Those too young to remember the Golden Age of comics would probably say their earliest memories of red, white and blue superhero Captain America come from a poorly animated cartoon series with a catchy theme song.

When Captain America throws his mighty shield!
All those who chose to oppose the shield must yield!
If he's led to a fight and a duel is due!
Then the Red and the White and the Blue will come through!
When Captain America throws his mighty shield!

Others probably picked up their Captain America lore from yellowing back issues of the comics owned by older family members, and still others by purchasing contemporary titles (like The Avengers or Invaders), where Cap was a member of a super-team. However people were introduced to the character, they all agree about one basic thing: that Captain America is a symbol of liberty as American as Old Glory and mom's apple pie.

This being the America that it is, though, "as American as Old Glory" means very specific things. Behind the starry-shield and wing-tip mask, Captain America was Steve Rogers, a blond, blue-eyed white man who had selflessly sacrificed himself in the interest of the fight against fascism. A 98-pound weakling originally rejected for regular Army duty on account of his being too frail, Rogers had an experimental super-soldier serum administered that would transform him into American's ultimate non-nuclear weapon, a soldier with "a body as perfect as a body could be and still be human."

Those who favored the BANG! POW! comic books written during the '30s, '40s and '50s rarely questioned the credibility of extraordinary heroes like Cap. However, starting in the mid-1960s, comic companies like Marvel Comics developed new heroes with increasingly human dimensions, mythic characters with human flaws and human problems like families, bosses and acne. (Think Marvel's classic "teen" heroes from Spiderman to the X-Men.) Many of these characters dealt with the same issues that readers faced daily and their stories took place in real cities, not imaginary metropoli. Some of them, like the Black Panther and Luke Cage, were even black, coloring a universe that had been uniformly white and blond.

The new types of stories and heroes also didn't neglect to acknowledge current events, from student protests, to the Cold War to rock 'n' roll. Despite such changes, though, Captain America, the king of the current events comic heroes, lived in a time warp all his own. Originally introduced in March of 1941 with a cover image of Cap punching Adolph Hitler in the face (this was months before Pearl Harbor), the Captain America series lived in a perpetual WWII where Cap faced off against Nazi age villains Boys from Brazil-style long after the actual war had ended.

This past November 20, though, Marvel Comics changed all that by releasing the first issue of The Truth, a new six-part series that revisits not only the circumstances behind Cap's origins, but also a time when African Americans were not allowed to carry the moniker and insignia of America into comic book battle. According to this revised version, the United States military tested the serum that would create the world's perfect fighter by experimenting on a small unit of African American soldiers. When American scientists finally found a success formula, these young anonymous black soldiers were cast aside to make room for the lead candidate, Steve Rogers... all of them, of course, except for one.

"For anyone who's ever heard of Tuskegee, this story certainly seems plausible," explains Truth editor Axel Alonso. "We meticulously researched both pre- and post- WWII America for this story in order to give, in a sense, the most realistic social commentary. You're talking about a time when Uncle Sam wasn't ready for a black man to be the living symbol of its spirit, decked out in the red-white-and-blue."

Marvel Comics is willing to tinker with the origins of a franchise like Captain America mostly because the guard has changed at the comic company's management. Concerned with the fact that most of Marvel's core characters were created before most of his staff was even born, Marvel Chief Operating Officer and President of Publishing Bill Jemas came up with the concept of The Truth. "Marvel is continually striving to be at the forefront of America's storytellers," explains Jemas with some pride. He adds that "to do so, we try to create stories that will resonate with 21st century readers and The Truth is just the latest example." (In a similar vein, Marvel recently revamped another classic hero, The Rawhide Kid. In that particular twist, the western era shooter is coming out of the closet.)

Jemas holds the contributions of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (who introduced the Sentinel of Liberty in their book Captain America Comics in 1941) in the highest regard. Simon and Kirby's origin story has held up for 61 years, but Marvel's staff now wants to move in a new direction. "We reverently acknowledge Captain America's roots and his original creation," explains Jemas. "This [new] series is a peek back into American history and an exploration of what the Army really would have done with a miraculous, but dangerous, super-soldier serum."

Only time can tell if the revised origin will strike a chord with audiences, but for now the truth about Captain America, and the country that produced him, is on comic book shelves for the whole world to see.

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Purchase the graphic novel which collects all seven issues:
TRUTH: RED, WHITE & BLACK