What If? #4

What if the Invaders Had Stayed Together After World War Two?

Writers: Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins

Artist: Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia

Collected in:

• What If? Classics vol. 1 (Marvel Comics, Dec 29th 2004)
• Captain America: Patriot (Marvel Comics, Feb 16th 2011)
• Captain America: The Legacy of Captain America (Marvel Comics, Apr 13th 2011)
• Captain America and Bucky: Old Wounds (Marvel Comics, Jun 13th 2012)
• This issue is available as part of Marvel Unlimited, and can be purchased on Marvel's Comixology site.

Continuity Notes

-        A What If? tale, it has since been accepted as part of the mainstream 616 universe. Perhaps because of the freedom the What If? concept brings with it, it introduces us to a lot of concepts that may not have been seen fit in a regular issue.

-        The death of Adolf Hitler is perhaps the craziest concept. There are conspiracy theories around the subject everywhere (one of the most recent publications being Grey Wolf): of how his body was switched for a double, or that Hitler and Eva escaped into hiding, but none are more insane than the theory that a combusting Ally (the Human Torch) left him and his bunker to flame. The actual suicide occurred April 30th 1945 at the Führerbunker whilst Berlin was being blockaded, less than two weeks after Steve and Bucky, and also Roosevelt, had been lost from the war effort. Unlike in reality, he is seen placing the gun to his head in the presence of one officer, Otto Günsche (who was actually there at his suicide in real life), his newly-wed wife Eva Braun already dead (erroneously written as cyamide poisioning in this issue.) The Torch and Toro offer custody, but Hitler forces the flame in his direction as a final (and successful) attempt at suicide.

-        Hitler survived the war - at least, in some form. The character of the Hate-Monger appears in Fantastic Four #21, later revealed to be a perfect clone of Hitler produced by Arnim Zola to transcend death (in that issue, the reasons for Hitler's post-war survival are left ambiguous, but still suspect.) Zola created a clone of at least one other member of the party: Johann Smith, or the Red Skull, as revealed in Uncanny Avengers #1 where his cloned form is brought into the modern day.

-        It's an event which has been re-presented numerous times, most recently in The Torch #7 and Invaders Now! #1. In that issue, Rockslide and Anole ask the Torch to confirm if he actually did kill Hitler. He says:

 "There are plenty of things I did in the war I'd rather forget... ...but setting that monster on fire and watching him burn... ...I just regret I could only do it once."

-        In Spider-Man: Fear Itself, Silver Sable informs Spider-Man of the reality of Hitler's death and 'resurrection.'

-        JFK even appears in this issue, at this time a state representative who is targeted by Adam II. In the end, this becomes the scene of Naslund's death, little more than a year after he took up the title. The scene is explored in more detail in Captain America: Patriot #1, and again in Captain America and Bucky #625. The speech JFK gave on July 4th is available online at the JFK Library.

-        The concept of the legacy Captain America was first touched upon in Captain America #153, which introduced William Burnside, who took the role of Captain America from 1953-55. This issue reveals there to be two who preceded him: William Naslund and Jeff Mace.

-        Naslund states "back in '42 [...] I was another masked crusader--the "Spirit of '76"!" As the issue notes, Davis had first appeared in The Invaders #14-15 as a batboy for the New York Yankees, and Naslund as the Spirit of '76 in Marvel Premiere #30.

-        Truman says: "This country's lost three great men in the past few weeks --first, President Roosevelt, God rest his soul-- --then, a few days later, Captain America and young Bucky Barnes." Roosevelt died of a cerebral haemorrhage on April 12th, immediately succeeded by Truman. Sentinel of Liberty #12 shows us that Steve and Bucky left for that fateful mission on the very same afternoon Roosevelt died; Man Out of Time #1 states that the mission itself occurred on April 18th, 6 days later.

-        Truman describes the history of the Invaders:

"It's no secret that the Invaders were the Allies' ace in the hole from late 1941 on: seven of you, by mid-42, joined by others from time to time... You seven were the core, though-- a fighting unit second to none-- past, present or probably future! Well, Mussolini fell in '43-- and the Nazi swastika's crumbling right this minute--"

-        The Watcher's dialogue implies the All-Winners Squad only stayed together through 1945 and 1946. Obviously, as later sources would show, the team remained together until 1948, following Bucky's shooting.

-        Page 19 retells the Torch's origins, from Marvel Comics #1. The Watcher describes this as "seven years ago."

-        Captain America and Bucky #627 and Captain America: Patriot #1 show the 'fallout' from these 1946 events - namely, Fred mourning the death of William Naslund that night, and Mace being officially appointed to the position of Captain America by one Agent Skinner.

-        The issue spans the period of April 1945 through to Naslund's death on July 4th 1946.

• Pages 1-4 - The supposed death of Steve and Bucky (April 18th, per Man Out of Time #1), as first seen in Avengers #4.
• Pages 5-7 - Hitler's death and the appointment of the new Captain America and Bucky (April 30th)
• Pages 8-14 - The Liberty Legion learn of their re-assignment to the Invaders (May). Farrow describes that "the remnants of the Wehrmacht surrendered and in Bavaria and Western Austria. The war in Europe is all but over." After the fall of Berlin, a number of German states surrendered in quick succession from 4th-8th May. Farrow is indeed correct: VE Day would occur on 8th May, mere days or even hours after this scene.
• Pages 15-16 - May-August, the later days of the war. The Watcher says "the Torches paved the way for Allied landings." A series of landings, including British men, occurred through June and July 1945.
• Page 17, panel 2 - The infamous events of Hiroshima (6th August) are shown. "The world was forever changed."
• Page 17 - The surrender of Japan on September 2nd. Truman assigns the Invaders to a new role: the All-Winners Squad. Miss America says "[it's] not too euphonious-- but I guess it'll do."
• Page 18 - The events of All Winners Comics #19. Only two issues were ever produced featuring the superhero team, #19 and 21. The previous 18 issues were actually an anthology; the series would then shift focus to All Teen Comics and Hedy de Vine, clearly entirely different concepts from World War II/post-war super teams.
• Pages 19-34 - the death of William Naslund, Independence Day 1946.

Captain America: Patriot #1-4

Writers: Karl Kesel and Mitch Breitweiser

Cover artist: Mitch Breitweiser

-        This limited series re-examines the history of Jeff Mace, who had been introduced as the Patriot (not to be confused with the present day Patriot, Elijah Bradley, descendent of the other 1940s Captain America, Isaiah Bradley) in the Spring 1941 issue of Human Torch Comics, #3. After a few brief appearances, Mace was resurrected in 1976's What If? #4, taking the place of Captain America from 1946-1950.

-        Although this series was never tied into it (it was released a year beforehand), this series sits great on the bookshelf next to Brubaker's Captain America and Bucky, which in its second arc explores the post-war period from Fred Davis' perspective, partner to both William Naslund and Jeff Mace.

-        This series uses a new, art deco design of the Captain America logo to represent Mace's late 1940s incarnation.

Collected in:

• Captain America: Patriot (Marvel Comics, Feb 16 2011), with All-Winners Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 and What If? #4
• The complete series is available as part of Marvel Unlimited.

#1 "Born on the Fourth of July"

Continuity Notes

-        Perhaps appropriately, this issue is titled 'Born on the 4th of July.' Mace's debut appearance as the Patriot coincides here with July 1941, although as his article on the Morgan Shoe Factory incident notes ("it was Independence Day all over again"), it is some days after the holiday. Mace's reference to the "red, white and blue fireworks" of Cap's suit in the first article implies the day he met Cap was actually July 4th, although nothing is explicitly stated. Indeed, the implication of the issue's title is that he was "born out of" the events of the 4th July, as it were. Mace's first comics appearance is actually slightly before this, fighting against another political group in 'The Yellowshirts Turn Yellow!', Human Torch Comics #1. The title is a reference to the book Born on the Fourth of July, an account of the Vietnam War by Ron Covic which was later adapted into the Oliver Stone film.

-        Mace is prompted to take up his superhero role after witnessing Captain America fighting "some surprised swastika-sympathizing saboteurs," and hearing from Mary of a Fifth Columnist labour rally at her parents' business, the Morgan Shoe Factory. He asks Mary: "You know the people in the theater district, right? People who make costumes?" He borrows his namesake from Cap - who calls him "not just a citizen," but "a patriot!"

-        The head of the Daily Bugle here is Mr. Goodman, a reference to the one Martin Goodman who effectively launched Timely Comics in the 1930s. Clearly, Goodman here is modelled on the actual Goodman. The Marvel Universe's Goodman was first seen in Marvels.

Martin Goodman / William Walter Goodman

-       Goodman slams Mace's article for making it "sound like you're Captain America's stateside sidekick." Given there is no direct reference to Bucky, we can infer that these events are prior to Bucky's career.

-        Miss America seems uncertain about Patriot working "with Cap and his team again." It seems to me that these events are actually after Cap and Bucky's death; in What If? #4, after all, Truman notes how the press had already caught wind of their supposed deaths very shortly after.

-      Pages 18-19 retell the events of Naslund's death from What If? #4. We see an unseen moment, previously only referenced, of Patriot taking Naslund's deceased body to the healing facility on Namor's flag-ship, contemplative, before taking up the shield.

-        This issue spans July 4th 1941 through to July 4th 1946, the death of William Naslund.

• Pages 1-3 - July 4th 1941
• Pages 4-7 - July 5th 1941; Mace debuts as the Patriot.
• Page 8 - July 6th 1941
• Page 9 - August through November 1941
• Page 10 - The day following Pearl Harbor, December 8th.
• Page 11 - Daily Bugle colleague, Jack Casey, leaves for the Navy. He would serve multiple tours of duty, but by 1946 would be blue-ticketed based on his homosexuality and later killed himself.
• Page 12 - February-May 1942
• Page 12 - June 1942. The Liberty Legion (Thin Man, Red Raven, Miss America, Patriot Whizzer, Jack Frost and Blue Diamond) form. These events are detailed in Marvel Premiere #29.
• Page 13 - The Liberty Legion hold a press conference.
• Pages 14-15 - December 1943. These events follow Marvel Mystery Comics #50, with Patriot discussing with Mary about her taking up the role of Miss Patriot.
• Pages 16-17 - April 1945. Miss America discusses with Patriot how the Liberty Legion are going to be folded into the Invaders. The team will meet with Truman on this after the death of Captain America, in What If? #4 (May 1946.)
• Pages 18-23 - July 4th 1946. After the events of What If? #4, Agent Skinner officially assigns Mace to the position of Captain America, who in that issue had "took his place... ...using a spare costume I found in the Sub-Mariner's flag-ship!" Skinner says to Mace "Third time's the charm, eh?" 

SKINNER: "See, there's a situation brewing with the Soviets, and the    country-- hell, the whole world--needs Captain America. Now. That's the trouble with a living legend. It has to stay alive."

MACE: "You...you want me to be Captain America?"

SKINNER: "Your country wants you to be Captain America."

MACE: "No. There's only one Captain America. I can never be him. But I can carry on in his name--with his name. That I can do. That would be an honor."

#2 "All-Winners"

Continuity Notes

-        Betsy says "I figured someone calling himself the Patriot for five years was good enough for me."

-        Mary figures out the new Captain America's identity upon hearing the press conference on the radio: "Lowering your voice--nicely done. I'm sure it fools most people. But most people don't have enhanced hearing...or know you like I do, Jeff." She says that he "dropped off the face of the earth a few months back!"

-        Mace says to Mary that Bucky is eighteen years old. Fred would therefore have been born in 1927 or 1928, 2-3 years after the original, James Buchanan Barnes. By the time of his death in December 2011, Fred would be 83 or 84.

-        Jacob Casey's obituary gives his birth date as 1913, making him 32 or 33 by his death in September 1946. The memorial service is held on the 23rd.

-        The final pages show the All-Winners on the half-completed Baxter Building. The idea that the Baxter Building was originally built for the All-Winners Squad was introduced in All-Winners Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1, where we see Mace looking over blueprints from The Leland Baxter Paper Company.

-        April is established to be Mace's birthday.

-        This issue covers events from September 1946 through to the shooting of Bucky on Mace's birthday in April 1948.

•  Pages 1-8 - September 1946
• Pages 8-15 - Two nights later; Mary realises that Mace is Captain America, whilst Betsy informs him of Jacob Casey's suicide. The Torch convinces him that if he attends as Captain America "no one will wear that uniform ever again."
• Pages 15-16 - Jacob's funeral, September 23rd. Patriot and Mary are the only two in attendance.
• Pages 17-18 - The following day; the Patriot burns his suit in response to public controversy over him attending the funeral.
• Page 19 - February-December 1947
• Pages 19-23 - Bucky is shot. These events were first witnessed in Captain America Comics #66, his final Golden Age appearance before his return in the 1950s.

#3 "Truth & Justice"

Continuity Notes

-        This issue picks up the morning after Bucky's shooting in #2, with Davis being operated in hospital.

-        Fred Davis' time after this is glimpsed in Captain America and Bucky #628, where in a flashback we see him drinking in a tavern in Washington DC in Winter 1949. He argues to two patrons that he was Bucky, and fought Baron Zemo.

-        Captain America decides to resign from the All-Winner's Squad, effectively dissolving the group (combined with Bucky's crippling leg injury meaning he can no longer participate.)

-        Another Fantastic Four connection: Mace says that he grew up on Yancy Street, the tenth avenue suburb which would later herald Ben Grimm, the Thing.

-        Agent Skinner determines:

      "We just minimized one of our nation's biggest security risks! [...] Jeff Mace was the last person to see Mary Morgan before she packed her bags and vanished yesterday... ...and the first to see her after she spent the evening with two known communist agents who are trying to acquire atomic secrets."

          Fear of the 'enemy within', even from those 'carrying the flag' (whether literally or not, as is the case with Captain America), would only increase during the McCarthy era. Mary Morgan leaves Jeff, whilst Skinner assigns Betsy Ross to Captain America. "You stay close, you stay alert, you report to me."

#4 "Patriot"

Continuity Notes

-        Under interrogation by Skinner, Mace explains his family heritage, born under the surname 'Masalsky.'

"Russian Jew. My grandparents immigrated to the U.S. in 1887--fleeing the Czar's bloody pogroms. I guess they weren't Russian enough. My grandfather changed the name-- to be more American."

          Throughout the late 19th century, Russia employed a policy of Russification, which sidelined and promoted bloody anti-Semitic pogroms. Following the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II by the People's Will in 1881, this only intensified.

-        Captain America says "I thought sure I'd get a call during the Berlin Blockade last year-- I could've helped there!" The Berlin Blockade, which lasted almost a full year between 24th June 1948 and 12th May 1949, saw post-war Berlin, split by the Potsdam Agreement in 1945, blockaded by Stalin when the British, French and American states grouped together to form West Germany. What followed was 318 days of supply by air, before Stalin abandoned the Blockade in 1949.

-        Golden Girl says "The last ten months have been...thrilling." From February 1950, this would indicate that they began their partnership in April 1949, a full year after Skinner told her that she would "play the perky partner." Likely this is an error in Kessel's dialogue and captions.

-        Fred explains to Cap "...we are looking into getting you a new Bucky." Clearly, this doesn't happen: after a few months further activity as Captain America, the role is dropped until it is picked up again in 1953 by William Burnside and Jack Munroe.

-        At a speech at West Lake Middle School, Captain America teaches the (hilariously ridiculous, and not at all safe) government initiated scheme of "duck and cover" - supposed protection against nuclear holocaust. The 1951 'educational' propaganda film can be found widely online.

-        In a wonderful moment of synergy, Fred Davis' secret codename is revealed to be Falcon.

-        Skinner says that three months after Mary left, "the Reds had the bomb!" Having worked on it since World War II, the first Soviet bomb test, 'First Lightning', occurred on August 29th 1949 in an area known as  Semipalatinsk.

-        Mace refuses Skinner's proposition to send Captain America to Korea, and instead proposes to Betsy Ross, now working as a member of the FBI in Glendale.

-        Jeff Mace effectively vanishes from the Marvel Universe after he settles down with Betsy in 1950, but in Captain America #284 (August 1984) he would return for one final time, dying of cancer in the present day.

-        Betsy and Jeff examine the latest edition of the Bugle, showing the new Captain America and Bucky (William Burnside and Jack Munroe.) Jeff comments: "...I can't believe anyone thinks this is the same Cap who fought in the war--or after the war! Look at him-- all meat and potatoes! I didn't look like that!"

-        This issue covers events from February 1950 ("four months earlier"), with Golden Girl leaving her partnership with Captain America, through to the introduction of the Captain America for the Korean War, William Burnside, in December 1953.

• Pages 2-7 - February 1950, Golden Girl announces she is leaving.
• Pages 8-9 - Captain America meets up with Fred for what is presumably the first time since the accident. He now is relegated to a walking stick and sports a moustache. Skinner assigns Cap to "a series of public safety talks" on the Cold War.
• Pages 10-15; 1; 16-19 - June 30th 1950, Mace operates as Captain America one last time.
• Page 20 - Mace proposes to Betsy Ross.
• Page 21 - Mace and Ross are shown settling into their new lifestyle; Betsy becomes a teacher whilst Mace works on the first issue of Glendale Gazette.
• Pages 22-24 - December 16th 1953 (per the Bugle front cover.)

This Week in Free Comics (25/03/14)

Comixology

• Ms. Marvel: Infinite Comics #1

A preview of a preview, essentially, presented as a post-conversion Infinite Comic (hint: it isn't effective.) Don't read it.

• Captain America: Theater of War

A Brother in Arms

To Soldier On

America the Beautiful

Ghosts of My Country

With The Winter Soldier just around the corner (as in, released today here in the UK), it seems like a great time for Marvel to get these Paul Jenkins one shots some more attention. They released them free as part of their '700' digital offer a year ago, and it was great to be able to finally read them then. These four extra-sized issues form the second harcover/trade paperback of the series, which goes pretty cheap on Amazon. I remember all of them being a great read ('America the Beautiful' maybe wasn't so great), but my favourite probably goes to 'Ghosts of My Country' - which was amongst the first comics I bought, back in 2011. Spanning four centuries of conflict, it explores the 'ghost' of Captain America, per Brubaker's run, and his appearances at key American events. If you need to check it out for even one thing, it's Elisa Bonetti's artwork. Really, it is gorgeous. Perhaps some will find this to be over-indulgent American patriotism, but I like it. 'To Soldier On' is kind of like The Chosen, exploring Captain America within the context of modern, Middle Eastern conflict, but having read not exactly great things about Morrell's epic, this is probably the better of the two. The other three one shots (which I've yet to read), 'Operation: Zero Point', 'Prisoners of Duty' and 'America First!' were written by different creative teams, and in fact 'Operation: Zero Point' (a World War II tale, featuring none other than Einstein) became the UK annual for The First Avenger, published by Panini. It would be good if the other three one-shots were available as free issues like these four, but I will hunt out the trade at some point.

Marvel Unlimited

• A+X #12

Wonder-Man+Beast is an interesting judgement of WHAT THE HELL IS BEAST DOING laws of time, etc., etc., etc., but a weird pairing and maybe a little too nostalgic for my liking.

Vampire Jubilee+Captain America vs. Nazi vampires. It isn't as interesting as it sounds. Cap takes up the tutor role again, but it just falls flat.

• Infinity: The Heist #1

Meh. It's a side-story with characters I've never heard of.

• Young Avengers #10

You know I love it.

(I promise I will get back to the timeline soon - I'm currently working on revising the notes for Captain America: Patriot, and should be onto Brubaker's Winter Soldier soon. I know I said initially that it was going to be a weekly venture, but with school and a burgeoning pile of comics, it's more likely to be every few weeks.)

This Week in Free Comics (18/03/14)

Comixology

• Thanos: Infinity Abyss #1
• Namor: The First Mutant #1

Marvel Unlimited

• Venom (2011) #41
• X-Men: Legacy (2012) #17

This Week in Free Comics (11/03/14)

Comixology

• Avengers Arena #1
• The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes #1
• Secret Avengers (2013) #1
• War Machine (2008) #1

Marvel Unlimited

• Infinity: The Hunt #1
• Mighty Avengers (2013) #1
• Uncanny X-Force (2013) #11

Recommendations from the bunch:

• Avengers Arena #1 is awesome, but probably best with the rest of the series rather than on its own. A great, and unusual, continuation from Runaways and Avengers Arena. 
• Infinity: The Hunt shouldn't really be called Infinity. A cool premise of a Harry Potter-esque competition between the Marvel Universe's super-powered schools, but it's just talking. I liked it, but it is really set-up for the next three issues.
• Secret Avengers #1 is surprisingly good in setting up the direction of the series. Admittedly, they've moved onto volume 3 now. But for a series which concept I was kind of unsure on, the first issue really turned me around. Black Widow and Hawkeye are great together. I can't say I like Nick Fury Jr., but Coulson is cool.

Captain America and Bucky: Old Wounds (#625-628)

Writers: James Asmus and Ed Brubaker

Artist: Francesco Francavilla

Cover artist: Francesso Francavilla

-        This arc is only loosely connected to the previous: the first looked at James Buchanan Barnes' role as Bucky from 1941-45; this arc then explores Fred Davis, the Bucky of 1945-48, within weeks of the demise of Steve and James briefly shown in #623.

Collected in:

• Captain America and Bucky: Old Wounds (Marvel Comics, Jun 13th 2012)
•  #625-628 are available on Comixology as part of Marvel Unlimited, although erroneously listed as Captain America and Hawkeye.

#625

Continuity Notes

-        This arc reintroduces us to Fred Davis, the first man to succeed the role of Bucky in 1945. The post-war Captain Americas have a long and storied history; Naslund and Davis were first introduced as non-canon characters in What If? #4, but that story would later be integrated into 616 continuity. The flashbacks we see of Truman appointing Naslund and Davis into their respective roles, and their introduction to the Invaders, were first seen in that What If? issue.

-        Truman gained the presidency very close to Steve and Bucky's 'deaths': he was in office from April 12th onwards. Steve and Bucky learnt of their mission against Zemo on the same date as Roosevelt's death (Sentinel of Liberty #7); the mission was carried out on the 18th (Man Out of Time #1). It's clear this meeting is taking a couple of days or weeks after that, allowing for emergency plans to be drafted and for rumours to leak to the press, as Truman states. What If? #4 establishes this was April 30th, the same date as Hitler's death.

-        Davis recalls the death of William Naslund at the hands of Adam II to Steve, events first seen in What If? #4, and later repeated in Captain America: Patriot #4. In those issues, it is established as being July 4th (campaign season.)

-        Adam III appears in this story, taking the form of Naslund's 'grandson'; Naslund and his girlfriend Lilith were supposedly separated by his "overseas missions," giving birth to their child shortly after Naslund's death, although this is all a fictional history.

-        Davis' speech at the Veteran's Center is for the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, which places this story at some point around December 8th 2011.

-        Jim Hammond reappears in this issue. Obviously this is before his Secret Avengers role - Steve says to the Torch: "I know you've been enjoying peace and quiet lately." (A window of time which comprises only a few months - his last appearance was in 2010's limited series Invaders Now!)

#626

Continuity Notes

-        This issue continues directly from last issue, with the emergence of a new killer android 'Bucky.'

-        Pages 1-2 shows an unseen moment with the replacement Cap and Bucky and the Invaders operating in World War II. Davis says "My months as the second Bucky in World War II were few-- --but they were filled with moments like this."

#627

Continuity Notes

-        This issue continues directly from last issue, with a group of android nurses attempting to inject Davis.

-        Pages 1-3 shows a conversation between Davis and Jim Hammond the evening of Naslund's death. In the narration, Davis describes Naslund's death as being October 4th 1946. Previously this was presented as July 4th; but given JFK's involvement in that story, the previously established date makes a lot more sense. It's possible that Davis is confusing two separate events in his memory and combining them into one, hence the date error.

#628

-        The back of this issue contains a 7 page preview for Avengers vs. X-Men #1.

Continuity Notes

-        The opening two pages flashback to 1949, with Davis out of service from the Bucky title after being shot. The snow in Washington DC makes it clear that this flashback occurrs in the winter, indicating that him and Nasland carried the roles for most of 1949.

-        The final page occurs days later per the caption, with Captain America presenting Davis with a statue of him and Bucky outside a veterans affairs hospital, inspired by recent events.

-        Sadly, Davis' reappearance in the present day was not for long. This story is somewhat of a prelude for Winter Soldier: in #6, he is found dead in his home, murdered by Leo Novokov, another member of the Winter Soldier program. With the dates established in that issue and here, Davis lives only a few more weeks before the murder.

-        Jim Hammond next appears in Secret Avengers #23, becoming a member of Captain America's clandestine super team of Avengers.