50 Greatest Super Heroes In Comic Book History

4. Captain America

(Write-up by Roger Lee, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer)

Captain America is one of Marvel’s oldest and perhaps best known characters. He is the most central character in Marvel’s rich stable, with a history going back to 1941. He was a comic book hero to kids and soldiers during World War Two, a Commie-smashing patriot in the 1950s, and the first new member of the Avengers in the 1960s. In the time since his famous re-introduction to the Avengers (in Avengers #4 in 1964), Cap has appeared in cartoons, video games, two made-for-television movies in the 1970s, a 1990 theatrical movie, and of course, the Avengers and Captain America movies put out by Marvel Studios in the 21st century. Our favorite Star-Spangled Avenger, the one and only Sentinel of Liberty himself, Captain America, is #4 on our list of the 50 Greatest Super Heroes of all time.

Captain America’s origin during World War II is pretty well-known from both the comics and from the movies: Steve Rogers attempted to volunteer for the military, but due to his weak physical condition, the military rejected him. However, Rogers was selected to take part in a secret government experiment, which attempted to create a new, powerful ‘super-soldier’ that would enable the American military to overpower the Axis. His selection for this experiment was based on the fact he was so physically frail. The government wanted to clearly see if their new scientific process could truly transform anyone into physical perfection. A Nazi saboteur killed the project’s lead scientist, but he was too late to prevent Rogers from turning into a peak physical specimen. The government gave him the red, white, and blue uniform and a shield, dubbed him “Captain America,” and the rest, as they say, is comic book history.

The identity of Captain America has undergone many changes over the years, and other men have worn the costume and wielded the shield. As part of the explanation to why there was a Captain America in the post-war period of the 1940s and 1950s, Marvel retconned those stories to show that men other than Steve Rogers were impersonating him as Captain America. There were three men who posed as Captain America in this time period. William Naslund and Jeff Mace took up Cap’s identity. Naslund did so at the urging of President Truman after the disappearance of the real Cap. After Naslund died in action in 1949, Jeff Mace, took his place as Captain America. He eventually retired, and a third man, William Burnside, a mentally unstable fan of Cap, took over the mantle in the 1950s.

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In the 1970s, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, a dispirited Steve Rogers quit being Captain America, instead assuming a new identity as Nomad. At this point, three other men briefly tried out for the job, but all failed, with the last of the three, Roscoe Simmons, being killed by Cap’s arch-enemy, the Red Skull.

In 2007, Marvel Comics shocked the world by killing Captain America. His place was taken this time by his old sidekick, Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. The Winter Soldier. Eventually, Rogers re- appeared, as almost no one in comics really dies for good, and he again assumed the mantle of the Star-Spangled Avenger.

As anyone paying attention to the current Captain America comic books is aware, the original Captain America, Steve Rogers, has again retired from active superheroing, with his current replacement being Sam Wilson, the superhero also known as the Falcon. How long Sam Wilson serves as the new Captain America is anyone’s guess, but with the immense popularity of Captain America in current movies, video games, and, of course, in Marvel Comics, the original Sentinel of Liberty will always be around in one form or another.

Next: No. 3: Spins a web, any size ...