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Captain America #421

Nov 1993
Mark Gruenwald, Rik Levins

Story Name:

Gantlet


Synopsis

Captain America #421 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 3 stars

Continued from NOMAD (Vol. 2) #18.

At the Miami estate of the mob boss known as the Slug, Captain America has just stopped the brainwashed Nomad/Jack Monroe from killing the gangster. Accusing Cap of having tried to kill him, Jack opens fire and a fight breaks out and Jack pushes Cap's face into the Slug's fat to suffocate him. It is at this point that Cap ponders the events leading up to this awkward moment....

It began with a call from Giscard Epurer telling Cap that Jack was a prisoner at the asylum of Dr Faustus. This brought Cap to Florida where he entered the highly secure institution and confronted Faustus. The villain was evasive and had his men open fire on Cap. The Living Legend struck back, subdued the gunmen, and trapped Faustus in an elevator, forcing him to reveal where Jack is and what he had been sent to do. Cap headed to the Slug's mansion...

...where he breaks Nomad's hold on him and the fight resumes. Cap realizes that Jack thinks he is the 1950s Cap who betrayed and shot him (issue #232) and quickly corrects his misunderstanding. Jack hits him again as he is a Nazi against all that Cap stands for. Again Cap recognizes that Faustus has manipulated him into thinking his father was a Nazi spy during the War. Cap breaks through his psychological defenses and Jack breaks down. The hero goes out to where the Wanderers are still fighting the Cannibal Catch. The Slug tries to escape in his jet powered sofa but is shot down by the Wanderers, crashing into the sea. Cap takes down the mercenaries and heads back into the house to find Jack gone...for revenge against Faustus....

Continued in NOMAD (Vol. 2) #19.


 

Review / Commentaries


Captain America #421 Review by (February 11, 2017)
Comments: Part two of “The Faustus Affair” falling between NOMAD (Vol. 2) #18-19, though the comic doesn't say that anywhere. Slug's real name, Ulysses X. Lugman, is misspelled “Luggman” in the issue. And Jack's swastika armband was on his right arm in NOMAD #18 but is on his left here. Inking duties were split among D. Bulanadi, Jim Garvey, and Dan Day.

Review: Okay story is marred by a little too heavy-handed application of Nomad's tropes: violence, huge guns, muscles, and leather jackets. But Cap's nobility still shines through.


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