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Captain America #364

Dec 1989
Mark Gruenwald, Kieron Dwyer

Story Name:

Man Trap


Synopsis

Captain America #364 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

Crossbones has lured Captain America into a trap on a sampan in Madripoor. After Cap steps into an animal trap, the brutish villain turns and attacks. As they brawl, Cap finds ‘Bones a formidable opponent but finally overpowers him, and demands to be led to where Diamondback is being held….

Diamond, meanwhile, has escaped from the bordello where she was being held and is running through alley on her way to warn Cap of the trap. She bumps into a pair of roughs who mistake her for a prostitute and demand her favors at knifepoint. She clobbers them easily but the delay has allowed the brothel thug Mister Phun to catch up with her. He seizes her on a roof and attempts to strangle her but she flips him and gets out of his grasp. After a rooftop chase they end up falling into a toy factory (where they manufacture Wolverine action figures) and Diamond ends up knocking Phun into a vat of molten plastic….

Meanwhile, Crossbones has led Cap to the second floor of a deserted building; the brute then informs Cap he is standing on a pressure-sensitive plate connected to a bomb—if he moves, it detonates. Crossbones then reports to his boss—the Red Skull—that he has captured Captain America. The Skull is angry that his minion has done this without orders and tells him to let Cap go. Back at the trap, Cap has figured out the mechanics of the situation and hooks his shield to his feet, hoping it will take the brunt of the blast when he jumps up….

A blast follows. Crossbones hears it and laughs, while Diamondback rushes to the scene. There she discovers Cap unharmed and leaps into his arms. Cap is happy to see her safe too and will take her back to the States after he has searched for Crossbones….



Story #2

Vagabond: Wristy Business

Writer: Mark Gruenwald. Penciler: M. D. Bright. Inker: Don Hudson. Colorist: Greg Wright.

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars
Vagabond, visiting Curtiss Jackson the Power Broker where he lies immobile from his own enhancement procedure. She easily makes a print of his hand using the wax ball Karl Malus gave her; she phones Malus and demands that he meet her in the hospital with the key to her tracking bracelet. In the lobby she makes him unlock the bracelet before leading him into the ladies room to retrieve the mold. As she hands it over he grabs her wrist and tries to inject her with a sedative but she twists, the needle goes into the mold, and she knocks him out with a karate chop. Vagabond locks the bracelet to Malus and flushes the key, sneaks past his henchmen outside, and phones USAgent to come and get them…and then she destroys the mold.

 

Review / Commentaries


Captain America #364 Review by (September 26, 2012)
Review: Cap is trapped so the issue depends on Diamondback for all of its excitement. And she delivers. After her clever escape in the previous issue, her she becomes action hero, battling Oddjob, er, Mister Phun and a Bond-lite dust-up. And possibly my all-time favorite picture of Diamond is the panel showing the look on her faces when she realizes that her killing blow has not affected Phun: a mixture of dismay, disbelief, and fear, while still being funny. The unsung Kieron Dwyer is one of my favorite Cap artists, just for his handling of this character. And to balance the resourceful woman hero in the first tale, the second tale gives us…another resourceful woman hero. Vagabond didn’t do much in her brief comics career, so it’s nice that she got a chance to shine in this two-parter, where she defeats the villain though cunning rather than acrobatics and punching.

Comments: 1. Revelation: we learn that Crossbones works for the Red Skull. 2. USAgent appears unseen and unheard on the other end of a phone call. Vagabond isn’t wearing the tracking bracelet in the splash panel.


> Captain America comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Avengers Endgame Captain America Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Kieron Dwyer
Danny Bulanadi
Greg Wright
Kieron Dwyer (Cover Penciler)
Kieron Dwyer (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Crossbones
Crossbones

(Brock Rumlow)
Diamondback
Diamondback

(Rachel Leighton)
Red Skull
Red Skull

(Johann Shmidt)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)

Plus: Dr Karl Malus, Vagabond (Priscilla Lyons).