelligence. After this, Sam vanished prompting Cap and SHIELD Agent Alisande Morales to go looking for the sunk ship. Steve admits that Sam hasn’t been acting like himself recently — possibly the work of the Scarlet Witch — but Agent Morales isn’t so sure. She suggests that perhaps this is just who Sam Wilson really is underneath.[1]

As they approach the ship they are attacked by Navy frogmen who have mistaken Steve for the Anti-Cap. When Steve pulls off his cowl to reveal his true identity to them, the attack ceases. Which is curious considering that they believe Anti-Cap to be dead.[2] What Steve does know is that MODOK’s mind seems to be controlling the mind of Damocles Rivas in order to get the object that they have all been fighting over. At first, it seemed like a DNA sample belonging to MODOK, but after a full analysis, SHIELD has determined that it is a weapon specifically made to kill MODOK by using his own genetic code against him. Alisande now carries this weapon — deployed from a conductive energy device (CED). Steve hopes to find MODOK and reason with him. However, they only find Falcon’s mask and a combat knife floating around in the sunken vessel.

Elsewhere, Anti-Cap is being made to relieve his youth when he was a young man and in love for the first time. MODOK, speaking through the image of his would-be girlfriend uses Anti-Cap’s loss of her through a terrorist attack to convince him to join MODOK’s cause. Anti-Cap sees through this, and MODOK continues to try and convince him to join up. This continued resistance prompts MODOK to threaten to hand Anti-Cap over to Damocles Rivas to get revenge for the death of his brother.

He soon finds himself plunged into another fantasy world, this time of the wreckage of the terrorist attack that took Anti-Cap’s girl all those years ago.[3] It is here that he finds the Falcon, who sees their surroundings as something very different. Instead of a blown out government building, Sam instead believes he is on the beaches of Exile Island, back when the Red Skull turned him into Falcon. That’s when the pair are attacked by a group of armed men. While Anti-Cap sees them as Jimmy Westbrook’s men, Falcon sees them as men dressed up like the Red Skull. Outnumbered, Anti-Cap suggests that Falcon fly them out of there. When he says he can’t, because the Black Panther hasn’t invested his wings yet,[4] Anti-Cap makes him think of the present day, to push him into the same illusion. As they fly away, they are suddenly confronted by a gigantic version of MODOK who unleashes a powerful mental blast that strips the flesh from their bones.

By this time, Captain America and Agent Morales have returned to the Rivas home in New Jersey. The mansion has been locked down by the FBI and SHIELD. Nick Fury is there, but unfortunately, they have yet to find the device that allows MODOK to electronically transmit himself to other locations to kill targets. Neither have then been able to find Jimmy Westbrook either. They do have the niece of Damocles Rivas, Amari. Steve and Alisande then begin questioning her in the hopes that she can help them stop MODOK.

At the hidden lair of Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), MODOK continues to hold Anti-Cap and the Falcon prisoner. He muses how Damocles Rivas attempted to use MODOK as the ultimate spy tool only to become a a host body for the deranged cyborg. That’s when he gets a call from Amari Rivas, who attempts to reach her uncle’s mind MODOK scoffs at this pathetic attempt at trying to coerce him, saying that the real Damocles Rivas is not in this body. Cap still banks on the possibility that the transfer of minds is not quite complete, given how Damocles has been killing off MODOK’s old creators. Deciding to try and take control of this situation, Agent Morales grabs Amari and threatens to harm her if MODOK doesn’t give up the Falcon and Anti-Cap. She even offers to give him the MODOK killer weapon in exchange.

This is all a ploy to get Damocles to appear before them and try and save his niece. Sure enough, the bluff works. When Steve tries to reason with Damocles and get his help to stop MODOK, the villain tries to reassert control of his true body. What he doesn’t realize is that in doing so he has become distracted enough for the Falcon and Anti-Cap to get free from his mental control. While Sam distracts MODOK, Anti-Cap guns down the body of Damocles Rivas. This cause MODOK’s mind to be transmitted back to his true body where he finds himself at war with Rivas for control of his body.

He also begins mentally dominating Captain America and forcing him to attack his comrades. While Cap resists, the Falcon calls for his crew to pick him up. However, Anti-Cap refuses to go with him and Sam isn’t in a position to try and stop him. Meanwhile, Amari tries to get through to her uncle’s mind, putting herself in the line of fire. Captain America sees this and tries to push her out of harms way as MODOK unleashes a deadly mental blast. Unfortunately, he fails and Amari is killed instantly. Horrified by what has just happened Damocles transmits himself to another location. Captain America follows after him and finds himself transported to somewhere in Singapore, where the Hulk is on the rampage!

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, MODOK/Damocles Rivas, Anti-Cap, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Alisandre Morales), AIM, Hulk

Continuity Notes

Throughout this series, Sam Wilson has been seemingly reverting back to his “Snap” Wilson persona. Why and what that means is quite complicated so here we go again:
- When Captain America first met the Falcon in Captain America #117, he appeared to be the ideal crime fighting partner.
- Sometime after this, in Captain America #186, the Red Skull revealed that Sam Wilson used to be a street hustler nicknamed “Snap” and that he used the Cosmic Cube to make Wilson a sleeper agent to use against Captain America.
- In reality, as we’ll learn a few years after this story is that “Snap” Wilson was actually a fabrication created by the Red Skull. He was using racist gaslighting to make Sam question his identity on top of using him as a pawn. This was all revealed in All-New Captain America #3.
- Steve is suggesting that he and Sam’s minds have been played with by the Scarlet Witch due to the fact that she had recently gone mad. See Captain America and the Falcon #5-7 and Avengers #500-503. This was also suggested in the Falcon profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4, however has yet to be independently verified or confirmed.
Anti-Cap was the Navy’s attempt to recreate Captain America. He went rogue trying to uncover this vast conspiracy back in Captain America and the Falcon #1. He seemingly died of toxic drug ingestion, but this was a fake out set up by the Falcon so he and Anti-Cap could work together. See the last two issues.
Anti-Cap’s girlfriend was killed in a terrorist bombing, this in turn led him to join the Navy to become Anti-Cap. See Captain America and the Falcon #3-4.
The Falcon’s wings were created by the Black Panther, as seen in Captain America #170.

Topical References

Alisande refers to the MODOK killer as being built into a Taser. This is a brand name of CED device that is commonly used. Since it is so commonly used now, it could be considered a proprietary eponym.