Appearing in "The Big Sleep"
Featured Characters:
- ⏴ Captain America (Steve Rogers) ⏵ (Main story and flashback)
- Falcon (Sam Wilson)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Red Skull
- HYDRA
- The 5th Sleeper (Destroyed)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- Captain America's Uniform and Shield
- The 1st Sleeper (Only in flashback)
- The 2nd Sleeper (Only in flashback)
- The 3rd Sleeper (Only in flashback)
- The 4th Sleeper (Only in flashback)
Synopsis for "The Big Sleep"
Continued from the last issue...
Captain America, Falcon and Kingpin gaze in shock at the sight of the villainous Red Skull. Threatened by the Skull's sudden appearance, Kingpin dashes at him but the Skull easily dodges him. Then the Skull reveals that he is not really here but this is a hologram of him. Captain America wants to short-circuit the electronic screen used to carry the Skull's image but Falcon stops him. Red Skull tells them about Hydra's main and only objective: Nazism and buying time for the birth of the Fourth Reich. He also tells them that the latest ruse of Hydra was controlled by him and he manipulated Richard Fisk to make him Supreme Hydra. Cap asks the Skull what he wants and the Skull sends them all into a flashback of his four sleepers who were all destroyed by Cap. Cap is still confused but Red Skull extinguishes all doubts by revealing the fifth and final Sleeper.
The Sleeper can manufacture large amounts of nerve gas which the Skull will release on the city of Las Vegas if Cap does not surrender to him. Saying this, the Skull's image vanishes. Kingpin becomes an ally and Cap sends Falcon to Col. Nick Fury to bring reinforcements while he himself goes to face the Skull. Cap puts on the Femme-Force jetpack and flies to the edge of town.
Falcon contacts S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ and Nick Fury puts him in charge of operations. Falcon also gets in touch with Valentina who is still at HYDRA HQ. The Kingpin also calls all gang bosses in the Vegas area. Sharon Carter, even though she is injured, joins the Femme-Force.
Cap meets the Sleeper at the edge of town. The Femme-Force attacks the Sleeper and the Skull declares war on the city. The gang bosses also join the battle. Cap infiltrates the Sleeper and the HYDRA agents inside attack him. SHIELD attack the Sleeper with jets but it reaches the city. The Sleeper releases the gas and pandemonium rules. The scientists at SHIELD tell Fury that the city has mere minutes to live.
Meanwhile, Cap reaches the Sleeper's master control room. Red Skull threatens to destroy the city if Cap comes near him. The Falcon tries to infiltrate the Sleeper from outside. The Skull tries to shoot Cap but Redwing comes in and knocks the gun out of his hands. Cap hits Red Skull out of the rear visual slit. Cap and Falcon smash all the control panels till it short-circuits. They escape before the Sleeper blows up.
Cap, Sam, Val and Sharon meet with Nick Fury and Harold Howards' employee thanks them on behalf of his employer. Cap and Falcon split and Falcon thinks about getting together with Cap again.
Solicit Synopsis
Notes
- In this issue, the Red Skull is revealed to be (Behind the scenes) in Captain America Vol 1 145-147.
- Harold Howard, the Kingpin's disguised alias, is spelled "Howards' in this issue.
- This issue features a letters page, Let's Rap With Cap. Letters are published from Nancy Stenzler, Steve Carey, Tom Ayers, and Nancy Brand.
- Captain America helps save the world in Avengers #101 and helps the Avengers fight the Sentinels in Avengers Vol 1 102-104 shortly after this story.
- As seen on page one, this issue is Story#807Z.
- The Red Skull's expletive "schweinhunds!" on page 13 is misspelled (the correct spelling would be "schweinehunds"). The term literally means "pig dogs" in German but the English word closer to the spirit of the term would be "bastards."
Trivia
- John Romita Sr. was uncredited as the inker of this book.
See Also
Links and References
- The Grand Comics Database: Captain America Vol 1 148 [1]