Story #2Death and the Queen
Writer: Will Jungkuntz. Penciler: Will Jungkuntz. Inker: Bob Wiacek. Colorist: Bob Sharen. Editor: Al Milgrom.
Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Captain America is at the Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn for the West Indies Parade. Photographer Noel Orff spots Cap framed by the famous Arch and snaps his picture. Noel tells Cap his girlfriend Eurydice is the Queen of the Parade and fills Cap in on the history of his home, St. Cyril in the Caribbean. The island was ruled by a dictator who kept power though his death squads; they were accompanied by a man wearing the mask of Death. Soon the people revolted and overthrew the dictator and Death disappeared. Noel began dating the daughter of the new Governor-General but Death reappeared to stalk her, promising to make her his queen. Death was committed to an asylum where the sight of the face beneath the mask killed a doctor through sheer fright. Noel took Eurydice to New York last month just before a coup killed her father and installed another murderous dictatorship. American troops liberated the island and Death was believed dead….
But Death is very much alive, in New York, and still has designs on Eurydice as his queen. His henchmen Marcus, Cliff, and Cecil are heavily armed and are plotting to assassinate Captain America, destroy the Arch, and kidnap the Queen of the Parade….
The elaborate parade is well attended, and Eurydice, dressed as the Statue of Liberty, rides atop the St. Cyril float. Death kills the float driver and turns the wheel over to Marcus, while Cliff, costumed as Uncle Sam on stilts, snatches the hapless Queen away. Death aims a rocket launcher at the reviewing stand where Cap sits but the cheap weapon fails to fire; he orders Marcus to ram the stand at full speed. Cap gets everyone to safety before the vehicle crashes into the structure; Marcus is killed on impact but Death escapes. Cap hurls his shield, cutting Uncle Sam down to size but Death seizes Eurydice and hurries into the Arch. Cliff hurls a grenade at Cap but the hero throws himself on top of the villain; Cliff is killed and Cap knocked unconscious. A worried Noel heads into the building to rescue his beloved himself but is stopped by a grenade. Death threatens to blow up the monument unless she proclaims her love for Death from the top of the Arch. When they open the door to the roof, Cap is standing there waiting for them. Cap makes the choice of hurling his shield at Cecil because he is carrying the explosives, leaving himself wide open to an attack for the grim villain. As Death tries to decapitate the hero with his own shield, Noel makes it to the roof and rescues Eurydice. This distracts the villain long enough for Cap to gain the upper hand. Cecil throws a grenade and Cap bats it back at the baddies; it explodes in their faces but when the dust clears, only Cecil lies dead at their feet. As the parade resumes, the Queen thanks Cap with a kiss on the cheek…but Death watches from hiding….