Captain America's civilian identity is Steven "Steve" Rogers, a frail man enhanced to the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental "super-soldier serum" after joining the United States Army to aid the country's efforts in World War II.

Equipped with an American flag–inspired costume and a virtually indestructible shield, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky Barnes clashed frequently with the villainous Red Skull and other members of the Axis powers.

Political messages have subsequently remained a defining feature of Captain America stories, with writers regularly using the character to comment on the state of American society and government.

[2] Simon began to develop the character by determining who their nemesis could be, noting that the most successful superheroes were defined by their relationship with a compelling villain, and eventually settled on Adolf Hitler.

Simon was stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supported U.S. intervention in World War II, and intended the hero to be a response to the American non-interventionism movement.

"[4] Kirby designed the series' action scenes with an emphasis on a sense of continuity across panels, saying that he "choreographed" the sequences as one would a ballet, with a focus on exaggerated character movement.

The revised round shield went on to become an iconic element of the character;[20] its use as a discus-like throwing weapon originated in a short prose story in Captain America Comics #3, written by Stan Lee in his professional debut as a writer.

When members began loitering on the streets outside the company's office, police protection was posted and New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia personally contacted Simon and Kirby to guarantee the safety of the publisher's employees.

[26] The authorship of Captain America Comics was subsequently assumed by a variety of individuals, including Otto Binder, Bill Finger, and Manly Wade Wellman as writers, and Al Avison, Vince Alascia, and Syd Shores as pencilers.

In an 18-page story written by Lee and illustrated by Kirby,[e] Captain America reemerges following years of apparent retirement, though he is revealed as an impostor who is defeated by Human Torch of the Fantastic Four.

[34] The Avengers #4 retroactively established that Captain America had fallen into the Atlantic Ocean in the final days of World War II, where he spent decades frozen in ice in a state of suspended animation before being found and recovered.

[48][41] In a 1974 storyline written by Englehart directly inspired by the Watergate scandal, Captain America is framed for murder by the fascistic Secret Empire, whose leader is ultimately revealed to be the president of the United States.

Despite early acclaim, including the reintroduction of Captain America's love interest Sharon Carter, their run was terminated after ten issues as a result of Marvel's "Heroes Reborn" rebranding in 1996.

[61] Marvel faced various financial difficulties in the 1990s, culminating in the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996,[62] and "Heroes Reborn" was introduced as part of an effort to increase sales.

[37][65] Writer and artist Dan Jurgens took over Captain America from Waid in 2000, positioning the character in a world he described as "more cynical [...] in terms of how we view our government, our politicians and people's motives in general".

[76] As part of Marvel's Fresh Start rebrand in 2018, a new Captain America series written by Ta-Nehisi Coates with art by Leinil Francis Yu was published from 2018 to 2021.

[84] His resolve is nevertheless noticed by the military, and he is recruited as the first test subject for "Project Rebirth", a secret government program that seeks to create super soldiers through the development of the "Super-Soldier Serum".

[89] Later, in reaction to government efforts to regulate superheroes, Rogers becomes the leader of an underground anti-registration movement that clashes with a pro-registration faction led by fellow Avengers member Iron Man.

At his trial, he is shot and killed by Sharon Carter, whose actions are manipulated by the villainous Dr. Faustus; in his absence, a recovered Bucky assumes the title of Captain America.

Steve Rogers' personality has shifted across his editorial history, a fact that media scholar J. Richard Stevens sees as a natural consequence of the character being written and re-interpreted by many writers over the span of multiple decades.

"[96] Following the character's return to comics in the 1960s, many stories gave increased focus to Rogers' civilian identity, particularly his struggles as a "man out of time" attempting to adjust to the modern era.

[100] Though Marvel has historically trended away from making overt partisan statements in the post-war period, writers have nevertheless used Captain America to comment on the state of American society and government at particular moments in history.

Stevens writes that the character's "patriotism is more focused on the universal rights of man as expressed through the American Dream" rather than "a position championing the specific cultural or political goals of the United States.

The Super-Soldier Serum has enhanced Captain America's strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, reaction time, and natural self-healing ability to the peak of human physical perfection.

It is portrayed as both a virtually indestructible defensive object and a highly aerodynamic offensive weapon: when thrown, it is capable of ricocheting off multiple surfaces and returning to the original thrower.

"[4] Bucky was retroactively established as having been killed in the same accident that left Captain America frozen in suspended animation; the character remained deceased for many decades, contrasting the typically ephemeral nature of comic book deaths,[116] until he returned in 2005 as the Winter Soldier.

[38] Possessing the power to communicate with birds, Wilson is initially depicted as a former social worker living in Harlem, though this identity is revealed to be the result of memories implanted by the Red Skull.

[124] Steve Rogers' first love interest was Betsy Ross, introduced in his World War II-era comics as a member of the Women's Army Corps who later became the costumed superhero Golden Girl.

Agent, was introduced as a villainous Captain America in 1988,[131] and Isaiah Bradley was established in the 2003 limited series Truth: Red, White & Black as an African American man who acquired superpowers after being used as a test subject for the Super-Soldier Serum.

[134] "Over the years, Captain America's story has accurately reflected U.S. attitudes, as our country moved from the self-confidence of the early Cold War to the guilt-ridden angst of the 1970s to the revival of national pride that characterized the Reagan 1980s."