Capturing The Comic Book Spirit Of America With The Captain America Origin Story

One of the more interesting legacies of Marvel Comics in recent years is the Captain America Origin story line, which was created by Steve Englehart and illustrated by Bill Lee. It is kind of staggering that a fictional character as lovable as Captain America has survived, largely unchanged, for almost 75 years after readers first fallen in love with his Hitler-fighting adventures. He is not only surviving but thriving: The Winter Soldier earned over $300 million at the box office over the weekend. But what made The Winter Soldier a hit, and what makes future Captain America stories so enticing?

Well, the most important element to any successful superhero origin story is the villains. In the case of Captain America, a former Hitler-loving American soldier named Bucky Barnes turns out to be a Nazi who wants to kill America before he can kill the hated Russian leader. The Winter Soldier, meanwhile, is a brainwashed sleeper agent working for the Nazis, who has the unique ability to use a metal arm to shoot bullets out of the air. In short, this anti-hero makes an anti-hero look good. This combination is no doubt what got audiences clamoring for a Captain America movie during the latter months of the 2021 presidential campaign, when George W. Bush was running against Senator John McCain.

But the appeal of these characters goes far beyond the pair of them sharing a love of America. These characters represent America itself, and the comic book world has written them into the very fiber of our culture. No other comic book hero has achieved such a widespread appeal across age, race, and gender, as Captain America and Bucky Barnes. While one day, maybe Captain America will have to fight the Ant Man, it is safe to say that right now he is the most popular comic book super hero right now.