The Fury of the Freak!

After undergoing an experimental medical procedure to save his life, Happy Hogan has been transformed into the Freak.[1] Iron Man has followed his friend to a nearby power station where the Freak is waiting to ambush him. Defending himself, Tony Stark wonders how he can fight the Freak without harming his friend. He soon realizes that his only chance is to lure the Freak back to his lab and expose him again to the enervator that transformed him to begin with. Unfortunately, Iron Man under-estimates how much power he has left in his batteries. As his runs low on power and his heart comes at risk of stopping he collapses to the ground.

The Freak, a dim memory of Pepper Potts crossing his mind, decides to stop pursing Iron Man and heads toward Stark Industries. There, Pepper Potts is dealing with Senator Harrington Byrd, who has once again come from Washington to demand Tony Stark reveal Iron Man’s identity to a senate committee. He warns her, yet again, that if Stark refuses to take this seriously he will return with a subpoena.

That’s when the Freak comes barging in and seeing that the creature is trying to get at Pepper, Harrington gets between her and the man-monster. The creature easily knocks out the elderly government official and once it gets close enough to Pepper, she faints out of fright. The creature picks her up and carries her to a nearby window just as the authorities arrive on the scene. When they begin shooting at the Freak, he drops Pepper. Luckily, Iron Man’s internal generators have replenished some of his power. He is able to break Pepper’s fall by using his repulser rays.

Racing into the building, Iron Man then lures the Freak to the enervator that he keeps in his lab. There he turns the device on full blast even though the feedback from the weapon generates a great deal of heat. Even though his armor is becoming red hot, Tony continues to endure the heat as the Freak inches closer and closer to him.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, the Freak, Pepper Potts, Harrington Byrd

Continuity Notes

1. Hogan was seriously injured helping Iron Man during his battle with the Titanium Man in Tales of Suspense #70. He was transformed into the Freak at the end of last issue.

30 Minutes to Live!

Captain America has just finished destroying the Red Skull’s three Sleeper robots, saving all life on Earth. However, he now finds himself in free fall over the Atlantic Ocean.

Half a world away, an organization puts on a demonstration of a powerful chemical element called Inferno 42. With just a small amount of the compound, they are able to destroy a scale model of New York City in an icy-cold flame. Since the only known supply is in the possession of the spy agency known as SHIELD, this organization decides to deployer an operative known as Batroc the Leaper.[1]

Meanwhile, Captain America is recovered from the ocean by the crew of a ship. He is then returned to America where he reflects on how much he feels like “man out of time” since being woken up in this era.[2] He is haunted by the memories of the people from his past, particularly his partner Bucky who apparently sacrificed his own life near the end of the war.[3] He also thinks about his old commanding officer, Sargeant Mike Duffy, and wonders if he ever found out that the bumbling Steve Rogers was actually Captain America.[4] Lastly, he thinks of the woman he fell in love with during the war. He remembers how, before his final mission, she promised him that she would wait for him to come back. Tragically, he never did.[6]

Deciding to go out for a walk, Steve puts his street clothes over his Captain America costume and shield. Out on the streets, he comes across a woman carrying a strange cylinder that greatly resembles the girl that Steve knew back during the war.[7] However, he knows this isn’t possible since his former lover would be much older now. He then sees as the woman bumps into another man carrying an identical cylinder. When they pick up their things, Steve notices that the man hands the woman the wrong cylinder and tries to call him out on it. The woman tells Steve not to worry about it and just walk away. After the man, an undercover SHIELD agent, leaves he is soon jumped by Batroc the Leaper. Unfortunately, what he thought was a cylinder of Inferno 42, he discovers that it is a decoy and it must have been handed off to the woman.

Meanwhile, Steve decides to set his mind at ease by asking the familiar-looking woman if they met before. She tells him that she has not and walks away. However, she can’t help but wonder if this was the man a relative told her about and was tempted to ask if his name was Steve Rogers.[8] She, however, dismisses this as a silly idea. As he walks away, Steve hears a shot ring out and ducks into a nearby alley to change into Captain America. Rushing to the scene of the shot he finds Batroc the Leaper attacking the woman. Cap quickly deduces that Batroc is a master in savate, the French form of kick-boxing. As the pair fight, the woman tries to grab her gun, but Batroc crushes it under his feet.

As Captain America continues to attack his foe, the woman picks up the cylinder and runs off. That’s when Batroc notices that the cylinder has been cracked and the Inferno 42 is exposed due to its tell-tale glow. Batroc then stops fighting and warns Captain America that if they do not contain the Inferno 42 in the next half-hour the entire city will be destroyed. Spotting both men following her, the SHIELD agent ducks into an alley and goes through a secret passage way in order to evade her pursuers.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Batroc the Leaper, SHIELD (Sharon Carter (unidentified)), Hydra (unidentified), Peggy Carter (flashback, unidentified)

Continuity Notes

1. This organization is identified as Hydra in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition #6. Batroc’s first name is revealed to be George (or Georges if you’re French!) in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #2.

2. Captain America ended up in suspended animation at the end of World War II. His frozen body was discovered by the Avengers and he was thawed out in Avengers #4.

3. As explained in Avengers #4, Captain America believes that Bucky died in an explosion. Years later he will learn that Bucky survived and was brainwashed by the Russians into becoming an assassin called the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol. 5) #14.

4. Per Captain America Comics #1, Captain America’s identity was a secret. He was placed under the command of Mike Duffy at Fort Lehigh where Rogers pretended to be a bumbling private.

5. Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 reveals that Mike Duffy lived a long life and died in the year 2010 (that date would not be considered topical) At the time of this writing (February 2021), his cause of death or if he ever learned that Steve Rogers was Captain America has yet to be revealed.

6. This woman is unidentified here. Her name will be revealed to be Peggy Carter and will be reunited with Cap over the course of Captain America #161-163.

7. The reason why this woman looks so much like Peggy Carter is that she is a relative. She is identified as Sharon Carter in Captain America #103.

8. Specifically, Sharon refers to this relative as “sis”. For a time, Peggy Carter was referred to as Sharon’s older sister. Until this became an impossibility due to the Sliding Timescale. See below for more details.

Topical References

• Captain America states the end of World War II happened 20 years prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference. As the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward, the length of time between World War II and Captain America’s revival gets longer.

The Carter Family Tree

As stated above, starting in this issue and for the next 30 years or so, Peggy Carter is referred to as Sharon’s older sister. This would become impossible without drastically aging Sharon, particularly since the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe further away from World War II.

This is changed in Captain America (vol. 5) #25, when Peggy is suddenly referred to as Sharon’s aunt instead of her sister. This will also become impossible as the Sliding Timescale moves forward even further. Per Captain America: America’s Avenger #1, Sharon’s parents are now dead. Post Captain America (vol. 5) #25, they went from being Peggy and Sharon’s parents to being Peggy’s parents. It seems unlikely anyone would go back and reveal that Harrison and Amanda Carter underwent a process to slow their aging process (doubtful) this is going to continue to be a problem moving forward.

To illustrate this issue better, in a 2016 interview Emily VanCamp (who played Sharon Carter in the Captain America movies that are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) Sharon is referred to as Peggy’s grand-niece. While this distinction hasn’t been carried over to the Prime Marvel Universe, it’s an eventuality. Frankly, since this will continue to be a problem, the best way to go about it is to stop making some kind of direct familial relation between Peggy and Sharon. Peggy is a relative at the very least. I’d even go so far as to say that Sharon is a descendant of Peggy, as opposed to an immediate.

That said, going forward, in my own index I will refer to Peggy and Sharon as relatives, but always do so in a vague way. Go here for more info on this.