All-Star Companion, Volume 2

All-Star Squadron (1981) #2

by Roy Thomas, Carlos Pacheco (Illustrator), Jerry Ordway (Illustrator)

This volume includes more amazing information and speculation concerning the classic All-Star Comics of 1940-1951, with never-before-seen art by Irwin Hasen, Carmine Infantino, Alex Toth, Mart Nodell, Paul Reinman, Arthur Peddy, Shelly Moldoff, Joe Gallagher, H.G. Peter, and other artists of the original series; the Martin Naydel and Chester Kozlak art from the unpublished 1940s JSA story "The Will of William Wilson"; secrets of the Junior Justice Society; and a full listing of all the 1963-1985 JLA-JSA team-ups and the 1970s JSA revival, with rare art by Mike Sekowsky, Dick Dillin, Joe Staton, and more. Plus: For the first time ever, full coverage of the 1980s All-Star Squadron, Young All-Stars, and Secret Origins features by Roy Thomas, with scarce or never-published art and features by Frank Brunner, Michael Bair, Mike Mignola, Bob McLeod, Fred Hembeck, and many others

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Dc Comics, Superheroes

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[James Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuation of Issue #1 with some nods to 1940s All-Star Comics. Per Degaton is bent on world domination with the help of Solomon Grundy, Wotan, and others.

All-Star Comics was revived in 1975 and continued using the 1940s characters that encompassed the Justice Society. The 1960s Justice League storyarc "Crisis on Earth-One" (the first ret-con) tried to explain the difference between the 1940s and 1960s comic book superheroes with the same names but whose secret identities were different and how this could happen.

Fans started wanting more of these stories since the superhero comics of the 1940s were so difficult to find. Supposedly, All-Star Comics was ended due to declining sales but the Justice Society was moved to Adventure Comics as it was $1.00 and boasted more pages than the other comic books.

Much like certain TV shows supposedly cancelled over poor ratings, the fans kept demanding more Justice Society stories. Thus All-Star Squadron was born to meet those demands helping to revive and tie up old story arcs while creating new content.

[C. John Kerry]

This second issue continues the story started in the previous issue. We find out more about Per Degaton's plan. He is going to attack California with hypnotized Japanese pilots in Japanes planes to make it seem that as well as Pearl Harbour the Japanese have attacked mainland USA as well. His plane is that the American public will demand that the US take on Japan rather than Germany. Thus we will end up with two stalemates that will make it easier for him to take over. Of course Degaton has made one crucial mistake. He has forgotten that not all heroes are members of the JSA and thus there is still super-powered opposition to his plans. One more hero joins the fray in this issue, namely The Phantom Lady, who was also originally published by Quality Comics. One nice bit of continuity, mention is made in this issue as well as the previous one that Plastic Man works for the F.B.I. The story is certainly moving along. As well as the heroes back in the states Sir Justin, the Shining Knight has managed to get free from his bonds. Looking forward to the next installment of the story. Happy reading.

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

despite being a
series of flashbacks, comic
very readable

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever read any comics that featured the characters from DC Comics, that were set during WWII, then you might enjoy this collection of interviews and articles. I've been a life long fan of Roy Thomas (even met him once!) and I enjoyed this for the details and the overview it has of the various characters. The recap of every issue of "All-Star Squadron" was great. Makes me want to track down all the issues.
Now, this books isn't for everyone. If you are a casual fan, you can skip it. If you are a diehard fan, you probably already have it~!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 2 was not as enjoyable as volume 1. The first third of the book was dedicated to what I would consider really fannish minutiae, and that's saying something, as I am fannish enough to buy the book in the first place. The other two-thirds talk about the All-Star Squadron series (which I started to love as a wee child).

There could also have been more original sketches, as in the first volume, and less photocopied artwork.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of these All Star Companion volumes get the same review; there's some good information here, but there's also a lot of minutiae of interest only to the most obsessive fan. Plus, the editor is way too close to the material for any objectivity. Still, nice reference work.