Steve Rogers’ Pre-Serum Ailments: Comics Edition
So as anyone who is trying to write pre-serum Steve Rogers probably already knows, the list of conditions that Steve actually suffers from differs from canon to canon, and also frustratingly differs in specificity. I feel like MCU writers have the easiest time of it, as MCU has that actual list of Steve’s ailments. (You do have to explain why Steve is several inches taller after the serum; as far as I am aware, in every comics canon Steve is 6′2″ both before and after the serum, although this is not necessarily 100% consistent in comics, especially comics from after the MCU started. Because comics.)
Ults, like 616, gives us a Beanpole Steve, and while it never specifies what keeps Steve from enlisting, we see in Ultimate Origins that he seems to be the most physically disabled of all the Steves; he has a cane and walks with a limp:
And then there’s 616. And the thing about 616 is that it’s really hard to find an origin story retelling that’s clear about what Steve’s pre-serum physical problems are. But now I have an answer! Sort of! I mean, it’s a retelling, so it’s as ambiguously canon as all the other retellings of origin stories, but if you want some actual Things That Are Wrong With Steve to put in your fanfic, there’s a list of them right here in Mythos: Captain America when Steve tries to enlist:
We’re told he has fallen arches, asthma, and he’s under one hundred pounds. So if you’re looking for some conditions to give 616 Steve, there you go.
The really dismaying thing about the last item on the list is that I’m pretty sure we’re still dealing with Beanpole Steve – throughout the pre-serum portions of the comic he seems to be pretty much the same height as everyone around him and even taller than some of them – so absent any other data, I’m assuming that per 616 canon he’s still 6′2″. (Rebirth in this comic also doesn’t mention any height gain, which would suggest he keeps his current height.)
And the problem with that is that we know exactly how much he weighs before the serum, because the comic also tells us that.
So, uh, yeah. 616 Steve was apparently really, really, REALLY underweight before the serum. And he had asthma and flat feet, but… he weighed NINETY-FIVE POUNDS. At 6′2″.
Steve, buddy, I hope that now the Avengers feed you all the food you could ever want.
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