Featuring: Captain America
Release: September 8, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
A Stan Lee Jack Kirby premium presentation
Inimitable inking by: Frank Giacoia
Laborious lettering by: Sam Rosen
10 pages
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| Tales of Suspense #85 | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #86 |
Indeed, eet shall be for zee last time, mon ami…! For none may strike Batroc in such a manner… wizout paying zee price!
In Tales of Suspense #76, Captain America defeated Batroc, but a SHIELD agent on assignment succumbed to poison and was hospitalized. We didn’t learn her name. She reminded Cap of a woman he’d known in World War II, a woman whose name we also didn’t learn.
Now that same agent again finds herself in danger, and it’s again from Batroc.
But now Batroc has allied with Hydra. We just saw Hydra’s return in Nick Fury’s series. And saved this story until we’d read those. This issue actually comes out two months after that Nick Fury story. We read the first half of this issue already, as we needed Iron Man to resolve his latest Mandarin conflict to make space for an Avengers meeting. A meeting which needed to be before this Captain America story.
Batroc wants revenge for his defeat. A common villain motivation. His alliance with Hydra is based on an assurance he can prove himself against Captain America alone.
When Hydra breaks this trust and interferes in his fight, he teams up with Captain America against Hydra. He’s big on honor.
Most of this issue is a fight sequence, but it’s a pretty good one. Here’s a highlight.
Stan claims, “The wise man knoweth when to speak…”
I do not for a second believe that phrase well describes Stan Lee.
Batroc continues to speak with many Frenchisms. Quel dommage, for example.
We still don’t learn the SHIELD agent’s name.
Mails of Suspense.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 56/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Captain America
- Batroc
- Female SHIELD agent
Story notes:
- Hydra behind trap. Batroc allied with them on condition he could battle Captain America alone.
- Batroc angry when Hydra interferes. He considers them men without honor. Batroc allies with Cap to rescue the woman.
- Woman seems happy to be reunited with Cap.
| Previous | #615 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #150 | Reading order | Strange Tales #151 |
| Tales of Suspense #85 | Tales of Suspense | Tales of Suspense #86 |
I love Batroc; his sense of honor makes him one of my favorite Cap villains. It’s interesting, though, that in his first appearance, he worked for “THEM,” whereas now he works for Hydra…
This comic seems to imply that working for Hydra was a new arrangement, and obviously a pretty fragile one.
It’s not clear he worked for Them in his first arc. He was hired by a shadowy organization whose name was not given. The following issue, Captain America was attacked by Them. One can infer that Them was that shadowy organization, but it’s not explicit or clear.