The All-Winners Squad is a fictional

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

team appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The company's first such team, it

first appeared In 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 interest in fir ...

in ''

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

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

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

during the period fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history 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 ma ...

. 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 use ...

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 created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

and sidekick Bucky; the

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a fictional superhero character 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 ar ...

and sidekick

Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

; 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 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

. 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, the Silver A ...

. The

first appearance In 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 interest in fir ...

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

Bill Finger Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – ) was an American comic book writer who co-created the DC Comics character Batman with Bob Kane. Despite making major (sometimes, signature) contributions as an innovative writer, visionary mythos/world ...

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

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

Al Avison,

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 6, 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. B ...

, and inked by Avison, Alascia, Powell, Allen Bellman, Al Gabriele, and

Don Rico Donato Francisco Rico II (; September 26, 1912 – March 27, 1985) was an American paperback novelist, screenwriter, wood engraver and comic book writer-artist, who co-created the Marvel Comics characters the Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) with p ...

. 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 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 author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

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'' #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 fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

as the post-war continuation of the Invaders and

Liberty Legion The Liberty Legion is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team was first created in 1976 and set during World War II. Composed of existing heroes from Marvel's 1940s Golden Age of Comic Bo ...

(two

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-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 The A.I. Army is a fictional organization appearing i ...

(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 exampl ...

portion of the story reveals that when

/Steve Rogers and Bucky were presumed dead in 1945,

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

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 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(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

, 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'' #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 by Stan Lee and Syd Shores, the character first appeared in ' ...

, 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