When last I reviewed this Steve Rogers had not had any luck convincing the American public that much was wrong with his world, and we know that the Red Skull is in disguise, pulling all the political strings.
In issue #3 Steve realises he needs to penetrate the high security Raft facility and rescue Tony Stark’s head, which is kept there, its consciousness still functioning, while his now evil son Jason runs around as the new Iron Man. With his sidekick Tyler (a computer nerd) determinedly tagging along, they gain access but then evil Jason starts knocking the crap out of Captain America, until Bullseye, a jaded marine, arrives and weighs in. Cap finds his shield there and is one happy bunny.
At the start of the episode Steve had sent out an old distress signal, and that also gets answered when Captain Marvel swings by. Tony’s head is lobbed casually aside by Jason, and the fight escalates with the air force called in to bomb the Raft and the navy out to add more firepower. When Thor arrives things finally go in Cap’s favour, then grab Tony and having saved the scummy scientists who were working there everyone leaves.
In Issue #4 Luke gets to call “Avengers assemble” while they’re all standing round a pool table, which is a nice dour touch. Thor is in ultra-apologetic mode for not having kept in touch but they have more important matters to attend to, while a confused Tony Stark worries about the past, specifically Jan’s fate.
They’ve somehow fixed his head into an Iron Man costume, and off they go to break into the old Avengers mansion, where they find that the new, public Avengers, often seen on tv saving people and averting chaos, are just holograms, or something similar, and the building has been booby trapped. They escape, but elsewhere Red Skull is bragging to Jason, confident enough to announce that he’s about to go public. showing the nation who he really is.
It’s still a slick, vibrant read. I’ve already ordered issues #5 and #6.