Captain America Sam Wilson is having a
tough time. First, with the return of Steve Rogers, the calls for Sam
to resign as Cap are becoming even stronger. Then oil millionaire
Paul Keane creates a private police force called the Americops to
clean up crime, supported by Senator Tom Herald of Texas, who is also
a leader in the anti-Sam movement, despite charges that the Americops
are violating civil liberties....
Sam arrives at Mother Bethel A.M.E.
Church in Philadelphia for the funeral of James “Rhodey” Rhodes,
War Machine, who was recently killed in action. Misty Knight leads
him to a meeting with the other major heroes of African descent:
Black Panther, Brother Voodoo, Luke Cage, Nick Fury Jr., Spectrum
(Monica Rambeau), and Storm. After greetings, they fill Sam in on the
circumstances of Rhodey's heroic death and when they begin to debate
the issue of Ulysses, Sam shuts them down, wanting to know who will
speak. As it turns out, everyone was assuming he (Sam) would.
Outside, Misty convinces the reluctant Sam that he needs to give the
eulogy, offering hope that black children still have a role model in
the superhero community....
In costume, Sam addresses the assembled
mourners, describing Rhodey as a true hero, one who readily took on
the mantle of Iron Man when Tony Stark needed him, keeping his
identity a secret so as not to endanger the mission. And so he
inspired all of them to carry out the mission, stand by their friends
and to demonstrate what being a hero really means....
In an inner city, a group of teens are
worried about the brutal presence of the Americops, then the
ex-Avenger Rage shows up to tell them they are going to start
fighting back....