Captain America #194
The Trojan Horde!
Captain America and the Falcon has just learned about a conspiracy to unleash a Madbomb to drive America mad on the upcoming Independence Day celebrations by a strange group of conspirators. In order to infiltrate this organization, the pair are subjected to a battery of tests by SHIELD to boost their immunity to the Madbomb’s insanity inducing mental rays. The process knocks the pair out, prompting the SHIELD agents to rush to their aid.
Elsewhere in America, two members of of this conspiracy — called the Elite — meet. They are General Heshin and Taurey. With the coming Independence Day celebrations the pair intend to seize control of America and restore it to its aristocratic roots. This is a personal mission for Taurey, as his ancestor was one of the ruling class during the days of the American Revolution, who was defeated by a Colonialist soldier by the name of Steve Rogers. Incidentally, he knows that this man has an ancestor of the same name and he intends to track him down and kill him in revenge, unaware that the man he is speaking of is none other than Captain America.[1]
Incidentally, as the present day Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson are recovering from the battery of tests, Steve tells Sam about his colonial ancestor whom he shares a name with. Sam is unimpressed and wonders if that Steve Rogers was a slave owner. This Steve Rogers can’t say for sure but reminds Sam that the country has changed a lot since those early days. That’s when a SHIELD doctor comes in to check up on them and gives them a clean bill of health and clears them for their mission.
Wearing disguises, the pair fly a SHIELD shimmer ship to the location where the so-called Elite have their secret headquarters. There they are shocked to discover a giant of a man wandering around the badlands. They are unable to avoid a collision with the giant and crash land. When they climb out of their wreck the giant attacks them with giant boulders which they discover are nothing but rubber props. Suddenly, a group of strangely dressed soldiers emerge. Calling themselves the Honor Guard for the Royalist Forces of America they explain that the giant is from their labor pens and they quickly herd the creature back into their hideout. When they try to take Steve and Sam prisoner, the pair fight back by they are knocked out by a massive cannon that channels a brian-blast like the Madbomb they intend to use on the country.
When the pair come around they find themselves locked in a cell in the Elite’s slave pens. There they discover it is full of misshapen freaks. They then ask the guards where these creatures come from and are horrified to learn that these were normal men who were experimented upon by the Royalist’s scientist and transformed into monstrosities for use in slave labor. With Steve and Sam slated to be experimented upon next, they move to the back of the pen and change into Captain America and the Falcon and prepare to break out.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Royalist Forces, the Elite (William Taurey, General Heshin), SHIELD
Continuity Notes
There is a lot of details here that Kirby plays fast and loose with. Basic concepts like full names, or adhering to continuity. Some details were fleshed out by later stories:
Taurey’s first name is given as Malcom in Captain America #199, and then William in issue #200. Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook #1, confirms that his first name is indeed William, thew Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Captain America also states that the name Malcom was an error.
Taurey’s butler is identified as Vickers in Thunderbolts #31.
The story behind the Colonial era Steve Rogers and his clash with Taurey’s ancestor was told years later in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #6-7.
The reason why Taurey does not know that Steve Rogers is also Captain America is because the general public does not know Steve Rogers is Captain America after all memory of his identity was erased by the Space Phantom, as detailed in Avengers #106-107.
The fact that Taurey believes that Steve Rogers is still alive even though all trace of him vanished during World War II creates some issues. See below.
Topical References
This story states that it takes place prior to the American Bicentennial. This should be considered a topical reference. Modern readers should interpret the event as a 4th of July celebration, but not one tied to any specific milestone.
Taurey states that World War II happened 30 years prior to this story. This is a topical reference because the Sliding Timescale makes the gulf of time between World War II and the Modern Age grow larger with each passing year.
How Could Taurey Know Steve Rogers Was Still Alive?
As stated above, the Sliding Timescale continues to propel the Modern Age further away from World War II. As of this writing (June 2021) the gulf of time between the end of World War II and the Modern Age is now 61 years and that gap will continue to widen.
When this story was first published in 1976, it was possible for someone who was around during World War II would still be alive in the present day. That becomes even harder as time moves on. By the calculations at the time of this writing, if Steve Rogers lived a normal life he would have been in his late 80s at the time of this story. It seems really petty unlikely that Taurey would target a senior citizen for some ancient family feud.
In the Loyalist Forces of America profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #9, it is stated that Taurey was seeking revenge against the current ancestor of the Colonialist Steve Rogers, and makes no reference to World War II. As such modern readers should ignore references to World War II, and instead assume that Taruey is talking about a “present day” ancestor that existed in the Modern Age with (as far as Taurey knows) has no known connections to the Steve Rogers who was alive in the 1940s.
Given Taurey’s connections as a wealthy elite, he probably could have accessed Census or tax information on the Steve Rogers which probably doesn’t reveal the fact that Rogers has been alive since 1922.