Another excellent comic in what has been a
simply terrific series of one-shots from Marvel dealing with their golden age
characters. People always say that one of DC strengths over Marvel is it sense
of history and legacy. These one-shots have done a lot to show that it is not
that Marvel lacks these things but that few have chosen to tap into them until
now. This particular story is set in the heady days immediately followed WW2 (a
similar setting in other words as DC’s seminal elseworlds The Golden Age) and
tells a tale of the titular All-Winners Squad who included Miss America, The
Whizzer, Sub-Mariner, The Human Torch, and of course Captain America and Bucky.
And no those last two aren’t miss prints as in actuality they are the
unfortunately short-lived (and often overlooked) individuals who were recruited
to fill Cap shoes so as not to hurt the morale of America’s troops. For a while
now I’ve been telling friends that Marvel should spin these one-shots off into
a ongoing of some sorts and with this story I think I’ve finally figured out
who should star. This is a fun team with some great personalities including the
always fun but prickly Namor adding to an interesting dynamic. The plot is
somewhat standard super-hero fare but the characters and a couple of truly nice
moments elevate the overall comic. The art is also well done and does a good
job of recreating the particulars of the era. All in all this is another winner
(sorry couldn’t resist) for Marvel and I recommend that any fan of the Johns
era JSA check it out. I don’t think you will be disappointed.