No, you didn’t access my Fantastic Four blog, Here’s the Thing…, by accident. Captain America does appear alongside the Avengers in these three issues of Fantastic Four, but not in any way central in the main storyline, which I will try to summarize enough to make sense of Cap’s involvement. (It will be quite a while before I get to these issues at the other blog, but I will get there!)
A little background to set up the story: In issue #25, during a global cataclysm, Doctor Doom reappears on Earth for the first time since the end of the Heroes Reborn period and reveals that he transported the Heroes Reborn Earth into the 616 universe, where it is now called “Counter-Earth” (not to be confused with the High Evolutionary’s Counter-Earth, although it’s inevitable). He did this to protect Counter-Earth from the Dreaming Celestial who was destroying it but now now wants to merge the two Earths (hence the cataclysm). Eventually, Ashema, the Celestial who is Counter-Earth’s protector, awakens and defeats the Dreaming Celestial, but Reed and Doom are caught in the blast, and when the smoke clears, only Doom remains.
Most of issue #26 deals with the aftermath, during which Wyatt Wingfoot, longtime friend and ally of the Fantastic Four, alerts both the FF and the Avengers to the presence of Doom’s ship over his reservation. In his only appearance in this issue, Cap confers with Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch as they all remember the ship that brought them home from the Heroes Reborn world (even if they remember little else about that episode).
(This story obviously takes place before Avengers #25, when Cap left the team.)
More important to the storyline, “Doom” is revealed through his inner monologue to actually be Reed, whom the Dreaming Celestial sealed in Doom’s armor as a final act of revenge before being destroyed. After he manages to convince the rest of his family of his true identity, Reed begins a delicate balancing act of keeping up the pretense of being Doom to the rest of the world, including his warlike generals from Counter-Earth whom he fears while rebel if he appears weak, while figuring out how to use the armor while figuring out how to escape from it—especially as the armor starts to affect his mind, making him act more like Doom as the story progresses.
To convince his generals he is in control, Reed proposes marriage to his “enemy” Sue, who agrees, and issue #27 opens with the wedding announcement heard around the world:
Next we see a number of reactions, including Cap, who makes his standard “no comment,” as well as both Iron Man and Tony Stark (because his identity is secret since he mindwiped the world) and President Bill Clinton. (The accompanying page, not shown here, includes Namor warning Sue to “walk away now” if she values her life.)
Later, the Avengers have Ben over to the mansion to discuss the situation, with Cap starting the dialogue and Ben unable to reveal any details and simply asking them to trust him. (Justice understandably reminds Ben of the events of issue #23 as only the most recent instance of mind-control of the part of their foes.)
When Ben tries to leave, Tony and Thor block his way, leading to a grand brawl, one in which Ben holds his own admirably (even though, as he acknowledges below, all involved were holding back). In the end, Cap alone stands before him, referring to their long friendship (dating back to at least Marvel Two-in-One #4-5).
After they make half-hearted threats to each other, Ben asks his old friend again to trust him—invoking the “leap of faith” that every American must make, every day, that democracy will hold through the voluntary cooperation of people devoted to upholding its founding principles against those who would dismiss them for their own gain—and Cap agrees.
The wedding occurs at the end of the issue, documented by the issue’s creative team of Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca, Art Thibert, and Bobbie Chase, as well as Stan and Jack themselves. (I don’t know who the fella with the baseball cap is.)
The issue ends with an image no less striking simply because we know who’s behind the mask.
Issue #28 opens with the U.S. military, Doom’s generals, “Doom” himself, and the Avengers (as seen below), running simulations on how Doom and his forces could take over the world and how many deaths would be involved—which Cap, speaking for the rest of the team, implicitly promises to prevent.
Reed hopes to prevent this as well, but has to be careful not to make his generals suspect he is any less motivated towards conquest—but they launch an attack regardless, which also launches Cap into field leadership mode with his team.
Despite the stakes of the battle with Doom’s generals, Cap and Wanda find an opportunity to make a joke at Tony’s expense. (The lesson here is that there’s always time to make a joke at Tony’s expense.)
While Johnny finds this levity inspiring, Tony discovers that “Doom” is taking steps to stop the attack—which Cap fully intends to investigate before he is stopped by Lancer, Doom’s second-in-command (when Doom was Doom) and protector.
Lancer is impressed by Cap’s skills and concludes that, despite her admiration of him, she has to kill him—until “Doom” stops her.
After the Avengers and the rest of the Fantastic Four confront Reed, they agree the attack was mistaken and “Doom”—or at least his ship—has to leave. Reed takes Lancer aside (or upside?) and gives her a mission, which she guesses before he tells her, as she has already surmised that he is not the real Doom.
As we see above, Cap also has suspicions about this Doom, which Tony confirms below, based on his Ph.D. in… women?
To see what happens to Reed, the rest of the Fantastic Four, and the real Doom, check out the conclusion to this story in issues #29-31, available digitally at Marvel.com or in print in Fantastic Four: Heroes Return – The Complete Collection Vol. 2. (And don’t forget to check out my new book, Ethics of the Fantastic Four, for more on the various moral concepts evoked by Marvel’s first family.)
ISSUE DETAILS
Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #26, February 2000: Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Liquid! (colors), Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #27, March 2000: Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Liquid! (colors), Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #28, April 2000: Chris Claremont (writer), Salvador Larroca (pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Liquid! (colors), Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Fantastic Four: Heroes Return – The Complete Collection Vol. 2.
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Avengers #25, Iron Man #25, and Ant-Man’s Big Christmas #1 (February 2000), Domination Factor: Fantastic Four #3.7 and Domination Factor: Avengers #4.8 (February 2000), Captain America #26-27 and Hulk #11 (February-March 2000), Captain America #28 (April 2000), and Avengers #27 and Avengers Annual 2000 (April 2000)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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