If You Could Revive "All-Star Squadron"...

[Air Wave]

What would you do with it?

[Will Evans]

I’m not sure I would. We’ve retreaded world war 2 so many times....


And now we’re almost a hundred from the start of WWII.

[warzon]

My All Star Squadron Team.

Liberty Belle=Jesse
Hawkwoman=Kendra
Fire Maiden=new member=Lexy Chandler African America Woman with Fire and Heat based powers
H2O=Great Granddaughter of Tsunami
Mary Marvel
Hourman=Rick
Starman=Jack
Munro=Great Grandson of the original Iron Munro
John Quick=jesse long lost brother=new character
Bloodmoon=new character African American Man with Mystical based powers.
Airwave=new character with Air Manipulation powers similar to the Red Tornado
Amazing Man
Tarantula=''Spiderman'' type character

[achilles]

I’m not sure I would. We’ve retreaded world war 2 so many times....


And now we’re almost a hundred from the start of WWII.

We're even farther from the Old West, yet we still like cowboy movies and western TV. And ditto other, even further events. In fact, there are still actual war stories from WWII that haven't AFAIK been told in movie format or even comic book format, such as the greatest underdog victory ever, the story of Taffy 3. Or the PQ convoys. I think a well written comic book featuring the JSA during the war as mystery men doing mostly covert missions with a mix of bigger superhero stuff to counter fantastical Nazi threats could be great. It all depends on execution. And as villains you can show no quarter to and hiss at without reserve, it's hard to beat Nazis.

[Digifiend]

It would be a period piece set in the 1940s. And for marketing reasons (due to character duplication) it would have JSA: as a prefix on the title. It would be a sister book to a present day set Justice Society of America series, and obviously Flash, Green Lantern, and Wildcat would be in both. Stories that happen to the ASS would have consequences for the modern JSA.

[MajorHoy]

Continue from where Roy Thomas left off?

[M L A]

Period piece or just picking up where Roy left off.

Then a JSA series in the present.

And an All Star Comics for anthology or just rotating cast or focusing on a single member for an arc, kinda like JSA classified.

Then maybe fans will feel satisfied after having most of the characters in limbo for a whole decade.

[DrNewGod]

Continue from where Roy Thomas left off?

Yes, but I'd expand it to something broader. Include some "untold stories" of the golden age characters, perhaps as the backup feature if you run it as a split book. That also gives you an opportunity to do stories with a more diverse cast, by featuring new characters that you claim were "dwelling in the background" back in the day, mainly focusing within their own communities, and generally "ignored by the media" of their time.

[Dr. Poison]

I'd pick up where Roy Thomas left off. Seriously. Golden Age Earth 2 and all. A few things I'd like to see:


1.) An all female hero team-up with Liberty Belle, Firebrand, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Phantom Lady, Red Tornado, Miss America, Fury, and Tsunami.

2.) An all sidekick team-up, possibly leading to an Earth 2 Teen Titans) featuring Robin, Dyna-mite, Speedy, Sandy, Fury, & Little Boy Blue.

[CaptCleghorn]

Huh?

Many of us had gotten over the Vietnam War back in the 1970s, not 1981 when the All-Star Squadron began.

And the crap about changing it to a Vietnam War-era focused book wouldn't have ANY connection to what All-Star Squadron was about in the first place. For WWII, the USA was ATTACKED in our own territory (Hawaii wasn't a state yet) before we officially declared war. Vietnam wasn't anything like that. There wouldn't be the sense of urgency to mobilize ALL of the U.S.-based superheroes when the country itself wasn't threatened with invasion, and the level of patriotism in people rushing to recruitment centers wasn't anything like it was after December 7, 1941.

You don't seem to have a handle on the thread. Let's go back to the original post and see what it was designed for.

If you could revive All-Star Squadron, what would you do with it?

So, we're NOT talking about what the series originally was, but what changes would be made to it.

[MajorHoy]

. . . So, we're NOT talking about what the series originally was, but what changes would be made to it.

But to make it something Vietnam War-era as opposed to WWII wouldn't have ANY link whatsoever to the concept.

It would be like re-imagining Superman as a lesbian from the center of the Earth who had mystic visions and the ability to shoot rainbow-colored beams out of her boobs. Why call that character "Superman"?

[DrNewGod]

But to make it something Vietnam War-era as opposed to WWII wouldn't have ANY link whatsoever to the concept.

It would be like re-imagining Superman as a lesbian from the center of the Earth who had mystic visions and the ability to shoot rainbow-colored beams out of her boobs. Why call that character "Superman"?

I share your thoughts on the matter. In fairness, however, the OP did pose a question that implicitly asks how else it might be done.

[CaptCleghorn]

But to make it something Vietnam War-era as opposed to WWII wouldn't have ANY link whatsoever to the concept.

It would be like re-imagining Superman as a lesbian from the center of the Earth who had mystic visions and the ability to shoot rainbow-colored beams out of her boobs. Why call that character "Superman"?

And what do you think the concept of All-Star Squadron is? There's a war overseas and the adventures of the combined heroes on the homefront are featured dealing with super-criminals and enemy saboteurs. All that's not lining up is the generation involved. Seems like a very viable concept to me and well within the spirit of the original Squadron book.

[DrNewGod]

And what do you think the concept of All-Star Squadron is? There's a war overseas and the adventures of the combined heroes on the homefront are featured dealing with super-criminals and enemy saboteurs. All that's not lining up is the generation involved. Seems like a very viable concept to me and well within the spirit of the original Squadron book.

The Major does have a point in that WWII was the period that coincided with the dawn of the comicbook superhero, and more, there's an attitude congruity that probably doesn't work in any other historical setting. The way WWII is nostalgically remembered by many (without warrant, I'll admit), as innocent, as were superheroes of the period.

A Vietnam-based DC superhero story would be about the disillusionment of previously innocent superheroes. Both Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Robinson (The Golden Age) have already told that story.

It's true that the OP asked a question that lends itself to broad revisioning. However, at it's core, All-Star Squadron was about celebrating The Golden Age Superheroes, and the era in which they thrived. The Major's right in thinking that moving it to other eras would make it something other than All-Star Squadron.

[CaptCleghorn]

The Major does have a point in that WWII was the period that coincided with the dawn of the comicbook superhero, and more, there's an attitude congruity that probably doesn't work in any other historical setting. The way WWII is nostalgically remembered by many (without warrant, I'll admit), as innocent, as were superheroes of the period.

A Vietnam-based DC superhero story would be about the disillusionment of previously innocent superheroes. Both Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Robinson (The Golden Age) have already told that story.

It's true that the OP asked a question that lends itself to broad revisioning. However, at it's core, All-Star Squadron was about celebrating The Golden Age Superheroes, and the era in which they thrived. The Major's right in thinking that moving it to other eras would make it something other than All-Star Squadron.

All-Star Squadron is NOT defined by you, the Major, or myself. It's the name of a comic book based on a group of superheroes collected by the US President during an era of great international turmoil. Now, WW2 has been called the last "good' war. The outlooks on WW2 and Vietnam are very different. But neither was an innocent time. The heroes in DC Comics at the time were, and arguably were more innocent in the Silver Age sixties than they were in the Golden Age forties. John Kennedy giving his blessing to a new All-Star Squadron screams optimism. Yes, what happens later is tragic. But not all stories have happy endings. Nothing about All-Star Squadron promised a happy ending either.