Captain America made his debut in 1941 as a beacon of the American Spirit against the terrors of the Third Reich. In may ways this was the height of Cap’s time spent as a direct representative of the country the character was named since not only did the character himself regularly defeat America’s actual enemies at the time (theoretically at least, given that the US had not formally entered the war at the time of Cap’s debut), but it had the added goal of supporting the war effort through manipulation of the media. Since his post-war debut, Captain America’s direct connection to America’s efforts ebbed and flowed, to the point that the character renounced his citizenship and his title for a time. However, much like the attacks on Pearl Harbor changed the country forever, so too did the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and in a very short time (give or take six months), the Captain America title rebranded and rebooted as one very much in line with the American mindset and war effort at the time, in both mentality and within the nature of the story.
But which is the stronger story? As a comic book, which is more sturdy? And what do the differences between these two wildly comic books say about American culture and role of the media at the time of their release?
Click on down to find out!
Many people may not be aware, but on December 8th 1941 (seven days after Pearl Harbor), the Disney Animation Studios were taken over by the American government. During this time, they produced propaganda animations friendly to the war effort (many of which are collected for the first an only time here)that were intended to sell the younger generation not only on the war itself, but them doing their part to support the war effort by, amongst other things, enlisting and buying war bonds. These lighthearted tales starring the likes of Donald Duck and Goofy were often, to say the least, culturally insensitive and hid very adult oriented themes below their colorful animation. After all, getting the younger generation in line with the government’s goals and aspirations is the first step in building public sentiment for them or, at the very least, building up military ranks during war time. Of course, the government also had involuntary enlistment on their side to build up the numbers on the front line, but that is neither here nor there.
Captain America Comics, when it debuted that same year, was created for the exact same reason. Since Superman made his debut in 1938, the cultural stock of super heroes was on the rise amongst the nation’s youth. So when it began to look like the American people needed to be swayed, at least ideologically, away from Nazi fascism, it made perfect sense to develop a super hero that actively opposed those ideals both literally and figuratively. Hence, Captain America was born from the minds of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, two young creators born of Eastern European immigrants in order to drum up support for, in many ways, democracy and the American dream.
That first issue of Captain America Comics is exactly what one would have expected from a cultural tome at that time. The story was simple, straightforward and easy to understand. Captain America along with his teen sidekick Bucky (remember what I said about trying to grab a young audience?), as representatives (effectively) of the entire United States defeated every enemy thrown their way in the multiple stories contained in this issue. Everything about Captain America’s origin could be read as analogous for the United States, from his existence as the one and only super soldier to his transformation from uber-weakling to multi-faceted strong man to being, at his core, still human. Every nuance of the character and his origin could be traced back to the country who’s flag he wore proudly, and at the end of the day this pride translated into a thoroughly entertaining story. Simplistic as they may be, these stories were incredibly emblematic of the American spirit at the time (or at least the parts of it that were meant to be seen).
In the 2002 reboot, Cap once again became a direct analogue for America, however this time the nation was immeasurably changed. In the hands of John Ney Reiber and John Cassaday, gone were the happy go lucky adventures and in their place was an immensely somber story, one that began with a direct retelling of the 9/11 attacks and jumping to Cap unearthing dead bodies in New York. Right from the first five pages its clear that the tone here was not one of blind allegiance or intense national pride, but one of mourning. Much like an extreme lack of metaphor was used in 1941 (the cover was Cap punching out Hitler, after all), so too was it avoided in 2002 in favor of stark, sometimes disturbing and heavy handed portrayals of the attacks that changed the country and the messages the government and by association Marvel were sending as to how one should react to them.
While yes, the story spoke to having pride in one’s country and, yes, the story anthropomorphized the American mindset using Cap as a conduit, this time around there was a distinctly dour tone. As if you were meant to be proud and to stand tall, but you must do it always and forever aware of the damage done to the country. Cap was far from the perfect uber-being he was in 1941 and rather was a haunted soul, desperately seeking to hold himself together and do his duty in the face of extreme terror. Unlike in 1941 (and this could very well be a consequence of the fact that Pearl Harbor had NOT happened yet), the country was distinct not invincible and ultimately neither were its people. And the book bent over backwards to make sure you knew that.
And I think ultimately that is the one real mode of comparison for these books that matters. 1941 sought to rile you up and make you nothing but happy and energized to be American and to serve the country while 2002 made it almost a burden of sorts. One that you should take on gladly and willingly, but only do to the fact that if you did not then you are allowing evil to win. I’m not even paraphrasing that, it’s right there on the first full page splash of the book. While the book certainly fit the national consciousness at the time, it was nowhere near as fun or exciting as 1941. The book becomes hard to read at points given how thoroughly it abandons artistic metaphor and places the horrors of the time period in front of your face to relive again and again, in vivid detail thanks to Cassaday’s art. After thinking long and hard about it (nearly ten years if we’re being completely honest), I’ve come to realize that while 1941 Cap has been called war propaganda, 2002 Cap is most definitely cultural propaganda that is more preoccupied with making a point than telling a story. Which is why by the time the one dimensional, distinctly arabic threat is introduced at the end I can’t even bother caring. I’m too busy reliving where I was on 9/11, which isn’t really the point of storytelling now is it?
Final Standoff: Captain America Comics #1 (1941) > Captain America (Vol. 4) #1 (2002)
