This issue of Captain America presents the aftermath of the last three issues’ adventure against Count Nefaria in the Savage Land, as Cap and Sharon Carter wrap up the mess while confronting their lingering romantic issues. Plus, in this month’s Iron Man, we see Tony Stark flash back to a familiar training session with Steve Rogers.
Captain America #31 opens with Sharon rushing into Nefaria’s lab to find a way to restore his animal-hybrid creatures to normal, and is offended when Cap and Matthew Plunder (son of Ka-Zar and Shanna) offer assistance.
Cap tries to balance acknowledging Sharon’s skills and experience with the overwhelming nature of the threat and the importance of time, but she does not take it well.
Eventually they get to the real issue, the nature of their relationship…
…which is made clear when Sharon remembers when Cap told her “I love you” in issue #19.
They continue to bicker until Matthew collapses and removes his helmet to reveal a prematurely elderly man, who then dies. Cap is shocked at Sharon’s reaction—or lack thereof—linking her refusal to feel anything about Matthew’s sudden death to her refusal to acknowledge her feelings for Cap.
Cap does as Sharon commands while making it clear it doesn’t change anything between them…
..although what they find behind the doors does drastically change their understanding of recent events: Ka-Zar, Shanna, and Matthew, as well as the rest of the human inhabitants of the Savage Land, are alive but unconscious, and the creatures they confronted were genetically modified clones of them.
Before they leave, Cap emphasizes the rule of law and the role of courts in assuring justice, but accedes to Ka-Zar and Shanna’s jurisdiction, asking no questions about what the system of justice is like in the Savage Land. (Nefaria doesn’t seem worried, though.)
As Cap and Sharon make their way back to the plane Nick lent him for this mission, they pick up their earlier conversation, with Cap confronting Sharon about ditching him at the end of issue #19 and her responding that she doesn’t want to be “controlled.”
She brings up the unique and (to her) impossible nature of their relationship, adding the new element of his devotion to American ideals, in which she has lost faith of late (as seen earlier in this run).
Unfortunately they don’t explore this angle further, with Cap claiming to be, deep down, a simple man…
…and Sharon turning the tables by pressing him on what he wants them to be.
When he doesn’t respond immediately, she makes the case that his history makes him inescapably and irreparably alone…
…which she further claims makes him complicated rather than simply lonely (which explains his desperation to restore something between them).
Choosing not to respond to her callous dismissal of 1930s radio shows—which he and Nick bonded over at the end of issue #27—Cap turns the focus back on Sharon’s fear of intimacy and takes advantage of her confusion to lean in for a kiss…
…only to be interrupted the man himself (about which she is upset rather than relieved).
(Compare the near-kiss and the beam from above to the end of Captain America #454. Interesting…)
We don’t see any resolution between Cap and Sharon in this issue, but we do see him fulfill a commitment he made (in issue #28) to the other woman in his life, Connie Ferrari…
…and we can assume he is delighted to learn she shares his love, not only of big band music, but of 1930s radio shows as well (particularly the one he listened to with Nick the other night).
And what about Sharon? Nick finds her outside the restaurant, waiting to tell Steve she’s the new head of SHIELD, but in the end she decides not to break up his date.
Before we close up shop, let’s check in on Tony Stark in Iron Man #30, who is battling against his armor, which has become sentient and left him on a deserted island. Tony remembers the training Cap gave him, most likely in Iron Man #125…
…which reminds him of who he is without the armor.
And who he is, apparently, is Oliver Queen.
ISSUE DETAILS
Captain America (vol. 3) #31, July 2000: Dan Jurgens (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Gregory Wright (colors), Todd Klein (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Captain America by Dan Jurgens Omnibus.
Iron Man (vol. 3) #30, July 2000: Joe Quesada (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Rob Hunter (inks), Steve Oliff (colors), Richard Starkings and Troy Peteri (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Iron Man: The Man in the Iron Mask Omnibus.
PREVIOUS ISSUES: Captain America #28-30 (April-June 2000)
NEXT ISSUE: Captain America #32 (August 2000)
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