INVADERS #26

"DAY OF INFAMY...DAY OF SHAME!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Artists: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer
Colorist: George Roussos | Letterer: Joe Rosen
Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Bucky leaves Doctor Sabuki's California home and takes Toro to a local hospital. There, a helpful nurse tells Bucky where Sabuki is interned. Leaving Toro at the hospital, Bucky travels to a Japanese detention center, where he runs afoul of the racist warden, Captain Simms. When Simms refuses to give Bucky access to Doctor Sabuki, Bucky goes rogue, fighting off Simms' military police, and goes in search of Sabuki.

Meanwhile, the Invaders return to Falsworth Manor, where they find that Union Jack's old friend, Roger Aubrey -- formerly Dyna-Mite -- has been restored to normal size and taken on the identity of the mighty Destroyer. Soon after, Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner depart London in a British bomber, bound for California to check on Bucky and Toro.

Back at the internment camp, Bucky finds Doctor Sabuki and his daughter, Gwenny Lou. Sabuki agrees to aid Bucky, but before they can leave, Sabuki's quarters are attacked by a trio of masked men and their leader, Agent Axis. Axis defeats Bucky and kidnaps Sabuki, bringing Bucky and Gwenny Lou along as well.

Continuity Notes: A number of continuity notes pop up in this one: we're told that Bucky arrived at Doctor Sabuki's house last issue, and that Toro was shot in issue 20. Later, when the Invaders return to Falsworth Manor, a note informs readers that their scenes are not running concurrently with Bucky's saga (this is reirerated a couple pages later by a narrative caption as well). When Agent Axis appears, we're told that his "first chronological meeting" with the Invaders came in ANNUAL #1, but another note on the same page reminds us that Cap confronted Axis prior to that story in an as-yet-untold adventure.

The cover makes a big deal about Agent Axis, but he doesn't appear until the third-from last page, and isn't revealed until the second-from-last -- suggesting his presence was meant to be a surprise, but that nobody mentioned that to cover artist Gil Kane! Notably, this is Bucky's first encounter with Axis, as he was not involved in the events of ANNUAL #1, and apparently wasn't with Cap when the villain first appeared in that untold tale.

Bucky carries an "Invaders badge", which grants him "Priority A1" clearance, allowing him entry to the internment camp when he flashes it to the military policeman at the front gate. Strangely, a few pages later, when Cap and the others leave England, they are forced to melt a British soldier's gun when he says he didn't receive any instructions about letting them borrow a plane. You'd think that badge would've come in handy there as well!

Roger, as the Destroyer, says that he does not want to join the Invaders; he would prefer to follow the example of his friend, Brian Falsworth, and operate behind enemy lines instead. In the same scene, it's revealed (somewhat out of left field) that Lord Falsworth has a laboratory where he dabbles in chemistry (this is where Dyna-Mite was restored to his normal size). Per Union Jack, "Our father's always loved puttering around with his test tubes..." And, while that bit of trivia would not have been germane to any prior stories, it still feels like a random thing to suddenly reveal with no previous mention.

My Thoughts: So. Racism abounds in this issue, starting with a guy we actually met on the final page of the previous installment -- a jovial fellow who was all too happy to buy up Doctor Sabuki's home when the doc was interned, and who now has signs up declaring that the house is "For Sale! Real American Only!" This is followed by Bucky's trip to the hospital, where an arrogant doctor proclaims that Sabuki could never save Toro -- which is contradicted a moment later by a nurse who says that the doctor just doesn't like Sabuki because of "this Japanese business". Then there's Colonel Simms, who outright hates the Japanese and revels in his role as their jailor.

Look, I obviously wasn't around in the forties, but it's hard to imagine the attitudes presented here by Thomas are very far from reality. It's sad and sickening, but it's the truth. And it seems a lot of our country still, seventy-some years later, still hasn't moved on from these attitudes.

As for the story itself -- well, it's really just concerned with moving pieces around. Bucky makes it to California, links up with Doctor Sabuki, and gets kidnapped by Agent Axis. The Invaders make it back to Britain, leave their British members behind, and head out to find Bucky and Toro. All of this will be resolved next issue, so for now there's not a lot to say.

I will note, however, that it's fascinating to watch as things continue to shape up into the way I first encountered all this stuff, years later. This time it's Roger taking on the identity of the Destroyer, a concept I first encountered in THUNDERBOLTS and its companion limited series, CITIZEN V AND THE V-BATTALLION, both written by Fabian Nicieza. Those stories featured Roger Aubrey, much older and retired from his role as the Destroyer, running a clandestine peackeeping group called the V-Battallion -- and in that series, it was revealed that one of the founders of the V-Battallion was a Japanese-American heroine, once known as the Golden Girl, whose real name was -- Gwen Sabuki!

So yeah, things are falling into place, and it's fun to see.