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Captain America #222: Review

Jun 1978
Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema

Story Name:

Monumental Menace!

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Captain America #222 Review by (September 19, 2011)
Review: “The Search for Steve Rogers” takes a turn for the weird in this issue (what tipped you off? The VW Beetle driving into Steve’s third-floor apartment window?) and all the weird is part of the Corporation story line which will reach fruition in issues #228-230. But what of the search? Well, Steve examines records and news archives and finds out some discordant family history but still nothing approaching a revelation (and certainly nothing to sustain all the buildup we’ve been getting so far). Looks like new writer Steve Gerber just wants to get Roy Thomas’ “Search” plot over with so he can move on to cooler stuff—like a murderous Lincoln statue and a big-headed prehistoric man.

Comments: Part eight of the ten-part story arc “The Search for Steve Rogers.” Final issue under title CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE FALCON; title reverts to CAPTAIN AMERICA with the next issue. First appearance of the Animus. Cap’s quest to find the missing Falcon will occupy issues #228-230.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America #222 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Captain America, having dozed off in his easy chair at the end of last issue, is rudely awakened by a driverless Volkswagen crashing through his window. He dodges the less agile vehicle as it chases him around the apartment and finally he leads it out of the window where it smashes up in the alley below. A cranky old woman scolds Cap and he asks to borrow her phone. First he calls Avengers Mansion only to discover that Veda has gone to Washington; his second call is to Nick Fury, asking for a leave of absence—and discovering that the Falcon is also gone. He excuses himself from the old woman (who turns out to be Veda in disguise, and she then reports back to Kligger that their scheme to kill Cap has failed). Cap then returns to his ruined apartment, salvages some clothing and heads to Washington to research his missing past. At the Pentagon he reads his Army file and learns that he was not a poor youth from Brooklyn but grew up in the comfortable suburb of Sayville, Maryland. A trip to his family’s vacant home jars no memories so he stops by the local newspaper office. There he meets Will Quigley who knew Walter and Elizabeth Rogers; Quigley tells Steve (who claims to be a distant relative) that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers had two sons, Mike who died at Pearl harbor and Steve who was listed as missing in action. Walt and Elizabeth died in a plane crash in 1955 and the house has been held for the missing Steve should he ever return. One oddity: Mike’s obituary does not mention a brother….

That night, Captain America goes to the Lincoln Memorial to ponder the enigma in the presence of an old friend. As he stands lost in thought, the Lincoln statue rises from its chair and attacks him. Pursuing him into the nearby woods, the statue batters Cap around mercilessly. Cap finally manages to overcome the psychological trauma of fighting the symbol of his greatest ideals, and knocks Lincoln’s head off with his shield. He hears mad laughter from behind him and turns to see the Animus, a savage brute with an oversized cranium and a very erudite vocabulary, announcing its intent to kill him….



Sal Buscema
John Tartaglione
George Roussos
Ernie Chan (Cover Penciler)
Ernie Chan (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Animus
Animus

(Vamp)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Falcon
Falcon

(Sam Wilson)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)

Plus: Veda.

> Captain America: Book info and issue index

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