It Happens in Harlem

Following his battle with Spider-Man, the Falcon has still opted not to tell Captain America about the situation as he wishes to capture the webslinger on his own to prove that he’s good enough to be Cap’s partner.[1] Captain America knows that something is up, but decides to wait until Sam to open up to him about it.

After Cap leaves, two of Stoneface’s men try to ambush Falcon. Unfortunately for them, Falcon is warned of the danger by his pet, Redwing. Watching from a nearby car, Stoneface orders his driver to run down the masked hero. Although Sam tries to leap out of the way, he’s still struck by the speeding vehicle. After his men drive Redwing away with gunfire, they load the unconscious Falcon into Stoneface’s car and they take off.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has returned to his apartment and changes back into Peter Parker. He exits his bedroom just as his roommate, Harry Osborn, returns home after being briefly kidnapped by Falcon earlier in the night.[2] Harry’s deeply upset about the experience, because the Falcon mistook him for Spider-Man. Peter convinces him that the hero won’t bother him again since it was all a case of mistaken identity. With that out of the way, Peter goes back out as Spider-Man to track down the Falcon and find out why the hero was after him.

By this time, Captain America has returned to his home and changed back into Steve Rogers. He doesn’t like that Sam is keeping secrets from him, but understands since he has his own hang-ups over his recent back-up with Sharon Carter.[3] His thoughts are interrupted when Sam Wilson’s nephew, Jody Casper, comes knocking looking for his uncle. Jody is concerned because Stoneface was released on bail and might be looking to get revenge.[4] As soon as Jody is gone, Redwing flies in through the window. Realizing that Sam is in trouble, Steve changes back into Captain America and follows the falcon across the rooftops. Unfortunately, a heavy rain begins to fall and Cap soon loses sight of Redwing.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has followed the spider-tracer he planted on Falcon earlier to a warehouse on Park Avenue in Harlem. Unaware of what’s going on, the wall-crawler sneaks into the building to see what’s what. Inside, Stoneface pretends to be a community leader and meets with a man from the Governor’s office to discuss the construction of a government building in the area. Stoneface demands that the State pay him a large sum of money or else he will have the community protest the project, threatening that this will cause riots in the process. As this blackmail is going down, Spider-Man finds the Falcon in one of the rooms and knocks out his guards. However, when he carries his fellow hero outside, Falcon wakes up and starts attacking the web-slinger. Spider-Man quickly webs up Falcon, but then Captain America arrives with Redwing. Not knowing what is going on, Cap assumes that Spider-Man was attacking his partner and soon another fight breaks out.

However, the trio soon sort out their misunderstanding and upon comparing notes realize that Stoneface is in the warehouse below blackmailing the state. While Spider-Man swoops in and rescue the governor’s representative while Captain America and the Falcon deal with Stoneface and his men. The gang is quickly taken down and, thanks to the earlier fight between the three heroes, the police arrive on the scene and take the crooks into custody. After this is done, a mysterious man pulls up in a limo seeking out Captain America.[5] Cap tells Sam that he has to go on an important solo mission, leaving the Falcon to wonder what could be going on.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Spider-Man, Stoneface, Harry Osborn, Jody Casper, Commissioner Feingold (unidentified), Redwing

Continuity Notes

1. Although Spider-Man has been wanted by the authorities pretty much since the start of his career, at the time of this story he is particularly wanted for questioning over the death of Captain George Stacy. Stacy died saving the life of a child during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus in Amazing Spider-Man #90.

2. This story takes place during a period in which Peter and Harry were roommates. This was from Amazing Spider-Man #46 through 138.

3. Cap and Sharon broke up in Captain America #124. Steve rage quit the relationship because Sharon broke her promise not to put herself in danger, even though she did it to save his life.

4. Captain America and the Falcon last clashed with Stoneface in Captain America #134. He has an ax to grind against the Wilson family because of Sam’s social work interfering with his criminal empire and the belief that Jody squealed on him.

5. Next issue reveals that this mystery man is the commissioner of NYPD. He is unidentified here. Defenders #34 names him Commissioner Feingold, however his first name is never revealed.

Topical References

• This story presents Harlem as a slum that is constantly at risk of breaking into riots over racial tensions. This is a rather poor commentary of the situation at the time and should be considered topical. Since this story was published Harlem — while not perfect — has undergone a great deal of gentrification. Also the issues of African-Americans in the region are a lot more complex than how they are presented here.

• Likewise, Stoneface demands a payment of a million dollars in this story. This should be considered topical not only due to inflation (1 million in 1971 money is worth over 6 million in 2021 money) but also considering the cost of real-estate in New York today. Asking for a million dollars is now ridiculously low.