main imageANSWER

Real Name: David Ferrari

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Terrorist;
    formerly S.H.I.E.L.D. agent

Group Membership: None;
    formerly S.H.I.E.L.D.;
    formerly U.S. military

AffiliationsCrimson Dynamo (Soviet loyalist), Connie Ferrari

EnemiesAnton, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Dmitri, Nick Fury, Mama, Papa, S.H.I.E.L.D. (Sharon Carter, others)

Known Relatives: Connie Ferrari (sister), unidentified father (see comments)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Khamiskan

First Appearance: (David Ferrari, seen in a photo): Captain America III#20 (August, 1999);
    (David Ferrari, fully seen): Captain America III#41 (May, 2001);
    (behind-the-scenes, first referred to as the Answer): Captain America III#42 (June, 2001);
    (fully seen as the Answer): Captain America III#43 (July, 2001)

Powers/Abilities: The Answer had enhanced physical attributes that allowed him to go toe-to-toe with the Super-Soldier Serum-enhanced Captain America.

History:

(Captain America III#20 (fb) – BTS) – David Ferrari grew up loving America like his sister Connie, values instilled in them by their father. Despite being a little too sensitive for military service, David was forced into the military by his father.

(Captain America III#41 (fb) – BTS) – David Ferrari secretly joined S.H.I.E.L.D.

(Captain America III#43 (fb) – BTS) – David’s family was told that he had died in a military hazing accident to cover up David’s secret status as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. As part of S.H.I.E..L.D., David was chosen to join S.H.I.E.L.D.’s elite forces and given physical enhancements via the Omega Compound chemicals. Angry that they only wanted a super-soldier to carry out their missions, David deserted S.H.I.E.L.D., stealing mind control drugs from their psych unit when he left.

(Captain America III#41 (fb) – BTS) – Happy to let the world think he was dead, David traveled to the unstable former Soviet nation of Khamiskan.

(Captain America III#43 (fb) – BTS) – Continuing to allow the world to think him dead, David Ferrari began calling himself the Answer and plotted to control the world by using weapons left in Khamiskan after the USA had toppled its chaotic government.

(Captain America III#41) – Nick Fury tracked David to Khamiskan, where he confronted David. When Fury asked him why he wanted to be thought dead, David replied that there was work to be done and that Fury was in his way. David then fired the gun he was carrying.

(Captain America III#43 (fb) – BTS) – David administered the stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. mind control drugs to Nick Fury to bring Fury under his control.

(Captain America III#42 (fb)) – When Fury disappeared off S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar, Sharon Carter contacted Captain America to rescue Fury, as per Fury’s request. Before Cap left, Sharon warned Captain America about a man calling himself the Answer, who was trying to exploit the unstable nature of Khamiskan.

(Captain America III#42 – BTS) – Upon hearing that Captain America was in Khamiskan, the Answer ordered the Crimson Dynamo and the brainwashed Nick Fury to capture Captain America.

(Captain America III#43) – Taken captive by Crimson Dynamo and the brainwashed Fury, Captain America awoke to find himself face-to-face with the man Sharon Carter had warned him about: the Answer. Placing the captive Captain America above a nuclear missile silo with his arms and legs tied to tractors, the Answer revealed his plot of world domination. After Captain America tried to reason with him, the Answer ordered the tractors to pull Captain America apart. The Answer then injected Nick Fury with the antidote to the mind control drugs so that Fury could be conscious for Cap’s death. The Khamiskan family Captain America had earlier rescued came to his aid, freeing him from his ropes with an arrow. While Cap continued to free himself of the ropes, Nick Fury turned the tables on the Answer, hitting the Crimson Dynamo with a tractor. The Answer then revealed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s part in granting him physical enhancements and battled Captain America and Fury himself. When Captain America punched the Answer up against the nuclear silo, a crazed Answer pulled out the nuclear detonator but Captain America knocked it from David’s hand with his shield. After bringing David into custody, his sister Connie was brought in to see him and she learned of David’s faked death.

Comments: Created by Dan Jurgens and Bob Layton.

Exactly what enhancements David was given by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Omega Compound are unclear. He appeared to have enhanced physical attributes similar to Cap’s Super-Soldier Serum but it was never specifically stated. While it seemed to be hinted at, but not outright stated, it appeared that S.H.I.E.L.D.’s treatments were what drove David mad, which would explain why S.H.I.E.L.D. was keeping such a watchful eye on him in Khamiskan.

Connie Ferrari referred to her father as “the Great Santini” in Captain America III#20, a reference to the 1979 movie The Great Santini, which featured Robert Duvall as a decorated fighter pilot/harsh, abusive father.
--Minor Irritant

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Answer has no known connections to


Dimitri, Papa, Mama & AntonDimitri, Papa, Mama & Anton

Dimitri, Papa, Mama and Anton were Khamiskan natives and lived a poor life in the war-torn nation. When Captain America arrived in Khamiskan looking for the missing Nick Fury, Cap found the family crowded around a fire, with Mama very sick. After convincing them that he was there to help, Captain America gave Mama some penicillin and gave another dosage to Papa to give Mama later. Captain America’s aid was interrupted by the Crimson Dynamo, who had been sent there to capture Cap alongside a brainwashed Nick Fury. Once Cap had been strapped to tractors above a nuclear silo, Papa, Anton and Dimitri aided in freeing Captain America when Papa fired an arrow that broke the rope holding Cap’s left arm. Once the Answer had been defeated, Papa and his family were rescued from Khamiskan by S.H.I.E.L.D. and brought to America, where they received medical care and were offered a new life.

--Captain America III#42 (43


images: (without ads)
Captain America III#43, p7, pan1 (Answer, main image)
Captain America III#20, p6, pan1 (young David Ferrari photo)
Captain America III#42, p11, pan1 (Dimitri, Papa, Mama & Anton)


Appearances:
Captain America III#20 (August, 1999) – Mark Waid (writer), Andy Kubert (art), Jesse Delperdang (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Captain America III#41 (May, 2001) – Dan Jurgens (writer, art), Bob Layton (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Captain America III#42 (June, 2001) – Dan Jurgens (writer, pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Captain America III#43 (July, 2001) – Dan Jurgens (writer), Dave Ross (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Andrew Lis (asst editor), Bobbi Chase (exec editor)


Last updated: 07/15/13

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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