Polite Dissent

Captain America and the Falcon #13 “American Psycho, Part 1″
Priest, writer
Dan Jurgen, penciler

This seems to be the month for OR scenes. We’ve seen it all from the good (Birds of Prey #80) to the bad (Richard Dragon #10) and the in-between (this issue).

Steve Rogers (better known as Captain America) is shot by a street punk gunning for Sam Wilson (the Falcon). It’s not clear how many times Steve was shot or even where, but he presumably took a bullet to the head (because it has a bloody bandage wrapped around it) and one to the chest (because that’s where the doctors spend all their time operating).

Steve is rushed to Harlem Hospital and into the operating room. Chest leads are in place and a face mask is delivering oxygen. His uniform is cut away to expose his chest and the operation is started. The situation is critical: the doctors keep losing him but manage to get him back. Then he flatlines and it is too late — at 3:08 AM Steve Rogers is declared dead.

The operating room scenes in the issue have a few faults, but they are much better than the ones in Richard Dragon. This appears to be a real OR with proper instruments and equipment. The doctors are wearing gloves, caps and eye protection; in some panels they are even wearing gowns. The lack of continuity in the medical scenes is a major distraction. Cap’s uniform is cut down the middle and the next scene he’s not wearing it at all and then for a couple of panels he’s in a t-shirt and then in the final panel when Sam is hugging his dead body, he’s wearing the cut open uniform again (and there’s no blood or incision on his chest at all, despite the operation). His head bandages also seem to randomly appear and disappear with blood stains appearing randomly on them.

The lack of proper critical care is the biggest medical error in the issue. Cap is hooked up to an oxygen mask, but if he is an as bad shape as the story suggests he needs to be intubated and hooked up to a mechanical ventilator. While he is hooked up to a heart monitor, the leads are in bizarre places (but I’ll admit that’s nothing but nit-picking). Finally, I’m amazed that the doctors declared him dead so soon after his heart stopped. They made no attempt to call a code or try any critical care medicine (no shocks, no injections – nothing!).

It’s never precisely clear what operation the doctors are performing, but that can’t be considered a mistake. The OR is there to serve as a springboard for flashbacks and to impress upon the reader the dire situation Steve is in; the exact procedure performed (or even where Steve was shot) is not particularly important. The continuity errors are undoubtedly due to this non-contiguous storytelling.

Maybe I’m just a cynical long-time fan, but I’m betting that Cap’s not really dead…

Look at the picture below. Tell me the doctor is not doing his nails while Captain America flatlines, because it sure looks like that to me. (Click on the image for a larger version)