Captain America #123
Suprema, The Deadliest of the Species!
In the secret hideout, a woman named Suprima and her assistant, Scarbo, prepare their gang for a most ambitious mission: They are going to take over all the criminal rackets in the city. When one of her men balks at this, she punished him with a karate blow to the head. She assures them that with her fighting skills and powers of witchcraft they cannot fail. Soon they depart in their Wolverine Jet and head to an illegal gambling den. There, Suprema demands to speak to the mobster who runs the operation. When she orders him to surrender his organization to her he begins to laugh. However, when he realizes she isn’t joking he is about to order his men to attack when, suddenly, he begins complying with her orders without question. Soon Suprema is traveling all over the city and every man she encounters bends to her will, even a police officer who pulls their truck over for speeding.
Meanwhile, at SHIELD headquarters, Captain America and Nick Fury are giving a sparing demonstration to the other agents. When the session is over, Captain America expresses his displeasure that Nick keeps on sending Sharon Carter on missions. Fury assures Cap that the couple will have plenty of time to settle down later. Although Captain America longs after Sharon he fears that she is putting herself in constant danger. He also has doubts, wondering what a “has been” like himself has to offer her.[1]
By this time, Suprema has taken complete control of the city rackets and has decided to initiate the next phase of her plan. Going out into the city again they locate Dum Dum Dugan, Nick Fury’s second in command. She manages to enthrall him as well and has him take her and her men out to a SHIELD testing range where Nick Fury and his agents are trying out new weapons created for them by Stark Industries. When Suprima and her minions arrive, they quickly enthrall Nick Fury and the other SHIELD agents. When this happens, Captain America feels something reflect off his shield and realizes that the woman and her men have found some way to take control of Fury and the others.
When they attack, Captain America fights off his attackers with ease and manages to escape by stealing Suprema’s truck. Following a hunch, Cap goes down to the Daily Bugle to review their files — much to the chagrin of publisher J. Jonah Jameson — and then goes to Stark Industries to get access of one of their computers. With the information he gained, Cap then returns to the test site where he uses the stolen truck to create a counter-vibration to free Fury and his men. Suprema and her minions are then quickly defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, Captain America reveals that he uncovered that Suprima and her brother, Scarbo, were once worked as a hypnosis act and instead of seeking fame legitimately they turned their skills toward crime. He then reveals a hypnotic device hidden behind Scarbo’s pendant. Suprima is impressed with Captain America’s deductive abilities that she tries to convince him to work with her as they can obtain ultimate power. However, Captain America has no interest and walks away.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Suprima, Scarbo, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Jasper Sitwell), J. Jonah Jameson, Tony Stark
Continuity Notes
In Captain America #114, Cap asked Sharon to resign from active duty with SHIELD. She, rightly, refused to do so.
Topical References
The 321 computer that Captain America uses at Stark Industries communicates via punch cards. If I have to tell you why this should be considered a topical reference then you haven’t been paying attention.
