10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Captain America
Marvel's Captain America was actually created a whole YEAR before the US entered WWII.
The name, "Captain America", may sound corny (and it is) but that hasn't stopped the star-spangled superhero becoming one of the most iconic comic book characters.
He may not have been a founding Avenger but it wasn't long before he was leading the team against genocidal dictators, egomaniacal supervillains, and alien invasions. Armed only with his shield and his wits, Cap has decided the fate of the world and even the universe countless times. He may not have been as well-known as Spider-Man or the Hulk until a few years ago but thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Cap has never been more popular.
After watching him swinging that shield in the MCU, you probably feel like you know the character inside-out. You know all about the Super-Solider Serum, Bucky, the Cosmic Cube, the Red Skull, and his vibranium shield, right?
But there are some things you mightn't be aware of about old' Winghead. Why does he have those little wings on his mask? Who else has become Captain America? What were the character's origins exactly?
Even if you're a devoted Captain American fan, there are still a couple of things you probably never knew about Marvel's most famous shield-swinging superhero.
10. He Was Not Created By Stan Lee
Throughout his comic book career, Stan Lee created or co-created over 600 characters including the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor, and the Hulk. He devised so many superheroes and supervillains, it's difficult to think of an iconic Marvel character that WASN'T a creation of the moustachioed maestro.
But there are a few here and there. Wolverine. Thanos. Storm. Nightcrawler. But the one person that Stan the Man is often miscredited for creating is Captain America. People make this mistake because Lee wrote Avengers #4 in 1964, which was Cap's first appearance under the Marvel banner.
However, Cap debuted in Captain America Comics #1 in 1940, when Marvel was known as Timely Publications. The series and character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the latter of which went on to mastermind most of Marvel's iconic characters alongside Lee.
However, it's worth mentioning that the first comic Stan Lee worked on was Captain America Comic #3. Even though Simon and Kirby moved onto other projects after ten issues, Lee continued to work on the comic for two years.
The title was cancelled in 1949 but Kirby and Lee relaunched the character in under the Marvel name 15 years later.