Captain America Comic Book History - The War Years
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Captain America first appeared in the pages of Captain America Comics #1 in December 1940 (though cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics (Marvel Comic’s predecessor). Captain America was created by comics legends Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
Exactly who created Captain America is a matter of dispute as there have been claims by Joe Simon that he came up with the idea of a patriotic hero and drew the first sketch, while Jack Kirby claimed to have co-created the character with Simon. We’ll probably never know the truth at this point.
Timely liked the idea of Captain America enough that Simon was given 15% of the profits for Captain America Comics while Kirby was given 10%. A profit sharing deal was unheard off in comics in the 40s. Captain America Comics #1 was a big hit and sold almost a million copies.
When he first appeared Captain America had a triangular shield rather than the familiar disc he now carries. However MLJ, a competitor of Timely claimed that the triangular shield made Captain America look like their patriotic superhero The Shield. Rather than risk losing the case, Timely simply changed the shield to a round one.
Captain America was so popular that in addition to Captain America Comics he also starred in All-Winner Comics alongside the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch, the Whizzer and the Destroyer.
Shortly after this Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left Timely Comics in a dispute over their pay scale and whether they were getting their fair share of the profits from Captain America. It was at this point Stan Lee stepped in as Editor In Chief and Art Director for Timely Comics
The popularity of superheroes in general faded after the war and in comics Captain America turned his attention from the Nazi’s to criminals and Communists. The Captain’s sidekick Bucky was written out in 1948 and replaced by a girlfriend, Betsy Ross. Captain America Comics ended with issue #75.
In the 1950s, the character of Captain America was revived briefly by Atlas Comics (before Marvel and after Timely) when he was billed as Captain America Commie Smasher! He appeared in several issues of Young Men and Men’s Adventures as well as three more issues of Captain America. Sales were poor though and the title was canceled again with issue 78.
The 1950s version of Captain America obviously conflicts with the Captain’s current story of being put into suspended animation near the end of World War II so they have been conveniently retconned into being people other than Steve Rogers who briefly took up the mantle of Captain America.
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