Captain America: Drug War #1: Review

Apr 1994
Peter David, Sal Velluto

Story Name:

High Heat

Review & Comments

Rating:
2.5 stars

Captain America: Drug War #1 Review by (May 6, 2019)

Review: It has been pointed out that maybe Captain America—who got his powers from a drug—is not the best spokesman for an anti-drug message. It has also been pointed out that Speedball, which is the term for a mixture of heroin and cocaine, seems to be on the wrong side of the battle as well. Nevertheless, that's who we have so we'll move on. Mediocre art and poor use of characters, good—only Silhouette has anything to do—or bad—ditto Ms Fix—sinks this comic. The anti-drug message is timely, and sincere, but good intentions don't always result in good comics.   

Comments: Title from indicia; cover title is CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE DRUG WARS! First and only appearance of the Drug Lords.






 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America: Drug War #1 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

“High Heat”

Reprinted from CAPTAIN AMERICA GOES TO WAR AGAINST DRUGS #1 1990

“Druglords”

Writer: George Caragonne. Pencils: Coleen Doran. Inks: Greg Adams. Colors: George Roussos.

Synopsis: Captain America leads the New Warriors (Night Thrasher, Silhouette, Speedball, Namorita, Firestar, Marvel Boy, Kid Nova) against the Drug Lords (Ms Fix, Ice, Crack, Weed). Cap identifies a mysterious hooded figure as the leader and he turns out to be an alien, who contacts the mothership and has himself and the Drug Lords teleported to safety. Cap asks the New Warriors to contact the Avengers if they encounter the Drug Lords again and Night Thrasher is insulted by the implication that the Warriors can't handle the job themselves. Cap just leaves....

On the alien ship the leader berates the Drug Lords for their failure, reminding them that they were addicts granted super-powers by the mutation generator which left them dependent on alien drugs. He tosses a packet to the strung-out baddies and calls them pathetic....

In school the next day, Silhouette stops by dance class and is full of regret that her accident robbed her of the ability to dance—a regret noted by Ms Fix hiding in the shadows. Later, Sil discovers her old dance buddy Dorreen is doing drugs; Ms Fix reveals herself and offers Sil the chance of having her crippled legs restored—with the chance of being hooked on painkillers. Sil however has secretly contacted the New Warriors who in turn called in Captain America. When Cap arrives, though, Sil clouts him, wanting to dance again. Ms Fix teleports Sil back to the alien mothership but Cap comes along too; yes, Sil was playing along to find the baddies' hideout, and Cap knew that but here they are anyway. A battle breaks out and Crack inadvertently destroys the mutation generator which leads to a chain reaction threatening the ship. The alien leader finds the Drug Lords won't fight for him without another fix Cap offers them help but they are out of their minds without the drugs and turn on the leader. Since the teleporter works on the same principle as Silhouette's shadow-walking powers, she is able to teleport Cap, Dorreen, and herself to safety before the alien ship explodes. Night Thrasher learns that Captain America knows what he's doing and Dorreen asks Sil for help kicking the drugs.



Sal Velluto
Keith Williams
Bob Sharen
Samuel Clarke Hawbaker (Cover Penciler)
Samuel Clarke Hawbaker (Cover Inker)
Samuel Clarke Hawbaker (Cover Colorist)


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