Captain America and the Falcon #6
Snapped
Captain America (Steve Rogers) and the Falcon (Sam Wilson) went to the Daily Bugle to discuss how to release the so-called Anti-Cap over to Jimmy Westbrook. When they arrived, Westbrook — a high ranking official at the Office of Naval Intelligence — had a team of soldiers try to arrest Sam.[1] This resulted in Sam emptying a clip into Westbrook’s chest. Now the two heroes find themselves fleeing through the Bugle’s newsroom in order to evade arrest.
As Steve chastises Sam for shooting Westbrook, the Falcon justifies the move, pointing out that Jimmy was wearing a bullet proof vest and is still alive. He takes issue with being arrested considering he was investigating Anit-Cap to begin with at the behest of the spy agency SHIELD. Sam reminds Cap how he used to hustle on the street as “Snap” Wilson and learned to trust his gut instinct and asks Steve to trust it now.[2] Cap decides that he’ll follow his lead and the two head back to the office of J. Jonah Jameson.
Jonah immediately beings regretting allowing superheroes into his newsroom and complains about his insurance rates.[3] That’s when the soldiers come in with guns blazing, forcing everyone to take cover. Before Cap can engage the soldiers, everything suddenly gets frozen in time. This is the work of the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) who keeps on getting herself involved in this matter, despite Cap’s warnings. She reminds him of her nomadic upbringings as the member of the Romani, and who her father is and how she can handle the danger. She is joined by Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) who has also come to because he wanted to inform Cap that he was successfully able to synthesize AVX, the drug needed to sustain Anti-Cap. He also has wants to tell him something else about the supposed bio-weapon sample they recovered from Cuba.[4][5][6]
Meanwhile, the Falcon has gotten J. Jonah Jameson to the elevator in order to get the belligerent newspaper publisher to safety. Inside, they find Omoro — the head of security at the Wakandan Consulate — waiting for them. He has come to deliver a new set of wings for Sam, telling him not to wreck this pair so quickly.[7] At the same time, Nick Fury, Jimmy Westbrook, and Joe Robertson are still arguing about who has jurisdiction to do what. That’s when they are interrupted by a new arrival, Damocles “The Saint” Rivas, brother of the recently slain Manuel Rivas, of the Rivas Cartel. While all this is happening, Yellowjacket tells Cap that the sample they found wasn’t a bio-weapon at all. It’s actually a DNA sample that belongs to someone he knows.[8]
With this information, Cap and Falcon leave the Daily Bugle. They are soon being tailed by military helicopters armed with riot control bullets. Sam uses his new wings to take them on a wild goose chase while Steve races back to the Wakandan Embassy. When Cap hops into a taxi cab, he is surprised to see Wanda in the drivers seat again. However, this appears to only be a momentary hallucination. Suddenly, Steve finds himself encased in ice. He suddenly relives the moment from World War II where his partner Bucky died trying to disarm a drone plane.[9] However, in this vision Bucky says “too many wars” before the blast. Cap then snaps back to reality and can see Wanda through the ice he is trapped in. She too says there are too many wars. When Cap smashes free, the ice and Wanda disappear as they were never there to begin with.
When he arrives at the Wakandan Embassy, he is shocked to see that Wanda is there, having been sent ahead by Yellowjacket. Suddenly, Steve ends up reliving the moment he first met Bucky in the early days of the war before snapping back to reality.[10] Anti-Cap is ranting about Steve becoming obsolete and that there is a new war on being fought. As Steve hands over the AVX patches, Anti-Cap also says there are too many wars. This causes Steve to have another flashback to Bucky’s death and his getting frozen in ice. This causes Steve to momentarily pass out. When Wanda revives him and asks what’s wrong, the two suddenly give in to the building romantic tension between the two of them and they begin to kiss.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Anti-Cap, Scarlet Witch, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Jimmy Westbrook, Damocles Rivas, Nick Fury, Yellowjacket, Omoro, Phil Sheldon
Continuity Notes
Anti-Cap was an attempt to re-create the Super Soldier formula and make a new Captain America that better reflects the current American political reality. See Captain America and the Falcon #1-4.
In this story, Sam appears to be reverting to his “Snap” Wilson persona. About that…
When Steve first met Sam back in Captain America #117, the young man was an ideal candidate to be his crime fighting partner.
Later, in Captain America #186, the Red Skull revealed that Sam was once a street hustler named “Snap” Wilson and that he used the Cosmic Cube to alter Sam’s mind to make him a sleeper agent to use against Captain America in the future.
Years after that story and this one, in All-New Captain America #3, it was revealed that “Snap” was the fabrication after all. It was all a bit of racist gaslighting on behalf of the Skull to make Sam question his identity. Time of this writing (March, 2024), it still doesn’t explain how other people remember Sam being “Snap”. My guess is that the Skull altered reality, not just Sam’s mind.
The reason why Sam is reverting back to this persona is unexplained. However his profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4 suggests that this might be part of the Scarlet Witch’s attack on the Avengers during the Avengers Disassembled storyline. See below for that event and its tie-ins.
J. Jonah Jameson has had it out for superheroes for years, Spider-Man in particular, for a number of reasons. On the surface he sees them as overshadowing real heroes like his son, astronaut John Jameson. See Amazing Spider-Man #1. Amazing Spider-Man #10 also revealed that Jameson secretly envies Spider-Man for being a hero.
Wanda mentions her upbringing and her father. She and her brother were raised by the Romani was first touched upon in X-Men #4. At the time of this story, Wanda believes herself to be the daughter of the mutant terrorist known as Magneto as that’s what she was told in Vision and the Scarlet Witch #4. However, it has since been revealed that this is no longer the case, as seen in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #4-5.
Also mentioned here is how the Avengers rescued Captain America from ice. After plunging into the Atlantic in 1945, Captain America went into a state of suspended animation for decades until he was rescued by the Avengers in Avengers #4.
Lastly, we have mention of Luke Cage’s powers being similar to Anti-Cap. Luke was subjected to experiments conducted by Dr. Noah Bernstein while he was an inmate at Seagate Prison. This was all detailed in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1. It was explained in Captain America and the Falcon #2-3 that the drugs used to give Anti-Cap his powers were based on those experiments. Last issue, Cap and Falcon got a blood sample from Luke.
Falcon’s iconic wings were built with the assistance of the Black Panther back in Captain America #170.
This “bio-weapon” isn’t a weapon at all, but a DNA sample taken from MODOK, as we’ll learn in Captain America and the Falcon #8.
At the time of this story, everyone believes Bucky died during World War II as per Avengers #4. We’ll discover not long after this that Buck has been alive and well this entire time and operating as a Russian assassin known as the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol. 5) #11.
Steve and Bucky first met when Steve was stationed at Camp Lehigh during the war, as was first depicted back in Captain America Comics #1. However, the tale of their first meeting was actually in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #12. While this was always labeled as a chance encounter, we’ll later learn in Captain America (vol. 5) #50 that James was specifically trained to be Cap’s “sidekick”.
Topical References
The following depictions should or should not be considered topical depending on the criteria. They are:
That the Daily Bugle has computers that use CRT display monitors. This is now an obsolete technology.
Wanda refers to herself as a gypsy, which was a term used to describe the nomadic Romani people. This word has often had a pejorative connotation to it and since the publication of this comic it has fallen out of common use because many find it offensive.
When Jonah boasts about having won a Pulitzer, Sam quips that it was for covering the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. As this is a historical reference, it should not be considered topical.
J. Jonah Jameson calls Sam’s sudden use of firearms “Richard Roundtree business”. Roundtree is an African-American actor best known for his role in the Shaft series of films. He passed away in 2023. This wouldn’t be necessarily a topical reference as Rountree’s role as Shaft is considered iconic as he is referred to as the first Black action hero.
Jonah states that he lives by the mantra “What would Edward R. Murrow do”. Murrow was a journalist best known for his coverage of World War II. He died in 1965. As he is a legendary journalist, this wouldn’t be considered a topical reference.
When arguing over Naval jurisdiction, Jimmy Westbrook says that the Patriot Act allows him to supersede the posse comitatus that previously prevented the Navy from running domestic operations. The Patriot Act was signed into law in 2001 following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These laws have have been extended until 2020, leading to them to finally lapse. Making their reference here topical as they are reflective of US law at the time of publication.
Avengers Disassembled Reading Order
Iron Man (vol. 3) #84-85, Thor (vol. 2) #80-81, Captain America and the Falcon #5, 6, 7, Captain America (vol. 3) #29, Avengers #500, 501, 502, 503, Iron Man (vol. 3) #86, 87, 88, 89, Captain America (vol. 3) #30, 31, 32, Fantastic Four #517, 518, 519, Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 2) #15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, Thor (vol. 2) #82, 83, 84, 85, Avengers Finale #1, New Thunderbolts #1