Captain America: History of a Supersoldier

Appearing in the comic books published by the Marvel Comics, Captain America was created back in the 1940s. He was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Timely Comics. With his American flag motif on his costume and indestructible shield, he is a symbol of patriotism. The first comic books in which Captain America appeared were published during World War II. At that time, he was one of the most popular characters, selling nearly one million copies as soon as the first issue of Captain America Comics. Plus, he is the first superhero to appear for the first time in a comic book named after him.

Captain America is an impressive character which brought many things to the world of superheroes. He is indeed one of the first Marvel Comics characters to appear in another medium. With the release of the 1944 movie serial Captain America, the character reached a larger audience than other superheroes of that time. Even now, Cap is one of the most famous superheroes from the Marvel Comics and his story has been adapted to different media, from television to cinema. Let’s go through the evolution from the World War II super soldier to the leader of the Avengers.

His creation

Joe Simon created the concept of Captain America in 1940. The project got accepted by Martin Goodman, the publisher of Timely Comics, and Joe got the help of his regular creative artist to work on the design of the character. Both say that they invented Captain America as a consciously political creation. They were morally disgusted by the actions of Nazi Germany. In a way to fight alongside their country, they created this righteous patriotic soldier to fight the threats to wartime America.

This super soldier got these incredible abilities after participating in a science experiment. Indeed, Steve Rogers is a young man horrified by the atrocity of the war and tries to enlist in order to fight for his country. He is rejected because of his frail body. But his determination is heard by a scientist that offer him to participate in the operation called Operation Rebirth. He got injected a super-soldier-serum that transforms the small Steve Rogers into the strong Captain America.

His disappearance

After his transformation, the character went through a hard physical and tactical training program in order to become the leader and fighter he has become. The comic books in which Captain America appeared were published many times during the war. The readers could discover the fights of Captain America against the Axis Power of World War II. Many superheroes were introduced just before and during the war. But Captain America is one of the most prominent and enduring ones. He even got a fan club named the “Sentinels of Liberty”.

But, with the end of the war, the popularity of superheroes faded away. Even if Captain could be seen in a few issues, the character soon disappeared from the Timely Comics for some time. A few revivals have been attempted without great success.

His return

The character is finally revived in the fourth issue of the Avengers. The story tells that the character had disappeared after a plane crash in the North Atlantic Ocean at the end of World War II. During decades, he was frozen in a block of ice in a state of suspended animation. Revived, the superhero takes part in the team as their first recruit. A new generation of reader discovered this character. Soon, Captain America became the leader of the superhero team. His leadership is shown on the battlefield in which he usually gives the order to other, no matter who was the actual leader of the team at that time.

Captain America is a hero full of right values. Ever since his return as the leader, he has remained in publication and has become one of the most popular superheroes from the Marvel Comics. So popular that he is featured in many awesome Captain America T-shirts.