Captain America was a superhero
who had no obvious “super powers.” So why was he such a hit from the moment he
was introduced punching Hitler in the pan in 1941?
After all, the first star-spangled
superhero — MLJ’s the Shield — was popular, but never as popular as Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby’s Captain America, who once sold a million issues a month. But
then, ironically, although he had super powers at first, THE Shield didn’t have
A shield.
“Even better than Daredevil’s
billy club, Cap’s shield is the perfect wedding of form and function,” observed
Alex S. Romagnoli and Gian S. Pagnucci in their book Enter the Superheroes:
American Values, Culture and the Canon of Superhero Literature. “The shield is
the perfect symbol of all the patriotism Captain America is meant to embody.
Every time Cap lifts that shield high, he’s waving the flag for the whole world
to see.”
Cap was a trendsetter there.
Taking their cues from Winghead, many of Marvel’s most popular superheroes
would ultimately be identified with some stylish, thematic weapon that could be
used offensively, defensively and often, even as a means of transport. Thor had
his hammer; Daredevil, his billy club; Iron Man, his armor; Spider-Man, his web
shooters.
So the shield was perfect and,
let’s face it, so was the art. Watch how Cap bends almost into a circle to
deliver a blow that must be overwhelming. See him dodge an attack, torso
twisting, long legs akimbo. Look at him run, bent forward, bullet-fast.
Who needed super powers when you
had that much sheer dynamism on the page?
Harry Hertel wrote, "No offense to Irv Novick, but Simon and Kirby’s artwork jumped out like a fist to Hitler’s jaw. Plus more than one Cap story per issue, while Pep Comics had backups including the fatally doomed Comet. A recipe for success."
ReplyDeleteSteve Wehmhoff:
ReplyDeleteJules Feiffer described it best in "The Great Comic Book Heroes."
Mikal C Johnson:
ReplyDeleteI always found it odd that MLJ’s The Shield WAS the shield. His uniform front, especially in his early appearances, IS a shield. Later it was drawn as a form fitting fabric. But the intent was that, when in costume, he IS The Shield.
That’s what Captain America’s shield changed after the first issue. MLJ threatened to sue Timely over the similarity of Cap’s shield to The Shield’s uniform front.
But by issue 29 of Pep Comics MLJ had made The Shield’s costume more like Cap’s because, as you said, Cap was simply selling better and they, ironically, tried to change their character to be more like the one they’d complained was a copy.
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteDan, oh it was Definitely the artwork on Cap that made All The Difference. To the knowledgeable just those three words, ‘Simon and Kirby’ served to explain anything and everything that needed explaining in terms of eye-catching, dynamic comic book art.
And to his credit even after their 1950s and early 60s collaborations were past Jack ‘The King’ Kirby continued to turn out eye catching, dynamic work with a succession of different inkers. Some matched Jack’s style better than others, but for my money few of them drew parallel to the sheer power of the Simon-Kirby team.
Michael Fraley:
ReplyDeleteIn Joe Simon's autobiography, he recalled meeting a Civil War soldier who visited his school, standing ramrod straight in his Union uniform, holding the flag. "Shake the hand that shook the hand of Lincoln!" What an iconic moment, and the first seed for Captain America.
Vincent Mariani:
ReplyDeleteAlthough Captain America didn't have super powers, he had been transformed into a perfect specimen, like Doc Savage or Batman.
I replied:
Exactly. I always figured he could win every Olympic event.
Unca T Hanlin:
ReplyDeleteThe golden age Cap stories are good reading. You can tell why he became so popular