The Falcon (June 10, 1969) This Day In Comics
The Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books, first appeared in Captain America #117 (June 10, 1969).
The Falcon is also the first superhero of African descent not to have the word “black” as part of his superhero name. He was introduced as an unnamed former resident of New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, who had adopted a wild falcon he trained and named Redwing. His own name, Sam Wilson, was not given until page five of the following issue.
Consumed by grief from the deaths of his parents and Sam turns his life in Harlem as a respected community volunteer. He moves to Los Angeles and creates a new persona: “Snap” Wilson, a professional criminal and gang member. While Snap is on his way to “a big score in Rio de Janeiro”, his plane crashes on Exile Island. The once-peaceful island had been taken over by the Exiles, a group of would-be world conquerors who had collaborated with, and are later betrayed by, the Red Skull. At this time Wilson finds and befriends Redwing, a falcon with which he feels a remarkably strong bond.
As part of a plot against Captain America, the Red Skull uses the Cosmic Cube to mentally fuse Wilson with Redwing, creating a “super-normal mental link” that would eventually give Wilson broad powers over all birds. Red Skull uses the Cube to rewrite the past and erase the years Wilson had spent living as Snap Wilson. In this new history, Wilson is an upright and cheerful social worker who is eventually lured to the Exiles’ island and organizes the natives to fight for their freedom. Captain America befriends him there and convinces Wilson to adopt a persona to inspire the natives in their rebellion. Together they create the costumed hero identity the Falcon and defeat the Exiles and the Red Skull.
