Someone Who Cares

Steve Rogers and Bernie Rosenthal are coming home from a date. They stop at the stoop of their building to talk about the recent friction between them since Bernie told Steve that she loved him. Steve admits that he cares deeply for Bernie, but he isn’t in love just yet. This is all right with Bernie who promises to take things a little slower. Their make-up kiss is interrupted by a middle aged man who is certain that he recognizes Steve Rogers.[1]

Steve recognizes this man from his past and, quick thinking, he tells Bernie that this man — Arnie Roth by name — is an old friend of his father. Bernie sees that the pair have some catching up to do and goes inside so they can talk. As it turns out, Arnie is actually an old childhood friend who grew up with Steve Rogers when he was a kid. Arnie can hardly believe that he found Steve and how little he aged. The two recount how Arnie always looked after Steve who was frequently bullied by the other kids on the block. Steve, whose mother struggled to care for him, also came to see the Roths as a second family when he was growing up.[2] When they were teenagers, Steve and Arnie used to go on double-dates together, while Steve was timid around girls, Arnie was the ladies man.

Arnie then remembers the last time they saw each other. It was after Steve enlisted in the military and Arnie went into the Navy. Seeing how Steve was no longer the scrawny kid that he grew up with, Arnie make a connection and seeing Steve now — still very much a young man — and knows that his suspicion was true: That Steve Rogers is really Captain America.

Meanwhile, in Harlem, a member of the Young Watchers vigilante group is chasing a crook through the streets. When the young man follows the mugger up a fire escape he is caught off guard when the man he is chasing pulls a gun and shoots him.[3]

Back in Brookyln, Arnie Roth and Steve Rogers are still playing catch up. Back in Steve’s apartment, Arnie begins to break down, telling Steve that he has grown up to become a loser. After the war he never got married, he didn’t have kids, and now lives in an apartment with his friend Michael.[4] Now he has gotten in some trouble and that is the real reason why he decided to approach Steve because he needed Captain America’s help. As Arnie is saying all of this, Steve has changed into costume without a single word. When Arnie turns around, Steve tells him that Captain America is there for him.

Meanwhile, Bernie hadn’t retired for the evening as her mind is occupied over her relationship with Steve. She warns herself that she might be moving too fast and is cautious about being burned, but doesn’t think she has to worry about Steve breaking her heart.[5] Her thoughts are interrupted when she sees a bag-lady being hassled by some neighborhood kids. Even though these kids might be dangerous, Bernie chases them off and offers to walk the old woman home.

By this time, Captain America and Arnie are riding out to a building where Michael is being kept hostage. Arnie explains that he has a gambling problem and got in deep with the mob. He admits that he let slip that he knew Captain America personally and promised to deliver the hero to them as payment for his debts. Cap understands Arnie’s position and sends him into the darkened building first. While Michael’s kidnappers are distracted, Captain America uses the cover of darkness to knock them all out. They find Michael but he is in a trance like state. That’s when a massive cyborg creature made out of brain matter emerges from the room to attack Captain America.

Back in Brooklyn, Bernie gets the old woman back to her run down apartment building. There, the mentally ill woman turns on her and tries to rob Bernie at knife point. Keeping a cool head, Rosenthal manages to convince the old woman that she really doesn’t want to hurt her and eventually the old lady breaks down.

While at the scene of the battle, Captain America continues to fight the monster while Arnie tries to snap his friend out of his trance. He realizes that — somehow — Michael’s mind has been transferred into the creature fighting Captain America. Arnie gets between the two combatants and the creature recognizes who he is. This allows Michael to free his mind, causing the monster to dissolve into a puddle of goop. Although they have no idea where this monster came from and who created it, Arnie is happy that Michael is safe. Seeing how happy Arnie and Michael are together prompts Steve to return home and visit Bernie and they spend the night in each other’s arms.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Bernie Rosenthal, Arnie Roth, Michael Bech, Jim Wilson, Raymond Curtis.

Continuity Notes

1. It should be be noted that Arnie Roth’s background as Steve’s childhood friend creates some issues due to the Sliding Timescale. Marvel has yet to make an explanation. I have a theory about how this can be detailed below.

2. Steve Rogers life of poverty during the Great Depression was first detailed in Captain America #255.

3. The young man who is shot is not identified here. We learn in Captain America #272 that it is Jim Wilson, former sidekick to the Hulk and nephew to Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon. His shooter is also identified as Raymond “Little Angel” Curtis in that story.

4. This story implies that Arnie and Michael are more than roommates. Captain America #296 confirms that they were actually a gay couple, which was unheard of at the time when these stories were published. Michael’s last name is revealed to be Bech in the Captain America profile in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #2. Captain America #275 reveals that Arnie’s “trouble” is actually part of a complex revenge plot orchestrated by Baron Zemo.

5. These concerns as Bernie is divorced, as we’ll learn in Captain America #275.

Topical References

• World War II is stated as having happened 40 years prior to this story. This should be considered topical. The Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe forward in time making the gulf of years between the end of World War II and the start of the Modern Age to increase in size with each passing year.

• The Young Watchers group is a commentary on the Guardian Angels, a vigilante group that was active in New York City around the time this story was published. Formed in 1979, they originally organized to combat the crime infested subway system in New York. The organization has since expanded to chapters all over the world. They have had a shaky relationship with the municipal government with some mayors (such as Ed Koch) denouncing the group while others (such as Rudy Guliani and Michael Bloomberg) supporting their activities.

• The old lady that Bernie walks home blames all her misfortunes in life on late night talk show host Merv Griffin. This should be considered topical as Griffin retired in 1987 and subsequently died in 2007.

• Arnie states that he owes the mob $50,000 which was a lot of money in 1982. Adjusting for inflation that would be about $143,130 in 2021 money.

The Thing About Arnie Roth

This story states that Arnie Roth grew up with Steve Rogers in Brooklyn, making him roughly the same age as Steve. In this story, Arnie is depicted as a man in his middle age, which was possible when this comic was originally published in 1982.

However, due to the Sliding Timescale, the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe gets pushed forward in time making the gulf of years between the end of World War II and the start of the Modern Age grow larger with time. As such, it would become increasingly impossible for Arnie to appear that young and soon enough it will be impossible for him to even be alive.

Marvel has yet to explain how Arnie could still be the way he is depicted in these stories. This issue becomes deeply problematic since Arnie is so intrinsically linked to Steve Roger’s childhood. The character cannot be altered without fundamentally altering previously established continuity.

Typically, with important characters — such as Nick Fury, the Red Skull, Captain America and so on — some method of slowing, retarding, or stopping the aging process is used to explain how they can still be somewhat young and vital in the Modern Age.

Arnie is a conundrum in that regard because such a means to slow the aging process seems unlikely for a ordinary guy. Until he returns to Steve Roger’s life there was nothing extraordinary that could have happened to him to justify him not aging in line with someone who lived in the mid-20th Century.

So how can you explain a guy like Arnie? Well, I think a plausible explanation can be found surrounding the plots of Captain America #270, 272, and 275-279. In these stories, Roth is used as a pawn in a revenge plot hatched by Baron Zemo and Primus a mutate created by geneticist Arnim Zola. The plot revolves around the pair using genetics to create an army of mutates and also created the half man/half rat creature known as Vermin. This was all done using Arnim Zola’s genetic technology. On top of that, Baron Zemo is later revealed to have access to a formula created by his father to slow his own aging process, as seen in Thunderbolts #-1. It’s also revealed in Super-Villain Team-Up #17 that Zola created technology that would allow the transfer of a mind into a cloned body, such as he did for Adolf Hitler to create the Hate-Monger and Nazi X.

At the time of this story, Helmut Zemo has been all about getting revenge against Captain America for the death of his father Heinrich and this story arc explains that following Zemo’s last encounter with Captain America in issue #168, he had been plotting against him and learned his true identity and all about his life.

It’s entirely possible that rather than use the real Arnie Roth they created a clone of him. It would be easy for Zola to create a clone. It’s also entirely possible that they were able to copy Arnie’s mind as well as his appearance. This is not out of the realm of possibility in the fiction when you consider that Miles Warren (another expert in cloning technology) was able to create clones that also retained the memories and personality of the doner DNA. A clone that is biologically younger than the real Arnie Roth would not have to stand up to the scrutiny of the Sliding Timescale. Sure in this case Captain America would have to blindly accept that Arnie is a lot younger than he should be, but he pals around with a bunch of guys who age slowly, maybe it’s enough that he wouldn’t question it. Or perhaps that Cap’s usual naivety and his constant search for a link to his past life could have made him ignore the things that would be plain as day to anyone else.

This idea could be supported by the fact that Zola’s castle has a experimental chamber that has Arnie Roth’s name stenciled across the top. Which would make more sense if he was a creation rather than just a prisoner. The fact that Roth was so easily transformed into the weird brain monster in this story would also suggest that he is a product of Zola’s science since all of his creations have some kind of a transformative properties to their genetic code.

Lastly, in the context of this story, it is an absolutely plausible course of action both on the parts of Zemo and Zola. Failing to find someone from Cap’s past that is still alive, I doubt they’d hesitate to create a copy of such a person and they chose someone that Steve wouldn’t question right off the bat, like say, resurrecting his parents.

You could even go so far to say that Arnie’s boyfriend (oh, I’m sorry early 80’s we-can’t-outright-say-somebody-is-gay Marvel Comics, Arnie’s roommate) Michael Bech is possibly an operative working for Zemo to help sell the idea that this Arnie Roth is the real deal. Bech is a German last name after all, it’s entirely possible that Michael is one of Zemo’s Nazi buddies playing a role. Since Bech dies in Captain America #279 and we never really hear about him again, this could be an easy explanation.