Captain America 197: The Little Foxes

From Captain America #197: "And here they come -- the little foxes who would tear up the Constitution! We've flushed them into the open! Now, let's go GET 'em!" 

- Gen. Argyle Fist, just before teaching a group of villains that if they threaten his country, the superheroes won't be their only problem (also, his dialogue sounds WAY more natural if you replace "foxes" with "fucks").

General Argyle Fist was a relentless and highly-motivated leader, and probably based on officers that Jack Kirby had met during WW2 (though I doubt any of the real-life officers had names this awesome). I kinda wish later writers had kept him around.

Captain America and the Falcon were fighting the Elite, a subversive organization that intended to wipe out millions of US citizens with mass riots, caused by their "MadBomb". And a terrorist plot of that scale kinda needed a bigger response than a pair of superheroes, no matter how prestigious they are. That's where the US military came in, an institution that Kirby obviously respects.

Some soldiers under Fist's command had gone missing near their base by the US' southwestern desert, because the Elite's base was in the desert too. Captain America and Falcon also disappeared when they went looking for the soldiers, and that was the last straw for Argyle Fist: he and his troops combed the desert until they found the Elite. And when they did, General Fist rained holy hell on the terrorists, while Cap and the Falcon closed the deal from inside the enemy base.

Kirby poured himself into his stories, and sometimes it shows. His military experience deserved an outlet to be expressed, and Captain America's book was just the place for it.

Story and pencils by Jack Kirby, Inks by Frank Giacoia.