Despite the modern rivalries between their respective fandoms, Marvel and DC came together for a surprising number of intercompany crossovers, especially in the 1990s. This concept reached its zenith in Marvel vs. DC, a storyline that pitted the companies' heroes against each other. Along the way, an entirely new universe was birthed through their clash called the Amalgam Universe.
As its name would suggest, this world was populated with superhumans that combined the characters of Marvel and DC into one merged world. The shining beacon of this world was most certainly Super-Soldier, a combination of DC's Superman and Marvel's Captain America. Combining the character's histories, origins, supporting casts, and villains, Amalgam Comics gave readers a true Flag-Waving Man of Steel in a pair of specials, Mark Waid, Dave Gibbons and Angus McKie's Super-Soldier, and Waid, Gibbons, Jimmy Palmiotti and McKie's Super-Soldier: Man of War. Now, we're taking a closer look at these two specials and how they mashed up the worlds of Marvel and DC's brightest heroes.
SUPER-SOLDIER
The eponymous Super-Soldier has the blonde hair and general costume of Captain America but is named Clark Kent. A scrawny 4-F volunteer, Kent was injected with the U.S. government's experimental Super-Soldier serum. The serum had itself been injected with DNA from a crashed alien craft that landed in 1938.
After taking the serum and being blasted with solar energy, Clark became the incredibly powerful Super-Soldier, wielding super strength, flight, heat vision, and an incredible shield with the iconic "S" symbol on it. TIn this world, Jimmy Olsen is combined with Bucky Barnes to become Super-Soldier's government issued pal. After debuting in WWII, he, like Captain America, was frozen in the ocean for years before waking up in the modern-day, where he faced old foes with a new generation of superheroes.
THE GREEN SKULL
In the Amalgam Universe, Superman and Captain America's arch-villains, Lex Luthor and the Red Skull, are combined into the skulking Green Skull. This character's real name is Lex Luthor, and his jobs as a public entrepreneur and secretive war profiteer combine the Golden Age and Post-Crisis John Byrne takes on the character.
Super-Soldier is the only one to see through the villain's murky facade, which leads to their intense rivalry. This Luthor also married Super-Soldier's one-time romantic interest, Lois Lane. Seeking to empower himself in the same way that Super-Soldier was created, Luthor experiments on himself with the alien mineral Green K. This gives him an incredible lifespan, but also heavily distorts and mutates is appearance. Like the Red Skull, he went on to lead Hydra
ULTRA-METALLO
Ultra-Metallo is a combination of DC villain Metallo and the Sleeper robots from the Marvel Universe. This automaton was created by Lex Luthor, who hoped to power it with the mysterious Green K, hoping that power up Ultra-Metallo with the element will give him the power to kill Super-Soldier.
Super-Soldier and Ultra-Metallo engage in a climactic battle over the Atlantic Ocean, wherein both combatants sink into when the fight is over. Years later, the robot's remains are found by Luthor, and he sends him to attack the White House, only to be felled by Super-Soldier again.
ALL-STAR WINNERS SQUADRON
The first team that Super-Soldier was a part of was the All-Star Winners Squadron. This team combined the Golden Age DC and Marvel teams the All-Stat Squadron and the All-Winners Squad. This WWII era team was also at one point known as the All-Star Winners Society, referencing DC's premiere Golden Age team, the Justice Society of America.
The members of the Metropolis-based team further combined the heroes of DC and Marvel with a roster that included Human Lantern (Human Torch and Green Lantern), The Whiz (the Flash and the Whizzer), Aqua-Mariner (Aquaman and Sub-Mariner) and American Belle (Miss America and Liberty Belle). Their honorary member, Brooklyn Barnes, also combined Bucky Barnes and a young Dan Turpin, a character who at that point in comics and cartoons had become synonymous with Metropolis and Superman.
MADEMOISELLE PEGGY AND THE HOWLING COMMANDOS
For a few supporting cast members, Amalgam Comics got a bit more esoteric. Mademoiselle Peggy is a combination of the now-popular Marvel character Agent Peggy Carter with the much more obscure DC character, Mademoiselle Marie, a French spy who is most famous for having a child with Alfred Pennyworth. The Howling Commandos are a Marvel team of World War II soldiers, including the classic version of Nick Fury. Though they had their usual name, they were also combined with the DC WWII team, Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.
Like Captain America, Super-Soldier was a man out of time, but like Superman, he also had powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Facing Nazi madmen, giant robots and a world that had passed him by, Amalgam's ultimate hero could change the course of mighty rivers whenever he threw his equally mighty shield.