Comics have often been used (intentionally or not) as a form of personal propaganda. Political views and debates found themselves within the pages seen through the choice of the villain or what the hero stands for or even how different social groups are portrayed. Captain America is perfect for a study of the presence of politics (particularly American) in comics for a number of reasons. The first being that he embodies America and patriotism so in seeing his stance on the times can perhaps give an insight into the public response to the political climate. Secondly he has fairly regularly appeared in comics since he was created in 1941 giving many examples for an examination into Captain America.
The Captain America we are introduced to in 1941 was the ultimate Patriot. Obeying and serving his country in everyway he could. Through the years we see a change in Captain America as he begins to break away from the Government in favour of his own ideals and questioning and changing in response to the times and what he feels is needed. By looking at how this beloved American icon reacted to major events in Americas past I wish to assess how he would react to the current American political climate before making my own comic to show my take on what I think Captain America would do.
Popular from the start Captain American soon became Marvels bestselling title selling close to a million a month, even outselling news magazines like Time. The cover of the first issue shows Captain America punching Hitler. This image in itself sums up the Captain America we see in this period. Captain America is unapologetic in his actions and unremorseful even when using violence. This shows a moral certainty on his part that perhaps also lead to a examination of the writers behind it. Joe Simon (writer) and Jack Kirby (artist) were Jews that wanted to use Captain America as a form of personal propaganda to encourage participation in the War effort. So it is no wonder that the Captain America seen in these first issues from the 1940s show a heroic patriotic symbol of American values vigorously fighting an evil Nazi menace. This Captain America shows us a time where people have no time for uncertainty or questions of morality because patriotism and fighting to keep America and it's values alive are at stake. This is Captain America in his perfect situation a clear cause that he can fight for and something that he truly believes in with no doubts that what he is doing is right.
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