History
Little is known about the backstory of District Attorney Grant Gardner, who secretly battled crime as Captain America with the assistance of his secretary Gail Richards. After a break from fighting crime, Grant resumed his duties as Captain America in response to a sudden outbreak of supposed suicides, all of which had an unknown toxin in their bodies. Working with Gail he was able to shut down the production of the poison, however the plan’s master, the Scarab had already managed to use the poison to kill Professor Lyman, and had gotten from him the blueprints for a Thermodynamic Vibration Engine. The Scarab attempted to distract Grant so he could destroy a lab that held a model of this “Vibrator,” but Grant was able to escape the trap and rescued the scientists and Gail before the lab could collapse.[1]
Professor Dodge and the Fire Bolt[]
Though the plans for the Vibrator were destroyed, the Scarab was not foiled as he also had stolen the plans for an Electronic Fire Bolt, which could let him break into any safe in the city. He kidnapped the Professor Dodge and forced him to decode the plans, just before Captain America arrived. Captain America was almost crushed by a tractor, and the Scarab was able to begin a series of thefts through the city. Thankfully, Professor Dodge developed a way to track it, and after tricking the Scarab into believing the tracker was destroyed, Captain America was able to reach the next robbery and not only foil the theft of platinum but also capture the Fire Bolt itself.
In the wake of that clash with the Scarab’s forces, Captain America recovered the van used by the Scarab for the robberies. A mechanic discovered it was under robot control, so Grant stowed aboard and had the guards leave, hoping the van would be remote controlled to the Scarab. Indeed the van was taken to a base of the Scarab, but his men were expecting Grant. They captured him and filled the van with dynamite to blow up Professor Dodge. Grant escaped, before pursuing on a motorcycle in the guise of Captain America. He caught up with the van and jumped aboard, diverting it from colliding with where Professor Dodge was staying. Captain America jumped off in time, leaving the van to explode harmlessly.
Shaken by his ordeals and scared of the danger posed by the Scarab, Professor Dodge decided to leave for a new expedition in South America. Before he could depart however, Dodge was assassinated by an agent of the Scarab, who stowed away in a truck. Grant pursued but found the assassin already gone. They identified the assassin by his prints and Grant tried to start a dragnet, but the police revealed they had found the assassin dead in his car. There was not much information there, but there was a sticker for a service station. Gail investigated the service station, only to be captured by the Scarab’s men. However, she left the phone line open, alerting Grant to her peril. He rushed over and engaged the Scarab’s agents, rescuing her from their guillotine.[1]
The Blackmailing of J. C. Henley[]
When the Scarab tried to extort money from the Industrialist J. C. Henley, Grant convinced him to let him help. Gail delivered the money and as the crooks took it Captain America followed them into a mine. After a scuffle Cap was almost crushed, but managed to escape and found a clue on one of the Scarab’s men. In the meantime, upon learning that the money had been marked, the Scarab resolved to get vengeance. While the mastermind started a plan for revenge, Grant investigated and learned the deceased gangster had bought a van and had it repaired at Martin’s Garage. Checking the garage, Grant got into a gunfight, before finding evidence that the van was disguised as a truck from Henley’s plant. Captain America pursued them to the Techni Gas Oil Plant and found them plotting to blow it up. After a brawl, Captain America managed to shut off the valve, saving all but one building.
The Scarab then attempted to have Henley assassinated, only for Grant to spot the sniper. Grant somehow shot the assassin from ground level with his handgun, and soon found out the assassin had attempted to use a Singari Blowgun to kill Henley. Gail investigated the blowgun, finding an expert out of town. Gail flew off in Grant’s plane to investigate the nature of the blowgun, but after she left Grant discovered a man tied up in the airfield. Captain America hurried to rescue him only to get in a fistfight. He eventually reached the man and learned the plane had been rigged with a bomb, warning Gail to bailout just in time.
Afterwards, Grant noticed how great the lengths the Scarab had gone to destroy the blowgun, and came up with the idea to trick him. They leaked into the underworld rumors that they had taken the time to make a duplicate of the blowgun, to bait the Scarab. Grant headed into a trap with the fake model, knowing the Scarab’s men would attack. They trapped him in a room and gasped him, but he stayed conscious by breathing into a vent. One crook took the model, but the second stayed to finish Grant off. Grant shoved him out of the window, before following after the first criminal. He showed up as Captain America at a barn Gail had tracked them to, rescuing Gail and fleeing just before the barn blew up.[1]
The Life Restoring Machine[]
After that setback, Grant read a shocking newspaper report that the brother of the late Professor Lyman had created a way to resurrect the dead. Grant warned Clinton Lyman that the Scarab would target him, but Lyman refused to cancel his experiment. Grant then sat in on the demonstration, witnessing a dog get brought back to life. The dog ran out the window and Grant followed, but when he returned he found the Scarab’s men stealing the invention. Grant shot one and chased the other, while the fleeing gangster chunked grenades at him. Eventually, one grenade destroyed a bridge, forcing Grant to give up. He returned to the others to find them all tied up and that Clinton Lyman had been kidnapped. Thankfully they were able to identify the deceased crook, learning he was a night watchman. Grant headed to the workplace of the deceased man as Captain America, with Gail driving. As they drove up he exited the car to sneak in after her. There he saw two of the Scarab’s men preparing to blow up the building with dynamite. He fought them, knocking one henchman off a tower. His screams alerted Gail who left the shack, just as the other gangster fell on the plunger, detonating the explosives.
That other crook was identified as Matson, and died of his injuries. However Grant suspected the Scarab might try to resurrect Matson, and he and Gail headed to the morgue. En route they stumbled onto the truck that had been delivering Matson’s corpse, the drivers killed. They found one had left a clue, and Grant traced it to a base of the Scarab. As Captain America he broke in and fought the henchmen of the Scarab, narrowly avoiding being electrocuted.
While Matson was successfully resurrected, Captain America captured a low ranking henchmen named Dirk. Grant called up Dr. Maldor who agreed to identify him as one of the kidnappers of Clinton Lyman, and did so. Dirk tried to make a deal with the DA, and Grant requested the name of the Scarab. Dirk claimed he had been Lyman himself, but Grant dismissed the idea. Dirk did not backed down and said he had evidence and Grant agreed to go with him to find proof, only to be ambushed by Matson and other agents of the Scarab. Dirk was killed, but Grant survived and pursued Matson, leading to a lengthy car chase. During the pursuit Matson shot out Grant’s car’s tires, forcing it to swerve off a clifffully Grant leapt out before the crash.[1]
The Map to the Lost Temple of Emeralds[]
Afterwards, Grant was contacted by G. F. Hillman, a financier of the old Maya Expedition. A stone tablet Hillman had gotten from the expedition had shattered, exposing a copper plate showing half a map to the lost Temple of Emeralds. They realized the other half of the map must be in the stone tablet owned by Maldor, they contacted him. However, Maldor revealed someone had broken into his museum and broken the tablet, undoubtedly stealing his plate. Later, Grant entered his office to stumble onto a thief. They had a firefight and Grant killed him, but realized they must be looking for clues on Hillman. He hurried to the hotel Hillman was staying and dressed up as Captain America, before brawling with Matson and another henchmen. Matson threw him out a window, but Cap landed safely. He ran back up the fire escape only for the Scarab’s men to be gone and Hillman and his half of the map taken.
Not beaten yet, Grant recovered a listening device of the man who broke into his office, and traced it to a radio repairman named Graham. Grant stopped by to ask questions, and had Gail listen in to Graham’s phone. They learned he contacted a farm immediately after Grant’s visits and told the farm of Grant asking around. Grant tried to probe Graham further, only to get a gun pulled on him. Grant got the upper hand and headed to the farm as Captain America, getting into a brawl with a few agents of the Scarab. As they fought inside the farmhouse a plane attempted to bomb them. Two explosions fell outside the building, but the third was a direct hit, utterly destroying the farmhouse.
Thankfully, Captain America managed to defeat both of the gangsters and freed Hillman before the farmhouse exploded. Hillman was suffering brain damage and unconscious, so Grant sent for a brain surgeon, in the meantime keeping the hospital secret. He sent Gail to that hospital, but she did not arrive. Instead, a man claiming to be a brain surgeon named “Rodlam Surac” arrived. Grant knew this was not the surgeon he sent for and Gail must have been kidnapped, but played along, giving him the wrong address. Grant had the police raid the false hospital, while he headed to a site Rodlam had phoned. When he arrived Grant arrested a henchman and found a note with the fake surgeons’s name written down. Seeing it, Grant realized Gail had given them a fake name that when reversed roughly spelled Cyrus Maldor. Now aware Maldor was the Scarab, Captain America rushed to the Drummond Museum of Arts and Sciences and gunned down two of his men, before confronting Maldor. Maldor tried to trade his life for Gail’s, but that just revealed to Grant she was in the building. Captain America fought Maldor and killed him, before freeing Gail from a pod of mummifying gas.
In the end of this adventure, Grant publicly revealed his secret identity as Captain America to turn evidence on Maldor. Gail and Grant congratulated each other on defeating the Scarab, and at the stroke of midnight, Maldor was executed for his crimes.[1]Attributes
Powers
- Peak human physique.
Abilities
- Grant is excellent with firearms, at one point shooting an assassin perched atop a building using nothing but a handgun at ground level.[1]
- He also is a good brawler, fighting henchmen of the Scarab multiple times in long fistfights.[1]
Paraphernalia
Weapons
- Handgun, allegedly with the first shot being a blank to be used as a warning.[1]
Transportation
Trivia
- Grant Gardner/Captain America was the very first live-action Marvel superhero.