Falcon, Captain America- and Spider-Man’s Best Team-Ups, Silver Age
1971
When I said Marvel heroes were more into confrontations than team-ups, look no further than this Stan Lee-penned two-parter!
I can’t say Gene Colan quite got down the dynamics of Spider-Man in action. Off-model costuming is sort of interesting, though? But I like his work on the principles here in Captain America and the Falcon #137 (cover date, May 1971) . His faces are quite expressive. That’s great, because personal motivations drive everything here. Cap’s melodramatic misunderstanding with Sharon Carter helps set off partner Falcon’s self-doubt. It’s this questioning of his self-worth- his desire to define himself outside his legendary team mate- that leads the Falcon “To Stalk A Spider-Man!”
Colan's Spider-Man fights like Daredevil. Cool panel though!
By this point, he and Cap have been partners in over a year’s worth of stories. Sam Wilson, social worker by day, came back from Red Skull’s Exile island with his trained falcon, Redwing, and grounded the espionage/ super-hero action in a new venue: Harlem. There’s such a sincere effort by Marvel to connect with and tell stories of urban life; it goes deeper than copying hip patois of recent years. We’re not really in a period of Big New Ideas from Marvel, but this step was an innovation. Here we open the possibility for a much grittier story like Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, in spring, 1972.
Here, the ghetto setting spawns a racketeer called Stone Face. He looks like a stroke victim. He acquires some unique flavor by ripping off the new Afrocentric vibe to put on a show for a congressional representative who wants to build an office building. Stone Face wants to play on the fears of what outsiders don’t know; so, part of his intimidation bid is throwing on a dashiki and exploiting Black Power to get a sweet million for his civic center.
It’s not really a story about how inner city people feel or how their voice might be co-opted by opportunists. That’s a worthwhile tale. It might not have been translated so well, if that had been the direction chosen. A lot of critics say Stan Lee was scripting with one foot out the door by this point. I think Stan’s at least trying to depict some insight into real world imperfections. When you look at his work in context of the times, his real weakness isn’t in how he brings black faces to life. It’s his fainting women.
But Stan and Gene and, in #138, John Romita, do nail some superhero action!
IF you haven’t read these, or need a reminder, Sam sends Redwing to follow the passing Spider-Man, home, so he can catch up and confront him later. Why? Because the wall-crawler’s wanted for questioning following the accidental death of Captain George Stacy- his girlfriend’s father. This also precipitated (ahh!) a frozen attack by Ice Man, who clearly saw Spidey in the process of a kidnapping- of the late top cop’s daughter! They went on to have a more engaged team-up, against corrupt DA candidate Sam Bullit.
The character bits make this one more interesting. It’s maybe too predictable that Sam would eventually feel out-shined – really worse, taken for granted- by Steve. If you had to tell the story, hey, mix him up with Marvel’s emergent mascot. Sam can’t keep up with Spider-Man, but he doesn’t tell Cap about his new mission to prove his self-worth, risking Cap undermining him. That lends a certain ferocity to Sam’s efforts. He’s motivated to kidnap the first person he finds in the apartment Redwing designated, without any surveillance. Unfortunately, that’s alter ego Peter Parker’s roommate, Harry Osborn! This does play nicely into Harry’s contemporary unraveling in the pages of Spider-Man. A great strength here is, both titles and their developments are handled by writer/ editor Lee.
Before the showdown in part one, we get that somewhat strangely-scripted but personal connection between Cap and Falcon. Cap’s practicing his shield-throwing. Steve kinda brags a little and makes a quirky quip about Sam’s reticence: “don’t want me to think you’re a racist, do you?” What Winghead’s trying to say, he spits out finally: he apologizes. He acknowledges how his moodiness could’ve rightfully put off The Falcon. They have a nice everyday guy sort of rapport, for all that. Cap’s approach does nothing to make Falcon open up about his new secret mission. This accounts for Falcon tackling the web-slinger alone.
We don’t have a flying Falcon yet. I know, that’s weird, right? He’s worn a jet pack prototype in the previous storyline, but the guy calling himself the Falcon’s still just a skilled acrobat with a bird of prey sidekick. He’s still pretty cool, but he doesn’t have enough in his wheelhouse to be a threat on the level of, say, The Vulture. He doesn’t fair very well against Spidey in either issue, though he gets in some solid licks. Pretty much a brawl here- and we know which one has spider-strength.
Spider-Man’s come around to free Falcon after using a spider-tracer homing device to trail him to Stone Face. He gets there before Cap, who is delayed more by the pouring rain. Cap had a hot tip from Sam’s nephew Jody, who feared for his uncle’s life (without knowing he’s Falcon). Falcon wakes up and doesn’t realize Spidey’s there on his side.
Another cool bit starts in part one, with Spider-Man, ever taunting, saying he’s waiting “for Number One” - that is, Cap- to come mix it up next. That’s salt in the raw spot for Sam. After he’s clanged his fist on Cap’s shield in part two, it occurs to Spidey to drop a compliment Falc’s way, regarding his genuine toughness and tenacity. This resolves Falcon’s identity crisis for now. He loves working with Cap and has picked up a lot from him, but the idea’s he’s a second fiddle is one he’s eager to exorcise. In a macho sort of way, he appreciates the affirmation. If the question had really taken hold, I don’t think this would’ve been enough to settle Sam’s anxiety. He’s already dealing with feelings of being a second-class citizen as a Black man in America. To his credit, despite working with Spidey some in the past, Captain America considers a fight with his ally to be his, too, and jumps in swinging. I probably would’ve tried breaking it up like a teacher- which is not what you paid your fifteen cents to see. I like this, too: Falcon does play that voice of reason, cooling Cap out and owning his mistake.
Because the hoodlums are common place, and we now have so much force aligned for the good guys, the actual team-up’s pretty brief. Colan’s known for his pacing issues (but more so for his photo-realism and terrific use of light and shadow), but Romita just stops drawing Spider-Man in the middle of the fight! He vanishes without further mention, and then, the story’s done.
Aside from his debut drawing Spider-Man in Daredevil #16, we get virtually no instances of Jazzy John Romita penciling the web-head outside of his solo title. Tie in the cool art with the decently-motivated characters, and you kick off 1971 with Spider-Man’s Best Team-Up that year. Stan Lee never wrote these three heroes crossing paths before or again, so that’s a bit of extra cache.
I admit, I picked this before a closer look told me it fell in 1971. I’m going to fudge a bit so we can feature this tale (which I thought fell in 1970, but May titles were on the stands no later than February). I feel like this Christmas, 1971, we get much more space devoted to a team-up rather than a dust-up, between heroes.
When I said Marvel heroes were more into confrontations than team-ups, look no further than this Stan Lee-penned two-parter!
I can’t say Gene Colan quite got down the dynamics of Spider-Man in action. Off-model costuming is sort of interesting, though? But I like his work on the principles here in Captain America and the Falcon #137 (cover date, May 1971) . His faces are quite expressive. That’s great, because personal motivations drive everything here. Cap’s melodramatic misunderstanding with Sharon Carter helps set off partner Falcon’s self-doubt. It’s this questioning of his self-worth- his desire to define himself outside his legendary team mate- that leads the Falcon “To Stalk A Spider-Man!”
Colan's Spider-Man fights like Daredevil. Cool panel though!By this point, he and Cap have been partners in over a year’s worth of stories. Sam Wilson, social worker by day, came back from Red Skull’s Exile island with his trained falcon, Redwing, and grounded the espionage/ super-hero action in a new venue: Harlem. There’s such a sincere effort by Marvel to connect with and tell stories of urban life; it goes deeper than copying hip patois of recent years. We’re not really in a period of Big New Ideas from Marvel, but this step was an innovation. Here we open the possibility for a much grittier story like Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, in spring, 1972.
Here, the ghetto setting spawns a racketeer called Stone Face. He looks like a stroke victim. He acquires some unique flavor by ripping off the new Afrocentric vibe to put on a show for a congressional representative who wants to build an office building. Stone Face wants to play on the fears of what outsiders don’t know; so, part of his intimidation bid is throwing on a dashiki and exploiting Black Power to get a sweet million for his civic center.
It’s not really a story about how inner city people feel or how their voice might be co-opted by opportunists. That’s a worthwhile tale. It might not have been translated so well, if that had been the direction chosen. A lot of critics say Stan Lee was scripting with one foot out the door by this point. I think Stan’s at least trying to depict some insight into real world imperfections. When you look at his work in context of the times, his real weakness isn’t in how he brings black faces to life. It’s his fainting women.
But Stan and Gene and, in #138, John Romita, do nail some superhero action!
IF you haven’t read these, or need a reminder, Sam sends Redwing to follow the passing Spider-Man, home, so he can catch up and confront him later. Why? Because the wall-crawler’s wanted for questioning following the accidental death of Captain George Stacy- his girlfriend’s father. This also precipitated (ahh!) a frozen attack by Ice Man, who clearly saw Spidey in the process of a kidnapping- of the late top cop’s daughter! They went on to have a more engaged team-up, against corrupt DA candidate Sam Bullit.
The character bits make this one more interesting. It’s maybe too predictable that Sam would eventually feel out-shined – really worse, taken for granted- by Steve. If you had to tell the story, hey, mix him up with Marvel’s emergent mascot. Sam can’t keep up with Spider-Man, but he doesn’t tell Cap about his new mission to prove his self-worth, risking Cap undermining him. That lends a certain ferocity to Sam’s efforts. He’s motivated to kidnap the first person he finds in the apartment Redwing designated, without any surveillance. Unfortunately, that’s alter ego Peter Parker’s roommate, Harry Osborn! This does play nicely into Harry’s contemporary unraveling in the pages of Spider-Man. A great strength here is, both titles and their developments are handled by writer/ editor Lee.
We don’t have a flying Falcon yet. I know, that’s weird, right? He’s worn a jet pack prototype in the previous storyline, but the guy calling himself the Falcon’s still just a skilled acrobat with a bird of prey sidekick. He’s still pretty cool, but he doesn’t have enough in his wheelhouse to be a threat on the level of, say, The Vulture. He doesn’t fair very well against Spidey in either issue, though he gets in some solid licks. Pretty much a brawl here- and we know which one has spider-strength.
Spider-Man’s come around to free Falcon after using a spider-tracer homing device to trail him to Stone Face. He gets there before Cap, who is delayed more by the pouring rain. Cap had a hot tip from Sam’s nephew Jody, who feared for his uncle’s life (without knowing he’s Falcon). Falcon wakes up and doesn’t realize Spidey’s there on his side.
Another cool bit starts in part one, with Spider-Man, ever taunting, saying he’s waiting “for Number One” - that is, Cap- to come mix it up next. That’s salt in the raw spot for Sam. After he’s clanged his fist on Cap’s shield in part two, it occurs to Spidey to drop a compliment Falc’s way, regarding his genuine toughness and tenacity. This resolves Falcon’s identity crisis for now. He loves working with Cap and has picked up a lot from him, but the idea’s he’s a second fiddle is one he’s eager to exorcise. In a macho sort of way, he appreciates the affirmation. If the question had really taken hold, I don’t think this would’ve been enough to settle Sam’s anxiety. He’s already dealing with feelings of being a second-class citizen as a Black man in America. To his credit, despite working with Spidey some in the past, Captain America considers a fight with his ally to be his, too, and jumps in swinging. I probably would’ve tried breaking it up like a teacher- which is not what you paid your fifteen cents to see. I like this, too: Falcon does play that voice of reason, cooling Cap out and owning his mistake.
Aside from his debut drawing Spider-Man in Daredevil #16, we get virtually no instances of Jazzy John Romita penciling the web-head outside of his solo title. Tie in the cool art with the decently-motivated characters, and you kick off 1971 with Spider-Man’s Best Team-Up that year. Stan Lee never wrote these three heroes crossing paths before or again, so that’s a bit of extra cache.
I admit, I picked this before a closer look told me it fell in 1971. I’m going to fudge a bit so we can feature this tale (which I thought fell in 1970, but May titles were on the stands no later than February). I feel like this Christmas, 1971, we get much more space devoted to a team-up rather than a dust-up, between heroes.
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