Captain America in 1941 was a Propaganda Machine

Steve Rogers was born in New York City, his father's name was Joseph and his mother's name was Sara. He first appeared in 1941 in the issue Capt. America #1. He was born during the depression, and his father died when he was a child, his mother followed while he was still a teen. He tried to enlist in the Army when he saw newsreels of the Nazis, but he was turned down because he was too frail. A general gave him the opportunity to be a part of a special experiment called Operation Rebirth. The doctor who performed the test on Steve Rogers used him as his first experiment. Moments after a successful test on Steve, the doctor was murdered by a Nazis spy. Steve became the only super soldier from these experiments, he was the lone survivor because the doctor was unable to document the test results. Steve was then put through rigorous tests by the Army and trained in tactical warfare. After about three months he was given the task to stop the Red Skull. The Red Skull was a Nazi agent. And, to help Steve Rogers become a symbol against Nazi tyranny he was given a red, white, and blue costume and named Capt. America.

Steve Rogers character of Capt. America was created during the dawn of World War II. There is no doubt that he was used to inspire youths in the war effort. This propaganda machine was not really highlighted until years later. The comic companies created a series of villains, and for that matter heroes, that help to inspire young teens into believing that the war effort was "right" and "just", it was a matter of good versus evil and Capt. America was probably the most famous hero to be born during this era.

If we are to take a look at the arch enemy the Red Skull you could see that he was modeled after pure evil. Comic creators created the story of the Red Skull and gave him a background as a former beggar, thief, menial laborer, and bellboy. Later, he would become a terrorist leader or the Third Reich and he would try to conquer the world. He is a legal citizen of Germany and sought by many countries around the world for war crimes he committed during the war. He is often pictured in a uniform that resembles a Nazi soldier, he smokes, he has a menacing Red Skull as a head, and his father committed suicide, as a teenager he tried to force himself on his boss' daughter, and when she rejected him he murdered her.

So Steve Rogers was a poor boy whose parents died while he was young and tried to do the right thing and join the army to fight the Nazis but, because of his own weaknesses, could not join the regular army. Instead, he was used as an experiment and all the good things that were in him came out after the experiment. He became the ultimate fighting machine. A personification of every poor boy who wanted to do good. There is no doubt that the government needed troops in World War II and understood that the war would be a long one what better way to inspire young boys around the age of 14 to start building a desire to fight Nazi Germany.

The Red Skull has his background story, he was a thief, a murderer, an attempted rapist, a smoker, a Nazi, an orphan, and a big bright red skull for a head. Boy, he's a bad guy isn't he? All those vices and probably many more. Why exactly they gave him the occupation as a laborer and bellboy one could only guess.

Were these characters used as a propaganda tool or were the comic book companies at the time cashing in on the fears of the country and the patriotism shown throughout the United States? This can be debated. Several large companies were doing their part by showing their patriotism and the comic book companies may have just been following suit. While we read these early comics now, and recognize that they were planting the seed in the youth of America to fight the ultimate evil in Nazi Germany and instilling in these young men the desire to do the "right" thing. This desire planted in 1941 through comics and various other media seems to have inspired a generation of Americans. And now, with the upcoming movie release of Captain America we can watch as a whole new generation can be inspired by him.