U.S. Agent (comics)

U.S. Agent
U.S. Agent. Art by Leinil Francis Yu.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Captain America #323 (November 1986)
Created by	Mark Gruenwald (Writer) Paul Neary (Artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	John F. Walker
Species	Human (empowered)
Team affiliations	Mighty Avengers Omega Flight New Invaders S.T.A.R.S. The Jury Force Works Secret Defenders West Coast Avengers Dark Avengers Commission on Superhuman Activities Bold Urban Commandos Astonishing Avengers
Partnerships	Battlestar
Notable aliases	Jack Daniels, Super-Patriot, Captain America
Abilities	Exceptional hand-to-hand combatant Highly trained acrobat and gymnast Superhuman strength, agility, reflexes/reactions and endurance Peak-level speed, dexterity, coordination and balance Use of nearly indestructible shield and firearms

U.S. Agent is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually those starring Captain America and the Avengers. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary and first appeared in Captain America #323 (November 1986) as Super-Patriot. He was later redesigned as a new incarnation of Captain America and, just a few years later, as U.S. Agent. In 2012, U.S. Agent was ranked 29th in IGN's list of "The Top 50 Avengers".

The character John Walker was first introduced as the supervillain Super-Patriot in Captain America #323. Mark Gruenwald created Walker to counter the general message in Captain America of patriotism being invariably good, describing him as someone

who embodied patriotism in a way that Captain America didn't—a patriotic villain. Basically, I just wanted to do the opposite of Steve Rogers. Okay, Steve Rogers is a poor northern urban boy. So I'll make a guy from rural middle class south. Cap is now old, so this guy'll be a real young up-and-comer. Cap has lofty ideals, so I'll make Super-Patriot be more realistic and more pragmatic. So, I put together his background and character traits by playing the opposite game.

After a return appearance in Captain America #327, Gruenwald reintroduced him as the new Captain America in issue #333. Though Gruenwald said he would not have done this if it had not been a logical development from the preceding storylines, he also openly acknowledged that the motivating reason for replacing Steve Rogers as Captain America was to boost sales:

With Iron Man, for example, we had James Rhodes take the lead character's place, and we did it for two years—which I'm sure was about a year and a half longer than anybody thought we would do it. In Thor we had Beta Ray Bill take Thor's place for two or three issues. So, this is the sort of thing that has been done to shake up people before. You know, I'm responsible for it in Iron Man and I was editor of Thor at the time of Beta Ray Bill, and believe me it's a trick I know works because I've seen it work a number of times. It's just to get you noticed so that people who don't normally read it will say, "Oh, I heard something about this, let me read it and see." And with luck, folks will get hooked on the storyline.