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  1. #16
    Fantastic Member captchuck's Avatar
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    I loved the All-Star Squadron under Roy Thomas. That stands as one of the best D.C. Comics ever. It certainly is one of my faves.

  2. #17
    Boisterously Confused
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    Quote Originally Posted by PowderedH2O View Post
    Here's the thing that I would do: I would ignore the DCU. Because, to be honest, is there a single person on the planet that could honestly tell you where things stand with each character, considering all of the reboots and retcons? So, I think jumping right in where Roy Thomas left it would be a great place to pick it up. And, if they did so and it became a hit (which it might), they could issue omnibuses that started with the original stuff and just jumped right into the new series, and they would sell well because the All-Star Squadron was something that had the ability to sell, even if it was a repackaging of stuff from 30+ years ago (because that old stuff was actually the GOOD stuff!!!).
    I agree. Capturing the tone would be tough. You'd need a comics equivalent to The Rocketeer/CATFA's Joe Johnston to make it work.

  3. #18
    Astonishing Member 9th.'s Avatar
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    My All Star Squadron would be a different team and concept, it would basically be DC's Exiles. Comprised of different popular heros from different earths led by PG

    Powergirl
    Thunderer
    Sunshine Superman
    Huntress (Helena Wayne)
    Thunderer
    Wonder Woman (Maria Mendoza)
    Talky Tawny (Earth 5)
    Green Lantern (Abin Sur)
    Nightstar (Kingdom Come)
    Reading List (Super behind but reading them nonetheless):
    DC: Currently figuring that out
    Marvel: Read above
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    Other: The Antagonist, Something is Killing the Children, Avatar: TLAB
    Manga: My Hero Academia, MHA: Vigilanties, Soul Eater: the Perfect Edition, Berserk, Hunter X Hunter, Witch Hat Atelier, Kaiju No. 8

  4. #19
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    There are a ton of WW2 set stories not as strongly covered. Focus on those, and characters who are culturally relevant to those areas.

    In the canon, Nazi Germany was immune to direct attack by Allied heroes, but that still leaves campaigns across the Pacific, in Asia, and in Northen Africa, as well more distant areas of Europe (and South America), available, and having some tales set in Africa or Asia, in particular, opens up some possibilities for new characters from those areas, or for less-used characters like Amazing Man or Tsunami to 'take point' (while grousing to their fellow Americans that their skin color doesn't necessarily make them the best 'guide' to an entirely different continent then the one on which they grew up!).

    Long-lived characters who haven't been seen in previous period pieces, like Dr. Mist or Etrigan or Black Adam, could also make an appearance, as well as previous members of legacies like a previous avatar of the Green, or a hitherto-unknown encounter with the 'ice people' of which Tora Olafsdottir was a member, or Atlanteans, from well before more modern day appearances by people of those cultures (but handled in such a way that they aren't publicly revealed to the entire world before their much later 'reveals').

    A set of standalone tales could deal with individual squads of heroes assigned to these various far-flung theatres of the war, with some central command coordinating them, but having far too many 'fires' to put out given the size and scope of the war that they can just throw 20-30 heroes at any single place. That way the individual stories can feel manageable, with smaller tailored squads, each in a different area. Pretty much the whole world was involved to some extent, and this is a fantasy setting where even if in the real-world the Nazis didn't have a secret base in Antarctica, unearthing alien ruins / ancient mystical homo magi race buried under the ice to steal their tech / arcane secrets for some scheme to change the face of the war, it sure could have happened on Earth 2!

  5. #20
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sutekh View Post
    There are a ton of WW2 set stories not as strongly covered. Focus on those, and characters who are culturally relevant to those areas.

    In the canon, Nazi Germany was immune to direct attack by Allied heroes, but that still leaves campaigns across the Pacific, in Asia, and in Northern Africa, as well more distant areas of Europe (and South America), . . .
    Have you read All-Star Squadron #4 before? The story introduced the villain The Dragon King and told how by his finding and capturing the legendary Holy Grail, the Japanese Empire was afforded protection against heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Doctor Fate, etc. the same way Nazi Germany was protected by the power of the Spear of Destiny.

    And if memory serves me right, it wasn't that these items protected just the physical geographical boundaries of Germany and Japan. They had a wider range that included the countries / territories those Axis powers had control over at the time. Once Germany or Japan started to lose control or retreated from a captured territory, the Spear of Destiny or Holy Grail would not have the same strong influence over the superheroes in those areas.

  6. #21
    Ultimate Member Lee Stone's Avatar
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    I would do a 'what if Roy was allowed to continue Earth-2 after Crisis like it was originally planned'.

    The book would be called 'The All-Stars', but it would feature the JSA primarily, with back-ups featuring the Freedom Fighters and the Seven Soldiers.
    "There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.

  7. #22
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    If anyone ever read Roy Thomas' Anthem I'd work one of his concepts from there in. We'd pick up just prior to where Young All Stars occurred on the original Earth-Two (The Trinity plus Robin, Speedy and Green Arrow are not erased/replaced), but we'd discover that the All-Star Squadron were now on a world that contained elements from both Earth-Two and Earth-X. The old JSA/JLA team-ups which showed older versions of the JSA no longer applied. Infinity Inc. wasn't a given. Next issue Baron Blitzkrieg could kill Hawkman or Metropolis might be leveled by a battle with Axis Amerika.

    Odds are still on the heroes' side and the book isn't going to be an unending collections of dead heroes and "war is hell" tropes. The point is more to use this one arc to reset expectations. We are no longer obligated by either real world history or established prior comic stories, althoough like Roy the aim is to make both part of the new stories. The new present is 1942 and the future starts here one issue at a time.
    Last edited by Jon Clark; 02-21-2021 at 07:54 PM.

  8. #23
    insulin4all CaptCleghorn's Avatar
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    As much as Roy's Earth-Two stuff was truly legendary and I loved it, I am kinda sick of 1942. If I had control, I'd go towards different periods in Golden Age history. Longer story arcs bouncing from year to year. The idea of any hero from that time being available and using them in their times with 21st century storytelling sounds a lot like what Roy did in the original ASS run, tell stories in the 1940s using 1980's methods and stylings.

    There are story ideas based on real life incidences which could work well in an All Star Squadron. Even if any official Squadron standing may have faded when WW2 ended, there's nothing wrong with using any of the full set of characters even if there's no official group.

    A more detective, mystery team dealing with the secrecy of the Manhattan Project and its testing.
    Did Operation Paperclip deal with any super-powered Germans?
    When Red Channels was published in 1950, were any heroes listed? The JSA and McCarthy had issues, but there were a lot of characters.
    Would a DC universe Kefauver committee have used superheroes?
    And the story about what happened to all the other heroes when the JSA vanished.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Stone View Post
    I would do a 'what if Roy was allowed to continue Earth-2 after Crisis like it was originally planned'.

    The book would be called 'The All-Stars', but it would feature the JSA primarily, with back-ups featuring the Freedom Fighters and the Seven Soldiers.
    got to be better than the atrocity that was the dark multiverse what if.


  10. #25
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CaptCleghorn View Post
    As much as Roy's Earth-Two stuff was truly legendary and I loved it, I am kinda sick of 1942. If I had control, I'd go towards different periods in Golden Age history. Longer story arcs bouncing from year to year. The idea of any hero from that time being available and using them in their times with 21st century storytelling sounds a lot like what Roy did in the original ASS run, tell stories in the 1940s using 1980's methods and stylings.

    There are story ideas based on real life incidences which could work well in an All Star Squadron. Even if any official Squadron standing may have faded when WW2 ended, there's nothing wrong with using any of the full set of characters even if there's no official group.
    If you went that route, telling stories that take place after World War II but still using Golden Age characters, than maybe the name of the book shouldn't be All-Star Squadron, since the whole idea of that name was to tie all the heroes/"mystery men" of that era into one larger force (and to pay homage to the title where the JSA first appeared together: All Star Comics). Something as simple as Heroes of the Golden Age might better fit that concept. (It would also avoid the jokes that would occur when using the acronym for the All-Star Squadron.)

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    ...Heroes of the Golden Age[/U][/B] might better fit that concept. (It would also avoid the jokes that would occur when using the acronym for the All-Star Squadron.)
    Yeah, I kind of thought that Thomas screwed the pooch when he used the name "Squadron" rather than "Brigade" for them. But then, he's long seemed hung up on that word...
    Image.jpg

  12. #27
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrNewGod View Post
    Yeah, I kind of thought that Thomas screwed the pooch when he used the name "Squadron" rather than "Brigade" for them. But then, he's long seemed hung up on that word...
    Image.jpg
    "Squadron Sinister" was alliterative, and "Squadron" would have been an appropriate word when referring to an army of superheroes during World War II.

  13. #28
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    I don't know that Roy Thomas could do it now (for a mixture of reasons) but I don't know anyone else who has the particular set of skills to qualify them for the job.

    What made ALL-STAR SQUADRON what it was, was that dedication to telling the American involvement in World War Two, from Pearl Harbor onward, not skipping over significant events, and going through the timeline. And, at the same time, referencing the actual published comic book stories from the period.

    No other writer is willing to do that. They would rather jump around in time and they would rather make up their own continuity than use the actual stories that were written in the period.

  14. #29
    Justice Society Chairman Cat's Avatar
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    I think any attempt at the book would bomb today. I still hope for omniboo of the old series (they're my most wanted series besides the '92 JSA) but I can't see any new series working today at all, unless it was just the JSA, and even then, I don't think it could be strict with history, sadly, and would have to have more international appeal somehow.

  15. #30

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    I think some heroes work best in a period setting so I would make it an anthology series with each issue focusing on a different hero or heroes or even villains. The creative team should be a rotating one as well. Not every story would be canon, as some would be set on different earths. The setting wouldn't just be the WW2 era but it would be the most prominent one. You could have stories set during the Korean War, Vietnam War, the Gulf War and even the Iraq War.

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