Thursday, August 8, 2024

All-Star Squadron and The Invaders (And more!)


When I was a kid, the 100-Page comics and Annuals that featured classic reprints were my introduction to the characters and creators of the Golden Age. It was cool to see the building blocks of the heroes and stories that I had been currently enjoying.  I thought that I would pay homage to those specials for this Anniversary Issue.

Here are the full sized images of each story: 







19 comments:

Crazy Ivan said...

This is a great cover! It never even dawned on me till now how much the super-powered Blue Beetle resembles Blue Diamond!

Davejonz said...

Retro-magic!!
I echo @crazy Ivan with the GREAT. I REALLY want to find out what the president is going to ask this bunch to do!

Reg Aubry said...

Magnificent! Thank you, Ross!

Detective Tobor said...

Love the cover - a meal or snack at the White House is uncommon. Cap and the Atom could be an interesting pair. Bucky & Miss America?? In the ' family'?
Johnny & Whizzer would be different- Supes & Flash. Very good.
Hawkman & Red Raven out of Wing Command almost. The Blues Brothers hit the right notes in hood control. But Vision & Green Lantern have a special possibility . This is so well done. 5 out of 5 Ross, 5 out of 5!!

Carycomic said...

What Tobor said. I'm too awestruck to say anymore (for now).

:-D

Bob Greenwade said...

Outstanding, Ross! Arguably your best Special yet!

The last story has me intrigued. We just don't see much of the original Blue Beetle, and this is my first exposure to the Blue Diamond. Another cover featuring just those two would be nice; perhaps they can work on a mystery in "Blue Clues!"

Carycomic said...

@Tobor: okay! Just thought of something. I'd like to see a sequel with Marvel's Golden Age Whizzer and DC's Golden Age Miss America. Just to see how Madeline Joyce would react to Joan Dale!

Anonymous said...

Nice milestone cover!

Anonymous said...

Immediately goes into my top 10 favorite covers. I grew up the same time as you, and loved everything original Earth-Two. Paired with The Invaders? Sign me up. Thank you Ross!

Ben W said...

I'm not even sure I've ever even heard of the Blue Diamond, but he looks a little like the original Guardian, Jim Harper.

Ross said...

Whoops, forgot to add the full size images of each story - they are there to see now

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Ross. They're even more awesome close-up!

Anonymous said...

These variant covers do wonders. Could you do Captain America with Wonder Woman, Miss America, Yankee Girl, and Liberty Belle as Cap's Angels?

Anonymous said...

P.S. @ Ben W: the Blue Diamond was originally Antarctic explorer Elton Morrow. He and several fellow researchers found a huge crystalline sphere during a Depression-era geological expedition down there (three guesses what kind of gem it looked) when one of their seismic explosive charges prematurely went off. Embedding some of the gem's fragments in Morrow's upper torso! When he discovered that those fragments made his body invulnerable, he became a home front superhero during World War II. A few decades later, it was revealed that the namesake jewel was actually one of a collection of several virtually magic crystals of extra-terrestrial origin that had crashed to Earth in prehistoric times.

Ben W said...

@Anon Cool, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Epic cover. Happy anniversary to all involved on this site.

Anonymous said...

Just two more days and this is permanently relegated to page two, etc, etc. :-(

Carycomic said...

Don't worry, Anon. STF #4600 will be here before you know it. Circa Nov. 14, to be exact! :-)

Carycomic said...

P.S.---speaking of which, I'd like to make a request for that cover. The Golden Age Vision meets the Spectre and the Martian Manhunter!

Support STF: The Lost Issues!