Captain America #201
The Night People!
A group of bizarre men calling themselves the Night People are looting a department store. There, one called Brother Dickens comes across action figures of Captain America and the Falcon and thinks how their home, Zero Street, could use super-heroes. When Dickens is caught by security guards, the rest of the Night People swarm them and escape. This is but one of a rash of brazen late night robberies committed by the Night People who vanish without a trace, frustrating law enforcement. Oddly, the gang doesn’t appear to steal anything of value.
Meanwhile, Captain America and the Falcon meet with Mason Harding, the inventor of the Madbomb the Loyalist Forces of America were plotting to detonate on July 4th. They thank Harding for giving them devices to shield them from exposure to the weapon, which were instrumental in foiling the scheme. Harding is bitter over having to face jailtime for his involvement in the conspiracy, but Captain America reminds him that he’s facing a much lighter sentence due to his cooperation.[1]
Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson then return to the hotel room provided to them by SHIELD to get out of costume and freshen up for a night out with their girlfriends. Sam calls Leila Taylor to make plans and she tells him about the newspaper reports about the Night People. She is deeply amused by the junk this gang of thieves have been stealing. Little does she know is that some of the Night People are listening to the conversation from outside her window. Hearing that she is dating a super-hero they decide to kidnap her in order to draw the Falcon out and make him the hero of Zero Street. As Leila is being pulled away from the phone she is able to tell Sam that she is being kidnapped by the Night People. Wilson quickly changes into the Falcon and races off to the rescue without telling Steve where he is going and why.
Needing to get to New York as quickly as possible, Sam tries to hitch a ride on a passing commercial airliner but can’t get a good grip on the wing. As he falls, the hero is saved by a lasso that is tossed out from one of the passenger doors and hauled inside. At that same moment, Leila has been brought to Zero Street and brought before the leader of the Night People, Brother Inquisitor. He explains that they have kidnapped her in order to force the Falcon to be their champion. Leila quickly realizes that the Night People are quite insane. Their resident scientist, Brother Wonderful is monitoring things in the city and is able to locate the Falcon as the plane he hitched a ride on lands in New York City. The owner of the plane is a wealthy oil tycoon named Texas Jack Muldoon. Muldoon was more than happy to help the Falcon out and offers his services. Sam is grateful for everything Texas Jack has done already and takes off to find Leila. Suddenly, a portal opens up in front of the flying hero and he vanishes from sight.
Appearing on Zero Street, the Falcon is quickly gassed, restrained, and brought before Brother Inquisitor. The Falcon tries reasoning with the Night People but he too quickly realizes that they are very insane. To their horror, Sam and Leila quickly learn that not only do the Night People want Falcon as their hero, but that they are to be subjected to powerful shock treatments to make them loyal to the Night People.
Meanwhile, Captain America has been called in by the authorities and told how the Falcon vanished into thin air and no trace of his partner can be found, a revelation that Captain America finds incredible.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Night People (Brother Inquisitor, Brother Wonderful), Leila Taylor, Texas Jack, SHIELD, Mason Harding
Continuity Notes
Mason Harding invented the Madbomb for the Loyalists in a plot to overthrow America and return it to an aristocratic society. Harding worked with them in order to get the money needed to treat his daughters illness. The whole Madbomb conspiracy was chronicled in Captain America #194-200.
Topical References
In this story, the Night People use a shock treatment to recondition Sam and Leila. This was practice used to try and treat people’s mental health. Its use was always controversial and the benefits were not always worth the resulting side-effects. With the advent of drugs that can be used to treat mental illness became the norm the electroconvulsive therapy fell out of practical use. That said, the idea that the equipment for such a procedure being in the Zero Street Institution will become increasingly impossible due to the effects of the Sliding Timescale. One could assume that perhaps Zero Street had been in operation for a long time and outdated equipment could have been found by the Night People. Alternatively, one could assume that these devices were created by Abner Doolittle and were not equipment actually found at the institution.
