At the time of his creation in 1941, America was not involved in the world wide war that had enveloped Europe, later known as WWII. Two young Jewish cartoonists (Joe Simon and Jack Kirby) pitched their publisher Marty Goodman with the cover to the right here, featuring their hero delivering a sock to Hitler’s jaw. At the time it was controversial to make such a statement, but in the end Marty Goodman saw the meaning behind it… or the potential money ahead of him.
In either case, Captain America, a young and frail Steve Rogers whose first act of bravery was to volunteer himself for the Super Soldier project. A strange mixture of chemicals entered his bloodstream and he was reborn as the red white and blue powerhouse, Captain America.
Captain America is often presented as a ‘gee wiz’ innocent hero, but this is far from the truth. While he does believe in fair play, he also dodged Nazi bullets while dressed in a brightly colored bullseye across the theater of war. He often makes the right choice, but it’s never easy. From sparing a villain’s life to running into a burning building, it all seems hokey, but it’s the hard road compared to characters like the Punisher who have a kind of tunnel vision for their purpose and drive.
An intensely popular comic book by Joe Simon and the King Jack Kirby, Cap fought along the front lines of the war against the Axis Powers… including the dreaded Red Skull. A simple delivery boy enlisted into the Nazi cause as a symbol of fear and hatred, the Red Skull became Cap’s nemesis, still active to this day.
Neither strong nor fast or even super-smart as most Super Villains are, the Red Skull is just insanely evil, making him the most dangerous threat to Cap.
Captain America’s comic book series published by Timely saw a drop in sales and was canceled in 1950 after fighting werewolves and communists alike. It wasn’t until Stan Lee had revived the company as Marvel Comics that the character was revived to join the super team The Avengers.
Now a ‘man out of time’ in the 1960’s, Cap was confused by much of what he saw and deeply saddened by the loss of his longtime fighting companion, Bucky. Under his guidance, the Avengers became a unified force for order, endless fighting strangely dressed guys in the streets of Manhattan looking to melt, freeze or burn everything or just eat it as the case may be.
It was a weird time.
It’s very safe to say that without Captain America, the flagship title of Marvel Comics, the Avengers would not have worked as an idea and that the Marvel Universe would have also been somehow flawed.
The Marvel U is full of many angst-ridden and otherwise emotional basket cases in tights who fight the good fight until they die or turn evil, whichever comes first. Cap is different. He’s a reminder of a simpler and nobler time when America made a stance against ‘evil’ and stood by it. He stands his ground and with his unbreakable red white and blue shield, guards the innocent.
The character has gone through a lot over the years since his inclusion into the Marvel Universe of Super Heroes, including a run for President, losing his faith in the USA and going rogue, being sucked into a parallel reality and even dying a slow painful death (plus three cancellations and revivals of his own series in the past 15 years).
At heart, Captain America is not what many think of it as… an action comic. It’s important to remember that while Cap bopps the bad guys on the head better than most, he’s also a walking talking American Flag that was created as a statement for the US to enter World War II. While I do enjoy his adventures and madcap lifestyle, it’s when Cap is used as a political hero that he functions best.
So I’m the one guy in the world that enjoyed the revived Captain America comic published under the Marvel Knights banner in which Captain America responded to the events of the World Trade Center disaster of September 11th. It was a brave thing for Marvel to acknowledge that the disaster occurred.
Since Marvel Comics always took place in New York City, it would be terribly silly, even for a comic book, to ignore the loss of so many lives. Still, it does complicate the characters and storylines of what is essentially viewed as children’s entertainment.
The stories collected in ‘The New Deal’ by John Ney Reiber and John Cassiday depict an enraged and confused Cap who is anxious to strike out at a shadowy enemy but at the same time no longer trusts his own government, evidenced by his falling out with longtime friend Nick Fury of the American governmental organization SHIELD.
The conclusion to a search for the leaders of an Al Qaeda-like terrorist attack on a small town church leads to a confrontation with the group’s leader and far more questions than answers. When Cap question the villain Al Tariq’s origins, he is hit on the chin with a list of foreign lands that have suffered from the actions of the US government or it’s inability to act at all. The strike that Al Tariq delivers is just as poignant and painful as the one depicted in Cap’s first appearance.
Captain America was canceled yet again in 2004 and later revived once more in its fifth volume by Ed Brubaker with Steve Epting and Michael Lark on art chores.
In an already uneasy and frustrated comic book marketplace that was getting sick of revivals and ‘number 1’s on the stands, it’s stunning that someone finally got Captain America right. The newest series has been a hit from the first issue as it continues to follow the adventures of a man out of time trying his best to fight a global war against the innocent.
A non stop action thriller, the new Captain America series follows the hero on missions to defuse bombs in London and fight twenty story tall robots in New York City. But this is not just an action comic. Hidden in the pages are moments of intrigue as a shadowy villain pulls the strings of a powerful business man, slowly turning him into a newer version of the dreaded Red Skull.
In the recent Civil War series, Cap had his hands full. On the trail of his former partner Bucky (who had returned as a highly trained Soviet killing machine called the Winter Soldier), Cap had slowly begun to renew his on again off again romance with fellow SHIELD agent, Sharon Carter.
The romance goes on hold after Cap is interviewed atop the SHIELD helicarrier by its new Commanding Officer Maria Hill. He is told that the Senate is planning to pass a bill that will demand all super heroes register with SHIELD and enter a professional training program. Cap is expected to be the poster boy for this campaign. Seeing as how it completely overlooks an American citizens civil liberties, he declines and becomes a fugitive.
In no time, a Civil War is on with Cap on one side and his long time friend and ally Iron Man on the other. After a long and bloody battle, Cap realizes that he is protecting no one. A frazzled and terrified NYC citizen begs him to stop before the city is destroyed and he does.
On his way to court to face charges for his betrayal to the United States government, his long time lover Sharon Carter, under the hypnotic influence of the Red Skull, walks up to him and shoots him at point blank range. That was almost five months ago.
Many are saying ‘he’ll be back,’ and they’re right. But that’s not the point. As a politically fueled character, Cap stood up for what he thought was right, and was undone by his own actions. Now he lies dead and on July 3rd was the character was shown buried in Arlington Cemetery. The Marvel Universe is forced to conceive of what life can be without him.
As readers, we’re asked to think about what it can mean to us.
Suggested reading:
Captain America Vol. 1: Winter Soldier, Book One
Captain America #25 Death Of A Legend Variant Cover
Captain America: War & Remembrance
Captain America Volume 1: The New Deal HC (Marvel Knights)
Civil War (Marvel Comics)
Invaders Classic, Vol. 1 (Marvel Comics, Avengers)
Marvel Masterworks: Avengers, Vol. 1
