Captain America #353
The Great Bear
The Soviet Super Soldiers have come to Avengers Island seeking asylum in the United States. Unfortunately, during their stay, someone attacked the three Russian mutants leaving them hanging on to life in the Avengers infirmary. Doctor Keith Kincaid works hard to save their lives, but the three mutants appear to die.
Meanwhile, in order to find answers surrounding this attack, Captain America is traveling to Russia on a diplomatic mission. Entering Russian airspace, his Quinjet is escorted to Moscow. There he is given a warm reception from the government and greeted by Boris Prokofiev, the head of the Foreign Relations Consulate. Fluent in Russian, Captain America greets the government officials who have come out and thanks them for their hospitality. Cap is then taken to a nearby hotel to rest up for the night before his meeting with the Special Powers Committee.
Taking a shower, Steve begins wondering how he is going to find the information he needs to confirm if the Russian government was behind the attack on the Soviet Super Soldiers. Suddenly, he hears a commotion outside his hotel room and spots a massive bear like creature made of a murky black substance that is rampaging in the street. Although the Russian government would likely frown on him going outside without an escort, Steve changes into Captain America and attacks the creature. The monster is able to shrug off his attacks and quickly disappears as the Russian military arrives on the scene, leaving Captain America with a lot of explaining to do.
Back in the United States, Lamar Hoskins — aka Battlestar — is investigating the death of his friend John Walker.[1] He has been suspicious about the details surrounding John’s death after his sister apparently claimed his body to have it cremated without informing him. Travelling to John’s hometown of Custer’s Grove, Georgia, he hopes to speak with Walker’s sister. However, he discovers that nobody is home and the mail and newspapers have been piling up. A neighbor tells him that Kate Tollifson and her family packed up and left suddenly one day with no explanation as to where they went or how long they would be gone, something out of the ordinary as they usually ask their neighbor to collect their mail. This makes Lamar more suspicious than ever before.[2]
The following morning, Captain America is waiting in his hotel room for his escort for a tour of Moscow. This turns out to be the current Red Guardian who takes him out to see the sights.[3] The Red Guardian intentionally takes Captain America to the scene of the battle from the night before. There, the locals celebrate Red Guardian who basks in the adoration. Suddenly, the creature from the night before reappears in the street. The two shield-slingers try to fight the monster but their attacks are ineffectual. This time around, however, the Red Guardian is absorbed into the monster’s body before it vanishes once again
Demanding some answers, Captain America makes a visit to the Directorate of the Special Powers Committee. However, Mr. Krysenk — the head of the agency — finds the attacks very interesting since they have only happened since Captain America came to his country and implies that perhaps the Avenger has something to do with it. The meeting is interrupted when Krysenko is informed that the monster has appeared again and is making its way to the Kremlin. Captain America is allowed to assist in stopping the monster. The Russians also dispatch the rest of the Supreme Soviets — the Crimson Dynamo, Perun, Sputnik and Fantasia — to try and stop the creature. Sputnik’s sensors detect that the monster is created out of darkforce matter and it begins exhibiting abilities similar to those of the deceased Soviet Super Soldiers. The creature then absorbs the rest of the Supreme Soviets, just as it had done with the Red Guardian.
However, before it can disappear again, Captain America leaps inside the monster as well. He finds himself transported to a pitch black dimension where he finds the spirits of Darkstar, Vanguard, and Ursa Major standing over the incapacitated bodies of the Supreme Soviets. They tell Captain America that the Supreme Soviets were the ones that attacked them and left them in a state close to death. Somehow they survived in this combined form and sought out their attackers in order to steal their life forces and restore themselves to life. Cap pleads with them not to take their lives, even though they are responsible for their condition he insists that the three mutants don’t have the right to play judge, jury, and executioner. His appeal seems to work as the spirits and their bear creature disappear and the Supreme Soviets are alive, although in need of medical attention.
Unable to get the answers he sought, Captain America returns home to Avengers Island where he discovers that the Soviet Super Soldiers are alive and well. As it turns out, rather than killing their foes, the three mutants instead took just enough of their collective life forces to revive themselves. Captain America can’t explain how this all happened but is happy that his charges are alive and well without taking any life in the process and that alone makes him consider this a victory.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Supreme Soviets (Red Guardian, Crimson Dynamo, Fantasia, Perun, Vostok), Soviet Super Soldiers (Darkstar, Vanguard, Ursa Major), Battlestar, Michael O’Brien, Keith Kincaid
Continuity Notes
John Walker was seemingly assassinated during a press conference in Captain America #351. As revealed next issue, John’s murder was faked so the government could reinvent him as their new operative the US Agent. This was to get around the negative publicity John created for himself during his tenure as Captain America from issue #333 through 350.
We never actually find out what happened to John’s sister here. Presumably, she was whisked away to some kind of protection program to both protect John’s family (since his parents were murdered in Captain America #345) and to help create a new identity. She will turn up again in US Agent (vol. 3) #1-5, wherein she, inspired by her brother John, becomes a super-soldier as well.
Captain America states that this is the third Red Guardian. Actually, at the time of this writing (December, 2021) at this point in continuity there had been four Red Guardians.
The first recorded one was Aleksey Lebedev who was active during World War II, he first appeared in Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #1 and even fought alongside Captain America in Captain America Annual #13. He is likely the omitted Red Guardian from Cap’s count here and his omission is due to the fact that his first appearance was published after this story. One could assume that Cap was referring to contemporary Red Guardians rather than all of those who assumed the role since World War II.
The next was Alexi Shostakov, who first appeared back in Avengers #43. He appeared to have died in the following issue of that series. In reality, he survived and will turn up alive again in Daredevil (vol. 2) #64.
His successor was Tania Belinskaya, who first appeared in Defenders #35. However, she fought against the Russian government. At the time of this story, she had given up crime fighting and became a nuclear entity living with the Presence. See Defenders #52-55.
The Red Guardian seen here in this story is Josef Petkus and he will serve in the role of Red Guardian until his death in Darkstar and the Winter Guard #2.
Topical References
In this story Russia is referred to as the USSR and as a result this story also makes a lot of Cold War references. This should be considered topical because the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
On the other hand, the names Soviet Super Soldiers and the Supreme Soviets would not be considered topical. While their names were originally tied to the Soviet Union, the term Soviet actually has a general meaning that describes any work group that is also socialist. As such, their names should be interpreted in a more general sense as the term is still accurate.
The leader of Russia is depicted as Mikhail Gorbachev. He was the President of the Soviet Union for the year leading up to the dissolution of the USSR. His appearance here should be considered topical, particularly since (as of this writing in December, 2021) he is 90 years old and probably won’t be alive for much longer.
The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as these buildings were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 and subsequently replaced with the Freedom Tower.
