Captain America and the Falcon #1
Two Americas, Part 1
Cuba
A man is walking the streets just after 2 am local time in the search for someone. He happens upon a homeless man sleeping outside in the pouring rain and wakes him up. He shows the homeless man a photo of Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, and demands to know where he can be found. The homeless man says he knows nothing, but when he is threatened with violence, he says Wilson can be found in Alphabet City. The man then thanks the bum and tosses him a bunch of American money to buy his silence. As lightning flashes, the homeless man gets a better look at his interrogator, who is dressed up like Captain America, complete with his trademark shield.[1]
America
Steve Rogers (the real Captain America) is at the offices of the Daily Bugle because he needs to know what Sam Wilson is doing in Cuba. He goes to city editor Joe Robertson, to see what he knows because he has obtained footage of the Falcon helping enemy combatants escape from the American facility at Guantanamo Bay. Steve knows that Sam’s old flame, Leila Taylor, has been spotted in Cuba investigating drug labs run by the Rivas Cartel. Recently, she was arrested by the Coast Guard and detained at the prison after she got caught attempting to smuggle herself back into the United States. Robertson points out that given the current political climate, the United States government has become reliant on the Rivas for intel on terrorist activities and suggests that this cozy relationship has led to their government not going so hard on them for their illicit activities.
On top of that, Joe is unsure if he wants to tell Cap anything given the situation. Asking the wrong questions could have you labeled as a national security risk and locked up at Gitmo. He can’t be sure who Steve is working for. Especially since one of his people have been snatched that he desperately wants back.[2] All Steve can say is that the people who have ordered him to bring the Falcon in have only given him 24 hours to do so before they begin a manhunt of their own.
Cuba
Captain America arrives in the slum town continuing his search for Sam Wilson. He ends up in the crosshairs of a sniper, however he manages to avoid getting shot and sneaks up on the sniper. The shots fire attract other armed men to look around for intruders. when a rat scurries over one of their feet, he freaks out and starts shooting at the rodent. This creates a distraction for Cap to take them all down. He leaves one alive for questioning, who shows him a woman and her child that they were attempting to traffic. This isn’t what Cap was looking for. Still, he kills the man and then comforts the woman and her child, telling them that nobody is going to hurt them again.
America
Captain America has returned to Avengers HQ to figure out his next move. He tells the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) about Sam’s situation. He is concerned because a hurricane passing along the Atlantic has cut off anyway out of Cuba. He recounts how Sam was programmed by the Red Skull to be Steve’s ideal crime fighting partner.[3] Since then, the Falcon’s newfound idealism was encouraged by Cap. However, now he is concerned about what would happen now that he is being forced to question it for the first time. When Wanda offers to help, he says that it is a matter of national security and he has to deal with this alone.
Cuba
Captain America takes the woman and her child to a local church and left in the care of the nuns that live there. The woman asks to see the picture of Sam Wilson one more time. She confirms that she has seen him and offers to take Cap there. Cap only asks that she tell him where he can find the Rivas Cartel, and then gives her a kiss. Later, Captain America arrives in a fenced off area. He spots a man patrolling the fence line in an offroad vehicle. Leaping over the fence, Cap lands on the vehicle and yanks the drive out. He then takes control of the wheel and drives onward.
America
Steve Rogers arrives at a Naval Air Station in Miami, Florida. Unfortunately, when he requests an air lift to Cuba, he is told that the hurricane is still making travel to the remote island nation impossible.
Cuba
Where is Sam Wilson in all of this? The Falcon is sitting in a chair at the Rivas Estate with an unlit cigar in his hand. He is telling Manuel Rivas about how in high school her had a girlfriend named Valerie. While he wanted to fool around with her she was a church going girl who was saving herself. Anytime he tried, she’d stop him and tell him that she was going to college. In hindsight, Sam is grateful that Valerie didn’t give in, as he figured the two would have ended up in a loveless marriage that ended in divorce.[4] He relates this story in an effort to convince Manuel to release Leila Taylor to him instead of killing her as instructed.
That’s when the window behind Sam blows out, signaling him to tell Manuel that things aren’t going to go well for him now. The shattered window was caused by Captain America who fights his way through the estate guards with lethal force. Outside the room, Redwing (Sam’s pet falcon) attacks Cap, forcing him to shove the bird into a nearby closet. Sam is telling Manuel about Captain America’s arrival just as Cap seemingly enters the room. However, this man picks up a machine gun off the floor and begins opening fire at the last of the guards. Sam then says that despite appearances, this man is not Captain America. As if to confirm this, the man in the Captain America uniform removes his cowl, revealing that he has jet black hair.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Anti-Cap, Joe Robertson, SHIELD (Alisande Morales), Scarlet Witch, Leila Taylor, Redwing
Continuity Notes
This isn’t the real Steve Rogers, but a soldier who has been trained to be his replacement by the current American government at the time of this story. This individual will be referred to as “Anti-Cap” and his origins will be explained in Captain America and the Falcon #3-4.
Here, Cap says Sam and Leila go way back. The two first met back in Captain America #139. The pair eventually began dating until around Captain America #278, her last appearance prior to this story. Joe states that one of his kids got snatched. Joe has had two children. Patrick, who died six months after he was born, as explained in Amazing Spider-Man #196. His other son is Randy Robertson who first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #67. This is the only part of the story where Joe refers to a kidnapped child, so one could assume that he is referring to Leila. Not referring to her as his child in the literal sense, but perhaps a familial bond he shares with many employees who work for the Daily Bugle.
Captain America first met Sam Wilson back in Captain America #117 and the two hit it off instantly, with Sam being trained to be Steve’s new partner the Falcon. It was later revealed in Captain America #186 that the Red Skull allegedly used the Cosmic Cube to turn Sam — who was a crook nicknamed “Snap” Wilson — into being Cap’s ideal partner to operate as a sleeper agent. Years after that story and this one (in All-New Captain America #3) it was revealed that “Snap” Wilson was the actual fabrication and this alternate identity was created to fuck with Sam’s sense of identity, because Red Skull is a gaslighting racist on top of being a genocidal one.
This story (and this entire series, really) has Sam seemingly shifting back to his Snap Wilson persona. His profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4 suggests that this might have been due to the influence of the Scarlet Witch. This story happens around the Avengers Disassembled storyline, where the Scarlet Witch went crazy and turned against her teammates. The core tale is told in Avengers #500-503.
Topical References
This story states that the ruler of Cuba is Fidel Castro, which was the case when this comic was originally published in 2004. Since then, Castro stepped down in 2011 and subsequently died in 2016.
Joe Robertson is depicted as having a CRT model television in his office. This is now an obsolete technology.
This story is also framed around American foreign policy in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It makes specific reference to this event and refers to Guantamo Bay as a prison for suspects accused of acts of terrorism against the United States. That was the case when this story was published in 2004. It was infamous for its human rights violations (including torture). There has been talk about eventually shutting the prison down for years however this has yet to happen.
Translations
There is dialogue in this story that is presented in Spanish without an English translation. They are:
“Señor, Despiértese.” = “Mister, wake up.”
“Déjeme solo. Yo no tengo nada que darlo. Quizā yo puedo darle algo—” = “Leave me alone. I have nothing to give you. Maybe I can give you something.
“Estoy buscando a este hombre. Sam Wilson. ¿Ha visto usted a este hombre?” = “I'm looking for this man. Sam Wilson. Have you seen this man?”
“¡Tomelos! ¡Tome a las mujeres!” = “Take them! Take the women!”
"El cuadro -- muéstreme el cuadro." = “The picture — Show me the picture.”
“Si... Yo lo tomaré a él. =”Yes.. I will take you.”
"Area seis estā clara. Yo estoy procediendo a area doce." = “Area six is clear. I am proceeding to area twelve."