13 Freaky Facts You May Not Know About Comics And Their Creators

10. Captain America Started Slinging A Round Shield To Avoid A Lawsuit

Captain America was not the first superhero to wear the Stars and Stripes! In January 1940, MLJ Publishing (later known as Archie Comics) debuted a character named the Shield, in Pep Comics #1. The Shield was an FBI agent who gained enhanced strength from a super-soldier formula. (Sound familiar?) Oh yeah, and he wore a red, white and blue uniform - sporting a large star-studded shield as a chest-plate. About a year later, Timely Comics (which ultimately evolved into Marvel) published the first issue of Captain America, featuring another super-soldier - who CARRIED a star-studded shield! By then, MLJ's The Shield was enjoying a modest degree of popularity (and profitability) so the character's publisher, John Goldwater, wasn't happy to see another superhero so similar in appearance and abilities. According to Captain America co-creator Joe Simon, Goldwater marched into the offices of Timely and threatened to sue the publisher, Martin Goodman. Goldwater's biggest beef was that Cap carried a shield that was almost the exact shape and pattern as the chest emblem on the Shield's costume, because Goldwater felt his readers were bound to get confused. Goodman and Goldwater had long been friendly rivals, so to avoid things getting ugly, the two publishers quickly reached an agreement: beginning with the second issue of Captain America - and at the suggestion of Joe Simon - Cap's shield would be round. Captain America's other co-creator, artist Jack Kirby, had already finished drawing the next issue, so he actually had to go back and modify several panels of his artwork. But that's why Cap's shield changed shape after only a single issue; but of course, the whole business turned out to be serendipitous. Captain America soon started throwing the new, round model like a colossal frisbee, making it both a defensive and offensive weapon.