Sidewinder arrives back at his apartment with the rescued
Diamondback; she begs him to go back and save her friends Black Mamba and Asp.
Sidewinder refuses, having already put his own life in jeopardy of revenge by
the Serpent Society. As he prepares to go into hiding, Diamond sets off to find
the one who will help her….
At the Serpents’ headquarters, King Cobra divides the gang
members into parties to stake out Sidewinder’s home, Diamond’s place, and Avengers
Mansion….
Steve Rogers gets a call from Peggy Carter telling him
Diamondback want to meet with Captain America.
Cap shows up at the rendezvous where Diamond fills him in on recent events
(last issue). She asks Cap to help her shut down the Serpent Society—but only
if he promises to let her pals Asp and Black Mamba go free. Cap can’t make that
promise so she takes off in a huff….
Cobra discovers from the computer logs that Black Mamba called
Sidewinder to rescue Diamond; with Bushmaster he captures and imprisons them….
Cap goes to Diamond’s apartment and finds Anaconda and Puff
Adder on the roof; he takes them on but the arrival of Rock Python sends the
odds against Cap and he is snagged, Rock Python holding him over the edge of
the roof….
Meanwhile, Diamond has met with the mercenary Paladin who
agrees to help her rescue her pals and demands a date in return. Arriving at
the Society HQ, they enter and take Bushmaster prisoner, forcing him to take
them to the captives; Bushmaster does but it is a trap set by Cobra. In the
struggle, Diamond manages to toss an acid-bomb in Bush’s mouth then Cobra
shoots her with his deadly venom forcing Paladin to surrender….
2. “Ask Not What your Country Can Do for You…” 3.5 stars out of 5
Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Pencils: Mark Bagley. Inks: Dan Panosian. Colors: Nel Yomtov.
Synopsis: The restoration of USAgent John Walker’s memories
continues: After their discharge from the army, John Walker with his pals
Lemar, Hector, and Jerome were in a bar where they were approached by an agent
of the Power Broker, inviting them to check out what he had to offer. With
nothing better to do, the guys went to LA where they were given super-strength
though the Power Broker’s augmentation process. They considered joining the
Unlimited Class Wrestling scene but an agent named Ethan Thurm persuaded them
to become super-heroes instead. Walker
became the Super-Patriot and his buddies became his back-up group, the Buckies
(Bold Urban Commandoes). At a rally, the Buckies, playing the villains,
attacked Super-Patriot on stage and he fought them off. Later he was confronted
by Captain America
who threatened to expose him and the two fought to a draw. Some time later,
Super-Patriot defeated a terrorist who was threatening the Washington
Monument and that incident led to
his becoming the new Captain America….