CAPTAIN AMERICA CREATED BY JOE SIMON AND JACK KIRBY

 

#493

“The Journey Home”

Written by Jeff Melton

 

 

 

utside the AIM complex, Captain America and Nomad look down at a brave Eskimo warrior named Snow Wolf, who has just appeared to them during their battle with AIM agents, as Cap was seeking to rescue his former partner. The brave young warrior kneels before Captain America, as Nomad looks on with interest.

 

“You need our help,” Nomad asks. “How?”

 

“A more urgent question, I think,” Captain America chimes in, “is how did you get here? We’re miles away from civilization. And, judging by your attire, thousands of miles from where you live.”

 

“Our medicine man transported me here,” Snow Wolf responds, still kneeling before them.

 

“Get to your feet,” Nomad offers. “There’s no need to kneel like that.” Snow Wolf looks at Cap for approval, and Cap nods in agreement. Snow Wolf then gets to his feet.

 

“Our village is under attack, Ice Lord,” Snow Wolf says to Cap, by our greatest enemies—the minions of the Red Demon. They have seized our Ice God, and set fire to our village. Without your yelp, our village will be consumed by this evil tribe.”

 

“Red Demon?” Nomad asks, pulling his mask back from his face, as it rests behind his neck. “It sounds like a war between two Eskimo tribes, Cap. I need to…” Snow Wolf looks his way, seeing Nomad’s face for the first time. He is shocked by the face that lurks behind Nomad’s mask, and immediately kneels before Nomad, kissing his feet.

 

“Ice God!” Snow Wolf says with worshipful reverence. “I do not know how, but you are here…with the Ice Lord from the tribe across the river…the one they lost so long ago.”

Looking up at Nomad, he asks: “Forgive your servant’s ignorance, lord, but have I come to the land of the gods?”

 

“Whoa, fella,” Nomad offers in response. “I’m not your god.”

 

“But, how could that be?” Snow Wolf asks, clearly confused. “You are he…you could not look so much like our lord.”

 

Captain America and Nomad look at each other, surprise in their faces. “One thing’s for sure, Cap…we’ve got to check this out,” Nomad offers.

 

Nodding, Cap beckons for Snow Wolf to rise. “Take us to your village, Snow Wolf.”

 

INTERLUDE

 

t is after hours in the office of Dr. Faustus. The man who has—in his memory—only been called “Steve” or “Captain America” stands alone in a dimly-lit room. His only companion is the darkness, while he awaits the entrance of his enigmatic psychiatrist. He remembers that his girlfriend dropped him off at the office late, as Dr. Faustus requested, and (again, as the doctor requested), she left, intending to pick him up in an hour.

 

“Steve” does not like the feelings he has been experiencing lately, after his sessions with Dr. Faustus. He has been experiencing growing frustration with the government. He knows that they betrayed him. He can remember J. Edgar Hoover running the show, and he can remember working with other heroes…called the Avengers. Still, so much of that seems like a cloud, almost like it was someone else’s life.  He has also started to remember a friend…Bucky. He remembers fighting with Bucky, and the Avengers.* But he remembers being manipulated by the government.

 

[*Many such adventures were chronicled in both the Avengers 1958 and Captain America 1958 titles. If you haven’t read those, you’re really missing out.]

 

So much of his memory has come only in bits and pieces, but one common theme runs through it—betrayal. Betrayal by the government, when they were finished with him. And, betrayal by them again when they replaced him with a replica…an inferior, softer replica. He can remember fighting this replica, and losing (although he can’t remember how).*

 

[*The ‘replica’ was actually Captain America, and this story took place in Captain America #153-155.]

 

He is thankful to Dr. Faustus for restoring what he has of his memory. No one else would help him in the past, and he thinks that Dr. Faustus is remarkable at what he does. A truly gifted psychiatrist. And yet, he can’t shake the feeling that he has met Faustus before. That there is a history between them, dealing with this other Captain America. He cannot remember how, or if this is something from a dream. He’ll have to remember to…

 

A scent. A familiar scent stops his train of thought. He soon sees thin trails of cigarette smoke in the darkened room, and it confirms what his oratory senses revealed a split second earlier.

 

“I see that you have arrived,” the voice of Dr. Faustus enters the room, as 50’s Cap turns to face him.

 

“Yes,” 50’s Cap responds. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

 

“I understand,” Dr. Fautus responds, his tone calm and re-assuring. “And I must apologize for keeping you waiting. A patient—a very troubled patient, who has fixated on another famous figure—has been very persistent in calling me, seeking my help. I had to give her my attention, for I fear that she might be suicidal.”

 

“Oh,” 50’s Cap replies. He had been annoyed by Dr. Faustus’ tardiness, and annoyed with Dr. Faustus—although he could not put his finger on the exact reason for his anger. However, when Dr. Faustus explained that he had been helping a woman—and perhaps had saved her life—well, that was enough to disarm him, and to re-direct his anger. “Well, it sounds like you were needed elsewhere.”

 

“Indeed I was,” Dr. Faustus agrees. “She can be rather needy and demanding at times.”

 

With that, he leads the 50’s Cap further back into the back room of his office, to where they come to a door. “But, that is not important at the moment. There is someone I would like you to meet.”

 

“Someone from my past?” Cap asks, hopeful to learn more about that missing chunk of his life.

 

“No, but someone with whom you have something in common,” Dr. Faustus explains.

 

As he opens the door, Captain America and Faustus look at the original Moonstone, in his costume, with the moonstone in his grasp. He looks up at 50s Cap and Faustus, somewhat nervously.

 

“What’s he…?” Moonstone starts, but Dr. Faustus puts a hand up to stop him.

 

“This is not your foe, Byron,” Dr. Faustus replies. “This is your ally, the Captain America who was active in the 1950s. And, together, you will work against your common enemies.”

 

This storyline to be continued in the pages of Human Torch #8-10.

 

End of Interlude

 

aptain America and Nomad find themselves instantly transported far north, near the Artic Ocean, where Snow Wolf’s Eskimo tribe lives. The wind is cool, even though it is late summer, and there is still signs of ice floating in some of the nearby lakes. In the distance, large, snow-capped mountains can be seen—miles away, but still seeming much closer because of the remoteness of their location.

 

“This is truly beautiful country,” Nomad comments, looking around. As he does so, he sees small huts lining a small land mass, surrounded by lakes that snake around on both sides of the land mass. On the other side of a tributary of the main lake is the sign of another village in the distance, though it looks to be in disrepair.

 

As they walk up along the land mass, they have the opportunity to see Eskimos carrying on their daily routine. Outside of igloos, women are sewing furs, preparing their clothing for the long winter to come. They are taking advantage of the extra hours of sunlight that they have in the summer, knowing that when winter approaches, there will be very little sunlight.

 

Some of the village men are at the lake, preparing the catch of the day for the consumption of the village. Cap and Nomad notice that they are working together, dragging the fish nets out of the lake, even as their small canoes are shoved further onto land.

 

Some of the men from the village are working on restoring huts and igloos that were set aflame recently, as Cap, Snow Wolf, and Nomad continue to walk towards their destination—a large hut in the center of the village, completely surrounded by the other huts, and slightly elevated.

 

“I see that you have noticed the destruction wrought by the invaders,” Snow Wolf comments. “They struck overnight, and cowardly murdered women and children, as they set many of our homes ablaze.”

 

“I’ve seen the results of war many times,” Captain America muses. “And it doesn’t get more attractive over time.”

 

“War does not concern me,” Snow Wolf returns. “Our village had been a peaceful one for ages, content to gather food for ourselves and leave our neighbors alone. Our men had to learn quickly, however, when the Red Demon appeared. When he arrived, many years ago, he turned a neighboring tribe against us. Since that time, the young men of the village have been trained—virtually from birth—to carry a spear and inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible. It has become our new way of life.”

 

“But not a desirable one,” Cap responds.

 

“No, perhaps not,” Snow Wolf returns. “However, it is not the war that concerns me. I have come to accept that I will give my life on the battlefield, defending my village from its enemies. However, when I see the cowardly act of an invading army, looting and pillaging, and setting my village on fire—that is deeply troubling. They seek not merely victory on the battlefield, but total destruction of our culture, our people, and our way of life. It is genocide that they seek, and total submission to their evil rule. This I will not allow if breath remains in my lungs. I would sooner die a thousand deaths than to see my village subjected to such cowardly, evil rule. Those who would murder women and children, and would burn down the very homes that they live in, taint their water supply, and destroy their food…those are not men to receive a warrior’s respect on the battlefield, but only deserving of a coward’s death.”

 

“I understand your anger,” Nomad adds. “Invading armies have slumped into depravity before, and committed acts like that. The history books are full of their stories—Nero, Atilla, Stalin, Sherman, Custer…the list goes on.”

 

“Those are unknown to me,” Snow Wolf responds. “But the village across the water…the minions of the Red Demon…they will be destroyed, no matter their superior number, no matter the power of their chief’s medicine man. We have no choice if we are to survive as a people. And that is all we have ever wanted—to be left alone to govern ourselves, and to live our own lives.”

 

“I understand your anger and frustration,” Captain America offers. “Just don’t let it consume you.”

 

“I shall not, Ice Lord,” Snow Wolf responds. “There is one among our enemies who was once close to me, but has long been the greatest enemy of our people. I would long to see the day that my people could return to the ways of the past, not spending our existence in a state of war, of perpetual flexing for the next strike by our enemy. I would like for them to have more than a few minutes respite between great conflicts. Until that day comes, however, we must fight with all our might and repel our enemies. They must be vanquished so that peace can at long last return to the valley.”

 

Snow Wolf stops in front of a large hut, raised slightly on a small hill. It stands in the absolute middle of the village, surrounded by other huts and igloos. Two guards stand, spears held in hand, one on each side of the hut’s opening (covered by a piece of heavy cloth, that blows slightly in the wind).

 

As Snow Wolf walks forward, he raises his spear, greeting his fellow warriors, the chieftain’s elite guard. “Hail, my brothers!” he offers. “I see that the Ice God has indeed kept our village safe in my absence.”

 

“And has provided for your safe return,” the guard on the left utters, as he slams his fist across his chest, spear in his hand, greeting Snow Wolf. His companion does the same. “It is good to have you back among us, brother.”

 

“I have brought the Ice Lord of the neighboring village, who once stood guard over their village,” Snow Wolf explains. The guards immediately fall to their knees in reverence.  Cap and Nomad look on, uncomfortable with the experience, but knowing not to interrupt Snow Wolf in his explaination to his people. “I need to seek audience with our chief.”

 

“He is expecting you,” the second guard responds. “Our medicine man is in with him, having detected your return with his magicks.” The two guards return to their feet, even as Snow Wolf, Cap, and Nomad walk through the opening of the chief’s hut.

 

“My chief,” Snow Wolf calls out, entering the small hut, even as he sees his chief sitting on the ground, which is covered by a hand-crafted rug, the medicine man sitting near him. “I have returned, with the Ice Lord, and another.”

 

“Thank you for answering our prayers, oh great Ice Lord,” the chief’s medicine man comments, as he tosses small crushed herbs into the air. “You have come when our need is indeed the greatest.”

 

The chieftain stands, shaking Captain America’s hand, as he looks with respect at him. “Ice Lord,” he says, “My people are indeed under siege by the minions of the Red Demon. Our people have been offering sacrifice and prayers to our Ice God, to deliver us from our enemies. Last night, however, he was seized by our enemies. He has been removed, and with his removal, our people stand to be crushed in a final onslaught by the Red Demon.”

 

“This Ice God of yours,” Captain America starts, “can you tell me more about him?”

 

“I do not understand,” the chieftain asks. “It is well known that you and he are friends and allies.”

 

“Yes,” the medicine man agrees. “Your exploits are well known. Surely you know him?”

 

“I’m not sure I….” Cap starts.

 

Snow Wolf breaks him off by turning to Nomad. “Will you lower your facial covering?” he asks.

 

Nomad nods, pulling his mask aside, as it falls back onto his shoulders, leaving his face uncovered. Immediately, the chieftain and the medicine man fall to their knees with reverence.

 

“My lord,” the chieftain utters with respect borne out of worship, “I thought you had been abducted by the Red Demon. How did you come to be with the Ice Lord? And, your ice home…it is gone.”

 

“I don’t understand…” Nomad starts. Then, he turns to Cap, who looks on, trying to make senese of what is happening around him. “Cap, weren’t you encased in ice when you returned, to be found by the Avengers?”

 

“I learned that I had been encased in ice,” Cap explains, “until the Sub-Mariner appeared, shattering the ice that had kept me in suspended animation, as he railed against the Eskimos that had been (apparently) worshipping me…and threw me in the water, where the Avengers found me.”*

 

[*A brief recount of the events that originally took place in the pages of Avengers #4 and Captain America #100.]

 

“The sea demon!” the medicine man exclaims. “Did you hear him? He was speaking of the sea demon, who threw him into the ocean, after destroying his ice home. And, since his departure, that village has fallen into much despair. They have been conquered, and subdued, by the Red Demon’s minions. This village, once our trading friends, have been taken, their young turned into mere thralls of the Red Demon.”

 

“Cap,” Nomad says, looking at the sentinel of liberty. “This is starting to make some sense.”

 

“I know,” Cap agrees. “I…”

 

However, before they can finish their conversation, the first guard walks into the room, horror in his eyes.

 

“My chieftain!” the guard exclaims. “They have returned. The Red Demon’s forces are attacking even now…in great numbers.” With that, he falls forward, a spear pertruding from his back. His arms do not go out to break his fall. He is dead before he hit the ground.

 

To be continued…

 

NEXT ISSUE: Some answers as to what’s going on with Snow Wolf’s tribe! More elements of Captain America’s past are revealed! Plus: Who is the Red Demon and just what has he done with the Ice God of Snow Wolf’s people? Find out these things and more in Captain America #494!

 

êêêêLETTERS TO THE LIVING LEGENDêêêê

 

Welcome to another issue of Captain America. This is my ninth issue of this title, and there is still much to be done prior to the end of my twelve issues, so hold on tight. Things are going to really start kicking in.

 

First, I should mention that the storyline with the 50’s Cap is temporarily ending, at least in these pages. This story serves as a prequel to the Human Torch issues that 50’s Cap and Moonstone both appeared in (or, will appear in, I suppose). Those issues have been written, and are up, so they can be read at any time. The saga of the 50’s Cap, however, is not over, and he will return in the future. More on that in Human Torch as well.

 

Next, I hope everyone is enjoying what I’ve been adding to Cap’s return, as chronicled in Avengers #4 and Captain America #100. It’s really amazing that nothing has been done with the tribe that found Cap—at least until now. Of course, Cap’s memory also has some holes in it, and there are things that he obviously wouldn’t have been aware of, since he was on ice for so long after his initial disappearance.

 

Hopefully, you’re enjoying what I’m doing on this title. Your comments are always welcome at jx2melton@hotmail.com .

 

There is one letter to run this issue. With no further ado, then, let’s get to it…

 

Captain America #489: Ah, the Cap LMD! I will always love that Cap cover! He makes the LMD-types in Bladerunner look pathetic!

 

Jack, I’m sure, would’ve done better if he weren’t so doped up (not his fault, of course).

 

The battles are great, capturing the Kirby action “barely-gonna-make-it-out-alive” feel to perfection! Hopefully, the Cap LMD isn’t whaked out on cocaine (I wasn’t sure at the end of the story if he drew a breath or not).

 

Faustus’ psychiatrist card was hilarious. Right next to Dr. Wertham’s office, past Samson’s, take a right at Karla Sofen’s office.

 

I really enjoy seeing Cap done right.

 

Rick Powell

Rppowell66@yahoo.com

 

Thanks for the kind comments, Rick. I agree with your comments about the Cap LMD being impressive. I was always amazed at his power from that Cap issue (#106). I doubt that cocaine would have much effect on him, though. As for Faustus, he has always been one of the most interesting Cap foes to me, I guess because of the intellectual and psychological aspects of his character, and the characters he has worked with as well. It has always been interesting, too, that there are plenty of villains psychiatrists in comics, and only one or two that are heroic (or neutral even).

 

I hope everyone enjoyed this issue, and there is plenty more in the way of surprises to come as this story reaches its conclusion in the next few issues. I look forward to hearing your comments.

 

Jeff Melton