Captain America #126
The Fate of… The Falcon!
Wanting to check in on his friend, the Falcon, Captain America has traveled to Harlem. Here he overhears a radio broadcast about how the Falcon has been surrounded in a nearby apartment building by the police. Fearing that something is not right, Captain America races to the scene. Spotting Falcon’s bird, Redwing, Cap is led to the location of the police cordon.
Since it is unlikely the cops will let him through, Captain America goes around back and climbs in through the window. There he finds Falcon hiding in one of the rooms nursing a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He tells Cap that he has been framed for a murder by the Diamon Head Gang. This gang of crooks, which he describes as the “black version of the KKK” that targets white people, have been stirring up racial tensions in Harlem and framed him when he started investigating them. With the police threatening to force their way into the building, Captain America tells the police that the Falcon has a hostage and that he has convinced him to let them free and surrender. This buys them some time to come up with a plan so Falcon can escape. Stripping off his costume, Cap has Falcon put it on and, pretending to be the hostage, exits the building. Under the cover of darkness, Falcon is able to flee the scene in Captain America’s costume without raising any suspicions until he is long gone.
When news reaches the Diamond Head gang, they are upset that the Falcon managed to get away. Their leader Diamond Head, so named because of the diamond mask he wears, assures them that the Falcon will be too busy on the run to deal with them. When the other members of the gang raises their concern about the Maggia muscling in on their turf, Diamond Head assures them that they will have nothing to worry about. Later, members of the gang go to a pawnshop that has recently opened in the area. There, they give the white owner a hard time for opening up in a black neighborhood and not paying them for protection. After trashing the shop, they send the owner fleeing for his life before blowing the place up with a bundle of dynamite.
Catching the recent attack on the news, Captain America and the Falcon start looking for clues as to where the Diamond Head gang could be hiding out. Checking the records of all the buildings recently purchased, Captain America has a hunch that a nearby warehouse could be their base of operations. Cap goes to check it out, ordering the Falcon to stay behind and let his wound heal. When Cap begins snooping around the property he spots a Maggia lieutenant named Rocky the Lynx and wonders why he’s driving around. Putting this aside, Captain America ambushes the members of the Diamond Head Gang. However, these thugs are heavily armed and pin Captain America down with gunfire. Luckily for him, the Falcon comes to his rescue. As the Falcon deals with the gang members, their leader tries to shoot him from behind.
Falcon is saved when Captain America tackles Diamond Head. When the villain is unmasked, they discover that he is actually Rocky the Lynx. He explains that the Maggia wanted to stir up racial tensions in Harlem so they could move into the territory. With the Diamond Head Gang’s leader exposed and its members turned over to the police, the Falcon’s name is cleared. As Cap heads for home, the Falcon thanks him for his help and says that even though they don’t have the same skin color, Falcon sees Cap as a brother.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Maggia, Redwing
Topical References
When Captain America overhears the radio report about the Falcon’s situation it’s depicted coming from a massive radio that was commonly used in the 1970s. It’s the size of a toaster. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that radios now are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, so I don’t think I need to go into detail why this should be considered a topical reference.
The televisions in this story are also depicted as massive CRT televisions.
