Captain America was the ultimate symbol of the American hero, in case his name didn't already give this away. American society, in the early 1940s, was distressed about global issues. Children took a fancy toward comic books, such as this one, and sought the comfort that they offered. Young Billy was likely sure that Captain America really had beat up Hitler. Though extraordinarily political by the standards of a child's book today, parents were accepting of the literary works because they put children at ease and even settled some of their own nerves.
Today we would call a fictional tale such as this a political cartoon. It is no longer socially acceptable to have "perfect" heroes defeating our nation's foes. Yet it is acceptable for The Incredibles to depict selfish former hero parents who let their children face death in the name of justice? Just as it is acceptable for Hancock to be a selfish drunk who does more damage than good? Oh, and let us not forget the hit series Heroes, lines of good and evil have never been blurred quite this way before. Point being: Society demands a very different Superhero today, in fact, maybe these are just humans with powers- magicians and freaks that we call our 'superheroes'.
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