Warning: Spoilers for Spider-Boy #2!Captain America’s most underrated strength applies to his senses. Everyone is familiar with his powers related to being a Super-Soldier, like super strength; at the same time, however, Steve Rogers also has a unique set of skills that come naturally. Ranging from his pragmatism to his super-immune system, Rogers has a wide range of skills and abilities that make him the hero he is.
Spider-Boy #2 – by Dan Slott, Paco Medina, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Joe Caramagna – contains the latest surprising, unconventional skill that Captain America has displayed: his super sense of smell. Captain America gets the opportunity to show up this unexpected power of sorts thanks to a surprising team-up with Spider-Man’s forgotten sidekick, Spider-Boy.
The two join forces to take on the Taskmaster, with Cap literally sniffing out the villain. As it turns out, Steve Rogers is able to detect Taskmaster because his sense of smell is strong enough to smell the ionic discharge that Taskmaster exudes from his disguise technology.
Captain America Could Smell Taskmaster Coming
Spider-Boy’s version of Spider-Sense is a psychic ability; young Bailey Briggs gets the feeling that someone close by will imminently be in danger and is going to need help, without telling him who the endangered individual is. Spider-Boy #2 leads the fledgling hero directly into the path of Captain America. After finding Steve and two accompanying soldiers on a helicopter flight. Spider-Boy says he thinks Cap is the person he is supposed to be saving. Because danger comes with the job of being a superhero, Steve isn’t worried, but he understands what he is doing could likely warrant some supervillain attention.
After explaining that his men and helicopter are there transporting Avengers-level tech to a more secure location, Captain America immediately proceeds to hit one of those men with his shield. This wipes the soldier’s disguising technology, revealing him to be none other than the Taskmaster. When Taskmaster asks how Cap saw through his disguise, Steve clarifies that he actually smelled through it. In his own words, “I’ve gotten pretty good at smelling the ionic discharge of an image inducer.” Between the two, Spider-Boy and Captain America’s senses prevented a tricky situation from arising, stopping Taskmaster’s plan firmly in its tracks.
Captain America’s Sense Of Smell Rivals Wolverine’s
With comics being a visual medium, it’s rare to see smell mentioned, or for smell to be a key element to the story – with Wolverine being one exception, as he can also smell out a secret identity. However, smell’s importance to the plot of Spider-Boy #2 showcases how effectively it can be deployed in comic book stories. Further, it emphasizes another ability that makes Steve Rogers one of Marvel’s most exceptional figures. A super-sense of smell likely came as another byproduct of the Super Soldier serum – nevertheless, Captain America is exceptional because, as with all of his abilities, he knows exactly how to turn this into a major advantage.
Spider-Boy #2 is on sale now from Marvel.
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