[6][7] As superheroes began to fade out of fashion in the post-World War II era, comic-book publishers scrambled to explore new types of stories, characters, and audiences.

[9][10] Some sources list Ken Bald as the cover and interior artist, though Vincent Fago, Timely's interim editor for the drafted Stan Lee, recalled, "I hired a friend from the animation business, Pauline Loth, and she did the art for the first Miss America book.

1 #2 (Nov. 1944), the publication relegated its superhero to a secondary role and began focusing on teen-romance comics stories plus articles on such topics as cooking, fashion, and makeup.

According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, Miss America "fights ordinary criminals, Axis agents, Baron Shinto the Gouger, the murderous teen the Cherub, King Cobra, and the human electric eel the Shocker.

[15] Socially aware teenage heiress Madeline Joyce was born in Washington, D.C., and was the niece and ward of radio mogul James Bennet, who was sponsoring a Professor Lawson, a scientist claiming to have gotten superpowers through a device that had been struck by lightning.

Joyce, secretly tampering with the contraption during a thunderstorm that night, herself gained the ability to fly and great strength after lightning similarly struck, knocking her unconscious (she originally had x-ray vision, as well as other powers, but after her few early appearances they were retconned).

In the latter, she was a member of Timely's superhero team the All-Winners Squad, fighting alongside Captain America and Bucky, the original Human Torch and Toro, the Sub-Mariner, and the Whizzer in the group's two Golden Age adventures.

Miss America was then retconned in 1976 as a member of the World War II super-team the Liberty Legion, set between the creation of the Invaders and the post-war All-Winners Squad.

[20] Madeline Joyce acquired a range of superpowers after her latent mutation was activated upon being exposed to an electrical discharge from an unknown experimental piece of equipment.

[23] Steven Schneider of Screen Rant ranked Madeline Joyce 1st in their "First Female Comic Book Superheroes In History" list, writing, "The original Miss America was, in a lot of ways, the quintessential World War II superheroine: she fought alongside heroes like Captain America and Bucky, battled the Axis Powers and somehow wore a skirt while fighting crime.

"[24] Megan Nicole O'Brien of Comic Book Resources ranked Madeline Joyce 3rd in their "Marvel: 10 Best Golden Age Heroines" list.