Traitor Of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

For an issue of Captain America so fraught with drama and danger, #127 received rather lackluster treatment in the advertising department:

We can tell by the graphics that a lot of action is happening for both Cap and Iron Man--but when your promotional captions are far more distinctive and eye-catching than the material they're pushing, a thirteen-year-old (like myself, who was just getting his feet wet in reading comic books) doesn't have much to go on here aside from two blurry (if colorful) covers.

Which is one reason why I decided to finally flip through this issue decades after the fact, if only out of curiosity, to find out if this story was worth the... well, obviously not a lot of hype, judging by so tiny a house ad tucked away in the back of Fantastic Four #100, but enough hype to at least catch my eye back in mid-1970.

To bring you up to speed on the state of the book at the time, Stan Lee was still writing the character, who had already met the Falcon but not yet formalized his partnership with him; instead, Cap was still tight with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury, though keeping his lady love, SHIELD agent Sharon Carter, at arm's length. As for Lee, it had been evident that he was working to try to find some direction for Cap in his solo series, other than having the Avengers become the character's only recourse in that respect. But at this point in time, Fury and SHIELD still have a noticeable presence in the book; in fact, for the purposes of this story, you might wonder why Fury isn't getting second billing on the masthead.



And speaking of Fury, we find him in the middle of testing a new "protecto-suit" created by one of his top engineers--and guess who he's tapped to help him put it through its paces?

It's clear from this scene and others that artist Gene Colan definitely has his own ideas on how female SHIELD agents should be portrayed. Sharon doesn't really play a significant part in this story until its closing scenes, but Colan sees that she strikes a conspicuous sultry pose in practically all of her appearances prior to then. As for why Cap has distanced himself from her, he finds himself recalling how the life he's lived has brought profound loss in regard to those closest to him, from his partner Bucky to a French underground fighter he fell in love with but who mysteriously disappeared--which makes him wary of caring so deeply for another and beginning the cycle all over again.

Meanwhile, Fury wastes no time in giving the go-ahead for making the protecto-suits standard issue for SHIELD agents--but their first real testing in the field leads to a disastrous and near-fatal outcome.

Chances are you've already spotted the serpent in this nest--and if so, you must be wondering how Fury could have so quickly turned his focus on Cap, to the exclusion of all others. And things only go downhill from here in this investigation.

Later, though, in a nice guest appearance, Joe Robertson of the Daily Bugle has come calling on Fury to verify uncomfortable rumors he's heard of the startling step that Fury has already decided to take: revoking Cap's security clearance with SHIELD, news that Cap himself is shocked to learn of second hand.

Good grief, Sharon--what has Fury, Dum Dum, or Robertson done to rate your sultry look?

No, I don't know why Fury wouldn't at the very least restrict the clearance of those others who knew of the protecto-suits, if only as a precaution. Why single out Cap in the investigation, simply because he's the only person who never underwent vetting by SHIELD?

At any rate, because Cap is Cap, Fury feels he has to take extreme steps in testing his loyalty.

Fury's request to Stark comes at a time when Stark was still manufacturing munitions to fulfill government contracts and SHIELD requisitions, which helps to explain why he accommodates Fury without any significant objection; but as Cap's fellow Avenger, how surprising it is that Stark wouldn't have insisted that Fury let Iron Man face Cap, rather than a killing machine that will go all-out to destroy its target. (At least that's the assumption--why else create an "engine of destruction" without unleashing it?) Iron Man would be able to make a reasonable determination as to whether the man he faced off against was an impostor--and he could, and would, do what he felt he had to without endangering Cap's life.

Instead, Fury rolls the dice--that is, until Lee throws a twist in that's equally baffling.

Sharon, sheesh--knock it off with the "Whattaya say, big boy?" stance!

So now it seems the objective is for Cap to compete against our engine of destruction in a testing environment? From the look of things, Cap is busy enough trying to stay alive from the onslaught of SHIELD's version of the Danger Room; in fact, according to Fury when all is said and done, the android doesn't even factor into Fury's decision to clear Cap. But it looks like the android will have his day, after all.

Yet there's still a traitor to be uncovered--and fortunately, there's at least one agent of SHIELD who has her eye on the ball.

It seems that Colan and Lee were of two different schools of thought as to how this story played out. By the look of his panels, Colan appeared to have this in mind:

• Fury unleashes the android, fully intent on the android attacking Cap as planned;
• In escaping the android's charge, Cap falls into a SHIELD trap, but manages to cripple the mechanism;
• In response, Fury renews the android's attack against Cap, to Sharon's objections;
• Lee compensates for but cannot otherwise cover the tracks of Colan's portrayal of Fury, who hangs back with the control unit and continues the attack--rather than dropping the thing and rushing in to help Cap against an "out of control" android;
• Meanwhile, Sharon picks up on Ryder's activities and discovers that he's the traitor, capturing him and bringing him out into the main area just in time;
• Fury, surprised by Sharon's revelation of the real culprit, deactivates the android; Cap, on the other hand, feels betrayed, and leaves, possibly for good.

Regrettably, we don't get to see the egg on Fury's face whenever it occurs to him that Dr. Ryder was vetted by SHIELD security. You have some 'splainin' to do, Colonel.

Captain America #127 Script: Stan Lee Pencils: Gene Colan Inks: Wally Wood Letterer: Artie Simek