Grand Director

The Grand Director
Grand Director. Art by Steve Epting.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Captain America #153 (September, 1972). (Captain America stories from Young Men #24 (Dec 1953) through to 1964 later ascribed to the character)
Created by	As Captain America: Steve Englehart Sal Buscema As The Grand Director: Roger McKenzie Jim Shooter
In-story information
Alter ego	William Burnside; legally changed to Steven "Steve" Rogers
Team affiliations	United States Government National Force
Notable aliases	Captain America
Abilities	Trained boxer Superhuman strength Peak-level speed, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance and endurance Access to various forms of advanced technology As Captain America: Wears a chain-mail costume Carries a bulletproof steel shield (Briefly): Use of an "atom-blaster" weapon

William Burnside, also known as the Captain America of the 1950s, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema in Captain America #153–156 (September–December, 1972) as a specifically different Captain America than the Captain America introduced in 1953 in Young Men comics.

In a later storyline, the character was given a new white costume and the title The Grand Director by Buscema and writers Roger McKenzie and Jim Shooter, in Captain America #232 (April, 1979), and altered to be a villain and leader of a group of white supremacists that included a brainwashed Sharon Carter. The character was killed off at the end of that storyline and not used again until Captain America (Vol. 5) #42, returning to being active as the Captain America of the 1950s separate from the then-current Captain America, James "Bucky" Barnes.

A character with a complicated history, the Grand Director's origin lies in discrepancies that crept up in the history of Captain America.

As a character, Captain America had been continuously published from 1941 until 1949. He was then revived unsuccessfully in 1953 in Young Men #24–28 (Dec. 1953 – May 1954) by Stan Lee with Mort Lawrence and John Romita, Sr. These stories starred the original Captain America and Bucky in both their civilian and superhero guises, and were clearly set in the 1950s, with the character prominently battling communism and a communist Red Skull. The character also made appearances in Men's Adventures #27–28 (May–July 1954) and Captain America Comics #76–78 (May–September 1954).