LEGENDARY HEROES

CAPTAIN AMERICA

In 1940 writer Joe Simon came up with the idea of Captain America and drew a rough sketch of the character.  Beneath it he wrote "Super American", but thought there were too many heroes with Super in their name.  Captain America had a nice ring to it and Simon opted for that.  Martin Goodman, publisher of Timely Comics, gave Simon the go-ahead for a solo comic book series to be published ASAP.  Simon turned to his regular partner, artist Jack Kirby, and the two of them produced the contents of an entire comic book.  Captain America #1, cover dated March 1941, went on sale December 20, 1940 and sold almost a million copies.  This was one year before America was drawn into the Second World War and the cover of the comic book showed Captain America punching Hitler in the face.  While most readers responded favorably some took objection.  Simon and Kirby received threatening letters and hate mail.  One must keep in mind that there were German-American Bunds who embraced the Nazi party and Hitler at this time, as well as controversial commentators on the radio like Father Coughlin.  Menacing groups of people began loitering on the sidewalk outside of Timely Comics' offices, and the threats became so serious that police protection was posted by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.  The mayor called Simon and Kirby to tell them that he supported them.

In the origin story Steve Rogers is a tall, scrawny young man who is deeply disturbed by what is going on in Europe and tries to enlist in the U.S. Army.  He is rejected because of his frailty but his resolute attempt to enlist is recognized by an army General in charge of Project Rebirth, a top secret effort to produce an army of "super soldiers".  Steve Rogers is given a serum that enhances all of his metabolic functions.  He's able to bench press 1100 pounds, run a mile in less than a minute, and has reflexes fast enough to dodge bullets.  The scientist who invented the serum is killed by a Nazi agent and Steve Rogers is the only super soldier to be created.  Rogers dons a costume with an American flag motif, takes the name Captain America, and wages war against the Axis powers.  His only weapon is a near-indestructible shield that he also uses as a projectile.  He faces many foes but his number one archenemy is the Red Skull.  Rogers conceals his super soldier identity by assuming the role of a clumsy infantry soldier stationed at Camp Lehigh in Virginia.  He befriends the camp mascot, a young teen named "Bucky" Barnes who becomes Captain America's sidekick.

Stanley Lieber, now better known as Stan Lee, in his first professional job as a writer contributed to Captain America #3.  Circulation remained at close to a million issues a month, outselling established magazines like Time, and soon Captain America had a fan club that called themselves the Sentinels of Liberty.  Simon and Kirby worked on Captain America through issue #10, then they went to work at DC Comics and Al Avison and Syd Shores took over the title.  In addition to his own title Captain America also appeared in four other Timely features - All Winners Comics, Marvel Mystery Comics, USA Comics, and All Select Comics.  Captain America was Timely's most popular hero throughout the entire war.  But with the end of the war the popularity of superheroes was waning as readers were more interested in horror and crime comics.  Captain America comics ran until issue #73 in July 1949 then changed its name to Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, becoming a horror anthology without Captain America.  Then it ceased publication.  Timely became Atlas Comics in November 1951, and attempted to revive their superhero titles in December 1953.  This was a failure and Captain America was cancelled again with issue #78 in September 1954.  Atlas went under in 1957 and became Marvel Comics in 1961.  Captain America was formally reintroduced in Avengers #4 in March 1964 where it was explained that in the final days of WWII Captain America had survived a plane explosion over the North Atlantic and plunged into the frigid waters to be frozen in ice, spending two decades in suspended animation.  Captain America became a hero haunted by past memories trying to adapt to 1960s society.

In 1966 Joe Simon sued Marvel Comics, asserting that he - not Marvel - was legally entitled to renew the character copyright upon expiration of the original 28-year term.  He settled out of court with Marvel but then sued them again in 1999.  The case was finally settled in 2003 with a deal that paid Simon royalties for merchandising and licensing use of the character.

In 1944 Republic Pictures made a 15-chapter serial of Captain America with Dick Purcell as the costumed hero and Lionel Atwill as his enemy The Scarab.  The serial had the distinction of being the most expensive serial ever made at Republic.  It was budgeted at $182,623 and ended up costing $222,906.  Filming took place from October 12 to November 24, 1943.  Republic was notorious for making changes in their adaptations of comic characters, and in their version of Captain America he is really District Attorney Grant Gardner, and instead of carrying his iconic shield this Captain America packed a gun.  Timely was unhappy with the omission of Steve Rogers and their hero using a gun, but Republic responded that they were under no contractual obligation to do so.  Captain America would next appear in 1966 as an animated cartoon on the "Marvel Super Heroes" TV series.  In 1979 CBS aired two live-action made-for-TV movies, both starring Reb Brown as Captain America.  The first aired on January 19, 1979 with a sequel on November 23.  In this version Steve Rogers is a contemporary character whose father was the original Captain America.  

In 1985 a musical of the character was planned for Broadway, but it never premiered.  Despite the show never opening recordings of the score have recently surfaced.  The first feature length film of Captain America was finally made in 1990 with Matt Salinger in the title role.  The movie depicted the creation of Captain America from weak Steve Rogers, his battle during WWII with the Red Skull, and his being frozen in ice for decades.  It was intended for a theatrical release but at the last minute became a Direct-to-Video feature and a major critical failure.  It wasn't until 2011 and the release of "Captain America: The First Avenger" with Chris Evans that Marvel saw a successful version of their hero on screen.  The movie followed the comic book storyline very closely and was well received by fans and critics alike, launching a film franchise.  A 13-foot, one ton bronze statue of Captain America was unveiled in Brooklyn's Prospect Park and dedicated on August 10, 2016...and then was moved to the Bed, Bath & Beyond Complex at Industry City.