With this post we continue the three-part “Power and Glory” storyline that began in the last issue, which ended with the Hydra leader revealing himself to be a Skrull who had taken advantage of the “Capmania” to increase Captain America’s reputation so he could capture him and take his place, all as revenge against humanity for what they had done to the Skrulls over the years.
Our first look at “Skrull-Cap” strikes me as a callback to Daredevil #233, especially this scene (where he says he’s loyal to nothing except the dream).
Quite the effective way to show that this isn’t our Cap.
And where is our Cap? While his impersonator cozies up to the Avengers and accesses their computers, the real thing is struggling against the “Skrull handcuffs,” which are designed to adapt to shapeshifting scofflaws.
At the same time, Cap is well aware of what is at stake—the very reputation of Captain America and all the influence it carries—and he curses himself for getting swept up by Capmania and missing the signs of what was really going on. (Whether he actually did either is up for debate, but it is in Cap’s nature, and one of his less virtuous qualities, to be overly critical of himself.)
Meanwhile, Skrull-Cap is hard at work, “saving” President Bill Clinton from terrorists (who are also Skrulls) before preparing for an impromptu press conference…
…but first he meets Andrew Bolt, the political candidate the real Cap met in issue #4 and refused to endorse for the sake of maintaining political neutrality.
Skrull-Cap, of course, has no such qualms, and after he learns that the real Cap doesn’t make political endorsements, he decidedly goes a different way.
Speaking of Cap, he’s still trying to escape his Skrull bindings, and I agree when he thinks that this idea is desperate.
I’ll let him explain, because I certainly didn’t get it.
So what was Skrull-Cap’s big announcement? Clint and Thor would certainly like to know.
He “announces” that the Skrulls have secretly invaded and impersonated 5% of all Americans, a ploy to create division and suspicion among the American people. (Although Skrull-Cap’s intentions are much simpler, this comes straight out of the fascist playbook, as we see in the 2017 “Secret Empire” storyline and discussed in the new edition of my book.)
He expounds on this “threat,” asking Americans to look skeptically at each other and see if anyone is “different” or “looks out of place”—again, following the fascist strategy of dividing the people into “us” and “them,” those who “belong here” and those who “need to leave.” (The irony is that Skrulls wouldn’t look any different—that’s their whole point!)
(Why are they looking at Rob Lowe like that?)
When he see the real Cap on a security monitor, Skrull-Cap cuts his speech short, hammering the “us versus them” point at the end (just in case it wasn’t clear before)…
…and greeting Cap in his Skrull form so the people can see their hero confront the threat “he” warned them about (but about which Cap remains ignorant).
The Skrull shows his disgust for humans…
…well, except one.
(Maybe the kid in the museum in issue #3 was a Skrull too?)
When a bystander takes up arms against the Skrull, others try to stop him, leading him to suspect they’re Skrulls as well, and Cap is forced to intervene—at which point he learns what the Skrull did while co-opting his identity.
Cap surveys the chaos inspired by the Skrull’s divisive words…
…and realizes he has his work cut out for him if he wants to wrap this up in the next issue.
ISSUE DETAILS
Captain America (vol. 3) #6, June 1998: Mark Waid (writer), Dale Eaglesham (pencils), Scott Koblish (inks), Joe Rosas and Digital Chameleon (colors), John Costanza (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Captain America: To Serve and Protect and Captain America: Heroes Return–The Complete Collection Vol. 1.
PREVIOUS ISSUE: Captain America #5 (May 1998)
ALSO THIS MONTH: Avengers #5, Marvel Universe #1, and Marvel Team-Up #10 (June 1998)
NEXT ISSUE: Captain America #7 (July 1998)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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