Schrodinger's CapWolf: A Touch Invisible

Captain America #404
“Man and Wolf, Part 3 of 6: Children of the Night”
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciller: Rik Levins
Inkers: Danny Bulanadi-Donald Hudson-Ray Kryssing
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Gina Going
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Captain America and Dr. Druid take on nearly two dozen werewolves in their own unique styles, with Druid levitating above the fray while Cap starts throwing punches. Eventually Druid casts a spell rendering the duo invisible to the beasts and the soon-arriving Moonhunter (“The hard part was masking our scents from them,” Druid explains).

Meanwhile, Nightshade attempts to add the captured Wolverine to the pack, but his healing factor won't allow the transformation to stick. Instead, the mysterious Dredmund controls Logan's mind, deeming him “feral enough for our community as he is.”

When the sun rises, the werewolves disappear, and Cap and Druid begin to suspect everybody in the town of Starkeboro could be a lycanthrope. Still invisible, they begin to investigate, only to be ambushed by Nightshade and Wolverine, who weren't subject to the original spell.

At this point, I assumed the spell was broken, but there's a great panel showing Wolverine fighting with, apparently, no one – a nice attention to detail.

The tussle between Wolverine and Cap is a good one, although what stood out to me most was Cap's interior monologue:

That's some classic comic dialogue, courtesy of Mr. Gruenwald.

The star-spangled Avenger manages to keep Wolverine from stabbing or maiming him but gets taken down by Moonhunter's tranquilizer darts. Next thing we know, Cap is laid out on a stretcher, with Nightshade preparing to inject him with her werewolf serum.

That means it's – finally – time for CapWolf! (And Druid got lost in the melee. Maybe we'll get a Wolf-Druid too?!?)

This was another fun issue, setting the table for the main attraction (for me anyway) of this story. Still no sign of John Jameson, though even Cap admits he might not recognize him as a werewolf.

The battle between Cap and Wolvie is previewed on the cover, which may not be as striking as Mike Zeck's iconic Captain America Annual #8, but is still a nice image, especially with the claw marks through the logo.

I'm still wondering who the shadow-enshrouded Dredmund will turn out to be. Given that his mind control power seemed to emanate from his eyes, I'm thinking X-villain Mesmero, though it seems like it should be someone with ties to Cap as well. Maybe Mesmero fits that bill, but I'm not going wiki-diving at the risk of spoiling this 29-year-old reveal now.

Part 4