I loved that Cap remembered Avengers Under Siege and the unbelievable beatdown Hyde gave Jarvis. You can really feel Cap has been waiting to return the favor to Mr. Hyde and even thought about how he hated saving everyone including criminals, and not letting Hyde fall down the side of the cliff. Of course not until after a serious beatdown on Hyde.

Captain America #342

"The Snake Pit"

0.75 USD @ June 1988

Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letter: Jack Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio & Marc Siry
Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco

Synopsis: At the side of D-Man's swimming pool in his, D-Man is teaching Vagabond some wrestling maneuvers. She tried to counter one of his, but his veteran wrestling ring skills had her reversed, and pinned her down. She tried to get out of it by tickling D-Man. Just then, Nomad emerged from inside D-Man's house and seeing his girl in a flirtatious moment with D-Man whom he has hated since this group got together, he went for his stun discs and threw and nailed D-Man at the side of his head. He immediately went on the attack and kicked D-Man on the gut but then Vagabond tackled him from behind thus throwing him in the swimming pool. A Wakandan flying craft arrived and The Captain emerged from the house window and landing on the dive board and hurling himself to the flying craft, and entered it. Two Wakandan representatives were there and turned on the viewscreen for Captain America to talk to his friend, the Wakandan King, Black Panther. He has a gift for him, a vibranium shield and making it to the best of their ability without the exact specifications of the original. Falcon came on board telling Cap that his hotline received a call for help from Diamondback. Cap asked the Wakandan representatives if they can do them one favor, to drop them at the upstate New York location of the Serpent Citadel, the HQ of the Serpent Society.

At the Serpent Citadel, Fer-de-Lance was slicing through the door that is separating her and Diamondback who was with the still comatose Sidewinder. They engaged in battle with Diamondback doing some maneuvers ending with Fer-de-Lance's claw hitting a computer panel and getting electrocuted. Diamondback couldn't take a little break as she was suddenly attacked by Coachwhip next. Diamondback dove for Sidewinder and and started working on Sidewinder's cloak and getting them teleported outside swamp area. She drags a still comatose Sidewinder away from their HQ.

In the Wakandan flying craft, Cap received a message in his hotline from Diamondback. They're at a gas station outside from the Citadel. Cap's group was left off by the Wakandan flying craft and entered the gas station ready for trouble or sneak attack. Inside they met Diamondback and a comatose Sidewinder who interested Cap as he never saw the man underneath the supper-villain's mask before. Cap formulates a game plan with Vagabond escorting Sidewinder to a hospital after calling in an ambulance, and the rest will attack the Serpent Society HQ.

Inside the Citadel, Viper continued to see how much of Sidewinder's crew she can convert to her group. Those that did not, she bit and poisoned. Sidewinder's woman, Black Mamba, and loyalist Bushmaster were poisoned. Viper ordered the next two to be shackled to see if they'd convert and betray Sidewinder. Meanwhile she order Black Racer to go to the nearest hospitals in the area and see if Sidewinder has been admitted as a poisoned victim. In the dock area, Anaconda and other Serpent villains were unloading materials, and Cap and his group went on the attack. A battle ensued, and Diamondback mistook Anaconda as one of the loyalist but was instead a turncoat and was wrapped in her vicelike anaconda-like arms and being squeezed. The others battled, and Cap ordered D-Man to get Diamondback out of Anaconda's clutches, to the chagrin of Diamondback. She got herself free from Anaconda's grip by using her acid-tipped diamonds and puncturing Anaconda's arm thus releasing her. Diamondback ran after Cap. Falcon and D-Man were busy in their respective hand-to-hand combat with their opponents, while Nomad who had gotten the better of his opponent, continued to punch him in the face while gloating. Captain America found Puff Adder in a room and kicked the villain who landed in a pool full of snakes. Diamondback caught up with Cap and the two proceeded to Viper's torture chamber. As Cap took on Slither, Diamondback tried to release one of her shackled cohorts. Cap disabled Slither and threw his shield at Coachwhip disabling her, but the new shield didn't ricochet like the original and he had to make amendments in his initial gymnastic maneuver. Cottonmouth was a turncoat and tried to bite off Diamondback as she was trying to free him. Good thing she was warned by Asp, and Diamondback avoided her head being chomped off. Cap shoved the shield in Cottonmouth's mouth knocking him out and they reshackled him again. Asp told Diamondback they have been poisoned by the Viper and they needed the antidote, but to give Black Mamba and Bushmaster first as they might already be dying at this time. Cap is in a dilemma right now. He has to choose between saving lives or apprehending evil criminals. Slither made his way to the dock and encountered and started chocking D-Man. Nomad saw this and didn't want to help D-Man but changed his mind since he liked showing D-Man up and stunned Slither.

In an ambulance several miles away Black Racer caught up to it and recognized Sidewinder and was about to take him out. Vagabond was accompanying Sidewinder and tackled Black Racer and loosed Sidewinder's rollerbed thus jettisoning it from the Ambulance which was speeding. Vagabond used tickling to get Black Racer to let go and and land on the Racer who took the brunt of the forced landing, knocking out Black Racer. Back at the Citadel, Cap's group finished jailing the supervillains, and giving the poisoned Serpent Society members the antidote. Unfortunately, there's no sign of the Viper anywhere and has escaped.

Comments: It's funny how Nomad is too jealous over his girlfriend's interaction with D-Man, yet he keeps scoping out Diamondback and keeps citing in his mind how hot she is. In the initial meeting, the reader will notice all the men's head are looking straightforward while Nomad's head is tilted downward looking at Diamondback's breast or further downwards towards her delta region. It's funny also that upon initial contact, that Vagabond immediately found something negative about Diamondback's physical appearance, namely the color of her hair which she connected to an eggplant type of color.

I like the way Cap's ragtag band is starting to become cohesive despite the differences between them. Each Serpent member had a unique look, but I still can't believe how normal Sidewinder looked without the mask. It could have been any balding middle aged salesman at the mall. John Walker was absent for this issue.

Chopping a single issue up into three stories doesn't seem like something that would work well, but I really like how it turned out here. It helps to develop the multiple storylines and a lot is packed into short stories. This is another big step in building up the story arc.

The weakest story is the first one: The Captain (Steve Rogers) vs. Iron Man. Gruenwald selectively has Rogers behaved rigidly about legality in some cases, but not in others. I was bored by the notion that he'd prioritize fighting Tony over other threats, so this put an end to that storyline.

In the second story, the transition of the new Bucky (Lemar Hoskins) into Battlestar is an important metafictional moment. As I noted before, I think he was written somewhat stereotypically earlier on. I think this story is a tacit acknowledgement that it would be better not to play into racist stereotypes or at least not create that perception. Also, the Bucky uniform is a boyish outfit for an adult man, whom it is pointed out, is actually taller than the new Cap.

The former Buckies, Jerome and Hector, become Right-Winger and Left-Winger, but there's no evidence that represents any actual political positions. It may just be a superficial attack by Gruenwald. I get the impression he was a libertarian. The story shows Gruenwald's ability to pull a plot thread through a long path. The threat to reveal Walker's identity started at the beginning of his tenure, and  the revelation to the public in this story will have huge implications as this arc continues. One of the panels where Jerome uses his torch-blade to strike Walker's shield is an homage to a previous cover (#327 I think) in which Walker as Super-Patriot fought the previous Cap. There's some symbolize to holding the public welcome for the new Cap at the some site (the Washington Monument) where he caught the Commission's eye. The public roll-out for the new Cap turns out to be a mess. That's rather appropriate, as the Commission is trying to foist the new Cap on the public despite knowing he stole Guardsman armor, and you know, turned Professor Power's head into spaghetti.

I love the Serpent Society having its own story. The mystery of the quartet of snake-themed villains who weren't part of the Society gets its payoff when they turn out to be agents of Viper used to take over the group. We also see two more new snakes recruited by Viper on a computer monitor: I believe this is the first appearance for both Coachwhip and Boomslang. I like that we get to see a bit of the internal circumstances of the Society. Since Sidewinder is a mastermind more than a fighter, having him be a middle-aged man fits. And we get to see his relationship with Asp. Although I think a lot of complaints about political correctness are ill-founded, I do wonder if today's Marvel editorial would hyper-sensitively nix Diamondback in her spandex exercise outfit as too cheesecakey.

Captain America #344

"Don't Tread on Me"

1.50 USD @ August 1988

Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letter: John Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco

Synopsis: The President of the United States woke up in the middle of the evening turning into a reptilian creature. In another part of the city, Copperhead, Cobra, and Boomslang, emerged from the suers and into the streets, facing a riot. Some of the people have turned to reptilian creatures as some of them have drank the affected water (Copperhead, under orders from The Viper poured in contents of poisoned canisters in the city's water system in previous issues), as they looked for the Serpent saucer. They found their saucer and boarded it, only to be surprised that inside were Diamondback and The Captain. A battle took place. The Captain took down Boomslang with a direct launch attack of his shield. Cobra tangled with Diamondback telling her he never double-crossed the Serpent Society and was working as a double agent for Sidewinder all along, slithered into one of the torpedo tubes and escaped outside. He saw a second Serpent saucer outside and boarded it to escape only to find out inside the second saucer was The Captain's allies with their prisoners that included The Viper. They battled inside, and Cobra got the better of D-Man and Nomad. He moved to escape before The Captain arrived. As Nomad and D-Man argued, The Viper's shackles came off, and Nomad went off to go after Cobra. The pondering D-Man didn't notice The Viper, and she snuck up on, and with her fangs, chomped on D-Man's exposed shoulder.

It's almost midnight, and at the Office of the Chairman of the President's Commission on Superhuman Activities, one of the two officials in the office informed the other that their water supply has been poisoned. The other called The President's direct line, but did not get an answer, and he notified the Secret Service. Also, he told the other official he didn't want The Avengers involved in this as they cannot trust them on national security issues. He then made another call ordering to mobilize the new Captain America and Battle Star, but they couldn't as he was told that the two superheroes were out on the field rounding up unregistered mutants.

In Pennsylvania, the new Captain America just got off the public phone and told his partner, Battle Star that there is a crisis in Washington D.C. and that they are needed there as soon as the replacement chopper arrived. This irked Battle Star, as what happened in the previous issues, they lost their prisoner and get violent mutant liberators blast them out of the sky and destroy their chopper, and they're not even allowed to follow up on it. He is getting sick of being jerked around by their government handlers.

The Captain and Diamondback brought the two unconscious captured members of the Serpent Squad into one of the Serpent Society saucers. Inside they found an unconscious D-Man who was knocked unconscious by the poisonous bite of The Venom. Diamondback quickly got a hold of a venom antitoxin that was in the first aid supplies aboard the saucer and injected D-Man. The Captain is going after Viper, but ordered Diamondback to remain aboard the saucer to look out for D-Man and if she sees Nomad to instruct him to go after Viper. And he left. However, this did not sit well with Diamondback who internally feels that Steve Rogers still does not trust her. Meanwhile, outside the gates of The White House, The Viper is shooting civilians-turned-serpent creatures in the streets and blowing up cars. She then turned her weapon on the gates and destroyed a portion of it as she made her way to The White House to "cut out America's heart."

Elsewhere in Washington D.C., Nomad made his way through the rioting and looting streets of the capital city. He thinks this is madness as he tries to go through looking for the villain Cobra. Two serpent creature in cops uniforms are shooting everyone's arms and legs. Nomad swings into action against them and disarms one, but receives a gunshot from the other. Fortunately for him, he has kevlar body armor, but something hit him in the head and exploded, bringing him down to the ground. Many serpent creatures pounce on him as a prey kicking him and squeezing him. In an alley, this is all seen by Cobra whose inner monologue truly showed that he was lying to Diamondback that he was actually working for Sidewinder and not Viper. Since he double crossed Sidewinder, all the perks that came with being a Serpent Society member is gone. He decided a coward like him might as well slither and hid and keep a low profile from here on in.

Back at the White House area, the Viper has made her way inside and is shooting up Secret Service agents who have been "reptilianized." She encountered the First Lady who has been "reptilianized" and asked her where is her husband, but the First Lady could not provide any answer other than hissing. Viper was about to put a bullet in her head, but then decided she is not worth the bullet. Viper finally found "reptilianized" President in his bedroom, and handed him a drink.

Back at the saucer, Diamondback shackled the captured Serpent Society members, and made the stricken-down D-Man as comfortable as possible. The she fully suited up and headed out when The Captain, Steve Rogers, did not respond to her hails in the hand-held communication device. Upon reaching outside the saucer, she encountered the new Captain America who doesn't know her. Realizing this is the replacement of Steve Rogers, Diamondback threw a diamond-spike at Captain America who blocked it with his shield. She proceeded to run to the forest, and Captain America gave chase. A little later, Battlestar entered the saucer and found the three Serpent Society members who are shackled and D-Man who is on the floor covered with a blanket. Not recognizing if Battlestar is friend or foe, D-Man still weakened, recovered his senses and jumped to attack Battlestar. The two battled and even went through the wall of the saucer, and landed outside. Battlestar who was on the defensive, finally got the offense going when he slammed his shield on D-Man's face and monkey-flipped him against a statue. He then proceeded to knock out D-Man. Just in time for the arrival of Captain America, who was carrying an unconscious Diamondback on his shoulders.

In the streets of Washington DC, The Captain, Steve Rogers, battled through the "reptilianized" populace, and eventually made his way to the grounds of the White House. Inside, he went through the corridors and rooms until he finally found The reptilian President in the Oval Office. Realizing this is The President, a battle ensued with The Captain on the defensive side, not wanting to put any physical injury on The President. As they battled, Viper emerged from one of the curtains to see the battle, thus distracting The Captain who got whacked in the side of the head by a flagpole stick, by the "reptilianized" President, who is sweating profusely. The Captain's strategy is working, having the toxin sweated out by The President. Just then, various Secret Service agents come barging in with guns blazing. The Viper ran outside breaking through a glass window. As the bullets were flying all over the room, The President started changing to his human self, with The Captain providing protected cover to the leader of the U.S.A. The Captain ran through the broken window to give chase to The Viper outisde just to see her unconscious body in the arms of Cobra. Cobra told The Captain to give the Serpent Society 24 hours before going after them, and Cobra handed her over to him, and slithered away.

The Presidential super-heroes group committee met up detailing that they contacted Dr. Reed Richards and Dr. Henry Pym to see if there are any other after effects from the toxin, as the city's populace recovered and turned back to their human selves. They then went into a chamber where there were three captured and secured people who are unconscious. These three are Nomad, D-Man, and Diamondback, whom they think are accomplices to the Serpent Society. A couple of days later, The President addressed the American public that peace and order has been restored to the capital and the toxins have been neutralized. As he smiled at the end, we can see two fangs in his upper teeth.

Comments: This double-sized issue is an entertaining Captain America issue. There's a lot of slam-bang action and the situations were somewhat credible. We have uncontrolled "reptilianized" victims acting like senseless reptiles. And then there's the feeling of inevitable conflict that we get as readers where we can't wait until The Captain meets the new Captain America, and see who emerges from them, when they eventually do meet, and battle.

Captain America #346

"Ambush"

0.75 USD @ October 1988

Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letter: John Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco

Synopsis: Battlestar and Mr. Sammish from the from the PCSA arrived at a local Georgia jail to bail out an incarcerated John Walker with the Captain America costume with the exception of the mask. The sheriff told them he killed nine and left three in critical condition while injuring another thirteen Watchdog vigilantes. John Walker had a dazed and blank look in him. He told Battlestar what happened, he surrendered to the vigilantes and tried to rescue his parents but they gunned down his parents in cold blood, so he took them down violently.

Up north in Fort George G. Meade's holding facilities, where it housed super powered beings in various holding cells, PCSA representative went to interrogate D-Man once more. He complained they can't hold him without any charges, but the PCSA told him they are charging him with aiding and abetting a national traitor, Steve Rogers. And D-Man sat down and shut up.

In the Colorado Rockies, The Resistants (anti-mutant registration, mutants, who are rescuing unregistered mutants) were attacking an armored truck about thirty miles from The Vault, which is the Federal Penitentiary for Superhuman Offenders. The truck crashed, and they took down the Guardsmen, and rescued a masked and locked inmate inside the truck, and took off gaining a new recruit.

Later, in Washington D.C., the head of the PCSA is yelling at Captain America John Walker in his office. He told him they fired the original Captain America because he couldn't obey orders, now he did this, killing several people. How are they going to cover this up? John Walker doesn't know how. He was suspended and told to get the hell out of the office. The PCSA boss, Mr. Rockwell, reported the incident to his boss asking what to do. Contrary to what he expected, his boss told him to get John Walker back in action as Captain America as soon as possible, and just discipline him, and cover up the Watchdog deaths. Furthermore, he wants Rockwell to release The Taskmaster from incarceration. His boss was no help to Mr. Rockwell.

John Walker Captain America and Battlestar are in the locker room as a suspended John changed to his civilian clothing. This didn't sit well with Battlestar and told John if he goes then he goes as well. John told him to keep his career and don't worry about him. Battlestar left the locker room to go to PCSA's agent Val Cooper to tell her a piece of his mind, but on the way there, he hears his name in the corridor being summoned to in the P.A. system to go to the meeting room, so he changed directions instead. And to his dismay, inside the meeting room were the idiots from Freedom Force as well. He was thinking they're going to team him up with them.

The meeting was cold and the super-powered government agents were told to pay attention to the view-screen. It showed a costumed Resistant, a group of allegedly believed mutants who liberated incarcerated unregistered anti-Mutant Registration Act mutants. There might be seven members. The super-powered government agents job is to apprehend them. They will stage a trial of a mutant to draw the Resistants out in the open. The Blob interjected where they will beat them, but Mr. Sammish to the contrary said it is where they will allow the Resistants to liberate the mutant on trial, and hopefully bring back to their HQ, where the mutant will alert Freedom Force and the rest of her location. He called on Battlestar who had experienced encountering the Resistants, where Pyro from Freedom Force laughed by saying Battlestar got his butt kicked in the process of meeting them. Battlestar asked what about his partner, Captain America? Mr. Sammish told him he won't be working with Captain America in the foreseeable future. Mystique transformed to Quicksilver, who will be tried in a mock trial to draw out the Resistants.

At John Walker's room, Mr. Rockwell walked in to tell an impassive John Walker the PCSA has come to a decision to give him another chance since they have invested too much time and resources on him. He is ordered to suit up, as Captain America, he will back up Freedom Force on the upcoming mission.

That evening, in a campground in Death Valley, California, we join the Resistants who are gathered in a campfire. We learn it was a former fortress built by Mesmero that was destroyed with his battle with the X-Men. The Resistants tried to rebuild it as their new HQ. We find out that they were a special mutant force employed by the government until the committee that organized them lost their funding, and Freedom Force took their place. The new recruit is a telepath and he was told how they track their own kind.

Outside Carson City, Nevada, the mock trial took place against Quicksilver. Heavy security with Guardsmen from The Vault are also present. Outside the courthouse, Captain America John Walker with binoculars is on a rooftop overlooking the courthouse.He noticed two flying rock-formations coming in... The Resistants coming in to liberate Quicksilver. They all jumped to one meteorite, and had the other one crash into the courthouse causing panic and commotion.

The Resistants hovered their way slowly to the courthouse passing by where Captain America was situated. And Captain America threw his shield at them knocking one member, and he sprang into action and got his returning shield back while dodging a ray blast, and knocked down two more Resistants. Captain America fought like a fiend, one who moved without thinking, confusing the telepath member of the resostants, and he knocked down two more members. Then one of them blasted him with electric lasers the way they stopped him in their last encounter. It hurt Captain America, but a deranged look came down his face as he punched the guy clear through the side of a building. as the remaining Resistants were engulfed with fear that this Captain America is wild and unstoppable. The female member shot Cap with a deadly mist apparently knocking him out. But he was feigning unconsciousness as the woman gloated, and next thing we see is a thrown shield on her stomach taking her out, and Cap continued attacking the rest and went to attack mode. Disabling the last two, and crashing their meteorite ride, he was punching and bloodying the apparent leader of the group, before his hand was held by a Guardsman who took off his helmet to reveal it was Lemar/Battlestar, his friend. And one of the PCSA approached Captain America and Battlestar telling Captain America this wasn't the plan, and he will get reamed for this. Battlestar told a distant Captain America don't worry, and that he might get a commendation from the Commission for his actions. He asked Cap what was wrong. A distant Captain America John Walker told his friend, his parents' funeral was today, and he missed it, so that he could do this.

Comments: I miss cover pages like the one here. It had a deranged Captain America taking down members of the Resistants, with Battlestar and Freedom Force in the background looking at the melee. Unlike most cover pages today, this showed what exactly would be taking place inside the pages of the issue of a comic book.

Captain America John Walker is turning into such a tragic figure and you can't help but sympathize with him. He lost his parents, and could not even attend their funeral in order to save his career, which he apparently lost in the beginning. Sadly, he is more dangerous now than ever, as a Dark Aged Berserker-mode Viking-like mentality grips his mind during battle and encounter with the opponents, making him not pull back any punches, and puts him in kill mode. And the only way to break free from the Berserker-mode rage was his friend holding him back. We basically have a more violent Captain America, one who is ambivalent to killing the enemy.

There was no appearance by The Captain Steve Rogers in these pages.

Captain America #348

"Out of Commission"

0.75 USD @ December 1988

Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Greg Wright
Letter: John Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio, Marc Siri, Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco

Synopsis: In the North Pole, a ski chase is happening with two ULTIMATUM (Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army to Unite Mankind) soldiers chasing after Flag Smasher. They are shooting their blasters at him, and he skillfully maneuvered to be between them in the air, where one ULTIMATUM shot another and Flag Smasher shooting the other. Flag Smasher went over to the one he shot and took his snowgear, fuel tank, and blaster. He didn't feel good about killing these two as he is a leader and founder of the terrorist organization, ULTIMATUM. He headed to a scientific outpost 25 kilometers from where he's at and must reach before nightfall because it not a matter of world security, but also his honor as an anti-patriot.

In a Washington D.C. Assembly Chamber, the Commission on Superhuman Affair is lambasting the new Captain America, John Walker. The commissioner, Douglas Rockefeller is basically telling off John Walker that they hired him because they had confidence in him to follow orders, unlike Steve Rogers. But from the get go after basic training, John has been a wild animal and they kept covering up for him hoping it will fix itself. But it has gotten worse. They are suspending him indefinitely and suddenly the chamber doors opened, and the President of the U.S. entered wanting to know why they never told him they have replaced the original Captain America. They told the President Steve Rogers was fired and was being held in their detention facility. The President told them that when the snake poison water affair happened, he was saved by a costumed man, and if it was Steve Rogers, that they expedite and release him immediately. The direct order from the President scared the officials in the chamber and guaranteed to the President that Rogers will be released immediately. On his way out, the President patted Captain America John Walker in the back telling him he expected to hear great things from John Walker and that it's a proud tradition he is upholding. John agreed with him. The officials then quickly decided that John will be kept on ice until the next administration takes over in January and await instructions whether to indict him, and to release Steve Rogers immediately.

Back in the Arctic, Flag Smasher arrived in the Ice Station Able and with blaster at hand threatened the workers that he will commandeer the station and demanded to know where the communication room is located, which the unarmed middle aged workers pointed to him. He ordered them to send a message to Captain America requesting help.

Back in Washington D.C. Commissioner Douglas Rockwell explained to his anonymous boss the President came in unannounced and overturned Walker's suspension, and ordered the immediate release of Steve Rogers. His boss told Rockwell it's okay since Walker will continue to besmirch Captain America's legacy and reputation, and to tag Steve Rogers with a tracer so they'll always know his whereabouts.

Valerie Cooper then walked into his office informing him a terrorist is holding thirteen scientists in the arctic station and demanded Captain America go there. They had no choice but to send Walker.

Meanwhile, inside Steve Rogers' jail cell, he was in deep thought regarding second guessing his surrender and easily walking away in a fight against The Commission regarding being Captain America, and whether they've been dealing with him in an illegal manner, after all there's no charges filed against him and they placed him in jail. Then he heard an explosion in the distance affecting the power and lights. He put his mask on and was surprised his door cell is unlocked and his shield is outside. He's thinking this is a set-up.

Later on, on an Air Force plane ride to the Arctic, Battlestar was telling Captain America John Walker about ULTIMATUM and Flag Smasher taking airplane hostages in a previous issue and was defeated and capture by the original Captain America. He tried to make a joke, but John Walker is silent, and his friend is concerned for him as he perceived John to get worse and worse since his parents died.

Steve Rogers couldn't believe his luck. He made it out of the holding facility without encountering any security guards, and more luck as there was army vehicles outside for him to take. But the army base is too far, and it would be too suspicious to ride an army vehicle so he'll leave on foot.

Overhead the Arctic Station, The Air Force plane received instructions from Flag Smasher below that Captain America is to parachute down, alone. And Captain America John Walker parachuted down without saying a reply to Battlestar' comments and good luck. He then hiked to the base and entered it.

Inside he encountered Flag Smasher in a corridor holding a gun to a scientist threatening to kill him if Captain America doesn't throw his shield down to the floor. Captain America John Walker told him to go ahead and kill the scientist, because, he, Flag Smasher will join him in death in a few seconds. Surprised at this uncharacteristic response, Flag Smasher yelled that he's an impostor. Captain America John Walker assured him there's only one Captain America. Enraged at having the U.S. send him an impostor Captain America, Flag Smasher attacked with his mace ready to kill John Walker. They battled and it was even, but it was evident Flag Smasher was the more skillful fighter of the two, but he admitted this one is much stronger than the original Captain America. Getting berserker-rage, John Walker tackled Flag Smasher through a wall and was pounding on his face ready to kill the villain. Then he touched Captain America with his energy-absorbing exoskeleton, and sapped John Walker's strength, punching him out and knocking the replacement Captain America out cold. Battlestar arrived too late to help, and Flag Smasher threatened to bash the unconscious John Walker's head in if he tried to help. Instead he told Battlestar to deliver a mesage for him.

The following morning, Douglas Rockwell received a call stating that their office received a message that Flag Smasher will kill the replacement Captain America and scientists if they didn't send over the original. He told the messenger to convey a message to Battlestar that he's out of luck as Steve Rogers has escaped and they don't know his whereabouts.

Comments: Again I have to mention how great it is to have covers that portray what happens inside the pages of the actual comic book issue and not just the superhero posing that is not depicting anything at all that occurred in the pages of the issue like the modern comic book issues of today.

Although looking back since Tom DeFalco assumed Editor-in-Chief duties after Jim Shooter was fired one and a half years ago, Ron Frenz has been the cover artist of Captain America comic books for the entire time with the exception of the first two issues under DeFalco. Knowing that Frenz and DeFalco had long time collaborations as a creative team, one can't help that the new Editor-in-Chief gave the opportunities of cover pages jobs of this series to Frenz because they are close and a creative team in the past and would be for a long duration in the future. There's nothing wrong with that as Ron Frenz's style is not overly exaggrrated and definitely over-stylized, making it easy on the eyes, and at the same time conveying a story in the illustrations.

The design on Flag Smasher is a great contrast to Captain America, as it reminded me of the great contrast between Taskmaster and Captain America. Both had capes while Captain America did not, and both had offensive weapons as their primary weapon (mace and sword) as opposed to Cap's shield which is primarily used as a defensive weapon, which of course Cap utilizes with ease offensive weaponry. Of course he proved in this issue also that fighting skill and not losing control to rage is superior to overpowering strength.

I'm trying to figure out why this villain's design is appealing and I just realized the following day after completing this review, that he is very similar to the design of Space Ghost. I loved watching Space Ghost as a kid, and the similarity is uncanny.

Captain America #350

"Seeing Red"

1.75 USD @ January 1989

Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Greg Wright
Letter: Jack Morelli
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Tom Defalco

Synopsis: A Steve Rogers look-alike took on five Captain America costumed men in a gym facility. He easily took one down after breaking his back, then launched himself to punch out another one, and easily threw off one that attacked him, impaling him on a spiked wall, and then attacked another and killed him with a backbreaker across his legs, then turned to face the last one who dropped the shield and ran away from the Rogers look-alike. "Rogers" picked up the shield and caught up to the Captain America-costumed man and shoved the shield to his neck, instantly killing him. Then full of blood, he laughed so hard and asked the assistant for his time in this exercise. His assistant lit handed him a cigarette, and "Rogers" laughed that Taskmaster is running out of trained hirelings for him to practice on. He walked out of the training room and told his assistant to dispose of the dead bodies.

After a clean-up, massage, and change of attire, "Rogers" entered his massive office with a glass view of The Capitol in Washington D.C. He pondered for a moment of his goal, that he embraced the American Dream for what it is, the realization of one's personal ambitions by whatever means necessary. And that American dream is to deny everyone else their, and in order for him to achieve it, he needs to enslave every American citizen and destroy America itself. But then on to business, and he called his lackey, Douglas Rockwell, in the President's Commission on Superhuman Affairs. This "Rogers" is Douglas Rockwell's boss. He reported to "Rogers" that there's no sign of the real Steve Rogers, and the replacement Captain America must have perished against Flag Smasher, which "Rogers" told him didn't happen.

Meanwhile, the real Steve Rogers is in the streets of NYC. He brought a newspapers and looked around to see that the people have returned to a sense of normalcy, and that the chaos that demons from another dimension has ended its attack on NYC, which the newspapers has blamed on mutants. Looks like they weren't ready to believe in other dimensional demons. Rogers wished the mutants weren't blamed, and perhaps recruiting a couple of mutants to be regular roster members of the Avengers would boost the image of the mutant community. But before giving his full attention to the Avengers, first things first, he has to resolve his problem with The Commission on Superhuman Affairs. A truck lost control, and Steve went into action, with passersby thinking he's a mutant. Leaping into action and hurling the shield to stick on the front tire, Steve managed to grab three boys who were about to be hit by the van. As it screeched to a halt, it hit a lady who was pushing a stroller while holding an apple pie, and the baby went airborne, of which The Captain rushed to the rescue and caught the baby in one hand and the apple pie pie on the other hand, to the cheering crowd.

At Fort Meade Medical Center, Douglas Rockwell came barging in demanding from the doctors the update on John Walker's condition. John is asleep in the hospital bed, and Battlestar is there thinking Rockwell is an a..hole and didn't even greet him. John Walker woke up and told Rockwell he's awake. Rockwell immediately told the doctors to clear the area as he has to talk to John Walker alone. He told Walker that he had problems dealing with Flag Smasher and that Battlestar had to get the original Captain America to bail him out, which Walker said was unnecessary and insulting because given time, he would have prevailed. Nevertheless, Rockwell told him Rogers succeeded where Walker failed. He told Walker to go back to sleep after answering the question on what happened to the shield. Walker doesn't know but he'll get it back if it's the last thing he did, and Rockwell told them they haven't decided what to do with him, and to stay put so they can easily find him.

After Rockwell left, Battlestar told John Walker the Commission idiots weren't there to see how bad things were in the North Pole. They can just walk away from this gig, and the Commission will miss them. John brushed off Battlestar citing that if Lemar hadn't gotten the original Captain America's help he wouldn't be in this mess. Battlestar left the room and told John Walker to get some rest. As he walked out, Battlestar couldn't help but think to himself that John has lost his grip on reality ever since his parents died, and if he didn't get Steve Rogers help that John would have been most likely gotten killed in the North Pole.

Later on, John Walkers' room phone rang. Someone on the other end told him he knows where his shield is and to meet that person tonight on the Smith Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C. by midnight tonight and hung up the phone. John Walker, all bandaged up and in pain, dressed up as Captain America and snuck out of the medical facility.

Later that night in The Commission's conference room, they don't want to decide on John Walker's case until the new Presidential administration comes into office in January, that way The Commission can be carried into the new administration intact. Even though The President approved of John Walker as Captain America, they must question the problems he has caused the Commission. They looked into the Watchdogs, and only four families are going to file suit for damages, and it can be settled out of court. Left and Right... wingers are both off the critical list, but won't confirm it was John Walker that almost killed them and will not speak out of fear of further reprisals. So the legal problems John Walker caused the Commission are not as severe as they estimated. But John is a time bomb and sooner or later he will do something that even the Commission cannot white-wash. They need to cut him loose. Talk included how the Commission allowed Steve Rogers to help in the North Pole in the Flag Smasher affair, and this pissed off Douglas Rockwell, as he recalled the Commission was never asked about authorizing Steve Rogers to help. Furthermore, Rockwell thinks that Steve Rogers is slime and must be placed behind bars.

Later that evening, someone holding a shield snuck into the The Commission's Building HQ. He went through the dark corridors of the building until reaching Douglas Rockwell's office, and entered it. He walked in on Rockwell speaking to his superior, "Rogers" who was Steve Rogers' look-alike, on the phone and viewscreen. He hung up seeing The Captain in his office. The Captain asked who Rockwell was talking to, as it didn't look like the President, and did the other commissioners know of these conversations, thus silencing Rockwell. It's none of his business, and Steve dropped the shield on Rockwell's table. Rockwell ordered him out telling Rogers that he was trespassing. Before Steve can say anything to him, Rockwell's phone rang and he picked up, and a red smoke puffed out of the phone, poisoning Rockwell making his face red and melting the skin. Steve Rogers checked the pulse and then saw in the phone was a spray capsule that delivered the poisonous red dust. He called the phone and the viewscreen activated with no one in the chair where "Rogers" was sitting earlier. He called security to trace the origin of the phone call.

At the Smith Building, Captain America John Walker walked in, and he was directed by the front desk personnel that Mr. Smith is expecting him and directed John to the conference room. One of the walls lifted up showing "Rogers" laughing and that they should play a game. And then several men in uniformed costumes, all too familiar (Watchdog, Scourge, ULTIMATUM, etc.) to Captain America John Walker. And "Rogers" told John Walker that he was behind all of his misfortunes, and admitted he was the real Steve Rogers. And he walked out, as the men saluted in a nazi salute to "Rogers." Captain America John Walker demanded he come back while dodging the bullets fired upon him by the men in the room. He took the men down one by one until one of them pinned him down with the giant desk. And the deranged and crazed berserker John Walker emerged telling them it is party time.

Outside, The Captain arrived in the building, and walked in making his way to a room with a giant viewscreen speaking to "Rogers" who admitted he is the genuine Red Skull, in which Steve Rogers is still skeptical, while contemplating he knows so much about him, including the Red Skull dying in his arms in their last encounter. He then went about telling The Captain about how a motivated John Walker took over as Captain America for him, and with the killings, the point was to devalue the image of Captain America. The Captain has heard enough and walked out the door. And going down the corridor walked into another room, and noticing a secret wall entrance opened it, and going through it he saw a bloodied Captain America John Walker with all of the Red Skull's men dead in that conference room. This made Captain America John Walker, mistaking The Captain for the fake Steve Rogers, and got ready to attack.

In Douglas Rockwell's office, a couple of the commissioners and law enforcement officials moved the dead body out of there. Commissioner Valerie Cooper vowed to get to the bottom of this and she has a feeling Rockwell knew his killer and let him in his office.

Back at the Smith Building, and enraged Captain America John Walker jumped up to attack The Captain Steve Rogers. Steve was able to deflect John's attack by hitting his oblique with his shield, and at the same time trying to reason with John to no avail. John thinks he's fighting the real Rogers who was in true form, a disguised Red Skull. John is stronger than Steve and he felt it in every blow John gave him. Only the shield is protecting Steve from being killed. But Steve is more agile than John, but eventually John caught up to him tackling him through a wall and them bursting into a different room. Steve maneuvered and got John's grip off of him while simultaneously giving him an elbow to the face. In the room, there are images of Captain America John Walker killing and bloodying many opponents. Steve got pissed off as the brutal images stained the image he spent decades building. Captain America was never intended to be a killer.

A crazed John Walker told Steve Rogers he's been holding him off pretty good, because he has a shield. How about if he ditched the shield and truly go one-on-one with him. Steve dropped the shield and they went at it. But John is too strong. And John punched a ducking Steve and getting electrocuted by the machinery. But he's crazed by now, and grabbed a handful of metal wirings, and managed to put it on Steve's neck and he started to strangle him to death. Then Steve put all his strength behind him and struck John with all his strength just below his earlobes, and knocked him out. Then the secret wall opened up with a clapping "Rogers" Red Skull who was smoking a cigarette.

Steve noticed it's not a mask the Red Skull is wearing, who told him he doesn't have to soil his Aryan hands anymore as he can get anyone in the U.S. government to do his bidding, and the blame would all be on Steve Rogers, his mortal enemy. And he kept talking and talking about ideologies and everything under the moon. Steve noticed the Red Skull was not inhaling, and John heard everything and threw The Captain's shield, hitting the back of the Red Skull's knees. Steve realized the dust of death was in the Red Skull's cigarette which when he blew the smoke ended up on his own face. He ran towards the secret wall entrance to escape. Steve picked up the shield and threw it at the Red Skull which was too late as the wall closed down on it. Steve went through it, but no sign of the Red Skull, so he went back to the room to check on John Walker, who was regaining his senses and this time was listening to Steve Rogers about the fake "Rogers" who was in actuality, The Red Skull. Steve thanked John for saving him for a faceful of the red dust.

At a tribunal court of the Presidential Commission on Superhuman Affairs, both Captain America John Walker and The Captain Steve Rogers were present on The Commission's ruling. They found suspicious items including the private video phone on the deceased Commissioner, Douglas Rockwell. They can't link him yet, but they believed his overstepped his authority. They decided even thought the government owned the name, the uniform, and the shield of Captain America, the majority decision is that Steve Rogers made the name, uniform, and shield mean something. He is therefore reinstated as Captain America, and John Walker step down and return the uniform and shield to Steve Rogers. Steve declined, citing he learned these past few months that it's the man that counts, and not the clothing and walked out. Everyone was surprised, and John chased after Steve and caught up to him in the corridor outside. He told them they expected him to be Steve Rogers, but he cannot, and they will take the uniform away anyway, and wanted him to take the thing back to prevent the Commission from get another poor slob to try and do his job. Steve Rogers understood that The Commission didn't put Walker up to it.

And later on in Avengers Island, Steve Rogers took off the black outfit that is The Captain. And reverently put on the Captain America uniform and took a took a look at the image in the mirror with a big smile of his face. Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty, the Star Spangled Avenger. Living Legend. It felt right.

"Captain America's Partners!"

Penciler: John Buscema
Inker: Al Milgrom

There is a double page splash page spread of Captain America's partners through the years. They were:

The Falcon, Rick Jones, Nomad, Bucky Barnes, and Demolition Man.

"Captain America's Women!"

Penciler: Ron Frenz
Inker: Joe Sinnott

Next, there is a double page splash page spread of Captain America's women through the years. They were:

Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D. Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter, Bernadette Rosenthal, Donna Maria Puentes, Agent 169 of S.H.I.E.L.D. Gail Runciter, Holly Ridley, Diamondback/Rachel Leighton, and the former Madame Hydra The Viper.

"The Six Captain Americas!"

Penciler: Tom Morgan
Inker: Tom Morgan

After that, there is a double page splash page spread of the men who assumed the mantle of Captain America through the years. They were:

Captain America I Steve Rogers, Captain America II William Naslund aka Spirit of '76, Captain America III Jeff Mace aka the Patriot, Captain America IV whose real name is unknown aka the Grand Director, Captain America V aka Roscoe, and Captain America VI John Walker aka the Super-Patriot.

"The Red Skull! Resurrection"

Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Jose Marzan Jr.

In the Swiss Alps laboratory stronghold of Arnim Zola, he used a transference device to complete the imprinting process over Herr Johnann Schmidt, The Red Skull. The birthing process is complete as the Red Skull slowly awoken and remembered everything slowly, from infancy, to teenaged years, to years under Hitler in World War Two, his battles with Captain America, to dealing with the cosmic cube, and his alliance with villains such as Dr. Doom, battling Kingpin, and others, dealing with his daughter, capturing Captain America and battling him for the last time and dying on Steve Rogers arms. But he is laughing now that he has Steve Rogers face, an Aryan face at that, and he will have a more subtle approach worming his way into the decadent heart of corporate America, and he doesn't have to wear the garish mask of a red skull.

Comments: This is a sixty-eight page super sized issue.

Basically, most loose ends are covered. The confrontation between Captain America and The Captain finally came to be. And replacement Captain America relinquished the uniform and shield back to the original Captain America. And the Red Skull has been exposed.