Featuring: Captain America
Release: March 17, 1941
Cover: May 1941
10 cents
By: Stan Lee
2 pages
Marvel comics up through the 1960s have often included short prose stories. We haven’t covered any yet in detail, as none have been sufficiently relevant. In the 1960s, they have been short one-off tales of science fiction or fantasy.
The first two Captain America comics also each featured a text story we did not cover. We have not even covered all the Captain America comic stories from those first two issues. We are just doing a brief scan of Captain America’s history prior to his return in 1964.
Why cover this particular text piece? The author is notable.
Stanley Martin Lieber was 17 when he got a job with Timely Comics in 1939, working as an assistant. It perhaps helped that he was cousin to the publisher’s wife. He did a variety of odd jobs that needed doing, like fetching coffee.
He was probably 18 when he was given his first opportunity to do some writing for the company. He was assigned a two-page text story.
And you know what? It’s a pretty good yarn.
He decided not to use his real name, and instead gave a pseudonym. This was not uncommon for comic authors. How did he come up with the pen name? Perhaps he broke his first name “Stanley” into two parts. Or perhaps he used first syllables of each name from “STANley LIEber”. Either way, he signed his name Stan Lee, and would continue to sign his comics work that way for a long time to come.
He would take other writing assignments and work his way from coffee boy to writer to editor and eventually become inseparably associated with Marvel superheroes.
No artist is credited for the pictures accompanying the text story, but it seems to be the work of Jack Kirby.
If we recall Captain America’s theme from the 1960s Marvel Superheroes TV series, it begins “When Captain America throws his mighty shield…”
However, that was not something Captain America often did in the 1940s. It was mostly an invention of the 1960s. He threw it only occasionally in the 1940s. The very first time was in this story. Recall, in the first issue he had a triangular shield not good for throwing. He got the circular shield in his second issue, but didn’t throw it. So this story is also notable for the first shield throw by Cap.
Here’s the story in its entirety.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 59/100
I read this story in Golden Age Captain America Omnibus vol. 1. You can also find it on Kindle.
Characters:
- Lou Haines
- Private Steve Rogers/Captain America
- Bucky Barnes
- Colonel Stevens
Story notes:
- Colonel Stevens orders Lou Haines dishonorably discharged.
- Steve and Bucky play Checkers.
- Haines and two accomplices attempt to murder Colonel Stevens.
- Captain America threw shield to knock out Haines; first time Captain America throws his shield.
- Rogers claims to have been asleep during all the commotion.
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