Captain America: Man Out of Time #3: Review

Jan 2011

Mark Waid, Jorge Molina

::: click cover to ENLARGE it :::

Story Name:

Part 3

Review & Comments

Rating:

Captain America: Man Out of Time #3 Review by Peter Silvestro (May 31, 2011)

Review: See under issue #1.

Comments: Cap mentions having faced the Hulk yet his first meeting with Ol’ Greenskin was in AVENGERS #5 which coincides with issue #4 of this series (unless there is an “untold tale” running around somewhere). Tony refers to Clapton and Jimi as guitarists he might invite over; Eric Clapton was alive in 2010 but Jimi Hendrix died in 1970; is this a hint of an alternate universe rather than a mere retelling of a famous story? President Obama’s face is obscured by bright light, even though it’s obvious who it is (and his face is shown on the cover). All thirteen US Presidents from 1945 to 2010 appear on the cover. Issue includes a six-page preview of Marvel’s “Point One” initiative.

Captain America: Man Out of Time #3 Review by Rob Johnson (October 9, 2011)

Now we have the whole of this issue, starting with another medical examination by Giant-Man and Iron Man. Cap makes a comment about the Hulk's strong grip which indicates that this scene takes place after FF#26, and so can't be the same as the one in EMH#2 during Av#4. GM and IM again declare Cap fit and genuine. We can only suppose that GM has had the time to make more extensive medical checks, and IM has more government data to compare Cap against. Cap's trip with Tony Stark and his meeting with the President then follow. The time machine mentioned this issue that the FF have used twice isn't really the invention of Reed Richards. It's actually Dr Doom's time machine in his US castle. Doom sent the FF through it in FF#5. He then abandoned his castle, and FF used the machine themselves in FF#19. Cap will obey the President's order to not go back in time to save Bucky. At least until Av#56 when he and the Avengers will break in to Doom's castle and use the time machine only to watch what happens and confirm that Bucky really died. (Except of course now we know he didn't.)

As soon as the Avengers get back to their mansion after Cap and Rick rescue them, before helping the alien and fighting Namor in the rest of Av#4, Giant-Man does a preliminary examination of Cap in Av:Earth's Mightiest Heroes #2, to establish that he is fit and that he really is Cap, based on old army records. Cap then meets Jarvis, settles into the mansion and meets Rick Jones (apparently for the first time despite sharing the adventure with him in Av#4 and last issue). Cap also receives notification in EMH#2 that the government owes him back pay for his years MIA in suspended animation. Then the new story added to Avengers Classic #4 has the government also checking Cap's identity, and giving him his accumulated back pay and a guarantee of future wages. (Does that ever stop?) The Avengers worry in EMH about how Cap will cope in his new time. But in one of the stories in CA: Sentinel of Liberty #5-6, Iron Man is impressed by how Cap handles some giant robots, and even successfully takes on a hypnotised IM himself. Then comes FF#25-26 and the beginning of Av#5. We also see Cap fulfil his promise to train Rick in flashbacks in the extra story in Avengers Classic #8.

For the rest of the issues of this series I will try to place the events in the context of other Captain America appearances during this time. Last issue ended half way through Avengers #4. The fight with the Lava Men that makes up the bulk of Av#5 doesn't feature until next issue. But that leaves the 2nd half of Av#4, the Avengers guest shot in Fantastic Four #25-26, and the opening of Av#5 as a playground to place this issue within. We will see that in fact the whole of it occurs right at the end of this period. Briefly:- In Av#4, after Cap and Rick Jones captured the alien and turned the Avengers back from stone, they all help the alien leave Earth, but have to fight Sub-Mariner in the process. In FF#25 the Avengers go to the desert to find Hulk, but meanwhile he comes to New York seeking Rick. In FF#26 FF and Avengers team up to stop Hulk's rampage. In the opening scene of Av#5 the Avengers survey the damage to their mansion, and Cap offers to train Rick. The Avengers members didn't originally have any individual adventures in this period. But later tales like this one have been inserted in the gap.

From Our Blog:

Gwen Stacy, beauty queen of Standard High School, was Peter Parker's (alias Spider-Man) first great love.

Gwen Stacy: Classic Beauty

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America: Man Out of Time #3 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Captain America resumes his report to his commander General Simon: having rescued the Avengers he now submits to a thorough examination by Iron Man and Giant-Man. Giant-Man for one is convinced that the subject is the genuine Captain America and assures him that he is in perfect physical condition. Cap questions Iron Man about the possibility of going back, now that they have let slip that Reed Richards has a means of time travel. Iron Man warns him that the time machine (actually Dr. Doom’s) is dangerously unreliable and that there is no evidence from history that either Cap or Bucky was seen alive after that final mission. Cap insists he must go back and try to rescue his partner. This world is not his home and Bucky needs him. Iron Man tells Cap that Tony Stark has invited him for a night on the town….

Steve joins Tony for a private concert by Radiohead on his private jet. Steve has never heard an electric guitar or eaten sushi but enjoys the experience. Stark explains the fall of the Berlin Wall (having first to explain what the Berlin Wall was), the collapse of the Soviet Union, the conquest of polio and other amazing medical advances, and then takes him to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Steve learns about the X-1, the X-15, the moon landing, the space station—and the Challenger Disaster. What impresses Steve the most is not the technological advances though, it’s the social changes: the breaking down of racial and gender barriers. Tony shows him Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech and tells Steve that all this change was made possible by Captain America. Tony leads Steve to a huge display honoring Captain America, where Steve discovers that others carried the mantle after his disappearance. This just convinces Steve that he can resign from the position and go home with a clear conscience. He suits up as Captain America and heads over to the White House. Arriving there, Cap is brought into the Oval Office for a meeting with the President. The President extends to Cap the nation’s thanks and offers him a role in the Avengers or a permanent vacation. Cap turns him down, insisting he must go back. The President can’t allow that: Cap knows too much about the subsequent history to be trusted in the 1940s again. Since the technology is still uncertain, the President must order Cap to stay in the present. Cap accepts that as his duty and leaves. The President calls Tony Stark to tell him what has happened; Stark assures the President that Iron Man will keep an eye on Cap but who knows what will happen next….