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→Comics lore
==Comics lore==
==Comics lore==
In Europe, [[Adolf Hitler]] was over-running the continent, and American soldiers were getting ready for the eventual conflict. One of the young men making repeated attempts to enlist - and repeatedly rejected - was Steven Rogers, an orphaned, physically-frail fine-arts student and comic book artist who was aware of the atrocities committed by the Nazis and wanted to do something about it. Dr. Josef Reinstein would see the young man's determination and offer him an opportunity as a test subject in a proposed "Super Soldier Project", the idea of which would be to have a unit of specially-enhanced, physically strong soldiers who be potentially dropped behind enemy lines to carry out missions considered too dangerous for lesser men. The effect of the test - a serum combined with "vita-rays" - turns Rogers into a super-soldier, but before it could be replicated Reinstein is killed by a Nazi infiltrator who, it is later discovered, works for the leader of the German terror and espionage apparatus, Johann Schmidt, whose disfigured head gave him the byname "Red Skull".
In Europe, [[Adolf Hitler]] was over-running the continent, and American soldiers were getting ready for the eventual conflict. One of the young men making repeated attempts to enlist - and repeatedly rejected - was Steven Rogers, an orphaned, physically-frail fine-arts student and comic book artist who was aware of the atrocities committed by the Nazis and wanted to do something about it<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g17s9yxCicM</ref>. Dr. Josef Reinstein would see the young man's determination and offer him an opportunity as a test subject in a proposed "Super Soldier Project", the idea of which would be to have a unit of specially-enhanced, physically strong soldiers who be potentially dropped behind enemy lines to carry out missions considered too dangerous for lesser men. The effect of the test - a serum combined with "vita-rays" - turns Rogers into a super-soldier, but before it could be replicated Reinstein is killed by a Nazi infiltrator who, it is later discovered, works for the leader of the German terror and espionage apparatus, Johann Schmidt, whose disfigured head gave him the byname "Red Skull".
Captain America would be joined by a nucleus of commandos at Camp Lehigh, forming a team called the Invaders, which would go into action around the world thwarting the attempts of the Nazis in general, and the Red Skull in particular. Among the group was the camp's young mascot, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, who accidentally learned of Cap's identity and used that knowledge to become his sidekick.
Captain America's costume is the colors of the American flag: predominately blue, with vertical red-and-white stripes at the midsection, a large white star on the chest, and red "pirate-style" boots. A mask with white winglets and a large letter "A" would hide his identity, and an indestructible shield would give him protection in battle. He would be joined by a nucleus of commandos at Camp Lehigh, forming a team called the Invaders, going into action around the world to thwart the attempts of the Nazis in general, and the Red Skull in particular. Among the group was the camp's young mascot, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, who accidentally learned of Cap's identity and used that knowledge to become his sidekick.
Towards the end of the war, and after many successful missions, Cap was involved in a drone experiment which led to tragic results: Bucky was killed and Cap landed in Alaska, to be frozen into suspended animation until his discovery by the Avengers some fifteen years later.
==History==
Joe Simon was an artist without a staff at Fox Comics in New York City. "I came in, and we had no staff and I had to do all the covers," he said during a later interview. "I didn’t have a letterer, I didn’t have a writer, I didn’t have an artist. I knew nothing about comics"<ref>http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/02/24/joe-simon-and-jack-kirby-secret-origins-of-classic-tandem/#/0</ref>. Also at Fox was a young, prolific illustrator named Jacob Kurtzberg; both soon discovered their abilities complimented one another, and a partnership was born. Also born was a particular style never seen in comics before. Panels became differing sizes and shapes, with the characters breaking the boundaries from one to another; action was forceful, and drawn as if the reader was about to be struck.
Simon and Kurtzberg - who had changed his name to Jack Kirby - were also moonlighting with other comic publishers. The year was 1940; [[Superman]] had started the comic superhero craze two years before, with [[Batman]] and [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] becoming stunning successes as well; other comic publishers needed their own hits to compete in the new genre. Timely Comics was one of the companies Simon and Kirby worked for on the side, and they had already scored a respectable - if not spectacular - hit with the Sub-Mariner and Human Torch. Rather than directly-creating a character from thin air, Simon and Kirby decided to select the "villain" first for their story. Conditions in Europe at that time - [[World War II]] had begun - caused an immediate selection: [[Adolf Hitler]]. "He had everything that Americans hated," Simon said, "and he was a clown with the funny moustache, yet guys were ready to jump out of planes for him. He was the first choice, and his antagonist would have to be our hero..."<ref>http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/02/24/joe-simon-and-jack-kirby-secret-origins-of-classic-tandem/#/0</ref>
What came out in in December, 1940 was the first issue of ''Captain America'', whose shield-bearing character made no bones about which side he was on, leaping into the scene to strike Hitler in the face. This first issue sold over a million copies, with many more to come. The one major change which had to take place within the first few issues was the design of the shield. Originally triangular, they discovered that it bore too close an appearance to an earlier character from a rival magazine<ref>http://www.comics.org/issue/609/cover/4/</ref>, so the shape became round. This proved beneficial to the creators, who now felt that Captain America had a new weapon, one which could be flung at an enemy to great effect, and return like a boomerang.
==Films==
==Films==