Featuring: Captain America
Release: August 15, 1946
Cover: November 1946
10 cents
16 pages
The table of contents for the entire issue credits: Syd Shores as art associate, Stan Lee as editorial and art director, and Al Sulman as editor. Syd Shores also seems to have drawn this story.
It is clear that Syd Shores is no Jack Kirby. Kirby’s direct involvement with drawing the character only lasted about a year. He was then overseeing the creation of the stories by other creators before being drafted into the US Army. It would be more than 20 years before he returned to Captain America. Shady royalties practices on the part of publisher Martin Goodman may have helped keep him away from the company.
It is 1946. World War II is over. What does Captain America do now? Steve Rogers could hang up the stripes for good, but he chooses not to. He and Bucky continue their partnership as crimefighters.
The origin of Captain America is retold. It’s basically the same story we already knew. Minor dialogue differences. In the original, the serum is shot with another bullet. In this version, it seems to break when Professor Reinstein drops it. The officers present also make explicit what was only implied by the old version: that the serum which was destroyed was the last of it, that there would be no more super soldiers. Minor variations. The biggest difference evident is the fate of the spy. In this telling, Captain America seems to leave him unconscious on the floor. In the original, the spy stumbled into lab equipment and died of electric shock. To be fair, it’s not clear that’s not what happened here. He just seems to be unconscious when the flashback ends. He could plausibly then have woken up and gotten himself electrocuted.
The biggest distinction between the two really lies in the quality of the art and storytelling. What’s with this panel arrangement? Without context, how am I to have any idea what the third panel is?
We then get a detail about Steve Rogers’ past. We learn he had been a school teacher before enlisting in the army. This also gives us some hint about his age. I’m not certain what degree would be required to teach high school in 1940, but he presumably had some post-high school education. He must have been at least 21 when he became Captain America, which would make him at least 25 when the war ended.
It’s been at least 5 years since we met Bucky. America has entered World War II and the war has ended. Yet, he does not look any older. He seems to be a high school student now, so presumably aged 14-18. Could he have been as young as 9 when he became Captain America’s partner? That would seem pretty irresponsible on Cap’s part. I certainly wouldn’t drag anybody younger than 13 into battle against heavily armed Nazis.
Steve will be teaching at the Lee school. I wonder if the school’s name has any connection with the book’s editor, known as Stan Lee. They go into a fair amount of detail on how tuition works. A progressive scheme subsidized by the wealthier students, making it free for the poorer students. From each, according to their means. Makes sense to me.
I guess it’s appropriate for teachers to spank their students in 1946. We then get some solid butt-humor and learn the student carries perfume.
There’s an explanation for the perfume, though. It ties into the issue’s bad guys and their scheme. It’s actually a pretty darn clever plot. The crooks use local kids to sell perfume for them. The perfume that gets delivered is really an explosive. When the house catches on fire, the crooks rob it disguised as firemen.
Unfortunately for them, Captain America knows enough about fires to see through their disguises.
Somebody really thought through how to make an incendiary device disguised as perfume.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 53/100
Characters:
- Captain America/Steve Rogers
- Bucky
- Professor Reinstein
- Henry Hawley
- Snipe Gooligan
- Snipe’s mother
Story notes:
- Steve Rogers discharged from army.
- In origin retelling, military clarify there will be no more super soldiers. Also, the spy who sabotaged the experiment appeared to not die.
- Steve and Bucky still partners, waging war on crime.
- Steve Rogers was public school teacher prior to drafting.
- Rogers invited to be teacher again by Henry Hawley, principal of the Lee School.
- Private school to help with overcrowded public schools. Rich pay full tuition, middle-class according to means, poor pay nothing.
- Rogers to be “all-around” teacher, teaching subjects from math to geography.
- “Tiger Sweet” perfume sold by Snipe.
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