Editing Captain America (section)

===Post-Vietnam and "Heroes Reborn" (1980s and 1990s)===
Owing to the series' lack of a regular writer, ''Captain America'' editor [[Roger Stern]] and artist [[John Byrne (comics)|John Byrne]] authored the series from 1980 to 1981. Their run that saw a storyline in which Captain America declines an offer to run for president of the United States.{{sfn|Morse|2007|pp=36–38}}<ref name="SternInterview"/> Following Stern and Byrne, ''Captain America'' was authored by writer [[J.M. DeMatteis]] and artist [[Mike Zeck]] from 1981 to 1984.{{sfn|Morse|2007|p=38}} Their run featured a year-long storyline in which Captain America faced a crisis of confidence in the face of what DeMatteis described as "[[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] [[Cold War]] rhetoric".{{sfn|Morse|2007|p=38}} The story was originally planned culminate in ''Captain America'' #300 with Captain America renouncing violence to become a [[pacifist]]; when that ending was rejected by Marvel editor-in-chief [[Jim Shooter]], DeMatteis resigned from ''Captain America'' in protest.{{sfn|Walton|2009|p=166}}

Writer [[Mark Gruenwald]], editor of ''Captain America'' from 1982 to 1985, served as writer on the series from 1985 to 1995. Various artists illustrated the series over the course of Gruenwald's decade-long run, including [[Paul Neary]] from 1985 to 1987, and [[Kieron Dwyer]] from 1988 to 1990.{{sfn|Morse|2007|p=38}} In contrast to DeMatteis, Gruenwald placed less emphasis on Steve Rogers' life as a civilian, wishing to show "that Steve Rogers is Captain America first [...] he has no greater needs than being Captain America."<ref name="GruenwaldInterview"/> Among the most significant storylines appearing in Gruenwald's run was "[[Captain America: The Captain|The Choice]]" in 1987, in which Steve Rogers renounces the identity of Captain America to briefly become simply "The Captain" after the United States government orders him to continue his superheroic activities directly under their control.<ref name="FredEntertainment"/>

After Gruenwald departed the series, writer [[Mark Waid]] and artist [[Ron Garney]] began to author ''Captain America'' in 1995. 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 (1996 comic)|Heroes Reborn]]" rebranding in 1996.{{sfn|Morse|2007|p=40}} The rebrand saw artists [[Jim Lee]] and [[Rob Liefeld]], who had left the company in the early 1990s to establish [[Image Comics]], return to Marvel to re-imagine several of the company's characters.{{sfn|Morse|2007|pp=40–41}} Marvel faced various financial difficulties in the 1990s, culminating in the company filing for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11]] bankruptcy protection in 1996,<ref name="Bankrupt"/> and "Heroes Reborn" was introduced as part of an effort to increase sales.<ref name="WizardHeroesReborn"/> As part of the rebrand, Liefeld illustrated and co-wrote with [[Jeph Loeb]] a run on ''Captain America'' that was ultimately cancelled after six issues.<ref name="WizardHeroesReborn"/> Marvel stated that the series was cancelled due to low sales,<ref name="WizardHeroesReborn"/> though Liefeld has contended that he was fired after he refused to take a lower pay rate amid Marvel's bankruptcy proceedings.<ref name="LiefeldInterview"/> Waid would return to ''Captain America'' in 1998, initially with Garney as artist and later with [[Andy Kubert]].{{sfn|Morse|2007|p=40}}

In 1999, Joe Simon filed to claim the copyright to Captain America under a provision of the [[Copyright Act of 1976]] that allows the original creators of works that have been sold to corporations to reclaim them after the original 56-year copyright term has expired. Marvel challenged the claim, arguing that Simon's 1966 settlement made the character ineligible for copyright transfer. Simon and Marvel settled out of court in 2003, in a deal that paid Simon royalties for merchandising and licensing of the character.<ref name="Lawsuit1"/><ref name="Lawsuit2"/>