Origin

The group that would become the All-Star Squadron was called together by President Franklin D Roosevelt on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He instructed the heroes, who had been drawn from a number of heroic groups, to take part in investigating and preventing sabotage and unrest in the States during the war.

Creation

The All-Star Squadron was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway.

Team Evolution

Bronze Age

In its original incarnation, the Squadron had a vast roster of heroes that contained almost all costumed heroes operating in the DC Universe during the Second World War. The initial chairman was Hawkman, who was briefly replaced by Liberty Bell; the pair later became co-chairs. Their adventures in this period took place on Earth-2.

Modern Age

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the membership of the Squadron was updated such that some members, particularly Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman and others who had modern comics running, had never been part of the group, due to their chronology no longer coinciding with that of the Squadron.

Major Story Arcs

The All-Star Squadron

With a widely varying roster, the team takes on a number of external threats. As well as dealing with threats from the Axis and the Axis' agents within America, the team battles villains such as Per Degaton and the Ultra-Humanite, as well as internal threats such as white supremacist organizations. Most of the team is unable to take part in actual fighting in the Pacific or European Theatres due to Adolf Hitler's possession of the Spear of Destiny, which enables him to control all magic users or those who are vulnerable to magic in Axis territories.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Members of the Squadron are accidentally transported to several other dimensions by the appearance of Harbinger. Soon, members become involved in battles with minions of the Anti-Monitor and the Monster Society of Evil. Several team members are sent by Harbinger to prevent the Ultra-Humanite from stealing a space shuttle. Following the Crisis, the team members who had been cast adrift return to their reality with no memory of the events, and with no apparent ill effect to their reality. This is revealed to be the result of the machinations of Mekanique, who eventually allows the sweeping changes of the Crisis to have their effect on the universe.

As a result of the Crisis, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Speedy and associated characters (Alfred, Lois, etc.) were removed from continuity. To substitute, some new characters were created to take their place in some stories. Collectively they became the Young All Stars, and were part of the All Star Squadron for a time. The All-Star Squadron book was cancelled after the Crisis. The Young All-Stars book picked up after the Crisis and dealt with the merged storylines.

Final Crisis

An incarnation of the Squadron, never explicitly referred to as such, appears during the Final Crisis, when heroes are drafted into a metahuman army by Alan Scott under Article X.