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Captain America #2

Feb 1998
Mark Waid, Ron Garney

Story Name:

To Serve And Protect


Synopsis

Captain America #2 synopsis by Kevin Hollander
Rating: 3 stars

The US Navy informs Captain America that Hydra has captured the U.S.S. McKenszie, loading a powerful virus into its navigational computers. It is currently in a communication dead zone, but once it is able to reconnect, the virus will be uploaded to every ship in the naval fleet, preventing them from stopping Hydra's announced attack on the United States. The Admiral is left with no choice but to sink the submarine and the entire crew to save millions of lives.

Cap offers his assistance and sneaks aboard the submarine. Working with the crew, they fight back against the terrorists. With no time remaining to stop the bombardiers, Cap orders the sub to dive and destroys the controls keeping them off the network.

With the commanding officer wounded, Cap finds Lt. Commander Rebecca Houston and works with her to destroy the sub. It's the only way to prevent this sub from taking out the naval network. After all personnel have evacuated, they arm the torpedoes and begin the countdown. Cap and Houston climb inside a torpedo tube, planning to ride the explosion back to the surface.

When the torpedoes detonate, they are blown free from the sub, but the force is insufficient to allow them to reach the surface. Cap quickly realizes that he has lost his grip on both his shield and commander Houston. Cap locates Houston first and tries to reacquire his shield as it continues to fall deeper into the ocean. He soon finds that he is unable to pursue his weapon without jeopardizing Houston.

Cap abandons his shield and surfaces with Commander Houston. They find the remaining crew aboard life rafts, climb aboard, and wait for assistance. Cap silently morns the loss of his shield.


 

Review / Commentaries


Captain America #2 Review by (January 15, 2011)
Cap's shield – its reliability and resilience - was heavily emphasized during this story. This detracted from the story as you had a feeling something was going to happen to it. Had only one or two comments been made, it would have been more of a surprise. Despite this, it's heartbreaking to see Cap without his shield. It just feels wrong.


Captain America #2 Review by (April 14, 2012)
Review: A nice, tightly plotted tale by Waid works well, though the foreshadowing of the loss of Cap’s shield is a bit heavy-handed. Meanwhile, Garney’s art is a bit more cartoonish than the rest of his run which makes the graphic death of the Hydra agent on page 14 all the more shocking. His storytelling abilities are not affected though and the claustrophobic action is portrayed very nicely, and the final pages are very moving.

Comments: Cap’s shield vanishes into the Atlantic Ocean; he will gain the Energy Shield in issue #9, and the original will be restored in #22


> Captain America comic book info and issue index

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Ron Garney
Bob Wiacek
Joe Rosas
Ron Garney (Cover Penciler)
Bob Wiacek (Cover Inker)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)

Plus: Hordes of HYDRA.