Nomad (vol. 2) #1
The Favor Banker
This story continues from Captain America Annual #10….
Now
Hitchhiking all night, Nomad (aka Jack Monroe) has just reached the town of McMurray, Washington. Bucky is crying because she has soiled herself and he his out of fresh diapers. Luckily, there is a nearby convenience store. However, as he is in getting what he needs two men burst in and try to rob the place. Nomad distracts the thieves by throwing the package of diapers at them. When they shoot that instead of the clerk, Nomad ambushes them and knocks them both out.[1] Paying for his purchase, Jack is on his way out the clerk asks if he will also pay for the bag of diapers the crooks blew away. Monroe only gives him an ugly look before hitting the road again. As he walks through the night he wonders what is wrong with America.
The following morning, in Seattle, Giscard Epurer — the so called favor broker — has Kichiriwa, a martial arts expert, and his men attack him in his home. Giscard easily fends off his attackers. As it turns out, Epurer had done a favor for Kichiriwa in the past and he requested this attack as payment. Satisfied with his martial arts skills, Giscard dismisses Kichiriwa, telling them that his debt has now been paid in full. With that business out of the way, Giscard then places a call to a young woman named Gloria Justin and reminds her that he had done something for her in the past and now her marker is now due. Hearing Epurer’s voice causes Gloria to drop the phone on the ground and break down in years.
Meanwhile, Nomad has arrived in the city and uses his dwindling funds to rent out a cheap room for the night. He then puts an add in the newspaper offering his services as a “handyman”. He then heads back to the hotel to wait for the calls to start calling in. Days pass without a peep, leaving Jack down to his last few dollars and in need of more supplies for Bucky. That’s when he gets a call from Gloria Justin who asks for his help. Jack agrees to meet with her at the Space Needle. There she gives him an advance of half his fee and asks Monroe to help her with Giscard Epurer who is blackmailing her into giving up information about her employer.
Months Ago
Following the incident in Jenau, Alaska, psychologist Andra Sterman has been brought before the Commission on Superhuman Affairs to answer to why she let Nomad run free when he escaped their custody.[2] In light of her experience, she explains to Henry Gyrich that following her initial psychological evaluation, she has now concluded that Jack Monroe’s mental state cannot be neatly categorized. After Gyrich goes over Jack’s case history — noting his time as the sidekick to the Captain America of the 1950s as well as the original in the present day — he reminds Andrea that Monroe has become increasingly violent over time, putting him at odds with the government.[4] Sterman explains that Nomad’s lashing out stems directly from how he had been treated by government administrators responsible for manipulating much of his life up to this point. This doesn’t make Gyrich happy at all and he tells Andrea that she is being assigned to a joint task force with the FBI and SHIELD tasked with the job of bringing Jack Monroe in.
Now
That evening, Nomad breaks into Giscard Epurer’s hotel room and is ambushed from behind. Kicked through a window, Nomad quickly checks to make sure that Bucky didn’t get cut by glass. Giscard questions the logic behind bringing a child with him (he’s not wrong) and instead suggests that instead of fighting they talk things out. Giscard explains that he is a favor broker, he will offer out his services in exchange for that person doing him a favor at some later date. He tells Jack that prevented a scandal breaking out when Gloria was romantically involved with the daughter of local millionaire who was running for office. Now that Gloria works for a shipping company, Epurer has asked that she give him information from her employer. Gloria hired Monroe to get her out of this mess because she is afraid of losing her job.
Giscard then convinces Jack to do the job for her instead, taking Bucky as collateral to make sure that Jack does the job. Jack breaks into the company and takes pictures of the company’s scheduled shipping routes for the entire area. Jack wonders what Giscard could want with this information but does the job anyway. On his way out, he knocks out some security guards who spot him on the surveillance cameras before heading back to Epurer. There he is annoyed to find Gloria waiting for him. As it turned out, hiring Nomad was all part of her plan to get Giscard what he wanted. Jack is not happy with this but decides to let it go since she pays the rest of his fee. Taking Bucky back, Jack is on his way out when Giscard tells him that he knows all about him and the incident that happened in Alaska. Epurer says he won’t tell his friends at the Commission or any other law enforcement agency about any of this, saying that Jack now owes him a favor in the future.
Jack leaves without another word and decides that it is time for him to leave Seattle. He isn’t too worried about Giscard since he kept a copy of the photos he took as a trump card just in case he might need the favor broker in the future. On his way out of town, Jack stops to buy a tabloid newspaper which includes a headline about a Miami businessman who eats those who cross him as well as a story an Oregon town that has been crowned the roadkill capital of the world.[4] He then hits the highway and begins thumbing for a ride.
Recurring Characters
Nomad, Bucky, Giscard Epurer, (in flashback) Andrea Sterman, Henry Gyrich
Continuity Notes
As Jack is shooting it out with the robbers he takes note of a Captain America comic book and jokes that he doesn’t rate his own book. Marvel Comics actually exists in universe and publishes comic books that are based on “real life” accounts of the superheroes that live there. This has been the case dating back to Fantastic Four #10.
Nomad earned the ire of the CSA over the course of Nomad #1-4 when he investigated a connection between the US government’s development of a new cybernetic gun to the Miami drug trade.
We delve into a lot of Jack’s past history. The details:
Jack teamed up with William Burnside to become the Captain America and Bucky of the 1950s. This was a period where the original Cap and Bucky were lost in 1945 and believed to be dead, as per Avengers #4. For Burnside and Monroe’s time as Cap and Bucky see Young Men #24-28, Captain America Comics #76-78, Men’s Adventures #26-28, and Captain America #155.
Burnside is referred to here only as the “fourth man to become Captain America”. After Steve Rogers went missing in 1945 (per Avengers #4) others took up the costumed identity. There was William Nasland (previously the Spirit of ‘76) and Jeff Mace (previously the Patriot, who took over the roles first as explained in What If? #4. Nasland served until he died in 1946 while Mace took over until he retired in 1950. Burnside took over the role in the 1953 in the aforementioned Young Men #24. However, his real name won’t be revealed until Captain America #605.
The 50s Cap and Bucky were released from cryo-stasis by a government agent who thought they would better serve America’s interest. They clashed with the real Cap and Falcon in Captain America #153-156.
Jack convinced Steve Rogers to let him become his new sidekick in Captain America #281. As Nomad, Monroe fought alongside Cap until they parted company in issue #345 over differing ideas on how to deal with crime.
Jack visits this town first hand next issue.
Topical References
The photo of Bucky on the front cover states that it was taken in 1992. The date should be considered topical.
There are a number of product brands on display at the convenience store that should be considered topical as they are real world brands: Pepsi, and Mountain Dew. Pepsi is also being sold at a price of 35 cents. This price should be considered topical due to inflation. You can’t get a can of soda for less than a dollar usually.
Gloria Justin is depicted as having an answering machine hooked up to her telephone. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology thanks to the advent of voice mail.
Nomad’s room is $15 a night. This cost should be considered a topical reference as prices of hotel rooms — even shitty ones — have gone up since this comic was published in 1992. You’d be hard pressed to find a hotel in Seattle that costs less than $100 a night as I write this in October, 2022.
One of the ads in the newspaper that Jack finds in the hotel lobby has a car advertisement stating that all the ‘91 models need to go. The year in question should be considered topical.
Speaking of dated things, the newspaper is depicted as having both computers with monochrome CRT monitors and typewriters in the office. These forms of technology should be considered topical as they are obsolete.
When Gloria calls Jack for help she is depicted wearing a San Jose Sharks hockey jersey. This should be considered topical not only because this is a real world sports team but also because their logo used is the one the team had from 1991 through 2007.
One of the toys that Bucky plays with at the Space Needle is a stuffed animal of Opus, a comic strip character created by Berkeley Breathed in 1981. He appeared in numerous comic strips until Breathed retired the character in 2008. Its depiction here is topical as well.
This story states that the meeting between the Commission on Superhuman Affairs and Andrea Sterman takes place six months prior to the main story. I suspect that this denotes the passage of time between the end of the first volume of Nomad and when this story was written. This should be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale. Based on the scale’s time compression the events between the two volumes of this series is a little over 3 months, give or take.
Andrea Sternam is depicted smoking while being questioned by the Commission on Superhuman Affairs. They are located in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. This should be considered a topical reference as indoor smoking in federal buildings was banned in 1997.
Supplement Material
This story features a gatefold cover. On the reverse side is a map of the United States and marks off locations where Nomad has been in the past, showing images that are significant to his time in those locals. They include:
The Lake Okanagan region of British Columbia: Jack passed through there after leaving Alaska. He was attacked by wolves and saved by a local woman. See Captain America Annual #10.
Juneau, Alaska: There, Jack had uncovered a conspiracy to build a new cybernetic weapon for the United States government using illicit money from the drug trade to buy the needed Russian equipment. He also fought Captain America there. See Nomad #4.
Las Vegas: States that he clashed with the Punisher there. However, at the time this story was published, Jack hadn’t done either of those things yet. He will though in the Dead Man’s Hand event that takes place in Daredevil #307-309, Nomad (vol. 2) #4-6, and Punisher War Journal #45-47.
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Where Nomad found Bucky in Nomad #3.
Springfield, Illinois: Where he fought Viper. This took place back in Captain America #281-283.
New York City: Jack fought the Taskmaster along Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #146.
This story also includes a fold out poster of Nomad. It is designed like an old timey wanted poster and features an sketch of the character by series artist S. Clarke Hawbaker.
