Opening Celebration for Captain America

The ToonSeum is proud to announce the May 27th opening party for our latest exhibit, Captain America: 75 Years of the Sentinel of Liberty! Party admission is $10 and includes light bites and libations. Tickets are available at cap75party.eventbrite.com The exhibit, which will be on display beginning May 6th, will coincide with the release of the Marvel Production Movie, Captain America: The Civil War. About Captain America and the exhibit: There are very few first appearances of a character that makes a statement quite as strong as punching Adolph Hitler in the face, but Captain America did just that in his debut on American newsstands in Captain America Comics #1. Created by writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, the issue is cover-dated March, 1941, months before Pearl Harbor and America’s official entry into World War II. Since his inception Captain America has held a metaphorical mirror to American politics and culture. The question of what it means to represent our nation is one that has continued to change in the last eight decades. Since the Axis threat of World War II, Captain America has been present, helping us understand our complicated history with Communism, Viet Nam, Watergate, 9/11, the Patriot Act and beyond. The exhibit features pages by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the original creators of the Captain America. Other pages feature art by a number of legendary comic book artists, including John Romita, Sal Buscema, Mike Zeck, Frank Miller, John Byrne, and Tim Sale. Also featured are rare vintage comic books, a movie prop replica shield and an assortment of other ephemera. The idea of a character who can fully represent our nation in all of its many variations is difficult, if not impossible. It can be far too easy for such a character to lapse into simplistic ideologies: Naive platitudes at one extreme and dangerous nationalism on the other. As a character he would need to be big enough to include every American, a hero for the people and of the people. Captain America, at his best, encompasses the entire spectrum. For more information contact the ToonSeum at 412-232-0199, or visit our website at www.toonseum.org.