The Plan To Reclaim America

In the fall of 2008, we saw the surprising return of William Burnside, the Captain America of the 1950s, who presumably had met his end in a 1979 story when making a fatal attempt to break free of the hold of Dr. Faustus, who had effectively shattered his identity as Captain America by first having him murder his young partner, Bucky, and then installing him as the Grand Director of a white supremacist group. Incredibly, the super-soldier serum which he'd administered to himself and Bucky (in the hope that they could help the legend of the original Cap and Bucky live on) was a factor in his survival then; but he awakened only to find that Faustus was conditioning him for another task, this time furthering the agenda of the Red Skull.

Once that scheme had met defeat, Burnside slipped away in the confusion, only to resurface in early 2010--having finally been left to himself to pick up the pieces of his life and move forward in some way as Captain America, his unbalanced mind still rejecting the America that he'd found himself in. To that end, he returns to his roots in Boise, Idaho, where writer Ed Brubaker lets us inside that mind to get a sense of what preoccupies this man.

It's a fine line that Brubaker walks in his narrative, given how rare it is that someone who is insane has the presence of mind to acknowledge that fact to the point of struggling to suppress it. Burnside's success rate in that respect has been practically nil--for instance, perhaps the moment in '72 in which he recognized that he'd been venting his rage against the original Captain America... and of course when, as the Grand Director, he attempted to break away from Faustus. Apart from those times, he's pursued objectives that no clear-headed individual would rationalize as respectable, much less worthy of the ideals held by Captain America.

And so it's unfortunate he lands in a city where there resides an organization almost tailor-made to his goals, and to the methods he's willing to use to attain them.

It looks like we've come across an encampment of the Watchdogs, a domestic terrorist group whose actions had a profound effect on yet another Captain America--John Walker, who stepped into the role when the original Cap refused to accede to government control of his activities. In this instance, however, the Watchdogs have found what they believe to be both an asset and a figurehead--and they put him right to work.

It's something of a stretch to see the shield that Burnside is using come away from this encounter intact and without a scratch; we're left to assume that he received an upgrade at some point courtesy of the Skull (who must have grimaced at the prospect).

Meanwhile, Burnside's activities in Idaho have come to the attention of Nick Fury, who passes along the info to Captain America (currently with Bucky Barnes, the former Winter Soldier, in the role). Fury's intelligence on the Watchdogs is enough for Bucky, along with Sam Wilson (the Falcon), to map out a plan for Bucky to infiltrate the group and investigate, which would eventually lead to nabbing Burnside. But they have underestimated their target--and he has his own plans for Bucky.

For his part, Bucky is aware of the likelihood that he'll be recognized by Burnside, but decides to risk going ahead with becoming a Watchdog "recruit" regardless. Yet it's the one part of Brubaker's story which comes across as contrived, given how the failure of this "plan" of Bucky's is telegraphed almost from the moment of its inception. How exactly does one operate under cover, while expecting to be "made" by the enemy? Brubaker's only apparent method of moving forward is to put it out there, by having Bucky himself admit how short-sighted he's being: "I know Bad Cap will recognize me, if my cover isn't already blown... but we gotta find out their plan." And even the Falcon is used to smooth things over: "Steve warned me your idea of tactical planning was basically 'rush in and get captured'." Fury, on the other hand, would have read these two the riot act (while hopefully dressing down Brubaker at the same time).

So what do you think is going to happen when Bucky decides to confront Burnside, given that "Bad Cap" and the Watchdogs have had loads of time to work out what they're going to do? To put it simply, both Bucky at the camp and the Falcon in town are taken like rank amateurs.

Though for what it's worth, we do get treated to a pretty amazing display of "Cap" in action.

It looks like the Watchdogs have not only dealt with their "infiltrators," but Bucky and Falc have also handed them the means to make their ultimate plan operational.

But what's up with that Bucky uniform back at camp? Whatever Cap and the Watchdogs are planning, Burnside is out to send a broader message--and Bucky, as Bucky, appears to be playing some part in that message, though it seems clear that Burnside also wants to re-establish the comfort zone he remembers from the 1950s.

As for the Falcon, he finds himself captive in a train out of control and packed with Watchdogs and explosives, headed for a train station outside of Las Vegas where a corporate lobbyist conference is taking place. His captors believe that the Falcon, bound and without his costume's wings, poses no threat--but this time it's the Watchdogs who are in for a surprise, courtesy of a man who received his training from Captain America.

What follows is an additional solid eight pages of the Falcon giving a full demonstration of that training by overcoming the train's large contingent of Watchdogs before freeing its captive engineer, and discovering that the planned explosion in Vegas is only a distraction for the Watchdogs' main target on the Nevada-Arizona border--specifically, the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, where "Cap" and Bucky are headed.

Soon enough, Bucky finally discovers the nature of this domestic terrorist threat--and why the agenda of this unstable Captain America is perfectly aligned with that of the Watchdogs. The question is: Can he do anything about it?

Of course, with the Falcon still his hostage (or so he believes), Burnside has the luxury of time in giving Bucky every chance to come over to his way of thinking--and since they are both products of their past, he likely feels he has a good chance of finding common ground with Bucky. Yet Bucky also has been biding his time--and when the hold his captor has over him vanishes, he makes it clear that in spite of the costume he wears, it's the successor to Captain America that Burnside now faces.

In a way, it's as if we're watching the battle at the Torch of Friendship once more--Cap vs. Cap, with each trying to convince the other that they're fighting for what's right. But unlike then, there is a deadly explosive device which must be prevented from being detonated--or must be detonated, depending on whose perspective we're looking at things from--and each of these fighters has that uppermost in their mind.

With the tide appearing to turn, the Falcon, having dealt with the train threat, has finally arrived and engages the Watchdogs while the two main players continue in this drama. As he's made clear in parts of this story, Bucky still harbors an intent to somehow reach the man who wears this uniform which has such history and dedication attached to it; but despite having good enough reason to believe that beneath that uniform there is an earnest man who wishes to honor it, he's had ample evidence to realize that man will not, cannot surface past the misguided maniac he faces. And when the moment comes to act one way or the other, Bucky doesn't hesitate to make the choice he must.

Even so, the closing panels of this story fit the see-sawing emotions that Bucky has associated with his foe since the beginning, perhaps due to the fact that Burnside--"Cap"--looked and sounded like Steve Rogers, betrayed only by his vile words and his murderous temperament. If the search parties were successful, there's little doubt that Bucky would plan a fitting memorial even for such a man--but despite his vigil, even Bucky appears to realize that there was no helping this Captain America, in life or in death.

COMING UP:

Burnside gets a few words anyway--from Steve Rogers.

Captain America #s 602-605 Script: Ed Brubaker Pencils: Luke Ross Inks: Butch Guice (with Luke Ross) Letterer: Joe Caramagna