Super-Soldier & the All-Star Winners Squadron.
Welcome back to Strange Times & Places, where the debut of the Infinity Warps last week reignited some childhood fandom in me. As such, in honor of Infinity Wars: Soldier Supreme #1 hitting our racks this week, we’re looking at Super-Soldier #1 & Super-Soldier: Man of War #1!
How’s It Different?
Like Spider-Boy, JLX, and Dark Claw, Super-Soldier is an amalgamation of a DC character and a Marvel character. In this case, he’s the blending of Superman and Captain America.
What’s The Story?
Super-Soldier vs. Ultra-Metallo
In Super-Soldier #1, we get a recap of Super-Soldier’s origin: 4-F army washout Clark Kent volunteered to be the guinea pig for the United States’ Super-Soldier Serum back in World War II. Created from the cells of a dead alien and charged by solar radiation, this formula granted him power beyond the wildest dreams of the scientists who created it. Lost in a battle with the robotic Ultra-Metallo at the war’s end, Super-Soldier has been unfrozen in the modern day to find a world he doesn’t recognize…and his old nemesis Lex Luthor still exerting fascist influence from the shadows!
In Super-Soldier: Man of War #1, we get a tale from Super-Soldier’s World War II adventures! Clark and his best pal/press flack Jimmy Olsen are sent overseas to root out a traitor to the allied cause. Along the way, they’ll team up with Sgt. Rock & His Howling Commandos against the evil Major Zemo and his mighty War Wheel.
Best of Differences Amalgams
- Super-Soldier works just as well as Spider-Boy did, deftly blending the mythologies of his component parts to create a character that stands just fine on his own. Credit for this should no doubt be given to the creative team on both books, Mark Waid & Dave Gibbons.
- Side Note: The very literal version of Superman’s S-Shield wielded by Super-Soldier is fantastic.
S-Shield. Get it?
- Behind his public image as a billionaire philanthropist, Lex Luthor is a fascist Nazi sympathizer who continues his efforts after the war by founding Hydra. Moreover, his skin has turned green due to vitality-extending injections of radioactive “Green K”. Thus, Lex is blended with Red Skull & Baron Strucker in a smooth way.
- Despite an unwieldly name, the All-Star Winners Squadron was a welcome sight for a JSA fan like myself.
Worst of Differences Amalgams
The merger of the Marvel’s Howling Commandos and DC’s Easy Company is a little rough around the edges, but works fine enough for the role they play in the story.
Come Back Next Week for a New Installment of Tokusatsu Gesundheit!
And don’t forget to reserve your copy of Cap’s latest Amalgamated mini-series!
