Issue(s): Captain America #189, Captain America #190
Cover Date: Sep-Oct 75
Title: "Arena for a fallen hero!" / "Nightshade is deadlier the second time around!"
Credits:
Tony Isabella - Writer
Frank Robbins - Penciler
Frank Chiaramonte / Vincent Colletta - Inker

Review/plot:
The Falcon is still comatose after the revelations that his memories are actually false implants created by the Red Skull using the Cosmic Cube. Cap is told by a SHIELD psychiatrist that the best way to help the Falcon is to beat the crap out of him...

...and he reluctantly complies.

He is subsequently beset by illusions of his enemies. He breaks free of the control, but it turns out that the psychiatrist and most of the rest of the SHIELD agents have been possessed by the deadly Nightshade (all the male members, so the Contessa is unaffected).

The Falcon, although still in his "Snap" Wilson persona, fights with Cap to fight Nightshade and free SHIELD. It turns out that her control is broken by direct sunlight, and she is defeated.

Throughout the course of the story, the Falcon starts to fuse his identities.

The Frank Robbins art just makes me want to rush through these issue as fast as i can.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - developments for Falcon

Chronological Placement Considerations: Pushed back in publication time since Falcon remains in a coma between last arc and this one. Falcon's trial is in issue #191, but the trial doesn't necessarily takes place directly after this arc, and he can appear elsewhere in between.

References:

• The opening splash page symbolizes Cap's memories of Captain America #176-188.
  
• The Red Skull was revealed to be in control of the Falcon in Captain America #185-186.
  
• The hallucinations are assumed to be caused by Dr. Faustus, who first appeared in Captain America #107.
  
• Cap's hallucinations:
  • The Yellow Claw's man-eating spiders appeared in Captain America #165.
    
  • Cap fights a formation of the Masters of Evil last seen in Avengers #15-16.
  
  
• Nightshade first appeared in Captain America #164 and turned everyone into werewolves.
  
• As they fight their way through the Nightshade-controlled SHIELD base, they have to fight the Wild Bill robot that appeared in Strange Tales #142.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Steve Englehart was actually supposed to come back on this book after the John Warner 2-parter, but a combination of other projects and Jack Kirby's choosing this book to return to Marvel with changed his mind, forcing some quick fill-ins until Kirby began.

FOOM#9(3/75) contains two conflicting previews of this book's direction. In one, John Warner makes clear that he's only placeholding for Steve Englehart. In the 2nd, Tony Isabella speaks as though he's the permanent writer on Cap beginning with #189, and lasting until the Bicentennial. Stories he intended were the Falcon becoming more violent due to the Snap Wilson memories, Cap fighting villains in various periods of USA history, a Falcon-Luke Cage teamup to wipe out Morgan, a return of the Super-Adaptoid, the introduction of villains Gun-Runner and a 6th Sleeper(no joke,unfortunately), and a Cap-Batroc teamup on the Bicentennial. There's no mention of Jack Kirby coming back, which is bizarre because Englehart left(and tied up some Cap plotlines in Avengers) because Kirby was coming back and Isabella was supposed to be Kirby's placeholder. I'm guessing Kirby's return was decided way too close to FOOM's deadline, and nobody informed Warner yet that Englehart wasn't returning, or told Isabella yet that Kirby was coming, or told FOOM editor Scott Edelman about Kirby at all. It comes off as the most surreal upcoming news that Marvel ever published.

According to Isabella, nobody told him Kirby was returning until he was two issues into his run:
http://blog.talesofwonder.com/tonys-tips-016/

According to a recent interview with Englehart on CBR, John Warner was replaced with fill-ins not because Englehart changed his mind about returning, but because Warner was too slow with his scripts.