Appearing in "The Strange Death of Captain America"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- ⏴ Rick Jones ⏵ (As Bucky IV)
Antagonists:
- HYDRA
- ⏴ Madame Hydra ⏵ (Apparent death)
- Space Phantom (Behind the scenes)
- Immortus (Behind the scenes)
Other Characters:
- Avengers
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- NYPD
- Unnamed police commissioner
- A field team of unnamed CBS reporters
Locations:
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Drearcliff Cemetery (First appearance)
Items:
Synopsis for "The Strange Death of Captain America"
With the supposed death of Captain America and the discovery of a life like mast baring the face of Steve Rogers, the public is not only mourning the loss of America's greatest hero, but wondering just who was the man behind the mask.
Watching a special on Captain America's death on television, Madame Hydra and her minions celebrate their victory by burning the file they have on Captain America. The fire brings back memories in the mind of Madam Hydra, how how in her war torn European country her family was killed and half her face horribly scared by fire. Driven by a struggle to survive, the young girl would work her way up to becoming Madame Hydra, the highest ranking Hydra official in the Manhattan area. However, despite her climb to power, she still cannot bring herself to look at the side of her face that was burned all those years ago, and smashes a mirror when she attempts to do so.
At Avengers Mansion, Rick tries to come to terms with the death of Cap, as he pours over newspaper headlines about the tragedy. With the Avengers waiting for him, he leaves the papers to tell them exactly what happened the night Captain America died[1]. After he is finished explaining, the Avengers prepare to leave to participate at Captain America's funeral. Rick, however, can't bring himself to go and stays behind at the mansion. At the church, the Avengers and agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are on hand while Nick Fury delivers a eulogy for the Star-Spangled Avenger. As the service goes on, Rick decides that he has to go to the church and pay his respects and say goodbye no matter how much it might hurt. As the service ends, only Nick Fury and the Avengers remain behind getting ready to move the coffin to the cemetery. Before they can, it suddenly springs open and sprays them with knock out gas. Agents of Hydra then come out of hiding and places all the Avengers and Nick Fury into coffins and bring them out to the cemetery in order to bury them alive.
This is witnessed by Rick who tails them to the cemetery where, much to his surprise, Captain America -- alive and well -- rides in on his motorcycle and attacks the Hydra agents. Rick joins the battle, and Madam Hydra appears ordering her minions to kill both men. However, they are no match for Cap's fighting spirit and so Madame Hydra arms some hunter missiles and fires it at them. Cap and Rick dive into an open grave and dodge the oncoming missiles. As Madam Hydra flees toward a mausoleum, the missiles turn back and strike it seemingly killing her in the explosion.
With the battle over, Rick is overjoyed by Cap's resurrection. Captain America explains that he had tricked Hydra into thinking that they had killed him with an inflatable dummy, and that he had planted the fake Steve Rogers mask to make everyone think that Captain America was someone else in order for him to keep his identity secret. Cap then unmasks, puts on a hat and trench coat and walks away telling Rick that his true identity must remain secret.
Notes
- Last issue of Captain America by artist Jim Steranko.
- Rick Jones appeared last in Incredible Hulk #111.
- Madame Hydra appears to die in this issue, but will return in Captain America #180.
- Later disclosed in Avengers #106, Cap and Rick suffered mental manipulation at the end of this adventure as part of a longer-range scheme by Immortus and his shape-shifting underling, the Space Phantom, who is also revealed to have impersonated Madame Hydra here. The next phase of this gambit can be seen in Avengers #102.
- This issue contains a letters page, Let's Rap With Cap. Letters are published from Joe Pearson, Lewis W. Valladares, Russ Tulp, John Stewart II, James Petty, Craig Battmer and Jeff King.
See Also
Links and References
- The Grand Comics Database: Captain America Vol 1 113 [1]