This is a rare appearance of Captain America in a different “Heroes Reborn” title outside of crossover stories, and is notable for two reasons: his reunion with an old friend (that he somehow remembers, despite having few solid memories of any reality), and seeing Jim Lee draw our hero for the first time since Uncanny X-Men #268.
As far as the title team is concerned, following a slightly modified version of their origin and initial battle with Mole Man, the Fantastic Four become an official team to help SHIELD fight Namor, another exile from the 616 universe (and the old friend mentioned above), a story which continues into this issue.
Like a beloved TV show of yore, we open with the Captain’s log, with Kirk Picard Janeway Rogers anticipating meeting Namor again while he flies over his real boss, whom he dearly wants to impress. (Take that, Fury.)
Cap reviews the new heroes on the scene, noting Ben’s military rank (but not Reed’s, because it seems he did not serve in this reality), before grabbing his best friend when the pilot tells him they’ve arrived.
(I guess Franklin Richards, who created this reality to save his parents and the other heroes from dying in their climatic battle with Onslaught, imagines his dad without the grey temples!)
Lieutenant McKinney relates a familiar story of a veteran in the family having served with Cap in World War II and expresses her feelings about serving with him now, but he deflects that honor back on her and her colleagues in the here and now.
When our heroes see Giganto ravaging New York City, Thor makes the first move, albeit to little effect except downing Cap’s plane—and Cap is concerned only that no civilians get hurt on their way down.
As a Fantastic Four fan, I cannot resist showing the first meeting in this reality between Namor and Sue, who remember none of their long history together in the 616 universe.
Even after getting clocked by Thor’s hammer, Namor does however remember his past with Cap—although he is slow to trust this is the same man, until he cites his integrity and flashes his eyebrows. We have to assume his memories of the war are from this reality, not their Invaders experiences from the 616 that we know very well.
While Ben is meeting this reality’s version of Alicia Masters for the first time, the other Fantastic Three meet Cap and Thor for the first time (in this reality), and Cap tries to preserve the uneasy peace he and Namor have come to, until Namor collapses…
…and tries to call off the attack, but Krang the Merciless (and the Mutinous) takes charge and resumes it. (Reed later discovers it was Krang who poisoned Namor in an attempt to usurp the throne.)
So Cap and Thor answer the call to battle once more, with the former proudly displaying America’s asset.
After Ben defeats Giganto, Namor calls an end to the invasion, and he and Cap salute each other and promise to explore their shared history on friendlier terms in the future.
We’ll next see the Fantastic Four in the “Industrial Revolution” crossover in the sixth issues of all four “Heroes Reborn” titles (although Cap does not appear in Fantastic Four #6 itself).
ISSUE DETAILS
Fantastic Four (vol. 2) #3, January 1997: Jim Lee and Brandon Choi (writers), Jim Lee (pencils), Scott Williams, Scott Garner, Tom McWeeney, and John Dickenson (inks), Joe Chiodo, Mark Jimenez, and Wildstorm FX (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Heroes Reborn: Fantastic Four.
ALSO THIS MONTH: Captain America #3 and Avengers #3 (January 1997)
NEXT ISSUE: Fantastic Four #12, Captain America #12, Avengers #12, and Iron Man #12 (October 1997)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
Leave a comment