Falcon #4 (February 1984)

Ahh, finally! Finally we are going to finish looking at the 1980s Falcon miniseries. I had originally intended to review this miniseries in honor of Black History Month back in February and because Falcon was a character in the then-upcoming Captain America: Civil War. However, life and laziness got in the way, and it resulted in the mini taking a LOT longer to review than I thought.

For the sake of catching up, here are the links for the previous issue: Issue 1, Issue 2, Issue 3. I suggest you read those first before this one.

Caught up? Good! Then let's begin our look at Falcon #4!

The cover of the issue is one that I think is really nice. We see Electro grabbing a beaten Captain America, bragging and running his mouth about how tough he is and how no one con stop him. However, someone is tapping his shoulder, and it's the Falcon. It's a pretty neat cover, and it shows that basically Electro is going o have his happy little lightning-throwing butt handed to him. Let's get to the story itself!

"Resurrection"
Writer: Jim Owsley
Pencils: Mark Bright
Inks: Mike Gustovich
Colorist: Stephen Mellor
Letterer: Clem Robins
Editor: Larry Hama

The story begins with Electro on a rampage, blasting into the Legion's headquarters, demanding the President.

The Legion decide to be idiots here and get all "We ain't gonna tell you squat, man!". Surely you'd think that in the Marvel Universe, street gangs would be aware of who Electro is. I'm sure he was on the news in full costume at this point. He's one of Spider-Man's regular punching bags. Geez. Electro is none too happy with the Legion's mockery, and zaps one of the members to make his point.

"Do I LOOK like a cosplayer to you?"

Meanwhile, Tork and Captain America are getting ready to raid a garage, that was meant to be a trap for Falcon. Tork comes off as an arrogant moron in this moment. He seems to have NO IDEA who Captain America is, and acts like he's just some wannabe in a clown costume. This is CAPTAIN AMERICA, Tork! What's wrong with you?! Or maybe he's trying to come off as "too cool to hang around Cap". Either way, he's a moron here.

Tork and Cap manage to beat the ambush, simply because they're punks and he's Cap.

"Boys, I've fought tougher than you! Ever met Doughboy?!"

They move on. Falcon finally wakes up himself, and asks the gang members Electro attacked. Still angry at Sam over the march disaster, the Legion tells him nothing. Luckily, Redwing had tailed Electro, so Sam is still able to find him. Electro finds his way to the garage that Cap and Tork are rampaging through, needing a recharge. The battle with Falcon drained much of his electrical power supply, so he needs some juice. He rips a wire and absorbs the power.

"By the power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWERRRRRRR!"

Cap and Tork notice the lights dimming, and get surrounded by the Legion. Cap easily dispatches the Legion, to find one Legionnaire holding a gun to the President's head, the President tied up to a chair and a bag over his head. Hope that thing is at least thin enough to let him BREATHE through. Electro manages to get recharged, then melts his way through the garage roof, ambushes Cap and takes him out, and then turns towards the President. I can't help but wonder what Electro's plan here is. He wants the give the Falcon some payback for the last time they fought, but what does he want with the President? Huh. Anyway, Falcon flies in and wallops Electro real good.

"Here I come to save the dayyyyyy!"

Electro is furious, and zaps Tork, who has him at shotgun point. He then pursues Sam to a parking garage, where he continues trying to fry our avian-themed hero. Electro then stumbles on an idea, hearing the machinery of Falcon's wings. He realizes that Falcon's wings are mechanical (The flight harness he was using at the time was created by Black Panther for him), and he can control the electricity making the harness work. Fun fact, readers: Before he became the villainous Electro, Maxwell Dillon was an electrical engineer and a lineman. I actually liked this part, as it showed that Electro is smarter than he often gets credit for, and even though he is a villain, he still would find a use for his knowledge.

Thanks to this, Falcon is forced to ditch his wings, and use his acrobatic skills to evade Electro. Redwing distracts Electro by using his talons to slice his back. This allows Falcon to blast him with a water hose, shorting out his powers.

"Hey Electro! Have a drink on me!"

Despite his loss of powers, Electro still thinks he can take Sam on. Throughout their encounters, Electro has constantly called Falcon an "amateur". However, Sam fixes that perception.

"Hope you like my knuckle sandwich! Special family recipe!"

Sam carries off a tied-up Electro (presumably tied up with the fire hose), encountering a recovering Cap and Tork. Cap reveals he was up for a bit, and Tork is coming around. Sam wonders why Cap didn't help him, and Cap explains that he didn't think Sam needed his help. Thanks, Steve.

The three then walk into the room where Xeon, the Legion's leader, has the President at gunpoint. Sam convinces Cap to let him talk to him. Sam convinces Xeon to simply talk to the President and tell him about the issues of the streets. He removes the hood, revealing Ronald Reagan, who was President at the time.

"Son, The Viper will turn me into a snake man and I will fight Cap in a future comic. You don't scare me."

Don't laugh. That really happened. That comic exists. Captain America #344, look it up.

Xeon tells the President about some of his fellow Legionnaires and how they had to struggle in the streets of New York City, and how Falcon has helped them out. The cops burst in, and Reagan tells the cops he's in a conference. Thing is, Xeon may have been able to get an audience with the President, but he kidnapped him and put a gun to his head. Unless Reagan pardons him and the Legion, I think their future is going to be mighty bleak.

We then end this on Cap, Falcon, and Tork watching TV, Reagan saying he promises to sponsor sone new legislation presumably inspired by his talking with the Legion. Hopefully, he also plans to issue a pardon for them, too. Cap leaves, and Falcon gets a visitor: Rachel, the woman he saved in Issue 2.

"Thought I'd just be forgotten, huh?"

In a funny moment, Tork is left pouting as Sam and Rachel go out.

"Bah! Screw Sam and Steve! I still have my TV!"

Sam then invites Tork, and the three leave to probably have some laughs.

This issue wasn't bad. It tied up all the loose ends, and the end with Sam and Tork was funny.

I felt this mini-series had two big flaws. One was that the mini didn't have an over-arcing story. It just felt like three stories were slapped together and passed off as a mini. The other was a lack of a consistent artist for all four issues. Don't get me wrong, the mini did have some good artists on it, but the changing artists did hurt the mini's consistency. If you do find the Falcon trade, pick it up. It also includes the Falcon's origin story and some backup tales. It also has a really good cover by Frank Miller, believe it or not. Don't worry, it was from when he was still good.

You know, I had a thought. Spider-Man is in the MCU. So is Falcon. If Marvel Studios and Sony were able to make a deal to bring Spidey into the MCU, that means Marvel may also get to use his villains...including Electro. It could be possible to see Falcon and Electro duke it out in the MCU. They could use this mini-series as a basis for a Falcon solo film, with Electro as the main villain. I'd love to see that.