- —U.S.Agent[src]
John Walker was a U.S. Army veteran who went through the Power Broker process to enhance his strength in hopes of honoring his fallen brother. He joined the Universal Class Wrestling Federation as Super-Patriot until he became convinced to put his skills to better use becoming a super hero.[14] He was later chosen to take up the mantle of Captain America when Steve Rogers retired.[4] Walker is a hardline Christian, right-wing conservative believing in country before anything else.[12] When Rogers returned, Walker re-established himself as U.S.Agent[3] where he went on to serve as a member and even leader of various Avengers teams.[15]
History
Early Life[]
John Walker was born and raised in the small town of Custer's Grove, Georgia. He grew up idolizing his older brother Mike, a US Army helicopter pilot. wanting to live up to his brother's memory, John enlisted in the U.S. Army. John served at Fort Bragg and felt he wasn't a 'hero' like his brother was. Walker underwent the Power Broker process to compete in the Universal Class Wrestling Federation. However, his agent convinced him that he should become a hero.[14]
Super-Patriot[]
He became the Super-Patriot, arguing that he stood for America's 'true ideals' and began to publicly discredit Captain America.[5] Three 'Bold Urban Commandos', fellow recruits from the Federation, assisted him by staging attacks and intimidating others.[16]
After a fight with Captain America at a rally in Central Park, Walker battled a terrorist named Warhead who threatened to detonate a nuclear weapon in Washington, D.C.. While reckless and bombastic, Walker defeated Warhead and saved the city.[17]
Captain America[]
Captain America later abandoned his identity due to Red Skull's manipulation of the Commission on Superhuman Activities.[17] Walker took the role as Captain America, moderating his views. The man who would later become Battlestar served as his Bucky. The other two BUCs became Left-Winger and Right-Winger.[18]
Left-Winger and Right-Winger publicly revealed Walker's name[19] leading to the Watchdogs killing his parents. Walker retaliated by killing most of the Watchdogs. He captured Left-Winger and Right-Winger and used his old 'torchsword' to ignite explosives to which they were strapped, leaving them horribly burned and in comas.[20]
Eventually, there was a confrontation with Captain America who was then calling himself the Captain. Walker was stopped by Rogers.[21] The two confronted the Red Skull, who had been manipulating the Commission. In light of these events, Walker was deemed unworthy of the Captain America title due to his actions.[22]
U.S.Agent[]
Walker's death was soon faked by a member of the Commission and he re-emerged as U.S.Agent. He wore a variation of the costume that Rogers had worn as the Captain and used his vibranium disc as a shield. Walker continued to work for the Commission. He was first seen as the U.S.Agent battling an Iron Monger as a test for the Commission.[3] Walker was additionally placed as a watchdog of Avengers West Coast and the Vision by the Commission, as a condition to possibly get their government clearance reinstated.[23] He later rescued his former partner Battlestar from the Power Broker, and reconciled with him; John learned that his memories had been altered and that his parents were dead.[24]
Force Works[]
When the West Coast Avengers dissolved, Walker dumped his costume and shield into the Hudson River.[25] Tony Stark formed a new team known as Force Works. While he was initially reluctant to join the team, Scarlet Witch, who believed he would be the backbone of the team, eventually persuaded him to do so. Walker intended to run the team on tight military lines, emphasizing the values of strength and dedication. Donning a new costume and using an energy shield,[26] he remained a member throughout the team's tenure, fighting threats such as the Kree; alien parasites, the Scatter;[27] the supernatural threat Ember, Slorenia's armored protectors, the Black Brigade;[28] and The Mandarin.[29] They went on to fight alongside Australian super hero Dreamguard against the dream-manipulating Orphan;[30] Slorenia's undead shock troops, The Targoth; and Volkhvy the Eternal One.[31] They teamed up with the Avengers against the Kree commandos, Starstealth.[32] They later went up against intergalactic mercenary the Broker.[33] They even had to fight their security system V.I.R.G.I.L.,[34] and an alternate reality version of deceased former Force Works member Wonder Man.[35]
Working for his old Commission ties led him into conflict with other heroes. Walker seemed to have finally cut ties with them after one mission put him into conflict with War Machine and Hawkeye.[36]
The Jury[]
John eventually became the field leader of the Jury, a group of armored corporate vigilantes owned by Edwin Cord, owner of Cordco. U.S.Agent again wore his original U.S.Agent uniform and used an eagle-shaped shield that could be directed in mid-air via remote control. The Jury's job was to take down the Thunderbolts, but they were defeated by the Thunderbolts and their new leader Hawkeye.[37] The Jury attempted to apprehend the Thunderbolts a second time, but instead the two groups joined forces together against Brute Force and the soldiers of the Secret Empire.[38]
U.S.Agent was later severely beaten nearly to death by Protocide. Due to emergency medical procedures performed on him, he was outfitted by S.H.I.E.L.D. with an enhancing exoskeleton.[39]
S.T.A.R.S.[]
Walker eventually appeared in Texas working on behalf of the US government as leader of S.T.A.R.S. to arrest Piledriver for attempting to escape to Mexico and act as international representative of US interests.[40] Walker acted as the leading figure on behalf of the US government in their cooperation effort with the Avengers, but was greatly disliked due to his abrasive behavior and domineering personality. Walker convinced a number of alien convicts to fight on his behalf for their freedom and led the charge against the Kree and Ronan the Accuser. Walker stalled Ronan while the Avengers stopped his plan to use Ego the Living Planet as a weapon by assimilating the Earth. After the Kree were defeated, the Avengers tried to thank Walker but he rebuffed them and rebuked them before leaving for letting the alien threat be drawn to Earth in the first place.
The Invaders[]
Walker joined the new Invaders squad acting as its Captain America; he in fact demanded to be called by that name.[41] Those Invaders who knew the real Captain America refused to do so. He claimed that today's world requires a tougher symbol of America to battle terrorism.[42] Alongside the Invaders, he battled Axis Mundi. When the Human Torch (Jim Hammond) was killed, most of the team disbanded.[43]
Civil War[]
John favored the Superhuman Registration Act,[9][44][45] and was assigned to Canada as an official liaison and reluctant leader of Omega Flight. A number of powered villains, including the Purple Man, attempted to cross the border into Canada to escape the Act and then the Wrecking Crew came to Canada to continue their life of crime without superpowered opposition and ended up freeing the Great Beasts.[46][47]
During this time, U.S.Agent was also given the responsibility of keeping an eye on and training Guardian (Michael Pointer) and discovered that Pointer was being used and experimented on.[48]
Mighty Avengers[]
He was recruited without warning by a seemingly recovered Scarlet Witch to a new team of Mighty Avengers. The Scarlet Witch was actually Loki in disguise.[49][50]
Retirement[]
Sent into battle against Norman Osborn's black-ops Thunderbolts team in Asgard, Walker's left arm and leg were severed by Thunderbolts leader Nuke/Scourge.[51] Retired from active duty and fitted with a metal hook for a prosthetic hand (refusing better prostheses because he didn't want to become a cyborg like Nuke), Walker became the warden of the super villain prison the Raft.[11]
Back in Action[]
While transporting the Dark Avengers back to the prison, their transport went down and Walker and the team woke up in an alternate version of New York, divided in various territories controlled by heroes.[52] While knocked out, June Covington, who had managed to gain control over Hank Pym and had free rein in a laboratory, bonded Walker with that world's Venom symbiote which had its higher brain functions removed. Being bonded with the symbiote restored Walker's lost limbs.[13]
Leading the Dark Avengers, Walker attempted to find out what had happened to New York and reality. They found out from Reed Richards that A.I.M. was behind the alteration of reality, creating a distorted reality pocket to test potential scenarios and salvage technology created by the denizens of the pocket.[53] The Dark Avengers managed to open a portal into the real world, where they crushed the A.I.M. agents. With the mission completed and the Dark Avengers free, June used her powers to influence Walker into allowing them to remain at large and to lead them on further adventures.[54]
John joined Doctor Doom's Avengers and battled the now-evil Scarlet Witch, who arrived in Latveria to have revenge on Doctor Doom.[55] The Avengers fought the Scarlet Witch and saved villagers trapped in the crossfire. 3D Man managed to get hold of the Witch and take her to a machine that Doctor Doom had created to specifically cannibalize her abilities. Soon after being put into the machine, the Scarlet Witch escaped and set out to find Doom, leaving the Avengers behind. After condensing a portion of Scarlet Witch's powers into the device, Valeria Richards informed the heroes their job was done.[56]
Confronting Sam Wilson[]
Months later, John Walker rejoined the U.S. Army and was sent on a mission in unknown locations in the Middle East taking down terrorist cells. After a raid at a terrorist compound, he got a call from the U.S. Senate.[57] Soon after the mission was done, John went back to United States where he met with Keane Industries president, Paul Keane and Texas Senator Tom Herald in Manhattan. They explained to him that the reason he been contacted was to reclaim Cap's shield from Sam Wilson since he was not deemed suitable for the title of Captain America by the public. Keane and Herald also showed him news footage of Sam supposedly attacking the Americops.[58]
While personally disagreeing on Wilson's political views and disapproving on how they influenced his actions as Captain America, Walker refused to confront Sam. However, they were interrupted by Steve Rogers, who asked to talk to John privately. Steve told John that the pressure of the job was causing Sam to go out of control as it did to John, and asked him to confront him personally. Walker then went to the scene of the fight and ordered Sam to hand over Cap's shield. Sam refused and the two began fighting, with Walker's much greater physical strength giving him an early advantage. Sam managed to turn the fight around by forcing Walker into a dark tunnel and using his powers to get the aid from owls that lived in the tunnel, defeating him and leaving him on the pavement. Unknown to anyone involved, Rogers' history had been altered to make him an agent of Hydra from the start, and had engineered the whole conflict. The following week, it was reported that John went missing on a mission in Syria.[59] He would resurface later on, as one of the countless heroes fighting Hydra's forces in Washington, D.C., following their takeover of the United States.[60]
Robot Revolution[]
In the midst of the robot revolution, Force Works was reinstated and Walker was placed on the team. He, Quake, War Machine, and Mockingbird were sent to Lingares where they were met with an army of Deathloks and the giant robot Ultimo.[61] M.O.D.O.K. helped them stop Ultimo, but only so he could take control of his body. After the team failed to retrieve data on how to build the Deathloks which M.O.D.O.K. made to fight Ultimo, everyone present besides Walker were removed from the team by Maria Hill. Walker instead gave a blank drive to Hill so she would go through with wiping Lingares clean of the Deathloks and the data.[62]
Devil's Reign[]
When Mayor Wilson Fisk decided to ban vigilantism from New York, he used a new team of Thunderbolts to enforce his law. This prompted Walker to break into the mayor's office and ask to join the team as their new leader while working undercover to find some sort of evidence to incriminate Fisk. He also used his time as leader of the Thunderbolts to keep the villains in check, making sure they uphold the law. During one of Fisk's big campaign events, a mysterious villain named Conviction possessed the crowd of civilians, forcing them to attack the mayor. The U.S.Agent quickly sprung into action to save lives with the help of Rhino, but the villain took control of Electro and used her to attack the crowd.[63]
After finding out that Conviction was a victim of Fisk's experiments on Ravencroft, Walker confronted him about it, but Fisk used the Purple Man's powers to force Walker to continue leading the Thunderbolts.[64][65] Walker was later ordered to go after the Purple Man's children and kidnap them for Fisk, during this he confronted the Champions.[6] When Fisk sent a supercharged Purple Man onto New York to kill all heroes, Walker was among the mind-controlled people that fought the small army of super heroes, though he was later freed from this control when they defeated the Purple Man.[66]
After the events of Devil's Reign, Walker would serve a short stint as the warden of the Myrmidon superhuman prison. He was on duty when Daredevil and his Fist forces broke into the prison to bolster their ranks with supervillains. Walker would lose a one-on-one fight with Daredevil, who would leave with his shield.[67]Attributes
Powers
Power Broker Enhancements: US Agent possesses various super human physical attributes as a result of undergoing the Power Broker's process:[68]
- Superhuman Strength: US Agent is superhumanly strong and is capable of lifting over 11 tons and making high jumps over 20 feet.[69]
- Superhuman Stamina: US Agent's muscles produce far fewer fatigue toxins than the muscles of ordinary humans during physical activity. He can exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue begins to impair him.[69]
- Superhuman Agility: US Agent's agility and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the human body's natural limits.[69]
- Superhuman Reflexes: US Agent's reaction time is enhanced to a level that is beyond the human body's natural limits.[69]
- Superhuman Durability: The tissues of his body are somewhat harder and more resistant to injury than the body of an ordinary human. However, he is not invulnerable and can sustain injury in many of the same ways as an ordinary human. However, he can withstand impact forces and trauma that would severely injure or kill an ordinary human with mild discomfort.[69] He has survived multiple blows from vastly strong opponents like Sasquatch and being caught in the blast of a bomb rendered him unconscious but did not cause any lasting damage.[70]
- Superhuman Speed: US Agent's speed is also enhanced slightly beyond human limits as well.[69]
Abilities
- Expert Fighter: US Agent is a superb soldier, tactician, and fighter. He has extensively studied and imitated Captain America fighting style[69] and has been personally trained by Taskmaster in combat, gymnastics, and acrobatics.[68] During his period as warden of the Raft even without a leg and with a simple prostetic to compensate the loss of an arm he proved more than able to easily defeat several inmate during a riot.[71]
- Multilingual: In addition to English, John is fluent in both Arabic[72] and Spanish.[7]
- Aviation: U.S.Agent can pilot flying crafts.[2]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Bulletproof costume, formerly Avengers Identicard.[68]
Captain America's UniformWeapons
Transportation
Notes
- Walker carries around a picture of his parents, usually taped to the inside of his shield.[42]
- John Walker featured in the Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue.
- Walker has displayed racist sentiment towards indigenous peoples, being very dismissive towards Talisman, rolling his eyes when she referenced manifest destiny, referring to her as 'Pocahontas', and telling her to 'lay off the peyote'.[73]
See Also
- 389 appearance(s) of Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 15 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 20 minor appearance(s) of Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 17 mention(s) of Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 10 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 238 image(s) of Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 28 quotation(s) by or about Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
- 8 item(s) used/owned by Jonathan Walker (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #8
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 U.S.Agent (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Captain America #354
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Captain America #333
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Captain America #323
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Devil's Reign #5
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 2020 Force Works #2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Civil War: Choosing Sides #1
- ↑ Captain America #378
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Thunderbolts #145
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Captain America #335
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Dark Avengers #184–185
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Captain America #328–329
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #44
- ↑ Captain America #327
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Captain America #332
- ↑ Captain America #333–334
- ↑ Captain America #341
- ↑ Captain America #347
- ↑ Captain America #336–339
- ↑ Captain America #341–351
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #44–45
- ↑ Captain America #376–378
- ↑ Avengers: West Coast #102
- ↑ Force Works #1
- ↑ Force Works #2–3
- ↑ Force Works #4–5
- ↑ Force Works #6–7
- ↑ Force Works #8–10
- ↑ Force Works #11–12
- ↑ Force Works #13–14
- ↑ Force Works #15
- ↑ Force Works #20
- ↑ Force Works #21–22
- ↑ Force Works #12
- ↑ Thunderbolts #23
- ↑ Thunderbolts #32
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 3) #33–34
- ↑ Maximum Security #1
- ↑ New Invaders #1
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 New Invaders #2
- ↑ New Invaders #3–9
- ↑ Civil War #7
- ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1
- ↑ Civil War: The Initiative #1
- ↑ Omega Flight #1–5
- ↑ Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 2) #1–12
- ↑ Mighty Avengers #21–25
- ↑ Mighty Avengers #27–31
- ↑ Thunderbolts #142
- ↑ Dark Avengers #179–183
- ↑ Dark Avengers #186–188
- ↑ Dark Avengers #189–190
- ↑ Avengers World #15
- ↑ Avengers World #16
- ↑ Captain America: Sam Wilson #11
- ↑ Captain America: Sam Wilson #12
- ↑ Captain America: Sam Wilson #13
- ↑ Secret Empire #9
- ↑ 2020 Force Works #1–2
- ↑ 2020 Force Works #3
- ↑ Devil's Reign: Villains for Hire #1–3
- ↑ Devil's Reign: Villains for Hire #3
- ↑ Devil's Reign #4
- ↑ Devil's Reign #6
- ↑ Daredevil (Vol. 7) #5
- ↑ 68.0 68.1 68.2 68.3 68.4 Heroic Age: Heroes #1
- ↑ 69.0 69.1 69.2 69.3 69.4 69.5 69.6 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #12
- ↑ Alpha Flight #104
- ↑ Thunderbolts #147
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 3) #82
- ↑ Omega Flight #3–4
- ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 12