Meet The First Avenger: Captain America

Created by Joe Simon and comics legend Jack Kirby, Captain America debuted in 1940 in the midst of World War II, and was an instant hit. A young man too scrawny to meet the Army's standards but determined to serve his country, Steve Rogers volunteers to test out the military's new "Super Soldier" serum, a chemical formula meant to enhance its recipient into the physically perfect human. With the serum a success, Rogers was given a red, white, and blue costume and unbreakable shield and joined the U.S. Forces as Captain America.

Symbolizing the American fight against the Axis powers (especially after the U.S. officially entered the war), the Captain - along with his sidekick James "Bucky" Barnes - fought against numerous Axis forces, most notably the Captain's arch-nemesis the Red Skull. After the war, little was seen of the Captain until 1964, when Stan Lee (along with Jack Kirby) revived the Captain as part of their new super hero team the Avengers. Alongside new heroes Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk, the Captain became one of Marvel's most popular and enduring characters, and has dealt with threats at home and abroad.

On July 22, the Captain joins his fellow Avengers to the big screen with the release of Captain America: The First Avenger, the latest in Marvel's feature film line building up to next year's Avengers movie. For moviegoers who want to see more Sentinel of Liberty's comic adventures, BookShelf offers a suggested list of books to start with.

Marvel Comics offers the official prequel to the Captain America film in - where else? - comics with Captain America: First Vengeance (978-0-78515-725-0, $14.99). The volume examines the inspirations behind Steve Rogers' decision to become the Super Soldier. Along the way we also see the formation of his friendship with his best friend and sidekick, "Bucky" Barnes, and how his experiences on the battlefield made him the First Avenger.

As Captain America, Steve Rogers led the charge to liberate the world from the Axis powers' grasp. But before the war's end an accident left Cap frozen in suspended animation and his sidekick Bucky dead, while the world turned on for decades. When the Avengers finally resuscitated him, Steve Rogers was greeted by a world vastly changed. He was a man out of time tormented by the death of his partner, but no less committed to fighting evil. In Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 1 (978-0-78514-298-0, $24.99), Stan Lee and Jack Kirby re-introduce an American icon in issue after issue of classic Silver Age Marvel, featuring iconic Cap figures Sharon Carter, Baron Zemo, and his nemesis the Red Skull.

For an introduction to the Captain's supporting cast - as well as the deadly foes he's faced off against - there's Captain America: Allies and Enemies (978-0-78515-502-7, $16.99). This collection focuses on a number of important figures in Cap's life, including one-time partner the Falcon, War era romantic interest (and aunt of his present day girlfriend) Peggy Carter, and former Russian super spy Black Widow, along with arch villains Crossbones and Batroc the Leaper.

For decades, Captain America, Super-Soldier for the United States, and the Red Skull, evil agent of the Third Reich, have been the most bitter of foes, as shown in the collection Captain America Vs. The Red Skull (978-0-78515-096-1, $24.99). After multiple battles during World War II, both men have survived into the modern age, where the fights have only grown deadlier. With Cosmic Cubes, race riots, giant robots, an army of mind-controlled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and haunted houses, the Red Skull just keeps coming back for more. With stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, John Romita and others, readers can revisit the rivalry through various eras in comics (and world) history.

A number of top comic creators offer their personal visions of the Star-Spangled Avenger in Captain America: Red, White & Blue (978-0-78512-897-7, $19.99). From the serious to the farcical, this volume shows the range of impressions the Captain evokes. Over 50 creators contributed stand alone stories, and all are told in the signature colors of red, white, and blue. Creators include Alex Ross, Paul Dini, Paul Pope, Evan Dorkin, and Frank Quitely.

In 2007, just as Marvel's Civil War event was wrapping up, Captain America writer Ed Brubaker took Steve Rogers to a place no one expected him to go - the grave. Shot dead while awaiting trial for resisting the Superhuman Registration Act, the original Cap was replaced by his former sidekick, Bucky, who turned out not to be dead, but under Soviet control for decades. After a long and arduous journey, Steve did manage to come back, although he ceded the mantle of Captain America to Bucky Barnes -- for now, anyway. The saga of the death and rebirth of Captain America can be read in these volumes: The Death of Captain America Vol. 1: Death of the Dream (978-0-78512-423-8, $14.99), Vol. 2: Burden of Dreams (978-0-78512-424-5, $14.99), and Vol. 3: The man Who Bought America (978-0-78512-971-4, $14.99); Captain America: The Road to Reborn (978-0-78514-175-4, $19.99); Captain America: Reborn (978-0-78514-073-3, $19.99); and Captain America: Two Americas (978-0-78514-511-0, $14.99).

While everyone knows Steve Rogers as the first Captain America, the story of what (and who) came before him in the quest to perfect the Super Soldier formula went untold - until the release of Captain America: Truth (978-0-78513-666-8, $24.99). Basing the story on the Tuskegee Experiments, writer Robert Morales created this tale of African American men involuntarily subjected to the U.S. War Department's "Super Soldier" project, in a race to develop a serum that might turn the tide against the Axis powers. An epic spanning the time just before the attack on Pearl Harbor into the present day, Truth reveals the tragic sacrifice that a black infantry unit made for their country - and what those sacrifices mean to a white man named Steve Rogers.