Captain America #122
The Sting of the Scorpion!
Captain America is walking the streets and once again lamenting his lot in life. He wonders when his constant duty as Captain America will come to an end and he will be allowed to have a life as Steve Rogers. His is also weary of the fact that he is the embodiment of the American flag and everything it stands for. He feels even more like a relic because of his old ideals which are counter to those who rebel against the establishment. He wonders if they aren’t wrong when these rebels also fight against injustice and greed. Still, even though he plays by the rules he vows to continue fighting evil.
When he returns to his hotel room, Steve Rogers strips off his costume in frustration. He decides to stop being so melodramatic and reminds himself that the establishment still produces great men to set an example. Rogers then tries to go to sleep but he can’t get thoughts of Sharon Carter out of his mind.[1] When he does fall asleep, Steve has a nightmare about Sharon being stalked and killed by operatives of AIM. He wakes up screaming Sharon’s name, but is relieved when he realizes that it was just a nightmare.
However, this doesn’t mean that Sharon Carter isn’t really in trouble. At that very moment, a spy ring has become aware that she has been investigating them. Their leader, a guy named Specs, assures his men that he has the situation well under control because he has hired someone to deal with the snooping SHIELD agent. This operative is none other than the Scorpion who has come out of hiding following his most recent defeat.[2] Before going on his mission, the villain decides to test his powers by robbing a passer-by. His mistake is attacking Steve Rogers, who had just checked out of his hotel room after a sleepless night. The Scorpion sucker punches Rogers and is about to steal his briefcase when the sound of police sirens scares him away.
Relieved that his attache wasn’t stolen, Steve rushes back to his room to change into Captain America and follow after his attacker. Spotting the Scorpion getting into a station wagon and speeding away from the scene, Cap flags down a taxi and orders it to follow the wagon. Unaware that he is being followed, the Scorpion uses the electronic tracking system in his vehicle to locate and follow Sharon Carter. Getting out of his car to follow her on foot, the Scorpion is then ambushed by Captain America. While Cap is busy fighting the Scorpion, Sharon Carter is captured by Specs and his fellows spies.
When Rogers finally defeats the Scorpion he learns that someone hired the villain and decides to scout around for clues. This leads him to the spy ring, who just finished tying up and gagging Sharon and stuffing her into a closet. Unaware that she is being held prisoner, Captain America easily trounces the crooks just as SHIELD agents — alerted by the taxi driver who helped Cap earlier — arrive on the scene. This whole time, Sharon has been desperately trying to remove her mouth gag. When she does the first thing she does is call out for Captain America. However, she is instead found by her fellow agents who tell her that Cap already left.
Talking a taxi back into the city, and unaware how close he was to Sharon, Captain America is depressed that he hasn’t heard from her in a while. When the taxi driver asks him if he lost his best gal, Steve admits to him that he feels like she has forgotten Captain America even exists.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Scorpion, SHIELD (Sharon Carter)
Continuity Notes
Captain America previously asked Sharon Carter to quit her job at SHIELD so he wouldn’t have to worry about her safety all the time. Sharon, rightly, told Cap to go fuck himself because she likes being a spy. See Captain America #114.
A footnote here refers readers to the Scorpion’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #20. Chronologically, the Scorpion was defeated by Spider-Man a second time in Amazing Spider-Man #29, and more recently suffering an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Jessica Jones after he was forced to rob a laundromat for money as seen in Alias #23.
Topical References
The people that Captain America refers to as “part of the establishment” are Martin Luther King, philosopher Marshall McLuhan, J.R.R. Tolkien (I guess?), and both John and Bobby Kennedy. While these are historical figures whose could still have influenced Captain America today, I think Stan Lee evoked these names — particularly King and the Kennedy brothers — because of their recent deaths and what they stood for in the era that this comic book was written. Given the context, if Cap were to make a similar speech it would reference more contemporary forms of inspiration. As such, I believe these references should be considered topical.
