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Captain America #340

Apr 1988
Mark Gruenwald, Kieron Dwyer

Captain America #340 cover

Story Name:

Breakout


Synopsis

Captain America #340 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Iron Man, on a crusade to shut down all unauthorized use of his armor designs, has targeted the Guardsmen, the high-tech warders at The Vault, the prison for super-villains. Steve Rogers, now The Captain, has learned of his plans and engages him in battle within the facility. Now the Armored Revenger has shut off the ventilation system. When the last Guardsman collapses from an exhausted air supply, the Captain goes to his aid, removing his helmet. Iron Man seizes the opportunity to send an electrical current through Cap, paralyzing him. As Tony renders the Guardsmen’s armor useless, his eyes meet Steve’s and they both know that their long friendship has been irreparably broken. Cap recovers quickly but by then his friend-turned-foe is long gone. Steve also takes the opportunity to flee and as he climbs down the steep cliff away from the prison, he is picked up by his partner the Falcon and lowered to safety. They return to Cap’s van to find a squabble going on between Nomad and D-Man, as the former is jealous of the latter’s attention to his girlfriend Vagabond. Cap calms them down and announces they are heading to LA to return the new shield to Tony Stark. On that confusing note we return to The Vault as the power shutdown has freed several dangerous convicts. Mr Hyde overpowers some guards and links up with Titania; the Armadillo wants to join them but she wants nothing to do with the slow and clumsy baddie. Elsewhere in the building Vibro uses his shock wave powers to tear a hole in the wall to free himself and the Griffin.

As they are driving away, Cap and company hear the explosion and decide to return to the prison to investigate, Leaving Vagabond to watch the van, Cap, Nomad, and D-Man mount motorcycles while Falcon takes to the air. The winged hero is the first to encounter enemies, as he spies Vibro emerging from the escape tunnel he created—and then Griffin swoops at him to do battle. Meanwhile, Titania and Hyde steal a truck and take off down the highway and Armadillo lumbers out and away past the guards. The baddies’ truck runs D-Man and Nomad off the narrow mountain road as Cap leaps onto the hood. Cap attacks Hyde through the windshield as Titania jumps for safety—almost off the cliff. D-Man stops to help her—and is flung into the distance by the superstrong villainess. Nomad, also perched precariously on the cliff side, spots Vibro below him and tries to knock him out with a disc; Vibro responds with a power jolt—and shakes himself off the cliff. Meanwhile, the airborne D-Man is rescued by Falcon, who carries him back to punch out the formidable Griffin. Back at the van, Armadillo approaches the unwitting Vagabond….

Hyde’s truck goes off the road and he and Cap leap to safety. There, Cap, remembering Hyde’s brutal beating of Jarvis (in AVENGERS #274), flies into a cold rage and mercilessly delivers punishing blow after blow to the huge brute and sends him over the edge of the cliff. Regretting his commitment to protect life, Cap rescues his foe. A scared D-Man hides from the fleeing Titania…but what of the Armadillo? Vagabond talked him into giving up!


 

Review / Commentaries


Captain America #340 Review by (April 27, 2013)
Review: All-battle issue starts with Iron Man’s betrayal of Cap then launches into a series of hero versus villain duels that aren’t the most thrilling match-ups but are about right for the characters. D-Man is quite likeable, a gentle giant trying to do the right thing. And wonder of wonders, Vagabond has a point—though her heroism is off-panel. The really intense part is the opening act of disloyalty. Tony in his Silver Centurion armor, cold-cocks Cap and their relationship will never be the same—though it heals a lot faster than the rift that would come with the Civil War. But then, Cap didn’t get out of that event alive.

Comments: Part nine of The Captain saga which will run until issue #350. New Captain America John Walker does not appear in this issue. The issue follows IRON MAN (1968) #228, part of the classic “Armor Wars” arc. Titania leaps from the truck and almost goes over the edge of the cliff—neat trick: the passenger door was on the mountain side.


> Captain America comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
Marvel Iron Man MARK7 Statue ARTFX 1/6 Statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Kieron Dwyer
Al Milgrom
Bob Sharen
Ron Frenz (Cover Penciler)
Bob McLeod (Cover Inker)
Unknown (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Armadillo
Armadillo

(Antonio Rodriguez)
Captain
Captain

(Steve Rogers)
D-Man
D-Man

(Demolition Man)
Falcon
Falcon

(Sam Wilson)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Mister Hyde
Mister Hyde

(Calvin Zabo)
Titania
Titania

(Mary MacPherran)

Plus: Griffin, Guardsmen, Nomad (Jack Monroe), Vagabond (Priscilla Lyons), Vibro.

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