When did they change Captain America's shield to being indestructible?

Cafe Society
1

While every comic nerd knows that Captain America got his round shield in Captain America #2 in the early 40’s what many might not realize is that for the first few years of his appearance in the silver age the shield was not indestructible. Cap is often shown worrying if the shield will be able to stand up to the punishment it is receiving and on a few occasions it is damaged or destroyed.

Now I know the official retcon is that all the way back to that first use the shield was indestructible and on the other instances Cap had loaned his shield out to Tony Stark for analysis. What I’m curious about is when in the silver age did they start saying the shield was indestructible. Was this a golden age thing and Kirby eventually reminded Lee that the shield could not be destroyed?

I’ve read up to 1966 in Tales of Suspense and it hasn’t switched yet that I’ve noticed. I know that by mid-1969 it has changed since adamantium is created in an attempt to duplicate the shield. Is it a casually dropped switch where they just start referring to the shield as indestructible or is there an actual story where the shield’s properties play a big role? Was the adamantium process the first time that the shield is called indestructible?

2

I’ve read the Essential Avengers through that time period: every issue of Avengers. It may have happened in Tales of Suspense, but in Avengers, it just ‘happens’ without much of a discussion of the matter. I do like the early story where the shield opens like a wristwatch to show the portable radio inside, though.

3

Wikipedia has an article dedicated to the shield. It reports the round shield appeared in Captain America #2 (April 1941), with the indestructable “vibranium” properties retroactively inserted in Captain America #255 (March 1981)

4

The wikipedia article doesn’t answer my question. From roughly his first silver age appearance in 1964 to sometime around '67 or '68 the shield was just an ordinary sheet of metal. For example, in Avengers #35 (cover date Jan '67) it gets disintegrated and Cap just grabs another one. At some point after that it just stops being something that can be destroyed.

And ironically enough while composing this message I found my answer: Tales of Suspense #83 (Nov '67 cover date). Cap had stopped being concerned about his shield getting destroyed within the previous year, but this was the first time I’ve found that the shield is acknowledged as being “invincible” (by The Tumbler of all people). He might have been being metaphorical, but that’s the way that some of these things start…

5

I’d point to Avengers #66 (1969), the introduction of Adamantium, and the explanation that they were trying to duplicate the unbreakable metal in Cap’s shield.

As for its indestructibility: The Beyonder has broken it, Molecule Man has dissolved it and Dr. Doom once miniaturized it (and Cap with it). It has sustained damage, but usually gets repaired by the same means by which it was damaged.

6

History was re-written in both Marvel and DC universes several times. During one of these, can’t cite, his sheild was supposedly “originally” composed of a Vibranium/Admantium sandwich that could never be duplicated for the same reason the super soldier formula was lost. Once the universe starts over, explaining what went before is unnessary.

7

What always bugged me was that Cap’s secret identity was as an army private. Seems to me drill and KP is kind of a waste of time for the nation’s top counterintelligence agent and patriotic symbol.

8

But his potato-peeling skills were at the peak of human potential!

9

I didn’t care for the secret ID thing in those early strips but I did like jumping back to the 40’s. Apparently I was in the minority, though, since the letter columns printed several negative letters about that and the format was abandoned pretty quickly.

I’ve to say the GIT collections that I’m reading Captain America through are very cool for anyone who doesn’t mind reading off a screen. I just wish they weren’t reissuing the FF one with the Silver Surfer included. I can get trades to cover the period from the end of the original collection but I want the silver surfer issues (even though I’ve got a complete run of the original Surfer series in TPB).