- "Well, gang, Namor may have worked up this Isbisa challenge as a gag, but as public servants we can't take any chances... we've got to see it through!"
- ―Captain America
| "The Crime of the Ages!" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| All-Winners Comics | |
| Title: | "The Crime of the Ages!" |
| Volume: | 1 |
| Number: | 19 |
| Cover price: | 10¢ |
| Cover date: | Fall, 1946 |
| Publisher: | Timely Comics |
| Credits | |
| Chief: | Stan Lee |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Syd Shores |
| Inkers: | Al Avison |
| Cover artists: | Al Avison; Al Gabriele |
| Cover inker: | Al Avison; Al Gabriele |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | All-Winners Comics #18 |
| Next: | All-Winners Comics #20 (See below) |
All-Winners Comics #19 was published by Timely Comics and released in the Autumn of 1946. The cover illustration shows seven costumed superheroes, banded together as the All-Winners Squad fighting a masked super-villain named Isbisa. The cover was drawn by Al Avison and inked by Al Gabriele, though this remains unconfirmed. The central story from this issue is "The Crime of the Ages", which is broken down into several chapters. The story is written by Bill Finger with artwork provided by Syd Shores, Vince Alascia, Al Avison and Bob Powell.
"The Crime of the Ages!"[]
| "The Age of Bronze!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "The Age of Bronze!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Syd Shores |
| Inkers: | Al Avison |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
The Human Torch and Toro fly across the skyline of the city, spelling out a summons to the other members of the All-Winners Squad with their fire trails. Captain America, Bucky, the Sub-Mariner, Miss America and the Whizzer all meet up with the Torches at the Museum of Natural History. The curator of the museum, Professor Saba, as well as his secretary, Simon Meke, shows the heroes an exhibit representing the Ages of Mankind, which has been vandalized. The perpetrator has left behind a note, identifying himself as Isbisa. As a show of power, he challenges the All-Winners to solve a series of clues, which he has written on individual pieces of paper intended for each of them. Concerned that this mysterious villain might make actually be a threat, they each in turn read their individual notes and attempt to solve each clue separately. Miss America discovers an altogether different note which Isbisa had addressed to a confederate named Roman. Captain America deduces that Roman is actually Namor spelled backwards. The All-Winners turn a suspicious eye towards the Sub-Mariner and the Whizzer asks him if he is in league with Isbisa. Greatly offended, the Sub-Mariner turns and leaves. Toro is likewise bothered by the fact that everyone was so quick to suspect Namor and follows after him.
Appearances[]
Featured characters
- All-Winners Squad (1st appearance)
Supporting characters
- Professor Saba
- Simon Meke
Villains
- Isbisa (Behind the scenes only)
Minor characters
Races
Locations
- New York (Implied)
Items
Vehicles
"The Age of Bronze!"[]
| "The Age of Bronze!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "The Age of Bronze!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Vince Alascia |
| Inkers: | Bob Powell |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
Captain America and Bucky investigate a clue relating to the Age of Bronze. Their search brings them to an art museum where they consult with the director concerning anything of value that might be made of bronze. He shows them a Chinese statue called The Idol With the Starry Eyes - so named because of the two huge sapphire gemstones that make up it's eyes. Four bandits led by a chubby fellow named Porky break into the museum and begin acting violently. They are all henchmen for Isbisa. One of them, Cellini, brandishese a shotgun and begins shooting wildly. The heroes dive into them, but the thugs miraculously gain the upper hand. Porky manages to cuff Captain America from behind while Cellini punches Bucky in the jaw. They leave just as quickly as they came, but Cellini leaves a note behind. The note reveals that the buckshot in his shotgun was coated with ammonium chloride, which causs bronze to corrode. The director is concerned about what this might due to the statue, so he calls the plating plant to have it replaced.
Later that evening, the bandits hijack the truck from the plating plant and use it to sneak back into the museum. Captain America and Bucky, suspecting such a plot, are lying in wait. A fight ensues and once again, Porky's crew get the upper hand. They capture Cap and Bucky and tie them up while the rest of the goons set about robbing the rest of the museum. Cap goads Porky into kicking him, thereby knocking him towards a broken light bulb. Capt uses the bulb to saw through his ropes, then sticks a penny into the socket, causing the lights to go out. In the darkness, Captain America and Bucky are able to defeat the thugs. Cap suspects that Porky and his crew are agents of Isbisa.
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
- Isbisa
- Cellini
- Porky
Minor characters
- Museum art director
Races
Locations
- New York (Implied)
Items
Vehicles
"The Iron Age!"[]
| "The Iron Age!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "The Iron Age!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Al Avison |
| Inkers: | Al Gabriele |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
The Whizzer's clue leads him to a movie director named Cameron who is filming a new feature in the Flatlands based on the life of 19th century train robber Mal Brennings. Cameron tells the Whizzer how Brennings and his gang robbed an old "iron horse" locomotive of it's cache of gold. In all the years following the incident however, the gold has never been recovered. The train being used to film the scene is the original train that Brennings robbed back in the 1800s.
Three men who are agents of Isbisa come onto the set and knock out three of the extras. They steal their costumes and take their place as members of Brennings' gang. The Whizzer notices however that they are shooting live ammunition during the scene in which they rob the train. He chases after them at super-speed, but one of the criminals dumps a bucket of oil on the ground and the Whizzer loses traction. The thugs escape by hopping onto a passing streamliner. The Whizzer catches up to them and takes out two thugs in the conductor's station. He then faces off against the leader of the gang, Shut-Eye, on top of the train. He knocks him out with a single punch and returns to Cameron with news that he has defeated them. The Whizzer then discovers that Mal Brennings hid the original gold underneath the floor plating of the old iron horse train - and it is still there.
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
- Cameron
Villains
- Isbisa
- Shut-Eye
- Two unnamed bandits
Minor characters
- Cabby
- Clark
- Mal Brennings Referenced
- Several movie set extras
Races
Locations
- The Flatlands
Items
Vehicles
- Iron Horse locomotive
- Streamliner
"The Steel Age!"[]
| "The Steel Age!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "The Steel Age!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Al Avison |
| Inkers: | Don Rico |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
The Human Torch's note relates to the the Steel Age and tells him to watch over a manhole cover at 86th street and Sully Avenue at 5:00 pm. Suspecting an obvious trap, the Torch nonetheless shows up on time and watches as three crooks descend into the manhole at precisely 5:00 pm. He follows them down and finds that the manhole leads into a secret passage that takes them to a hidden entranceway into a bank. The torch ignites his flame and creates an arc of fire around the three men. One of them fires off a shot from his revolver, which strikes an overhead light. The fixture falls down onto the Human Torch's head, knocking him out. They are primed to finish him off when a female cop named Bobby Lee enters the room and uses judo to fight the men off. They flee the scene, leaving Bobby to revive the Torch.
The Human Torch and Bobby Lee decide to work together to track down the bank robbers. They consult with James Flore - the architect who designed the bank. They quickly discover however, that Flore is the leader of the group and is secretly working for Isbisa. The three armed underlings come up behind them and capture them. Flore has the Torch and Bobby bound and thrown into a massive wind tunnel. The whirling fan blade is pulling them closer towards certain doom and the wind is too intense for the Torch to ignite his flame. The Torch takes Bobby's high heels and throws them into the blades where they are shredded. The pieces however, fall down into the mechanism that operates the machine and clogs it up so that it shuts down.
The Human Torch flies after the crooks who are in the midst of another robbery. One of them refuses to be captured and races towards an oncoming train. The Torch speeds up to him and knocks him out with a single punch. Bobby Lee gives the Human Torch a peck on the cheek and thanks him for helping her take the gang down.
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
- Bobby Lee
Villains
- Isbisa
- James Flore
- Three unnamed crooks
Minor characters
Races
Locations
- New York (Implied)
Items
Vehicles
- Subway car
"The Stone Age!"[]
| "The Stone Age!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "The Stone Age!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Syd Shores |
| Inkers: | Vince Alascia |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
- Isbisa
- Calcium Master (Only appearance; dies)
Minor characters
Races
Locations
- Millstone
Items
Vehicles
"The Ice Age!"[]
| "The Ice Age!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "The Ice Age!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Bob Powell |
| Inkers: | Al Avison |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
- Isbisa
- Black Patch
Minor characters
Races
Locations
Items
Vehicles
"Conclusion!"[]
| "Conclusion!" | |
|---|---|
| No image available | |
| Title: | "Conclusion!" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Bill Finger |
| Pencilers: | Al Avison |
| Inkers: | Al Bellman |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
Appearances[]
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
- Isbisa
Minor characters
Races
Locations
Items
Vehicles
Notes & Trivia[]
- There is no issue #20 of All-Winners Comics. Following this issue, the title changes to All Teen then reverts to the original series title with issue #21.
- This issue includes a two-page text story called "Pearls of Wisdom". The author of the story is unknown.
- First appearance of the All-Winners Squad. Although all characters from the group made previous appearances in solo stories throughout the series, they did not become a group until this issue. In terms of publishing history, the All-Winners Squad is the very first Marvel Comics super-team. Canonically however, they were preceded by the World War II era adventurers, the Invaders.
- Originally, the Captain America and Bucky featured in this series were Steve Rogers and James Buchanan Barnes. Avengers, Volume 1 #4 however, which is the first modern-age appearance of Captain America, establishes that Bucky died in 1945 and Cap went missing. Retroactively, all appearances of Captain America and Bucky Barnes that appeared in this series following April, 1945 have been attributed to William Naslund and later, Jeff Mace in place of Steve Rogers and Fred Davis replacing James Buchanan Barnes.
- The DC Comics analog to the All-Winners Squad is the All-Star Squadron. Like the All-Winners, the All-Star Squadron was a war time costumed superhero team that included veteran superheroes such as the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, as well as less well-known adventurers like Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick and Robotman.
- Events from this issue are recalled in flashback in Giant-Size Avengers #1.
- Isbisa appears next in Vision and Scarlet Witch #2.
- On the cover, the outer ring of Captain America's shield is mis-colored blue. Oddly, this error was intentionally repeated on the Ray Lago rendering of this cover for Timely Presents: All-Winners Comics #1.
Recommended Reading[]
- Captain America Comics
- The Human Torch
- Sub-Mariner Comics
- Daring Mystery Comics
- Marvel Mystery Comics
- Young Allies
Reprints[]
Stories from this issue are reprinted in the following:
- Fantasy Masterpieces, Volume 1 #10
- Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners Comics, Volume 4
- Timely Presents: All-Winners Comics 1