Cap gets a cool bike. Also…
The first appearance Super-Patriot’s Bucky squad, a group of beer-drinking America firsters who beat up college students and immigrants: Left Winger, Right Winger, and Battlestar. Battlestar will be the most interesting of the group, largely because he’s a black man allied with Walker who may not be a white supremacist but who often comes very close to being one. There’s a lot of overlap on a Venn diagram between Walker and White Supremacy, is all I’m saying.
Battlestar has his own culture biases…
In this issue, all three of Walker’s gang are dressed like Captain America, but they’ll get unique costumes later.
Walker’s gang crashes a Live Aid type benefit concert starring Willie Nelson (above)…
…And others, like Tina Turner, Prince, and (who’s the guy with the guitar?).
He and Cap eventually fight, and literally wear each other out.
Cap is so tired, he doesn’t even chase Super-Patriot when he runs away.
At the end of the issue, it’s a preview for an upcoming story: Late at night in Washington an IRS auditor connects Steve Rogers to the Super Soldier experiments, figuring out his secret.
On re-read, these are interesting ideas that aren’t executed as well as I’d like. Or maybe the execution is just dated, given that modern comics are more capable of telling mature stories.
Paul Neary (breakdowns), John Beatty (finishes)