(March 1941)

Marvel, 1941 Series
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Volume
2
Price
0.10 USD
Pages
68
Indicia Frequency
monthly
On-sale Date
1940-12-20
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Timely Publications
Editing
Joe Simon
Color
Full Color
Dimensions
Standard Golden Age U.S. (through about early 1944, narrower thereafter)
Paper Stock
Glossy Cover: Newsprint Interior
Binding
Saddle-Stitched
Publishing Format
Was On-Going Series

Issue Notes

The on-sale date is the publication date reported in the U. S. Copyright Office filing.



From the indicia: CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS published by monthly Timely Publications, Meriden, Conn. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office, Meriden, Conn. Entire contents copyright 1940 by Timely Publications, 330 W. 42nd St., New York, N. Y. Vol. 2, No. 1, March 1941 issue Yearly subscription $1.00. Printed in the U.S.A.

Per artist George Roussos in an interview, he claimed to have inked 11-12 pages of this issue. Unknown as to what stories George inked. (as related by Dave Reeder on the Error List, 26 Feb 2011).

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents)

Captain America / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
Jack Kirby
Inks
Joe Simon ?; Syd Shores ?
Colors
?
Letters
?; Joe Simon (logo design)
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Smashing thru, Captain America came face to face with Hitler...
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky Barnes; Adolf Hitler
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Logo design credit from Todd Klein via his Facebook page, used with permission.

Syd Shores recalled that his first job at Timely was inking this cover (Alter Ego #11, page 46). Examining it in detail Simon appears to have inked the heads, at least, of Captain America and Bucky, and probably that of Hitler also. Some of the far background, including the image on the screen and the faces of at least some German soldiers are more crude in style and may well be Shores' work.

Cover Thumbnail for Captain America Comics (Marvel, 1941 series) #1
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..Table of Contents (Table of Contents: 1)

Captain America / table of contents / 1 page (report information)

Script
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby
Pencils
Jack Kirby
Inks
Joe Simon
Letters
?
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky Barnes; Red Skull; Rathkone; Omar
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover.
TOC page introduces the stories and features in text and art for this issue.
Some info added by Craig Delich 6-9-08.

Case No. 1. Meet Captain America (Table of Contents: 2)

Captain America / comic story / 7.5 pages (report information)

Script
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby (credited)
Pencils
Jack Kirby (credited)
Inks
Al Liederman; Syd Shores; Joe Simon (credited)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers] (introduction, origin); Bucky [Bucky Barnes] (introduction); President Franklin D. Roosevelt; General Phillips (unnamed, introduction); J. Arthur Grover [J. Edgar Hoover]; Agent X-13 (introduction); Professor Reinstein (introduction, dies); Heinz Kruger (unnamed, introduction, dies)
Synopsis
The Army is looking for a solution to the threat the Axis Powers pose to the people of America, and they discover the secret answer to their prayers: a super-soldier serum that will create an army of super soldiers! However, only one man receives the serum before it and its creator are destroyed: Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America!
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Inking credit from Joe Simon, via Greg Theakston.
Synopsis added by Craig Delich 6-9-08.

There are at least three different inkers here. Joe Simon does the Captain America and Bucky figures on page 1. Syd Shores (who recalled at least partially inking this issue) is evident on much of pages 2 (the face of the saboteur in panel 1 is typical of his later credited work), 3 and 4. A different inker takes over on page 5 and into page 6. By comparison with his known Captain Kid stories in Captain Marvel Adventures 5 and 6 this does not look like Liederman's style, however, and despite Simon's identification I cannot see Liederman here at all. Shores returns for at least a portion of pages 7 and 8.

[Captain America's Sentinels of Liberty] (Table of Contents: 3) (Expand) /

Captain America / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.5 page (report information)

[Case No. 2] (Table of Contents: 4)

Captain America / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby (credited)
Pencils
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby (credited)
Inks
Joe Simon (credited)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky [Bucky Barnes]; Betty Ross (introduction; later named Betsy Ross); Sando [Von Krantz] (introduction, villain); Omar (introduction)
Synopsis
Captain America and Bucky set out to solve the riddle of the connection between a wave of sabotage sweeping the U.S. defense industries and a strange little man who predicted it would happen.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Pencil credit from Greg Theakston.
Synopsis added by Craig Delich 6-9-08.
Title taken from Table of Contents.

Captain America and the Soldiers' Soup (Table of Contents: 5)

Captain America / text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Joe Simon ? (illustrations); Jack Kirby ? (illustrations)
Inks
Joe Simon ? (illustrations); Jack Kirby ? (illustrations)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky [Bucky Barnes]; The Crusher (villain); Slinky (villain)
Synopsis
Cap and Bucky uncover a plot to poison an entire Army post by saboteurs.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Art credits and synopsis added by Craig Delich 6-9-08.

[The Chess Board of Death] (Table of Contents: 6)

Captain America / comic story / 16 pages (report information)

Script
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby (credited)
Pencils
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby (credited)
Inks
Joe Simon (credited); Syd Shores
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky [Bucky Barnes]; Admiral Perkins (dies); Sgt. Mike Duffy (introduction); Rathcone (introduction, villain); Herr Kameleon (introduction, villain); Strangler (introduction, villain)
Synopsis
A weird figure has carved wooden chess figures of people who must be eliminated before he launches the mightiest blitzkrieg the world has ever seen. Unfortunately for him, two of those figures are Captain America and Bucky!
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Pencils credit from Greg Theakston.
Synopsis added by Craig Delich 6-9-08.
Title taken from Table of Contents.

Syd Shores (per his claim in Alter Ego #11, page 46) is evident in the inking of the villains and most of the minor figures, but not Captain America, Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes, both in and out of costume. These appear, in the main, to be inked by Simon.

The Riddle of the Red Skull (Table of Contents: 7)

Captain America / comic story / 14 pages (report information)

Script
Ed Herron
Pencils
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby (credited)
Inks
Joe Simon (credited)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
superhero
Characters
Captain America [Steve Rogers]; Bucky [Bucky Barnes]; Red Skull [George Maxon] (villain, introduction); Major Croy (dies); General Manor (dies)
Synopsis
Cap and Bucky come face to face with a villain who scares the wits out of his victims, then injects them with a poison that convinces others that he has killed them with his eyes!
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Script and pencils credit from Greg Theakston.
Synopsis added by Craig Delich 6-9-08.

[USA Comics] (Table of Contents: 8) (Expand) /

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Murder, Ltd. (Table of Contents: 9)

Hurricane / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby
Pencils
Jack Kirby
Inks
Jack Kirby
Colors
?
Letters
Jack Kirby
Genre
superhero
Characters
Hurricane [Mike Cury] (introduction); Pluto (villain); Piggy Perroni (villain)
Synopsis
Alarmed at the gangland murders in a coastal town, Hurricane decides to "join" the gang in order to be in a position to halt their crimes.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Inks credit from Greg Theakston.
Synopsis added by Craig Delich 9 June 2008.
The story is a reworked Mercury (the character from Red Raven Comics) story.
Letters credit identified by Greg Theakston and later Harry Mendryk on the Jack Kirby Museum web page http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/2369, 31 October 2008 (retrieved 15 December 2014).

Stories from the Dark Ages (Table of Contents: 10)

Tuk, Caveboy / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Joe Simon; Jack Kirby
Pencils
Jack Kirby
Inks
Jack Kirby
Colors
?
Letters
Jack Kirby
Genre
adventure; historical
Characters
Tuk (introduction, origin); Ak; Phaidor (introduction, dies in flashback); Rhaya (introduction, dies in flashback); Tanir (introduction); Goreks (villain, introduction, dies)
Synopsis
Before his death, wise old Ak relates to Tuk about how he was the survivor of the hairless ones who once came to the jungle. Later, he meets up with Tanir, and they decide to team up and travel together.
Reprints
Keywords
barbarian

Indexer Notes

Inks credit from Greg Theakston. Synopsis added by Craig Delich (June 2008). Letters credit identified by Greg Theakston and later Harry Mendryk on the Jack Kirby Museum web page http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/simonandkirby/archives/2369, 31 October 2008.

The splash panel describes Tuk setting off to find Attilan, "the island of the gods," though he never does find it. Much later Avengers stories implied a connection between Tuk and the Inhumans based on this reference to Attilan, also the name of the home of the Inhumans. (Note prompted by Fred Snyder via the GCD Error Tracker.)

Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. ["Smashing thru, Captain America came face to face with Hitler..."]
    Captain America
  2. 1. ..Table of Contents
    Captain America
  3. 2. Case No. 1. Meet Captain America
    Captain America
  4. 3. [Captain America's Sentinels of Liberty]
    Captain America
  5. 4. [Case No. 2]
    Captain America
  6. 5. Captain America and the Soldiers' Soup
    Captain America
  7. 6. [The Chess Board of Death]
    Captain America
  8. 7. The Riddle of the Red Skull
    Captain America
  9. 8. [USA Comics]
  10. 9. Murder, Ltd.
    Hurricane
  11. 10. Stories from the Dark Ages
    Tuk, Caveboy
This issue was most recently modified by:
  • Henry Andrews
  • Mark Q
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Keith Chandler
  • Bob Hughes
  • Steve Jenner
  • Craig Delich
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Del Gruber
  • Darci
  • Jim Van Dore
  • Ray Bottorff Jr
  • Dwayne Best
  • Frank Lovece
  • R. S. Martin
  • Lou Mazzella
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Peter Croome
  • Steve Dasinger
Issues in this series have been indexed by:
  • Lou Mougin
  • Tony R. Rose
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