Featuring: Captain America
Release: July 7, 1966
Cover: October 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee authored the script
Jack Kirby pencilled the story
Frank Giacoia inked the drawings
Artie Simek lettered the panels
Irving Forbush sharpened the pencils
10 pages
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I consider it a rare privilege to serve the mighty Avengers, sir!
Bucky was Captain America’s partner in World War II, killed by Zemo, who was working for the Red Skull.
But he seems to be back somehow?
No, it’s just a photograph.
Jarvis is the butler to the Avengers. He’d previously worked for Tony Stark, but Stark has been loaning his mansion to the Avengers for some time, and has lent Jarvis with it.
We don’t yet know much about Jarvis. He was introduced to us in Tales of Suspense #59, but presumably had been serving the Avengers since early on. He probably had second thoughts about the job when Hawkeye tried to prove his merits to join the team by attacking their butler.
This issue is the most lines he’s had yet. He notes it’s a privilege to serve the Avengers.
He offers to draw a bath for Cap, but Captain America can shower by himself. He’s a big boy.
Captain America is attacked by his old foe, Agent Axis. Captain America suggests they have a history, but we’ve never seen it. Agent Axis is a new character. Perhaps we’ll learn his history one day.
He also sees Fang, the Warlord, who should also be dead. Fang was introduced in Captain America Comics #6, which we conveniently just read. In that comic, it was unclear if he was Chinese or Japanese. He was based in San Francisco’s Chinatown and had mostly stereotypically Chinese characteristics, but was working for the Japanese government.
Here, we learn he died in Hiroshima.
Other people who can’t be there keep popping up. Is Captain America going mad? He thought that pretty recently and he was just being manipulated that time.
AIM was defeated when their cave headquarters was destroyed, presumably by Hydra. SHIELD is investigating their collapsed HQ and finds a fatally wounded Count Royale. He notes the Adaptoid is free, and AIM may yet triumph.
The most lines Jarvis has had and it wasn’t even him! It was the Adaptoid. Now we have no idea whether Jarvis actually feels honored to serve the Avengers or not. The real Jarvis is tied up and probably questioning his life choices.
With Captain America defeated, the Adaptoid now assumes his form and steals his shield.
Behind this scenes, interesting drama was occurring around Captain America. One of his co-creators Joe Simon has sued Marvel to reclaim the rights to his creation. Jack Kirby, the other co-creator, testified on behalf of Marvel. Testimony he’d likely regret in the decades to come as he had his own conflicts with Marvel.
But at the time he testified that he and Simon created Captain America together in the Marvel offices in their function as employees of Marvel, and that he always considered the character to be properly the property of Marvel.
Tom Brevoort shares the full record of his written testimony here.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 53/100
Significance: ★★★★☆
The Adaptoid is a significant villain in my book!
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America vol. 2.
Characters:
- Captain America/Steve Rogers
- Jarvis
- Count Bornag Royale
- Adaptoid/Jarvis/Captain America
Hallucinations:
- Agent Axis
- Fang, the Warlord
- Bucky
- Sgt. Duffy
- Pietro/Quicksilver
- Wanda/Scarlet Witch
Story notes:
- Jarvis notes Stark took his coffee at the same hour as Cap.
- Cap notes they’ve hardly seen Stark, despite living in his mansion. Jarvis hasn’t either, but notes Stark has often taken long and secretive trips.
- Avengers secret ready room behind decoy pillar.
- Cap attacked in mansion by intruder.
- Captain America recognizes the foe as Agent Axis, but he had seen Agent Axis die 25 years earlier.
- Cap sees Fang the Warlord on the monitor; Fang had died in the bombing of Hiroshima.
- Iron Man left suit of armor in mansion.
- Bucky suggests Maneuver B.
- Captain America thinks he must surrender to the authorities if he is mad.
- Cap sees Sgt. Duffy.
- Cap notes Pietro and Wanda are still in Europe.
- Jarvis holds an unconscious Cap.
- SHIELD investigates smashed cave of AIM; editor’s note refers to Strange Tales #149.
- Count Royale barely alive.
- Royale mutters that the Adaptoid is free, and AIM may yet win.
- Adaptoid’s case looks like LMD case.
- “Jarvis” had slipped hypno-sedative into Cap’s coffee.
- Jarvis really the Adaptoid. Real Jarvis is unconscious.
- Adaptoid a “pantograph”
- Adaptoid turns into copy of Captain America and takes his shield.
| Previous | #587 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Tales of Suspense #82 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #83 |
| Tales of Suspense #82 | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #83 |
Ah, I had forgotten that Agent Axis hallucination when I read his appearances in the Invaders collections.
Roy Thomas obviously did not.
According to the Marvel Wiki, he was a Golden Age character… by the Distinguished Competition, included by Stan or Jack by mistake. Oops.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Agent_Axis_(New_Earth)
According to Marvel Wiki, Jack Kirby used Agent Axis because he had created him in the Golden Age… possibly forgetting that he had done so for DC.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Agent_Axis_(New_Earth)
(third time trying to post this comment)
Agent Axis was actually a Golden Age Kirby creation… but for DC, in a couple of Boy Commandos stories. He might have misremembered where he had used him/her.
Sorry, security. Your use of a link sent it to my “needs approval” list. I’d been getting too much spam. Your comments are all approved.
Thanks, I did not realize that about Agent Axis. I’d closely reviewed the character’s Marvel history on various sites to confirm no earlier appearances.