The title's a bit much, and the cover mostly a lie; off to a good start here.

I've blogged more than a few issues of Thor from before Walt Simonson took over, when the book was largely in the doldrums. I think Cap's book might have been in a similar creative slump, possibly for longer, before Roger Stern and John Byrne took over at #247, but let's see: from 1979, Captain America #239, "Mind-Stains on the Virgin Snow!" Written by Peter Gillis, pencils by Fred Kida, inks by Don Perlin. Cover by Byrne!

Gillis and Kida were listed as guests, but this reads as a two-issue fill-in. Cap has been bested and his face rubbed in the snow by burly thug "Widowmaker," while on a rescue mission from Nick Fury, to save captured telepath babe Snowfall. She had reached out to Cap to rescue her, before she was forced to use her powers to kill again; and uses them in secret to make it seem like Widowmaker was changing sides and welcoming Cap; so Widowmaker's boss watching on video yells at him on the P.A, distracting him enough for Cap to take him down. (So, what I'm thinking was a cliffhanger ending last issue, is wrapped up really quick.) Cap still had more of a gauntlet to run, though; with soldiers, traps, and telepathic illusions; and was forced to work without his shield, which had gotten stuck in a minefield the previous issue! Luckily--and somewhat uncharacteristically--he had a solid fistful of gadget-weapons from Nick Fury.

Pushing through the mind games, Cap manages to defeat the "Mind-Master," an obscure Sub-Mariner bad guy. That triggers the self-destruct timer, so Cap had to break Snowfall out of the "life-support coffin" she had been placed in, to better use her mental powers; and finds she was...way younger than she had presented herself telepathically! Did Cap just get catfished? He doesn't care, of course, and gets her out of the enemy base just in time. "Snowfall," young Ginny Snow, had precognitive powers as well, though: she had known Cap would save her, but she also knew the future wouldn't turn out like it should, if she was in it. She "freezes" Cap's muscles momentarily, and disappears into the blowing snow, which at least prevents Cap from having to watch her walk off a cliff. Yeesh, another downer ending for Cap; I think there were a lot of those around then. But, this issue does have a letter from Kurt Busiek! That's...something, right? All right, no going out on a high note, Fourth of July or not.