Some supervillains start small and only later become major players. But it’s surprisingly rare to see a supervillain start off as a henchman.
Or in this case, a henchwoman.
Captain America #192 (1975)
by Marv Wolfman & Frank Robbins
cover by John Romita
This is the last issue on the series before Jack Kirby takes over both writing and artwork.
Kirby’s run is somewhat infamous among Captain America fans for being a step back after the revolutionary Steve Englehart run, where Cap evolved into a more complex character that dealt with serious issues. But that’s not entirely right.
The Englehart run ended with #186 and was followed by very random creative teams, including several issues with Frank Robbins artwork.
Robbins started off doing comic strip in the 30s and was a VERY important Batman artist in the 60s and 70s. At Marvel, he’s mostly known as the main artist for the Invaders.
No disrespect for the man, but I find his 70s work at Marvel to be absolutely atrocious.
We begin in Los Angeles of all places, where Steve Rogers needs to catch a plane for New York.
First of all: the fact that SHIELD’s badge is a literal shield is a bit too silly.
Second: it might be because Robbins worked on Invaders, which was set in WWII, but is it just me or this guy is totally Hitler?
You just have to love how easy it is for superheroes to just stumble on supervillain plots.
Steve isn’t investigating anything, he’s just looking for the first flight available… and he JUST HAPPENS to get on a plane full of gangsters!!!
And here she is. The henchwoman in a sexy costume who plays almost no role in this story is eventually going to be a major supervillain!!!
According to legend (I couldn’t find a reliable source), Karla was supposed to be naked in that scene and be covered by the ammo and the conveniently placed gun holster; only the colorist’s intervention saved the scene from the Comics Code wrath.
It could’ve been worse.
(the stupid things I do for these reviews…)
Her role is to get the weapons off these criminals, so that everyone on the plane is unarmed. But of course Steve Rogers is *spoiler alert* Captain America, so he’s already unarmed.
And then she has no role for practically the rest of the story!!!
So we’re stuck with Captain America stuck on a plane with gangster cosplayers.
Another thing the Kirby run will be criticized for is getting the book in a sillier direction than the serious Englehart run. And while I’m not the biggest fan of Kirby’s stories, it’s a bit unjustified when THIS was in the previous issue.
The reason why there are so many criminals on this plane is that it belongs to evil psychiatrist Doctor Faustus, one of Cap’s enemies.
I did consider doing his first appearance as well, but he’s not that notable enough outside of Captain America. Still an interesting villain, though.
And his plan is suitably bonkers: he wants to use these gangsters to pillage Manhattan!!!
Which sounds silly, but he has acquired lots and lots of Stark weapons.
What the heck, Tony!?
So Captain America changes into costume in the bathroom, and OH GOD THE ARTWORK!!!
I don’t know if this is the worst drawn comic I’ve ever reviewed, but this is certainly one of the ugliest fight scenes I’ve ever seen.
I can’t imagine why Heels never joined the Masters of Evil.
So let me get this straight. Faustus has some Stark guns that are SO deadly he plans to threaten all of Manhattan with them… and not ONE of his henchmen fires on Captain America!?
Faustus… you’re the psychiatrist, so why don’t you explain to me why this isn’t COMPLETELY NUTS!? Instead he’s living this in the hands of the lame version of the Enforcers.
I typically don’t go the “why doesn’t the bad guy just shoot the hero!?” route, but COME ON!!!
Faustus has NO REASON for not wanting Captain America dead.
So naturally Captain America frees himself by… doing WTF this is supposed to be… and tackles Faustus.
Story’s over, right? Except… Captain America ACCIDENTALLY SHOT HIMSELF.
So Faustus is able to issue his threat to Manhattan BEFORE THE PLAN HAS LANDED.
But this gives Cap the time to recover, and he fights back Faustus before his “well modulated and pitched” voice destroys the brains of the New Yorkers.
And in case you’re wondering: no, Faustus doesn’t have any power or gimmick… he’s jus an evil psychologist.
But then one of the henchmen, trying to shoot Captain America, ends up cracking the plane’s window.
Are we SURE this is actually Captain America and not a poorly designed Life Model Decoy!?
And so we end with Faustus FALLING OUT OF THE PLANE…
…and Captain America landing the plane.
I know 70s New York had some weird stuff going on, but I’m half convinced that he landed the plane in Las Vegas.
Cap’s chronology after this is insane.
Avengers #141 to 149, as well as Captain America Annual #3, are set between this and the next issue. That’s TEN WHOLE STORIES between #192 and #193!
So what happened to the henchwoman who completely disappeared at the beginning?
According to her next appearance, she hid in the overhead compartment!!!
Who would’ve thought that the throwaway fanservice henchwoman would eventually become one of the coolest Marvel villains!?
Historical significance: 2/10
It’s the technical first appearance of Moonstone, but I bet even she would prefer we’d forget this.
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
