All-Star Squadron- In the early 1980s, Roy Thomas came up with an idea to capitalize on the popularity of the Justice Society characters by telling new stories set back in the days when they were in their prime, the 1940s. He also brought along virtually every other Golden Age hero that DC had the rights to use. The result was All-Star Squadron, a series set in the dark days of World War II that embodied the spirits of heroism and optimism in the face of great evil. DC's "greatest generation" was one of their best books in the early 80s, and even though editorial decisions cut it somewhat short after Crisis, its first three or four years still shine as an excellent super-team comic like no other.



Sandman Mystery Theatre- A very different take on the Golden Age of Comics, this Vertigo series by Matt Wagner and Steven Seagle brought a film noir sensibility to tales of the original Sandman. Set in the 1930s and drawn by a variety of artists, it tackled mature themes as well as historical ones, taking its lead character into a dark and seedy corner of the DCU as his own dreams and nightmares led the way. Its thematic link to the wildly popular Sandman series by Neil Gaiman attracted many of that book's readers, helping to make it one of Vertigo's most successful and critically acclaimed books.

Damn you.... Damn you. I have a real fondness for both of these titles. All-Star for the great early issues art of Ordway, the only "serious" Plastic Man and a couple dozen other characters who would have otherwise never seen the light of day, Plus three of the best Annuals of any series... but it also had very wordy continuity laden scripts by Thomas and sub-par post-Ordway artwork. SMT Had Guy Davis artwork which I grew to love and feel perfect for the series, but will admit is an acquired taste - and great small arcs with some of the best mystery stories in comics, each building upon the relationship of Wesley Dodds and Diane Belmont, two of the best realized characters I have ever come across. I feel SMT has more of a rereadability factor, so it gets my vote.

Has All-Star Squadron been collected?

To me, it's not even close: SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE by a mile!

ALL-STAR SQUADRON had its moments - and some good art by Jerry Ordway - but a lot of it was just Roy Thomas "fan wank."

Definitely SMT.

All-Star Squadron. Never read Sandman but it sounds appealing from the description. Far more so than Gaiman's, for me. I simply can't get past the pretentiousness of Gaiman's Sandman's fans to actually get into the work itself. Plus the art, when I flipped through it a time or two, was horrible. I may check out Wagner's book though, thanks to this thread.

No contest--"All-Star Squadron." I bought the first issue when it came out and have most of the first couple years' worth.

I've never really read "Sandman Mystery Theater," but I recall looking through it years ago. For me the Vertigo imprint is very nearly a dealbreaker from the start, and the art looked no more enjoyable than Vertigo's usual.

The Per Degaton cross over with the JLA puts All Start Squadron high on my list of favorites.

I tried a few Sandman stories... wasn't my cup of tea.

I've read a few comments on the art in SMT and I must say that I was put off of it at first, but as the series went on I really began to appreciate Guy Davis' talent. He had a great eye for the time frame and I loved his depiction of the leads - Wesley was not quite a perfect physical specimen considering he was entering the masked avenger business, and Diane was drawn realistically as compared to most of the women/girlfriends in comics.. of course she was so well defined and had such great character growth throughout the series it was hard not to fall in love with her. It's one of those cases where I didn't appreciate an artist until I saw him with the perfect project.

A few hours left in this poll.

SMT.

All Star Squadron had Jerry Ordway goodness in a lot of it, while SMT had Guy Davis good storytelling but his mediocre drawings. A*S for me.

Squadron wins. Up next is probably the weirdest matchup in the whole tournament....

I'd like it to be known that if I had voted in this poll, it would've been for the Squadron.