This full-page splash comes from Captain America Comics #4, specifically the story "Ivan the Terrible", a yarn which proves to be a dream sequence. This story casts our heroes Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes as a knight and his squire who save the Princess Betty Ross and her kingly father from the malicious threats to his royal security. It's an odd story for a pillar of democracy, but the concept of noble birth seems quite a comfortable one for comics creators. This page in particuar seems inspired by one of Jack "King" Kirby's influences Hal Foster, the creator of Prince Valiant.
This image in particular seems very similar to my eye to the splash page in the Captain America adventure.
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"...but the concept of noble birth seems quite a comfortable one for comics creators". That was certainly true for Marvel's British super-heroes - every one of them (obviously there weren't very many) were aristocratic, right up to Captain Britain in 1976. Those British super-heroes were created by Americans who seemed to think that working-class Brits couldn't be trusted with super-powers !!
ReplyDeleteWasn't one of the Union Jacks a working class guy? And that gang from the Invaders, the Crusaders were from across the British spectrum, a little bit at least. I still though am amazed how often royalty is seen as a perfectly dandy status quo in many an adventure story. Democracy is a fragile flower indeed.
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