Tales of Suspense #63, Story B

Featuring: Captain America
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Frank Ray
Lettered by: Art Simek
10 pages

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Tales of Suspense #63	Reading order	Avengers #13
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Rather than trying to tell a new Captain America story, this comic will retell the origin of Captain America. Subsequent adventures will recap his earliest issues and others will be new stories set in World War II.

I can only guess what’s going on here. One, you can imagine Kirby would like a bit of a break from drawing 5 stories a month, and it may be easier on him to retell old tales. Or, perhaps he is looking back on those tales now that he has grown as an artist and is looking to revisit them and tell them better.

I also suspect that Stan is starting to notice how much his readers care about the intercontinuity of the titles, something he probably doesn’t want to think about at all. Telling Captain America stories set in the past saves him the trouble of worrying that they line up with current Avengers comics.

I tend to find the best thing to do with these retellings is just go in depth and try to spot any differences from previous tellings, particularly the original story in Captain America Comics #1 (1941).

I’ll add a note here based on feedback I’ve received on this piece. You are of course encouraged to click the above link to my write-up on Captain America Comics #1. However, I perhaps should note key information from that post in this one: Captain America Comics #1 was made by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. They drew that story in close collaboration, whereas this new telling shows Kirby laying out and drawing the story alone, without his longterm collaborator Simon.

Kirby looked closely to the original when drawing his version. The alterations seem relatively minor and reflect a tighter storytelling structure. Lee seemed to pay no attention to the original dialogue, writing his own, renaming characters sometimes with purpose, and sometimes at random.

The intent I suspect came from renaming the major characters that seemed to be thinly veiled analogues of real people: FBI Director J. Arthur Grover, and eminent scientist Professor Reinstein. Grover’s character was completely renamed and reworked, and Reinstein was renamed to Erskine.

Whatever strengths this new telling may have, the cover fails to compare to the majesty of the original, perhaps the best cover in Marvel’s history.

One difference you’ll quickly notice is that 1960s Marvel comics arrange their panels in nice grids amenable to cropping… 1940s comics felt no such pressure to confine their layouts.

We see key differences here, though they come entirely from the script. For Kirby’s part, he just fit the 5 original panels into two, but the art seems to be depicting the same scene. Stan turns it around in numerous ways. In the original, the President is telling the Generals about the project for the first time. In the new version, the General is updating the President. In the original, the FBI seems to be in charge of the project, and top military leadership was unaware. In the new version, it seems to be a military project with that particular General in charge.

That General’s name isn’t given here. He will later be named General Phillips, and be portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in the 2011 film, Captain America: The First Avenger.

As discussed above, it’s possible Lee didn’t like the real-life analogues, so didn’t want to keep the name of J. Arthur Grover. I find it equally plausible that Lee just didn’t remember the original story at all, so just made up whatever. Either way, the character who enters in this story is named Dr. Anderson. There is no indication he is the head of the FBI.

An important added detail in the new version is the name of the project: Operation Rebirth.

The fake shop is specifically called a curio shop in both. The Generals’ escort is described as a high-ranking intelligence agent. It seems pretty clear that Kirby meant that to be the same person they met in the White House. So we’ll say this intelligence agent is named Dr. Anderson. Kirby keeps all the details, including the woman having the gun ready, just fits them into less panels.

The major story change again comes from Lee, this time with no reason except his carelessness. The woman is identified as Agent R. In the original, her codename is Agent X-13.

In the new version, the scientist refers to the patient as Rogers. In the original, we would only learn his name later in the issue. “Steve Rogers” is the one name that Lee got right.

We see the first major change from Kirby. Rogers drinks the serum. In the original, he is injected. This may be an artifact of the Comics Code not allowing drugs or needles. It’s also possible Kirby thought it was socially irresponsible to depict needle use in front of kids. They may have been more conscious of athletes and steroids by the 1960s, and noted that being injected with a needle to increase physical performance is indistinguishable from doping.

Brian Cronin covered this in Comic Book Legends Revealed. His interpretation is basically the same as mine, that the removal of a needle was an attempt to make the book more kid-friendly based on Code standards, though neither of us has particular evidence of this.

The new version notes an increase in reflexes, physical condition and courage. It neglects to note that the serum increases intelligence, as the original did.

Here, Lee renames Dr. Reinstein to Dr. Erskine. Again, either he didn’t like the similarity of the name to Einstein, or he didn’t bother to look up the original name.

Lee does make a good addition here. The General notes that Erskine has committed the formula to memory so it can’t be stolen by an enemy agent. That explains why Erskine’s death means the end of the program. The original was less clear why there would be no other super soldiers.

In the original, Professor Reinstein specifically says that Rogers had volunteered for military service that very day, but had been refused because he was unfit.

In the new version, the Nazi agent enters through a door. In the original, he is in the viewing area and fires his gun to break the glass and then jump through. This change came from Kirby. I’m not sure why. I’m guessing it just worked better with his panel flow.

Notice that in the original, Reinstein himself coined the name Captain America, and refers to the subject as the first super-agent.

In the original, we see the Nazi agent fire 5 shots: to break the window, kill Erskine, shatter the vial, kill Grover, and then one that goes wild.

In the new version, we see only three shots, one to kill Erskine, and two that seem to miss. This was likely about Kirby cleaning up the storytelling to remove some redundant panels. It’s also possible Kirby felt Captain America should be able to stop the agent before he got so many shots off.

In the new version, the identity of Captain America is created by the military high command.

The big discrepancy is the shield. In the original, Captain America wielded his original triangular shield until he met Bucky, and for their first few adventures together, before getting the more famous circular shield. This new retelling depicts Captain America with the circular shield even before he met Bucky. Moreover, the shield has the modern color scheme, which differs in several ways from the original circular shield.

Let’s compare the headlines.

I marked with an asterisk (*) the headlines we see Bucky reading when we meet him.

The new version adds a scene where the bumbling Private Rogers is given a hard time by his Sergeant. This is first seen in a later story in Captain America Comics #1, but was a frequent scene in the early days. The Sergeant is not named in either of these comics. It was revealed in Captain America Comics #4 that his name was Sgt. Duffy.

Private Rogers is stationed at Fort Lehigh, usually called Camp Lehigh in the original.

For the purposes of this blog, a very important moment is when Captain America offers to buy Bucky a Coke. Only the second reference to Coca-Cola we’ve seen in our reading.

In the new version, Bucky proposes the partnership and Cap agrees. In the original, Cap proposed the partnership.

A weird addition to the dialogue where Cap jokes about possibly killing Bucky. “In Germany, I’d just kill you now. But since this is America, we’ll find another solution… I guess.”

The final couple pages of the new version show Cap and Bucky in action against some Nazi saboteurs.

Let’s also take a look at two prior retellings of Cap’s origin, starting with Captain America Comics #59 (1946), in which Captain America finishes the war and starts civilian life, facts which contradict what we learned about Captain America’s disappearance in Avengers #4.

This was the first telling of Captain America’s origin that Stan Lee was involved with.

A minor difference in this retelling is that Reinstein knocks over the serum after being shot; in the original, another bullet shattered the serum.

The Gestapo agent seems to have been knocked unconscious by Captain America’s punch. There’s no hint of him being killed by running into machinery. But the scene cuts away, so presumably he’s going to get up and run soon.

The big change, which aligns with the modern retelling, is that Captain America’s original shield is not depicted. He is shown with the circular shield even before Bucky joined him.

This was best to keep Archie from suing them.

We get a couple new details after the origin finishes: that Steve Rogers had been a school teacher before the war, and that he was drafted for service.

Next, let’s look to Young Men #24 (1953). This is the story as narrated to a college classroom by Professor Steve Rogers, who should know the story… if he is Steve Rogers.

This is a very abridged telling. Professor Reinstein looks very different. The main difference is that Steve Rogers was strapped to a table before receiving the injection. He was standing in the other versions we read. Reinstein refers to a series of inoculations, when we only saw one before.

The death of Reinstein is glossed over, but it does make clear the secret of the supernormal serum died with him. This had always been implicit.

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It’s worth remembering what Marvel stories I’m treating as canon for this blog. Everything we’ve read starting with FF#1, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff, is how it happened. We will read some old comics, but if the new comics contradict them, we’ll go with the Marvel Age stuff.

So for the purposes of this blog, Dr. Erskine was the creator of the supernormal serum, which Captain America drank out of a vial. The agent at the curio shop is Agent R. The Nazi spy did not break the window. Operation Rebirth was overseen by the military, not the FBI.

And, of course, in our canon, Captain America fell into ice and Bucky died before the end of World War II.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 54/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆

The Marvel Comics Index was a huge help in making this post (and this entire blog, really.)

I have this story in a reprint in Captain America Annual 1 (1971). While I did scan the comic for this blog, since I own neither original, and wanted this side by side with Captain America Comics #1, using the digital version for both made for the better presentation. Especially since my copy is somewhat, er, time-worn.

You can also find this story in Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 1 or Captain America Epic Collection vol. 1: Captain America Lives Again. Or on Kindle.

Characters:

• Captain America/Steve Rogers
• Bucky/Bucky Barnes
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• General overseeing Operation Rebirth
• Dr. Anderson
• Agent R
• Dr. Erskine
• Nazi spy at Captain America’s experiment
• Sgt. Duffy

Story notes:

• Retelling of origin of Captain America; first in Marvel Age.
• FDR asks General about Operation: Rebirth.
• Curio shop a front.
• A 4F specimen identified for tissue-building chemical; name given as Steve Rogers.
• Rogers chosen for courage, intelligence, and willingness to risk death for his country.
• Rogers drinks serum.
• Dr. Erskine has committed the formula to memory, so there are no written notes to be stolen.
• Nazi spy enters room through door, shoots and kills Dr. Erskine. General smashes through window.
• Spy runs toward electrical omniverter and dies.
• Government gives Captain America name and costume; he turns his attention to spies and saboteurs on the homefront.
• Rogers disguised as ordinary army private at Fort Lehigh.
• Bucky orphaned when father died in training at Fort Lehigh; stayed on as camp mascot.
• Captain America offers to buy Bucky a Coke.
• Bucky suggests being the partner, and Steve agrees he has no choice.
• Bucky underwent months of intensive training.
• Cap and Bucky find Nazi sub smuggling weapons to America.
• Cap blows up sub, obviously killing whomever is left on board.

Previous	#309	Next
Tales of Suspense #63	Reading order	Avengers #13
Tales of Suspense #63	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #64