Random Happenstance

"Is Superman too woke?" is a ridiculously stupid question that unfortunately dominated certain unsavory aspects of our news media when the new movie came out; but supposedly there was a similar right-wing push in the wake of Thunderbolts*, trying to hype up or redeem USAgent, an alternative to the liberal namby-pamby Captain America. Supposedly, I say: I heard that, but I'm not seeing it in three seconds of searching, and that's about as long as I care to look for right-wing crap. (BTW, Thunderbolts* was pretty good, but I don't think it did very well between backlash against the MCU and that everyone was waiting for the FF.) Of course, all of this is build-up for a book with USAgent next to me, that I hadn't read before, and I bet you haven't either! From 1993, Super Soldiers #3, "Old Acquaintance" Written by Lee Stevens and Michael W. Bennent, pencils by Andrew Currie, inks by Robin Riggs.

This is still another Marvel UK book, and it's weird as heck to see USAgent guest-star rather than Death's Head II: the latter was probably triple-booked, I suppose. Most of this issue is USAgent kicking the tar out of the series lead Hauer, but you pick it up pretty quickly: Hauer had been part of Britain's own Super-Soldier program, but he and his teammates had been betrayed by one of their own, Childs. (We see Childs briefly later in the issue, and I had thought he was another Marvel UK star, Killpower: he's extra buff, above the usual superhero physique.) Rescued from a cryotube by reporter Sarah Wilde, Hauer had been trying to find his lost teammates, and had just found the MIA Dalton in Vietnam, where he had been lost on mission. Dalton had, over time, shaken off the brainwashing he had been put through to keep him obedient, and decided to stay; embracing Buddhism and martial arts to contain the rage swings the Soldiers called "red moods." Dalton also claims to have been experimenting with astral projection; which was probably a seed planted for later issues, but it would be funnier if he was just dissociating really hard...

About then the USAgent arrives, having been ordered to bring in Hauer, and not having any love for the "commies" in Vietnam. Although Hauer offers to talk about it, that doesn't fly with John, and the fight is on. Over the course of the dustup, USAgent starts to maybe realize Hauer was on the level, and he had probably been lied to by Henry Peter Gyrich, but whatever: he'll just beat Hauer down, and sort it out later. This was also during the stretch where John was still talking to his dead parents; which, oddly, Childs knows: he mentions it while badmouthing USAgent to his boss. Although Hauer gets some good hits in--including piercing USAgent's shield with his adamantium knife--John was both stronger, and craftier, catching Hauer with a shield ricochet throw to the back of the skull. But, then USAgent has to fight back his urge to kill, which he does long enough for Childs and his "Squaddies" to show up and immediately go off-mission, murdering any local in their path.

Pretty traditional Marvel-misunderstanding fight, except that USAgent has the wrinkle of "just following orders." He was definitely going to team-up with Hauer next month, and with the bystanders getting shot up Dalton was probably going to get off the bench as well. We might see more issues of this later, but the series only ran eight issues.

I'm know Gruenwald, John Walker's creator, wrote the stories where he lost his parents; but he still spoke with them like they were alive for some time: I don't know if that was intended to build sympathy for a franky unsympathetic character, or if Gruenwald was suggesting the guys that act the hardest crack first...