"The End" Week: Captain America: Steve Rogers #19!

I'm actually typing this on July 4th, having just bought this issue at the most recent EntertainMart sale. It's hard to believe this was from like eight years ago...and how much it's like now. Also, everything in the post title was a lie: this wasn't the end, there was a ton of crossover to go; I'm not sure he was a captain, he was hardly for America, he wasn't Steve, I'm not even sure he ever Rogered...From 2017, Captain America: Steve Rogers #19, written by Nick Spencer and Donny Cates, pencils by Javier Pina, inks by Andres Guinaldo. Cover by Jesus Saiz, although there's a Jim Lee Gambit trading card variant, which honestly might be the way to go? The scene above doesn't happen this issue, and it's been memory-holed anyway.

This was the last issue of this series, of course, 19 issues of slow build-up to Secret Empire. Steve Rogers had been transformed, retroactively, by a Cosmic Cube, into a HYDRA sleeper agent. Which feels like a perfectly fine plot for a few issues, maybe a mini-series, but 19? Also, the waters get muddied, since Fascist-Cap Steven Grant Rogers is considered from an alternate timeline; but I have a hard time believing he'd give up the name "Captain America" no matter how many times he was asskicked or killed. Him becoming "Flag-Smasher" just takes away from the O.G. possibly because it gets harder every year not to admit the old one with the black-and-white costume and mace had some legit points.

Anyway, this issue: Hydra-Cap had been trying to be a kinder, gentler fascist; but his increasing frustration over the increasing resistance and the loss of his girl Elisa/Madame Hydra were forcing his hand; the same way an abuser would say "look what you made me do." Also, I didn't read the previous issues, but from the wiki entries and such, I'm not sure how Elisa got into this timeline? She had sacrificed herself to save him, which I think was because she saw his destiny as Supreme Uberfuhrer (or whatever) of HYDRA. Steven also visits Thor Odinson, who didn't seem to like or trust him anymore, but wasn't immediately kicking his ass because he currently wasn't worthy and didn't have Mjolnir? Steven tells 'Odinson,' if he had objections to the way Steven was running things, he could bring them up, but he better have a hammer in his hand. (That's almost a badass scene, although at Odinson's expense. I'm not sure what Steven's title was at that point, but this was maybe a political fight that Odinson was not in the right headspace for.)

Then, Steven visits Sharon Carter in her cell, and she wonders if that had been Rick Jones's cell before his demise. (Yay, looking it up, Rick's not currently dead! Although, even more nonsense appears to have happened to him...) Casually, Sharon repeatedly needles him: that the Red Skull would be proud of him, and that the better future he was supposedly building was worth all the bodies, sure...fascist. Steven admits, she was right: that had been Rick's cell. In his quarters, Steven puts aside his Cap uniform, and puts on a green general-like outfit with a yellow cape, for an appearance in front of the press, with a HYDRA-emblazoned podium. (You can absolutely picture human trashbag Karoline Leavitt behind that thing.) 

Since there was no next issue, that page instead has the cover for Captain America #25 and teasers for Secret Empire #7-8: it would probably have been immensely satisfying for Sam to kick the tar outta Steven, but they still had issues to go and had to bring back regular, good Steve. Sam kinda gets the shaft there, since the next issue after #25 would be Captain America #695, with the return of Steve, and by my count the third time Mark Waid had taken over to level things back out. (After Gruenwald's long run tapered out, after Heroes Reborn fizzled out, and there!) I got this last issue for a buck, specifically for "The End," and I can't remember if I read the first issue when it came out; I might have. I can't imagine sticking with this, for 19 issues, at $3.99 a pop? And I think there's even issues in there, in the altered HYDRA timeline, where they were having trouble breaking Steve to become one of them, but HYDRA eventually does, or he keeps getting forced into situations where even well-intentioned choices still lead to fascism: well, that sounds inspiring...Again, it's one thing to do this short-term, or a What If? but this is too much. 

The only thing I'd like to see holdover from this whole thing, is the next time anybody tries using a Cosmic Cube in Cap's presence, he whomps their ass for 40 straight pages. (Yes, double-sized issue! Make an event out of it.)