Captain America Research Paper

Korey Royal
English - 2A
April 29, 2015

Most people don't realize the importance of superheroes, but there is a reason for most of them. Captain America reflects his time period, by being a role model to people as the U.S. was going through the war, and setting an example of patriotism for all americans. He is the ideal American soldier dressed in stars and stripes. The creators of Captain America are Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon. Joe Simon was born October 11, 1913, and died December 14, 2011 at the age of 98. He grew up on New York’s tough lower east side: Rochester. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School, where he was director for the school newspaper and yearbook. There he earned his first professional fee as an artist, when two universities

Kirby grew up poor in New York City, and taught himself how to draw cartoons from comic strips, and editorial cartoons. He entered the new comics industry in the 1930’s, and drew various comics under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, ultimately settling on Jack KIrby (Jack Kirby, St. James Encyclopedia). The main issue going on during the time period Captain America was created was World War I, World War II, and Vietnam War. The U.S. was going through the Great Depression during World War I, so the economy was bad. During World War II the economy was growing back, and the civil rights movement was on the come up. (Jack Kirby, Wikiwand). The main thing that was fitting for Captain America, is that he was a figure for kids as a soldier protecting them from “bad guys” (Captain America, Wikwand). Captain America encourages patriotism during the war times. He fights for america during World War two against the axis powers (Captain America, Wikiwand). His costume is based off of the American flag, to represent America as a hero to all the people of the world, and protects everyone (Captain America, Wikiwand). The creators wanted kids to look up to Captain America as a protector of them, and that he was handling the war (Captain America,

His popularity started to decline as the war was coming to a close, and there was no need for a soldier figure. His comic book sales were going down, partially because of the bad economy, but also because the kids didn't need to look up to him anymore. Captain America is popular today, but not as much as he should be. He is still featured in movies and videogames, such as The Avengers and Marvel V.S. Capcom 3, but he does not play any main roles. The only real change Captain America has made, is altering the design of his costume. The people in charge of Captain America’s costume, have made his costume more modern by changing his suit and shield design (Captain America,