Captain America #400

Jun 27

Jun 27 Captain America #400

Operation: Galactic Storm Part 15 - Murder by Decree!

This story continues from Thor #446…

An escalating war between the Kree and the Shi’ar has put Earth at risk as the warp gate between the two empires is destabilizing Earth’s son. The Avengers have responded by sending delegations to both sides of the conflict. Alone in the Citadel of Judgmenet, Captain America tries to flee when an explosion on the roof of the building causes a wall of preserved bodies — the Kree whose minds were amalgamated into the Supreme Intelligence — topples on top of him.[1] Unable to find a way out, Cap is buried alive under tons of debris and mummified corpses.

Meanwhile the other Avengers — Iron Man, Goliath, Black Knight, Hercules, Crystal, and Sersi — have fled the planet in their modified Quinjet. The others wants to go back and get Cap, but Iron Man insists that the Shi’ar built Nega-Bomb heading their way is more important. He reminds everyone that Steve can look after himself and that they will go back to look for him once they complete their mission.[2]

Back on Hala, Captain America wakes up and remembers how he was brought by the Accusers before the Supreme Intelligence before the entire room collapsed on him. Suddenly, he is ambushed by King Cobra — something that should be impossible since the villain is locked up in the Vault back on Earth.[3] As he tries to get answers he is attacked by Batroc the Leaper and Flag-Smasher as well. Cap wonders if they are illusions until he bloodies Flag-Smasher’s nose. The three villains are also joined by the Red Skull, Crossbones, and Viper who join the others in surrounding Captain America on all sides. The Skull insists that they are all real, having been abducted by the Kree for the sole purpose of destroying Captain America.

Crossbones is the first one to attack, ripping off the ribbons that tie up the back of his mask so Cap can’t use that against him like last time.[4] This further supports the idea that these villains the genuine article as nobody but the real Crossbones would know this. As he fights his opponent, King Cobra tries to step in an assist. However, Batroc the Leaper finds no honor in the sneak attack and stops him from interfering. However, when Cap pins Crossbones to the ground, he is ambushed by Batroc, King Cobra, and Flag-Smasher. The four villains then pin Cap to the floor so that the Red Skull can blow his Dust of Death into the heroes face.

However, Batroc lets go of Steve’s arm at the last moment, allowing him to deck the Red Skull in the face. This causes the Nazi to blow the cigarette smoke containing his Dust of Death into Crossbones’ face. Cap then fights free and takes down the rest of his opponents. Batroc assisted because he is an honorable man and wants to defeat his foe with no trickery. Still unconvinced that these are not his enemies, Captain America asks Batroc to remove his mask. The mercenary complies revealing nothing but a blank slate on the other side. This proves that these are impostors as Cap has never seen Batroc’s true face.[5]

Sure enough, this was all the work of the Supreme Intelligence using its vast mental powers to test Captain America. It is disappointed that Cap didn’t kill his opponents, failing its test to see if his mind was worthy enough to join its collective. Deeming Captain America inferior, the Supreme Intelligence tosses him away like an afterthought.

At that same moment, the Shi’ar built Nega-Bomb arrives in the Kree galaxy and is getting ever closer to its point of detonation.

…This story continues in Avengers West Coast #82.

Recurring Characters

Avengers (Captain America, Black Knight, Crystal, Goliath, Hercules, Iron Man, Sersi), Supreme Intelligence

Continuity Notes

This collapse was caused by a battle between the Avengers and the Accuser Corps. See Iron Man #279.
The Shi’ar constructed the Nega-Bomb out of stolen Kree technology and are sending it into the Kree galaxy to detonate, as seen in Thor #446. Little does anyone know that the ship has been commandeered by Skrulls who hope to use the war to wipe out their enemies the Kree. Although Iron Man and co ad heading off to stop the bomb from being detonated, they fail as we’ll see in Wonder Man (vol. 2) #9.
King Cobra and the rest of the Serpent Society were taken down and locked up in Captain America #380-382.
Steve exploited the ribbon ties on the back of Crossbones’ mask when they fought in Captain America #378.
Cap likens this experience to the time the Supreme Intelligence unlocked the Destiny Force in the mind of Rick Jones and had him manifest his thoughts into reality during the Kree/Skrull War. See Avengers #89-97.

Out in the Cold

Since being found by an Inuit tribe near the North Pole, Dennis Dunphy — aka Demolition Man — has been living among them with no memory of his past an unable to speak.[1] That’s when a plane flies by overhead, stirring a memory in Dunphy’s mind and compelling him to follow after it.

Demolition Man spends three days on foot following the plane back to the location of a once abandoned based run by the terrorist organization called ULTIMATUM. Smashing his way inside, D-Man is found by the terrorists — who had returned to their former headquarters with their leader, Flag-Smasher — and take D-Man prisoner. Recognizing Dennis as Captain America’s partner from their last battle, Flag-Smasher decides to use Dennis as a hostage to lure his enemy into a re-match.

However, Captain America is still in space when the Flag-Smasher makes his challenge to the hero. This prompts Peggy Carter to contact the Earthbound Avengers at Project PEGASUS to inform them of the situation.[2] Both Falcon and US Agent, who both have a score to settle with Flag-Smasher argue over who will get to go and answer his challenge. Since she is in command, the Wasp orders both of them to go and work together to stop this threat.

When the pair arrive in the Arctic they park their Quinjet so US Agent can approach from the front while the Falcon sneaks in the back way to free D-Man. When Flag-Smasher meets with US Agent, he is furious that the real Captain America didn’t answer his summons and orders his men to kill him.[3] As Falcon rescues Dennis, US Agent clashes with the ULTIMATUM troops. He defeats them all and in the struggle against Flag-Smasher, the villain ends up getting knocked over the edge of a cliff. Flag-Smasher holds on for dear life, US Agent offers to pull him up. Refusing to surrender, Flag-Smasher blasts the side of the cliff to send them both falling into the water below. Luckily, Falcon is able to get back to the Quinjet and manages to save US Agent before he falls into the water.

Recurring Characters

US Agent, Falcon, Demolition Man, ULTIMATUM (Flag-Smasher), Avengers (Doctor Pym, Gilgamesh, Mockingbird, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Wasp), Peggy Carter

Continuity Notes

D-Man has been missing in action since he was aboard an exploding Quinjet during a battel between Captain America and Flag-Smasher, as seen in Captain America #349. He was last seen frozen in a block of ice in issue #384.
In Avengers #345, Captain America split both the east and west coast Avengers into three teams. One went to the Shi’ar galaxy, the other to the Kree empire, while a team remained on Earth to defend it in their absence. For more on their mission see Avengers West Coast #81.
Flag-Smasher calls US Agent a “Captain America” impostor wearing the same costume as the real Captain America:
- When Flag-Smasher fought Steve Rogers and John Walker in Captain America #349 was during the period where Walker was Captain America and Steve was simply going by “The Captain”.
- This came during a period where the US government took the rights back to the Captain America identity from Steve and gave it to John as seen in Captain America #332-333. Steve took on the mantle of the Captain — wearing a black version of his original costume — in issue #336.
- When John Walker flubbed it as Captain America, Steve Rogers was given back the title in Captain America #350. He gave up his black costume for full rights to the Captain America identity. The black costume was then given to Walker when he became US Agent in issue #354.

Topical References

Here, US Agent states that it has been “a couple of years” between the events of Captain America #349 and this story. This should be a topical reference as it denotes the passage of time between publications between issue #349 (published January, 1989) and this issue (May, 1992). Per the Sliding Timescale just about a year has passed in universe.

Crossing Back: The Origin of Diamond Back

Rachel Leighton, formerly Diamondback, has been a prisoner of Crossbones for 25 hours now.[1] When her captor finally falls asleep, Rachel picks up a cinder block and is about to bash his head in but freezes when she debates on if she should kill him. However, she decides that she has no choice, especially after what he did all those years ago…

Rachel was fifteen years old and the only daughter of a single parent household. Her eldest brother Willy was confined to a wheelchair after being injured in the military. Her other two brothers — Danny and Ricky — had been hanging out with a local gang called the Savage Crims, much to the disapproval of their mother and eldest brother who wanted them to stay out of trouble.

Rachel, however, thinks the Savage Crims are cool and wants to join up with the gang. Unfortunately, neither Danny nor Ricky think the gang is the place for a girl. Regardless, one night when the pair went to hang out with the Crims, Rachel followed them. Danny and Rick show up late, much to the annoyance of the gang’s leader Brock Rumlow. Before he can teach them a lesson they hear a crash outback. Going out to check it out, they find Rachel who has enough guts to pop Brock in the mouth when he lifts her up into the air and demands to know what she is doing snooping around. When she asks to join the Savage Crims, Rumlow finds scoffs at the idea and tells the little girl to run home as it’s not safe for her on the streets at night.

Ricky walks his sister home, chastising her for following them to the Savage Crims hideout and warns her how dangerous Brock can be. This doesn’t dissuade Rachel in the slightest and the following day she decides to ditch school to break into the Savage Crims’ clubhouse to prove how useful she could be to them. Picking the lock, she finds her way inside where she is caught snooping around by Brock who demands to know why she is back. She explains how she wanted to prove her value to the Crims and says she is willing to do anything to join up. Rumlow tells her that all she needs to do is pretend to be his girlfriend for a few hours.

“Being Brock’s girlfriend for a few hours” really means letting him rape and beat Rachel. When she comes home bloodied and bruised she makes up a story about how she was mugged on her way home from school. Furious to hear this, Danny and Ricky run down to the Savage Crims hideout and demand that the gang take action. However, Brock acts disinterested and the rest of the gang refuses to lift a finger. Ricky is furious, but Danny deduces that Rachel was hurt by Brock. This horrifies Ricky who decides to get Willy involved.

Ricky and Willy return to the Savage Crims’ hideout a few hours later with a rifle and fire a bullet in through the window. Willy confronts Brock about raping his sister. However, before he can shoot, Brock throws his hunting knife square into Willy’s chest. He can only knock Ricky out before approaching police sirens scared him off.

… Still holding building up the nerve to bash Crossbones’ head in with the cinder block, Rachel recall show her family disintegrated after that moment. Willy died on the way to the hospital, prompting Danny to leave home out of shame, never to be heard from again.[2] Ricky went wild and was later shot to death during a botched grocery store hold-up three months later.

She focuses on how much she loved her brothers but can’t bring herself to bash in the brains of her tormentor. She realizes that she can’t let herself become a murderer because it would cost her the love of Captain America, as she believe he could never understand why she would do it. She decides that she has to find some other way to make peace with her past or she might wind up just like her brothers.

Recurring Characters

Rachel Leighton, Daniel Leighton, Brock Rumlow

Continuity Notes

Rachel was kidnapped by Crossbones in Captain America #396. She will remain his prisoner until issue #411.
We’ll discover in Captain America #408 that Danny Leighton went on to become the mercenary known as Cutthroat, first seen in Marvel Team-Up #89. Ironically, he took over Crossbones’ old job as the Red Skull’s right-hand-man in Captain America #395.

Topical References

Ricky Leighton is depicted wearing an AC/DC t-shirt. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world band.
In this story, Rachel’s brother Willy is stated to have been injured fighting in the Vietnam War. This should be considered a topical reference. Diamondback’s profile in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3 excises all mention of Vietnam from Willy’s history, instead choosing to say he was injured in combat in an unspecified conflict. However, since the publication of History of the Marvel Universe #2, which relegates many Modern Age characters military time to the fictional Sin-Cong Conflict, one could assume that Willy fought in that war as well.

Crossbones and Diamondback’s Timeline

This story is vague about how many years have passed since the flashback in this story (when Rachel was 15) and the present day. Based on the Sliding Timescale the present day events of Captain America #400 (published May, 1992) take place in “Year Eight” of the Modern Age. In Captain America #403, we a few years after Brock murdered her brothers, Rachel enrolled in the Taskmaster’s school. The Captain America and Crossbones #1 (published May, 2011) states that Crossbones was hired from the Taskmaster’s school by the Red Skull fourteen years in the past from the present day of that story. May, 2011 puts Captain America and Crossbones as happening in “Year Thirteen”.

However, the Taskmaster didn’t take up his role until shortly after Fantastic Four #21, per Taskmaster (vol. 2) #1-4, which occurs during “Year One”. Based on that, Rumlow could have only been part of Taskmaster’s school during that period.

We still don’t know how many years passed between the destruction of the Leighton family and Rachel enrolling in Taskmaster’s school. All we know is that Rachel had dropped out of high school and learned how to be a decent thief prior to enrolling. However, we can get some clues from the topical references in the story to figure out when the writer intended this flashback to have taken place relative to the date of publication.

There are number of context clues in this story:

Willy fought in the Vietnam War. Which had ended in 1975.
Ricky is wearing an AC/DC baseball shirt. The band first formed in Australia in 1973. AC/DC didn’t start getting airplay in America until 1975 and didn’t tour America until 1977. The design of the AC/DC logo is patterned off the one used in the cover of their album Let There be Rock which was also released in 1977.
One of the Savage Crims is reading “Rustler” magazine. This is one of those “substitute a brand name” instances that happens in comics and is a clear reference to Hustler magazine, which became publication in 1972.

Based on all these clues, I think it is safe to assume that Mark Gruenwald intended this flashback to have occurred sometime in 1977. 1992- 1977 = 15 years prior to the main story. This would make Rachel about 30 years old around Captain America #400. Subtracting 15 years from “Year Eight” puts you 7 years prior to the start of the Modern Age.

If Brock involved with the Taskmaster school during “Year One” of the Modern Age, this would put Rachel’s enrollment (seen Captain America #403) would have happened around the same time since Brock is depicted as a martial arts instructor at the time. This would make Rachel 22 during “Year One” of the Modern Age.