Captain America #232: Review

Apr 1979

Jim Shooter, Don Perlin

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Story Name:

The Flame and the Fury

Review & Comments

Rating:

Captain America #232 Review by Peter Silvestro (December 21, 2013)

Review: An odd issue: first Cap dons a disguise to get info, then vanishes mysteriously from behind the Police Commissioner, then he dangles a snitch from a fire escape to extract information, finally he confronts a powerful gangster in his lair, unintimidated by his armed goons. Conclusion: Captain America is Batman! Seriously, why did Steve have to dig out his police uniform to visit the Commissioner, why not just climb in the window? The weirdest aspect has Cap musing on how right and wrong aren’t black and white anymore, everything is gray and hazy—in an issue where the villains are one-dimensional Nazi fanatics! The story is cool but the pieces don’t fall together if you think about it.

Comments: Part two of six. Gangster Morgan first appeared in #152 but hasn’t been seen in this title since issue #183. Steve Rogers joined the police in #139 and officially resigned in ish #180; his angry sergeant appears to be Sgt Muldoon, who was revealed to be the criminal Cowled Commander in #159—presumably he would have been kicked off the force? One of the letters on the letters page is by future comics writer Kurt Busiek.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America #232 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Hearing the explosion of Peggy Carter’s car, Captain America rushes back to find that Peggy, thrown clear by the blast, is still breathing. He then quickly takes down the National Force hitmen and turns them over to the police. But the two goons trigger self-destruct mechanisms and are burned to ash in front of the horrified cops. Needing info about the Neo-Nazi organization and unwilling to go to SHIELD, Cap heads to his apartment and dons his old police uniform and seeks out the Commissioner. All he learns is that the police are stymied because the Nazis have some politically powerful backer. Cap then heads to the streets where he menaces a junkie/snitch called Pigsticker, who refers him to the gang boss Morgan. Cap crashes into Morgan’s lair and confronts the crimelord about the villains, demanding to know where to find the Grand Director. Word comes that the National Force is marching on Harlem; as Cap heads to the scene, Morgan calls out his troops to fight off the Nazis with violence….

At his headquarters, the Grand Director begins to express doubts about the rightness of his cause but the hypnotic voice of his mysterious superior (spoiler alert: it’s Dr Faustus) puts those fears to rest….

Cap arrives on the streets in the midst of a riot but finds himself caught between Morgan’s gunmen and the National Force—one of whom is the brainwashed Sharon Carter….

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