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Captain America: Hail Hydra! #2: Review

Feb 2011
Jonathan Maberry, Tom Scioli

Story Name:

Hail Hydra, Part 2


Synopsis

Captain America: Hail Hydra! #2 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Prologue: Mesopotamia, 2761 B.C.: the sorcerer-priest Lord Gidim (who resembles the Hydra scientist Dr. Geist) is summoned to a tomb and shown what appear to be the bones of the mighty king Gilgamesh. When he sees the glow of power they give off he is convinced they are genuine and takes them for his work….

At the grave of Bucky Barnes in Arlington National Cemetery, Steve Rogers meets with a now middle-aged Trude Lohn (issue #1) who places flowers on Bucky’s grave and fills in Cap on her activities since the War, mainly fighting Communists. Each then discovers they thought the meeting was called by the other…suddenly the trap is sprung as a grim figure bursts out of Bucky’s grave; it is Erlking, one of the immortal monsters created by Dr. Geist and Hydra. As Steve changes into his Captain America costume and fights the resurrected foe, he discovers that the rest of Geist’s Auferstehungs Corps of undead Nazis has them surrounded….

Interlude: At the temple of Athena in Phaselis, Lycia, 323 B.C.:, Lord Mormo (also resembling the grinning Geist) invades the tomb and makes off with a spear stained by the blood of the warrior-hero Achilles, ordering his men to slay the priests who object….

Back at Arlington, the other Avengers (Thor, Iron Man, Wasp, Giant-Man) suddenly appear as Cap had suspected a trap and asked them to wait out of sight. A full-out battle takes place as Geist and his superior Baron Strucker observe from a nearby hill. Their plan is proceeding well so they order their forces to withdraw. In the confusion, Trude Lohn is shot with a poisoned bullet. Later at Avengers Mansion, the heroes examine the body of a foe gunned down in the melee; the subject appears to have been dead for years, leading the heroes to speculate on the nature of the Hydra’s immortality. Cap gets an emergency summons to the hospital. He rushes to Trude’s bedside where the dying agent warns him of a secret society, bent on not merely conquering death but achieving godlike powers. Back at the Mansion, the dead enemy rises from the lab table and overpowers Giant-Man. When the others return they are met by Geist, in a high-tech battle-suit, and his undead henchmen. The villain tells Cap that he was injected with the Lazarus Pathogen many years earlier (issue #1) which is what enabled him to survive his apparent death in the War. Cap is now one of them….

Interlude: Ribe, Jutland, A.D. 710: Draugr (Geist again) unearths the bones of a giant and opens a sealed chest to recover a dart, the Arrow of Hoder who slew Balder, a weapon capable of killing a god. His goal: immortality….

In the ensuing battle, Iron Man is disabled with an E.M.P. from Geist and Thor is shot in the back with the Arrow of Hoder. The villains then inexplicably withdraw, leaving Cap with the feeling that they just lost….

Epilogue: At Hydra Headquarters, Baron Strucker berates Geist for revealing their presence and risking their Auferstehungs Corps in a sortie against the Avengers. Geist is unconcerned: he has achieved his goal. With the Arrow of Hoder they have obtained the blood of a god, along with that of Captain America. It is safely stored away, until the science of genetics has matured. Hydra has waited millennia for its project, it can wait a little longer….


 

Review / Commentaries

Rating:
4 stars

Captain America: Hail Hydra! #2 Review by (August 15, 2011)
Review: See issue #1 for full review.

Comments: Story takes place between the events of AVENGERS #4 and 6, judging by the design of Iron Man’s armor. In this issue, Sergio Cariello’s art is clearly inspired by that of Jack Kirby. Issue includes a five-page preview of the new Venom.


> Captain America: Hail Hydra! comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Avengers Endgame Captain America Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Tom Scioli
Tom Scioli
Bill Crabtree
Adi Granov (Cover Penciler)
Adi Granov (Cover Inker)
Adi Granov (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Balder
Balder

(Balder the Brave)
Baron Strucker
Baron Strucker

(Wolfgang von Strucker)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Wasp
Wasp

(Janet Van Dyne)

Plus: Dr Geist, Giant-Man (Scott Lang), Hordes of HYDRA.