Captain America has always been known as one of Marvel’s more prudish heroes. A product of World War II, Steve Rogers carried many of his more old-fashioned values with him when he was thawed out in the modern age. Even after readjusting to life in the 21st century, Cap retained a certain charming innocence – which is why so many heroes were aghast when they learned Captain America helped present a professional stripper!
This hilarious moment happened in The Incredible Hulk #417, “Party Animals,” a story by Peter David and Gary Frank, which took place on the night before Rick Jones’ wedding. As Rick had so many friends in the superhero community, many famous Avengers came to wish him well. However, when Captain America arrived, he brought along an extra surprise…
The get-together was a welcome one, especially since Cap had battled the Incredible Hulk previously, creating some bad blood between the two. Thankfully, both heroes chose to set their differences aside to celebrate Rick’s bachelor’s party. Remarkably, despite the fact that the party contained many heavy hitters – including Hercules, the Thing, Iron Man, and the Silver Surfer – no fights broke out and the night looked like it would remain fairly low-key.
Just as everyone was starting to relax, the door swung open and a scantily-clad woman holding a hairdryer in a threatening manner walked into the room. Announcing herself as “The Ecdysiast” she claimed she had come for Rick Jones. The heroes all tensed to defend their friend – but then Captain America announced they needed to do what she said and pointed out his hapless ex-sidekick.
The Ecdysiast proceeded to place Rick in a chair just so she could… kiss him and let him know that, “Nick Fury says hi.” She then proceeded to perform an elaborate strip tease, much to the delight of the crowd. Hulk, however, was shocked that a straight-arrow like Steve Rogers could be behind this. Cap himself was horribly embarrassed and confessed that when Nick Fury told him about the “Ecdysiast” he had hired, Steve thought that was a stage magician.
Steve’s embarrassment only continued to grow as the night progressed and everyone gathered together to watch some “stag” adult films. Unable to watch all the naked women, Steve held his hand in front of his face and claimed there was “something in my eye.” In an ironic twist, Rick (who was sitting next to Cap) suffered even greater shock when he realized that the star of the movie was none other than his fiancé and wife-to-be Marlo. While Steve Rogers is a brilliant, well-educated man, it’s amusing to learn that a word like “ecdysiast” (admittedly one of the more unusual terms for a stripper) somehow slipped past his vocabulary. Still, Captain America is always open to learning new things… and it’s a sure bet he won’t forget that word from now on!