MARVEL APES #3

[wolframbane]

MARVEL APES #3 (M/APES 3)
December 2008
"Gorilla Warfare"
26 pages

EARTH-616
Characters: The Gibbon (Martin "Marty" Blank), Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh

APEVERSE
Characters: Ape X, Speedball, Wolverine (Logan), Hulk (Dr. Bruce Bananner), Ghost Rider, Dr. Druid, Captain America, Simian Torch I (destroyed), Sgt. Furry and the Howler Commandos (including counterparts of Dum Dum Dugan, Reb Ralston, Pinky Pinkerton, Izzy Cohen, and Dino Manelli), unnamed simian counterparts to Dazzler, Iron Fist, Punisher, Storm, Cyclops
Villains: Captain America (revealed to actually be Baron Blood), Namor, Bucky, Toro, Red Raven, Baron Zemook (dies), Mindless Ones

(1) The Apeverse Watcher briefly recaps the events of issues 1-2.
(2-4) At Ape-Vengers Tower, Captain America (actually Baron Blood) brings Ape X into his inner circle, and they discuss Marty's apparent betrayal. Daytime. Probably same day as M/APES 2 (21-22:4) and Marty and Fiona's fourth day in the Apeverse.
(5-9) Marty, having awoken surrounded by the Marvel Apes, freaks out and bolts, running thru a doorway that leads directly into the Mindless Ones' dimension (this may be the Apeverse counterpart to the Mindless Ones' realm, not the reality-616 version, as Dr. Druid later explains that this door is linked "to any number of doors in our world - but only in our world"). After Speedball pulls him back, he is reunited with Fiona. The other heroes explain that the Invaders are actually vampires and they secretly oppose them, with Speedball a double agent. Dr. Druid explains they are in a pocket dimension 'safe house' established by their Dr. Strange before slain by the Invaders. Immediately after M/APES 2 (22:5-23).
(10-14:1)-FB Flashback. Captain America and Bucky battle the Nazi forces at "a secret Nazi base on the North Sea" when Baron Zemook knock them out with a paralysing x-beam. Zemook strips them of their uniforms straps the them flying bombs, when he is killed by Baron Blood, a vampire who can turn his victims into vampires immediately and alter his appearance. Cap busts free and flees, but finds Zemook's body and battles Baron Blood, who absorbs Cap's Super-Simian Serum enhanced blood and is transformed into and uber vampire. He alters his form to appear as Cap and transforms Bucky into a vamp, and they in turn vamp Toro, Red Raven and Namor when they appear "twenty minutes" later. The Invaders then destroy the Simian Torch, who is an apedroid and cannot be vamped. Apparently daytime, overcast skies, during "the last days of World War Two". Note that Cap's identification code includes "Beppo. Goodall." Beppo was Superman's monkey, Goodall is a reference to Jane Goodall.
(14:2-14:3)-FB Flashback. Sgt. Furry and the Howler Commandos arrive on the scene, and find the decimated based and ruins of the Torch. Captain America's body was never found, but people continued to believe Blood was Cap. Apparently daytime. They arrived "two days later." They say the site appeared to be "fire-bombed worse than Dresden," placing this after February 1945. Not Furry wears an eyepatch.
(14:4-16) Marty realizes if they can find the real Cap, they can stop Blood from invading Earth-616. He hypothesises that Cap may actually be frozen in the North Sea such as on Eart-616, assuming Baron Blood had ditched the body.
(17-26) "Within six hours," Marty, Fiona, Speedball, Dr. Druid, Wolverine and Bruce Bannaner (who changed from the Hulk when Druid cast a calming spell on him) are flying in an aircraft over the North Sea. They detect Cap in the ice, and Wolverine kicks Bruce out of the airlock to anger him and turn him back to the Hulk. Wolverine identifies the frozen Cap from a scar on his arm that he gave Cap in "December '44" when Cap was undercover as a Nazi. Namor and Red Raven arrive and battle them, but Druid aakens Cap who turns the tide, but the vampires escape with Fiona. Cap, Marty and the heroes resolve to save her. Nighttime, overcast. "Six hours" later, so still fourth day that Marty is in Apeverse. Note that
Wolverine reveals himself to Cap as Logan and mentions "Remember the Ardennes?", suggesting they met during the Ardennes Offensive (Dec 16, 1944 – Jan 25, 1945) during the Battle of the Bulge (this was probably where Logan scarred Cap).

Note a similar plot occured when the Red Skull stole Captain America's identity during WWII in What If? v2 #28-29.

MARVEL APES #3/2
"The Official History of Apes of the Marvel Apes Universe, Part 1: When Simians Persist in Clashing"
5 pages
The Monkeyverse Watcher, suffering from a hangover, briefly descrbed the history of Iron Mandrill, and the Secret Wars II.

"You damn dirty apes!!"