Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who
appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character
first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20,
1940, by Timely Comics, a corporate predecessor to Marvel. Captain
America's civilian identity is Steven "Steve" Rogers, a frail man enhanced to
the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental "super-
soldier serum" after joining the United States Army to aid the country's efforts
in World War II. Equipped with an American flag–inspired costume and a
virtually indestructible shield, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky
Barnes clashed frequently with the villainous Red Skull and other members of
the Axis powers. In the final days of the war, an accident left Captain America
frozen in a state of suspended animation until he was revived in modern
times. He resumes his exploits as a costumed hero and becomes leader of
the superhero team the Avengers, but frequently struggles as a "man out of
time" to adjust to the new era.
The character quickly emerged as Timely's most popular and commercially
successful wartime creation upon his original publication, though the
popularity of superheroes declined in the post-war period and Captain
America Comics was discontinued in 1950. The character saw a short-lived
revival in 1953 before returning to comics in 1964, and has since remained in
continuous publication. Captain America's creation as an explicitly anti-
Nazi figure was a deliberately political undertaking: Simon and Kirby were
stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supporters of U.S.
intervention in World War II, with Simon conceiving of the character
specifically in response to the American non-interventionism movement.
Political messages have subsequently remained a defining feature of Captain
America stories, with writers regularly using the character to comment on the
state of American society and government.
Having appeared in more than ten thousand stories in more than five
thousand media formats, Captain America is one of the most popular and
recognized Marvel Comics characters, and has been described as an icon
of American popular culture. Though Captain America was not the first United
States–themed superhero, he would become the most popular and enduring
of the many patriotic American superheroes created during World War II.
Captain America was the first Marvel character to appear in a medium outside
of comic books, in the 1944 serial film Captain America; the character has
subsequently appeared in a variety of films and other media, including
the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he was portrayed by actor Chris
Evans from the character's first appearance in Captain America: The First
Avenger (2011) to his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019).
