Captain America #144
Hydra All Over!
The President of the United States has asked for a demonstration of SHIELD’s capabilities for funding considerations. Nick Fury puts on a mock battle between his agents and Life Model Decoys posing as Hydra agents. This is all to convince the president to continue funding the latest LMD technology as well as Femme Force, an all-female team of SHIELD agents led by Sharon Carter. With the added fighting prowess of Captain America, the Hydra LMD’s are quickly taken down. The president is impressed and assures Fury that he will discuss the funding request will all levels of government before rendering a decision. The bureaucracy of it all annoys Fury, but he is confident that they made a good pitch. With the demonstration over, Fury give Sharon two weeks off. She looks forward to spending time with Captain America. However, Steve wants to get a good night sleep first.
Unfortunately, Steve Rogers tosses and turns all night as he relives events from a few days before. It was just after Captain America and the Falcon exposed the Red Skull’s scheme to incite race riots in Harlem. That evening, Cap spied Sam Wilson having a romantic moment with Leila, a member of the People’s Militia run by the Red Skull.[1] After Leila leaves for the night, Cap enters Sam’s office to apologize for upsetting him for saying the wrong thing. However, Sam is still upset that Steve still doesn’t really understand the plight of African-Americans in America. Sam has grown frustrated with the harsh criticisms he is receiving from the community due to his close association with the establishment. Wanting to become a champion of African-Americans, Sam had decided to terminate his partnership with Captain America so he can focus on fighting crime in his native Harlem. To signify this change, Sam puts on the a new red-and-white Falcon costume that he had designed for himself.
Seeing that Sam is serious about this, Captain America reluctantly accepts his wishes. That’s when Sam Wilson’s nephew, Jody Casper, comes rushing into Sam Wilson’s office. He is surprised to see Captain America and the Falcon there, but is too concerned about the trouble brewing to connect the dots. Jody tells the two heroes about how some local pushers have got one of his friends deeply addicted to drugs. Although Captain America steps up to take command of the situation, the Falcon reminds Cap that they aren’t partners anymore and insists on tackling the problem on his own. Jody points the Falcon to an abandoned tenement building where the pushers are keeping his friend, Ted Clarkson. As Sam races to the scene, Clarkson is going through painful withdrawal symptoms. The drug dealers watch Clarkson writhe in pain, withholding the drugs unless he pay for them.
When Ted begins making too much noise, one of the pushers threatens to shoot him if he doesn’t quiet down. That’s when the Falcon comes crashing in through the door. With the aid of his faithful bird, Redwing, Falcon quickly knocks out the two drug dealers. When the police have arrived on the scene a large crowd has gathered. Approaching the locals, Falcon tells them how he has terminated his partnership with Captain America so he can devote his entire time to fighting crime in Harlem. The crowd is pleased to hear this and cheer the Falcon on as their new champion. Watching from the rooftops, Captain America was proud to see that the Falcon was being so readily accepted.
Waking up from his dream, Steve is glad that the Falcon has found a new purpose but is upset that he has lost yet another partner and figures he’s destined to be a loner. He figures the Falcon’s departure was good fortune since his past partners all got hurt due to their association with Captain America.[2]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Hydra, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Sharon Carter), Falcon, Captain America, Leila Taylor, Redwing
Continuity Notes
The Red Skull’s race bating was detailed last issue. Leila Taylor’s last name is not revealed until Captain America #188.
By this time, Captain America had been through two other partners during his career:
The first one was James Barnes, aka Bucky, who was Captain America’s sidekick during World War II dating back to Captain America Comics #1. At the time of this story, Steve believes Bucky died in 1945, per Avengers #4. Cap won’t learn that Bucky is actually still alive until Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Rick Jones was Captain America’s second sidekick at two different times in the past. First, Rick became Cap’s sidekick almost from the moment he was revived in the Modern Age in Avengers #4. This lasted until issue #17 of that series when Rick was passed over as an official member of the Avengers. Rick later convinces Cap to let him take on the mantle of Bucky in Captain America #110. This partnership lasted until issue #116 when the Red Skull (having swapped bodies with Cap) broke up their partnership. Rick then went on to be the partner to Captain Marvel circa Captain Marvel #17 when the pair had their molecules merged together.
Topical References
The President of the United States in this story is depicted as Richard Nixon. This should be considered a topical reference since Nixon’s presidency ended in 1974 and he died in 1994.
The plot point about the president making budget cuts is a reference to the “Nixon shock” of the early 70s. A number of economic measures that Nixon put in place to try and combat increasing inflation.
Sam Wilson states here that his people call him an “Uncle Tom”, this is a disparaging term used toward African-Americans who appear to be kowtowing to the white establishment. It’s a reference to the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, written by a very white woman about obedient slaves. It’s as racist as you’d expect from something written in the 1800s.
