Unlike some annuals that contain standalone stories, Captain America Annual 2000 is a direct continuation of the storyline from Captain America #35, in which Captain America faced Protocide, who we know (and Cap learns in this issue) was the victim of a botched application of the Project Rebirth treatment. Although this story disrupts the status quo of Steve Rogers as the first recipient of the super-soldier serum, it does serve to highlight the importance of character being the foundation of who was chosen to become Captain America.
After a few pages of Protocide successfully taking on a entire SHIELD team, attention turns to Cap as seen as the end of issue #35, lying unconscious at Sharon Carter’s feet after defeating Protocide and saving the dangerous Omega Compound for falling into the wrong hands.
Compared to their recent interactions, Sharon is surprisingly tender…
…but changes her tune when Cap rouses and calls out for someone else.
After confirming that the Omega Compound is safe, Cap’s attention turns to Protocide, about whom no information exists in the SHIELD computers. With a complete lack of self-awareness, Cap says his new enemy’s speech was “dated.”
When Cap and Sharon arrive at the location of his source, the guards are excited to meet a legend.
Despite being in a hurry, Cap shakes hands and makes sure they feel recognized, and one of the guards tells him what he means to all Americans. When Sharon asks him about it, he deflects the praise, writing it off as reflected love of the country (which even I think takes his humility a little too far).
Yes, his source is Cache, the supercomputer come to life from the last two issues, who possesses all the information on every computer in the world. And he is more than surprised at Cap’s request as well as his eventual offer—which is a bit surprising in general, given Cap’s general disapproval of legal shenanigans that interfere with the proper execution of justice.
Cache finds the suggestion irrelevant, given his non-living status, and Sharon says no anyway (interpreting Cap’s offer as having something to do with SHIELD).
Cap challenges her quick rejection of the suggestion he didn’t make, and Cache suggests that he could be of value indeed.
It’s Cap’s turn to be surprised, albeit incredibly so, when Cache reveals Protocide is from his own era.
Cache uses his palm projector to show them the man who became Protocide, Private Clinton McIntyre…
…whom Cap does not recognize. Sharon calms his down and challenges Cache, who introduces the other players in the story: Professor Erskine and General Phillips, whom we know, and General Maxfield Saunders, who is new.
(Cache definitely has the university lecturer pose down, nice job.)
Cap gets angrier and almost loses control, which is shocking, but it also reveals how deeply personal this emerging story is to him.
Turning back to the three men at the origin of Project Rebirth, Erksine emphasizes the importance of finding a candidate with ideal character traits or virtues, while Saunders introduces another perspective to the story, focusing on strength alone.
Phillips supports Erskine, but after they leave, Saunders takes matters into his own hands…
…grabbing the “untested, undocumented formula” and asking that his candidate, McIntyre, be brought to him because he has the physical profile he desires, with no regard to the virtues Erskine is focused on (which McIntyre clearly lacks, as seen below).
McIntyre is injected with the serum, but either because it’s incomplete or it was not followed up with Vita-Rays (similar to what happened to William Burnside, the 1950s Cap), he has a bad reaction. He loses control and lashes out randomly, and after rampaging outside in traffic, he collapses dead from a heart attack. When Phillips arrives on the scene he is horrified at what has happened, but his belief in Project Rebirth is not shaken (luckily for us!).
Cache refuses to tell Cap who was responsible for reviving McIntyre, but does warn him that he will be very hard to defeat, especially because the serum enhances his antisocial personality traits (as it did Rogers’ virtuous ones)—a challenge Cap readily accepts.
Cap will pick up the search for Protocide in Captain America #37 (after dealing with the Maximum Security event in issue #36).
ISSUE DETAILS
Captain America (vol. 3) Annual 2000, “Who Is… Protocide?!”: Dan Jurgens (writer), Greg Scott (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Marie Javins (colors), Jon Babcock (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Captain America by Dan Jurgens Omnibus.
PREVIOUS ISSUES: Captain America #34-35 (October-November 2000)
NEXT ISSUES: Captain America #36 (December 2000)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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