It's an amazing summer for fans of comic book Cinema. First there was Thor and then Green Lantern. Next up is Captain America: The First Avenger. Some are predicting that this may be the biggest hit yet. That may be true, but there is still Conan waiting in the wings for August! Of all these characters, Captain America may have the most interesting history of all.
The greatest comic characters of the Golden Age were explosions of pure color and hyper-kinetic energy. And no cover, no hero, ever leapt off the newsstand like Captain America #1. With one iconic cover Joe Simon and Jack Kirby transformed the new medium of comics. The stories that title held demonstrated what the new medium was capable more than anything that had preceded it.
That single issue stands as a testament of what Kirby could do. Action jumped from the page. Panels went crazy with detail. The normal idea of "eight panels to page," while others had experimented with the format, exploded under the pencils of Kirby.
The figures that Kirby drew were more athletic, more muscular, the fights more real. If you saw the punch that Captain America delivered to Hitler you instinctively put your hand to your jaw because you felt the punch land.
It was covers that sold books in those early days and the one that Kirby created for Captain America #1 was unavoidable. Newsstands were packed with a lot of choices for the average reader. Dimes were stretched mighty thin in those days. America was still reeling from the depression and a magazine had to have something special on the cover to get a reader to part with ten cents. The comic industry was in its earliest days and newsstands already featured the juggernaut of Superman flying off the shelf, so any new creation had to be something special.
Like many true artists, the idea of success wasn't the only reason at the heart of Simon's new hero. The red, white and blue design of Captain America, that very obvious and direct reference to the American flag, was completely intentional. It was early 1940 and America had yet to become involved in the battle overseas.
There were fierce debates about whether America belonged overseas or not. At that time many chose to bury their heads in the sand and ignore what was going on in Germany. The campaigns to keep America out of the war were vocal and organized. But Simon and Kirby knew full well what was happening in Germany and the surrounding countries. They felt that they had to get their opinion out there somehow.
In his biography, Simon says that took the idea he had for a hero called "Super-Patriot" to Martin Goodman, the publisher of Timely. Since there were so many characters with the word "Super" in their title, Simon claimed that the switch to "Captain America" was an easy decision. He needed the approval of Timely's publisher Martin Goodman to move forward.
Simon had been hired by Timely after a stint as an editor at Fox Feature Syndicate. It was while he was at Fox that Simon had met Kirby who was working on, among other things, The Blue Beetle newspaper strip. By the time they were hired by Goodman the two men had already established a strong creative link.
As for Goodman, he had been publishing pulps for years and was now trying to break into the suddenly lucrative field of comic books. At first he had bought books from an independent studio, but he quickly figured that he could make more money if he cut out the middle man and brought the creative aspect of the books in house. Offering profit participation, among other incentives, he got Simon to jump from Fox. Shortly afterwards, sometime around the summer of 1940, Simon brought in Kirby, first as a freelancer, in to help.
As a creative team they had some moderate success, most notably with The Vision, but it was Captain America that flew off the newsstands. According to Simon he had the idea and took it to Kirby to work on. According to Kirby he was there at the creation of Captain America from the beginning. Either way, the idea that their next creation would be centered on an American theme was there at the start.
As publishers tried to find the next Superman, patriotic heroes were quickly becoming a big part of comics. MLJ Publishing (in a few years they become Archie), already had The Shield on newsstands. He had debuted on the cover of Pep #1, in January of 1940. By any definition, he was a success. A few months later Will Eisner offered up Uncle Sam over at Quality.
But neither of those creations had the one thing that that would send Captain America into the stratosphere, the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. After approving the concept, Goodman told Simon to do everything he could to hit the newsstands as fast as possible. He wanted a hit.
Simon, thinking as an Editor, determined that the book would feature stories solely about the new character. Believing this to be too much work for one man, he figured that he would parcel out the contents of the title to different writers and artists. Kirby told him that he wanted to do every single page himself. He was adamant that he could do all the pencils and make the printing deadline.
Knowing full well how strong Kirby was, Simon had his doubts, but gave ultimately gave Kirby the assignment. In the end Simon had to pitch in on a few pencils, and they used another artist to do the inks, but the book was finished on time. The book was cover dated March 1941, but it hit the newsstands on December 20, 1940.
The book was an immediate hit. One of the biggest reasons was the origin story the two men had hit upon. Almost any young kid can identify with Steve Rogers. A sickly young man, diminutive in stature and spindly, Rogers is still desperate to serve his country. But the Government can't use him because he is simply too small so they turn him away.
Desperate to prove his worth, Rogers allows himself to be subjected to an experimental drug.
Unfortunately a saboteur ruins the experiment and Rogers is the only beneficiary of the Super-Soldier Serum and Vita-ray treatment. In addition to a brand-new, incredibly honed athletic body, one that is pushed to the absolute peak of human capabilities, he also gets a miraculous shield which is nearly impenetrable. It can also be thrown as a terribly effective weapon.
The success of the book is directly attributable to the work of Simon and especially Kirby, but it was also a product of the times. Despite the very public debate over America's role in the world, the Country was about to become incredibly patriotic.
On December 29, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a fireside chat heard by millions everywhere. FDR made the claim that America's involvement in the War overseas was "imminent." He made it very clear that the goal of the Nazi's was not only to "dominate all life and thought in their own country, but also to enslave the whole of Europe, and then to use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world."
Simon knew how important a good villain was to any hero. Since the biggest villain Earth was Adolph Hitler he saw no problem with introducing Captain America delivering a knock-out blow to "Der Fuhrer." That alone was enough to intrigue anyone who stumbled across the cover.
The book sold out quickly and the second print run was rumored to take the total run close to a million. Considering that the country had a population of roughly 130 million at the time, that is an astounding print run. Add in the fact that the title stayed at close to a million copies sold per issue for at least the first ten, and that is a lot of comics sold.
The detail-packed cover is also notable for another reason. At the center, directly underneath the title, there is a television showing an explosion at U.S. Munitions Works. The New York World's Fair was taking place in at the time that Simon and Kirby were creating the title. One of them had to have stopped by the Fair and seen one of the exhibits. Or at the very least, heard about it form another writer or artist.
For many people 1939-1940 World's Fair was the first time they had seen a TV work. There had been a TV Station in NYC as early as 1931, but who could afford the set? The inclusion of the set on the cover showcases Kirby's attention to the outside world around him and his willingness to incorporate what he saw into his art.
The first issue contained almost every single thing that Captain America would need over the next seventy years. In one story a young man named Bucky Barnes the secret that Steve Rogers and Captain America were one and the same. He became Cap's sidekick Bucky.
Next the two partners meet The Red Skull. The character is another example of how much Joe Simon understood the importance of a great villain in any hero's mythology. The Skull is first introduced as the leader of a ring of Nazi spies. He lasts for a couple of appearances in the title. After he is killed it is revealed that he was merely an agent of the real Red Skull.
The real Red Skull, Johann Schmidt, was an orphan. His mother died in childbirth and his father was so upset that he tried to kill the baby. His father commits suicide and Schmidt is left to the streets. A few years later, when a young Jewish woman declines his advances, Schmidt kills her. From there things get much, much worse for him. Working as a bellhop, Schmidt meets Hitler, who decides to train him personally. Pleased with what he has accomplished, Hitler promotes Schmidt quickly. Outfitted with a fearsome mask, he becomes the leader of a group of Nazi terrorists.
The introduction of Captain America in the first book would be enough for any one team. But to also bring in Bucky and The Red Skull demonstrates the seemingly limitless amount of creativity in the minds of Simon and Kirby.
While Simon and Kirby had their own quiet political agenda when they created Captain America, there was another side to what they accomplished. People noticed the clear political themes behind the character and stories and they had their own opinions about the book. After all, Captain America fought little else other than Nazis for a long time. Simon later revealed that they had received plenty letters decrying the overt political nature of Captain America. More than a few of which made them nervous.
The success of Captain America allowed Simon to bring Kirby in on staff at timely. Working for Goodman they did the first ten issues of Captain America and than went onto other projects.
During the War years Captain America not only featured in his own title, but he was also featured in other Timely titles such as All-Winners, All-Select Comics and USA Comics. As the popularity of superheroes faded after the War, he led a team of Marvel Heroes called the All-Winners Squad who lasted two issues in All-Winner Comics.
Be sure to check back next month for Part II of Captain America: The First Comic Avenger!