Captain America

Character history

Origins

In current Marvel Universe history, Steven Rogers was a sickly American fine arts student specializing in illustration in the early 1940s before America's entry into World War II. He was disturbed by the rise of the Third Reich enough to attempt to enlist only to be rejected due to his poor constitution. By chance, an Army officer looking for test subjects for a top secret defense research project offered Rogers an alternate way to serve his country. The officer was looking for suitable test subjects for a top secret defense research project, Operation: Rebirth. This project consisted of developing a means to create physically superior soldiers and Rogers was deemed ideal.

Related Topics:
Marvel Universe - American - Fine arts - 1940s - World War II - Third Reich - Army

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Rogers agreed to volunteer for the research and after a rigorous physical and combat training and selection process, was chosen as the first human test subject. He received injections and oral ingestions of a chemical formula that was termed the Super-Soldier Serum, which had been developed by the scientist Dr Emil Erskine (who was code-named "Dr Reinstein"). Rogers was then exposed to a controlled burst of "Vita-Rays" that activated and stabilized the chemicals in his system. Although the process was arduous physically, it successfully altered his physiology from its relative frail form to the maximum of human efficiency, including greatly enhanced musculature and reflexes.

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Unfortunately, at this moment of triumph, a Nazi spy revealed himself and shot Erskine. Because the scientist had committed the crucial portions of the Super-Soldier formula to memory, it could not be duplicated. Rogers killed the spy in retaliation and vowed to oppose the enemies of America. Meanwhile, the United States government decided to make the most of their one super-soldier and eventually made him a superhero who served both as a counter-intelligence agent and a propaganda symbol to counter Nazi Germany's head of terrorist operations, the Red Skull. To that end, Rogers was given a costume modeled after the American flag, a bulletproof steel shield, a personal sidearm and the name of Captain America. He was also given a cover identity as a clumsy infantry private at Camp LeHigh in Virginia where he made friends with the teenage camp mascot, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes.

Related Topics:
Spy - Counter-intelligence - Propaganda - Germany - Red Skull - Sidearm - Infantry - Mascot - James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes

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One night, Barnes accidentally learned of Roger's dual identity and offered to keep the secret if he could become his sidekick. Rogers agreed, and trained Barnes appropriately. Rogers also met President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who presented him with a new shield made from a chance mixture of iron, vibranium and an unknown catalyst. The alloy was indestructible, yet the shield was light enough to use as a discus-like weapon that could be angled to return to him. (In several stories, due to writer error, the shield was described as an adamantium-vibranium alloy.) It proved so effective that the sidearm was dropped. Throughout World War II, Captain America and Bucky fought the Nazi menace both on their own and as members of the superhero team called the All-Winners Squad (in 1940s comics) and the Invaders (beginning with 1970s comics).

Related Topics:
Dual identity - Sidekick - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Iron - Vibranium - Discus - Adamantium - All-Winners Squad - The Invaders

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Rogers was not the first to be given the Super Soldier formula. It was revealed years later that while Rogers was still being assessed, some military members of the project felt that a non-soldier was not the right candidate and secretly gave Erskine's incomplete formula to Clinton McIntyre instead. However, this made McIntyre violently insane, and he had to be subdued and placed in cold storage. The criminal organization AIM would later revive McIntyre as the homicidal Protocide. (Captain America Annual, 2000).

Related Topics:
AIM - 2000

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A beta version of the formula was given to Isaiah Bradley, who became the only survivor of a group of African-American soldiers that "Reinstein" and the military experimented on in 1942. After the last two members of his group were killed, Bradley stole the costume meant for Rogers and wore it on a suicide mission to destroy the Nazi super-soldier effort at a German concentration camp. Bradley was captured, but eventually rescued and court martialed. He was imprisoned for 17 years in Leavenworth until he was pardoned by President Eisenhower. By the time of his release, the long-term effects of the formula turned Bradley into a hulking, sterile giant with the mentality of a 7-year-old. Rogers would not find out about Bradley until decades later (Truth: Red, White and Black, 2003). Patriot, a member of the Young Avengers, has been revealed to be the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, and has inherited his abilities thanks to a blood transfusion.

Related Topics:
African-American - 1942 - Court martialed - Leavenworth - Eisenhower - 2003 - Young Avengers

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According to files in the Weapons Plus Program, a clandestine government organization devoted to the creation of superhumans to combat and eventually exterminate mutants, Rogers was "Weapon I", the first generation living weapon. Following his disappearance, the following installments of the Weapon Plus Program moved on to new attempts to create the ultimate weapon, experimenting on animals, racial minorities, criminals and eventually mutants, with results such as Wolverine, Deadpool and Fantomex (New X-Men #145, October 2003).

Related Topics:
Wolverine - Deadpool - Fantomex - 2003

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After the war

In the closing days of World War II in 1945, Captain America and Bucky tried to stop the villainous Baron Zemo from destroying an experimental drone plane. Zemo launched the plane with an armed explosive device on it, with Rogers and Barnes in hot pursuit. They reached the plane just before it took off, but when Bucky tried to defuse the bomb, it exploded in mid-air. The young man was killed instantly, and Rogers was hurled into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. His body was not found, and he was presumed dead.

Related Topics:
1945 - Baron Zemo

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Fearing a blow to morale if the news of Captain America's demise was revealed, President Truman asked William Naslund, the patriotic costumed hero known as the Spirit of '76, to assume the role, with a young man named Fred Davis as Bucky. They continued to serve in the same roles after the war with the All Winners Squad, until Naslund was fatally injured in a battle with the android Adam II in 1946 (What If? #4, August 1977). With Naslund's death, Jeff Mace, also known as the Patriot, took over as Captain America, with Davis continuing to act as Bucky. However, Davis was shot and injured in 1948 and was forced to retire. Mace then teamed up with Betsy "Golden Girl" Ross, and some time before 1953 gave up his Captain America identity to marry her. Mace contracted cancer and died from it some decades later (Captain America #285, September 1983).

Related Topics:
Truman - All Winners Squad - Android - 1946 - 1977 - 1948 - 1953 - Cancer - 1983

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In 1953, an unnamed man who idolized Captain America and had done his American History Ph.D. thesis on Rogers discovered some Nazi files in a warehouse in Germany, one of which apparently contained the lost formula for the Super Soldier serum. He took it to the United States government on the condition that they use it to make him the fourth Captain America. Needing a symbol for the Korean War, they agreed, and the man underwent plastic surgery to look like Steve Rogers, even assuming that name. However, the war ended and the project never went forward. "Rogers" found a teaching job at the Lee School, where he met Jack Monroe, a young orphan who also idolized Captain America. They decided to use the formula on themselves and became the new Captain America and Bucky, this time fighting the so-called Communist scourge (Young Men #24, December 1953).

Related Topics:
1953 - Korean War - Communist

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Unfortunately, "Rogers" and Monroe did not know of and therefore did not undergo the "Vita-Ray" process. The imperfect implementation of the formula in their systems began to make them paranoid, and by the middle of 1954 they were irrationally attacking anyone they perceived to be a Communist. In 1955 the Federal Bureau of Investigation managed to hunt them down and placed them in suspended animation. The 1950s Captain America and Bucky would be revived years later after the return of Steve Rogers, go on another rampage, and would be defeated by the man they had modeled themselves after. (Captain America #153, September 1972).

Related Topics:
Paranoid - 1954 - 1955 - Federal Bureau of Investigation - 1950s - 1972

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The return of Steve Rogers

In Avengers #4 (March 1964), the Avengers discovered Steve Rogers's body in the North Atlantic, his costume under his soldier's uniform and still carrying his shield. Rogers had been preserved in a block of ice since 1945, which melted after the block was thrown back into the ocean by the Sub-Mariner, enraged that an Arctic tribe was worshipping the frozen figure. When Rogers revived, he related his last, failed mission in the closing days of the war. Rogers accepted membership in the Avengers, and although he soon adjusted to modern times well enough to eventually assume leadership of the team, he was plagued by guilt for not being able to prevent Bucky's death. He also undertook missions for the national security agency S.H.I.E.L.D., which was commanded by his old war comrade Nick Fury.

Related Topics:
Avengers - 1964 - 1945 - Sub-Mariner - S.H.I.E.L.D. - Nick Fury

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Captain America was once again given his own series (now in its fifth incarnation), which has lasted decades longer than its original run. The book initially enjoyed the artwork of Jack Kirby as well as a short run by Jim Steranko, and many of the industry's top artists and writers have worked on the book. The most notable stories often had a political tone to them. For example, during Steve Englehart's stint as writer, Rogers encountered his revived 1950s counterpart and dealt with the Marvel Universe's version of the Watergate scandal. This last story so severely disillusioned Rogers that he abandoned his Captain America identity in favour of one called Nomad only to reassume it to face the menace of the Red Skull, this time as a symbol of America's ideals rather than its government. During this time, several men tried to assume the Captain America identity, all without success. Jack Monroe, cured of his mental instability, would, years later, take up the Nomad alias. (Captain America #176-#183, 1974-1975).

Related Topics:
Jim Steranko - Steve Englehart - 1950s - Watergate scandal - Nomad - Red Skull - 1974 - 1975

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In the 1980s, a similar story was written by Mark Gruenwald when Rogers chose to resign his identity rather than submit to the orders of the United States government and took the alias of "The Captain" instead. This extended story arc was intended to illustrate the difference of Captain America's beliefs from his replacement who was intended to illustrate the jingoistic attitude that the popular movie character Rambo embodied and which Rogers did not share. During this period, the role of Captain America was assumed by John Walker, the former Super-Patriot. When Rogers returned to his Captain America identity, Walker became the USAgent (Captain America #332-#351, 1987-1989).

Related Topics:
1980s - Mark Gruenwald - Rambo - USAgent - 1987 - 1989

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Some time after returning to the position of Captain America, Rogers narrowly avoided the explosion of a methamphetamine lab, but it triggered a chemical reaction between the drug and the Super-Soldier serum in his system. To combat this reaction, the serum was removed from his system, and now Rogers had to train constantly to maintain his physical condition. (This storyline was partly prompted by reader concerns that Captain America was effectively the beneficiary of steroid treatments.)

Related Topics:
Methamphetamine - Steroid

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However, the removal of the serum did not stop his system from deteriorating, and eventually Rogers's body began to break down. For a time, he had to wear a powered exoskeleton to keep moving and eventually had to be placed again in suspended animation. During this time, he was given a transfusion of blood from the Red Skull (who now inhabited a body cloned from Rogers's cells), which both cured his condition and restored the Super-Soldier formula to his system. Captain America returned both to crime fighting and the Avengers (Captain America #425-#454, 1994-1996).

Related Topics:
Exoskeleton - Cloned - 1994 - 1996

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Recently, Rogers went public with his identity, and established a residence in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

Related Topics:
Red Hook - Brooklyn, New York

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