For almost eighty years, Captain America has represented the ideal in a uniquely American genre. He's been frozen, unfrozen, he's died, he's come back to life, he's been other people, and other people have been him. With all that in mind, it's good to take a look back to see where it all began for Steve Rogers.
Captain America is a true timeless hero, outliving his initial great success in the Golden Age for resurrections in comics in the Silver Age and on the big screen for the MCU. Here are ten things people don't know about the origin of Captain America.
10 Super American
When fabled comics artist Joe Simon first drew up Captain America, he labeled him 'Super American.' At the time - 1940 - everything and everyone was super in comic books, thanks to a little known guy named Superman.
But Simon wasn't too happy with the name, as there were too many 'supers' in comics as it was. He preferred Captain America since it had a nice ring to it and there were few Captains in comic books at the time. With that, history was made.
9 But There Was A Super American!
Nothing is in good in comic books if it's not copied by someone else and that was the case with the name Super America. Fight Comics introduced the very patriotic-themed hero who fights Nazis in 1941, a few short months after the highly successful debut of Captain America in Captain America Comics #1 in December 1940. But wait - Super American was from the future who came back to stop the Nazis. So it's ok. He's different. And not like Captain America at all.
8 Boy Companion
One aspect in which Captain America followed the Golden Age template was in the inclusion of the 'boy companion,' a sidekick who essentially served as the audience surrogate for the otherwise god-like heroes. Robin had proven very successful in this regard with Batman after in his introduction in April of 1940, so the idea to pair Steve Rogers with a similar character was likely on Simon's mind. Simon said he named Bucky Barnes after the star of his high school basketball team.
7 Very Timely
Most people think of Captain America as synonymous with Marvel Comics. But for the first two decades and change of his publication history, he was published by the company's forerunners. Captain America debuted from Timely Comics. Timely did very well through the 40s, but as the superhero genre suffered in popularity after World War II, so did the fortunes of the company.
They became Atlas Comics, focusing on romance books and pretty much everything but superheroes, until the 60s, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought them roaring back with the Fantastic Four.
6 King Kirby
Joe Simon came up with the concept of Captain America, but he's credited to both Simon and Jack Kirby, and for good reason. Much of the character's iconic look comes courtesy of Kirby, who almost wasn't even going to draw the character. Simon had originally intended for a pair of other artists working his stable at Timely - Al Avison and Al Gabriele - to draw the first issue. When Kirby found out, he was upset and promised to finish under the deadline. He did, and the rest is history.
5 Hate Mail
It's astounding to consider now, but a patriotic superhero punching Nazis during World War II was not met with uniform enthusiasm by Americans. At the time, there were a fair number of people who were so incensed by the character's actions to Adolf Hitler - that's right - that they sent Kirby and Simon hate mail and threats. This got to the point that these people would come to the Timely Comics offices and the creative duo was forced to hire personal security guards for protection.
4 Changing Of The Shield
Few things are more iconic than Captain America's round shield, made out of solid, unbreakable - well - vibranium. As fans know, the shield wasn't always round. When Steve Rogers debuted in 1940, the shield was initially triangular. This caused a little bit of a stir with MLJ Comics, who had a character called The Shield who debuted before Captain America did and happened to have a very similar looking triangular, patriotic emblem on his chest. To smooth over MLJ, Timely changed Captain America's shield to its now classic round shape.
3 Home Sweet Home
In Captain America: Civil War, Steve Rogers tells Spider-Man he's from Brooklyn. A statue of the character resides there now, but originally Captain America came from a different part of New York City. When he first debuted in the comics, his birthplace was the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
The exact place on the Lower East Side remains a mystery. He was born in 1920 - a hundred years ago - and his parents, Sarah and Joseph, were Irish immigrants. The change in birthplace isn't huge, except for bragging rights.
2 Reinstein To Erskine
Captain America famously got his powers through the Super-Soldier effort Project: Rebirth. Steve Rogers volunteered to take the experimental Super-Soldier serum in order to transform himself from a scrawny kid to a god among men.
The serum was developed by scientist Abraham Erskine, but that wasn't always his name. When he was originally introduced, the character's name was Josef Reinstein. Years later, after Marvel revived Captain America from his icy sleep, the Reinstein name was retconned to be an alias of Erskine.
1 A Second Origin
Captain America disappeared for years after the popularity of superheroes waned post-World War II. His comic was canceled and it seemed like he would be forgotten like other heroes of the era. The new Marvel Comics was adept at bringing original Timely and Atlas heroes like the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner out of mothballs, and the same was true for Captain America. He was reintroduced in Avengers #4 in 1964, with his long absence explained in the backstory everyone now knows: he got frozen in ice trying to save the world from the maniacal ambitions of the Red Skull.