Issue(s): Captain America #380, Captain America #381, Captain America #382 (USAgent story only)
Cover Date: Dec 90 - Feb 91
Title: "The unremembered past" / "Ask not what your country can do for you..." / "Thanks for the memories"
Credits:
Mark Gruenwald - Writer
Mark Bagley - Penciler
Dan Panosian - Inker
Michael Heisler - Assistant Editor
Ralph Macchio - Editor

Review/plot:
There is not much story to the back-up stories in these three issues.

USAgent confronts General Haywerth about the fact that his memories regarding his parents were altered.

It's worth recognizing that the idea that his memories were altered is already something of a retcon, since the implication, especially in his Avengers West Coast appearances, were that he was crazy. If his mind has been altered, then the fact that he was imagining that he was talking to his parents on the phone is no longer a sign that he's unstable.

Anyway, Haywerth agrees to remove the mental block, but tells him that it was USAgent's own idea to put it there in the first place. Everything after that is basically a flashback of all of USAgent's memories. Aside from a few scenes of his life prior to becoming the Super-Patriot...

...that basically means a recap of all of his appearances to date.

When we get to the end, we learn that Haywerth was lying; Walker did not request that his memories be changed.

I thought it was an odd choice to devote so much space to recapping USAgent's history. But i realized that sales on Captain America are actually higher now than they were during the period where Walker was Cap (which also surprised me). So between that and the normal churn in readership, it's likely that many readers were not familiar with all the details here. I'd still rather have an actual story than a three issue saga style recap, but i guess i do understand why it might have been necessary to devote space to Walker's history.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This entry covers the USAgent back-up only. The main story is in a separate entry. USAgent also appears in next issue's back-up but it's not necessarily directly after this.

References:

• USAgent learned from Battlestar that his memories were altered in Captain America #378.
  
• John Walker first appeared as the Super-Patriot in Captain America #323. He fought Captain America again as the Super-Patriot in Captain America #327.
  
• He replaced Steve Rogers as Captain America in Captain America #333.
  
• Right-Winger and Left-Winger gave away John Walker's secret identity in Captain America #341.
  
• Walker's parents were therefore killed by the Watchdogs in Captain America #345.
  
• Walker convinced Steve Rogers to become Captain America again in Captain America #350.
  
• Walker's death was faked in Captain America #351, and he became USAgent after that, in Captain America #354.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I'd still rather have an actual story than a three issue saga style recap, but i guess i do understand why it might have been necessary to devote space to Walker's history.

But weren't these just backups for the regular story. I think under that format, they work fine. The weord conspiratorial angle actually grants the audience a bit of sympathy for USAgent.