Captain America #143
Power to the People
Captain America and the Falcon have just defeated the Grey Gargoyle and are returning home with SHIELD director Nick Fury and Sharon Carter. Landing at SHIELD’s New Jersey base they then take a pneumatic tube to the spy agency’s headquarters in New York City. There they are greeted by Dum Dum Dugan, who has come to debrief them. Since they are no longer needed Captain America and the Falcon depart, but not before Cap and Sharon share a kiss. While going over the records of Captain America’s battle with the Grey Gargoyle, they all agree to keep the mission a secret for fear of causing the public to panic.
Meanwhile, Captain America and the Falcon return to Sam Wilson’s apartment to change out of their costumes. Steve thanks Sam for letting him freshen up there because he is running late for his shift at the local police precinct. Sure enough, when Steve arrives late he is reamed out by his superior officer, Sergeant Brain Muldoon. However, this dressing down is interrupted by the Commissioner who asks to speak with Steve in private.[1] Steve is then reintroduced with Reverend Garcia, a community leader, who looks forward to working with Steve to help steer Harlem’s youth away from crime.
At this same time, Sam Wilson is on his way to his office where he works as a social worker. Along the way he stops at a local basketball court to say hello to his nephew, Jody Casper. Once he arrives at his office he is also greeted by Leila, a local activist that has been trying to convince Sam to quit his job and join their cause.[2] Sam deflects her argument by making romantic advances. Although Leila tries to resist him, Sam eventually wears her down enough to kiss. Sam then decides to at least listen to Leila’s cause and see what the alternative is doing. She then takes him down to a warehouse meeting of the People’s Militia. Sam doesn’t trust the fact that the leader of this organization wears a mask. The social worker’s presence is also not appreciated and Sam almost comes to blows with an activist named Rafe.[3] This fight is quickly broken up because their leader, “The Man” is about to speak.
The Man then wroks up the gathered crowd into a frenzy over the injustices the African-American community has faced and incises them to start a riot that will see all of Harlem burned to the ground. This is all deeply disturbing to Sam Wilson, who tries to convince the mob that violence is not the way to resolve their grievances. He also tries to toss the Man’s motives into question by once again pointing out that their leader doesn’t show his real face. Unfortunately, Sam’s words fall on deaf ears and he is swarmed by the mob. However, Leila convinces her fellow activates not to kill Sam because of his influence with their oppressors. Instead, they load Sam up in a truck so he can watch as they set Reverend Garcia’s place on fire.
At that same moment, Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter have just finished a date and are glad that they are making up for lost time.[4] That’s when Sam Wilson rolls out of the back of a passing truck. Severely beaten, Sam manages to warn Steve of what’s going to happen before passing out. Steve asks Sharon to help him get Sam back to his office, and then vows to stop whoever is responsible as Captain America. Soon, Captain America arrives at Reverend Garcia’s youth center and interrupts the mob before they can set the place on fire. Observing the battle remotely, the Man orders his men to bring Captain America to him. While back at Sam’s office, Leila arrives to check on Sam and convinces Sharon to leave him in her care. When Sam wakes up, he’s not happy to see Leila. This leads to another argument about their roles in the black community. Leila eventually gets fed up and storms out and catches a ride with Rafe to the youth center. Hoping to stop further violence, Sam changes into the Falcon and heads that way himself.
By this time, Sergeant Muldoon has brought a riot squad outside Reverend Garcia’s youth center. However, the Commissioner orders them to stand by as police involvement might inflame things further. Also present is Sharon Carter who cannot understand the complex issues behind the racial tensions and wishes everyone could just get along and wishes she could know what’s going on. Inside, Reverend Garcia tries to convince the rioters to stop. However, they don’t trust Captain America or the Reverend. When one of the rioters tries to throw a Molotov cocktail, the Falcon arrives and snatches it away. With the situation inside the youth center deflating, Captain America has an idea who might be responsible for riling people up. Once they get outside, the rioters have instead turned their attention to the NYPD. Captain America and the Falcon then get between the two groups and, surprisingly, manage to convince the rioters to give them a chance to resolve things peacefully.
When the pair head to the People’s Militia headquarters, they are followed by Leila and Rafe. There, Captain America and the Falcon clash with the Man and his men. It’s during this brawl that Cap rips one of the goon’s uniforms revealing that he is a white man. With his scheme exposed, “the Man” pulls off his hood, revealing that he is none other than Captain America’s old foe the Red Skull. Captain America tries to subdue his foe, but the Red Skull has defensive weapons built into his costume and manages to escape by trapping the Cap and the Falcon with a laser beam in a room with reflective walls.
Although the Red Skull managed to escape, his scheme to incite racial tensions has been exposed. In the aftermath of this revelation, Rafe and Leila tell the commissioner that the Peopel’s Militia is being disbanded while they figure out their next move. Watching this from the rooftop, Captain America wonders how long it will be before the activists resort to violence next. This upsets the Falcon, who points out that the African-American community has some very good reasons to be upset over. Before Cap can apologize for speaking out of turn, Sam takes off, telling his partner that he needs some time alone to think and re-evaluate his position. Returning to his office, Sam finds himself conflicted between his partnership with Captain America and the issues that affect his community. That’s when Leila arrives because she too finds herself conflicted over everything that has happened. When the end up kissing, they are unaware that Captain America is watching from a nearby rooftop. Seeing Sam with the militia girl leaves Steve to think that he’s losing yet another crime-fighting partner and wonders if he would be better off as a loner.[5]
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Falcon, Red Skull, SHIELD (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Sharon Carter), Leila Taylor, Jody Casper, Rafe Michel, Reverend Garcia. Brain Muldoon, Commissioner Feingold, Redwing
Continuity Notes
The Commissioner is unnamed here. Defenders #34 reveals his last name is Feingold.
Leila’s full name is not given here. Captain America #188 reveals that her last name is Taylor.
Raf’s full name is also not given here. Captain America #151 reveals his last name is Michel.
Sharon and Steve went through a break-up in Captain America #124. They had just recently made up in issue #140.
By this time, Captain America had been through two other partners during his career:
The first one was James Barnes, aka Bucky, who was Captain America’s sidekick during World War II dating back to Captain America Comics #1. At the time of this story, Steve believes Bucky died in 1945, per Avengers #4. Cap won’t learn that Bucky is actually still alive until Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
Rick Jones was Captain America’s second sidekick at two different times in the past. First, Rick became Cap’s sidekick almost from the moment he was revived in the Modern Age in Avengers #4. This lasted until issue #17 of that series when Rick was passed over as an official member of the Avengers. Rick later convinces Cap to let him take on the mantle of Bucky in Captain America #110. This partnership lasted until issue #116 when the Red Skull (having swapped bodies with Cap) broke up their partnership. Rick then went on to be the partner to Captain Marvel circa Captain Marvel #17 when the pair had their molecules merged together.
Topical References
Nick Fury has a record of Captain America’s battle with the Grey Gargoyle is depicted as being on microfilm. This should be considered topical since this is an outdated technology.
Sam Wilson mentions the New York Knicks. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world sports team that could potentially change its name, home city, or even cease operation at some point. It’s unlikely for such a historic team, but you never know.
The African-American characters in this story are all speaking in a type of slang that was popularized in the Blackspoitation films that came out at the time this story was published. This dated slang should be considered topical.
The People’s Militia are, as far as I can tell, supposed to be an allegory for the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers were a political organization that fought for the rights of black Americans that were active between 1966 and 1982. The depiction of racial issues in this story are a very simplistic understanding of the complex issues of the era and should be considered topical.
This story uses the terms “Uncle Tom” and “Uncle Remus” to describe black people who want to work with white authorities to solve racial issues. Both terms are disparaging terms based on works of literature. Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the Uncle Remus stories really downplayed the awfulness of slavery by presenting black characters who were just fine with the whole concept of being owned as property. I shouldn’t have to connect the dots on why this is an epitaph. Again, this story tosses these words around with a very simplistic understanding of complex issues.
