This issue wraps up the first arc of the fourth volume of Captain America as our hero has traveled to Dresden to investigate the source of the mysterious and advanced CATtags that have shown up on Middle Eastern terrorists and SHIELD agents alike. Once he got there, at the end of the last issue, he recalled the Allied firebombing of the city in early 1945 that killed thousands of German civilians with questionable military justification, and then arrived at the CATtag factory just before it exploded.
This issue opens with Steve using all of his resources to try to outrun the blast…
…and failing that, he uses his shield to block the debris and preserve a small bit of space and air in the wreckage.
After the destruction settles down, Steve is first relieved that he seems to be the only one trapped (although he can’t know how many might have been killed in the collapse), which confirms for him that (1) he was the target and (2) he will soon meet his assassin.
(Yeah, it’s that guy, the Master whom the assassin in Virginia referred to in the last issue.)
Despite the impossible odds, Cap demonstrates his legendary resolve as he smashes his way through the debris above him.
As soon as he sees light, the Master drops a grenade through the hole…
…but Cap is not defeated, thanks to his shield, nor is he deterred from asking about the man’s identity and the CATtag on his chest.
He continues to press the Master about the attack on Centerville just to draw him out, and finally pauses when his foe reveals his face.
Cap recovers quickly, and as the two fight, the Master expresses regret that he couldn’t draw the hunt out longer…
…an idea Cap has no patience for.
As the battle nears its end, Cap wonders how much irreparable harm this man, this monster, has done…
…and accepts that the answer is lost to time.
Of course, despite the unknowable number of lives the Master has taken or ruined, Cap does not kill him, leaving him to face justice in a court of law.
The Master tries to get in a few more verbal jabs, but Cap only takes the chance to confirm that he knows he didn’t kill the terrorist Faysal al Tariq at the end of issue #3—not because he doubts he was capable of it, but only after he realized the true purpose of the CATtags as “kill switches.”
Cap asks the Master about his assassins’ belief that the CATtags made them immortal, but he is betrayed by the “polizei” before he gets an answer.
After the Master orders his assassins to leave, he asserts his right of “honor” to kill Captain America himself.
He does answer Cap’s question, though, so Cap asks a follow-up about SHIELD that leads the Master to explain his Trojan horse strategy based on irrational exuberance about new technology (an all-too-common occurrence).
Cap has confidence in his old friend, but the Master says it doesn’t matter before teasing his own origin story.
The Master makes an arrogant and facetious offer, which Cap wisely does not take seriously…
…so the Master tells his story of his family being caught in the middle of a regional war fought against the background of the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union, with one side armed with American weapons (which fits with his targeting Centerville, home of a munitions factory).
He goes on to explain how he got the scars on his face and finishes by asking once again where he’s from…
…but the possibilities are too many, which is exactly the Master’s point. That said, Cap has never denied the wrong his country has done, but maintains that America always tries to do better, especially when the citizenry is informed by an independent press unafraid to call out the powerful. (I may have added that last part.)
Then Cap turns the tables on the Master, accusing him of claiming to know the pain, horror, and loss he’s inflicted on others without ever really seeing it (as Cap has more times than he can count).
If he had seen any of it rather than just his own, Cap argues, he would feel some remorse—but I think Cap gives him too much credit (as he often does).
With the Master defeated, Cap throws his CATtag away while mourning the facts that killers will always walk amongst us, and the only thing that stands in their way…
…is us—every single one of us.
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.”
ISSUE DETAILS
Captain America (vol. 4) #6, December 2002: John Ney Reiber (writer), John Cassaday (pencils and inks), Dave Stewart (colors), Wes Abbott and Richard Starkings (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Collected in: Captain America Marvel Knights Volume 1.
LAST ISSUE: Captain America #5 (October 2002)
ALSO THIS MONTH: Avengers #59 (December 2002)
NEXT ISSUE: Captain America #7 (January 2003)
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