Captain America #178: Review

Oct 1974

Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema

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Story Name:

If The Falcon Should Fall--!

Review & Comments

Rating:

Captain America #178 Review by Peter Silvestro (March 15, 2010)

Part two of the ten-part Nomad arc. Conclusion of the two-part Lucifer story. First appearance of Roscoe. Final appearance of Rafe Michel.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America #178 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

As the Falcon is sitting quietly on a roof feeding Redwing, he is attacked by the twin Lucifers. The hero holds his own against his foes until some fallen electric wires separate the combatants. The Lucifers leave, warning Falcon they will return and finish the job. The tired Falcon makes his way to Leila’s house for comfort. Meanwhile, Steve Rogers is working out at the local gym, impressing Roscoe the attendant with his strength and agility. When the Lucifers report back to Morgan that they failed to kill the Falcon, the mob boss is outraged. Aries-Lucifer has a plan to defeat their enemy with items for the lab established by Lucifer on his previous visit to Earth. Rafe-Lucifer is angry that his other half is assuming the dominant role in the partnership but a sudden violent head pain quiets him down. Elsewhere, Steve and Sharon run into Peggy who is searching for Captain America with the help of her SHIELD co-worker Gabe Jones. Peggy has never seen Cap without his mask so Sharon introduces Steve as her boyfriend. Sharon takes the distraught Peggy home to lie down while Steve feels guilty. Elsewhere, baseball star Bob Russo has anointed himself the new Captain America but on his first adventure, an attempt to stop a fur robbery, he swings into a wall, breaking his arm; end of his superhero career. The Lucifers unleash three Ultra-Robots on an orgy of destruction in Harlem and the Falcon tries his best to battle three high-tech foes but he gets the worst of it. When he is shot down by an energy bolt, a watching Steve Rogers hurriedly dons a ski mask purchased at a nearby store and plows into the Lucifer twins. Surrounded by the deadly robots he uses his agility to maneuver them into running into each other and the machines are damaged beyond repair. Assaulted by the Lucifers, Steve seizes a trash can lid to use as a shield. Rafe-Lucifer, whose body has been burning out from the alien energy within, suddenly collapses and dies. Aries-Lucifer is startled to discover that, since the two halves of the villain are linked, his twin’s death means that he is dying too. As the two hosts perish, the original Lucifer is returned to his exile in limbo. Steve revives the unconscious Falcon, who is bitter that Steve quit as his partner but seems to want to hang around as his nursemaid; he angrily orders Steve to leave him alone.

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