The issue starts off with Cap fighting Backlash. Backlash keeps running his mouth and that causes his downfall.While Backlash is being led away by the cops he mentions that someone has been going around killing lots of lower level super villains. I had noticed that in various Marvel comics I was reading at the time that someone,who's appearance changed each time,was killing off villains. Shooting them with explosive bullets and shouting "Justice is served!"
Cap thinks about this super villain killer and remembers that someone a few months back tried to kill the Constrictor. "Scourge,He called himself.I never was able to get any leads on him."
Then we see Sidewinder of the Serpent Society,if a title has Gruenwald writing it odds are good the Serpent Society will appear,holding the corpse of Death Adder. So that is another villain that Scourge has taken out.
Next scene is set in the so called Bar with no name. A bar for costumed super villains. Seems a bunch of the villains are forming a group to not only protect themselves from the killer but also capture/kill Scourge.
There is a nice interlude that mostly seems to be in the story to remind the readers that at this time Steve Rogers was doing the artwork for the 616 universe's Captain America comic. Yep Cap was drawing Cap for at least a few years in his own title.
We cut to the former Firebrand at the Bar with No Name. He is bragging to the bar tender about how he has been going to all the Bars with No Names,I guess it is a very exclusive franchise,and has talked to over 100 villains. 50 of which are suppose to show up to the bar soon.
Now I normally do not do this ,but this is a comic that you should really not know the ending when reading it. So
SPOILER SPACE
Most of the rest of the issue is a build up to the final few pages. We see the former Firebrand getting all kinds of high tech scanning equipment brought into the bar. To make sure Scourge can't sneak in.
Let us see who all showed up. There is 18 in total,including Gary Gilbert the former Firebrand.
Steeplejack,Shellshock,Cyclone,Mind-Wave,Ringer,Hell-Razor,The Grappler,Rapier,Mirage,Jaguar,Turner D. Century,The Vamp,The Cheetah,Bird-Man,Commander Kraken,The Hijacker and Letha. As you can see this is a group of jobber super villains. Before this issue I had heard of maybe 7 of them.
They start to talk about how to deal with the problem of Scourge and this happens......
Yeah! That is how you end an issue of a comic and make me haunt the K&B Drugs to get the next issue.
Captain America #319 gets a BUY!