Captain America: From Humble Beginnings, a Hero is Born

When you think Marvel Comics, what comes to mind? These days, it’s probably the Avengers, thanks to their most recent movie that broke every single box office record that stood before it. Today, we take a look at the first Avenger, Captain America!

Captain America was created entirely by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Timely Comics in 1940, and published in 1941. It’s very hard to understate how huge the two have been for the comic industry; as a team, the two created tons of content for Harvey comics and National Comics (one of DC’s predecessors) in the 1940s and 1950s, and would later work together in the 70s at DC on several bizarre works. Jack Kirby, of course, made just about half of the entire Marvel universe in the 1960s and 1970s with Stan Lee, and is a heavyweight creator in his own right. So, did these two together make a classic?

Well, seeing how we’re quickly closing in on Cap's 80th birthday? Yeah.

I absolutely love this cover. The art, by both Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, is utterly fantastic. I mean, it is hard to trump punching Hitler in the jaw, but the colors and inks really make this cover pop like few other things of the era. Sadly, there is no actual Hitler punching in this comic.

Also, Bucky is introduced right away. It’s amusing that Batman has already had such an impact on the comics world, even back then. Bucky is a little less effective than Robin, sadly, but he does try.

...wow, this cover page has not aged well. I have nothing but respect for Jack and Joe, but can’t help but wonder if this is an example of artists not complementing one another quite well enough in action. Yes, this is 1940, but that doesn’t mean that comic art was horrible or even bad. Of course, eagle-eyed readers might also notice that Captain America’s shield is the one from his time in the movies as a propagandist, only the one in the movie looked a little better. Amusingly, it would be replaced by issue 3 with his more familiar rounded shield. You see, Timely got sued by Pep Comics (now Archie Comics) for using the exact same shield design as their patriotic superhero, The Shield. Whoops.

The splash page also gives us the start of the story, an oddity of the time. As it turns out, while young Americans are starting to volunteer to defend America, foreign spies are starting to sabotage our self-defense efforts. Complete with a misspelling of “Fürher.” I love it.

And by sabotage, we mean “blowing up everything in sight.” Sheesh. The army is apparently useless at stopping these stereotypical villains, and two of the generals go to President Roosevelt to complain.

President Roosevelt plays no games, and I love it. It’s also a sweet burn against those guys down the hall. The president introduces J Arthur Grover, a spoof on J Edgar Hoover who never shows up again. However, he has a special plan. Like in the original Captain America movie, they all pile into a single car and drive to a shabby apartment district and enter a curio shop.

Inside, they find a myriad of wonders!

Like Cyclops working on a massive can of bug spray.Like Cyclops working on a massive can of bug spray.

That's right, the President has been funneling cash to a top-secret laboratory! And deep inside this lab, a mad scientist has been using these funds for his research. But only now are these plans coming to fruition. You see, the testing is in the final stages, and they need a human guinea pig. Enter: the young STEVEN ROGERS!

"You're not allergic to anything are y- well, too late now."

Or not. You see, unlike comics (and their movie re-imaginings) now, comics back then often didn't give two figs about the names of the heroes before they became a hero. Some rare comics, like Fox Publication’s Stardust the Super Wizard, didn’t even give them a name beyond their heroic identity. Origin stories often amounted to "here's Bob Johnson, now he has powers and chooses to fight crime.” Hell, Batman was probably the deepest origin of any hero of the time, with having an actual motivation beyond "crime fighting is awesome" or "Nazis are stupid." And sadly, Cap isn't much different right now.

Our nameless blonde guy, who totally isn't our hero because he doesn't have muscles or a name, is quickly jabbed with a needle. Our nameless mad scientist is also a lot more calm than I'd expect from someone given massive amounts of government funding and what seems like free reign to do whatever the heck he wants. Ah, such a simpler time.

You might also notice the complete lack of being German. Or having a name. Well, our good Doctor here is nothing short of a walking plot device. Honestly, it works. After all, going back to Batman, the guy who killed Batman’s parents didn’t have a name for years. But enough of the speculation, the blonde guy is getting a backstory!

Ladies and gentlemen, Captain America's ENTIRE backstory.

Yep. That's it.

Steven Rogers, a pale thin blonde guy, was rejected for being pale, thin and blonde and so he decided to become a human guinea pig. I think. This is all that is ever said of Steve Rogers’ history before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought the guy back to join the Avengers over 20 years later. Also, he's glowing because the SCIENCE serum injected into him is totally working right now.

STEROIDS! They do a body good!

And so, the wussy pale blonde man has... a second pair of pectorals, it seems. Does this mean his torso randomly mutated and sprouted another set of pecs, a bigger pair of arms and a stronger-looking head and a random shirt? He wasn’t wearing a shirt before he got that injection! I mean, wow, that's not normal anatomy. It looks like he's a rejected He-Man villain - MAN-E-PECS or something. That's just wrong.

Still, I suppose this was a success, considering he didn't just drop dead. Proud of his achievement, Professor Doughface gladly gives his creation a name:

Well, better than MAN-E-PECS, I suppose.

And so, Captain America is born! And he shall join his other Steroid-Infused-Mutant-Bretheren in romping across Europe, taking the Nazis do-

Farewell, Professor Plot Device. You shall be missed

Oh, he got a name. As he died. Well, at least our origin story technically ends with something Captain America will become known for:

Aw yeah.

The actual comic isn’t done yet, though. You see, Joe and Jack quickly spill that Captain America becomes the nation’s number one spy buster. As the USA wasn’t part of World War 2 yet, Joe and Jack had to make it at least slightly realistic. Also, his identity is kept a secret from everyone. There’s no established reason for doing so, but almost everyone else has one so to heck with it. Secret identity it is. And like any good secret identity, Captain America needs an actual name:

Wait... 'Mascot'? Really? Since when did the army have Mascots?

Only on the second-to-last page do our duo of Simon and Kirby see fit to toss our Patriotic Hero a name: Steve Rogers. And our introduction to Bucky is just not that great. He's basically a glorified fanboy right now, saying phrases like "Gosh golly, gee whiz!" and so on. I just can't reconcile the Winter Soldier using those words, honestly. But Bucky's not yet an underage sidekick yet, so let's push on to the last half-page!

Ah. There we go. Child endangerment, the best sort of American pastime. And, of course, now that the Child Friendly Daydream Character is added, Captain America is truly a hero of the Golden Age of comics! Because children don't want to dream of being Captain America, god no! They want to be the kid who's always being captured!

Still, for an origin? That's not too bad. It's short, but I've honestly seen worse. Oh, and now you, too, can join the SENTINELS OF LIBERTY!

Really was a simpler time, wasn’t it? At least in terms of being a comics fan anyway. This comic also had four stories total, including the first ever appearance of the Red Skull. Look for him sometime in the future.

Captain America would, contrary to the movies and current comic continuity, live well past World War 2 as a hero thanks to some truly incredible comic sales for the time. Like, comics selling in the millions of copies. Instead of fading out with the war, he began fighting Communists and his comic was cancelled due to low sales in 1950. At the time, superhero comics just weren’t selling anymore, often considered children’s fare or wartime oddities.

Timely Comics would later evolve into Marvel Comics with the launch of Fantastic Four #1, and Stan Lee would helm (with the likes of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and the rest of the Marvel Bullpen) the company to the bizarre heights they’ve reached now using new superheroes, fashioned with flaws and drama gleaned from the other comics of the time that were so popular.

Captain America would himself also return, for Avengers #4, where he would literally be pulled from limbo back into the comic world, with his post-WWII adventures ignored for a long time. That, too, is another story.