Miss America is a superheroine from the . She was first created by Quality Comics in Military Comics #1 (August 1941), and was carried over to DC Comics when they purchased Quality in the 1950s. While the original Golden Age character is in public domain, the subsequent versions created by DC Comics are not. Fall 1941 was a boom period for patriotic superheroes as the country prepared to enter World War II; during this period, comic book publishers also launched Miss Victory, the Star-Spangled Kid, U.S. Jones, the Fighting Yank, the Flag, Captain Flag and Yank and Doodle, among others. Fictional character biography Pre-Crisis history Miss America is originally Joan Dale, a courageous reporter who had a dream in which the Statue of Liberty appeared to her and, giving her the power to transmute elements, instructed her to battle evil. Joan awakes to find that she now has these powers. Adopting a patriotically-themed costume, she begins fighting evil as Miss America. She had a brief run in Military Comics #1-7, then faded into obscurity to a degree that Timely Comics (later Marvel Comics) soon felt free to create an unrelated character with the same name. Initially, Miss America did not have a superhero costume, largely using her powers surreptitiously. In later stories she wears a costume consisting of a sleeveless red blouse, a red-and-white striped skirt, and a blue cape fastened with a silver star. This costume continually changes in appearance, possibly because she uses her powers to create it. Following her initial run, later appearances of the character add a red domino mask. In the 1980s, writer Roy Thomas revived the character. She is briefly referenced in the first appearance of the Freedom Fighters in the pages of All-Star Squadron, when she is said to have been a member of that group who was thought to have had been killed when Uncle Sam attempted to prevent the attack on Pearl Harbor from occurring on Earth-X. Post-Crisis history In the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity, in the late spring of 1941 on Liberty Island, reporter Joan Dale has a dream that the Statue of Liberty comes to life and grants her the power to alter the nature of matter. Inspired by the dream, she creates a colorful costume and becomes Miss America, one of America's first heroines. In truth, she had been abducted by the top secret government agency, Project