The All-Winners Squad is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradit ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

team appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

. The company's first such team, it

first appeared In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...

in ''

All Winners Comics ''All Winners Comics'' was the name of two American comic book series of the 1940s, both published by Marvel Comics' predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. A superhero anthology comic i ...

'' #19 (Fall 1946), published by Marvel predecessor

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known chara ...

. While the cover title and in-book references to the team have no hyphen, Marvel's website version of ''The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Teams 2005'' lists the team name as the hyphenated "All-Winners Squad", as do the print version and independent sources.All-Winners Squad
at Nevins, Jess
A Guide to Golden Age Marvel Characters
of latter.All-Winners Squad
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

Publication history

1940s Golden Age appearances

The All-Winners Squad was created for Marvel predecessor

in 1946, during the

. It consisted of

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

and sidekick Bucky; the

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...

and sidekick Toro; the Sub-Mariner; super-speedster the Whizzer; and

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

. While the super-team made only two Golden Age appearances—in ''All Winners Comics'' #19 (Fall 1946) and #21 (Winter 1946; there was no issue #20)—it reacquired fan interest upon their being reprinted by Marvel during the 1960s

Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an in ...

. The

first appearance In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...

of the All-Winners Squad, titled "The Crime of the Ages", was written by

Bill Finger Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – January 18, 1974) was an American comic strip, comic book, film and television writer who was the co-creator (with Bob Kane) of the DC Comics character Batman. Despite making major (sometimes, signatur ...

. The 43-page story, split into seven chapters, was

pencilled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

variously by

Vince Alascia Vincent Alascia (January 14, 1914 – September 3, 1998),
at the

Al Avison Alfred Dean Avison (July 7, 1920 – December 1984) was an American comic book artist known for his work on the Marvel Comics characters the Whizzer, which he co-created, and Captain America during the 1930–1940s period known to fans and h ...

Bob Powell Bob Powell (né Stanley Robert Pawlowski; While gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, and gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, Bails and Ware note: "family name corrected by his son, Seth R. Powell July 2006." October 2, 1916

, and

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. Bi ...

, and

inked Inked may refer to: * ''Inked'' (video game) * ''Inked'' (magazine) See also * Ink (disambiguation) {{dab ...

by Avison, Alascia, Powell, Allen Bellman,

Al Gabriele Al Gabriele (deceased) was an American comic book artist during the 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He is known for his work on some of Marvel Comics' earliest Captain America and Sub-Mariner stories, and for ...

, and Don Rico. In this story, the team fought the Nazi spy Isbisa. The second outing, "Menace from the Future World", was written by

Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder (; August 26, 1911 – October 13, 1974) was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books. He is best known as the co-creator of Supergirl and for his many scripts for '' Captain Ma ...

. The 43-page, seven chapter story was penciled by Alascia, Avison, Shores, and the pseudonymous

Charles Nicholas "Charles Nicholas" is the pseudonymous house name of three early creators of American comic books for the Fox Feature Syndicate and Fox Comics: Chuck Cuidera (1915–2001), Jack Kirby (1917–1994), and Charles Wojtkoski (1921–1985). The name or ...

also known as Chuck Nicholas, and inked by Alascia, Avison, Gabriele, Nicholas, and Shores. This story involved the machinations of Madame Death and the time-travelling Future Man. Timely and Marvel editor-in-chief

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

recalled in 1999: Latter-day fans during the

were introduced to the team via reprints 20 years later, with their tale in ''All-Winners Comics'' #19 being reprinted in ''

Fantasy Masterpieces ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' is the name of several comic book series and specials published by Marvel Comics. Publication history One-shot The first was the one-shot (comics), one-shot ''Marvel Super Heroes Special'' #1 (Oct. 1966) produced as a ti ...

'' #10 (Aug. 1967) and ''All Winners Comics'' #21 being reprinted in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #17–18 (Nov. 1968 & Jan. 1969). Thirty years after this, the entirety of ''All Winners Comics'' #19 was reprinted as ''Timely Presents: All-Winners'' (hyphen sic; title per reprint indicia), also known as ''Timely Comics Presents All Winners Comics'' (title per reprint cover) (Dec. 1999).

Retroactive continuity and later appearances

The All-Winners Squad has been

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

as the post-war continuation of the

Invaders ''InVader'' is the fourth album by Finnish glam metal band Reckless Love, released on 4 March 2016 through Spinefarm Records. Track listing All songs written by Olli Herman, Pepe Reckless, and Ikka Wirtanen, unless otherwise noted. Reception Wr ...

and Liberty Legion (two

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-era teams created by Marvel in the 1970s) and as the inspiration for the

V-Battalion The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several fictional teams and organizations and this page lists them. 0–9 198 A A-Force A-Next A.I. Army Because of his revelation that he is now a simulated ...

(a post-war superhero team created by Marvel in 2001). The team was reintroduced in ''What If?'' #4 (Aug. 1977), an alternate universe umbrella series. A

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...

portion of the story reveals that when

/Steve Rogers and Bucky were presumed dead in 1945, U.S. President Truman asked William Naslund, the patriotically costumed World War II hero the Spirit of '76, to assume the Captain America role, with a young man named Fred Davis as Bucky. They continue to serve in the same roles after the war with the All-Winners Squad, until the android

Adam II This article lists Marvel characters beginning with the letter "H", with a brief description introducing each one. Hala the Accuser Gabrielle Haller Gabrielle Haller was a Catatonia, catatonic The Holocaust, Holocaust survivor who awoke from ...

fatally injured Naslund in 1946. After Naslund's death, Jeff Mace, the Golden Age

Patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

, took over as Captain America, with Davis continuing as Bucky; however, Davis was shot and injured in 1948 and forced to retire. Mace teamed with Betsy Ross, the superheroine Golden Girl, and sometime before 1953 gave up his Captain America identity to marry her. Mace developed cancer and died decades later.''Captain America'' #285 (Sept. 1983) The Liberty Legion, created in 1976 but whose adventures are set in

, included two future members of the All-Winners Squad: the Whizzer and

. The All-Winners Squad made flashback appearances in ''

The Sensational She-Hulk She-Hulk (Jennifer "Jen" Walters) is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in ''The Savage She-Hulk'' #1 (cov ...

'' #22 (Dec. 1990), working alongside the

Blonde Phantom The Blonde Phantom (Louise Grant Mason) is a fictional masked crime fighter appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created for Marvel predecessor Timely Comics, she first appeared in '' All Select Comics'' #11 (cover-dated ...

, in ''All Winners Comics 70th Anniversary Special'' (2009) and ''Captain America: Patriot'' (2010). More recently, the All-Winners Squad made a flashback cameo appearance in ''The Marvels'' #1 (June 2021), flying over French Indochina in 1947. The team shown included only Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, Toro and Miss America and was featured only in a single panel.

References

External links

''All Winners'' (I) 1941–1946
at The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on November 24, 2009. {{GoldenAge Captain America Characters created by Bill Finger Comics characters introduced in 1946 Golden Age superheroes Timely Comics characters