Matthew Stebbins

Professor Kashtan
ENG 112
11/9/15

Captain America: Half History, Half Story

Comic books have been a staple of american history since their golden age between 1938
and 1956. They have brought joy and excitement to everyone from the ages of eight to eighty.
They ushered in a new era of reading, conveying messages and ways to be entertained. Comics
allowed authors and illustrators to collaborate, tell a story and provide a new way to enjoy
literature. Comics may have started out being comedic and light-hearted, but they have
progressed and evolved into more meaningful pieces of writing. Nowadays you can read comics
ranging from politics to wars from the middle ages. One comic that has drastically changed
throughout history is the Captain America comics. The Captain America comics were originally
intended to cheer up and bring faith and joy to Americans during World War II. Since then, the
Captain America comics have drifted away from that original meaning into a completely
different story. I believe that the Captain America comics have slowly changed their historical
and cultural context as time progressed to continue to stay relevant and be able to relate to
current events and issues.
Before discussing the changes that the Captain America comic has made it is important to
first understand the history of the comic. The comic was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in
1940. Originally Joe Simon thought that there were too many supers in the comic book
industry at the time and that Captain America had a fresher and better ring to it (Fichera).
Originally Joe Simon named the character Super American, but Jack Kirby was the one to
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name the character officially, however in the end they both ended up taking credit for the
characters creation. When Captain America first came onto the scene he had a sidekick named
Bucky. They chose the name Bucky because Joe Simon had a friend on his high school
basketball team named Bucky. However, the character Bucky was discarded and the Captain
America sidekick is unbeknownst to the greater American population. When the first comic was
released in March of 1941 it featured Captain America punching Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler in the
jaw(Marvel Directory). This is still today considered one of the most iconic comic book covers
today given its obvious opposition to the war and Nazi Germany. Many believe that the instant
success to the Captain America comic is because of this cover. Perhaps the unpopularity
revolving around Hitler launched the popularity of this comic. The first issue of Captain America
sold more than one million copies which was unheard of at the time of the release (Marvel
Directory). Captain Americas fame climaxed during World War II, yet began to fade as that war
time era came to an end.
The Captain America comic was cancelled after issue 75 in 1950 due to its decline in
popularity and its shift away from war time stories. When the issue was cancelled the comic had
adapted to being called Captain Americas Weird Tales(Variant Comics). At this point in the
comic, Captain America was fighting strange creatures and clearly veered off from its original
meaning and story. In 1954 the comic attempted a comeback with the 76 issue. However, the
return was short lived and the comic was discontinued once again after issue 78. The comic
would make another triumphant return almost a decade later in 1964. This pattern of being
discontinued and brought back was not uncommon in the comic world and happened quite
frequently. I believe that Captain America was most likely cancelled after World War II because

the American people did not want to read about Hitler anymore, thus why Captain America
started to drift away from its original meaning. Readers of the comic can become bored if the
material of the comic is too repetitive and is not exciting anymore. I know that I have felt that
way about books before and I can imagine after 60 issues or so the authors start to run out of
ideas to keep it interesting. Especially given that it was based off of a true event, Nazi Germany,
it limits the writers ability to stray too far from actuality. One of the most intriguing features
about the Captain America comics was the relatability to the readers about who Captain America
was during such a difficult time in our nations history and when that period ended, essentially so
did Captain America.
Superheroes often have a second identity that is unknown to the public. Captain America
was no exception to this, but his secret identity is no longer a secret. Steve Rogers was a
scrawny fine arts student growing up during the Great Depression. His alcoholic father died
when Steve was a child, and his mother passed away from pneumonia after he graduated high
school. In early 1940, appalled at Nazi Germanys horrific atrocities, Steve attempted to enlist in
the army. Failing to pass physical requirements, he was invited to volunteer for Operation:
Rebirth, a project intended to enhance US soldiers to the height of physical perfection via the
inventions and discoveries of Professor Abraham Erskine(Fishera). This is the beginning of
Captain America and although Rogers was not the most physically fit and athletic person for the
army, he did have the intellectual smarts and moral character to be the perfect person for
Erskines experiment. Rogers was exposed to Vita-Rays that helped him increase the muscle
mass and physical strength of his body. Professor Erskine was assassinated, which left Rogers
being the only one that had been exposed to the professors experiment and chemicals. When

Rogers was shipped out to war he was used for both counter-intelligence and a symbolic US hero
to work against the Nazis propaganda (Marvel). Rogers internal conflict revolves around
wanting to do everything to help the US win the war yet, feeling under used given his untapped
potential. Rogers involvement in the war marks the factual difference between real life events
and the comic events. In real life ordinary citizens would not learn about the internal conflict that
goes on in a soldiers mind. They would merely learn about what base was conquered today and if
we are winning or losing the war. The Captain America series needed to keep readers attached
and one way to do that is through emotional attachment. The series does a good job of adding
this feature to their story to keep readers interested, even though this would not happen in a real
life journal or story.
Captain America started out fighting real life characters and this is shown in the first
issue where he battles Hitler. Even though he is fictional, he represents the domination over
Hitler and Nazi Germany. The Captain America comics used a lot of real information from World
War II, but as the war came to an end and all the major
battles had been fought, they needed to create a new
villain that Captain America would continue to fight.
They came up with the creation of Red Skull and he
has been one of Captain Americas biggest
adversaries. In addition, as the World War II story
progresses an organization called Hydra enters, which
is run by The Red Skull. In the closing days of
Captain America battles Red Skull.
(Fichera)

World War II in early 1945, Cap broke through Nazi

troops for his final wartime confrontation with the Red Skull, who was seemingly slain by
bombing debris (but lived on in suspended animation) (Marvel). This may have been great for
the continuation of the Captain America comic through the end of World War II, but the new
storyline started to cloud what is actual history and what is fiction. I think that the Captain
America comic should have figured out a way to continue the comic without having to make up
false information.
The Captain America comic started off with historical and factual based evidence about
World War II. It is known that the creation of Captain America didnt actually exist and he is a
fictional character, but that does not give the authors the freedom to choose which history they
should include and which they passover. Many children at the time were reading these comic
books and listening to the news about World War II simultaneously. They may not have known
the difference between what was fictional and what was actually happening in the war, but
Captain American provided them with some insight. In a world where students encounter all
sorts of information from various types of media, responsible teachers will seek to find ways to
connect the world they encounter outside of school to the world they encounter in the
classroom(Pifel). Although parts of the Captain America are real, the teachers generally
encouraged their students to stay away from comics because they weren't the most factual pieces
of literature to educate them on current events.
Nowadays with comics becoming mainstream and more popular teachers have changed
their view on how they feel about comics. Comic books are now being used to teach history and
Katherine Aiken writes an article about how comic books can be used in such ways. In my
classes I like to focus on three of the most popular superheros of all time in order to suggest

ways in which they provide insights into shifting historical contexts and ongoing
themes (Aiken). The viewpoint and opinions of comics as unreliable sources of information are
changing and they are being used to show historical and cultural context. With illustrations
included it helps to convey the stories happening in our past. Aiken says that she uses three of the
most popular superheroes to discuss the history. This allows her to talk about the history from
three different perspectives and it also may give her three different view points to look at history
from. Captain America only focuses on his story line and does not interact with anyone that is
not important to developing his character. Therefore you only receive one view point instead of
being able to look at three. I agree with Aiken and that using comics helps teach students and
children about history and different cultural events as long as you have multiple comics and
multiple viewpoints in attempts to eliminate biased perspectives.
The United States political system has been affected by the characters in comic books in
recent years which leads to many readers of comics assuming that certain comics imply different
political views and opinions. The late former Alaskan senator Ted Stevens would gear up for
contentious battles on the Senate floor by
donning an Incredible Hulk tie, a not-soveiled threat of the consequences of making
him angry(Costello). Stevens faced much
criticism because of the way he talked about
issues while acting like the comic book
character, the incredible hulk. This lead to

Senator Ted Stevens wearing his iconic,

Hulk tie during a meeting on the senate floor.
(Crowley)

critics talking about other comic book

characters and how they relate to politics and how do their actions reflect their political stance.
Captain America was immediately known as the commie smasher and his views were
speculated as being on the side of everything american and we must destroy everything that is
not american. Obviously this idea is extremely outrageous and that is not what Captain America
represents, but it does show how chaotic and extreme the american people can interpret comic
books. Captain America was a seemly straight forward character with the simple aspirations of
helping defeat the Nazis in World War II. The american population can manipulate even the
simplest actions and themes presented in Captain America to fit any ideology that they want to
argue about.
Captain America is currently one of the most popular superheroes and recently went
through a change in who is Captain America. The new Captain America is an african american
man by the name Sam Wilson. I believe that this change is not a coincidence and that the change
was made to allow the comic reflect the current state of our country. There is a lot of unrest and
disaster that has occurred between police and african americans, especially in Ferguson Missouri.
Overall the Captain America series has always tried to depict the historical context on its story
accurately even though it became more fictional as World War II came to an end. Captain
America did face some difficult times and had to make fictional changes to events to keep the
audience intrigued and it worked for a while before they had to cancel the comic. Captain
America showed the comic book community that you do not need to make up a story to make a
good comic book. The Captain America comic book series took real historical events and turned
them into something that grabbed thousands of readers attention. In the end, Captain America did

eventually make changes to their story to keep the readers interested, but they tried their best to
keep it true to form for the longest amount of time and for that, I applaud them.

Works Cited
Aiken, Katherine G. "Superhero History: Using Comic Books To Teach U.S. History." OAH
Magazine Of History 24.2 (2010): 41. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
Crowley, Michael. "Remembering Ted Stevens: Alaskan Icon and Self-Declared S.O.B.
TIME.com." Swampland Remembering Ted Stevens Alaskan Icon and SelfDeclared SOB
Comments. Time Magazine, 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Fichera, Mike, and Judy Stephens. "Captain America (Steve Rogers) - Marvel Universe Wiki:
The Definitive Online Source for Marvel Super Hero Bios." Marvel Universe Wiki RSS.
Marvel, June 2007. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
MARVEL, Five Fabulous Decades Of The World's Greatet Comics, p. 43., Captain America
Profile. 1991 Marvel Entertainment Group. Published by Harry N. Abrams Inc. Times
Mirror.
Marvel Directory. "Captain America." Captain America. Dewahost, n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
Pifel, Andrew R. "Spandex And Civics: What Can Captain America Teach Us About History?."
Ohio Social Studies Review 46.2 (2010): 13-19. Education Research Complete. Web. 12
Oct. 2015.
Variant Comics. "History Of Captain America!" YouTube. YouTube, 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Oct.
2015.