All Winners Comics
Encyclopedia
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 in both cases, they variously featured such star characters as Captain America
, the original Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner. All Winners Comics was also the venue for two full-length stories of Marvel's first superhero team, the (hyphenated) All-Winners Squad
.
All Winners Comics #1 (Summer 1941) contained a 12- to 13-page story each of the Human Torch, by writer-artist creator Carl Burgos
; the minor hero Black Marvel
, by writer Stan Lee
, penciler Al Avison
and inker
Al Gabriele
; Captain America as co-creators Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
(writers), Kirby and Avision (pencils), and Simon, Gabriele and Syd Shores
(inkers); the Sub-Mariner, by writer-artist creator Bill Everett
; and the Angel, generally credited, unconfirmably, to writer-artist creator Paul Gustavson
. All the characters were preexisting. Additionally, there was a two-page text story by Lee, with spot art by Ed Winiarski
.
The following issue, the preexisting superheroes the Destroyer and the Whizzer
replaced the Black Marvel and the Angel. This lineup continued through #12, with a one-shot appearance of the Black Avenger in #6. With World War II
wartime paper shortages. the page-count was reduced from 68 to 60 pages with issue #9 (Summer 1943), trimming the Destroyer feature slightly and shrinking that of super-speedster the Whizzer to six pages. With #12 (Spring 1944) it was further reduced to 52 pages, reducing the Destroyer feature to seven pages and eliminating the Whizzer's entirely. Two issues later, the book shrank to 36 pages, before finally returning to 52 pages after the war, with #17 (Winter 1945).
, featuring Captain America, the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, the Whizzer, and Miss America, starred in #19 (Fall 1946), in a 43-page story in seven chapters. A second, same-length All-Winners Squad story appeared in #21 (Winter 1946/47).
Due to the vagaries and often-poor record-keeping of the early days of comic books, the interrupted numbering of the first volume, which has no issue #20, has never been definitively explained. Most comics historians follow a generally accepted theory involving the cost of registering magazines with the U.S. Postal Service in order to receive bulk-mailing rates. A common practice of the time involved retitling existing series rather than registering a new one. Historians generally agree that after issue #19, All Winners Comics became the teenage-humor comic All Teen Comics, which released a single issue, #20 (Jan. 1947). When Timely chose to do another All-Winners Squad story, the publisher retitled the canceled Young Allies Comics, which had ended with #20 (Oct. 1946), resulting in All Winners Comics #21. Most sources say All Winners Comics afterward became the humor title Hedy De Vine Comics, starting with #22 (Aug. 1947).
anthologies All-Western Winners (#2-4, Winter 1948 - April 1949), Western Winners (#5-7, June-Dec. 1949), the Western masked-crimefighter series Black Rider
(#8-27, March 1950 - March 1955) and Western Tales of Black Rider (#28-31, May-Nov. 1955), and, finally, the anthology Gunsmoke Western
(#32-77, Dec. 1955 - July 1963), that last primarily starring Kid Colt
.
hardcovers in Four volumes:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series of the 1940s, both published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' predecessor, Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
. A superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
anthology comic in both cases, they variously featured such star characters as Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, the original Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner. All Winners Comics was also the venue for two full-length stories of Marvel's first superhero team, the (hyphenated) All-Winners Squad
All-Winners Squad
The All-Winners Squad is a fictional superhero team in the Marvel Comics universe. The company's first such team, it first appeared in All Winners Comics #19 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.While the comic-book...
.
Volume One
Published quarterly, the first volume of All Winners Comics ran 20 issues, numbered #1-19 and #21 (Summer 1941 - Winter 1946/47). The working title, as seen in pre-publication house ads in other Timely Comics, was All Aces. The ads advised readers to "Watch out for this winner".All Winners Comics #1 (Summer 1941) contained a 12- to 13-page story each of the Human Torch, by writer-artist creator Carl Burgos
Carl Burgos
Carl Burgos was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 Carl Burgos (né Max Finkelstein, April 18, 1916, New York City, New York; died March 1984) was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating...
; the minor hero Black Marvel
Black Marvel
The Black Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Al Gabriele, he first appeared in Mystic Comics #5 , published by Marvel's 1940s forerunner Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic...
, by writer Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, penciler Al Avison
Al Avison
Alfred Avison is an American comic book artist known for his work on the Marvel Comics characters Captain America and the Whizzer during the 1930-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of comic books....
and inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
Al Gabriele
Al Gabriele
Albert Gabriele or possibly Alfred Gabriele was an American comic book artist during the 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books...
; Captain America as co-creators Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
(writers), Kirby and Avision (pencils), and Simon, Gabriele and Syd Shores
Syd Shores
Sydney Shores 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....
(inkers); the Sub-Mariner, by writer-artist creator Bill Everett
Bill Everett
William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...
; and the Angel, generally credited, unconfirmably, to writer-artist creator Paul Gustavson
Paul Gustavson
Paul Gustavson née Karl Paul Gustafson was an American-immigrant comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the Angel, who debuted in Marvel Comics #1 , the first publication of Marvel Comics forerunner...
. All the characters were preexisting. Additionally, there was a two-page text story by Lee, with spot art by Ed Winiarski
Ed Winiarski
Ed Winiarski , who sometimes signed his work "Win" or "Winny" and sometimes used the pseudonym Fran Miller, is an American comic book writer-artist known for both adventure stories and funny-animal cartooning in the late-1930s and 1940s Golden Age of comic books.A former animator, Winiarski was one...
.
The following issue, the preexisting superheroes the Destroyer and the Whizzer
Whizzer (Robert Frank)
The Whizzer is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared during the 1930s-1940s period that fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.-Publication history:...
replaced the Black Marvel and the Angel. This lineup continued through #12, with a one-shot appearance of the Black Avenger in #6. With World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
wartime paper shortages. the page-count was reduced from 68 to 60 pages with issue #9 (Summer 1943), trimming the Destroyer feature slightly and shrinking that of super-speedster the Whizzer to six pages. With #12 (Spring 1944) it was further reduced to 52 pages, reducing the Destroyer feature to seven pages and eliminating the Whizzer's entirely. Two issues later, the book shrank to 36 pages, before finally returning to 52 pages after the war, with #17 (Winter 1945).
All-Winners Squad
Timely/Marvel's first superhero team, the All-Winners SquadAll-Winners Squad
The All-Winners Squad is a fictional superhero team in the Marvel Comics universe. The company's first such team, it first appeared in All Winners Comics #19 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.While the comic-book...
, featuring Captain America, the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, the Whizzer, and Miss America, starred in #19 (Fall 1946), in a 43-page story in seven chapters. A second, same-length All-Winners Squad story appeared in #21 (Winter 1946/47).
Due to the vagaries and often-poor record-keeping of the early days of comic books, the interrupted numbering of the first volume, which has no issue #20, has never been definitively explained. Most comics historians follow a generally accepted theory involving the cost of registering magazines with the U.S. Postal Service in order to receive bulk-mailing rates. A common practice of the time involved retitling existing series rather than registering a new one. Historians generally agree that after issue #19, All Winners Comics became the teenage-humor comic All Teen Comics, which released a single issue, #20 (Jan. 1947). When Timely chose to do another All-Winners Squad story, the publisher retitled the canceled Young Allies Comics, which had ended with #20 (Oct. 1946), resulting in All Winners Comics #21. Most sources say All Winners Comics afterward became the humor title Hedy De Vine Comics, starting with #22 (Aug. 1947).
Volume Two
A second volume ran one issue (Aug. 1948) before being retitled and reformatted as the WesternWestern comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
anthologies All-Western Winners (#2-4, Winter 1948 - April 1949), Western Winners (#5-7, June-Dec. 1949), the Western masked-crimefighter series Black Rider
Black Rider (comics)
The Black Rider is a fictional Western character in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in All-Western Winners #2 , from the company's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics.-Publication history:...
(#8-27, March 1950 - March 1955) and Western Tales of Black Rider (#28-31, May-Nov. 1955), and, finally, the anthology Gunsmoke Western
Gunsmoke Western
Gunsmoke Western was an American comic book series published initially by Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics, and then into the 1960s by Marvel...
(#32-77, Dec. 1955 - July 1963), that last primarily starring Kid Colt
Kid Colt
Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first is a cowboy whose adventures have taken place in numerous western themed comic book series published by Marvel...
.
Collections
Since 2004, Marvel has reprinted all of All Winners Comics under the Marvel MasterworksMarvel Masterworks
Marvel Masterworks are a American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics. They are printed in full color and feature various titles from the Golden Age, Pre-Code , Silver Age, and Bronze Age of comics.The collection started in 1987 with volumes...
hardcovers in Four volumes:
- Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners Vol. 1 (reprints All-Winners Comics #1-4) (2004)
- Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners Vol. 2 (reprints All-Winners Comics #5-8) (2006)
- Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners Vol. 3 (reprints All-Winners Comics #9-14) (2008)
- Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners Vol. 4 (reprints All-Winners Comics #15-19, 21 & Vol. 2 #1) (2011)