1st Appearance "MAN-BRUTE" (Bart Dietzel)
Silas X. Cragg is obsesses with Captain America to the point where he sees the hero everywhere he goes. Vowing to destroy the hero, he's spent the better part of the past few years researching everything there is to know about the hero. Knowing his origins inside out and backward, Cragg -- a scientist -- has been able to create a new version of the Super-Soldier serum and intents to subject a human being to see if it works. However, instead of settling for just anyone, he seeks out an angry, and naturally strong individual for the serum in the hopes of creating a super-soldier even stronger than Captain America.

Cragg finds just such a man in a downtrodden part of town, an angry drunk with a lot of strength. He offers the man the opportunity to participate in his experiment, and the man takes up the offer when told it would give him the opportunity to beat Captain America in battle. The man is subjected to Cragg's serum and it is a complete success, with the man being at his physical peak, Cragg believes he has strength that surpasses Captain America himself -- and dubs his creation the Man-Brute. Later, Cragg pays a visit to Avengers Mansion posing as a spokesman for a charity collecting money for a local orphanage. When Captain America is not there to answer the call himself, Cragg leaves a message with his fellow Avengers knowing that Captain America would not turn up the chance to do anything for charity.

When Captain America arrives at the charity gathering he is attacked by the Man-Brute. The public, and the children inside the orphanage believe that the attack is part of the act that Cap has been asked to put on for the children. The fight takes them inside the actual orphanage and Captain America tells the children to seek cover. One of the boys, a child named Robert, realizes that this can't be a show if Cap told them to run for cover and watches as the Man-Brute begins to trounce Captain America in battle. Unable to sit back and let his hero be beat to death, Robert rushes out and tries to stop the Man-Brute. When the Man-Brute sees the boy he suddenly becomes decides to give up the fight and flees, escaping capture.

When he returns to Cragg's lab, Man-Brute tells him that he decided not to kill Captain America because he is a brave man. When he mentions that a young boy helped change his mind, Cragg scoffs at this -- which is the worst mistake he could have ever made -- as the Man-Brute reveals that the boy who stood up to him was his own child. Frightened for his life, Cragg tries to run away and backs into an electrical panel, electrocuting himself to death.
The next day, Captain America is at SHIELD headquarters where he learns about Cragg's death and how he was connected to the creation of the Man-Brute. Captain America recalls that Cragg was a man that he captured and had arrested 15 years prior. As he looks through the files, Fury ask Cap what he's doing and Captain America tells him that a couple pictures caught his eye. These pictures are of his love, Sharon Carter and his former sidekick Rick Jones. Later, Cap heads out into the slum neighborhood to try and learn the identity of the Man-Brute. When the man who is the Man-Brute spots Cap searching the area, he decides to slink out of sight in complete shame.

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