The New, Improved A.I.M.

 

By 1990, writer Mark Gruenwald appeared to have coordinated the Captain America and Quasar books to bring more of a focus to Advanced Idea Mechanics (aka A.I.M.), the criminal organization which advanced its agenda of world conquest in the pages of both Tales Of Suspense and Strange Tales and, of course, is known for its creation of the Cosmic Cube as well as the Adaptoid. But times change--and with the elimination of the ambitious M.O.D.O.K. (with the assistance of the Serpent Society), AIM's new Chairman of the Board, Alessandro Brannex, assembles prospective clients in order to make a shocking announcement that fundamentally changes AIM's mission statement and reorders its priorities to reflect a more practical use of its research and development scientists and resources--an announcement which no doubt stuns the collective criminal factions present, as well as we longtime readers.

In addition, AIM has improved on MODOK with the creation of another "mental organism" unit (hopefully taking greater care to ensure its loyalty and subservience to its makers):

As for AIM's pitch, all assembled appear to be receptive but holding off on placing any orders for the time being (though having no objections to sticking around for the free refreshments). But two in attendance are ready to approach Brannex with a lucrative offer involving a certain pair of quantum bands, an offer too good for Brannex and his Board to pass up.

AIM being AIM, our two clients have been identified as aliens, whom we recognize from the pages of Captain Marvel and The Avengers as Kree bio-scientist Dr. Minerva and the Kree soldier Captain Atlas. Considering their interest in Quasar's wrist bands, no doubt they won't complain if AIM sells them the real thing rather than duplicates; but as for how AIM will go about obtaining them, Brannex has already indicated that MODAM will get its "her" chance to shine.

And she seems pretty eager to take a crack at it, doesn't she?

The Final Fate of Counter-Earth!

 

If you were a reader of Bronze Age comics, then you've probably run across a few stories featuring the doomed world of Counter-Earth--a duplicate of our own Earth which was positioned in orbit on the far side of the sun, created with the best of intentions by the High Evolutionary in order to be home to a race of humanity which had none of the violent tendencies of those populating our own world (which is where I suppose the "counter" in its name comes from). Introduced in the origin story of the character who came to be known as (Adam) Warlock, we watched in shock and sadness as one of the Evolutionary's earlier creations, the vengeful Man-Beast, took advantage of the Evolutionary's lapse into a deep sleep after his labors to board the scientist's moonship and unravel his work by introducing the savage traits of our own species to those on the Evolutionary's new world--a world that the Man-Beast now declared "beyond redemption."

With the Evolutionary poised to destroy his work in order to erase the tragedy of a second Earth now a violent mirror of the first, Warlock, a witness to the travesty, offered to do what he could to fight the Man-Beast's influence on this world and prove to the Evolutionary that this race was deserving of life. The bargain was accepted, and Warlock succeeded in at least bringing an end to the Man-Beast. (Or so he believed at the time.)

In the interim, we were treated to several stories in other titles that involved the humans of Counter-Earth--the Hulk having the occasion to encounter that Earth's Bruce Banner, and, later, being helpless to save Warlock from falling into the hands of the Man-Beast and being put to death (or so it seemed). Counter-Earth also found itself vulnerable to a certain world-ravager whom the High Evolutionary met in defiance:

Over the years, we've seen other instances of Counter-Earths take their place in comics lore. If I remember correctly (I wasn't exactly enamored with stories having to do with Onslaught), the "pocket dimension" created by Franklin Richards to shunt those heroes who sacrificed their lives meeting the attack of Onslaught housed a planet that was given the name "Counter-Earth," a world eventually brought into our universe and renamed "Planet Doom" (after the good Doctor) and later visited by the Thunderbolts. In addition, the Evolutionary took another crack at creating another Counter-Earth--this one inhabited by his New Men (though they'd find the Evolutionary less of a benefactor), while at one time even attempting to merge his creation with our own Earth.

But as for the first world to be known as Counter-Earth--well, we did, regrettably, use the word "doomed" in its introduction, to be sure.

Which dooms us to explore yet another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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What was the fate of the original Counter-Earth?

You'd Better Shape Up At Camp Hammond, Ladies

 

As my interest in collecting comic books started to wane sometime around the mid-1990s, I found myself beginning to "taper off" the habit of steadfastly sticking with a complete run of a series and instead shifting to a more selective posture in reading new comics, giving a new series a fair chance to hold my attention before cutting it loose when that threshold was reached. No regrets since; in fact, I sometimes wonder if that should have been the way to enjoy a comics habit all along. :) Twenty-five years later, however, I've surprisingly found myself giving a second glance to those books that were dropped from my reading list, a number of them having long since been forgotten but are now proving to be interesting to revisit after unbagging and turning their pages once more. It's something of a mixed bag (heh) laying eyes on them again, since I was hardly expecting them to have any more staying power with me than they did before; yet having diverted from collecting to reminiscing in written form via the PPC, I've found that my perspective has changed quite a lot in the decades since, which makes these old issues virtually new again to the eye. Consequently, for at least a few of these series I've found myself more appreciative of both story and art in certain respects--something which became more apparent as this Easter egg hunt took me from the late 1990s and into the 2000s when Marvel would get its second wind.

Here, then, is a brief rundown of a selection of those books which had a limited run (for Marvel and even more so for myself) as opposed to their mainstream series--and since the notion for this retrospective occurred alphabetically as I was thumbing through the top of my comics shelves, we start with those books which spun off from one of Marvel's most successful franchises. (Synopses are edited from various sources.)

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Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective - September 1993 (4-issue series, monthly)
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Issue(s) Collected: #s 1-4

Synopsis: The sequel to "Citizen Kang" guest-stars Thunderstrike, US Agent, and War Machine (with other Avengers dealt in as needed). Terminatrix, who deposed Kang, attempts to expand Chronopolis beyond Kang's seven-millennium boundaries, and discovers a shocking secret about time.

"Citizen Kang" was a crossover event taking place in a number of annuals prior to this series, an event I also collected mostly because I was collecting annuals at the time but otherwise failed to make an impression on me beyond its loose reference to the Orson Welles film. I was intrigued by the fact that Terminatrix is portrayed as both a more-than-a capable adversary while also written as someone who may have bitten off more than she can chew in assuming the role of Kang for all intents and purposes.

Parts And Labor

 

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

Demolished!

When you take into consideration the fact that the story of the character known as Deathlok--the cyborg assassin/military operative tracking his targets in a not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future--took place not in his own series, but as a mid-1970s feature in the Astonishing Tales title, you would have to consider him something of a success story at the time, having managed to establish a steady readership even on a bi-monthly publication schedule that would delay each story installment for an interminable sixty days. Reader loyalty appeared far from the mind of Editor Marv Wolfman, however, when the final Deathlok story hit the stands in 1976*, without warning or acknowledgment of its cessation--its cover giving every indication of continuation for the series.

*As it happened, the last issue also coincided with the end of the Astonishing Tales book itself.

Certainly not the first issue to end a publication run abruptly and leave a big question mark hanging over its place on the spinner rack as to the resolution of its current storyline. (Silver Surfer #18 being one such example that comes to mind.)

Yet Deathlok's sudden disappearance following his encounter with the mysterious individual called Godwulf would be followed up with several spotty appearances that would have him interacting with individuals and timelines which existed nearly a decade before his own dismal future--appearances taking place in three separate titles in a span of over six years, though given that length of time it perhaps comes as no surprise that there seemed to be no story plot in effect that would tie these instances together coherently. Still, thanks in part to the covers being produced for those appearances, it's to Deathlok's credit that his character was still capable of attracting reader interest.

In essence, each story would make use of Deathlok as both a deadly threat and a victim of the circumstances he'd found himself in, as seen through the eyes of the respective books' writers at the time: David Kraft, Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald (with Ralph Macchio), and J.M. DeMatteis. It was DeMatteis who would finally break the cycle of Deathlok "guest-starring" in Marvel continuity and make an effort to resolve his situation in his own timeline--but stringing together his prior appearances in the past to get to that point would take some doing.

Quality of Life... Harbinger of Death!

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

The Hulk Is Dead... Long Live The Hulk!

Following a battle with the uncanny U-Foes, which was broadcast and played out before the eyes of the world, the incredible Hulk--now controlled by the mind of Bruce Banner--successfully petitioned for amnesty, on the grounds that he was no longer a menace to society. And in a scene that no one present would soon forget, Banner was thereafter granted and accepted a presidential pardon which wiped the slate clean for him.

(Though taking your bows in the same shredded pants that people associated with the rampaging, monstrous Hulk isn't the greatest visual.)

If you were one of the many innocents who suffered financial loss or had their lives otherwise destroyed by the man-monster, tough cookies--though to be fair, your grievance is with the Hulk, and not the man who was for all intents and purposes a helpless bystander (albeit willingly living the life of a fugitive, rather than turning himself in). To Banner's credit, he only wishes now to return to a life of research and isn't seeking to be more visible on the hero circuit.

That's not to say he's averse to a truckload of ticker tape and applause along the way.

"I, Reed Richards, Being Of Sound Mind And Body..."

Back when MTV was having a heyday with its successful "Unplugged" series of performances, Marvel Editor-In-Chief Mark Gruenwald threw his weight behind producing two 6-issue titles in the mid-1990s that capitalized on the "unplugged" label but otherwise carried no relevance in regard to the word itself.  One series was published featuring the Avengers--and one with the Fantastic Four, its masthead revised accordingly. (Though the additional lettering left something to be desired.)

Looking back at my own copies of this series, I noticed that I stopped well short of collecting the entire run (I never did start on the Avengers book), perhaps not wanting to reward what seemed to be a poorly-conceived marketing ploy; but the issue being profiled here today may surprise you as much as it did myself after pulling it off the shelf to give it a second read.  Its story follows up on what appeared to be the death of Reed Richards at the hand of Doctor Doom--details that were conspicuously absent in the regular FF title, where things were happening at a breakneck pace and the remainder of the team as well as their allies being given no time to fully process Reed's death, much less mourn the man. Nor was there a formal service for Reed (if I'm remembering correctly)--perhaps in part because, for a time, Sue was convinced that Reed was still alive, even though Ben and Johnny were sure and weren't hesitant to voice their feelings on the matter to Sue.

Inevitably, however, Sue had to accept Reed's death and move on--and she does so by observing the formality of arranging for the reading of Reed's last will and testament, a more personal drama which would have been almost inappropriate to wedge into the back-to-back crises occurring in the main title but which can be given its full due in the limited series without interruption. But while Sue may now be prepared to see this through, the twist to this story is in finding that Ben Grimm, the Thing and Reed's best friend, is visibly on edge and short-tempered at the thought of a legal proceeding that would effectively make Reed's passing a reality to be acknowledged and, in his own case, admitted.

...From Beyond The Grave!

In case you missed Parts 1 and 2 featuring the introduction of Her, here's how things broke down, in a nutshell:

• Following his death at Thanos' hand, the "godslayer" known as Adam Warlock was interred on the world known as Counter-Earth, a duplicate of the real Earth created by the High Evolutionary and placed in orbit on the far side of the sun--the same world where the being formerly known as Him reappeared to begin a new chapter in his life as Warlock, agreeing to purge this second Earth of its evil in exchange for the Evolutionary's promise not to destroy it. Yet before Warlock engaged in his fatal encounter with Thanos, he dropped by the Evolutionary's asteriod base in a fury, claiming that the Evolutionary had reneged on his word and destroyed his creation and the four billion lives on it. In retaliation, Warlock slew the Evolutionary, before departing on his mission to thwart the mad plan of Thanos to extinguish every star in the universe.
• Three years later (our time), the woman christened as Her (f/k/a Paragon)--the successor to Him, also created by the group of scientists known as the Enclave--appears and announces her intention to locate Warlock and mate with him so that the two of them may create the perfect race (let's hope that the Enclave provided Warlock with a lot of stamina). Yet after learning from the self-proclaimed goddess, Moondragon, that Warlock is now deceased, Her makes the incredible claim that she can restore him to life. To that end, she boards Moondragon's ship along with Alicia Masters (who has expressed a wish to accompany them), and the three set a course for Counter-Earth. However...
• Upon reaching the coordinates of the planet, they discover that it has vanished from orbit, a fact that comes as a surprise to the Evolutionary as well when he learns of it. And with the newly arrived Thing and his team-up companion, Starhawk, who have agreed to see this situation through with the others, the six now pursue the particle trail of the missing world, intent on discovering the identity of whoever committed the incredible act of stealing it.*

*Given his modus operandi, smart money would peg the Stranger as our man, eh?

And with that answer forthcoming, the conclusion to this three-part story still waits in the wings--where we learn if Her can deliver on her promise, and Adam Warlock rejoins the land of the living! But what exactly is going to reach out from the grave?

The Coming Of... Her!

While there unfortunately aren't a lot of the team-up stories from the '70s and '80s that I could point to and say that they were well worth the dimes and quarters you and I shelled out for them, there is one story from early 1980 in the Thing's team-up mag that may surprise you as being both compelling and entertaining, with a well-conceived plot and an engaging cast of characters moving it along. It also serves as an intriguing and informal sequel to a two-part story from three years earlier, when Marvel Two-In-One again came into play to provide a now-classic moment in Marvel history.

Given what we now understand to be the potential of what eventually came to be known as the Infinity Gems, it probably seems a little careless for these heroes to abandon the soul gem and simply leave it out in the open for anyone to come along and claim for their own. But at the time, Thanos had only thought to use the gem and other "soul gems" (not yet upgraded to Infinity Gems) as a power source for a weapon--and since Thanos had been slain by a manifestation of Warlock, perhaps Mar-vell and the others felt the danger of someone else using the gem in the same manner had passed. Admittedly very short-sighted of them, just to leave a symbol of tribute at Warlock's grave site--but no doubt helpful to other writers who might want to someday take advantage of the fact that the scene leaves the door open for Warlock's return.

And that time indeed arrives, when a powerful being interrupts a pleasant evening between Ben Grimm and his lady love, Alicia Masters--one who, like her golden-skinned predecessor, has emerged from a cocoon and is intent on following a trail that has over a decade of dust covering it. And in some way, Alicia is the key to her plans.

The Thing doesn't make any headway against this powerful woman who the story has no choice but to refer to as a pronoun lettered with emphasis. Unlike Him, Her hasn't yet begun announcing herself as such; but thanks to a helpful origin page laid out by artist Jerry Bingham, writer Mark Gruenwald makes it clear that she once had another identity (and gender), courtesy of the Enclave--the same scientists who created Him.

So we've learned both what this woman's purpose is and why she's altered her form, though her reason for abducting Alicia--as a lead to the whereabouts of Him, given that Alicia was the last to encounter Him on Earth--seems futile, since she has no knowledge of what's happened to him since that time.

Meanwhile, frantic with worry, the Thing returns to the Baxter Building and begins to use the equipment there to search for Alicia, though he receives some unexpected help in that regard.

Nor is Ben alone in receiving assistance, as Alicia and Her discover while continuing their conversation--in a scene that serves to introduce the final cast member who will join the others in seeing this story through.

It's a startling claim that Her makes, to be sure--and while in hindsight it's possible to predict the outcome, given that this sort of thing has been attempted before, we know so little about Her's ability at this point that it's still shaping up to be a tantalizing quest these people are undertaking.

As for the Thing coming along for the ride, Her is adamant that "such an imperfect being" can't be permitted to do so--and when the Thing and Starhawk locate the group just in time to see them boarding Moondragon's ship, hostilities erupt and render the subject of additional passengers moot.

But there's little doubt that the Thing is going to do whatever it takes to ensure Alicia's safety, while Starhawk clearly wishes to investigate Her further--and so we're all set to embark on this cosmic quest, with the goal being no less than to restore a life. But despite the assurances of Her, how will it all really end??

...And He Shall Crush The Stranger!

Having recently seen the fate of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse--alien conquerors whose return visit to our planet was challenged and repelled by the Fantastic Four--it might be interesting to pay a visit to the laboratory world of the enigmatic Stranger and learn what others have been trapped and imprisoned there, without hope of reprieve or escape. We know that at one time, both Magneto and the Toad shared that unfortunate fate, and were only able to return due to an experiment conducted by Dane Whitman, the future Black Knight, which inadvertently retrieved the two; but thanks to writer and stalwart Marvel researcher Mark Gruenwald, we'll discover that there have been many other Marvel characters who have ended up in captivity on the Stranger's world, which has been a handy if unofficial holding area for characters whose prior stories have conveniently left the door open for their reappearance but haven't yet been followed up on by other writers.

But most interesting of all is the catalyst for bringing them all out of mothballs in one story, himself a character who, like the others, found himself in creative limbo--the Over-Mind, ready to resume his path to conquest and eager to destroy the one he blames for ending his mission of crushing the universe. The Over-Mind was rather handily dealt with by the Stranger when the former made his move to fulfill his original mission; but escaping his fate, his form and power were eventually co-opted by a collective of six psychics who had been former captives of the Secret Empire, and the character segued to the pages of The Defenders. Yet shortly before the Defenders were reorganized and rechristened, the Over-Mind simply disappeared from the book without explanation, summarily dropped from the roster and never referred to in the mag again.  (And not long after an issue is dedicated to the psychics coming to terms with their new existence as the Over-Mind and being formally accepted for "membership" by the others in the group.  Seems like a lot of trouble to go through, only to then jettison the character.)

When we encounter the Over-Mind in Gruenwald's tale, he's regained his faculties and apparently looking to settle the score with the Stranger with a vengeance. And having enthralled various members of the Squadron Supreme to do his bidding, he arrives at the Stranger's lab world to exact that vengeance in full.

The Strongest One There Is

In 1967, the "Who's stronger?" debates that readers often engaged in which attempted to establish whether X character was stronger than Y were going, er, strong in the letters pages of Marvel titles, probably because there were so few super-powered heroes to choose from at the time. It was a subject that everyone seemed to have an opinion on, and the back-and-forths between readers were harmless and good-natured. For the most part, Marvel staff that responded in print remained coy and neutral as far as providing a definitive, set-in-stone answer to such a question; after all, the interest and enthusiasm being generated by these debates were all a publisher could ask for, helping to maintain "Marvel mania" as well as contribute to the promotion of titles that some readers may not have sampled yet. Keeping those embers burning probably seemed more sensible than dousing them prematurely.

At the time, the high bar in strength was set with Thor, even as a battle between himself and the Hulk in early '65 sought to make fans of both characters happy. Two years earlier, though, the big debate was between the Hulk and the Thing. You could have knocked me over with a feather when Marvel actually (kinda sorta) settled the matter in the Q & A segment of the '63 Fantastic Four Annual. But look how cleverly their response is worded--leaving room for dissent, while also describing how the Thing compensates for the Hulk's strength advantage:

So while the answer was satisfactory, no one could really point to it and say that Marvel had put the issue to rest. (I'd say FF #25 did that.)

In '67, it was interesting to see the new kid on the block take himself out of the running completely, though admittedly there couldn't really be much argument on the point given his competition at the time.

What a difference almost a decade makes, as Mark Gruenwald and artist Bob Layton supplement the 1981 Amazing Spider-Man Annual with a more extensive chart that ranks Spider-Man's strength with a more broad assembly of heroes that had since been introduced. And even though the "Who's stronger?" debate has long since wound down, I found myself shifting a few characters around in instances where I didn't totally agree with their placement.

For instance, if Iron Man is going to use the argument that he belongs in the top category because he can charge his armor to attain that strength level (if only for a few moments), you can make the same case for the Silver Surfer, who can also use his power to increase his physical strength. Regardless, perhaps Iron Man and Namor need to be in same category, since they've clearly demonstrated they're well-matched on land. And since Namor has gone toe-to-toe with the Hulk in both environments, he should probably be moved up to the top tier. (I'm still on the fence about it.)

I also have trouble believing that Spider-Man could survive the weight of a jetliner wing falling on him, as Colossus did, to say nothing of brushing off the impact and resuming the fight with his foe. I'd move Colossus up a notch--along with the Valkyrie, who should be able to more than hold her own against Doc Samson. She can be replaced with the Beast--he well outclasses Captain America and several others in the "mediumweights" in strength.

Serious Issues Call For A Serious Bar Tab

"...Things will never be the same."

Captain America uttered those words on the Kree homeworld of Hala following the events of "Operation: Galactic Storm," an effort by the Avengers to put a halt to the war between the Kree and the Shi'ar, two alien empires whose forces were using the star of Earth's solar system to power their respective stargates but endangering the sun's stability in the process. Failing in their mission, the Avengers were helpless as the Shi'ar detonated a nega-bomb which effectively destroyed the Kree empire and wiped out their civilization and population, with only a fraction of survivors left to witness the conquering Shi'ar take control of their worlds.

Fighting for their lives while battling forces of both empires, some of the Avengers began to question their own code of conduct, under which they had sworn never to kill while battling their foes. During the war, things eventually reached a point where Cap, the team leader at the time, found it necessary to make himself perfectly clear on the subject.

Following the nega-bomb's detonation, the Avengers, as well as the Kree who remained alive, discovered that it was the Kree Supreme Intelligence that had secretly manipulated both sides into declaring war, in an insane plot to rid the Kree of their evolutionary stagnation--a plot that cost the lives of untold billions. That revelation spurred those Avengers who had favored the use of deadly force to break ranks and seek out the Supreme Intelligence in order to end its life, convinced that the Intelligence was an artificial, non-living entity and not truly alive. Yet even when those Avengers discovered evidence that the Intelligence could well be a living organism, they nevertheless were resolved to complete their deadly task--and the Black Knight used his neural sword to make the fatal strike.

And so, with Operation: Galactic Storm concluded, Cap must face the grim task of how to reconcile what the Avengers have done with his own role on the team. Will things ever be the same again for the Avengers? How, exactly, does this team move forward from committing premeditated murder?

Pleasure Before Business

It's hard to argue that the cover to Captain America #395 is a little off-putting in terms of story interest--but that term shouldn't be confused with "offbeat," since it's a solid Cap tale that moves things along "between stories," as it were, while the cover itself is taken a bit out of context.

Written by Mark Gruenwald and drawn quite well by artists Rik Levins and Danny Bulanadi, the story continues Gruenwald's well-received run on the title and typifies his style for handling a Cap issue: packed to the brim with good moments of characterization, while being somewhat nonchalant in the presentation of its action sequences. That cautious assessment made, you'll find it overall to be good reading, while doing a nice job of holding your attention. What you'll find here is basically a great deal of minutiae--jumping back and forth between Cap's day-to-day administrative functions as leader of the Avengers and the machinations of his foes, each scene replete with the intriguing details that Gruenwald has a talent for making interesting enough to write a story around (a style which his artists are usually excellent at interpreting). There are times when he can go a bit overboard in that respect--after all, a story can be weighed down if its dialog or details are too mundane--but the breaks between scenes do a fair job of keeping all of the plates spinning.

It's been about 3½ years since Gruenwald mandated that Captain Marvel be jettisoned from her role as leader of the Avengers and Captain America returned to the position, and this issue clearly demonstrates that Gruenwald enjoys having him there. Cap runs Avengers' operations like a taut ship, yet comfortably so--using his time efficiently, working well with his staff, having a good relationship with the team's NSC liaison, and checking in with individual Avengers when circumstances warrant. It's hard to imagine Cap having a desk job, but I doubt anyone could choose one that's more stimulating for him, given how smoothly and effortlessly he keeps tabs on what he needs to--and with his feet propped up, no less.

A nice touch that Levins adds with Steve's sketchbook. (The lady is Rachel Leighton, the former criminal known as Diamondback, whom Cap has been seeing personally. His other sketch needs no elaboration, of course.) By the way, don't you love it when the boss in some fictional scene is notified of a call on Line 2, and the boss tells the person who took the call to "put it through"? Steve, catch up! It's 1991 and switchboards are long gone; if there's a "Line 2," the call is already put through--it's just waiting for you to pick it up on your end!

And while we're on the subject of the Skull, Levins segues nicely to a scene that demonstrates that evil-doers can also be adept at handling administrative tasks. It's just that some know how to enjoy the perks of their job, even when they're still on the clock.

(You know, I don't really want to know how these two worked around that mask's hideous teeth during their... meeting.)

Meanwhile, Eric Masterson, in his new role as Thor, is having a slightly more professional meeting with Cap, who's reviewing one of Eric's recent battles. Since becoming the new Thor, Eric is learning on the job and naturally has far less experience in battle than his predecessor--and, by extension, none of the experience of being an Avenger, tending to go with his gut and at times not necessarily making the right call. Because of his abilities and appearance, Eric has become, in essence, a de facto Avenger--but the difference between Thor and Eric has become clear to Cap, who handles the situation quite well under the circumstances.

Elsewhere, Mother Night (whom you may remember as Suprema but went on to become a close aide to the Red Skull) is auditioning candidates to become the Skull's new chief operative. Unfortunately for the three prospects, Mother Night's criteria boil down to a single rule: kill or be killed.

Fortunately, Cutthroat has survived--*ahem* making the cut, so to speak, and winning the position simply because he woke up. From here he goes on to train with the Taskmaster, who has his own harsh methods for assessing an operative's qualifications.

Finally, we return to Cap, who's investigating the Red Skull possibly being at large by returning to "Skullhouse," with Eric along for training in the field. Yet instead of the Skull, they find a rather sticky surprise--an attack set on them by a deadly scientist often retained by the Skull due to his deadly, unorthodox brilliance.  As you might guess, the Skull is well informed of intruders at his former residence, though it's clear he has a different interpretation altogether of the phrase "business before pleasure."

We've seen from a prior appearance that the creature known as "Doughboy" is a formidable weapon in Zola's command. Whatever the fate of Cap and Thor, Gruenwald gives it the same "to be continued" treatment as he does the other dangling plots in this issue, including the return of Crossbones. If you can bear the suspense, we'll touch base with each of these loose ends next. (But what do you say we leave the Skull and the Viper to their own devices?)

Captain America #395 Script: Mark Gruenwald Pencils: Rik Levins Inks: Danny Bulanadi Letterer: Joe Rosen