Captain America #272
Mean Streets
Captain America is riding his motorcycle through Times Square, when a panicked woman suddenly darts into the street. Cap is forced to crash his bike in order to avoid hitting her. When he asks what’s wrong, she takes him to a nearby taxi cab where the driver has been horribly maimed. With no time to lose, Captain America rushes the man to Harlem Community Hospital before he dies of blood loss.
Changing into Steve Rogers, Cap discovers that his old friend Sam Wilson is there with his girlfriend Leila Taylor, sister Sarah and his nephew Jasper. They are at the hospital because Sam’s other nephew — Jim, a member of the Young Watchers — was shot while chasing a mugger in the streets. Sam is deeply upset and wants Jim’s shooter to face justice. He lashes out because he feels that his work as a social work has failed to stop tragedies like this from happening. As Sam goes out to get some air and calm down, Steve decides to leave as well. Changing back into Captain America, Steve thinks about how Leila has changed so much since they first met, and hopes that he can have a strong relationship with Bernie Rosenthal like Sam has with Leila. However, he notes that Leila is so supportive because she knows that Sam is secretly the Falcon and that Bernie doesn’t know that he is Captain America.[1] As he rides through an overpass, Cap is unaware that he is being observed by a cloaked surrounded by rats. Seeing the Avenger ride through, this mystery man tells his “children” that they will attack Captain America very soon.
Meanwhile, Sam has gone out on patrol as the Falcon to clear his head. On top of dealing with Jim’s injuries, Sam has been asked by the local school board to consider running for Congress. Sam isn’t sure he wants to get involved in politics, particularly after Steve recently turned down a chance to run for President of the United States.[2] Landing on a nearby roof top, he comes upon a young man who calls himself “Little Angel”. The Falcon learns that the kid has been beat up over his drug debts. When the local dealers arrive to end Little Angel’s life, Falcon and Redwing work together to take take them down. While he is pre-occupied, Little Angel makes quick getaway and decides to go looking for him as he needs medical attention.
Elsewhere, Captain America is still riding through the city, lost in thought. He is thinking about how his old childhood friend Arnie Roth has reappeared in his life and the mystery behind the men who used Roth as bait for a trap.[3] That’s when the man in the green cloak darts out into traffic forcing Cap to bail out for the second time that night. When he checks on the man in the cloak, Cap is slashed across the cheek by the cloaked figures incredibly sharp fingernails. This man then runs into a run down apartment building. Captain America follows his attacker up to the roof where he finds a swarm of rats waiting for him. Fighting off the rodents, Cap confronts his attacker who strips off his robe. This man is half-rat himself and calls himself Vermin and that he has come to kill the Star-Spangled Avenger. Vermin’s horrific form causes Cap to pause in his tracks, leaving him open when Vermin lunges at him and begins viciously slashing his opponent.[4]
Meanwhile, the Falcon has caught up with “Little Angel” to make sure he is ok. That’s when the youth is ordered back into his home by his mother. She invites Falcon into their apartment for some coffee so she can talk to her son. She explains the struggles she has had raising her son — his real name being Raymond Curtis — and despite her efforts her boy had gotten into all sorts of trouble and hooked on drugs. Their discussion is interrupted when Raymond wakes up screaming. Falcon and Raymond’s mother race into his room to find out what’s wrong. It’s then that Raymond explains that he has been troubled ever since he shot a member of the Young Watchers earlier that evening. Sam is horrified to learn that this is the same person who shot his cousin, Jim. Losing his temper, Falcon is about to strangle the boy but stops himself when he realizes that Raymond is as much a victim as Jim was and breaks down into tears.
Back at the scene of Captain America’s battle with Vermin, things aren’t going very well for the hero. He is unprepared for the ferocity of Vermin’s attacks or his pack of loyal rats. Realizing that he is dealing with an inhuman monster, Cap gives in to his anger and pummels Vermin into unconsciousness but stops short of killing the creature. Vowing to never cross that line, Captain America picks up Vermin and carries him off to be put into custody.
The following day, Steve Rogers goes to the hospital to find out how Jim is doing. The Wilson family just got news from the doctor that Jim is going to pull through, much to their relief. Sam is glad to see Steve has come by and tells everyone that after this whole experience he has decided that he is going to run for congress after all because he believes that he can make a difference.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Vermin, Leila Taylor, Sarah Casper, Jody Casper, Jim Wilson, Raymond Curtis, Redwing
Continuity Notes
Captain America glosses over some of the dynamics between himself and the people in his personal life:
He mentions how Leila used to hate his guts. When Ms. Taylor first appeared in Captain America #140, she was a member of a group that protested racial inequities. She originally saw Captain America as a symbol to the oppression her people faced every day, even after she and the Falcon started dating. She eventually softened to Steve by Captain America #193, because Jack Kirby had no depth as a writer :P
Steve mentions the issues that he has been having with his current girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal. The pair first met in Captain America #248 and quickly started dating. Steve’s old-fashioned ways have caused some friction recently when Steve didn’t kiss her back in Captain America #267 and for being reluctant to say “I love you” back to her in the following issue. The pair have been working through their differences since issue #270. Bernie will figure out that he is really Captain America in issue #275.
Captain America mentions how he is a man out of time, referring to how he was frozen in suspended animation in 1945 and only recently revived in the present day, as seen in Avengers #4.
Steve was courted as a presidential candidate back in Captain America #250. Sam, on the other hand, decides to dive into it and his campaign is explored in the pages of Captain America #275-278.
Arnie Roth resurfaced in Captain America’s life in issue #270. Arnie is identified as an old childhood friend of Steve Rogers. The fact that he could still be alive in the Modern Age is becoming increasingly impossible due to the Sliding Timescale and Marvel (as of November, 2021) has yet to explain how this can be. I have a theory on how this can be, see my summary for Captain America #270 for more details on that.
Vermin’s masters and his origins are not told in this story. He learn in Captain America #275 that he was created by Baron Zemo and Primus. Spectacular Spider-Man #183 reveals that Vermin was once Edward Whelan, an abuse victim transformed into Vermin by Baron Zemo who saw the African-American as subhuman.
Topical References
In the opening scene of this story, Times Square is depicted as being filled with pornographic theaters and other smut peddling. This was the reality back when this story was published in 1982. However, changes to city ordinances about such establishments pushed all pornographic businesses out of Times Square. As such, its depiction here should be considered topical.
The Young Watchers are inspired by a real life vigilante group called the Guardian Angels, a vigilante group that was formed in New York City in 1979. They patrolled the crime infested New York City subway system to protect other passengers because they believed the police were ineffectual. The group later expanded and has chapters all over the world. The group has been viewed both positively and negatively by the municipal government.
This story makes a big deal of the fact that Raymond Curtis is high on marijuana. When this story was published in 1982, weed was illegal in New York. It was legalized for recreational use in 2014. I suppose you could say it’s a big deal here because he is under age, but yeah, not that big a deal anymore.
He is on “Smack” though with is old slang for heroin, which is still super illegal. I don’t know if people still use that term (I’m not into heroin, obviously) so this might be topical? Might not? I’ll just leave this here in case you don’t know what the term means. See, you can learn from comics!
