Captain America - Fanlore

Captain America in Timely/Marvel Comics

Captain America debuted in December of 1940 in Captain America Comics #1, published by Timely Comics (later to be known as Marvel Comics). His creation was distinctly political, as evidenced by his first cover where he was depicted punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw. The first comic sold one million copies and garnered hate mail for his creators from isolationists, pacifists, and fascists.

Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Captain America started out as the frail Steve Rogers, who had been deemed unfit for military service, but whose fervent patriotism and opposition to the Nazi regime enabled him to take part in a secret government project. Operation Rebirth, headed by Dr. Abraham Erskine (codenamed Dr. Reinstein) developed the Super Soldier Serum, which when administered transformed the skinny, sickly Steve Rogers in to the pinnacle of human perfection and the ultimate soldier. After witnessing the serum's success, a Nazi spy kills Dr. Erskine, and the secrets of the serum die with him, leaving Steve Rogers the sole Super Soldier. He carries on as Captain America, first fighting Nazi spies and saboteurs in America, then serving in Europe once the United States entered the war, along with his kid sidekick, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes.

As superheroes lost popularity in the post-war years, Captain America faded away. But during the Silver Age resurgence of superheroes, Marvel writer and Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee decided to reintroduce him into Marvel's new universe. In Avengers #4, the titular superhero team discovers Captain America trapped in a block of ice near the North Pole. Thanks to the Super Soldier Serum, the ice did not kill him, but instead kept him in a state of suspended animation. When he wakes up, he tells the Avengers that in the final days of the war in Europe, he and Bucky tried to stop Nazi villain Baron Zemo from destroying an experimental drone plane, unaware that Zemo had booby-trapped it. The plane exploded, killing Bucky and throwing Captain America into the icy North Atlantic. He joins the Avengers and carries around his guilt for Bucky's death.

Since his revival in 1964, Captain America's supporting cast has grown to include:

Sharon Carter, Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D. and his on-and-off girlfriend; Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, a man from Harlem with a pet falcon named Redwing, whom Cap convinces to become a superhero and later partners with (Captain America #134-222 are titled "Captain America and the Falcon); Jack Monroe, one of the "Buckys" of the 1950s, having been appointed to the role by President Truman after the real Cap and Bucky disappeared, and who takes on the persona "Nomad" (a title originally created and carried by Steve Rogers himself for a short time after being shocked by a Watergate-type scandal); Bernie Rosenthal, a glass-blower and law student whom Steve Rogers dates during a time when Sharon Carter is presumed dead; Arnie Roth, Steve's childhood friend from the '30s with whom he reunites in the '80s when Arnie's boyfriend is taken hostage by Baron Zemo.

Captain America's main adversaries include the Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Batroc the Leaper, Crossbones, Dr. Faustus, and Madame Hydra.

In 2005, writer Ed Brubaker ran a storyline about the "Winter Soldier", a Soviet assassin. By the end of the story, it is revealed that the Winter Soldier is none other than Bucky Barnes, whose body had been retrieved from the wreckage of the drone plane by the Soviets. As it turned out, he was only unconscious and very badly wounded; the Soviets kept him alive, gave him a sophisticated cybernetic arm to replace the one lost in the explosion, and brainwashed and trained him into becoming the perfect assassin. The Soviets kept him in suspended animation between assignments, so that when he encounters Captain America as the Winter Soldier, he has only aged a few years. Using the Cosmic Cube, Steve makes Bucky remember who he is and the two partners are finally reunited.

During the 2006-2007 Civil War event, Captain America goes underground when he opposes the Superhuman Registration Act, which requires all superheroes to register their identities with the U.S. Government. While the government already knows his identity, Cap believes the act to be a violation of the civil liberties of other superheroes. This stance pits him against long time friend and fellow Avenger Iron Man. In the end, Captain America surrenders for the safety of the ordinary citizens, and he is arrested. Later, as he climbs the courthouse steps, he is shot four times--once in the shoulder and three times in the stomach--and he dies soon after arriving at the hospital. It is soon revealed that the fatal shots were fired by none other than his love, Sharon Carter, who had been brainwashed by Dr. Faustus and the Red Skull.

The mantle of Captain America is eventually taken up by Bucky Barnes.

Captain America fandom

As the spiritual center of the Marvel Universe, Captain America fandom is largely subsumed into general Marvel Comics fandom, with a more pronounced presence in the Avengers fandom.

Canon pairings include Steve/Sharon, Steve/Bernie, and Steve/Rachel Leighton (reformed supervillian Diamondback)

Popular fan pairings include Steve/Tony (Iron Man), Steve/Sam, and Steve/Bucky.

Fanart and Machinima

Fanfic

Captain America slash is more common than het or gen. The main communities for slash are Marvel_Slash and Cap_Ironman (see Steve/Tony). Marvel_Drabbles features drabbles of all genres and ships. All genres of fic and drabbles featuring Steve Rogers can be found at MarvelFanFiction.com

Steve/Tony

The main Steve/Tony community is Cap_Ironman.

On July 4th, 2007 Elspeth Dixon and Seanchai began posting Resurrection, Reconstruction, and Redemption, the first Steve/Tony novel. Elspeth Dixon and Seanchai continue to be active in the fandom, and have been instrumental in its growth. They host the pairing's main archive, Tales of Suspense, which hosts fic and art.

Resources:

Elspeth Dixon wrote the ship manifesto A Sword, A Horse, A Shield and a primer Printed Circuits: A Tony Stark character and fandom overview.

Nix aka Crimson Quills ran a workshop on Writing Captain America/Iron Man and compiled The 62 Slashiest Moments.

Captain America Movieverse

Marvel has announced a Captain America movie, titled First Avenger: Captain America, scheduled for a May 2011 release. It will be followed in July 2011 by The Avengers movie. Joe Johnston has been signed on to direct, though there is still no word on any casting or screenwriters.

Captain America's trademark shield can be seen in the Iron Man movie on Tony Stark's workbench.

Regardless of the current absence of any Captain America movieverse material, Steve Rogers will occasionally make appearances in fanfic label "movieverse" (either a specific one, e.g. Iron Man, or just generally, i.e. Marvel) These fics tend to contain Cap as a secondary character to a character who has had a film come out, and are usually only "movieverse" in the sense that they contain a few minor concepts unique to movieverse continuity. They also anticipate the shared movieverse that Marvel has promised.