I was looking over some issues of All-Star Squadron the other day and it struck me what a value each issue was. Not only did you get lot's of heroes for your money, and great artwork by the likes of Jerry Ordway, Adrian Gonzales and Joe Kubert, the stories themselves were very dense. Roy Thomas's love and knowledge of comics' golden age was clear with his very detailed scripts. The artist were up to the task of interpreting his tales, and it was not uncommon to find 6 or more panels per page. These comics felt like a full meal, not just a snack like too many of today's series with decompressed writing and large paneled pages that seem more concerned about original art resale than storytelling.
I agree with everything you say. Sadly, I nevertheless sold off my A2S collection years ago. A. because I thought a TOB series was just around the corner, and B. I needed the money. Also, after the Crisis happened and the concept of Earth-2 was going out the window, it felt like Roy's work ha d a "Langoliers"-like sensation of winding down to me. Oh, well...
ReplyDeleteI like this cover, and you picked the right one for it, although I wish something could have been done about having Neptune Perkins. I don't know... I've always had an active "blah" reaction to him. Turns out Roy was _really_ scraping the bottom of the barrel so that the All-Stars could have an Aquaman on their team, and here's a web page that underlines a good portion of my reasoning for that: http://siskoid.blogspot.com/2014/01/whos-neptune-perkins.html
Oops! That should be "TPB".
ReplyDeleteI have said before that reading All-Star Squadron (and Blackhawks comics as well) as a child and into High School influenced my decision to be a double History/International Affairs major in college. Thanks to Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway, I had insight into World War 2 and the Cold War that very few in my freshman class had.
ReplyDeleteOrdway was just sensational. In particular his new costume for Tarantula - imagine the assignment: must look nothing like Sandman, and nothing like Spider-Man while still evoking spider-ness, and should look like something someone thought was cool in 1942. While still looking cool to the modern reader.
ReplyDelete@worldmusic
ReplyDeleteAnd they say comic books aren't educational :)
@Garnet
Ordway was always a good artist... the fact that he could make an all black-and-brown costume look cool says it all. He also added tweaks to the costumes of Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick, and Commander Steel that really made them pop. He also designed Amazing Man's costume, which I think is one of the best out there among the classic super-hero costumes styles.
Oh, what an amazing comic it was. Its run was when I was at exactly the right age to really begin appreciating comics in full, about 11 or 12 years old, and now, I feel like I received a very special gift in being able to not only discover the wonderful world of Earth-2 and its heroes, but to also be able to see them in their prime, in their own age. What a great experience. I can't think offhand of another comic book that did as good a job of depicting an alternate universe to the main one.
ReplyDeleteI never found Neptune Perkins "blah." I was more like just plain indifferent to him. Idly wondering why Roy Thomas had introduced him when they had already introduced the Golden Age Aquaman several issues earlier (at the first big A.S.S. meeting chaired by Liberty Belle).
ReplyDelete@jrp04f
ReplyDeleteI never thought Neptune Perkins was "blah," when Thomas et al. introduced him. But, he did seem kind of superfluous as the Golden Age Aquaman had already been introduced as a member of the All-Star Squadron, several issues earlier (at a big meeting chaired by Liberty Belle).
P.S.---I had a much funnier first version of my response. But, it was evidently deemed non-p.c.
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