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In any case, during the ultra-patriotic mid-'50s, if any non-DC superhero was going to have a shot at popularity, I'd say that Captan America would have been that character. The stories were good enough to have done it for Atlas if it was going to happen. It was just too soon.


I understand it was "too soon" for someone your age. But why was it "too soon" in general?

I think you run astray when you tag the 1950s as "ultra-patriotic." CA is certainly "ultra-patriotic," and as a "Commie Smasher" he was certainly in line with a certain current in American politics. But, the mainstream of America was more epitomized by Eisenhower's 1952 Presidential campaign -- crusade against the Truman administration's policies regarding "Korea, Communism and Corruption." Eisenhower promised to go to Korea himself and end the war. [2008 will likely echo the 1952 election.]

No, what the public wanted in the timeperiod of the 1953-1954 Timely revival was escapism, fun, and entertainment. They didn't want heros whose raison d'etre was to keep up home front morale. Funny animals were king for the younger set, and as a result Superman and Batman were increasingly fantastic and fun in their adventures. For the older set who had outgrown men in tights: Crime, teen, horror, and science fiction.

The Atlas revival failed because it was running stories that would have fit in ten years previously, but were horribly out of step with the times they were published, as they would have been ten years later. Marvel exists today because Stan found a new direction different than Timely's WWII stories (and DC's 1950s output).