Late one rainy night, Captain America
is pursing a sinister fellow who calls himself Father Time. Suddenly the baddie
opens up a portal in the air and dashes in; Cap follows…
…to find himself in an apple orchard with Johnny Appleseed. He
asks if Johnny has seen Father Time and is directed toward the Old Man of the
Mountain Top. Moments later Cap finds himself on a western prairie about to be
run down by a herd of steers. Pecos Bill gives him a lift toward the mountains
but Cap loses him when the cowboy heads off to lasso a twister. Railroad tracks suddenly appear beneath his feet and Cap encounters John Henry driving in the
spikes with his mighty hammer. Next, Cap is in a forest where the giant Paul
Bunyan carries him the rest of the way to the mountain. Scaling the peak, Cap
finds, not Father Time, but Uncle Sam, the symbol of America.
Uncle Sam tells Cap he is in Legendary America “where the American Dream is a
reality, where heroes live forever, where legends become legendary.” Father
Time now appears and engages Cap in combat. As this is Cap’s fiftieth
anniversary, Father Time has decreed that the time has come for Captain America
to pass out of history into legend…. The enemy’s grip causes Cap to age but the
hero’s struggle sends them over the edge of the precipice…
…and Cap finds himself back in the alley. He stops the
fleeing Father Time and unmasks him to find Hawkeye. The archer knows nothing
of a visit to another land, and his task is done: he was to keep Cap away from Avengers
Mansion so that they could set up a
surprise party for Cap’s anniversary.
Characters: Cap, Hawkeye, Avengers
Villains: Father Time
2. “Fighting Side-by-Side with... Sgt.
Fury and His Howling Commandos!” 3.5/5
Writer: Tom DeFalco; Ron Frenz.
Pencils: Ron Frenz. Inks: Bob Petrecca. Colors: Paul
Becton.
Synopsis: Captain America
and Bucky intercept a Nazi convoy taking slave laborers to the French coast;
after defeating the soldiers, they disguise themselves as a Hitler Youth and
his American prisoner to infiltrate the German forces. Meanwhile, Nick Fury and
the Howling Commandos have been fighting a more intense battle to the same
objective, the men dropping out one-by-one until only Fury and Reb Ralston are
left to link up with Cap and Bucky. They discover that the Germans have dug a
tunnel under the English Channel and are preparing to
invade England.
Fury and Reb create a diversion while Cap and Bucky locate the tunnel’s
self-destruct mechanism and trigger it. The tunnel goes up in a mighty explosion
and Cap and Bucky are picked up by the navy in the Channel.
Characters: Cap, Howlers, Bucky, Nick Fury
Villains: Nazis
3. “Man of Straw” 3/5
Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Pencils: Mark Bagley, Dan Panosian. Inks: Dan
Panosian. Colors: Nel Yomtov
Synopsis: Late one night, USAgent John Walker is in a
cemetery, digging up a grave using his shield as a shovel. He is trying to
confirm the report of the deaths of his former pals-turned-enemies Hector
Lennox and Jerome Johnson by exhuming Hector’s body. He recalls how Jerome and
Hector revealed his secret identity to the world which led to the kidnapping
and deaths of Walker’s parents. He recalls
how his path of vengeance led to his tying them to an oil drum set to explode.
Looking them up later he was told they were dead, Hector and Jerome having
taken their own lives after learning there was no hope of ever leading a normal
life because of their extensive injuries and disfigurements. Now he uncovers
Hector’s coffin and discovers that his old friend is indeed dead and buried. In
despair he runs until he reaches a field with a scarecrow where he stops to
examine his life. He discovers a cigarette lighter on the ground and prepares
to set himself aflame to atone for his crimes but the lighter does not work.
Realizing that suicide is not the answer, he still feels abandoned by God and
man and resolves to redeem himself by becoming a better man.
Characters: USAgent
Villains:
4. “Bad to the Bone!” 3.5/5
Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Pencils: Ron Wilson. Inks: Fred Frederickson. Colors: Nel Yomtov
Synopsis: A team of mercenaries climbs the mountain where
Arnim Zola has his castle stronghold. Automatic weapons begin to fire,
killing one of the invaders. The Red Skull is there in the new body cloned from
that of Captain America.
Arnim Zola unleashes his Doughboy, an amorphous pile of goop, on the enemy;
despite the efforts of the formidable team leader, only two make it to castle
alive where they are taken prisoner. Red Skull interrogates them, but the
lesser mercenary can only say that they are working for the Red Skull (it turns
out they are working for Albert Malik, the Soviet Red Skull from the 1950s) so
the villain kills him and moves on to the team leader. This guy challenges the
Skull to a fight, an idea which appeals to the Nazi villain. There follows a
battle which quickly goes against the merc as the Skull learns to use his new
body. In the end, the Red Skull declines to kill his opponent but offers to
make him his right-hand man. The merc agrees and the Red Skull names him
Crossbones….
Characters: Arnim Zola, Crossbones, Doughboy,
Red Skull