This story finds Captain America going against AIM, finally reconnecting with Sharon Carter while constantly patronizing her, and meeting MODOK for the first time.
Issue #92 opens as all great comics epics do… at the airport, where our hero bemoans his mess of a life.
Isn’t that little girl creepy? Who’s she waving at? STOP STARING AT ME!
Like all kids these days, Cap can’t bother to read the newspaper he bought, but instead chats with his pals on his phone. (And who stays in the airport after they return home?)
Perhaps Cap is a little too cheerful, his fellow Avengers suspect.
It’s interesting that Cap has a reputation for depressive periods among the other Avengers. (Well, except for Hercules, but he’s new. And not very sensitive.)
But in the next few panels, we see that Cap’s friends were right to be concerned, and he waxes melancholic about his identity crisis and the absence of a private life outside of being Captain America—both familiar theme from recent issues—but also the fact that there is no one special is his life, neither friend nor lover.
Then he remembers… her! Whatshername!
Unbeknownst to Cap, while he’s getting a cab, a killer android designed and sent by AIM has attacked Nick Fury. After Cap subdues it and it dissolves from their eyes (eww), Nick gives him some surprise news about ol’ Whatshername, as well as the fact that Cap may have put her in danger with his little act of derring-do.
So in issue #93, Cap goes searching for her… in an awesome underwater suit that only Jack Kirby could draw.
Once Cap infiltrates AIM’s underwater base, he’s captured and attached magnetically to a wall—but on the bright side, he is also reunited with Sharon…
…who shows just how crafty a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent she is, while giving ol’ Cap a bit of a tease.
But Cap plays along, and finds that even Sharon’s embrace was strategically designed to free him.
And how does he thank her? By calling her “little lady,” which actually isn’t the worst thing he calls her in this issue. For instance…
Cap wants to get her out and to safety, but it turns out he’s not the only one dedicated to the mission… while he’s more concerned about losing her yet again. (He is, after all, very lonely, and often has to eat by himself.)
While they’re concerned about the mysterious MODOK—luckily, the M in MODOK doesn’t stand for mysterious, or else that would have been redundant—the agents of AIM are also on the move, and Cap nobly chooses to draw their fire for Sharon.
Again with “girl”… but he did take an unknown blast for her, so maybe we can call this one even. (Although we really shouldn’t have to.)
They do share a tender moment, though…
…that unfortunately allows the AIM agents to capture her and transport her to a mystery location, and then draw a gun on the paralyzed Captain America.
As issue #94 opens, Cap is once again facing the business end of an AIM agent’s gun, but is saved when another AIM agent reminds the first one that only MODOK gives orders to execute. A compliant lot, these AIM agents… or maybe not, because they start to express their true feelings about taking orders from MODOK, a being they created. Labor unrest in the ranks of AIM!
And they know just who can stand up to MODOK—so they transport Cap to the same place they sent Sharon, and the process reverses Cap’s paralysis just in time to meet… MODOK!
“His brain is his weapon”… she says that like it’s a bad thing!
For most of the rest of the issue, MODOK fires various mind beams at Cap while the AIM agents plan their revolt and escape. Soon, the AIMmers fire over Cap’s head at MODOK, taking him of the picture, and then turn on Cap, who is not so easily defeated—especially with Sharon watching his back.
Say it with me: “How does he thank her?”
Exactly. (Sigh.)
As Cap and Sharon commandeer one of AIM’s escape subs, MODOK escapes in his own, destroying the larger sub behind him. Meanwhile, our two heroes acknowledge their special bond, while Cap notices the explosion and assumes that MODOK is dead. (Of course he can’t be, because we haven’t even learned what MODOK stands for yet.)
ONE STRANGE THING
Umm… what?
ISSUE DETAILS
Tales of Suspense (vol. 1) #92, August 1967: “Before My Eyes, Nick Fury Died!” Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (words, plot, pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), ??? (colors), Artie Simek (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Tales of Suspense (vol. 1) #93, September 1967: “Into the Jaws of… A.I.M.!” Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (words, plot, pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), ??? (colors), Artie Simek (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
Tales of Suspense (vol. 1) #94, October 1967: “If This Be… MODOK!” Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (words, plot, pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), ??? (colors), Sam Rosen (letters). (More details at Marvel Database.)
All are collected in: Captain America Epic Collection: Captain America Lives Again, Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Volume Two
PREVIOUS ISSUES: Tales of Suspense #88-91 (April-July 1967)
ALSO THESE MONTHS: Avengers #43-44 (August-September 1967), Avengers #45 (October 1967), and Strange Tales #159-161 (August-October 1967)
NEXT ISSUES: Tales of Suspense #95-96 (November-December 1967)
THE VIRTUES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA 
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