Overview – After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals.
Marvel Studios seems to know what they’re doing. In order to make the ultimate superhero film, they’ve spent years upon years making numerous films, gradually building up momentum for the upcoming ‘The Avengers,’ a film that would be utterly impossible to make without establishing its stars, its roster, in their own origin stories, building fan anticipation in the process. In this lengthy build-up, we’ve seen an improvement on the formula in ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ a game changer in ‘Iron Man,’ and, most amazingly, a ‘Thor’ film that was not only relatable but damned entertaining. We met Hawkeye and the Black Widow in recent adventures, as well, and many a time now Samuel L. Jackson has popped in with a signature eyepatch as the leader of the bunch, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. But, one piece has been missing, perhaps the most crucial to the team. Ironically, one of the very first Marvel superheroes proved to be the last introduced in this new series of comic adaptations.
In 1941, a mere two years after the official debut of Marvel Comics and its first two heroes, the Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner, a third hero would step into the spotlight, a national hero, an embodiment of the American culture amidst the backdrop of a world in crisis, with an amazing statement from the get go, his first cover being a picture of the hero punching Adolf Hitler square in the face. Leading American troops into battle against Axis foes, the fictional character proved to be an amazing piece of propaganda, but when the war ended, so too did the popularity of the character. Cue the Silver Age of comic books, and suddenly ol’ Stars and Stripes had a place in the comic world yet again, and has been in print ever since (with a few minor hiccups due to the change in series from time to time), closing in on fifty consecutive years, including a recent spike in public attention due to…you guessed it, the “death” of the character.