Captain America and the Falcon: A hot bromance

In writer Stan Lee’s take on the characters, did the Marvel Comics heroes Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Sam Wilson (the Falcon) start out as lovers as well as crimefighting partners? Read this guaranteed controversial analysis of their relationship and judge for yourself. One thing’s for sure though: Their relationship didn’t last long when Steve’s desire for “a normal home life” quickly drove a wedge between them and a lustful vixen then set her sights on Sam, and Steve turned out to have a stalker of his own.
And finally, Steve’s gay youth was revealed.

When Steve Rogers was transformed into Captain America during the second world war, he became the perfect physical specimen and was, of course, attracting the attention of women. But he took on a boy sidekick, Bucky Barnes, who unfortunately died at the end of the war while Steve was left in frozen hibernation until awoken in modern times in Avengers #4 in 1963.

While trying to find his place in this brave new world, Steve attempted to replace Bucky with the eager superhero wannabee Rick Jones, but they parted ways in Avengers #17 after having lived together for a while when Steve seemed unwilling to let Rick become his crimefighting partner.

Then Steve Rogers, as Captain America, started going on missions for the espionage organization S.H.I.E.L.D. in the pages of Tales Of Suspense and fell in love with their Agent 13, Sharon Carter. However, Steve’s old-fashioned attitude towards women meant that they weren’t together because she wouldn’t quit her position at S.H.I.E.L.D. and just let Steve provide for her. And then Steve got back together with Rick Jones in Captain America #110 in 1969.

What Rick didn’t know was that when the villain the Red Skull transported Steve Rogers to a tropical island in Captain America #117, the disguised Steve met the handsome Sam from Harlem whom he trained to become the heroic Falcon and, as hinted at in Captain America #118, had an affair with, cheating on Rick whom Cap seemed to have forgotten all about.

And when Steve returned to New York in Captain America #120 after his fling with Sam, he had indeed forgotten all about Rick and could only think about Sharon Carter. In Captain America #121 he did look at pictures of both Sharon and Rick and felt “LOST and “HELPLESS,” though, but Rick was now gone from his life, realizing that Steve would never care about him as deeply as he had for Bucky.

A dream come true for Sam Wilson

Following his failed relationships with Sharon Carter and Rick Jones, the lonely Steve Rogers went on a journey of self-discovery through America after a brief visit with the Falcon in Captain America #126 in 1970. In Captain America #131 and 132, he was fooled by the villain Modok into believing that his old partner Bucky Barnes was still alive. When the news of Bucky’s return was broadcast on TV, the Falcon’s romantic hopes of getting back together with Cap seemed crushed. “All this time I kinda hoped that Cap ‘n ME would team up some day, but, ain’t much chance of THAT happenin’ now – not with BUCKY on the scene again,” he bemoaned. “But MAN – wouldn’t it have been SOMETHIN’ if only CAP – Awww, NUTS! What’s the use’a DREAMIN’?”

However, Bucky was revealed to just be a robot built with the intention to destroy Captain America, but it was programmed with the original Bucky’s personality and couldn’t bring itself to fulfill its programming when remembering Cap’s kindness, courage and loyalty, and so it self-destructed, leaving Steve Rogers available again.

And so, some dreams do come true. The Falcon’s certainly did, because Steve Rogers’ journey of self-discovery ended in Captain America #133 with him having returned to New York and looking up his “one-time friend and ally,” the Falcon in Harlem and revealing his secret identity to him. “Ever since that day we MET – and I helped you become the FALCON – we’ve had a lot in COMMON,” Steve said. “I think I can GUESS what you’re GETTING at, Steve,” Sam replied. “We’ve both been LONERS,” Steve continued before getting interrupted by a villain which the Falcon helped him defeat, and then Steve declared; “CAPTAIN AMERICA has finally found – a PARTNER!”

The following issue, in 1971, Cap’s series was retitled Captain America And The Falcon, and the Falcon’s secret identity was revealed as socialworker Sam Wilson, who had a sister and a teenage nephew. In #135, Captain America introduced his new partner to his secret agent friend, Nick Fury, who expected to meet someone “cute ‘n cuddly, with big blue EYES” like Bucky and Rick Jones, but seemed perfectly fine with meeting the Falcon instead. “THIS one’s savage and sullen, with bulging BICEPS,” Cap told Fury before presenting his “new PARTNER.”

Enter: Sharon Carter

Nick Fury had to intercede between the Falcon and Cap’s ex-girlfriend Sharon Carter when Cap fell into a bottomless pit in #135. Sharon refused to believe Steve was dead and was about to throw herself into the pit after him, when the Falcon claimed the right to go to Steve’s rescue as Cap’s partner.

After having been rescued by the Falcon, Captain America felt hurt by Sharon not sticking around to welcome him back in Captain America #137. When he tried to talk to the Falcon about his love for Sharon, Sam took offense and decided that maybe it was time for him to make it on his own again. Their partnership seeming doomed so soon, Cap decided to apologize to Sam and suggest they split a pizza, but Sam had already made other plans.

When Cap and the Falcon hooked back up at the end of the issue, it turned into a short reunion when Cap asked Sam, “What’s WRONG?” and Sam answered, “NOTHING! We’re partners – that’s ENOUGH. Don’t try to be my CHAPLAIN, too!”

“Okay – if that’s how you WANT it! I’ll see you later,” Cap replied and got a, “Yeah – I got THINGS to do” right back.

By now, it seemed quite evident that Steve having professed to not just still being in love with Sharon but also suggesting that she’s “the ONE” had doomed his relationship with Sam already. Apparently, Sam, who admitted to having been in love “LOTS’A times” before, had felt more seriously about Steve than Steve had felt about him, like with Cap’s partner Rick before him.

In Captain America #138, Steve resigned himself to his new status quo with Sam, thinking, “He may be my partner in CRIMEFIGHTING – but he STILL has to be his own MAN,” before concluding that Sharon “means MORE to me than anything ELSE!” and even suggesting that he would give up his “empty life as – CAPTAIN AMERICA” for “the chance of a normal HOME LIFE”!

While the reader wondered if the Comics Code Authority had intervened to cause this sudden straight turn in Steve’s romantic life, Captain America went to the rescue of the kidnapped Falcon, making him too accept their now strictly crimefighting partnership. “I’m never KNOCKIN’ our team-up again,” the Falcon said and concluded: “We’re GOOD, hear?”

Enter: Leila

In #139, Captain America took a job as a rookie cop with a beat in New York’s uptown area in his civilian identity as Steve Rogers because he wanted “a HOME – a JOB – a GIRL to share things with,” but when he was alone in bed, it was Sam he thought of.

However, Sam Wilson had attracted the attention of a woman named Leila who just waltzed into his office out of the blue and called him a “big, strappin’ brother” before telling him he was wasting his time as a social worker and should be fighting for the black people’s cause instead. Apparently, Sam was turned on by being told off, saying he’d be dreaming about her at night.

But before nightfall Sam got kidnapped by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. who basically forced him to assure Sharon of Cap’s feelings for her. What, she was worried about the competition?

Meanwhile, Steve Rogers caused quite the stir among his new police colleagues in the locker room when showing off his perfect physique. His new sergeant even called him a “pretty boy,” which he had also been called when he tried his hand at boxing in Avengers #23 and would also be called by a gangster in Captain America #192.

In Captain America And The Falcon #141, Steve Rogers met Leila who was stalking Sam outside his office and they immediately felt threatened by each other for Sam’s affections with Steve worrying: “A gal like THAT will do everything she CAN to turn him AGAINST me.”

Then Steve went off to smooch with Sharon, so it was okay for him to have a woman on the side, but not for Sam?

With issue 142, Stan Lee handed the writing chores over to Gary Friedrich, who had previously taken over for him on the Hulk as well, and it was now up to Gary to handle the romantic entanglements set up by Stan. And immediately he had Captain America and Sharon making up and kissing demonstratively in front of the Falcon while Leila was busy using black neighborhood prejudices against whites to stir up trouble for Steve Rogers.

Kept apart by women

In issue #143, Sharon was tied up with work, so the Falcon suggested to Steve, “what say you and I split for my PAD?” after which Steve took so long kissing Sharon goodbye that the Falcon presented him with an ultimatum: “Come ON, partner! It’s me or the CHICK – take your PICK!”

Steve replied that, “it’s no CONTEST – except that the lady’s BUSY… so I’ll have to settle for YOU,” after which he expressed disappointment that he thought that the Falcon was “going to shower and SACK OUT,” but knowing that he is only Steve’s second choice and that Steve was off to work anyway, the Falcon preferred to spend some time as Sam Wilson, social worker instead.

And approaching his office, Sam found his stalker Leila waiting for him and fell easy prey to her recruitment drive for a Black People’s Militia meeting at which he was attacked as a traitor to his own kind. Leila tried to convince the other meeting attendants that the “Uncle Tom” Sam would be more valuable as a convert because of his influence with “the enemy” and thereby saved his life. But then, Sam was angry with her for setting him up like that and told her off, while she was angry that he wasn’t susceptible to her vile charms and left him wondering: “She seems to LOATHE everything I STAND for – yet she can’t stay AWAY from me!”

Together with Captain America, Sam put an end to the militia, and sure enough, then Leila showed up at his office, and then it was Captain America’s turn to witness his partner kiss a woman. “Sam – with the MILITANT GIRL!” Cap lamented. “Could it be that I’m losing yet ANOTHER partner! There’ve been so MANY – it has to be MY fault that it never WORKS!”

Splitting up

Cap, who thought he could have both Sharon and Sam, had nightmares about Sam being with Leila in Captain America And The Falcon #144, and with good reason: Leila had convinced Sam that he had to do his part for the Black Power movement, and so Sam decided to leave Captain America and become a solo hero fighting as a champion to black people first and foremost.

By prioritizing Sharon, Steve had driven Sam into the arms of another. “I’ve definitely LOST another PARTNER… The LAST partner I’ll ever lose!” Cap swore. “Never again will I allow myself to be part of a TEAM!”

Following his break-up with the Falcon, Captain America went on a mission with the espionage organization S.H.I.E.L.D.’s new Femme Force division which was headed up by Cap’s girlfriend, Agent 13 (Sharon Carter). Valerie, the girlfriend of S.H.I.E.L.D, leader Nick Fury was also in the Femme Force as Agent 14 and didn’t just try to usurp Sharon’s leadership in Captain America #145, but also made an obvious play for her boyfriend, Cap himself, who had to tell Sharon: “Now don’t go pulling a JEALOUS NUMBER on me! It doesn’t BECOME you!”

Meanwhile, Sam Wilson awoke from a nightmare in which “Cap was in TROUBLE! He NEEDED me!” just as he got a call from Nick Fury asking him to come to the aid of Captain America. “I’ve sworn OFF as Cap’s partner… Yet I can’t say NO if he’s in a JAM!” was Sam’s immediate thought before having second thoughts: “Or CAN’T I?! Why should I worry about him and SHIELD… when I could fight crime right here in HARLEM 24 hours a day… and STILL not make a dent in it?”

And so, the following issue, the Falcon heard Fury out, but refused to go help Cap out. “My PEOPLE need me a lot more than Shield or Cap,” he decided.

Unbeknownst to Nick Fury and the Falcon, while they were talking, Steve was having a romantic dinner with Nick’s girlfriend Valerie. Sharon was in the hospital and Steve did not reject Val’s advances. Apparently, when you’re as gorgeous as Steve, there is no such thing as settling for just one person despite the dream of “a normal home life” when you can have both that and the rest of them on the side.

Another friendship ruined by a woman

In Captain America #147, the Falcon had changed his mind once again and went to aid Captain America in a battle against the forces of Hydra. “I couldn’t let Cap DOWN,” he said, and by the end of their team-up – and writer Gary Friedrich’s run – in Captain America #148, Steve called the Falcon “partner” once again. The Falcon left thinking: “It was outtasite WORKIN’ with Cap again… But my job’s in the GHETTO… helpin’ MY people! Still, if Cap wants to give me some HELP now and then…”

  

Writer Gerry Conway took over the series with #149 and had Nick Fury excluding Captain America from S.H.I.E.L.D. while Leila once again stalked Sam at his office only to get into an argument with him. “Seems I’ve made a MISTAKE about you, Sam Wilson,” she said before running off. “I used to think you were a MAN!”

The soap continued in #150 where Val told Sharon that she only made a play for Cap because she was mad at Nick Fury, but that it backfired because now she was in love with both Nick and Steve, and of course Sharon immediately ran to Steve with this information, saying she felt sorry for Val. Then Steve and Sharon had sex.

In #151, Leila took to flirting with the Falcon, not knowing that the Falcon’s secret identity was her previous stalking victim, Sam. And the Falcon realized that Leila’s idea of “flirting” was insulting her “victim” when she called him a “yellowback” and said he wasn’t her type, and then irrationally expecting her victim to fall for that kind of manipulation by trying to prove her wrong rather than simply write her off as psycho bitch from hell like any sane man would.

Gerry Conway ended his brief run as Captain America writer by revealing in #152 that Nick Fury had excluded Cap from S.H.I.E.L.D. because “the man was makin’ time with my lady… and that’s somethin’ I just won’t TAKE.” Val tried to explain to Nick that she only wanted to make him jealous, but Nick wouldn’t listen, meaning that a woman had now managed to also ruin Steve Rogers’ only other male friendship besides Sam.

Things turned creepy

When Steve Englehart settled in for a long run as Captain America writer starting with #153, things got downright creepy. Nick and Cap got into a fight, with Nick admitting that he was jealous of Captain America because Cap was “all BLOND, BLUE-EYED – and YOUNG!” while he himself had gotten gray. Then Val professed to love only Nick before Sharon quit S.H.I.E.L.D. to be with Steve. And Sam Wilson now totally approved of Steve and Sharon’s relationship, concluding that “LOVE’s what it’s all about! PEOPLE lovin’ PEOPLE.”

Leila was through with Sam Wilson, social worker, in #154, but was now interested in the Falcon which she told Sam in #157, not realizing he was secretly the Falcon.

Meanwhile, the Captain America and Bucky of the 1950s attacked Steve at a beach in #155. They stripped him of his swimming trunks so the other Steve could wear them himself to assume his identity. Sharon wasn’t fooled, however, and the Falcon came to the rescue, but in #158, Cap and the Falcon’s relationship was revealed as now suffering from gay anxiety when they refrained from showing physical contact, “for they are MEN, and more would EMBARRASS.” So much for "PEOPLE lovin' PEOPLE!"

Leila switched to stalking the Falcon instead of Sam Wilson in #159, and by #160 the Falcon strangely entered into a relationship with the crazy woman while keeping from her that he was really Sam Wilson. And this wasn’t the only deceit going on: When Stan Lee first introduced Sharon Carter in Tales of Suspense #75 in 1966, it was revealed to the readers but not Steve Rogers that Sharon Carter was the sister of Cap’s female wartime love, Peggy Carter.

Seven years later in 1973 Steve Englehart added in Captain America #162 that Sharon Carter had only joined S.H.I.E.L.D. to stalk her sister’s ex-lover Captain America and had fallen in love with him, too. She only refused his proposals out of guilty feelings for her sister, who still loved Cap and now started stalking him, too.

Happy endings

The morale of the Captain America series at this point seemed to be that “if you want a man bad enough, just stalk him.” It worked for Leila and it worked for Sharon: They got their men.

But when push came to shove, Steve wasn’t ready to give up his life as Captain America for “a normal home life” with Sharon after all, which she was disappointed about in Captain America #182. After all, she had retired from S.H.I.E.L.D.. Now that she had succeeded at scoring Captain America, she apparently saw no other reason to stay with that agency, being from a wealthy family and all. She expressed her anger to Steve for continuing on as Captain America and left him in issue #184.

In issue #184, Leila had also learned that the Falcon was really her ex-boyfriend Sam Wilson, but she seemed fine with that. And in issue #179, Steve had worked up the nerve to tell Peggy that their past love couldn’t exist in this day and age, so by issue #184, Peggy had settled for her S.H.I.E.L.D. agent colleague Gabe Jones.

Steve Englehart left as writer of Captain America with #186 and then various writers filled in on the series with Tony Isabella having both Captain America and the Falcon being immune to the sexy female Nightshade’s power to control males in #190. So they were gay, but in a straight-acting way, after all? And Cap even made friends again with Nick Fury in #191.

With Captain America and the Falcon #193, Jack Kirby became both writer and artist of the series and downplayed the soap opera aspect. He kept an old-fashioned and mundane status quo with Cap and the Falcon as straight buddies who could take a bath in the presence of the other (as seen in #201) while each having their own girlfriend. When his run was over, both the Falcon and Sharon Carter were written out of the book and the series was titled simply “Captain America” again beginning with issue #223 in 1978.

Steve’s gay past revealed

In Captain America #225, writer Steve Gerber presented readers with the story of who Steve Rogers was before being transformed into Captain America. It turned out that Steve shared a common background with a lot of gay men - with a stern father, who did not understand his sensitive son, and a protective mother.

Steve’s father just wanted to see his sons grow “straight,” it said in a caption, and then the father was seen complaining about Steve to the mother: “It isn’t NORMAL! He has no friends, no interest in girls or sports! He spends all his time LOCKED UP in there with his paints and his books!”

Steve then left home for Manhattan, New York, and became a freshman developing his artistic talents and was pictured hanging out at cafés with a male friend. Only the death of his brother Mike in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor spurred Steve on to try and enlist in the army and then being drafted for the experiment that turned him into Captain America.

Of course, this background information didn’t sit well with artist John Byrne, who was known for making homophobic comments in interviews with publications about comics, so when him and writer Roger Stern began a run as the creative team on Captain America with issue #247 in 1980, the first thing they did was saying Steve Roger’s history was nothing but false memories implanted in him by the army. In reality he had been orphaned in his teens while growing up in Manhattan and wanting to go art school but being unable to afford it.

Then in 1981, along came writer J.M. DeMatteis and in Captain America #261, Steve Rogers apparently had sex with his ex, Sam Wilson a.k.a. the Falcon, following a drunken binge. Certainly, Sam spent the night at Steve’s apartment and the two of them were pictured half-naked in Steve’s bedroom the morning after.

When Captain America became a major motion picture in 2011, none of the gay sub-text of the comic book series was used, but the gayness of Captain America was certainly picked up on by the porn industry. When the movie Captain America: A Gay XXX Parody starring Alex Mecum as Cap appeared in 2016 the Falcon wasn’t in it, but Nick Fury and the Winter Soldier (Bucky) sure were.