8 Captain America Questions That Always Confused You
7. Why Did He Switch Shields?
The first Captain America comic, written by Joe Simon and pencilled by Jack Kirby in March 1941, depicted Steve Rogers punching Adolf Hitler square in the jaw, with his trademark outfit in full view. It was a landmark moment, but while few artists have ever departed too heavily from Kirby's original design, few have ever returned to the more angular shield the character sported in his first appearance.
So, when did Cap start changing his shields? He's been through a lot of them, even donning an energy-based light-shield towards the end of the twentieth century, and while most - if not all - have been red, white and blue. Surprisingly, Cap only actually had the angular weapon on his first appearance; he switched to the circular one straight after in the next issue.
The reason why? Timely Comics received a complaint from rival publisher MLJ that it too closely resembled their own patriotic hero, known as the literal Shield.
In the comics themselves, Cap was actually presented his new shield by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (as told in 1981's Captain America #255), from a design made by scientist Myron MacLain. Meanwhile, the term 'vibranium' wasn't actually coined until 1966 in Daredevil, of all comics. The more you know!