The Yellowclaw Strikes!

Following their battle with Nightshade, Captain America and the Falcon have learned that the terrorist known as Yellow Claw is back. As Sam was briefly turned into a werewolf, Captain America wants to bring in Yellow Claw in himself. However, SHIELD Director Nick Fury warns Cap to stay out of it because his spy agency is charged with bringing the Claw to justice. This leads to an argument between the two over who has the authority to order Cap around. The Falcon then steps in and says that he just wants to go back home to Harlem to be with his girl.[1] This makes Steve realize that perhaps he has come on too strong and he decides to go back to Virginia to say goodbye to Peggy Carter before returning to New York.[2] However, when Fury continues to give Cap grief he decides to go after the Yellow Claw after all.

Meanwhile, at the wharf near New York’s Chinatown, Yellow Claw has smuggled himself into the city. Among his cargo is the body of his grand-niece Suwan who he has kept in suspended animation all these years because she kept on interfering with his plans for world domination. Greeting him are a number of Chinese soldiers who have smuggled themselves into the United States in a submarine with the Yellow Claw’s help. However, he had done so not to continue his relationship with the Chinese government to destabilize American democracy but to slaughter them as a message to their government that Yellow Claw works only to himself.[3]

Back in Virginia, Captain America is saying goodbye to Sharon Carter and the pair both agree to keep their relationship from Peggy. This is because Peggy is still recovering from her convalescence and thinks her past relationship with Cap will pick right back up again after decades apart.[4] As he departs, Peggy warns Cap that she has heard a radio advertisement calling him a lawless vigilante. Cap dismisses this as nothing and assures the two women that it will blow over.[5] As Cap rides back to New York, he wonders if Yellow Claw is really back after all this time, or if this is yet another robot like the one he and Nick Fury fought not long ago.[6]

When Captain America finally arrives in New York City, it is under siege by massive mutated spiders that are unleashed by Yellow Claw. As Captain America tries to fight off this swarm, the villain leaves his calling card by skywriting his sigel in the sky before recalling the creatures. While in Harlem, Falcon spends time with his girlfriend Leila. She tries to get him to reveal his secret identity to her but he declines. That’s when she tells him that Morgan, the local crime boss, is asking to meet with him. Falcon decides to pay Morgan a visit to see what he wants. The mobster once again tries to get Falcon on his payroll but the hero isn’t interested and things get violent. Falcon is forced to leave when Morgan’s body guards pull their guns and the mob boss warns Falcon that he’s dead the next time they meet.

Meanwhile, Captain America has followed the giant spiders into the sewers which lead him directly to Yellow Claw’s hideout. As he expected, this was all a trap and at first it appears that Yellow Claw is attacking him directly. Cap knocks out his foe only to be revealed that he wasn’t fighting Yellow Claw at all. The real Yellow Claw appears on a television screen and reveals that he used his hypnotic powers to trick Captain America into fighting Nick Fury and apparently slay the SHIELD director.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Falcon, Yellowclaw, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Sharon Carter), Peggy Carter, Leila Taylor, Boss Morgan, Suwan

Continuity Notes

1. Sam’s “girl” is Leila Taylor, whose last name is not identified here. Captain America #188 reveals that it is Taylor.

2. Peggy Carter is Cap’s old wartime flame. She has been recovering at the Carter family home since he saved her from Doctor Faustus in Captain America #161-162.

3. This story suggests that Yellow Claw has been in hiding the whole time following the events of Yellow Claw #1-4, however this is not the case. Further activities later been revealed in Agents of Atlas #1, Atlas #1-3, Marvel: The Lost Generation #3 & 7, and Strange Tales (vol. 3) #1. These omissions are obviously due to the fact that these stories were published decades later. Since many of these activities involved Yellow Claw’s secret organization the Atlas Foundation, it stands to reason the Chinese official he murders here was not aware of these other activities.

4. As detailed in Tales of Suspense #75, Cap had a relationship with Peggy during World War II but they were separated. Cap ended up in suspended animation until the Modern Age when he was thawed out by the Avengers in Avengers #4. Cap recently rescued and reconnected with Peggy after he saved her from Doctor Faustus in Captain America #161-162. Peggy and Sharon are referred to as sister here, but they can’t be due to the Sliding Timescale. It’s a bit of a mess and you can read more about it here.

5. These smear ads are thanks to the machinations of the Viper last issue. They will play a larger part in the Secret Empire’s attempt to conquer the USA in Captain America #169-175.

6. Captain America helped Nick Fury and SHIELD take down what they thought was Yellow Claw. However, it was actually a robot which — unknown to Cap — was created by Doctor Doom as part of a game. See Strange Tales #160-167.

Topical References

• This story states that the Yellow Claw was last active about 20 years prior to this story. While the Yellow Claw’s early activities are tied to the 1950s, the passage of time between 1953 and the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe is in a state of constant change due to the Sliding Timescale, similar in the way the gulf of time between World War II and the Modern Age continues to grow.

• One of the city workers doesn’t believe what the negative advertising campaign about Captain America says. He states that this is because Captain America saved his entire unit during World War II. This is impossible due to the Sliding Timescale widening the gulf between World War II and the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe. One could assume that instead of this man serving in World War II, a member of his family served back then and it was they who were saved by Captain America.

• When an officer here states that the ad-execs on Madison Avenue are trying to make people afraid they aren’t “Keeping up with the Jonses”, he is not in fact referencing the old timey comic strip but the idiom that it spawned that still endures to this day. While this is an old idiom that isn’t quite so commonly used, calling it a topical reference shows a lack of understanding of what a topical reference is.

• Yellow Claw is depicted as high jacking television signals to control his spiders by taking control of television antennas on rooftops. This should be considered a topical reference since using an antenna to pick up television signals is basically an obsolete technology. While some television stations still broadcast across the airwaves, it’s not as ubiquitous as it was in the 1970s and certainly does not require the massive aerials that are depicted here.