Captain America Takes a Kid Clone of Doctor Doom on the Run in Issue #17

The dust from Avengers: Armageddon is still settling, and it's landed Steve Rogers in an unusually awkward spot: on the run, and babysitting a kid-sized clone of Doctor Doom. Comic-Watch's exclusive preview of Captain America #17 confirms the oddest-couple road trip Marvel has cooked up in a while, with Cap now a wanted man sheltering a young version of Victor Von Doom — reportedly nicknamed "Vic" — while the rest of the Marvel Universe decides whether either of them can be trusted.

It's a sharp twist on the classic Cap-as-fugitive playbook, except this time his cargo isn't a secret file or a rescued civilian, it's a miniature version of the man who's spent decades trying to rule the world. Pairing Steve Rogers' boy-scout morality against a blank-slate Doom is the kind of character collision that could go a lot of directions, and early reporting suggests Marvel is leaning into the tension between protecting a kid and knowing exactly what that kid grows up to become.

Chip Zdarsky has been steering Captain America through the back half of Armageddon and its aftermath, and issue #17 looks like the moment the series commits fully to a post-event status quo rather than easing back into the status quo. Expect the fugitive angle to stick around for at least the next few issues.

Captain America #17 is set for release this week. Original reporting: Comic Watch.