Polite Dissent

Captain America & The Falcon #5 “Jimmy’s Way”
Priest, writer
Joe Bennet, penciler

The Falcon is describing the “Super Sailor” to Luke Cage:

He uses narcotics patches that feed AVX into his nervous system.

I’m confused about AVX. Previous issues of Captain America & the Falcon established that the drug acetovaxidol (AVX) was a steroid. However this issue informs the reader (repeatedly) that the Super-Sailor receives his AVX through “narcotics patches.”

I suspect that Priest is just using the term “narcotics patch” as a generic term for any patch that administers medication. However, he certainly could be using the term to imply that AVX is a narcotic drug (which is very different from a steroid), or suggest that AVX is given along with narcotics.

Other statements in the issue complicate the matter further. Steroids do not work through the nervous system; instead they work directly to stimulate muscle growth and protein production. Narcotics, on the other hand, do work through the central nervous system.

Neither steroids nor narcotics have the deadly withdrawal symptoms described for AVX, though narcotic withdrawal may make people wish they were dead.

Since AVX is similar to what gave Luke Cage his powers, maybe if I knew more about his origin, I would know more about AVX.

(Yes I know it’s only a comic-book, and trust me, I’m not losing any sleep over AVX, but I still like consistency in my stories.)