CAPTAIN AMERICA COMIC IS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1940

Today, The Grandma has been reading one of her favourite comics, Captain America, whose first issue was published on a day like today in 1940.

 

Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. 

 

The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics, a corporate predecessor to Marvel.

Captain America's civilian identity is Steven "Steve" Rogers, a frail man enhanced to the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental super-soldier serum after joining the United States Army to aid the country's efforts in World War II. Equipped with an American flag–inspired costume and a virtually indestructible shield, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky Barnes clashed frequently with the villainous Red Skull and other members of the Axis powers.

In the final days of the war, an accident left Captain America frozen in a state of suspended animation until he was revived in modern times. He resumes his exploits as a costumed hero and becomes leader of the superhero team the Avengers, but frequently struggles as a man out of time to adjust to the new era.

The character quickly emerged as Timely's most popular and commercially successful wartime creation upon his original publication, though the popularity of superheroes declined in the post-war period and Captain America Comics was discontinued in 1950. The character saw a short-lived revival in 1953 before returning to comics in 1964, and has since remained in continuous publication.

Captain America's creation as an explicitly anti-Nazi figure was a deliberately political undertaking: Simon and Kirby were stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supporters of U.S. intervention in World War II, with Simon conceiving of the character specifically in response to the American non-interventionism movement. Political messages have subsequently remained a defining feature of Captain America stories, with writers regularly using the character to comment on the state of American society and government.

Having appeared in more than ten thousand stories in more than five thousand media formats, Captain America is one of the most popular and recognized Marvel Comics characters, and has been described as an icon of American popular culture. Though Captain America was not the first United States -themed superhero, he would become the most popular and enduring of the many patriotic American superheroes created during World War II. 

Captain America was the first Marvel character to appear in a medium outside of comic books, in the 1944 serial film Captain America; the character has subsequently appeared in a variety of films and other media, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he was portrayed by actor Chris Evans from the character's first appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) to his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019).

In 1940, Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman responded to the growing popularity of superhero comics -particularly Superman at rival publisher National Comics Publications, the corporate predecessor to DC Comics -by hiring freelancer Joe Simon to create a new superhero for the company. Simon began to develop the character by determining who their nemesis could be, noting that the most successful superheroes were defined by their relationship with a compelling villain, and eventually settled on Adolf Hitler. He rationalized that Hitler was the best villain of them all as he was hated by everyone in the free world, and that it would be a unique approach for a superhero to face a real-life adversary rather than a fictional one.

Captain America Comics #1 was published on December 20, 1940, with a cover date of March 1941.

Simon wrote the first two issues of Captain America Comics before becoming the editor for the series; they were the only Captain America stories he would ever directly write.

Captain America made his ostensible return in the anthology Strange Tales #114 (November 1963), published by Atlas' corporate successor Marvel Comics. In an 18-page story written by Lee and illustrated by Kirby, Captain America reemerges following years of apparent retirement, though he is revealed as an impostor who is defeated by Human Torch of the Fantastic Four.

Captain America is one of the most popular and widely recognized Marvel Comics characters, and has been described as an icon of American popular culture. He is the most well-known and enduring of the United States-themed superheroes to emerge from the Second World War and inspired a proliferation of patriotic-themed superheroes in American comic books during the 1940s. This included the American Crusader, the Spirit of '76, Yank & Doodle, Captain Flag, and Captain Courageous, among numerous others.

Though none would achieve Captain America's commercial success, the volume of Captain America imitators was such that three months after the character's debut, Timely published a statement indicating that there is only one Captain America and warning that they would take legal action against publishers that infringed on the character.

After being dismissed from Timely, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby would themselves create a new patriotic superhero, the Fighting American, for Prize Comics in 1954; the character became the subject of a lawsuit from Marvel in the 1990s after Rob Liefeld attempted to revive the character following his own departure from Marvel.

More information: Get Comics

Graphic novels are not traditional literature,
but that does not mean they are second-rate.
Images are a way of writing.
When you have the talent to be able to write and to draw,
it seems a shame to choose one. I think it's better to do both.

Marjane Satrapi

'THE INCREDIBLE HULK' IS PUBLISHED BY MARVEL COMICS

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has been reading one of her favourite comics, The Hulk, the fictional superhero whose first issue was published on a day like today in 1962.

The Hulk is a fictional superhero appearing in publications by the American publisher Marvel Comics.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May 10, 1962).

In his comic book appearances, the character is both the Hulk, a green-skinned, hulking and muscular humanoid possessing a vast degree of physical strength, and his alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved physicist. The two exist as independent dissociative personalities, and resent each other.

Following his accidental exposure to gamma rays saving the life of Rick Jones during the detonation of an experimental bomb, Banner is physically transformed into the Hulk when subjected to emotional stress, at or against his will, often leading to destructive rampages and conflicts that complicate Banner's civilian life.

The Hulk's level of strength is normally conveyed as proportionate to his level of anger. Commonly portrayed as a raging savage, the Hulk has been represented with other personalities based on Banner's fractured psyche, from a mindless, destructive force, to a brilliant warrior, or genius scientist in his own right.

Despite both Hulk and Banner's desire for solitude, the character has a large supporting cast. This includes Banner's lover Betty Ross, his best friend Rick Jones, his cousin She-Hulk, and therapist and ally Doc Samson. In addition, the Hulk alter ego has many key supporting characters like his co-founders of the superhero team the Avengers, his queen Caiera, fellow warriors Korg and Miek, and sons Skaar and Hiro-Kala. However, his uncontrollable power has brought him into conflict with his fellow heroes and others. Despite this, he tries his best to do what's right while battling villains such as Leader, Abomination, Absorbing Man and more.

More information: Marvel

Lee stated that the Hulk's creation was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Although the Hulk's colouration has varied throughout the character's publication history, the most usual colour is green.

One of the most iconic characters in popular culture, the character has appeared on a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectable items, inspired real-world structures, such as theme park attractions, and been referenced in a number of media. Banner and the Hulk have been adapted in live-action, animated, and video game incarnations. The character was first played in a live-action feature film by Eric Bana.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character was portrayed by Edward Norton in the film The Incredible Hulk (2008) and by Mark Ruffalo in the films The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013) in a cameo, Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019) in a cameo, and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Ruffalo will reprise the role in the upcoming Disney+ series What If...? (2021) and She-Hulk (2022).

The Hulk first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 (cover dated May 10, 1962), written by writer-editor Stan Lee, pencilled and co-plotted by Jack Kirby, and inked by Paul Reinman. Lee cites influence from Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Hulk's creation.

Lee has also compared Hulk to the Golem of Jewish mythology. In The Science of Superheroes, Gresh and Weinberg see the Hulk as a reaction to the Cold War and the threat of nuclear attack, an interpretation shared by Weinstein in Up, Up and Oy Vey. This interpretation corresponds with other popularized fictional media created during this time period, which took advantage of the prevailing sense among Americans that nuclear power could produce monsters and mutants.

The Hulk character and the concepts behind it have been raised to the level of iconic status by many within and outside the comic book industry.

In 2003, Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine claimed the character had stood the test of time as a genuine icon of American pop culture.

In 2008, the Hulk was listed as the 19th greatest comic book character by Wizard magazine. Empire magazine named him the 14th-greatest comic-book character and the fifth-greatest Marvel character.

In 2011, the Hulk placed No. 9 on IGN's list of Top 100 Comic Book Heroes, and fourth on their list of The Top 50 Avengers in 2012.

The Hulk was ranked #1 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.

More information: Live About

 The one thing Marvel does is think outside the box,
going all the way back to Ang Lee directing the first 'Hulk.'
They like to go outside the genre.

Anthony Russo