All-Star Squadron homage to Captain America #215

As long-time followers of my All-Star commissions will know, these are all based on the covers of comics which credit Roy Thomas as either writer, plotter or scripter - in this case Captain America #215, one of the very few times Roy worked on Cap.

Shawn van Briesen wins my award for speed (this is literally not 100 hours since I sent my first inquiry to him about potentially doing a commission for me) - and for a superb 'spirit of Gil Kane' piece.

In story terms - this is the second (don't worry - you haven't missed the first - it's still being worked on) of the "Altered Egos" spotlight issues - I'm suggesting that Roy would have decided to produce a standalone story roughly every 8-10 issues, in which Jonathan (Tarantula) Law sits down with another All-Star to take notes for his book about the heroes, and explores either their origin or an early tale. Think of it as a precursor to James Robinson's "Times Past" issues of Starman, if that helps - and probably with a guest artist, to let the regular creative team get ahead...

In this instance, obviously, the featured character is The Guardian, covering an early (but previously-untold) adventure with the All-Stars, including his discovery that Oliver Queen's ward Roy (Speedy) Harper is related to him, thus giving him a real family alongside his heroic family - the greatest heroes of World War 2.

Hat-tip to Will Cox, incidentally - his Task Force X commissions are where I first saw Shawn's work.