Was making Steve Rogers "aryan" intentional?

[JKtheMac]

While we are considering printing, were Cap comics Ben-Day dot printing? That would be a good case for yellow hair too. But I am no expert in exactly which process was used when.

[Random4]

and now Marvel is using Cap's "aryan image" to represent a Nazi-style poster. ughhhh

I'm just not interested in Secret Empire

didn't mean to bump, but i thought it was somewhat related to this thread still, so didn't want to create a brand new thread

[ed2962]

and now Marvel is using Cap's "aryan image" to represent a Nazi-style poster. ughhhh

I'm just not interested in Secret Empire

didn't mean to bump, but i thought it was somewhat related to this thread still, so didn't want to create a brand new thread

Well, that's kinda the point with this storyline, so...

[Troian]

I wonder what would have happened if they went with the "black irish" root and gave Steve dark hair, eyes and olive skin.

[Ptrvc]

I wonder what would have happened if they went with the "black irish" root and gave Steve dark hair, eyes and olive skin.

People would have mistaken him for Bruce Wayne?

[JudicatorPrime]

I want to say that I read somewhere that making Steve a blonde haired white man was an intentional slam against the Nazis. I wish I could remember where I read it, and whether or not the source was reliable, (if I even read it at all and am not imagining it) but I'd say, given the people involved, it wouldnt surprise me in the least if they designed Cap's look for that very purpose. Not a whole lot got past Kirby, dude was deep.

I wonder what would have happened if they went with the "black irish" root and gave Steve dark hair, eyes and olive skin.

You have to remember that the other comics companies at the time all had the market cornered on brunette characters, whether we're talking about Captain Marvel/Shazam or Superman, Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman. A little variation from Marvel wasn't a bad thing.

That said, no, it wasn't a coincidence that Marvel made Steve fit the image promoted by Nazi Germany. And let's not be so quick to condemn Germany, because America was pretty damn racist back then, too. To some extent Simon and Kirby were selectively marketing a character to the readership, but to a greater extent, there was a bit of "kill a man with his own sword" going on as well. After all, Captain America's creators were honorable men of Jewish descent. Even though the real horrors of WWII wouldn't be known for years yet, Simon and Kirby strongly opposed Hitler's Germany and all that it represented.

I only wish that Simon and Kirby had dug even deeper for another healthy spoonful of courage and created an African American hero to occasionally partner with Steve on some adventures back in 1941. After all, it was a Black man (Jesse Owens) who is credited for "single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy" vis-à-vis the 1936 Olympics. But I get it. It was a different time back then and they couldn't very well publish and sell books where a person of color -- or even a Jewish person for that matter -- was going around beating up White people. Even bad, morally vacated, corrupt beyond any hope of redemption White people. If they had, Captain America would probably have gone the way of some of the other golden age comic book characters that very few remember.

[MichaelC]

I think it was more about looking like the recruitment posters of the time. Cap was supposed to look like he stepped right off of a poster representing what America thought of as the perfect soldier.

[Troian]

People would have mistaken him for Bruce Wayne?

Nah Batman had "white" skin. Considering how olive skin, dark hair and eyes give you a more "ethnic" look.. I'm not so sure how 1940s Americans would feel about that being an "ideal" image which Steve was suppose to be.

[Alpha Storm]

Yes actually I believe that was the point, that Hitler's idea of the perfect Aryan(which pretty much none of the top Nazi's even remotely resembled) would be their greatest enemy. I do believe I've read they did that completely intentionally.(Which just makes what Spencer and Marvel have done to the character recently so much worse, imo)

[Troian]

You have to remember that the other comics companies at the time all had the market cornered on brunette characters, whether we're talking about Captain Marvel/Shazam or Superman, Bruce Wayne and Wonder Woman. A little variation from Marvel wasn't a bad thing.

That said, no, it wasn't a coincidence that Marvel made Steve fit the image promoted by Nazi Germany. And let's not be so quick to condemn Germany, because America was pretty damn racist back then, too. To some extent Simon and Kirby were selectively marketing a character to the readership, but to a greater extent, there was a bit of "kill a man with his own sword" going on as well. After all, Captain America's creators were honorable men of Jewish descent. Even though the real horrors of WWII wouldn't be known for years yet, Simon and Kirby strongly opposed Hitler's Germany and all that it represented. It was a different time back then and they couldn't very well publish and sell books where a person of color -- or even a Jewish person for that matter -- was going around beating up White people. Even bad, morally vacated, corrupt beyond any hope of redemption White people. If they had, Captain America would probably have gone the way of some of the other golden age comic book characters that very few remember.

Most characters were brunette but they were all still "pink/white" skinned. Honestly, It could simply could have been pulling a New 52 Helena Bertinelli on us (maybe not as dark skinned though..). But that wouldn't have been possible because America's beauty standards back then were to be as close to "white" as possible. From the skin to lighter hair and eyes.

I do agree though, while some diversity would have been nice to see but it would have impossible. Back then swarthy Jews, Europeans, etc were discriminated against, African Americans and other groups aside. And putting them in media or setting them up as heroes would have been bad as it went against the "pure" ideal image.

Off topic, but now that I think about it, it may have helped that some European Jews survived being hunted by Hitler because all the years living and interbreeding in Europe helped them look more "European" and get rid of some of the stereotypical jewish physical traits.