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dr_hermes (dr_hermes) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-28 20:57:00

Entry tags:

char: captain america/steve rogers, creator: jack kirby, creator: stan lee, era: silver age, publisher: marvel comics, title: avengers

Who put the magnets in Captain America's shield (bee bop a lu bop)
Cap was revived from comic book limbo in THE AVENGERS# 4, March 1964. Two issues later, the story opened with a surprising scene where he is making his shield fly around and change direction. It seems Iron Man decided to beef up the shield by putting "sub-miniature transistors" in it that Cap could operate through magnets attached to his glove. (Stan Lee had an interesting idea of what transistors were, that is he thought they were magic.) I'd guess that it was Jack Kirby who dreamed this up, he absolutely loved adding gadgets that were never seen again; the man's imagination was always in high gear.

This "remote control shield" gimmick only lasted a few months, though. By TALES OF SUSPENSE# 62 (February 1965) a minor bad guy called the Deacon plots to get a hold of the shield to use its magnetic whatzits, only to be enlightened by Captain America that he "threw away all of Iron Man's magnetic gimmicks! They ruined my shield's delicate balance." Again, I don't know who decided to get rid of the magnet angle, and we're not likely to ever find out at this late date. But much of the character's appeal was that he had no super-powers, he was a normal human being in peak condition and it made more sense for his control of the shield to come from sheer skill.

Also, it's worth noting that all during the 1940s and 1950s, and up until the mid-1960s stories, that Captain America's shield was just steel. Obviously high-quality steel, but not vibranium or adamantium or unobtainium or whatever. In TALES OF SUSPENSE# 93, AIM scientists are messing around with the darn thing, and find that titanium buzz saws and hydraulic pressure drills can't scratch it. "Whatever it is composed of, the substance was never mined here on Earth! it is undoubtedly some form of alien, extra-terrestrial metal!" Well, not quite. But it was the start of the idea that Cap's shield is essentially indestructible.

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	volksjager 2009-08-29 01:27 am UTC (link)
	I dunno if you ever picked up and of the various incarnations of "The Justice Machine" , but there was a sort captain America rip-off, clad in all red with a round shield. His shield are a clear polymer section so he could see through it and he had magnets in his hands so he could retrieve the shield if they got separated. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-08-29 01:48 am UTC (link)
	Oh my, I haven't thought of the Justice Machine in many years. That was during the surge of independent publishers all flooding comic book stores. Over time I've sold off nearly all my collection so my house wouldn't collapse from the weight, so I haven't seen those issues in ages. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	volksjager 2009-08-29 01:54 am UTC (link)
	I forget the characters code name but it was supposed to be Challenger's and Diviner's son who was thought to have died with his brother in military training. This wouild be Comico version. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	yaseen101 2009-08-29 01:53 am UTC (link)
	There is a sub-miniature missile, in his pants! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-08-29 02:13 am UTC (link)
	It's a heat-seeking muscle, err missile. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	yaseen101 2009-08-29 05:33 am UTC (link)
	With pin-point accuracy! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	qob 2009-08-29 02:50 pm UTC (link)
	Is a a sub minature missle in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lieut_kettch 2009-08-29 03:12 am UTC (link)
	I see Stark was rockin' the yellow speech bubbles long before Wade's time. (Reply to this) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-08-29 03:39 am UTC (link)

Marie Severin did most of the coloring, as I recall, and she seemed to do this whenever she felt the balloons needed to be made more distinct. You could tell when she was rushed, too. She'd make the figures in a panel all red or yellow or whatever.

I read somewhere that, when she was working at EC, Marie would color some panels dark blue to show she disapproved of the shenanigans going on in it. I've only read a handful of original ECs (not reprints) but I didn't notice this.

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	ashtoreth 2009-08-30 02:24 am UTC (link)
	Oh my goodness, I remember this! It worked so well on me. I thought it was cool as heck to have the magnet remote control, but so much cooler when Cap just decided to keep doing the pool hall hustle. :) (Reply to this)

	psychop_rex 2009-08-31 08:37 am UTC (link)
	I'm guessing that this has been retconned out, now that Cap's shield is made of a metal that couldn't be bent by Godzilla, let alone opened up like a pocket watch to cram in super-transistor-thingies. I've certainly never heard it mentioned before this. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-08-31 11:35 pm UTC (link)
	Cap's shield was described as steel from the 1940s up until whenever that vibranium/adamantium whatever stuff started. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-08-31 11:59 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, but I mean, now that the official line is that Cap's shield is a unique Vibranium/Adamantium mix and always has been, they can't very well acknowledge that there was a point where it could be opened up like a tin can. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

dr_hermes
2009-09-01 12:10 am UTC (link)

Yeah, I don't know how Marvel handles details like that. Apparently they have their own alternate and parallel universes up and running (where 616 is like DC's Earth-One?), so maybe the early Silver Age issues are on their own domain at this point. Or maybe they just never bring it up, which is as good as a lengthy explanation with me.

All the retcons and revisionism always reminded me of Soviet history, where people were airbrushed out of pictures in textbooks because they had fallen out of favor. Poof, Comrade Trotsky wasn't at that parade, he never existed.

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psychop_rex
2009-09-01 01:05 am UTC (link)

Marvel takes it as a point of pride that they've never had to do any sweeping retcons like 'Crisis' to clear up their continuity - however, that doesn't mean their continuity is clear; far from it. They have an unwelcome tendency to say 'no, it didn't happen that way - it happened THIS way' when a particular story is inconvenient for their purposes - who cares if it throws everything else off? At least they have an excuse to show Wolverine fighting someone.

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