Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #47 (Captain America & Arabian Knight stories only)
Cover Date: 1990

Captain America
Title: "Old glories!"
Credits:
Len Wein - Script
Len Wien & Deni Loubert - Plot
Steve Buccellato - Penciler
Gerry Talaoc - Inker

Arabian Knight
Title: "A father's love"
Credits:
Scott Lobdell - Writer
Don Perlin - Penciler
Don Perlin - Inker

Kelly Corvese - Assistant Editor
Terry Kavanagh - Editor

Review/plot:
Captain America entertains a group of wounded veterans at the VA hospital in Arlington, Virginia.

He has to explain to one of them that it wasn't him that fought in the Korean War.

Then, an attack by commandos in the radiology lab shuts off the lights. Cap investigates and finds a revolutionary paramilitary group.

Cap stops them, and ensures that at least one of them will never have children.

He gets some help from the veterans.

No nuance in this about what the revolutionaries were fighting for. Pure "America - Fuck yeah!".

Meanwhile, the Arabian Knight is returning to his village after trading goods in the city, to herald the birth of his child. I had to double check to make sure this story wasn't taking place in 1450 or something.

He finds his village under attack by a demon. And he kind of hints that he has additional powers beyond what we normally see.

But it turns out that the use of his sword is what causes the demon, Saja, to materialize. And he claims to be a messenger of the desert gods.

He fights off Saja but finds that the villagers, including his "favorite wife", are possessed.

And he learns that his other wife has given birth to a demon.

A baby that may or may not be Herbie.

The baby tells the Arabian Knight that his people are being punished because the Knight has been using his powers only for his own luxury, not to help the people. The baby also says that only with its destruction will the curse on his people be removed. But Arabian Knight refuses to kill the baby. And the demon reappears to ask why his obvious ploy didn't work.

I'm... kind of stunned after this one and can't offer any commentary.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

"Pure "America - Fuck yeah!"."

In regards to that comment - I just recently saw "Team America" for the second time. It was just as funny as I remembered it to be.

No way is that baby Herbie. No lollipop, and he talks normally.

Deni Loubert's presence here is very strange. She was formerly married to Dave Sim and co-publisher of his character Cerebus(as well as other characters like Normalman), and after divorcing him, became publisher of Renegade Press until the increasing domination of super-heroes in the direct market forced her out of business. Considering her longtime struggles in the marketplace with and without Sim, you'd think she'd have just plain antipathy towards Marvel(Dave Sim was certainly overflowing with it).

It would actually be kind of cool to read about a super conservative Muslim superhero in an Middle Eastern village. A guy going out to fight criminals and aliens like all the other super heroes, but from a culture far removed from our own.

But the writers of today probably couldn't pull that off, and they certainly couldn't back in 1990.

@berend

Considering how much of a caricature US Agent was written as back in the day, you're probably right.

@berend

I'd totally read that

This story implies that the Arabian Knight's wives and children are all dead (except for the baby) but later stories suggest that they're still alive.