All-Star Squadron was a 1981 comic that was a revival of sorts of the Justice Society of America which was a 1941 DC super team that predated the Justice League of America which became the gold standard for comic book team books until Marvel came out with The Fantastic Four and The Avengers. WHEW! Anyway, I love this cover, which depicts Hawkman, The Atom, and Dr. Midnight considering new members of the team by looking at the press photos that their agents apparently submitted. It’s funny to think about The Spectre posing for a portrait. Also for cameras of the time, to get such a crystal clear image of The Flash running by is a true feat of photography.
Now, Hawkman was a badass super-strong warrior with alien metal weaponry and the ability to fly, so yeah, having him calling the shots makes sense. But the other members? Not so much. The dude on the right is The Atom. Now, this isn’t the same Atom that could shrink and still punch people with the power of a full-size man, this is Al Pratt, who at this time in the ’40s was basically just a tough little guy with no special gifts other than the ability to wear really bad color combinations. Dr. Midnight, the fella on the left, is a blind man that developed the ability to see in darkness. Once night vision goggles are invented, he’s out of a job. So the fact that Dr. Midnight and The Atom have any say as to who should be on this team when they’re such weak-ass lamesters is hilarious.
You also gotta love any team that has The Spectre would be instantly undefeatable. He’s pretty much an invincible ghost with powers of a God. He could pretty much just snap his fingers and tell everyone, “I’ve got this, team.” As you’d expect, with The Justice League already being published with DC’s heavy hitters, The All-Star Squadron ended up with a team consisting of some of the long-forgotten secondary characters. The series, written by Marvel legend Roy Thomas was a fun look at the often ignored 40s era of DC. Later, DC’s 1985 series Crisis on Infinite Earths made the book irrelevant, erasing many of the characters from their continuity. The TV series Stargirl touches on many of the characters in this book.
There’s a great Wikipedia entry on The Justice Society of America that does a great job explaining all of this far better than I can, that you can read if you CLICK HERE.