Back in 1945, following the landmark All-Out War Comics No.23, which featured Japanese hero the Red Ninja and innovatively dealt with racism, writer-publisher Alfred Hörs Gustafson and artist Nicolas Jacob Kirby were busy at work on All-Out War Comics No.25, that series' landmark anniversary issue. Therefore a rather peculiar dilemma faced the staff of Infinity Comics. What was to be done about No.24?
The idea, as came to print at the end of No.23, was that the series' stars, the Canadian Shield, would take a voyage to the future (1996 for no particular reason) where they would react to and interact with the denizens of what conceivably seemed distant time.
Script: Alfred Gustafson, Art: Nicolas Kirby.
But somewhere along the way, not only was the idea abandoned, but so was the issue, without any notice given. The opening of No.25 established that the team had been to the future, but that at the conclusion of the adventure, their memories of all specifics were erased. Because the story of No.24 was often referred back to, it was long believed by fans that No.24 had been produced, and that copies were extremely scarce.
The truth of course is that All-Out War Comics No.24 never came out.
Skip ahead 53 years...
In 1998, Nick Comics finally published All-Out War Comics No.24. The story detailed the adventures of the WWII-era super-heroes in the year 1997, before the dawn of the modern Nick Universe, and features the only meeting of the Golden Age Cat-Man and his Modern Age successor, Catman as well as an early incarnation of the mysterious government operative Agent Omega. The special issue was written by Nick Gustafson and illustrated by All-Out War Comics original penciller and inker, Nicolas Kirby and Jean-Paul Bouchard (assisted by Questers co-creator Troy Hobbs).
All-Out War Comics continued until No.32 in 1946 when Infinity Comics ceased all publication. The Canadian Shield returned in a popular series of children's novels in the 1950's (and briefly to comics in the mid-1960's for a short run), before returning in Pacific Defenders #39 (1994) along with their enemies, WeaponAxis, by which time almost 60 years had passed.
In 1995, Nick Comics released All-Out War Comics #600 (the issue that might have been published had the series continued uninterrupted since 1941), which in addition to reuniting the surviving team members, also resurrected the long-dead Miss Steelwill.