Captain America #167
Ashes to Ashes
At the Museum of Natural History, Captain America and the Falcon are forced to watch as Yellow Claw performs a mystical ritual so the spirit of Egyptian ruler Fan-Le Tamen takes possession of his grandniece so she will participate in his plans for world domination. The two heroes try to break free but they are knocked out by the Claw’s zombie minions. When they wake up they find themselves tied to a stone idol with crossbows primed to fire poisoned arrows.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Nick Fury is still in a coma after he was tricked into fighting Captain America by Yellow Claw.[1] Delirious, he keeps on muttering about the Claw’s master plan but none of the words make sense. Concerned for Nick’s well being, Countess Valentina de la Fontaine races to find a doctor. However, she turns back when she sees through an assassin’s disguise and prevents him from smothering Nick with a pillow. Rather than be captured, the failed assassin injects himself with a lethal dose of poison and dies before she can get any answers out of him. Drawn by the commotion, Dum Dum Dugan is quickly filled in on what happened and that Nick holds some vital information about Yellow Claw.
While back at the museum, Captain America and the Falcon are left to their fate. Luckily, the two manage to rock the stone idol, causing it to tip over just as the crossbows fire. Freed, the pair decide to call it a night since Yellow Claw made a clean getaway. They return to the office where Sam Wilson works as a social worker. There, Falcon sets up a cot for Steve to sleep on since he has been evicted from his apartment. While Sam goes to get some food, Sharon Carter arrives as she is still worried about Peggy, who is still missing. Steve is telling her how they found Peggy when Sam comes back from the store. They tell her that Peggy is being looked after by Sam’s girlfriend Leila and after he and Steve change into costume they take Sharon to her.[2] Peggy explains that she came looking for Cap so they can work together, like they did back in World War II. Captain America tries to let Peggy down gently, but his telling her that he doesn’t need another crime fighting partner deeply upsets her. However, Peggy agrees to let Sharon take her back home to their family mansion in Virginia.[3]
Meanwhile, a group of government officials are given a tour of the SHIELD helicarrier. Unknown to everyone, Yellow Claw and Suwan have smuggled themselves on board in disguise. Slipping away from the group, the Claw explains to his grand-niece that they have stolen away on the helicarrier to recover the robots that posed as them recently so that he can learn who built them and get revenge for this effrontery.[4] In order to move about the helicarrier uninterrupted, they release a nerve gas into the ventilation system to knock everyone out.
By this time, Captain America and the Falcon go to the hospital in the hopes that SHIELD has an idea where Yellow Claw will strike next. There, Valentina once again accuses Cap of intentionally harming Nick. That’s when Fury wakes up from his coma and warns them that the Claw is planning to attack the SHIELD helicarrier. Cap and the others race to the scene but quickly succumb to Yellow Claw’s nerve gas. It’s then that Suwan turns on her grand-uncle and blasts him, intending to conquer the world herself. Mortally wounded, Yellow Claw realizes that in order to save his own life he has to help his enemies. Giving Captain America, Falcon, Dum Dum, and Valentina the antidote to the nerve gas. While they stop Suwan and her minions from taking the robots they came for, Yellow Claw begins reciting an incantation. With the last of his strength, he grabs his grandniece as he finishes the spell, absorbing the spirit of Fan-Le Tamen into himself. This heals Yellow Claw while his niece suddenly crumbles to dust.[5] While Cap, Falcon and the SHIELD agents are busy, Yellow Claw escapes with the stolen robots vowing that he will be back to get his revenge.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Yellowclaw, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum-Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter, Countess de la Fontaine), Peggy Carter, Suwan, Leila Taylor
Continuity Notes
Yellow Claw used hypnosis to make Captain America and Nick Fury fight each other, resulting in Fury getting seriously injured. See Captain America #165.
Leila’s last name is not given here. Captain America #188 reveals it to be Taylor.
Per Tales of Suspense #75, Cap and Peggy did fight together during World War II. As far as everyone knows, Peggy has been in a mental health facility with amnesia for all the years in-between per Captain America #161-162. That’s not entirely true. On top of issues with Peggy’s age in this story, she is also depicted as Sharon’s older sister. This has caused some issues. For all of these complicated matters, click here for an in-depth explanation.
This robot duplicate of Yellow Claw clashed with SHIELD in Strange Tales #160-167. Unknown to anyone is that these robots were built by Doctor Doom as part of an elaborate game with the Prime Mover.
Although Suwan appears to die here, she resurfaces alive and well in Agents of Atlas (vol. 2) #8. An explanation is provided in the Jade Dragon profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #4. It states that Yellow Claw used necromancy to resurrect his grand-niece.
Topical References
The Countess sees through the assassin’s disguise because — according to her powers of observations — nurses don’t wear black shoes. This should be considered a topical reference since nurses aren’t required to wear specific footwear anymore. One could assume that something else tipper her off — like the assassin being a man in an unconvincing disguise for one.
