Introduction

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 every way 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.