Captain America #350

[iamrman]

The mastermind behind the misfortunes of the two Captains stands revealed and their identity is incredibly predictable.

Hmm, who could the mastermind be? Batroc?

Back with Cap...

It was me, Steven!

"My face! My beautiful Aryan face!"

Comments

[thanekos]

" I am no longer an easily identifiable foreign agitator - I am now a disarmingly handsome American businessman, turning the wondrous free enterprise system against itself! "

Red Skull smirking about how who and what he is can survive and thrive in environments outside of Nazi Germany works.

(There's been at least two stories by now, Geoff Johns-written Avengers and post-Civil War Captain America, where he's looked at America and thought he could easily create an equivalent of 1930s Germany.

" All [you] need is a push in the right direction.. ")

[scorntx]

It still feels like a stretch, to be honest.
Even if the Skull lists out all the reasons and they all line up with what we see through the story, some of it just seems so random.
(Although to be fair any plan relying on the C.S.A. being a bunch of idiots is off to a good start.)
And the Red Skull is exactly the sort of person to narcissistically claim responsibility for everything, including the random parts he couldn't possibly have seen coming.

Why does the government man have such a mad-on for Steve?
Politics? Resentment? Childhood abuse by his father? Just really, really hates the Irish?
We never learn, beyond that he's not being forced to do it, nor do we even get any real explanation.


"Why is it whenever someone says "with all due respect", they really mean "kiss my ass"?"

I mean, this is Gruen-Steve we're talking about, so he probably does mean it respectfully, but for him this is probably as close as he'll get to "you know what? **** you, ma'am."
Because that apology was just garbage.
It would have to work its way up to "sorry you were offended."

(Goodness, but John sure seems to snap back from his berserk trauma-induced rages quite suddenly.)


... and thanks by the way for not including the scans of Red Skull working out in his underwear.

[iamrman]

I'm saving the sight of the Red Skull in his underwear for Streets of Poison..

[blues32]

Fighting Kingpin...also in his underwear.

[beyondthefringe]

I've seen theories that the Skull didn't directly control -everything- so much as subvert and usurp them for his own ends through financing and implanted moles. A Scourge piggybacking off of the original Angel's Scourge Program, or a few high-ranking Watchdogs, or even just a member or two of the Resistants... A combination of manipulating the CSA and taking advantage of Walker's misfortunes to, at the end, completely push him over the edge.

But then again, Gruen wrote the whole run so presumably he intended it all to tie together; this wasn't him trying to stitch together a bunch of prior unrelated incidents, which does support the Skull's claims. Earlier, we saw him being briefed/updated by a bunch of these various mooks.

[mazway_75]

I do like next panel after the last is Walker finding Steve and literally going "who are we kidding, we both know you're the only guy for the role."

[tcampbell1000]

Definitely one of Walker's best moments.

[zylly]

Gru was definitely Walker’s best writer. Most others just make him a stooge or a joke or an idiot. And while he is definitely a little to quick to ask “how high” when told to jump, he is complicated. He loves America. He’s just coming at it from a different direction.

[beyondthefringe]

I'm so glad this is the first* and last** time someone who looks exactly like Steve Rogers would turn out to be a secret fascist...

*The '50s era Cap turning out to be the Grand Director got there first...
**HydraCap/Stevil being created through Cosmic Cube history retconning being the most recent major example...

(I may even be missing other instances, not counting alternate universes/what ifs like, oh, I dunno, What If? Vol 1, #44)

[tcampbell1000]

"Incredibly predictable" made me LOL

[steverodgers5]

It actually wasn't to me at the time, because I was reading it as a kid back then in the 80es. And at that point I knew of Gwen Stacy having been killed and Bucky as yet had never came back, so death didn't seem quite like the revolving door that it is now in comics.

Plus I'd read the haunting of Skull Manor as my first Cap issue a couple of years earlier. So the Red Skull really did same dead to me at that point.

[huntleyhaverstock]

Boy, good thing a blonde, wealthy American businessman wasn't able to seize power with the stated aim of stamping out democracy...

[steverodgers5]

One of my all time favourite Cap issues. A great ending to the 18 month epic that had been the Captain America No More storyline. And back then you really got your money's worth for an anniversary issue like this too. I think it was triple sized with lots of bonus extra stuff too in addition to the longer main story. Ah the nostalgia!