This issue sees the aftermath of Connie Ferrari’s realization in the last issue that her boyfriend Steve Rogers is actually [SPOILER WARNING] Captain America! Given her well-documented issues with authority and the military, it is understandable that she doesn’t take this revelation well, and throughout this issue we see both sides of the issue, Connie’s being the more novel and interesting. (And you have to love the cover by current writer/penciller Dan Jurgens, who captures the look of 50s romance comics perfectly, especially the seminal work of John Romita, Sr.)
The opening splash sets the stage…
…for her to commend his efforts, like Christopher Reeve, to make Steve Rogers appear less impressive than Captain America.
But then her shame turns to anger as she tries to cast a spell to make him disappear.
Seriously, though, she calls out a perennial issue in superhero ethics, especially where honesty is concerned: their reticence and refusal to share their double life with those close to them, a deception motivated by a sincere protective instinct, but a deception nonetheless, especially to someone you’re romantically involved with.
Given that they’re in an interrogation room in a police station, Cap is naturally concerned about being overheard through the two-way mirror, which Connie dismisses before bringing up Sharon Carter (ouch). Cap begins to explain the standard rationale for secret identities…
…until they are interrupted by a group of men posing as police, looking to get one up on the Sentinel of Liberty. While defending Connie, Cap ponders the cost of his dual life—a familiar refrain to longtime readers—and fears that this incident in particular will drive Connie away for good. (To his credit, though, it does support his reluctance to tell her his secret.)
After a flying machine, flown by Taskmaster, appears and captures him with mechanical tentacles, Cap drops his shield practically into Connie’s hands, which launches her own contemplation into the man she loves.
(I realize its symbolism can be heavy, Ms. Ferrari, but the shield only weighs twelve pounds.)
She begins to feel guilty that Cap has both been captured and is missing his shield, especially because he was defending her at the time…
…but she exaggerates the degree to which Cap relies on his mighty shield, before considering the nature of his day-to-day life and regretting getting angry with him for his tardiness and absences.
True to her legal training, she considers that his reasons for missing their dates were not excuses for doing wrong but justifications based on doing right.
Finally, she comes to the conclusion that her boyfriend can never fully commit to her if he’s committed to his duty, and that she can’t bear to distract him from his mission…
…both reasons why she can’t be in a relationship with him any longer, which she tells him in the letter he finds when he gets home after defeating Taskmaster by surprising him with his photon-energy shield built into his glove.
And this spells the end for Steve Rogers and Connie Ferrari.
(Never coming back to him, perhaps, but we will see her again, very soon.)
ISSUE DETAILS
Captain America (vol. 3) #44, August 2001: Dan Jurgens (writer and pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Michael Bartolo (colors), Todd Klein (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Captain America by Dan Jurgens Omnibus.
PREVIOUS ISSUES: Captain America #41-43 (May-July 2001)
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Avengers #43 and Thunderbolts #53 (August 2001)
NEXT ISSUE: Captain America #45-46 (September-October 2001)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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