The cover is pretty neat, Dragon Man chomping down on Cap's shield, which is still attached to Cap. Cap lies beaten on a pile of bricks. Well-done cover here. One glaring issue here: Dragon Man is supposed to be purple.
"Dragon Man!"
Writer: Roger Stern (alongside John Byrne)
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Josef Rubenstein
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter
The comic begins with Captain America, Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and a SHIELD robotics expert named Gaffer examining a robot in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
The robot is a simulacrum of Baron Von Strucker. You see, in the last issue, SHIELD was preparing to and over Baron Von Strucker to Israel to be tried for war crimes (Von Strucker was a former Nazi), however, Von Strucker tried to escape, but Captain America, Nick Fury, and Dum Dum Dugan was able to stop him. However, he turned out to be a robot.
Gaffer remarks that this robot is incredibly advanced, sophisiticated enough to fool prison doctors into thinking he was human. Fury tells Gaffer to analyze the robot, and Gaffer says it would take a few days. He wants to know if this robot has connections to some troubles with robots and LMDs that Cap and SHIELD have had to deal with Captain America #342 and Defenders #54.
That's something I love about the Marvel Universe of this time, the references to other issues. It gave the feeling that the Marvel Universe was truly connected, and that events in books mattered and had impact.
Cap notices the robot's eye is moving. It leads him to wonder why such a sophisticated robot would be left to be freely examined when it hits him.
The robot had a self-destruct feature, reducing it to slag. A small sphere flies from the remains. A soldier tries to shoot it down, but it manages to get away.
Fury, well, furiously admonishes the soldier. Shame he didn't call the soldier a "goldbrickin' yahoo". Cap tells him that they'll get another lead on the mysterious robot maker. Fury insists this whole thing is SHIELD's problem, and Cap reminds him of SHIELD's handling of a government plan to take over Stark Industries (It happened over Iron Man #119-129). Fury explains he wasn't proud of that, but even the Director of SHIELD has to follow orders. Cap understands and tells Fury to let him know if SHIELD has any leads. Fury tells him he'll let him know. Dum Dum's arm is patched and slinged up, so he offers to give Cap a lift anywhere he wants to go. Cap decides to go to the Avengers' Mansion.
Meanwhile, the robot's builder, one Samuel "Starr" Saxon, aka Machinesmith, is happy to see his gadget make its return to his lab. He then has the gadget analyze all the data it captured from its time inside the robotic simulacrum of Strucker. Hmm, I wonder what data the gadget was collecting, and why Machinesmith wants it... Anyway, Machinemsith comes to a loading dock in his lab, where he has obtained something...big.
He removes the tarp to reveal... the Dragon Man! And Machinesmith is clearly overjoyed.
While Machinesmith is jumping in joy, Captain America is looking for work. In his civilian identity of Steve Rogers, he's looking for illustration work. Didn't the Avengers give out weekly stipends for members? I'm guessing Cap turned them down or donated them to charity. He encounters Josh Cooper, who plans to treat Cap to dinner alongside Mike Ferrell. They're celebrating an old college friend of Mike's moving into the building. And who is the new resident?
Yup, it's the first appearance of Bernie Rosenthal! She and Steve hit it off, while amusingly noting they both have clefts in their chins. Back at his lab, Machinesmith is examining Dragon Man, and discovered the robot can be reactivated. "Starr" Saxon prepares to reactivate the Dragon Man, but then shows a bit of pathos with some great panel storytelling by John Byrne.
The Dragon Man roars back to life. And he's angry. In its rage, Dragon Man trashes the place, which annoys Machinesmith, but then he realizes he is essentially dealing with a powerful robot with the mind of a child. He summons of his golden spherical gadgets to calm Dragon Man down with a nice little dose of soothing ultrasonic noise.
I'm just including this panel because I just love Dragon Man's face in this panel. He looks so delightfully derpy. "Hee hee, Dragon Man like pretty glowing ball." But then it's revealed why there was a gadget inside the Strucker robot. It was collecting data on Captain America. He orders the gadget to hunt down and get the robot to attack him.
Back in the borough of Brooklyn (alliteration!), Steve, Mike, Josh, and Bernie are discussing music when the radio announces a newsflash. Seems some flying object has been buzzing a group of buildings, which Cap realizes were buildings he visited that day. Bernie hopes it's not a UFO scare. It's the Marvel Universe, Bernie. It probably is an actual UFO. Steve goes to the window, and sees...
The Bat-Signal! Nah, it's the Dragon Man in the Moon. Yeah, the Marvel Universe has the Dragon Man in the Moon. Seeing this means that the were-Dragon Men will rampage, so Steve has to take care of that.
Josh remembers he had to give something to Cap, but when he gets to Steve's apartment, the Sentinel of Liberty has already suited up and left. Steve finds the Dragon Man, playing with the gadget. Cap approaches the monster very carefully, as he knows how powerful the monster-like robot is. He then realizes the gadget looks like the same one that was in the Strucker robot. I like to imagine that it is.
However, when Cap draws near, the gadget erupts with another ultrasound noise, one the Dragon Man does not like. It causes the Dragon Man to go on a rampage, and Cap gets worried. He's not comfortable with the idea of fighting a super-powerful robot in the city, as people could get hurt.
In an apartment, a couple are grumbling about a lack of excitement in their lives, and they get more than they bargained for when Dragon Man decides to bust in, and he's not there for a cup of sugar. The woman's scream distracts the robot, which allows Cap to escape his grip, and get the couple out of the apartment. Cap sees the gadget that is causing the mess, and tries to destroy it with his shield. However, the gadget dodges the shield toss, and it flies right into Dragon Man, and the robot tries to eat the shield.
It's a good thing the Dragon Man is a robot, otherwise I'd be worried that Machinesmith didn't bother to feed him enough. Anyway, because the shield is pretty much indestructible, a frustrated Dragon Man tosses it in the air. And a little funny moment.
Heh heh, they can see the shield, but think it's a weather balloon. Cap dodges a fire blast from Dragon Man, who is trying to blast the gadget. Cap is able to put out the fire by making the robot careen into a water tower. The powerful robot gives chase to Cap. Cap's shield then lands on the roof they're on, which is actually pretty convenient.
Cap is briefly distracted by the shield landing, which allows Dragon Man to grab the Sentinel of Liberty and give him a big ol' bearhug. The issue ends with Dragon Man trying to crush Cap's midsection.
This issue was pretty good. It had a nice fight scene, a couple moments of humor, and we got to see a little bit of Steve Rogers in his civilian life at the time. John Byrne's art was in great form here, and Josef Rubenstein's inks, like Terry Austin's in X-Men, compliment his pencils well. I enjoyed this issue, and I think you will, too. If you find War and Remembrance in a comic store, pick it up. It's nine issues of good comics.
You know, I just realized something. Except for the Back to the Future comic review I did last time, I've been reviewing mostly Marvel stuff. I'll have to relieve that. So next time, I'll take a look at something from the Distinguished Competition, as it were. Not to mention, March is Women's History Month. So you know what, I'll kill two birds with one stone. Next time, we'll take a look at an adventure of the Amazing Amazon! That's right! I'll take a look at Wonder Woman next time!
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