The Vintage Age Handbook is a character reference intending to describe every relevant hero and villain that appeared in a Marvel comic before the publication of Fantastic Four #1 - continuity wise, that is. What this means is that some of these folks are true, Golden Age comics characters - and some aren't.

This is because, as time goes on, more and more comics seem to refer to the Golden Age period. Most of the fellows used in these stories actually saw print during that time, but others are more recent creations, 'plugged in' to that time frame in order to tell a new tale or two.

This can make the true age of these Marvel characters somewhat confusing, but what can you do? At any rate, unless otherwise indicated, these characters appear during the 1940's, usually involved with World War 2 somehow. They are:

the Battle-Axis: this is a group of former heroes that believed the United States should be helping Germany in it's war with the Soviet Union during World War 2. This political view got the Battle-Axis into trouble with both the Law and the Invaders, who had to put down their destructive schemes.

the Crusaders: based in the United Kingdom, this group of heroes was formed due to an evil Nazi plot to destroy the Invaders. This scheme ultimately failed, however, and these duped heroes ditched their evil founders in order to became legends in their own right.

the Invaders / All-Winners Squad: the pre-eminent heroes of their time, the Invaders waged a war against the enemies of freedom on a global scale, though they were mostly active in Europe. The Invaders have had plenty of chronicled adventures in the Vintage age, as they were its greatest heroes!

the Kid Commandos: a minor team of kid heroes led by the indefatigable Bucky, this quartet of fightin' youth did what the Invaders did, though only on a minor scale. Sure, you hardly ever hear of this group, or what they did to help the War effort, but they fought with the best of 'em!

the Liberty Legion: this group of stalwart heroes is a counterpart to the Invaders; while the Invaders fight threats to America abroad, the Liberty Legion deals with problems at home. Though they had few chronicled adventures, the Liberty Legion is an interesting bunch of heroes, bar none.

Solo Heroes: not necessarily affiliated with any of the other big hero groups of their day, like the Liberty Legion or the Invaders, these solo heroes of the forties worked alone to help make the world a better place. All of the lone heroes I could identify are quantified in this sub-booklet.

Solo Villains: likewise working on their lonesome, the loathsome villains of the Golden Age worked solo, without the benefit of a team of super powered antagonists backing them up. Whether they worked for the Nazi regime or for their own twisted agenda, these fiends are a force to be reckoned with!

the Super-Axis: the Super-Axis is a team of villainous, super-powered Naxi thugs that had battle the Invaders solo, and decided that they liked the principle of strength in numbers. As a team, they caused no end of trouble for their heroic counterparts!

Now, you may ask why the heck I'm doing this. Well, even though a lot of these characters have met the Grim Reaper, they still have some uses. For instance, they're absolutely great for time travel stories. Modern day heroes can meet these folks in the past, or they can come to the present, even!

Or, alternately, present-day folks can borrow the costumes and namesakes of their past counterparts, with either heroic or villainous intent. This, in itself, can make for a great adventure, especially when a group of heroes tries to track down this identity thief to see what she's really up to...

Incidentally, I just wanted to say here that the aid of both Alistair Dunbar and Keith Kilburn has been absolutely invaluable for this particular project. Alistair pointed out a source of priceless Vintage Age info, and Keith wrote up the Invaders for me, helping me to get done that much quicker. Thanks, guys!