Captain America (vol. 1) #159 (Mar. 1973):
“Turning Point!”
by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott

Captain America (vol. 1) #159

Title: “Turning Point!”

Medium: comic

Cover date: Mar. 1973

Publisher:
Written by: Steve Englehart
Art by: Sal Buscema, Joe Sinnott

22 characters in this story:

Character (Click links for info about character and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)	Religious Affiliation	Team(s) [Notes]	Pub.	# app.
Captain America (Steve Rogers) (lead character)	Protestant	Redeemers; Secret Defenders...  The Avengers; The Invaders; The Ultimates; Weapon Plus		5,992
Falcon (Sam Wilson)	Baptist	black; SHIELD Super-Agents...  The Avengers		531
Plantman (Samuel Smithers)		Chain Gang; Crime Wave...  The Thunderbolts		86
Agent 13 (Sharon Carter)	Christian (denomination unknown)	Femme Force; S.H.I.E.L.D.		262
Redwing	N.A.	falcon; Pet Avengers [falcon; partner of Falcon (Sam Wilson)]		128
Scarecrow (Ebenezer Laughton)		Crime Wave; Hood's Army...  Initiative; Thunderbolts Army		43
Leila Taylor	black supremacist	black [Falcon's former girlfriend]		50
Porcupine (Alex Gentry)		Batroc's Brigade; Crime Wave...  Emissaries of Evil (Egghead); Maggia		36
The Eel (Leopold Stryke)		Crime Wave; Emissaries of Evil (Egghead)...  Fellowship of Fear; Serpent Squad		30
Viper (Jordan Dixon)	activist; Committee To Regain America's Principles (temporary)	Crime Wave; Secret Empire...  Serpent Squad		10
Cowled Commander (Sgt. Brian Muldoon)		Crime Wave (leader); NYPD [Steve Rogers' superior officer in NYPD]		11
Bob Courtney		NYPD [Steve Rogers' police patrol partner]		8
Crime Wave		[created to prompt NYC into strengthening police force]		4
Commissioner Feingold (4-panel cameo, pg. 1, 9-10)		[police commissioner]		8
Dick (4-panel cameo, pg. 9-10)	indeterminate	NYPD [worked in same precinct as Steve Rogers (Captain America)]		2
Officer Carpenter (1-panel cameo, pg. 20, panel 6)		NYPD [arrested 3 thugs who attacked Captain America]		2
Nick Fury (hallucination, pg. 1, panel 1)	secular	black; S.H.I.E.L.D....  The Howling Commandos; The Ultimates		1,898
Ellen Muldoon (hallucination, pg. 1, panel 1)		[wife of Captain America's police sergeant]		3
Cal Trimble (hallucination, pg. 1, panel 1)	gambling	[Captain America's landlord]		4
Edgar Allan Poe (mentioned, pg. 7, panel 6)  Captain America (being attacked by the Scarecrow's crows): "Poe had nothing on me! All his raven did was knock--but these are out for blood!"	Episcopalian	[famous writer]		64
The Great Pumpkin (mentioned, pg. 8, panel 3)  Falcon (attacking Viper, Plantman, and Scarecrow): "I've got better things to do with my time than carryin' him around-- like punting the Great Pumpkin here!" Falcon here refers to Scarecrow as "The Great Pumpkin."	sentient inanimate holiday avatar	[holiday figure Linus imagined visits on Halloween]		3
Mr. Green Jeans (mentioned, pg. 8, panel 3)  Falcon (attacking Viper, Plantman, and Scarecrow): "Here, Mr. Greenjeans -- say hello to the other lime-colored loser in town! I've got better things to do with my time than carryin' him around-- like punting the Great Pumpkin here!" Falcon here refers to Viper as "Mr. Greenjeans."	Methodist	[handyman]		21

This story opens up with a splash page on page one on which we see Captain America surrounded by individuals he has interacted with recently. Only their heads are shown, and each calls out his name as they refer to him. On the next page we see that this is a hallucination Captain America is suffering from, brought about by the interaction of the Viper's poison with the super-soldier serum in his blood. The heads essentially form a circle around Cap. From the bottom left, moving up and around toward the bottom right, these individuals (and the name by which they refer to Cap) are:
- Sgt. Brian Muldoon: "Rogers"
- Ellen Muldoon: "Captain America"
- Sharon Carter: "Darling"
- Nick Fury: "Rogers"
- Falcon: "Steve"
- Commissioner Feingold: "Cap"
- Officer Bob Courtney: "Steve"
- Cal Trimble: "Rogers"
- Viper (Jordan Dixon): "Captain America"

Most of these individual appear separately in the story that follows, but a few (Ellen Muldoon, Nick Fury, Cal Trimble) do not.

Webpage for Captain America #159 (Mar. 1973) created 1 August 2012. Last modified 26 December 2013.

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