More Captain America + More Superman = Super Soldier: Man of War

Super Soldier: Man of War #1
“Deadly Cargo”
Co-Plot, Script and Pencils: Dave Gibbons
Co-Plot: Mark Waid
Inks: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colors: Angus McKie
Letters: John Costanza
Cover: Gibbons
Assistant Editor: Frank Berros
Editor: KC Carlson
Published by: DC
Released: April 2, 1997

It's a flashback to the World War II era of Amalgam as Dave Gibbons returns to Super Soldier, the mash-up of Superman and Captain America. Mark Waid helps out on the plot but leaves the scripting duties to Gibbons, who lets Palmiotti and Costanza wear a couple of his hats from last time.

Of personal note, this was another comic I bought on a nostalgia-fueled stop at Snooper's, the Wytheville, Va., antique mall where I picked up Nightstalkers #2 and, many years prior, Secret Wars II, featuring a scene I bet we won't get in Tom Holland's next Spider-Man movie.

This story is set in 1942, as Super Soldier arrives at the clubhouse of the All-Star Winners Squadron, which somehow is not greater than the sum of its parts, namely the All-Star Squadron and the All-Winners Squad. Members include American Belle (Liberty Belle + Miss America), Whiz (Flash + Whizzer) and a couple folks we've seen before: Aqua-Mariner and Brooklyn Barnes. And then we meet a character referenced in Iron Lantern, the Human Lantern. Nobody's too keen on trying the cake the Lantern baked using his mystic flame. I figure Super Soldier would have been kind enough to give it a shot if he didn't have a boat to catch.

Clark Kent, aka Super Soldier, and personal photographer James Olsen are being dispatched across the Atlantic to track some stolen equipment, which is being transported on an American ship -- albeit in a lead-lined box that Super Soldier's x-ray vision, courtesy of Kryptonian DNA-infused super soldier serum, can't see into. As they prepare to leave, Clark hears the voice of Lois... Luthor? Seems Lois Lane of the Amalgam-verse married Luthor instead of a mild-mannered … artist for the Daily Planet, which is the cover under which this Clark Kent is traveling. He's too heartbroken to speak to her.

Aboard they meet Sgt. Rock, who we know from Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a contemporary of Nick Fury's rather than an amalgam. But he is leading a group called the Howling Commandos, the name of Fury's Marvel unit. While I recognize a few of the Howlers' component characters here and there, I don't know enough to guess and didn't find a good list online.*

After getting into a scrap with some other soldiers aboard and crossing paths with a mysterious Frenchman, Super Soldier saves the ships from icebergs before they arrive in Great Britain. The hero makes an appearance at a gala hosted by Winston Churchill** and attended by Lex Luthor, the man who would become the Green Skull. Super Soldier is spared any awkward conversation thanks to a signal from Jimmy's watch.

He returns to the ship to find the young photographer has been knocked out by the mysterious Frenchman and a group of Nazis disguised as fishermen have stolen the cargo Super Soldier was supposed to track. His attempt to pursue them is thwarted by torpedo attacks, so he returns to dinner with the prime minister, who seems to know something about the theft.

The scene shifts to somewhere “deep in the heart of Nazi Europe.” The Howling Commandos have been captured and delivered to Castle Zemo, where a major who looks an awful lot like a certain Marvel Baron plans to experiment on them. The Howlers blame a traitor for their situation, and when that mysterious Frenchman shows up at Zemo's side, they assume it's him. But Zemo has another guest whose face we haven't seen yet.

The Frenchman actually frees the Howlers and removes "his" beret and mustache to reveal it's really Mademoiselle Peggy, a combination of Peggy Carter, who I know more from movies than comics, and Mademoiselle Marie, who I met via Heroclix. She frees the Howlers, and they go looking for the stolen cargo. Zemo unleashes a War Wheel and a wounded Mademoiselle Peggy calls for reinforcements, which arrive in the form of Super Soldier.

Before he can pursue the mysterious cargo, Super Soldier has to fly the gravely wounded Peggy away for medical attention. The Howling Commandos volunteer to finish the job, but arrive just in time to see a U-boat fleeing with the stolen goods. Aboard we see Zemo is joined by none other than Lex Luthor, who plans to use the stolen cargo – an alien spaceship and a familiar green rock – to create a deadly weapon called Ultra-Metallo. Those of us who read the previous story know that's the weapon that Super Soldier seemingly sacrificed himself to stop and later tangled with in the present day.

Like the previous Gibbons-Waid collaboration, this one mixed more concepts than characters, although the All-Star Winners Squadron provided plenty of amalgamized intrigue. It was cool that they used some existing amalgams to flesh out that team, giving an added dimension to this mashed-up shared universe.

Some of the story was a bit hard to follow, like whether the cargo was stolen or in danger of being stolen and who the traitor was. But the latter played out nicely with the reveal of Mademoiselle Peggy and following the cargo got Super Soldier where he needed to go for a fun Amalgam showcase in a different era.

An editor's note on the letters page explains the existence of this #1 issue as a series dedicated to sharing untold tales of Super Solder's wartime exploits. Given the World War II-set series both publishers have put out over the years, it makes the world in which the Amalgam comics are supposed to exist feel a little more concrete as well.

Best Amalgam: It's hard to top Super Soldier, but since he's already been acknowledged before, let's talk about the Human Lantern. What could have been an intriguing throwaway line from Iron Lantern becomes a character I'd like to have seen more of. Gibbons does a great job combining the distinctive, and hard to look at, costume of original Green Lantern Alan Scott with the distinctive flames of the original Human Torch. The idea of him using his considerable power to bake a cake – and the results turning out about as bad as if I did it – hint at some fun potential for a character trying to learn how to be human.

Most Confusing Amalgam: The Howlers weren't confusing; I just need to do more homework. I give the nod here to Lois Lane, who may not have been an amalgam at all. But the idea of the most famous couple in comics being permanently split up by Lex “Green Skull” Luthor is hard to wrap my brain around, albeit in a good way. I'd like to see more of that story too.

We've only got one Amalgam issue left from here, but that may have to wait until after Super Bowl LIX.

* - That's right, readers: I haven't failed you; the Internet has failed us.

** - Apparently an Amalgam of Marvel's Winston Churchill and DC's Winston Churchill.