Captain America #128
Mission: Stomp Out Satan’s Angels
Steve Rogers has had enough after being manipulated by SHIELD for the last time.. While trying to figure out his next move he happens to pass by a shop window that has a number of wartime era merchandise. A number of young people gathered around the window mock the era in which Steve came from and one of them considers buying a poster of Captain America as a joke. This is the final straw for Rogers who then decides to leave New York City.
After checking out of his hotel room, he looks into buying a car but they are too expensive. He then opts for buying a motorcycle. However, when he is browsing for one, it reminds him that the last time he rode one was on the day that Bucky died.[1] Despite his reservations, Steve decides to buy a motorcycle anyway. Once he hits the open road and out of the city, he feels free for the first time in years.
However, this proves short lived when he rides into the town of Cotts Neck. There a police officer stops him for not wearing a helmet. Mistaking Steve for a member of Satan’s Angels, a motorcycle gang that has been terrorizing the town, Rogers finds himself locked up in the local jail. When news reaches the leader of the biker gang, he assumes that Steve was one of his gang and organizes a jailbreak. While part of the gang causes a ruckus on the other end of town to distract the cops, another group breaks Steve Rogers out of his cell. When the guard is injured during the break-out, Steve stops to give him first aid, allowing the members of Satan’s Angels to escape. Since he too is a fugitive of the law, Steve finds a room to rent in order to lay low. Rogers decides to do something about the biker gang and as he begins contemplating his next move, notices a tour bus outside advertising a rock festival that is coming to down. Steve realizes that if the bikers are going to cause any trouble anywhere, it would be at this rock concert.
Sure enough, when the leader of Satan’s Angels learns about the rock festival, he decides that he and his gang will rough people up since they don’t like the peaceful message the musicians are touting. However, the leader’s little brother is interested in the music and is reprimanded by his older sibling for expressing his opinion. Sure enough, when the Satan’s Angels try to terrorize the rock festival, Captain America arrives on his own motorcycle to battle them. Although Satan’s Angels outnumber him, Captain America is far more skilled then they are. Tragically, the battle comes to an abrupt end when the younger brother of the Angels’ leader gets run over by an out of control motorcycle. Seeing his kid brother injured causes the leader to order his men to stop fighting and surrender. Luckily, the kid will live. As Captain America lectures them about how the law couldn’t punish them worse than the memories they’ll have of this encounter he is unaware that he is being observed remotely by his old foe the Red Skull. Pleased to have finally found his old foe, the Red Skull vows that Captain America will not escape him again.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Red Skull
Continuity Notes
At the time of this story, Captain America believes his sidekick Bucky died in 1945, per Avengers #4. This story depicts Cap and Bucky wearing their costumes in this flashback, but it is pointed out in a footnote that this was an artist mistake and they opted not to re-draw the scene anyway. That said, Bucky didn’t actually die as Cap believe. He survived and was transformed by the Russians into an assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Cap won’t learn this until Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Topical References
Captain America complains that the modern cars are “big like hearses” which would be accurate in the 1970s when this comic was published. However, modern vehicles are much more compact than they were back then, so this statement should be considered topical.
The bikes in this story dress in fashions that were common in biker movies of the era that this comic book was published. These movies were already dated since most bikers still dressed like they did in the 1950s. Likewise, the “rock concert” features a bunch of hippy music and styles that were popular from the mid-60s into the 70s. Unless you want to consider these musicians as being retro, their appearance and style should be considered topical.
