Captain America is asuperhero created byJoe Simon andJack Kirby who appears inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. The character first appeared inCaptain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, byTimely Comics, a corporate predecessor to Marvel. Captain America's civilian identity isSteven "Steve" Rogers, a frail man enhanced to the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental "super-soldier serum" after joining theUnited States Army to aid the country's efforts inWorld War II. Equipped with anAmerican flag–inspired costume anda virtually indestructible shield, Captain America and hissidekickBucky Barnes clashed frequently with the villainousRed Skull and other members of theAxis powers. In the war's final days, an accident left Captain America frozen in a state ofsuspended animation until he was revived in modern times. He resumes his exploits as a costumed hero and becomes the leader of the superhero team theAvengers, but frequently struggles as a "man out of time" to adjust to the new era.
The character quickly emerged as Timely's most popular and commercially successful wartime creation upon his original publication, though the popularity of superheroes declined in the post-war period andCaptain America Comics was discontinued in 1950. The character saw a short-lived revival in 1953 before returning to comics in 1964 and has since remained in continuous publication. Captain America's creation as an explicitlyanti-Nazi figure was a deliberately political undertaking: Simon and Kirby were stridently opposed to the actions ofNazi Germany and supporters of U.S. intervention in World War II, with Simon conceiving of the character specifically in response to the Americannon-interventionism movement. Political messages have subsequently remained a defining feature of Captain America stories, with writers regularly using the character to comment on the state of American society and government.
"It was a time of deep passion. Hitler was grabbing all of Europe, we had Nazis in America, Nazis holdingmass meetings in Madison Square Garden. [...] Captain America was created in that atmosphere, he was a natural outgrowth of the passionate mood of the country."
In 1940,Timely Comics publisherMartin Goodman responded to the growing popularity ofsuperhero comics – particularlySuperman at rival publisherNational Comics Publications, the corporate predecessor toDC Comics – by hiring freelancerJoe Simon to create a new superhero for the company.[2] Simon began to develop the character by determining who their nemesis could be, noting that the most successful superheroes were defined by their relationship with a compelling villain, and eventually settled onAdolf Hitler.[3][4] He rationalized that Hitler was the "best villain of them all" as he was "hated by everyone in the free world",[4] and that it would be a unique approach for a superhero to face a real-life adversary rather than a fictional one.[3][c]
This approach was also intentionally political. Simon was stridently opposed to the actions ofNazi Germany and supported U.S. intervention inWorld War II, and intended the hero to be a response to the Americannon-interventionism movement.[5] Simon initially considered "Super American" for the hero's name, but felt there were already multiple comic book characters with "super" in their names.[6] He worked out the details of the character, who was eventually named "Captain America", after he completed sketches in consultation with Goodman.[2] The hero's civilian name "Steve Rogers" was derived from the telegraphy term "roger", meaning "message received".[2]
Goodman elected to launch Captain America with his own self-titled comic book, making him the first Timely character to debut with his ownongoing series without having first appeared in ananthology.[4] Simon sought to haveJack Kirby be the primary artist on the series: the two developed a working relationship and friendship in the late 1930s after working together atFox Feature Syndicate, and had previously developed characters for Timely together.[7][8] Kirby also shared Simon's pro-intervention views, and was particularly drawn to the character in this regard.[4] Goodman, conversely, wanted a team of artists on the series. It was ultimately determined that Kirby would serve aspenciller, withAl Avison andAl Gabriele assisting asinkers;[4] Simon additionally negotiated for himself and Kirby to receive 25 percent of the profits from the comic.[9] Simon regards Kirby as a co-creator of Captain America, stating that "if Kirby hadn't drawn it, it might not have been much of anything."[4]
Captain America Comics #1 was published on December 20, 1940,[10] with acover date of March 1941.[11] While the front cover of the issue featured Captain America punching Hitler, the comic itself established theRed Skull as Captain America's primary adversary, and also introducedBucky Barnes as Captain America's teenagedsidekick.[12] Simon stated that he personally regarded Captain America'sorigin story, in which the frail Steve Rogers becomes asupersoldier after receiving an experimental serum, as "the weakest part of the character", and that he and Kirby "didn't put too much thought into the origin. We just wanted to get to the action."[4] Kirby designed the series' action scenes with an emphasis on a sense of continuity across panels, saying that he "choreographed" the sequences as one would a ballet, with a focus on exaggerated character movement. Kirby's layouts inCaptain America Comics are characterized by their distorted perspectives, irregularly shaped panels, and the heavy use ofspeed lines.[13]
The first issue ofCaptain America Comics sold out in a matter of days, and the second issue's print run was set at over one million copies.[14][15] Captain America quickly became Timely's most popular character, with the publisher creating an official Captain Americafan club called the "Sentinels of Liberty".[5][d] Circulation figures remained close to a million copies per month after the debut issue, which outstripped even the circulation of news magazines such asTime during the same period.[17]Captain America Comics was additionally one of 189 periodicals that theUS Department of War deemed appropriate to distribute to its soldiers without prior screening.[18] The character would also make appearances in several of Timely's other comic titles, includingAll Winners Comics,Marvel Mystery Comics,U.S.A. Comics, andAll Select Comics.[19]
Though Captain America was not the firstUnited States-themed superhero – a distinction that belongs toThe Shield atMLJ Comics[20] – he would become the most popular patriotic American superhero of those created during World War II.[21] Captain America's popularity drew a complaint from MLJ that the character's triangular heater shield too closely resembled the chest symbol of The Shield. This prompted Goodman to direct Simon and Kirby to change the design beginning withCaptain America Comics #2. The revised round shield went on to become an iconic element of the character;[20] its use as adiscus-like throwing weapon originated in a short prose story inCaptain America Comics #3, written byStan Lee in his professional debut as a writer.[22][23] Timely's publication ofCaptain America Comics led the company to be targeted with threatening letters and phone calls from theGerman American Bund, an American Nazi organization. When members began loitering on the streets outside the company's office, police protection was posted and New York mayorFiorello La Guardia personally contacted Simon and Kirby to guarantee the safety of the publisher's employees.[24]
Simon wrote the first two issues ofCaptain America Comics before becoming the editor for the series; they were the only Captain America stories he would ever directly write.[25] While Captain America generated acclaim and industry fame for Simon and Kirby, the pair believed that Goodman was withholding the promised percentage of profits for the series, prompting Simon to seek employment for himself and Kirby at National Comics Publications.[9] When Goodman learned of Simon and Kirby's intentions, he effectively fired them from Timely Comics, telling them they were to leave the company after they completed work onCaptain America Comics #10.[26] The authorship ofCaptain America Comics was subsequently assumed by a variety of individuals, includingOtto Binder,Bill Finger, andManly Wade Wellman as writers, and Al Avison,Vince Alascia, andSyd Shores as pencilers.[16]
Decline in popularity (mid-1940s and 1950s)
Superhero comics began to decline in popularity in the post-war period.[27] This prompted a variety of attempts to reposition Captain America, including having the character fight gangsters rather than wartime enemies inCaptain America Comics #42 (October 1944), appearing as a high school teacher inCaptain America Comics #59 (August 1946), and joining Timely's first superhero team, theAll-Winners Squad, inAll Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946).[16] The series nevertheless continued to face dwindling sales, andCaptain America Comics ended with its 75th issue in February 1950.[16]Horror comics were ascendant as a popular comic genre during this period; in keeping with the trend, the final two issues ofCaptain America Comics were published under the titleCaptain America's Weird Tales.[16]
Timely's corporate successorAtlas Comics relaunched the character in 1953 inYoung Men #24, where Captain America appears alongside the wartime heroesHuman Torch andToro, which was followed by a revival ofCaptain America Comics in 1954 written by Stan Lee and drawn byJohn Romita.[28] In the spirit of theCold War andMcCarthyism, the character was billed as "Captain America, Commie Smasher" and faced enemies associated with theSoviet Union.[29] The series was a commercial failure, and was cancelled after just three issues.[29] Romita attributed the series' failure to the changing political climate, particularly the public opposition to theKorean War; the character subsequently fell out of active publication for nearly a decade, with Romita noting that "for a while, 'Captain America' was a dirty word".[30]
Captain America made his ostensible return in the anthologyStrange Tales #114 (November 1963), published by Atlas' corporate successorMarvel Comics. In an 18-page story written by Lee and illustrated by Kirby,[e] Captain America reemerges following years of apparent retirement, though he is revealed as an impostor who is defeated byHuman Torch of theFantastic Four. A caption in the final panel indicates that the story was a "test" to gauge interest in a potential return for Captain America;[32] the reader response to the story was enthusiastic,[33] and the character was formally reintroduced inThe Avengers #4 (March 1964).[34]
The Avengers #4retroactively established that Captain America had fallen into theAtlantic Ocean in the final days of World War II, where he spent decades frozen in ice in a state ofsuspended animation before being found and recovered.[34][f] Captain America solo stories written by Lee with Kirby as the primary penciller were published in the anthologyTales of Suspense alongside solo stories focused on fellow Avengers memberIron Man beginning in November 1964; the character also appeared in Lee and Kirby's World War II-setSgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos beginning in December same year. These runs introduced and retroactively established several new companions of Captain America, includingNick Fury,Peggy Carter, andSharon Carter.[36]
In 1966, Joe Simon sued Marvel Comics, asserting that he was legally entitled torenew the copyright on the character upon the expiration of the original 28-year term. The two parties settled out of court, with Simon agreeing to a statement that the character had been created under terms of employment by the publisher, and was thereforework for hire owned by the company.[37] Captain America'sself-titled ongoing series was relaunched in April 1968, with Lee as writer and Kirby as penciller; Kirby later departed the series, and was replaced byGene Colan.[38] In 1969, writer and artistJim Steranko authoreda three-issue run ofCaptain America. Despite the brevity of Steranko's time on the series, his contributions significantly influenced how Captain America was represented in post-war comics, reestablishing the character'ssecret identity and introducing a more experimental art style to the series.[39][40]
Political shifts (1970s)
"This was the '70s – primeanti-war years – and here was a guy with a flag on his chest who was supposed to represent what most people distrusted. No one knew what to do with him."
In contrast to the character's enthusiastic participation in World War II, comics featuring Captain America rarely broached the topic of theVietnam War,[42] though the subject of Captain America's potential participation was frequently debated by readers in the letters to the editor section inCaptain America.[43] Marvel maintained a position of neutrality on Vietnam; in 1971, Stan Lee wrote in an editorial that a poll indicated that a majority of readers did not want Captain America to be involved in Vietnam, adding that he believed the character "simply doesn't lend himself to theJohn Wayne-type character he once was" and that he could not "see any of our characters taking on a role of super-patriotism in the world as it is today".[43]
Captain America stories in the 1970s began to increasingly focus on domestic American political issues, such as poverty, racism, pollution, and political corruption.[44][g]Captain America #117 (September 1969) introducedThe Falcon as the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books[46] and who would become Captain America's partner; the series was cover titled asCaptain America and the Falcon beginning February 1971, which it would maintain for the next seven and a half years.[47] These political shifts were significantly shaped by comics created by writerSteve Englehart and artistSal Buscema, who joined the series in 1972.[48][41] Ina 1974 storyline written by Englehart directly inspired by theWatergate scandal, Captain America is framed for murder by the fascisticSecret Empire, whose leader is ultimately revealed to be the president of the United States.[49] The incident causes a disillusioned Steve Rogers to briefly drop the moniker of Captain America to become "Nomad, the man without a country", though he later vowed to "reclaim the ideals of America, which its leaders have trampled upon" and again assumed the role of Captain America.[44] Englehart and Buscema's run was highly acclaimed, bringingCaptain America from one of Marvel's lowest-selling titles to its top-selling comic,[48][41] and the conflict between Americaas it idealizes itself to be and America in reality would recur frequently as a theme inCaptain America comics in the subsequent decades.[50]
In 1975,Roy Thomas created the comic book seriesThe Invaders. Set during World War II, the comic focuses on a superhero team composed of Timely's wartime-era superheroes, with Captain America as its leader; Thomas, a fan of stories from theGolden Age of Comic Books, drew inspiration for the series from Timely's All-Winners Squad.[51] Jack Kirby wrote and illustrated run onCaptain America and the Falcon from 1975 to 1977.[52] This was followed by issues authored by a number of writers and artists, including Roy Thomas,Donald F. Glut,Roger McKenzie, and Sal Buscema; the series was also re-titledCaptain America beginning with issue 223 in 1978.[53]
Post-Vietnam and "Heroes Reborn" (1980s and 1990s)
Owing to the series' lack of a regular writer,Captain America editorRoger Stern and artistJohn Byrne authored the series from 1980 to 1981. Their run that saw a storyline in which Captain America declines an offer to run for president of the United States.[54][55] Following Stern and Byrne,Captain America was authored by writerJ.M. DeMatteis and artistMike Zeck from 1981 to 1984.[56] Their run featured a year-long storyline in which Captain America faced a crisis of confidence in the face of what DeMatteis described as "ReaganCold War rhetoric".[56] The story was originally planned culminate inCaptain America #300 with Captain America renouncing violence to become apacifist; when that ending was rejected by Marvel editor-in-chiefJim Shooter, DeMatteis resigned fromCaptain America in protest.[57]
WriterMark Gruenwald, editor ofCaptain America from 1982 to 1985, served as writer on the series from 1985 to 1995. Various artists illustrated the series over the course of Gruenwald's decade-long run, includingPaul Neary from 1985 to 1987, andKieron Dwyer from 1988 to 1990.[56] In contrast to DeMatteis, Gruenwald placed less emphasis on Steve Rogers' life as a civilian, wishing to show "that Steve Rogers is Captain America first [...] he has no greater needs than being Captain America."[58] Among the most significant storylines appearing in Gruenwald's run was "The Choice" in 1987, in which Steve Rogers renounces the identity of Captain America to briefly become simply "The Captain" after the United States government orders him to continue his superheroic activities directly under their control.[59]
After Gruenwald departed the series, writerMark Waid and artistRon Garney began to authorCaptain America in 1995. Despite early acclaim, including the reintroduction of Captain America's love interest Sharon Carter, their run was terminated after ten issues as a result of Marvel's "Heroes Reborn" rebranding in 1996.[60] The rebrand saw artistsJim Lee andRob Liefeld, who had left the company in the early 1990s to establishImage Comics, return to Marvel to re-imagine several of the company's characters.[61] Marvel faced various financial difficulties in the 1990s, culminating in the company filing forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996,[62] and "Heroes Reborn" was introduced as part of an effort to increase sales.[63] As part of the rebrand, Liefeld illustrated and co-wrote withJeph Loeb a run onCaptain America that was ultimately cancelled after six issues.[63] Marvel stated that the series was cancelled due to low sales,[63] though Liefeld has contended that he was fired after he refused to take a lower pay rate amid Marvel's bankruptcy proceedings.[64] Waid would return toCaptain America in 1998, initially with Garney as artist and later withAndy Kubert.[60]
In 1999, Joe Simon filed to claim the copyright to Captain America under a provision of theCopyright Act of 1976 that allows the original creators of works that have been sold to corporations to reclaim them after the original 56-year copyright term has expired. Marvel challenged the claim, arguing that Simon's 1966 settlement made the character ineligible for copyright transfer. Simon and Marvel settled out of court in 2003, in a deal that paid Simon royalties for merchandising and licensing of the character.[37][65]
Modern era (2000s to present)
Writer and artistDan Jurgens took overCaptain America from Waid in 2000, positioning the character in a world he described as "more cynical [...] in terms of how we view our government, our politicians and people's motives in general".[66] In the wake of theSeptember 11 attacks, a newCaptain America series written byJohn Ney Rieber with artwork byJohn Cassaday was published under theMarvel Knights imprint from 2002 to 2003.[67] The series received criticism for its depiction of Captain America fighting terrorists modelled afterAl-Qaeda, though Cassady contended that the aim of the series was to depict "the emotions this hero was going through" in the wake of 9/11, and the "guilt and anger a man in his position would feel".[68]
In 2005, Marvel relaunchedCaptain America ina new volume written byEd Brubaker and illustrated bySteve Epting. The run saw the publication of "The Winter Soldier", which reintroduced Captain America'spreviously deceased partner Bucky Barnes as a brainwashed cybernetic assassin.[69] Contemporaneously, Captain America was a central character in the 2006crossover storyline "Civil War", written byMark Millar and penciled bySteve McNiven, which saw the character come into conflict with fellow Avengers member Iron Man over government efforts to regulate superheroes.[70] The character was killed in the 2007 storyline "The Death of Captain America" written by Brubaker,[69] which was accompanied by the miniseriesFallen Son: The Death of Captain America written by Jeph Loeb;[71] the character was later revived in the 2009 limited seriesCaptain America: Reborn.[72] Brubaker's run onCaptain America, which ran across various titles until 2012, was critically and commercially acclaimed;Captain America #25 (which contains the character's death) was the best-selling comic of 2007,[73] and Brubaker won theHarvey Award for Best Writer for the series in 2006.[74]
After Brubaker's run onCaptain America ended in 2012, a new volume of the series written byRick Remender was published as part of theMarvel Now rebranding initiative, which saw Sam Wilson assume the mantle of Captain America in 2014.[75] This was followed by a run written byNick Spencer beginning in 2016, in which Captain America was replaced by a version of himself later known as "Hydra Supreme", loyal to the villainous organizationHydra, culminating in the 2017 crossover eventSecret Empire.[76] As part of Marvel'sFresh Start rebrand in 2018, a newCaptain America series written byTa-Nehisi Coates with art byLeinil Francis Yu was published from 2018 to 2021.[77][78] A volume ofCaptain America written byJ. Michael Straczynski was published from September 2023 to December 2024,[79][80] followed by a new volume written byChip Zdarsky in July 2025.[81]
As of 2015[update], Captain America has appeared in more than ten thousand stories, including over 5,000 comic books, books, trade publications and other media formats.[82] The character'sorigin story has been retold and revised multiple times throughout his editorial history, though its broad details have remained generally consistent.[83] Steven "Steve" Rogers was born in the 1920s to an impoverished family on theLower East Side ofNew York City. The frail and infirm Rogers attempts to join theU.S. Army in order to fight in theSecond World War, but is rejected after being deemed unfit for military service.[84] His resolve is nevertheless noticed by the military, and he is recruited as the first test subject for "Project Rebirth", a secret government program that seeks to createsuper soldiers through the development of the "Super-Soldier Serum". Though the serum successfully enhances Rogers to the peak to human physical perfection, a Nazi spy posing as a military observer destroys the remaining supply of the serum and assassinatesits inventor, foiling plans to produce additional super soldiers. Rogers is given a patriotic uniform andshield by the American government and becomes the costumed superhero Captain America. He goes on to fight the villainousRed Skull and other members of theAxis powers both domestically and abroad, alongside his sidekickBucky Barnes and as a member of theInvaders. In the final days of the war, Rogers and Barnes seemingly perish after falling from an experimentaldrone plane into the northernAtlantic Ocean.[59]
Rogers is found decades later by the superhero team theAvengers, the Super-Soldier Serum having allowed him to survive frozen in a block of ice in a state ofsuspended animation.[59] Reawakened in modern times, Rogers resumes activities as a costumed hero, joining and later becoming leader of the Avengers.[85] Many of his exploits involve missions undertaken for the Avengers or forS.H.I.E.L.D., an espionage and international law enforcement agency operated by his former war comradeNick Fury. Through Fury, Rogers befriendsSharon Carter, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with whom he eventually begins a partnership and an on-again off-again romance. He meets and trainsSam Wilson, who becomes the superhero Falcon, and they establish an enduring friendship and partnership.[86] Aftera conspiracy hatched by theSecret Empire to discredit Rogers is revealed to have been personally orchestrated by the President of the United States, a disillusioned Rogers abandons the mantle of Captain America and assumes the title of "Nomad", the "man without a country".[87] He eventually re-assumes the title, and later declines an offer from the "New Populist Party" to run for president himself.[87] He again abandons the mantle of Captain America to briefly assume the alias of "The Captain" when agovernment commission orders him to work directly for the U.S. government.[88]
In the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attacks, Rogers reveals his secret identity to the world.[87] Following thedisbandment of the Avengers, he discovers thatBucky is still alive, having been brainwashed by the Soviets to become the Winter Soldier.[89] Later, in reaction togovernment efforts to regulate superheroes, Rogers becomes the leader of an underground anti-registration movement that clashes with a pro-registration faction led by fellow Avengers memberIron Man.[90] After significant rancor, he voluntarily surrenders and submits to arrest. At his trial, he isshot and killed by Sharon Carter, whose actions are manipulated by the villainousDr. Faustus; in his absence, a recovered Bucky assumes the title of Captain America.[91] It is eventually revealed thatRogers did not die, but became displaced in space and time; he is ultimately able to return to the present.[92] He resumes his exploits as a superhero, though his public identity is brieflysupplanted by a sleeper agent from the terrorist organizationHydra.[93]
Personality and motivations
"Rogers' transformation into Captain America is underwritten by the military. But, perhaps haunted by his own roots in powerlessness, he is a dissident just as likely to be feuding with his superiors in civilian and military governance as he is to be fighting with the supervillain Red Skull. [...] He is 'a man out of time,' a walking emblem ofgreatest-generation propaganda brought to life in this splintered postmodern time."
Steve Rogers' personality has shifted across his editorial history, a fact that media scholar J. Richard Stevens sees as a natural consequence of the character being written and re-interpreted by many writers over the span of multiple decades. However, Stevens identifies two aspects of the character's personality that have remained consistent across expressions: his "uncompromising purity" and "his ability to judge the character in others".[95] Early Captain America stories typically paid little attention to Rogers' civilian identity; in his 1970 bookThe Steranko History of Comics, Jim Steranko notes that the character was often criticized for being two-dimensional as a result. He argues that this was an intentional device, writing that these critics "failed to grasp the true implication of his being. Steve Rogers never existed, except perhaps as an abstract device for the convenience of storytelling. Captain America was not an embodiment of human characteristics but a pure idea."[96]
Following the character's return to comics in the 1960s, many stories gave increased focus to Rogers' civilian identity, particularly his struggles as a "man out of time" attempting to adjust to the modern era.[97] Often, stories depict a brooding or melancholic Rogers as he faces both a physical struggle as Captain America, and an ideological struggle as Steve Rogers to reconcile his social values with modern times.[98] The character is frequently conflicted by his World War II-era "good war" morality being challenged and made anachronistic by the compromising demands of the post-war era.[98][99]
Prior to Bucky Barnes' return to comics in the 2000s, many Captain America stories centered on Rogers' sense of guilt over Barnes' death. Culture scholar Robert G. Weiner argues that these stories mirror thepost-traumatic stress disorder andsurvivor guilt held by many war veterans, and that this trauma distinguishes the character from other well-known superheroes such asBatman andSpider-Man: while those characters became heroes because of a traumatic incident, Rogers carries on as a hero in spite of a traumatic incident, with Weiner asserting that this reinforces the nobility of the character.[100]
Political themes
Though Marvel has historically trended away from making overt partisan statements in the post-war period, writers have nevertheless used Captain America to comment on the state of American society and government at particular moments in history.[86] For example, the conspiracy storyline of "Secret Empire" reflected what writer Steve Englehart saw as broad disillusionment with American institutions in the wake of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal,[87] the "Streets of Poison" storyline by Mark Gruenwald in the 1990s was intended to address anxieties around thedrug trade and debates on thewar on drugs,[87] and "Civil War" by Mark Millar was widely interpreted as an allegory for thePatriot Act and post-9/11 debates on the balance between national security and civil liberties.[101] While the ideological orientation of Captain America stories has shifted in response to changing social and political attitudes, Stevens notes how a central component of Captain America's mythology is that the character himself does not change: when the character's attitudes have shifted, it is consistently framed as an evolution or a new understanding of his previously held ideals. Stevens argues that the character's seeming paradoxical steadfastness is reflective of "the language of comics, where continuity is continually updated to fit the needs of the serialized present."[102]
Despite his status as patriotic superhero, Captain America is rarely depicted as an overtlyjingoistic figure. Stevens writes that the character's "patriotism is more focused on the universal rights of man as expressed through theAmerican Dream" rather than "a position championing the specific cultural or political goals of the United States."[103] Weiner similarly concurs that the character "embodies what America strives to be, not what it sometimes is".[104] Dittmer agrees that while the character sees himself "as the living embodiment of the American Dream (rather than a tool of the state)",[105] his status as a patriotic superhero nevertheless tethers him to American foreign policy and hegemony.[106] He argues that Captain America tends to skew away from interventionist actions at moments where the United States is undertaking policies that its critics deem imperialist, specifically citing the character's non-participation in the Vietnam and Iraq wars,[107] and argues that the character's inconsistent position on the use of deadly force across his editorial history "is perhaps a tacit acknowledgment of the violence, or the threat of violence, at the heart of American hegemony."[108]
"Cap is one of the hardest hero characters to write, because the writer cannot use some exotic super-power to make his episodes seem colorful. [...] All he has to serve him are his extraordinary combat skills, his shield, and his unquenchable love for freedom and justice."
The Super-Soldier Serum has enhanced Captain America's strength, speed, agility, endurance, intelligence, reflexes, reaction time, and naturalself-healing ability to the peak of human physical perfection. His physical conditioning surpasses that of any Olympic athlete in history, including even the most highly trained elite competitors. Additionally, he is a master tactician and field commander, and a master of numerous forms of martial arts. His primary fighting styles includeboxing,judo, and his own unique acrobatic hand to hand combat style, though he is not limited to these. Combined with his physical prowess, gymnastic ability, and endurance, he is the ultimate human combatant and one of the greatest martial artists in the Marvel Universe.[110] The precise parameters of Captain America's physical prowess vary across stories due to editorial dictates and artistic license taken by authors; Steve Englehart was given an editorial order to give the charactersuperhuman strength in the 1970s, but the change did not remain permanent and was soon forgotten.[41] Steve Rogers is also a skilled visual artist, having worked as a commercial illustrator prior to joining the military, and several storylines have depicted the character working as a freelance artist.[111]
The basic design of Captain America's costume has remained largely consistent from its original incarnation in the 1940s. Designed by Joe Simon, the costume is based on theUnited States flag, with Simon likening the character's appearance to that of "a modern-day crusader": chain mail armor, and a helmet adorned with wings in reference to the Roman godMercury.[112] Steve Rogers has worn other costumes when he has adopted alternate superhero alter egos: as Nomad he wears adomino mask and a black and gold suit that is cut to expose his bare chest and stomach,[113] and as The Captain he wears a modified version of the Captain America suit with a red, white, and black design.[114]
Captain America's shield is the character's primary piece of equipment. It is around shield with a design featuring a white star on a blue circle surrounded by red and white rings. First appearing inCaptain America Comics #1 as a triangularheater shield, beginning inCaptain America Comics #2 it was changed to its current circular design due to a complaint fromMLJ Comics that the original design too closely resembled the chest symbol of their superheroThe Shield.[20] The shield is depicted as constructed from an alloy ofvibranium andadamantium, two highly resilientfictional metals appearing in Marvel comic books. It is portrayed as both a virtually indestructible defensive object and a highly aerodynamic offensive weapon: when thrown, it is capable of ricocheting off multiple surfaces and returning to the original thrower.[110]
Supporting cast
Sidekicks and partners
Captain America's firstsidekick wasBucky Barnes, introduced inCaptain America Comics #1 as the teenaged "mascot" of Steve Rogers' regiment. He is made Captain America's partner in that same issue after accidentally discovering the character's secret identity.[115] Joe Simon described Bucky's creation as being largely motivated by a need to give Captain America "someone to talk to" and avoid the overuse of dialogue delivered throughinternal monologue, noting that "Bucky was brought in as a way of eliminating too manythought balloons."[4] Bucky was retroactively established as having been killed in the same accident that left Captain America frozen in suspended animation; the character remained deceased for many decades, contrasting the typically ephemeral nature ofcomic book deaths,[116] until he returned in 2005 as the Winter Soldier. Initially introduced as a brainwashed assassin and antagonist to Captain America, Bucky's memories and personality were later restored, and he was re-established as an ally to Steve Rogers.[117]Rick Jones briefly assumed the role of Captain America's sidekick and the public identity of Bucky following Captain America's return to comics in the 1960s.[118][46]
In 1969,Sam Wilson was introduced as the superhero Falcon and later became Captain America's sidekick, making the characters the first interracial superhero duo in American comic books.[38] Possessing the power to communicate with birds, Wilson is initially depicted as a formersocial worker living inHarlem, though this identity is revealed to be the result of memories implanted by the Red Skull. He later receives a winged suit from the superheroBlack Panther that enables him to fly.[119] Other characters who have served as Rogers' sidekick includeGolden Girl (Betsy Ross),Demolition Man (Dennis Dunphy),Jack Flag (Jack Harrison), andFree Spirit (Cathy Webster).[118][120]
Over the course of several decades, writers and artists have established arogues' gallery ofsupervillains to face Captain America. The character's primary archenemy is theRed Skull, introduced from the character's origins as an apprentice toAdolf Hitler.[12][121] Just as Red Skull representsNazism, many of Captain America's villains represent specific ideologies or political formations: for example, theSerpent Society represents labor unionism, andFlag-Smasher representsanti-nationalism.[122] The political character of Captain America's enemies has shifted over time: the character fought enemies associated with communism during his brief revival in the 1950s[123] before shifting back to Nazi antagonists in the mid-1960s,[40] while comics since 9/11 have frequently depicted the character facing terrorist villains.[124]
Romantic interests
Steve Rogers' first love interest was Betsy Ross, introduced in his World War II-era comics as a member of theWomen's Army Corps who later became the costumed superhero Golden Girl.[125]Peggy Carter, an American member of theFrench Resistance, was retroactively established in comics published in the 1960s as another of Rogers' wartime lovers.[126] When Rogers is revived in the post-war era, he begins a partnership and on-again off-again relationship withS.H.I.E.L.D. agentSharon Carter; introduced as Peggy's younger sister, she was later retconned as Peggy's grandniece to reflect Marvel'sfloating timeline.[127] In comics published in the 1980s, Rogers dated and became engaged to civilianBernie Rosenthal, though they ended their relationship amicably after Bernie left New York to attend law school.[128] In the 1990s, Rogers had a romantic entanglement with the alternately villainous and antiheroicDiamondback, a member of theSerpent Society.[129]
The title of "Captain America" has been used by other characters in theMarvel Universe in addition to Steve Rogers, includingWilliam Naslund,Jeffrey Mace, andWilliam Burnside.[130]John Walker, also known as U.S. Agent, was introduced as a villainous Captain America in 1988,[131] andIsaiah Bradley was established in the 2003limited seriesTruth: Red, White & Black as an African American man who acquired superpowers after being used as a test subject for the Super-Soldier Serum.[132] Rogers' sidekicks Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson have also alternately held the title of Captain America: Barnes in 2008 followingRogers' death in 2007,[131] and Wilson during Marvel's 2012 rebranding campaignMarvel Now!, following Rogers’ loss of the Super Soldier serum.[133] Within themultiverse ofparallel universes that compose the Marvel Universe, there are many variations of Steve Rogers and Captain America; this includes Marvel'sUltimate Comics universe, which possessesits own version of Steve Rogers that is more overtly politically conservative.[134]
Cultural influence and legacy
"Over the years, Captain America's story has accurately reflected U.S. attitudes, as our country moved from the self-confidence of the early Cold War to the guilt-ridden angst of the 1970s to the revival of national pride that characterized the Reagan 1980s."
Captain America is one of the most popular and widely recognized Marvel Comics characters, and has been described as an icon ofAmerican popular culture.[136][83] He is the most well-known and enduring of theUnited States-themed superheroes to emerge from the Second World War[137][138] and inspired a proliferation of patriotic-themed superheroes in American comic books during the 1940s.[137] This included theAmerican Crusader, theSpirit of '76,Yank & Doodle,Captain Flag, andCaptain Courageous, among numerous others.[138] Though none would achieve Captain America's commercial success, the volume of Captain America imitators was such that three months after the character's debut, Timely published a statement indicating that "there is only one Captain America" and warning that they would take legal action against publishers that infringed on the character.[138] After being dismissed from Timely, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby would themselves create a new patriotic superhero, theFighting American, forPrize Comics in 1954;[139] the character became the subject of a lawsuit from Marvel in the 1990s after Rob Liefeld attempted to revive the character following his own departure from Marvel.[64]
When the character was killed in 2007, he was eulogized in numerous mainstream media outlets, includingThe New York Times[140] andThe Los Angeles Times,[135] with the former describing him as a "national hero".[140] In 2011, Captain America placed sixth onIGN's "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time",[141] and second in their 2012 list of "The Top 50 Avengers".[142]Gizmodo andEntertainment Weekly respectively ranked Captain America first and second in their 2015 rankings of Avengers characters.[143][144]Empire ranked Captain America as the 21st greatest comic book character of all time.[145]
^According to Simon, Goodman initially opposed using Hitler as a villain owing to the possibility of Hitler being killed prior to the release of the first issue.[4]
^Members of the Sentinels of Liberty received a membership card and a metal Captain America badge in exchange for a ten cent membership fee, though badge distribution was later discontinued due to wartimesalvage efforts; Timely instead began to match all ten cent donations made toUS Department of War.[16]
^Kirby returned to the company as a freelancer in 1956.[31]
^This revised backstory did not acknowledge stories set in the post-war period that had featured the character. These depictions would later be retconned as individuals who were not Steve Rogers assuming the role of Captain America; the 1950s "Commie Smasher" incarnation of the character, for example, was retconned as the villainousWilliam Burnside in the 1970s.[35]
^This shift was enabled by a change to theComics Code Authority in 1971; the code had previously prohibited "respected institutions" from being "presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority", but was revised to permit depictions of illegal acts by these institutions so long as the individual responsible was made to "pay the legal price" and the act itself was "declared as an exceptional case".[45]
References
^Nelson, Brian (December 1990). "Birth of a Legend: Jack Kirby Talks About Captain America".Marvel Age.1 (95): 9.ISSN8750-4367.
^abLovitz, Michael."The Struggle for Captain America".The Philadelphia Lawyer. Philadelphia Bar Association.Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. RetrievedAugust 6, 2013.
^Potter, Benny; Rumbles, Dan; Keen, Jason (2016).The Rise of Comic Book Movies: From the Pages to the Big Screen. Mango Media. pp. 119–120.ISBN978-1-63353-342-4.
Burnham, Jeff (2016). "The Primetime Heroics of Small Screen Avengers: Finding Sociopolitical Value in Marvel TV Movies". In Peaslee, Robert Moses; Weiner, Robert Jr. (eds.).Marvel Comics Into Film: Essays on Adaptations Since the 1940s.McFarland & Company. pp. 138–149.ISBN978-0-7864-4304-8.
Cronin, Brian (2009).Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed.Plume.ISBN978-0-452-29532-2.
Dalton, Russell W. (2011).Marvelous Myths: Marvel Superheroes and Everyday Faith. Chalice Press.ISBN9780827223608.
Lawrence, John Shelton (2009). "Foreword by John Shelton Lawrence". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 1–7.
Hayton, Christopher J.; Albright, David L. (2009). "O Captain! My Captain!". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 15–23.
Moser, John E. (2009). "Madmen, Morons, and Monocles: The Portrayal of the Nazis inCaptain America". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 24–35.
Hack, Brian E. (2009). "Weakness Is a Crime: Captain America and the Eugenic Ideal in Early Twentieth-Century America". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 79–89.
Weiner, Robert G. (2009). "Sixty-Five Years of Guilt Over the Death of Bucky". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 90–100.
Walton, David (2009). "'Captain America Must Die': The Many Afterlives of Steve Rogers". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 160–175.
Cunningham, Phillip L. (2009). "Stevie's Got a Gun: Captain America and His Problematic Use of Lethal Force". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 176–189.
Steinmetz, Christian (2009). "A Genealogy of Evil: Captain America vs. the Shadows of the National Imagined Community". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 190–203.
Scott, Cord; Weiner, Robert (2009). "A Selected Filmographic Essay". In Weiner, Robert (ed.).Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays. pp. 218–226.
Weiner, Robert G. (2013). "Captain America". In Duncan, Randy; Smith, Matthew J. (eds.).Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman.ABC-CLIO. pp. 101–111.ISBN9780313399244.
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