THE TERRIFIC ORIGIN OF CAPTAIN AMERICA...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

At first glance, a strip featuring the adventures of a red, white and blue, star-spangled, shield-slinging U.S. super-soldier of WWII isn't something which would seem to have any great chance of making much of an impression on the more reserved comics-buying tastes of the great British public.  Nevertheless, being the creation of American patriotic fervour back in the dark days of the 1940s didn't seem to deter U.K. readers from taking the wing-helmeted hero to their hearts.

Here we see how STEVE ROGER's alter-ego, CAPTAIN AMERICA, came to exist in the swingin' sixties - a man out of his time, but not out of his depth.  I don't think the POWER COMICS ever revealed Cap's actual origin - how a rejected army volunteer was given a dose of a 'super-soldier' serum and was transformed into the epitome of physical perfection.  He was intended to be the first of many such soldiers, but unfortunately the serum's creator was killed by an enemy agent before any more of the formula could be produced.

We also see how Cap's teeanage sidekick, BUCKY, bit the dust while trying to disarm a booby-trapped drone plane as it took off from an army base somewhere in Europe. Personally, I can't stand teenage sidekicks, so I say "good-riddance" to the little buggah!  (Unfortunately, they've recently brought him back into current continuity by revealing that he survived his apparent death.)

Here, then, is how Captain America joined The AVENGERS.

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     COMING SOON:  The Terrific origin of RICK JONES' TEEN BRIGADE!