Pawn Of The Red Skull!

Following the 1972 introduction of William Burnside, the mentally unstable Captain America of the 1950s--and his subsequent fall from grace at having to be brought down by the Captain America he idolized--there seemed to be no hope for recovery for this man whose good intentions at filling the shoes of his wartime hero were tragically undone by his twisted vision of what America, and what the ideal American, should be. Almost immediately intercepted by the villainous Dr. Faustus after being taken into custody, "Cap" was thereafter conditioned into assuming a new identity as the Grand Director, the figurehead of a white supremacist organization called the National Force; but when Faustus was confronted by the real Cap, the Director made a drastic choice when Faustus insisted he attack his namesake, and instead activated a device on his person which incinerated him.

As for Jack Monroe, Burnside's young sidekick, "Bucky"--who came clean with the real Captain America and went on to assume Cap's discarded identity as the Nomad--he would later meet his death at the hands of James Barnes, the original Bucky, who had been conscripted by the Russians as the assassin known as the Winter Soldier but who was later freed of his mental enslavement and in time took on the identity of Captain America, at Cap's behest. As we'll discover, that irony will not be lost on one of the principal characters of the story the PPC spotlights today.

And that story begins nearly thirty years later (our time), as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter, who herself had been manipulated by Faustus into killing Captain America following the events of Civil War, has infiltrated the lair of Faustus and his associates, the Red Skull and Arnim Zola, where she discovers someone who appears to be Steve Rogers--a man she knows to be dead by her own hand. Yet when she investigates further, she confirms the identity of this man: another "Captain America" who should be dead, and, given his appearance, has her recalling his fate as part of the National Force.

A slight error on writer Ed Brubaker's part--in the earlier story, scripter Michael Fleisher made it clear that the Director took his own life as opposed to any prompting from Faustus (though it could be argued that Faustus's manipulative handling of Burnside "made" him take such a step to break free of his conditioning). But though Sharon isn't privy to how Burnside survived, nor what has affected his memory, she means to see to it that his involvement in this plot, whether consensual or not, ends now.

Some of you will recognize Aleksander Lukin, who played a key part in bringing the Soldier out of stasis to further a plot to gain the Cosmic Cube; and if so, you also know of his relationship with (or, rather, "connection" to) the Skull, who will also play a part in this drama.

Faustus, as it turns out, not only still has his hooks in Burnside, but also in Sharon--though it's his expertise involving the former character which holds interest for the Skull and Zola.

Later, Bucky and his new partner, Sam Wilson (the Falcon), are puzzled at the appearance of a new Captain America, who has become a visible supporter of Sen. Gordon Wright, a third-party candidate for President who is secretly in the Skull's pocket to help further his own political agenda. After "Cap," on cue, foils a bogus assassination attempt on Wright, he steps to the podium to seal the moment for the cameras--and Bucky and Sam immediately notice something distinctive about this person.

If you're wondering why the Falcon, of all people, doesn't make the connection between this Cap and Burnside, that will become clear in due time.

In the meantime, Bucky makes his own connection with the "new" Captain America via Wright's security detail, which it turns out is hired from a firm which can be traced to a division of Kronas, Lukin's company. Knowing, then, that Wright will likely lead him to the Skull, Bucky breaks into his hotel room--but the surprise is on him.

With all due respect to the other well-handled plot and character developments Mr. Brubaker has in play, the clash between Bucky and the '50s Cap is this story's moneymaker*, though there's much to be said for intrigue and buildup (even over five issues of it). The character of Burnside, as compelling as he is, wouldn't be able to carry the bulk of this story by himself, as he did when he (along with Bucky) was an unknown quantity in the original Steve Englehart tale; but as a supporting player here he adds quite nicely to the story as a whole. His insanity is still the driving force of his perspective on America and Americans--though here he is an unknowing tool of Faustus (just as he was as the Grand Director) and of the Skull, who in addition to bolstering Wright's candidacy now appreciates Burnside's usefulness in taking out a potential threat like Bucky/Cap. Yet there is still the hint of the man who struggles to reach back to his roots and reclaim the idealism which centered him and caused him to chart a course for himself as Captain America.  That said, it's worth bearing in mind the Falcon's words to Bucky, who would later in this story feel a measure of sympathy for this Captain America who has become a pawn:  "We'll try to save him... but I'm warning you, this guy was crazy long before Dr. Faustus got his hands on him."

*And a nice payday for Marvel it was, with comics ringing up at $3.00/copy in 2008. Tell me the '50s Cap wouldn't have fumed about that.

Now, however, the only thing of his own that Burnside has to offer at this point is in his single-minded desire to (a) deal with an "impostor" and (b) take his revenge against the killer of his young partner, both handled within the backdrop of patriotism. They are goals he means to pursue with deadly intent, and his speed and strength present a threat to even the former Winter Soldier.

Finally, though, there are shocking discoveries to be experienced by each of these men, as the battle comes to a point where they at last "face" the truth about each other (pun intended). Yet as far as the Skull is concerned, it's a meeting of minds that must be curtailed before it jeopardizes his plans.

Brubaker's story continues for two more issues before reaching its conclusion, with the entire plot working out to be a well-presented page-turner; yet while Burnside would have more scenes, we've mostly been witness to his contribution here, and from this point it's really the Skull's and Zola's show (along with Sharon--and Faustus, who admittedly has proven to be an exquisite villain since his inception). By the time their plan crumbles, the Falcon, the Black Widow, and SHIELD have stormed the Skull's base... Bucky Cap foils the assassination of Wright by Sin, the Skull's daughter, who rebels against her father's original plan and aims to kill out of spite... Sharon wrecks a device meant to separate the Skull from being trapped in Lukin's body, and later kills Lukin (yet unknown to her, the Skull had indeed escaped, though the final page offers him a shock he won't soon forget)... the Widow sees that Wright doesn't profit from his collaboration with the Skull... and the "new" Captain America finds that he's become an acknowledged hero in the eyes of the public.

And Burnside? "Captain America," an identity he still holds onto like a lifeline, has managed to slip away in all the confusion (I suppose if anyone could slip away from an entire SHIELD attack force storming into your base, it would be him), more determined than ever to right the wrong that he sees in the America of today.  But exactly how that would manifest remains to be seen.

NEXT:

The 1950s Cap resorts to domestic terrorism to win hearts and minds.