Captain America #153
Captain America — Hero or Hoax?
Following their battle with the Scorpion and Mister Hyde, Captain America and the Falcon return to Steve Roger’s hotel room with Sharon Carter. There they find Nick Fury waiting for them. Fury tells Sharon and Falcon to leave as he has business with Captain America. Rogers tells them to leave so he can deal with Fury. The SHIELD director is looking to fight Cap because he believes that the Avenger has been trying to make time with his girlfriend, Countessa Valentine de la Fontaine. Armed with a SHIELD Action Suit, Fury then attacks Captain America.
During the battle, Nick Fury also vents his frustration over how Captain America retained his youth following decades in suspended animation, while he continued to fight and grow old.[1] Steve, however, tries to explain how difficult it has been due to the fact that he is a man out of time and that it was a terrible price to pay. The continues on until Valentina arrives. She gets between Fury and Cap, and once again stresses that she only flirted with Captain America after Nick ignored her in favor of Laura Brown.[2] Realizing that he has been acting like a fool, Fury stands down and apologizes to every body. Although Captain America is no longer a person non-grata with SHIELD, Fury intends to punish Sharon Carter for disobeying his orders to stay away.[3] Sharon then threatens to quit her post. However, Fury decides to compromise by putting her on paid leave.
With Sharon relieved of duty, she and Steve decided to celebrate by going on vacation in the Bahamas. After Steve calls in sick at the police station the couple go to JFK International Aiport where Sam Wilson wishes them bon voyage. After the couple’s flight leaves, Sam changes into the Falcon and heads back to Harlem. There he spots Leila — the woman he has been romantically pursuing for months — making time with Rafe, a fellow activist. His good mood after seeing off Steve and Sharon soured by this sudden situation.[3] While at the police precinct where Steve works as a beat cop, his partner Bob Courtney learns that Rogers has called in sick with the flu. This makes Courtney suspicious, particularly since Steve recently abandoned his post and discarded his uniform while they were on patrol. Wondering if he should bring this up, Bob instead decides to share with with Sargent Bill Muldoon, who is currently facing corruption charges.[5]
Later in the day, Sam Wilson stops at a diner for a bite to eat. There he is happy to hear that the people of Harlem are starting to accept the Falcon, particularly after his recent clash with Morgan, a local crime boss. Outside, Sam runs in Leila who is deeply upset because Sam’s “hero” Captain America has been reportedly attacking African-Americans in the area for no reason. Sam can’t believe this since he just saw Steve Rogers off on his vacation and suspects that this is an impostor. Slipping away to change into the Falcon, Sam searches the neighborhood with Redwing until he spots a man in a Captain America costume beating up on a black man in an alley. Attacking this phony, the Falcon quickly discovers that this fake Captain America is a racist xenophobe with super-human strength. However, when he unmasks the impostor he is shocked to discover that this man looks exactly like the real Steve Rogers. Ambushed from behind, the Falcon is in for an even bigger shock when he turns and sees that he is attacked by a young man dressed like Bucky. These two men claim to be the real Captain America and Bucky.[6]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Captain America (Burnside), Bucky, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Sharon Carter, Countessa de la Fontaine), Leila Taylor, Rafe Michel, Bob Courtney, Redwing
Continuity Notes
Of course, Fury is referring to Captain America being in suspended animation since 1945 until he was revived in the Modern Age by the Avengers in Avengers #4. Fury managed to stay active for the entire time in-between because his aging process was slowed by the Infinity Formula, as revealed in Marvel Spotlight #31.
For more on Valentina being ignored in favor of Laura Brown and her flirting with Cap see Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #12-15 and Captain America #145-148.
When Fury thought Cap was cock-blocking him he banned SHIELD agents from associating him — because that’s what professional spies do! It’s not really Sharon’s fault for disobeying orders since she was trying to fix Fury’s romantic hang-ups when she got damseled by Mister Hyde and the Scorpion. See Captain America #149-152.
Again, Leila’s full name is not given here. Captain America #188 reveals her last name is Taylor.
It’s later revealed in Captain America #157 that Muldoon is accused of accepting a bribe from the Cowled Commander. Later, in issue #159, Muldoon is exposed as the Cowled Commander and this was all a scheme to convince the public into supporting an increase in police power.
They actually aren’t the real Captain America and Bucky. It’s a long story:
The real Captain America and Bucky went missing in 1945, as explained in Avengers #4.
Since the apparent death of America’s two wartime heroes would have a negative impact on morale, the President had others to secretly take Steve Rogers place as Captain America. In the 1940s, these men were William Nasland and Jeff Mace, the former Spirit of ‘76 and Patriot respectively, per What If? #4.
Mace later retired as Captain America in 1950, per Captain America: Patriot #4.
By the 1950s a man named William Burnside developed an obsession with Captain America, idolizing the hero during his childhood. He even went so far as get plastic surgery to resemble Steve Rogers and legally changed his name. He then went on a trip to Germany where he found an earlier version of the Super Soldier Serum that created Captain America. A school teacher at the time, Burnside and one of his students, Jack Monroe, then used the formula to become the “Commie Smasher” versions of Captain America and Bucky in the 1950s. See Captain America #155 and Young Men #24.
The real names of the fake Captain America and Bucky are not given here. William Burnside’s real name was not revealed until Captain America #602, while Bucky is identified as Jack Monroe in Captain America #281.
Topical References
This story states that Captain America had been frozen in suspended animation for 20 years between the end of World War II and his revival in the Modern Age, while Fury continued to be active for the 30 years in-between. These measurements of time should be considered topical for two reasons:
Due to the Sliding Timescale the length of time Captain America spent in suspended animation between 1945 and Avengers #4 continues to change. If your interested in the math involved, check it out here.
Likewise, the length of time Nick Fury has been active will also continue to change. However, in addition to the time between World War II and the Modern Age, Fury’s statement suggests that the Modern Age has been on going for 10 years. This comic was published before the implementation of the Sliding Timscale and often stories present the passage of time as being on par with the length of publications. At the time of this story, about 3 years of time had past since the start of the Modern Age.
It’s stated here that Sharon and Steve are flying on a Boeing 747 aircraft. The 747 was brand new passenger plane when this story was published in 1972 and they became ubiquitous for commercial air-travel for decades. While many are still in the air, Boeing is retiring the design in 2022 and eventually the planes still in operation will eventually be taken out of service.
