Captain America wasn't the first superhero to end up going to the Devil.
Doc Savage did it first. The last issue of DOC SAVAGE was dated Summer 1949,
while the last issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA didn't come out until October 1949.
The two stories are similar in that both deal with the Devil and have the hero descend alive into the dark domain and end with him returning safely, but in the Captain America version he is taken there through the machinations of a villain, while the Doc Savage adventure has him end up there after trailing the bad guys down a deep cavern. Both versions similarly have the underworld being a dark place populated by fantastic monsters. In the Doc Savage version, there is the suggestion that at least part of the adventure could have been a hallucination, while in the Captain America version appears to have been a dream till he sees that he has a piece of the Red Skull's shirt in his hand.
The character of the Red Skull also owes something to Doc Savage, because the name"The Red Skull" was taken from the title of a Doc Savage adventure.
A lot of these things tend to be similar. Ted White's Captain America novel THE GREAT GOLD STEAL even had Monk Mayfair appear as one of the characters in the story.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE GREAT GOLD STEAL by Ted White:
http://bennypdrinnon.blogspot.com/2012/11/captain-america-and-great-gold-steal-by.html
Doc Savage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Savage
UP FROM EARTH'S CENTER:
http://z7hq.blogspot.com/2010/02/up-from-earths-center-1949-by-kenneth.html
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