Captain America #178
If the Falcon Should Fall
The Falcon and Redwing take a break from patrol to eat when they are suddenly ambushed by the two Lucifers. The alien entity has split his power between Rafe Michel and Ares of the Zodiac cartel. They have been hired by Morgan to rub out the Falcon. Already, the relationship between the two Lucifers is starting to fray as one jockeys for superiority over the other. The battle brings down a powerline between the combatants prompting the two Lucifers to depart, vowing to finish the job later. Bloodied in the brawl, Falcon goes to his girlfriend’s apartment to recover. The battle has led Falcon to wonder if he’s an effective crime-fighter without Captain America, but Leila doesn’t buy it, telling him he doesn’t need his former partner.[1][2]
Meanwhile, Steve Rogers is enjoying his retirement. Even though he is no longer Captain America, he continues to keep himself in shape by exercising at a local gym. His athletic prowess impresses Roscoe, the man who owns the gym.[3] He is also a huge fan of Captain America and wonders why the hero refuses to explain why he quit. While elsewhere, Bob Russo a high-paid third baseman for the Bears baseball team, has decided to move beyond baseball and announces to a sports reporter that he is going to become the next Captain America.
By this time, the two Lucifers have returned to explain their failure to Morgan. In order to sustain his existence in this dimension, Lucifer needed to spread his essence between two humans which stripped him of all his powers except for his super-human strength.[3] When he suggests using the robots left over from his first invasion of Earth, Morgan doesn’t care about the details as long as they get the job done.
Later that day, Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter are about to take off for a vacation when they are visited by Gabe Jones and Sharon’s relative, Peggy. Peggy has been upset by the news that Captain America retired and needs to speak with him immediately. Since Peggy doesn’t know Steve’s secret identity this leads to an awkward introduction to Steve Rogers. Steve is beside himself hearing Peggy’s grief and debates how to handle this complex situation.[4]
Meanwhile, the two Lucifers return to their former hideout which has been long abandoned since their last defeat by the X-Men. There they search the ruins until they uncover the last three of his Ultra-Robots that were not used in the final battle, confident that they will destroy the Falcon once and for all.[6]
That evening, Bob Russo makes his debut as the new Captain America. While patrolling the rooftops, he spots a fur robbery in progress. When he swings down to the street on a rope, the untrained Russo overestimates his swing and ends up slamming into a wall, breaking his arm, bringing his career to a very short end.
The following morning, the Lucifers unleash their Ultra-Robots on Harlem in order to draw out the Falcon. Steve Rogers happens upon the battle again and watches as Falcon is stunned by a blast from one of the robots. Realizing he can’t stand by and let the Lucifers kill his friend, Steve races to a local sporting goods store and buys a ski-mask to cover his face. He then leaps into battle. After destroying the Ultra-Robots, the two Lucifers realize that his powers have been burning out his hosts. When the Rafe Michel host collapses to the ground dying, he reminds his combative other half that they are equally linked. Sure enough, not long after Rafe dies, the former Ares dies as well. The process then shunts Lucifer back to his dimensional prison.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Falcon is not happy that Steve stepped in and saved his life, telling him to butt out of his activities in the future if he no longer wants to be Captain America as he has decided that the Falcon will continue fighting alone.[7]
Recurring Characters
Steve Rogers, Falcon, Lucifer, Ares, Sharon Carter, Gabe Jones, Peggy Carter, Leila Taylor, Roscoe Simmons, Boss Morgan, Redwing
Continuity Notes
Leila’s last name is not given here. Captain America #188 reveals that it is Taylor.
Steve Rogers decided to retire as Captain America after discovering that the former President of the Untied States was the leader of the Secret Empire. See Captain America #169-175. Steve will be forced back into his role in issue #183.
Roscoe’s first name is not given here. His full name is identified as Roscoe Simmons in Captain America #615.1.
Lucifer was banished to another dimension by his superiors following his defeats at the hands of the X-Men in X-Men #9, and 20-21. He previously returned in Iron Man #20 by taking possession of a human body for the first time before being defeated by the titular hero.
Peggy was Captain America’s wartime romance, per Tales of Suspense #75. As far as everyone thinks, Peggy suffered amnesia from 1944 to present, per Captain America #161-162. That is not the case. Also, this story presents Peggy as Sharon’s older sister which is now impossible. For more detailed information on the complexities of the Carter family, click here.
Lucifer explains his mergers with Rafe Michel and Aries here. The real named of Aries is not given here, however the Zodiac profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12 identifies him as Grover Raymond.
Both Rafe and Aries have — as of this writing in June 2021 — remained dead since this story. However, Rafe’s grave was later disturbed by Count Nefaria in Iron Man Annual 1999. Meanwhile, Grover was succeeded by Oscar Gordon, who took on the role of the new Aries in Iron Man #184.
Topical References
Steve Rogers states here that he was revived in the 1960s. This should be considered a topical reference as it is a reference to the passage of time by publication. Per the Sliding Timescale, Captain America has been thawed out for roughly 4 years prior to this story.
