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U.S. Agent is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary in Captain America (vol. 1) #323 (November 1986).
[edit] Publication historyU.S. Agent's early appearances included issues of Captain America and West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast. During the 1990s, U.S. Agent wore a discarded costume of Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, which was black and had a different alignment of the stars and stripes to differentiate it from Steve Rogers' original Captain America suit design. Like some West Coast Avengers teammates who had their own series (Iron Man and Hawkeye in Solo Avengers), the character was popular enough to earn his own limited series in 1993. The mini-series was used to finish off a long-standing Marvel Universe plot thread involving the Scourge of the Underworld. During the events of Maximum Security, U.S. Agent was given a new uniform reminiscent of riot police uniforms. He continued to use that uniform in his 2001 mini-series, which followed the events in Maximum Security and was written and drawn by Jerry Ordway. [edit] Fictional character biography[edit] OriginJohn Walker was born in the fictional town of Custer's Grove, Georgia. He grew up idolizing his older brother, Mike. Mike was a soldier and helicopter pilot who died in the Vietnam War. John wanted to honor his brother's memory by enlisting in the military, becoming a soldier himself. After John received an honorary discharge from the United States Marine Corps, he was told by a friend about the Power Broker, a mysterious individual who gave people superhuman abilities. Walker and his friend received the treatment, which granted the gifts of superhuman physical power. [edit] Super-PatriotWalker, now in debt, needed a way to pay back the Power Broker. Walker intended to join the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, until he met Ethan Thurm. Thurm persuaded Walker to become a hero instead. With Thurm backing him, Walker debuted as the corporate-sponsored Super-Patriot. Super-Patriot traveled the country promoting his image to the nation. Walker organized a rally in Central Park to publicly criticize Captain America. At this rally, Walker was attacked by self-proclaimed 'supporters' of Captain America, called the B.U.C.s (Bold Urban Commandos) or "Buckies". The Buckies wore variations on Captain America's deceased sidekick Bucky's costume. Walker defeated these protesters and proclaimed to Captain America that the people should decide who was worthy of being Captain America, challenging Captain America's role as a symbol of America. These Buckies were in fact frauds, who staged the fight in order to heighten Super-Patriot's status to the American people.[1] Walker would go on to demand a challenge from Captain America, with Captain America declining. Captain America told Walker that he would keep an eye on him.[volume & issue needed] Later, Captain America thought that Walker was behind the Buckies, because they were now his partners. Captain America attacked, but "lost" to Super-Patriot (thinking afterwards that no one wins every fight). Captain America actually dominated the fight, and neither man fell, with Captain America feeling that the confrontation had ended in a draw. But the brash Super Patriot — having struck the Captain squarely in the chest with a throwing star that caused little to no actual damage — felt inclined to declare victory.[2] After his fight with Captain America, Walker killed a terrorist named Warhead who had threatened to detonate a nuclear weapon in Washington, D.C.[volume & issue needed] Walker is technically the second Super-Patriot character in the Marvel Universe. The first Super-Patriot debuted in Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 1) #13 in July 1969 and would never appear again. The original Super-Patriot's costume bears no resemblance to that used by John Walker. [edit] Captain AmericaSoon after, the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, was forced to abandon his costume and identity or blindly serve the U.S. Government.[volume & issue needed] Rogers resigned, donning a black costume and called himself the Captain. Dr. Valerie Cooper, a member of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, suggested that Walker should be made the new Captain America, as a U.S. government operative. After a meeting with her, Walker was made the sixth Captain America. The Commission's chairman, Douglas Rockwell, was secretly an ally of the Red Skull.[volume & issue needed] The Red Skull came up with the plan of destroying Captain America's image,[volume & issue needed] and at this point his plan was working. Walker was trained in the use of Captain America's shield by the Taskmaster, and was partnered with a new Bucky: Lemar Hoskins. Hoskins was originally a member of the BUCkies, who later changed his codename to Battlestar. As the new Captain America and Bucky, they followed the orders of Adrian Sammish. Walker was trained by Freedom Force, the Guardsmen, and the Taskmaster, and went on his first mission against The Watchdogs, a militia group.[3] Although he made an honest effort to emulate Rogers' ethics, Walker was more brutal than his predecessor, due to his reactionary points of view. Walker's former partners, now calling themselves Left-Winger and Right-Winger, publicly revealed that Walker was a replacement, and revealed Walker's identity to the press because they were jealous of his new success.[4] His parents were subsequently killed by The Watchdogs; this incident drove Walker ever closer to a mental breakdown. In a state of rage, he killed many of the Watchdogs[5] and eventually caught up to Left-Winger and Right-Winger, leaving them to die in an explosion.[6] They survived (barely) because of the condition of their bodies' physiology, but they were left terribly burned and in critical condition.[volume & issue needed] Walker was then captured by Flag-Smasher, but rescued by the original Captain America, Battle Star, and D-Man.[7] The Red Skull, now in a clone body of Steve Rogers, lured Walker to Washington, D.C. The Skull attacked Walker through Walker's rogue's gallery of his villains. Then the Red Skull arranged for Walker to confront the Captain. Rogers defeated Walker — this time not only dominating the fight again, but also dealing the knock-out blow that had proved elusive during their first encounter — and confronted the Red Skull directly. Walker woke up and threw his shield at the Red Skull, preventing him from exposing Rogers to his "dust of death." Instead, the dust was inhaled accidentally by the Red Skull, giving his head a reddish skull appearance, but the Skull escaped. Rogers and Walker gave a report to the Commission, with the Commission giving the uniform of Captain America back to Steve Rogers. Rogers declined the offer, but Walker persuaded him to reconsider and accept it. At a press conference announcing the return of the original Captain America, General Haywerth had set up the false death of Walker, Haywerth wanting to set up John Walker in a new identity.[8] To take the edge off of Walker's psychosis, he was hypnotized into believing his parents were still living and he would not recover his full memory for many years.[volume & issue needed] [edit] U.S. AgentWalker soon resurfaced as an adventurer, the U.S. Agent, wearing a variation of the costume that Rogers had worn as the Captain and using his vibranium disc as a shield. Walker continued to work for the Commission. He was first seen as the U.S. Agent, battling an Iron Monger as a test for the Commission.[9] He was placed as a watchdog of West Coast Avengers and the Vision by the Commission, as a condition to possibly get their government clearance reinstated.[10] Some time later, he rescued Battle Star from the Power Broker, and reconciled with him; Walker learned that his memories had been altered and that his parents were dead.[11] U.S. Agent fought alongside the Avengers in several battles. After the Avengers moved to a United Nations based charter, he received only one vote (though not from himself) in the ensuing vote and consequently lost his place on the team.[volume & issue needed] Even with his personality conflicts and reckless behavior, he proved himself worthy of being an Avenger and was able to rejoin.[volume & issue needed] When the West Coast Avengers dissolved, he dumped his U.S. Agent costume and shield into the Hudson River.[volume & issue needed] Soon after, most of the then-current members of the West Coast Avengers, were asked by Tony Stark to found Force Works, and U.S. Agent joined them, wearing a new costume and using an energy-based shield.[volume & issue needed] When Force Works was re-absorbed into the Avengers lineup, he left the team.[volume & issue needed] During this time, U.S. Agent was featured in a Marvel UK comic called Super Soldiers, teaming up with American and British soldiers empowered by a variation of the drugs that created Nuke.[volume & issue needed] U.S. Agent was briefly referred to as the Liegeman in Avengers (vol. 3) #2-3 as it was the codename for him in the Morgan le Fay verse.[volume & issue needed] He eventually became the field leader of the Jury, a group of armored corporate vigilantes, owned by Edwin Cord, owner of Cordco. U.S. Agent again wearing his original U.S. Agent uniform and now using an eagle-shaped shield that could be directed in midair via remote control. The Jury's job was to take down the Thunderbolts, but they were defeated by the Thunderbolts and their new leader Hawkeye, a former Avenger teammate of Walker's.[volume & issue needed] The Jury attempted to apprehend the Thunderbolts a second time, but instead the two groups joined forces together against Brute Force and the soldiers of the Secret Empire.[volume & issue needed] U.S. Agent was severely beaten to near death by Protocide. Due to emergency medical procedures performed on him, he was outfitted, by S.H.I.E.L.D., with an enhancing exo-skeleton.[volume & issue needed] Following his recovery, he soon adopted a new costume and rejoined the Commission on Superhuman Activities, with the position at the head of the federal government's U.S. Marshal division, called S.T.A.R.S., the Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad. The group battled alien invaders and superhuman threats and was responsible for their imprisonment.[volume & issue needed]  [edit] InvadersHe eventually became a member of the New Invaders, wearing a more Captain America-like costume.[volume & issue needed] When most of that group disbanded in the wake of the apparent death of the original Human Torch, U.S. Agent, Union Jack (Chapman), and the Blazing Skull are still together as members. Towards the beginning of the run, U.S. Agent insisted on being called Captain America, although many of the older team members who knew the original Cap refused to do so.[volume & issue needed] [edit] Civil WarIn the special one-shot Civil War: Choosing Sides, U.S. Agent must choose between the government he has always remained loyal to or the man whose legend he attempted to uphold. As a strong trading partner to the U.S., Canada is threatened without a superhero team due to the death of Alpha Flight. The U.S. Government offers him the position to lead a newly formed team called Omega Flight. He is attacked by Purple Man and agrees to serve his country by going to Canada and consequently joins Omega Flight.[volume & issue needed] In Civil War: The Initiative U.S. Agent was a part of the line-up of Omega Flight. He was assigned to the team as an American representative, but is personally motivated out of hate towards the Purple Man who humiliated him and stole his shield.[volume & issue needed] U.S. Agent joined the Mighty Avengers line-up during the Dark Reign storyline.[12] [edit] Powers and abilitiesAs a result of the experimental mutagenic augmentation process conducted on him by Dr. Karl Malus on behalf of the Power Broker, John Walker has superhuman strength, endurance, agility, and reflexes. His speed, dexterity, coordination, and balance are of the order of a superior Olympic athlete. Aside from the above advantages, U.S. Agent is an exceptional hand-to-hand combatant, having received rigorous training in unarmed combat and the use of his shield in a style similar to Captain America's own fighting style, by the Taskmaster. He is also a seasoned combat veteran with military combat experience in tactical and strategic planning and observations, special operations, and is highly proficient in the use of conventional firearms. He is also highly trained in gymnastics and acrobatics. He is capable of using his nearly indestructible vibranium shield for defensive purposes and as a weapon. He has great accuracy at throwing his shield and due to his superhuman strength, it is potentially a lethal weapon. He also uses an energy truncheon that is capable of knocking out opponents. It can be also used as an energy laser to cut objects. The U.S. Agent also wears synthetic stretch bulletproof fabric. At one point, the Agent used wrist guards which produced an energy shield as well as energy blasts. [edit] Other versions[edit] Marvel ZombiesIn one panel, U.S. Agent is shown as one of the surviving heroes. He questions why Magneto is present, to which Nick Fury answers "anyone who is not a zombie is an ally."[volume & issue needed] [edit] In other media[edit] Television
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