Captain Americamay not be known for his aesthetic side or his stitching skills , but thanks to one strange trip-up through prison term , Steve Rogers is immediately responsible for designing the United States signal flag that would later form his superhero costume .

That story is part ofCaptain America ’s Bicentennial Battles , a elephantine issue compose and drawn entirely by Jack Kirby that takes Cap on a journeying through prison term to learn what America is all about .   Apropos of nothing , an unfortunately characterise “ Mister Buda ” , is Captain America ’s Virgil , guiding him through meter via a serial of vignettes . This will on the face of it connect the hero with the people he ’s suppose to represent . It ’s not really clear why Buda is doing this , other than being a sorcerer , but it ’s very important to him to show Steve Rogers what he ’s fighting for . So , he broadcast Captain America to the American Revolution .

Why every Revolutionary War time traveling scene has to have a successiveness with Benjamin Franklin is beyond savvy , but without fail , as shortly as Cap arrives in 1776 he run into the man who contrive bifocals . The seventies style , classical stars and stripes , primary colours , costume caused a fleck of a stir in the 1770s , so Franklin invite Cap into his home for a conversation about his origins . That ’s when a char named Betsy Ross ( there for reasons unidentified ) , is inspired by Captain America ’s costume . She even decides to incorporate those chemical element into the masthead for the neophyte nation they ’re fight for . Like any experienced superhero , Cap immediately panic about creating a prison term paradox , but Mister Buda instantly teleport him off , to another time , and another place . But not before he can deliver what is well one of the greatest lines ever uttered by a superhero :

5 Ways Captain America 4 Can Save the MCU

Throughout this “ King - Size ” issue , the boy in blue visits with Native Americans , swings through the Great Depression , reunites briefly with his former cooperator Bucky , and even rescues a runaway slave , all in the service of sympathize what the land is work up on . There are touching moments , like when Captain America is able to protect a helpless paper male child from thieving mobster . But there ’s also a blink of an eye to the hereafter where Cap see humans are even fight on the Sun Myung Moon .. confirm violence willneverstop . Ultimately the emergence tot up up its Bicentennial subject matter witha nod to the future , that all of those storey are where the United States follow from , but the future tense is wide open , and see brighter all the time .

Despite the trope - y mystical tour guide , a floor like this is a great putz for character development . What better way is thereto leaven a herothan to cast them into different situations through sentence to find out how they accommodate it all ? It ’s one thing to say they stand for something , but with a heroic concept like “ America ” , account that grapple with what that means are important . That ’s how a poor boy gains authenticity in typify the people they protect . If this is starting to sound political , perhaps that ’s not the worst matter , either . Maybe for the tricentennial , aCaptain Americaelection , complete with endless political effort ?

Next : Captain America and Cyclops Join Marvel Snapshots in April

Peanuts and golden sky

Old April O’Neil (foreground) and the new NInja Turtles from TMNT Last Ronin

Captain America Comic Cover Flag Waving

Captain America Flag Comic Ben Franklin

Comics

Captain America