How The Falcon Got His Wings


Because nobody demanded it… a brief history of the Falcon’s wings! Sam Wilson first appeared in Captain America #117. He wore a green and gold costume and had a pet falcon called Redwing. He couldn’t fly, though. (Sam, that is… Redwing could fly just fine.)


In Captain America #144, Sam got a new costume. He still couldn’t fly, though. In fact, he actually had a cable that he’d swing around town with, Spider-Man-style.


In Captain America #170, Falcon finally got some wings. At last, he could fly! His wings — given to him by the Black Panther — were apparently made from 100% pure technobabble!

What’s more, they were a bit rubbish. They only allowed him to glide, which meant he had to take off from somewhere high up in order to get some air. This led to the humiliating spectacle of him climbing a lamp-post in order to take off! Oh Sam…


After a while, he got better at controlling them and could actually fly under his own steam… finally. So it only took about five years for the powers-that-be at Marvel to realise that a character named after a bird should be able to fly..!



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