Captain America and the Falcon #13
American Psycho, Part 1
High above midtown Manhattan, the black-clad Anti-Cap flies a helicopter above the city. Once reaching an appropriate height, he tosses out one Doctor Trevain who he had bound and gagged in the back. The man then falls to his death on the street below.
Meanwhile, the Falcon (Sam Wilson) is spending some time with his latest fling, SHIELD Agent Alisande Morales. Sam keeps watch out the window of his apartment with a rifle handy while Morales looks over some paperwork. She finds the fact that Redwing, Sam’s pet falcon, keeps staring at her to be very unnerving.
That’s when they are visited by Captain America (Steve Rogers), who needs to talk to Sam.[1] After all the ways that Falcon has been acting out of character, Steve isn’t sure he can trust his partner anymore and suggests he get serious help.[2] Falcon insists that nothing more is happening than his becoming his own man. Steve can’t believe it after everything he has heard Falcon do, such as breaking out Anti-Cap from prison, stealing drug money as well as blackmailing a US Senator.[3] Seeing that he is not getting through to Sam, Steve tells him he doesn’t think they can be partners anymore if he continues down this path. This angers Sam, as doesn’t believe that Steve ever treated them as equals since they have only been partners on his terms.
As the two men continue their argument in the hall way, a guy named Norman — who is dating Sam’s ex-girlfriend Leila Taylor — comes around the corner with a gun, looking for revenge after Leila dumped him. He opens fire with a gun, but misses Sam, who easily subdues the loser. However, when he turns to see if Steve is ok, he notices that Cap was hit. Suiting up as the Falcon, Sam calls an ambulance and has Steve rushed to Harlem Hospital where he is immediately rushed into surgery.
While the surgeons work on removing the bullets and closing his wounds, Steve is reliving moments of his life. He remembers his childhood as a frail boy who couldn’t play baseball very well. In this memory, Steve remembers being called home for dinner and being chided for being so dirty. That scene suddenly shifts where he, as Captain America, is fighting his eternal enemy the Red Skull. He fights free from the Red Skull and knocks him out. He is then chased down his childhood neighborhood by Hydra. Fighting them off, Steve is next attacked by Baron Zemo, Doctor Faustus, and the Red Ghost. Captain America fights them all off and he is then attacked by the Anti-Cap who calls Cap a relic that is no longer needed. Anti-Cap is the wave of the future and he will protect America from terrorists that threaten its way of life. Faltering in this final fight, Steve is then approached by the Scarlet Witch who tells him that it is time to go and escorts him into his family home.
In the waking world, Captain America is flat lining on the operating table. Hearing the commotion, the Falcon bursts into the room and tells the surgeons to do something. Unfortunately, they are too late and Captain America is declared dead![5]
Meanwhile, Anti-Cap fires missiles at the Baud Olan Embassy. Leaping inside the burning building he then guns down the security detail inside. He confronts the men inside over the fact that the American Vytex Corporation spent billions on an energy plant in the region. Yet, when terrorists were chased into their nation, the leaders of Baud Olan provided them with shelter. He then guns them all down in cold blood.
Later, the Falcon has returned to his apartment and shaves off his beard. When Anti-Cap shows up, he discovers that their partnership has been dissolved when Redwing slashes at his face and the Falcon — the Falcon of old — comes out to stop him once and for all.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Anti-Cap, Alisande Morales, Redwing
Continuity Notes
Sam asks if Steve needs help finding the Scarlet Witch. This story follows the Avengers Disassembled event which primarily took place in Avengers #500-503. In that tale, Wanda went crazy and tore the Avengers apart. In the aftermath of the battle she was spirited away by Magneto and Professor X for treatment. We’ll discover that they have been caring for her in the ruins of Genosha in House of M #1.
Throughout this series, Sam Wilson has been seemingly reverting back to his “Snap” Wilson persona. Why and what that means is quite complicated so here we go again:
When Captain America first met the Falcon in Captain America #117, he appeared to be the ideal crime fighting partner.
Sometime after this, in Captain America #186, the Red Skull revealed that Sam Wilson used to be a street hustler nicknamed “Snap” and that he used the Cosmic Cube to make Wilson a sleeper agent to use against Captain America.
In reality, as we’ll learn a few years after this story is that “Snap” Wilson was actually a fabrication created by the Red Skull. He was using racist gaslighting to make Sam question his identity on top of using him as a pawn. This was all revealed in All-New Captain America #3.
Steve is suggesting that he and Sam’s minds have been played with by the Scarlet Witch due to the fact that she had recently gone mad. See Captain America and the Falcon #5-7 and Avengers #500-503. This was also suggested in the Falcon profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4, however has yet to be independently verified or confirmed.
Seriously? Check out the first 12 issues of this series for all the skinny on this. Sheesh.
Sam and Leila had a thing not long after they first met in Captain America #139. She drifted out of his life following the events of Captain America #278. More recently, in Captain America and the Falcon #1-4, she had to be saved from Guantanamo Bay by the Falcon after she got busted following a story for the Daily Bugle. Later, in issue #7, he broke into the apartment she shares with Norman and forced them to stay inside because Leila was a target. Norman was treated like a little bitch and totally emasculated by Sam.
I probably shouldn’t have to tell you Cap’s not dead and we’ll see him next issue, do I?
Topical References
Sam is depicted as having a CRT model television in his apartment. This is an obsolete technology.
The energy protect referenced here is a natural gas pipeline that was worth 70 billion dollars. The dollar value will change over time due to inflation. However, the natural gas pipeline could be considered a topical reference eventually as the world shifts away from fossil fuels for greener energies.
