Captain America (1968) 286

Captain America (1968) 286

Oct 1983

A Man in Search of… Himself!

by J. M. DeMatteis, Mike Zack, John Beatty, Diana Albers, Bob Sharen, Mark Gruenwald

Luther Manning travels back in time from the year 1991 to 1983 on a mission. He arrives in busy subway station in New York City. He’s been sent back in time by a man named Godwulf on a mission to locate Deathlok. Manning is a cyborg. He has a computer in his brain with whom he communicates as he uses the tech he brought with him to figure out where Deathlok can be found.

Steve Rogers heads to Long Island after a training session with Nomad. He is concerned about Nomad who is lacking in confidence. Steve has other things on his mind as he gets off the train in Long Island. Bernie Rosenthal is there to meet him. They are going to have dinner with her parents. Steve is nervous. 

Luther Manning thinks about his shared past with Deathlok. Manning is a clone of the  man who became Deathlok. He reflects on what he knows about Deathlok’s past and how the original Manning came to be Deathlok. Manning’s devices lead him to the Brand Corporation in Long Island. He gets there just as Bernie and Steve are driving past the place.

Manning jumps out in front of their vehicle just before he scrambles over the gate. Steve and Bernie have to swerve to avoid hitting him. Steve overhears Manning say something about Deathlok. Steve is familiar with the name and decides that he has to pursue the man they almost hit. He tells Bernie he will meet her at her parents home later. 

Manning and Captain America break into the Brand Corporation building. Manning explains what he’s up to and what he knows about Deathlok. They find a laboratory with lots of scientists hard at work. Brand’s security force catches up to and attacks Captain America and Manning. They deal with the security team but then Deathlok shows up and shoots Manning through the shoulder, taking him out of the fight.

Thoughts 

Captain America’s motivation for helping Manning seem a bit suspect. He’s nervous about meeting Bernie’s parents. He feels more comfortable venturing into Brand Corp’s building than he did in the car with Bernie. All he has to go on is Manning’s word, whom he just met. It isn’t clear if he understands that Manning comes from the future. 

I wonder now if this story was motivated at all by Days of Future Past (Uncanny X-Men 141-142). In both cases you have someone coming back from a dystopian future to try and do something. In this case that something isn’t clear just yet. Manning is looking for Deathlok but his reasons for wanting to find him are vague at best. 

This is part one of a four-part story. I’ve read this one before (years ago) but I don’t recall exactly where the story goes from here. Without skipping ahead I only have the covers to give me hints. 

So far so good. I like how the story starts in two separate places and then brings the characters together. I believe this is Captain America’s first encounter with Deathlok. I wrote a little bit about Deathlok’s publication history in my notes on Deathlok (1990) 1. The Deathlok that appeared in Marvel Two-in-One 54 (part of the Project Pegasus storyline) was a robot and not the same as the one who appears in this story. This Deathlok appeared in a backup story in Marvel Fanfare 4 immediately prior to this issue of Captain America. 

Bullpen Bulletins

• Al Milgrom has stepped back from most of his duties to spend more time with family but is still editing Marvel Fanfare
• Carl Potts is stepping forward to take on some of the work that Al Milgrom was doing including editing Doctor Strange, Defenders, and Hulk
• Tom DeFalco has a new title, Executive Editor
• Danny Fingeroth is stepping forward to edit some of the books that Tom DeFalco will no longer the editing: Amazing Spider-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Tales
• The assistant editors will be in charge while the editors are away at conventions and it looks like they are planning something but what it is isn’t exactly clear

Mighty Marvel Checklist

• Avengers 236 - 20th anniversary issue
• Cloak and Dagger (1983) 1 
• Daredevil 199 *
• Ka-Zar the Savage 28 *
• Thor 336 - last issue before Walt Simonson's historic run begins
• Hawkeye 2 (of 4) - see DTC 14 
• Uncanny X-Men 174 **
• Marvel Team-Up 134
• Alpha Flight 3 - see DTC 40
• Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe 10 - S From Shi'ar to Sub-Mariner
• Marvel Team-Up Annual 6
• Captain America Annual 7
• Kree/Skrull War 2 - reprints stories from Avengers 95, 96, 97

* I own these books and one day hope to get around to reading them

** I used to have a copy of this comic and read it when it first came out

Letters to the Living Legend

Three letters from fans about Captain America 282. The comments reference the transformation of Jack Monroe into Nomad, Viper’s role in the story, and the teamwork of DeMattheis, Zeck, and Beatty and are all in the positive category. One of the letters is from Mike Zeck’s aunt.

Question of the month: What do you do in your spare time? Editor Mark Gruenwald has the best response: Things not approved by the Comic Code Authority.