The Creation and Origin of Captain america
Captain America represents all that is good in America. But when was Captain America first created? Why was he such a success, and why is he still popular today?
According to Comic Vine, Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby "as a response to the booming popularity of patriotically themed super heroes in the 1940's. He was preceded by a few other patriotic heroes, including Archie Comics' "Shield", but as we can see, Captain America came out on top of them all.
Captain America certainly was a product of his time. He was created just after the beginning of World War II and was heavily influence by the dealings of that time. As the Wikipedia article on Captain America states, "Simon said Captain America was a consciously political creation; he and Kirby were morally repulsed by the actions of Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the United States' involvement in World War II and felt war was inevitable: "The opponents to the war were all quite well organized. We wanted to have our say too." And they certainly did have their say as the enemies Captain America faced were nearly always political figures and current enemies of America at the time. The first cover of Captain America featured him punching Hitler in the face. Wikipedia also says that in his adventures, "Captain America faced Nazis, Japanese, and other threats to wartime America and the Allies."
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According to Comic Vine, Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby "as a response to the booming popularity of patriotically themed super heroes in the 1940's. He was preceded by a few other patriotic heroes, including Archie Comics' "Shield", but as we can see, Captain America came out on top of them all.
Captain America certainly was a product of his time. He was created just after the beginning of World War II and was heavily influence by the dealings of that time. As the Wikipedia article on Captain America states, "Simon said Captain America was a consciously political creation; he and Kirby were morally repulsed by the actions of Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the United States' involvement in World War II and felt war was inevitable: "The opponents to the war were all quite well organized. We wanted to have our say too." And they certainly did have their say as the enemies Captain America faced were nearly always political figures and current enemies of America at the time. The first cover of Captain America featured him punching Hitler in the face. Wikipedia also says that in his adventures, "Captain America faced Nazis, Japanese, and other threats to wartime America and the Allies."
Back to Captain America
Sources