DAVE COX

Real Name: David E. Martin Cox (see comments)

Identity/Class: Human; temporary technology and mystic artifact user

Occupation: Activist (and hopefully a real job as well); former soldier

Group Membership: None; formerly U.S. Army

Affiliations: Captain America (Steve Rogers), Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter, Falcon (Sam Wilson), Bernie Rosenthal

Enemies: Baron Zemo (Helmut Zemo), Mother Superior (Sinthea Shmidt), Serpent Squad (Cobra/Klaus Voorhees, Eel/Leopold Stryke, Viper/Jordan Stryke);
   indirectly Red Skull (Johann Shmidt);
   formerly Captain America (Steve Rogers), Nomad (Jack Monroe)

Known Relatives: Julie Morgan (wife), Cody Richard Cox-Morgan (son)

Aliases: Slayer

Base of Operations: A nice suburban home somewhere in Virginia, USA;
   formerly a cottage in Richmond, Virginia, USA

First Appearance: Captain America I#163 (July, 1973)

Powers/Abilities: Dave was a trained in armed and unarmed combat by the U.S. Army and is in great physical shape except for his missing right arm. He is proficient in the use of firearms and many other weapons. He later became a convicted pacifist. He has a knack for gardening and is a good father.

For a short time Dave was brainwashed to become the violent Slayer and wore Devil-Slayer's Shadow-Cloak, which had been modified with cybernetic circuits in the cowl for easier control. Utilizing the Shadow-Cloak the Slayer could pull weapons through portals from other dimensions, worlds and times to use in combat including a mace, a crossbow, an energy gun, bolas and a small scythe. He could also teleport himself to safety at any time.

Height: Unrevealed (6'; by approximation)
Weight: Unrevealed (190 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Gray; formerly strawberry blond

History:
(Captain America I#163 (fb) - BTS) - Dave Cox fought in the Vietnam War Sin-Cong Conflict (see comments) where he lost his right arm. After the conflict he remained a prisoner of war until the U.S. signed a treaty and freed him. The army discharged him due to his disability, but he had already made up his mind and would've applied for an out anyway. Following the war he became a pacifist.

   Dave lived in a cottage outside Richmond, Virginia.

(Captain America I#163) - Dave wandered on to the Carter property while walking through the woods. He introduced himself to Peggy Carter's guest Captain America and told him about his background.

(Captain America I#163 - BTS) - Cap couldn't stop thinking about what Dave had gone through at his young age.

(Captain America I#163) - Cap and Peggy were looking for the Serpent Squad when they found Dave doing some gardening outside his cottage. Dave invited them in for some coffee. Peggy was impressed by his roses and wished her family's roses looked the same. Dave offered to come over to her place the next day to check out her roses. The Serpent Squad then attacked, but Dave was not willing to resort to violence even though Peggy begged him to aid Cap with a rifle because Cap's hands were too injured. Peggy asked to use the rifle herself, but Dave had to tell her that it had no bullets and was only a reminder of his past as a soldier. Cap and Peggy hid while the Serpent Squad broke into the cottage looking for Cap. Dave wouldn't tell them where Cap was even after Cobra hit him with his special gun that simulated a cobra bite. Dave's resilience gave Cap the chance for a surprise attack on the Serpent Squad and knock out Viper and Cobra. Eel escaped, but was quickly captured by Falcon. While Peggy took care of Dave, Cap put out the fire started by the Serpent Squad's attack to save Dave's home. Peggy and Cap were impressed by Dave's willingness to protect them with his life without violating his beliefs.

(Captain America I#182 (fb) - BTS) - Dave encountered Sharon during/before/after (we don't know because we didn't actually see it on panel, but it was probably after when he hopefully took a look at the Carters' roses as promised) the thing with the Serpent Squad.

   At some point Dave grew a beard.

(Captain America I#182) - Dave went for a walk through the woods again and made it to the Carter mansion. He wished Sharon a beautiful afternoon and she barely recognized him due to his new beard.

(Captain America I#184) - Dave accompanied Sharon back home and they saw Captain America had returned. Dave hoped he was there for Peggy and not for another fight with the Serpent Squad. Dave left a bit disappointed when Sharon told him that Cap was there to see her.

(Captain America I#185) - Sharon visited Dave in his cottage because she needed a shoulder to cry on and somebody to talk about her relationship problems with Steve, who was so busy with his secret job. Dave listened to her slightly annoyed, but tried his best to console her while keeping it secret that he had was actually in love with her because he didn't want to give her any more problems.

(Captain America I#186) - Dave was on his way over to the Carter estate when he ran into Sharon, who as riding her horse. He told her that he was going away for a while to check out other parts of the country. He promised to return at some point and left with a tear in his eye because he loved Sharon, but couldn't tell her because she loved Steve.

(Captain America I#293 (fb) - BTS) - Dave met Julie Morgan and got married to her. They moved together and had a son.

   At 36 years old Dave received a letter from Captain America that told him about Sharon Carter's death.

(Captain America I#293) - Cap visited Dave and his family. Dave was bathing his son, but took him out of the bathwater and ran to Cap because he was so glad to see him again. Julie took Cody to give Cap and Dave a chance to talk alone. They went for a walk and talked about Sharon's death (see comments). It meant a lot to Dave that Cap considered him a kindred spirit and admitted that he had been in love with Sharon, but knew that she would never care for another man like she did for Steve. In the process he admitted that he knew that Steve Rogers was Captain America. They would never forget Sharon, but were both happy in their current relationships. They said their goodbyes and Cap flew away in a Quinjet, unaware that they had been watched by Baron Zemo and Mother Superior, who abducted Dave mere moments after Cap was gone.

   Mother Superior and Zemo put Dave in a machine that brainwashed him to become the violent Slayer.

   Equipped with Devil-Slayer's modified Shadow-Cloak (see comments) the Slayer attacked Nomad with a mace the next night in New York City. Cap found Nomad and recognized the attacker as Dave Cox, who insisted to be called Slayer. Cap tackled the murderous maniac in midair, but Slayer never hit the ground and instead used the Shadow-Cloak to teleport to a fire escape. He pulled out a crossbow from the Shadow-Cloak and shot at Cap and Nomad before knocking out the former with his mace before confronting Nomad.

(Captain America I#294) - Nomad was able to defend himself against the mace-wielding Slayer, who teleported to safety after a hit to the face. He reappeared with a gun from another world to kill Nomad, but Nomad evaded the shot and used one of his Stun-Discs to destroy the gun. Slayer jumped Nomad to kill him by hand, while Cap, who had been trapped behind an energy barrier by Zemo, tried to remind Dave of his pacifism. It seemed to work, but Nomad was too scared to take another hit and hit Slayer again, negating whatever effect Cap's words had on the brainwashed man. Slayer trapped Nomad with some kind of bola and then jumped at him with a scythe, but at the last second resisted the urge to kill him. Mother Superior punished Slayer for resisting her commands and attacked him telepathically. Dave ended up in a coma because he wouldn't give up resisting her.

(Captain America I#294 - BTS) - Dave was brought to St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village by Cap and Nomad. Julie learned from the doctors that Dave had possibly suffered neurological damage, but she didn't blame Cap.

(Captain America I#295) - Cap and Julie stayed with the comatose Dave in the hospital.

(Captain America I#299) - Julie was holding Dave's hand in hospital.

(Captain America I#300) - Dave remained in a coma in hospital. Julie and Cody visited him when the doctors told them that his life signs were becoming unstable. Julie begged Dave to fight for his life when he suddenly stopped breathing. Coincidentally (or were we supposed to think there was a connection) Dave woke up the moment the Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) took his last breath after losing his battle against Captain America in Skull House. He hugged Julie and told her that Captain America helped him through his fight for life. He needed some rest afterward, but Julie knew that he was going to be okay.

(Captain America I#302 - BTS) - Bernie informed Steve that Dave was going to be released in a few days.

(Captain America V#49 (fb) - BTS) - Dave's near-death experience reinforced his marriage to Julie, but eventually the feelings faded and Dave's increased focus on his anti-war activism became too much for Julie. They divorced and Julie left with Cody, who was still allowed to visit his dad on most weekends.

   When Dave heard that Sharon Carter had returned home to Richmond, he began hiking through the woods every day for four months hoping that he would run into her.

(Captain America V#49) - Dave ran into Sharon while taking a walk through the woods. He invited her to his place for dinner and told her about his divorce and eventually admitted that he had been trying to meet her again for months. He admitted his feelings for her and gave her a quick kiss, which they both blamed on the alcohol they had been consuming. They agreed to stay friends and Dave got a blanket for Sharon to sleep on the couch.

   The next morning a visiting Cody woke up his dad to ask him who the lady on the couch was. After a quick explanation Dave played with Cody and they wrestled on the ground (good cross armbreaker by Cody) while Sharon made breakfast.

Comments: Created by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema & John Verpoorten.

In Captain America I#185 David received the second initial E., which we never learned the meaning of. In Captain America I#299 he was suddenly called David Martin Cox. So it is probably D.M.E. Cox or D.E.M. Cox. What could the E. stand for? Egon? We will never know!

Dave Cox was originally a Vietnam War veteran, but Mark Waid's retcon from History of the Marvel Universe II#2 (October, 2019), which was necessary due to the sliding timescale, likely places him in the same conflict in Sin-Cong as many other Marvel characters that had originally fought in Vietnam.

Sharon Carter allegedly incinerated herself after being brainwashed by Doctor Faustus to serve with the National Force, but decades later in the comics she was revealed to still be alive and working undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D. as a member of the Kubekult.

According to Captain America I#294 somebody (presumably Baron Zemo) stole Devil-Slayer's Shadow-Cloak from Project: PEGASUS.

His son Cody was named after J. M. DeMatteis' son, one of several characters named after Cody.
--Prime Eternal

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Dave Cox aka. Slayer should not be confused with:

But has no known connection to:

Cody Richard Cox-Morgan

(Captain America I#293 (fb) - BTS) - Cody was born to Julie and Dave.

(Captain America I#293) - Dave was giving 2-year-old Cody a bath when Cap rang at his door. Dave took Cody out of the bathwater and rushed to meet Cap with Cody in his arm. Cody crawled around on the ground and was very interested in Cap's boots, but Julie picked him up and left the room with him to give Dave and Cap the chance to talk to each other alone.

   Cody was following his mother to the door when she rushed outside to talk with Dave about what he and Cap had talked about, but Dave had mysteriously disappeared.

(Captain America I#294) - Julie took Cody to St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York City where Dave was taken after falling into a coma. Nomad held Cody while Julie talked with Cap.

(Captain America I#300) - When Dave's condition worsened Julie took Cody to visit his father one more time. He stopped breathing during their visit, but suddenly woke up and told Julie that Cap had helped him fight for his life. Julie stayed at Dave's hospital room with Cody while Dave rested.

(Captain America V#49 (fb) - BTS) - Julie divorced Dave at some point and took Cody with her, but Cody was still allowed to visit his dad on most weekends.

(Captain America V#49) - Cody visited his dad and woke him up to ask who the strange lady on the couch was. Dave explained that it was his old friend Sharon Carter and she made breakfast for them while Dave and Cody wrestled on the ground with Cody applying a nice cross armbreaker during the play-fighting.

--Captain America I#293 (Captain America I#293-294, 300, [Captain America V#49 (fb)], 49

Julie Morgan

(Captain America I#293 (fb) - BTS) - Julie met Dave at some point and they got married, moved in together and had a son named Cody.

(Captain America I#293) - Julie was picking toys from her two-year-old son when the doorbell rang. She opened the door and was shocked to see Captain America standing right in front of her. She called Dave to tell him who was visiting and offered Cap something to drink, but he didn't want anything. She soon picked up Cody and left the room with her son to give Cap and Dave a chance to talk to each other alone.

   When she heard the Quinjet leave, Julie rushed to the door to ask what he and Cap had talked about, but Dave had mysteriously disappeared.

(Captain America I#294) - Julie took Cody to St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, New York City where Dave was taken after falling into a coma. Julie was told by the doctors that Dave had possibly suffered severe neurological damage. She told Cap not to blame himself for what had happened to Dave.

(Captain America I#295) - Cap and Julie stayed with the comatose Dave. Cap still blamed himself for Dave's status and was sure he would die, but Julie told Cap not to give up on Dave yet and not succumb to guilt and despair.

(Captain America I#300 (fb) - BTS) - Julie prayed for her husband to return to her and their child.

(Captain America I#295 - BTS) - At Skull House the Sisters of Sin attacked Captain America and Sister Dream used her powers to make Cap believe that Julie was rushing toward him. He hugged her, but it turned out to be Sister Death, who nearly broke his back.

(Captain America I#299) - Julie was with her comatose husband at the hospital and hoped for a miracle.

(Captain America I#300) - Julie was informed that Dave's life signs had become unstable. She visited Dave with their son and begged Dave to fight for his life, but instead he stopped breathing. Dave suddenly woke up, hugged Julie and told her that Cap had helped him fight for his life. A bit later Julie and Cody were still in Dave's hospital room while he was resting. She knew that Dave was going to be okay.

(Captain America V#49 (fb) - BTS) - While Dave's near-death experience deepened their feelings for each other at first, Dave's increasing focus on anti-war activism eventually became too much for Julie. She divorced Dave and left with their son, who was still allowed to visit his dad on most weekends.

--Captain America I#293 (Captain America I#293-295, 299-300, [Captain America V#49 (fb)]

images (without ads)
Captain America V#49, p12, pan3 (main)
Captain America I#163, p13, pan6 (head shot)
Captain America I#182, p5, pan5 (Dave with beard)
Captain America I#293, p6, pan5 (with baby son)
Captain America I#293, p19, pan5 (as Slayer)
Captain America V#49, p16, pan1 (Cody head shot)
Captain America V#49, p16, pan3 (Cody full body)
Captain America I#293, p5, pan6 (Julie Morgan full body)
Captain America I#293, p5, pan7 (Julie Morgan head shot)

Appearances:
Captain America I#163 (July, 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), John Verpoorten (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Captain America I#182 (February, 1975) - Steve Englehart (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Joe Giella (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Captain America I#184 (April, 1975) - Steve Englehart (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Frank Giacoia & Mike Esposito (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Captain America I#185 (May, 1975) - Steve Englehart (writer), Frank Robbins & Sal Buscema (pencils), Frank Giacoia (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Captain America I#186 (June, 1975) - Steve Englehart & John Warner (writers), Frank Robbins (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Captain America I#293 (May, 1984) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Ed Barreto (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#294 (June, 1984) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#295 (July, 1984) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Brett Breeding (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#299 (November, 1984) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Roy Richardson (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#300 (December, 1984) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America I#302 (February, 1985) - Michael Carlin (writer), Paul Neary (pencils), Dennis Janke (inks), Mark Gruenwald (editor)
Captain America V#49 (June, 2009) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Luke Ross (pencils), Rick Magyar (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)

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