Captain America/Citizen V Annual 1998

This annual feels more like a Thunderbolts comic than a Captain America, for good reason: Citizen V was Baron Zemo’s identity when the team were pretending to be heroes while many of the real heroes were “reborn” elsewhere. The name came from a Golden Age hero, John Watkins, who appeared twice (Daring Mystery Comics #8 and Comedy Comics #9, both from 1942), before being shown dying in 1944 at the hands of the elder Baron Zemo in 1997’s Thunderbolts: Distant Rumblings #-1. But now that Zemo is back to his own self, who is the new Citizen V?

We first meet the new Citizen V in this comic leading an Amazonian tribe to overthrow Zemo, who has enslaved them to discover his father’s Formula X and modify it for his own nefarious purposes.

Citizen V is alerted to an intruder, whom everyone assumes is Zemo…

…but is definitely not.

Cap still thinks Citizen V is actually Zemo…

…but quickly tells from body language that this is someone completely different.

Unfortunately, Cap assumes Citizen V is a foe and attacks, with the narration praising his power and resilience…

…until the tribesmen connect Cap and Citizen V as mutual opponents of the Barons Zemo.

Cap apologizes for his mistake, as honor dictates, and the two compare notes, jarring a memory in Cap of the original Zemo and Citizen V.

Flashback time! We see Cap and Bucky in their WWII prime, battling O.G. Zemo and his (new) colleague, She-Wolf (wearing a costume uncomfortably close to the Fantastic Four’s for my tastes).

Soon we meet the original Citizen V, who seems to deny being a lieutenant in the British military. (I do like his habit here of claiming the V stands for different things, which is more clever than painting big Vs on everything, including Hitler’s own guards, as he did in his first appearance.)

Citizen V leads them in an underwater tunnel that gets them inside the castle, where She-Wolf is waiting… but no problem, because she’s on their side.

Citizen V stops Zemo from launching his rocket filled with Particle X, designed to jam Allied communications, but gets shot for his trouble.

Cap uses his shield to finish the job, but the ensuing explosion covers Zemo’s escape.

Cap finishes his war story with the four heroes savoring their win while anticipating dealing with Zemo down the road, and the modern Citizen V clearly appreciates hearing tales of Granddad…

…and explains how She-Wolf bore the original Citizen V’s son, who later had a son of his own, who took up the Citizen V identity. But Cap points out one detail of the story the new V got wrong, and why their mission would be better served if they stopped pretending to be something they’re not.

Cap also corrects Citizen V on the nature of the mission itself. He begins by sharing his own devastating personal loss at the hands of the original Zemo…

…but refuses to embrace vengeance or retribution, fighting instead for justice and a better world for all. He presents Citizen V with a choice: pursue vengeance and give yourself up to it, give up completely, or treat the fight as the war it is. Citizen V mulls it over for a couple days—no hurry, Zemo’s not planning anything any time soon—and returns with a new look…

…that is sure to humiliate a guy like Zemo.

(In truth, she is not related to the original Citizen V at all—she is Dallas Riordan, originally the liaison between the NYC mayor’s office and the Thunderbolts, who later felt betrayed by both and chose the side of the angels.)

As Zemo prepares to run his father’s plan once again, he discovers Captain America there to defeat it (once again)…

…by drawing away Zemo’s forces so Citizen V can disable the missile inside the castle. But she is captured by Zemo’s fellow Thunderbolt Techno, and Cap knows from Zemo’s behavior that something has gone wrong, so he changes strategy on the fly and runs into the castle himself.

Inside, he finds the last thing he ever wanted to see, but he doesn’t let it distract him from the task at hand.

Cap frees Citizen V but fails to prevent the missile from launching, so he has to watch as she leaps onto it, continuing his personal nightmare (while he praises her courage to Techno as he punches him).

Just like his father, Zemo escapes, and Cap looks up to see that Citizen V managed to redirect the missile, and he hails her sacrifice…

…while he urges the natives and the captive Zemo flunkies to flee before the impending explosion.

Our hero gets away—just enough, according to the exposition, even if not free and clear—but he’s more relieved there’s one expected survivor.

Citizen V shakes Cap’s hand on a job well done, and assures him she’s in the war for the right reasons and for the long haul.

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ISSUE DETAILS

Captain America/Citizen V Annual 1998: Kurt Busiek and Karl Kesel (plot), Kurt Busiek and Barbara Kesel (script), Mark Bagley (pencils), Greg Adams and Scott Hanna (inks), Joe Rosas (colors), Richards Starkings, Emerson Miranda, and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)

Collected in: Captain America: Heroes Return–The Complete Collection Vol. 1 and Thunderbolts Epic Collection: Wanted Dead or Alive.