Old Soldiers
It’s only been a few days since the Avengers found and revived Captain America from suspended animation.[1] With some downtime, Iron Man agrees to take Cap down to his old neighborhood in Brooklyn. The changes in the time he has been away are a shock to Steve Rogers, particularly when he learns that the legendary Ebbets Field was torn down in the 1960s. Thinking to himself, Iron Man considers how quickly they invited Cap into the Avengers and wonders now if that wasn’t such a good idea.
Cap’s stunned silence is interrupted when a crowd of locals show up to gawk at them. An older gentlemen, unaware that this is the real Captain America, chastises Steve for wearing the costume of a real American hero. Iron Man leads Cap away from the crowd, wondering how his new ally is going to settle in this new era.
Around the corner they come upon a crowd of people fleeing in horror by a trio of alien robots that are on the rampage. Thinking that this is way out of Captain America’s league, Iron Man orders him to help get people to safety while he deals with the invaders. While Cap does as he is told, he is still able to hold his own against the robots. Iron Man on the other hand is struck by one with sufficient force to send him flying into a bus. Luckily, Captain America is able to toss his shield between the two speeding objects, preventing any serious injuries.
Recovering from the blow, Iron Man tackles another one of the robots and rips it open. Looking at its inner workings, Iron Man recognizes this as the work of aliens who previously tried to invade Earth with a massive cave man robot called Gargantus.[2] He warns Cap to keep clear as these robots have the ability to hypnotize people into doing their bidding. That’s when Iron Man is swarmed by the robots himself. They then hypnotize him and order him to destroy Captain America.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Iron Man
Continuity Notes
That would have been Avengers #4, naturally. Per the Marvel Chronology Project, this story takes place after the events of that story.
Iron Man previously liberated the town of Granville from Gargantus in Tales of Suspense #40.
The Great Pretender
A mental health facility has just received a new patient, a man named Buck Jones who insists that he is really Captain America. As he is observed by the facility doctors, Jones tries to convince them that he is who he says he is by revealing top secret information only the real Captain America would know. The doctors are unconvinced, as Jones appears to be just the latest in a explosion of patients with delusions of grandeur that have popped up since the Fantastic Four first showed up.[1]
What they don’t know is that “Buck Jones” really is Captain America, and that he is on a secret mission for Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. The spy agency has learned about a man named Randall Jefferson. Jefferson was an ordinary guy with no criminal past that one day, suddenly, started spouting government secrets non-stop. It had become so bad that Jefferson has been institutionalized. What’s even more shocking is that SHIELD’s esper unit has confirmed that everything Jefferson has said has turned out to be correct. However, everyone they have sent to investigate Jefferson has suffered complete mental break downs. Fury wants Cap to go undercover and find out how Randall Jefferson is able to know such classified information and stop it before he ends up falling into the hands of one of America’s enemies.
Breaking out of his cell, Cap finds the room where Randall Jefferson is staying. Steve is surprised when Jefferson is able to know his real name and the details surrounding Operation: Rebirth, the program that saw Rogers turned into Captain America.[2] That’s when two of the staff doctors notice that “Buck Jones” is talking to Randall Jennferson. One of them suddenly pulls out a gun and shoots “Buck” in the back. However, Steve is protected because he has been wearing his shield under his straight jacket. Changing into Captain America, Rogers chases after the gunman.
Chasing the woman into one of the breakrooms, she acts as though she is a victim of an unprovoked attack. As the other staff members try to subdue Captain America, he realizes that whoever the shooter is, they are a master of disguise. Cap fights off the others and enters another room where he finds another doctor on the floor, apparently attacked. However, this is the spy in disguise again and when he tries to pull a gun on Captain America again, Cap crushes the weapon in his hand causing its energy supply to feedback into the spy. This causes their disguise to melt, revealing that Cap is dealing with the master spy known as the Chameleon.[3]
Breaking free and fleeing down the hall, the Chameleon then lures Captain America into the violent ward. Once inside, the spy activates the emergency lock down device trapping them inside with every dangerous lunatic in the facility.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Chameleon, Nick Fury, Randall Jefferson
Continuity Notes
This story is set early on in the Age of Heroes, with the Fantastic Four having just appeared on the scene circa Fantastic Four #1. Per the Marvel Chronology Project, this story occurs after Captain America’s appearance in Sub-Mariner #35.
Jefferson is able to recount details regarding Captain Americas origins as they were originally told in Captain America Comics #1. Here, he states that the scientist in charge was Abraham Erskine and that he was code named Professor Reinstein. The Reinstein code name and Abraham’s real name was explained in Captain America #255.
Here, Captain America states that he never tangled with the Chameleon before. That’s not entirely true as the Chameleon once posed as Captain America to trick Iron Man into fighting the Star-Spangled Avenger in Tales of Suspense #58. One could assume that Cap meant that he never fought the Chemelon directly since the pair never fought each other in that story.
Topical References
The doctors diagnose “Buck Jones” with schizophrenia due to the fact that he has delusions of grandeur. This could be considered a correct diagnosis based on the current understandings of psychology today. However, these types of delusion could also be connected with other mental illnesses as well, such a bipolar disorder for example.
When referring to how his agents have suffered breakdowns by being exposed to Jefferson, he refers to them as snapping like Rice Crispies. This is a popular breakfast cereal that is known for crackling when you add milk. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world product.
