Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Publications, a corporate predecessor to Marvel. Captain America's civilian identity is Steven "Steve" Rogers, a frail man rejected by the United States Army for physical unfitness who is enhanced to the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental "super-soldier serum". Equipped with an American flag–inspired costume and a virtually indestructible shield, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky Barnes clashed frequently with the villainous Red Skull and other agents of the Axis powers amid World War II. In the war's final days, an accident left Captain America frozen in a state of suspended animation until he was revived in modern times. He resumes his exploits as a costumed hero and becomes a leader of the superhero team the Avengers, while frequently struggling as a "man out of time" to adjust to the new era.

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