I have to say I'm kind of lukewarm to the Liberty Legion crossover. Some of it was crushing disappointment. I didn't get to see an issue of the Invaders until they were well into their second year. By that point, Roy and Frank were cooking of the book and had the team dynamic down, some credible threats, some nostalgia, and some great action. I had seen the blurb about the Liberty Legion earlier on and liked the name. I didn't get to even see a glimpse of them until late in the Invaders, when they have been taken out by the villain, en masse. They are out cold, chained up, for the entire story. Then, the next issue I saw was the last issue, with Whizzer and Miss America working with the team, against the Nazi JLAers (Master Man, Warrior Woman, U-Man, Baron Blood). When I hit college and found my first comic shop, I hunted down the Invaders and the Liberty Legion Marvel Premiere's. That crossover had been built up in my head and what was there was more epic than what was on the page. Also, Don Heck's art just didn't work for me. I like his Avengers work and some of his other stuff (and he was great with non-superhero tales); but, not here. Plus, I've never been much of a fan of brainwashed heroes fighting other heroes. I wanted to see them bashing Nazis.

Looking back on it, the story is good, though rather uneven, in stages. I do think the Invaders chapters are stronger than the Marvel Premiere ones.

As for classic characters, that's open to argument. Marvel may be top dog now; but, Timely was even in the top 5, in the Golden Age. They lived on the success of Cap, Namor, and the Torch, and by flooding the stands with knockoffs. Most of the Liberty Legion characters were minor back-up features, with few appearances. Patriot was popular and lasted through 1946; but, never got his own title. Whizzer lasted long enough to be part of Timely's late entry into super-teams, the All-Winners Squad (along with Miss America). However, he was considered to be a joke (name and costume lending itself to urinary jokes) and a por man's Flash (Johnny Quick was held in higher regard, too, thanks to Mort Meskin). Miss America was the lone one with her own title, which became a magazine format comic, with its second issue; but, she was overshadowed by romance stories and Patsy Walker, in her own book. Roy seemed to have the greatest fondness for Whizzer and Miss America, because of All-Winners, and uses them the most. The rest of the Legion mostly get cameos.

Timely had some more interesting, though also short-lived characters, which only later got some attention. The Twelve gathered a bunch of them and Thunderbolts brought Citizen V to the limelight (first as a fake, then the real hero and his legacy). The Destroyer shows up when Invaders hits the teens, and becomes a major component, for a brief period. He had one of the better visuals of Timely and some decent stories, though he was a Cap knockoff (written by Stan Lee). Black Marvel was mostly forgotten, until much later, as were the Blazing Skull and the original Vision. Both of those would have fit in well with the Legion, especially in their own stories, as they would add power to the group. If memory serves, in the climax of the Kree-Skrull War, Rick Jones brings forth Blazing Skull, Fin, Vision, Angel, Patriot, and Cap, Namor & the Torch. Don't know why he left some of those guys out, this time.

I kind of wish Roy had spent some more time developing the Liberty Legion. As it is, they kind of get tossed aside for a while, get a few cameos, then Whizzer and Miss America get to be a part of the end of the series. There is a whole lot you can do with these characters, since there is little history to them, though no one but Ed Brubaker and Kurt Busiek seemed to care, after Roy, apart from a few uses of characters like Blazing Skull (in the Midnight Sons title) and a few with the Vision and the others mentioned. Heck, I can't remember anyone even touching the Angel until Brubaker's Marvels Project, which lifts a lot from Invaders, Sgt Fury, the early Cap/Namor/Torch comics, and a few other things. Granted, he wasn't as high profile; but, he was certainly bigger, at the start, then guys like Captain Wonder and Blue Diamond.

For my money though, this storyline marks where Invaders really starts to take off. Apart from an interruption with a couple of reprints, disguised as flashbacks, Roy and Frank start throwing out new characters and missions at a lightning pace.

Good points and it highlights a problem I have with some of Roy's nostalgic comics.  He's crafted good stories with these old characters; but, quite often, his desire to bring them as they were, in a more modern setting, doesn't quite work.  The Liberty Legion would have been more interesting if he had fleshed them out more.  Instead, it felt like he wanted to stick in these other old characters; but, he didn't like them enough to really do anything substantial with them.  So, yeah, they felt like second stringers.  I would also agree that All-Star Squadron got unwieldy; but, it was pretty focused for the first couple of years.

By contrast, Len Wein kept the elements that were good in the original and then tweaked them for the modern audience.  JMS did a bit of that, in the Twelve, though I kind of thought he overdid it a bit there, like he was trying to do a combination Captain America/Invaders/Watchmen.  Brubaker did a nice job with Marvel's Project, mixing in elements of continuity with some new twists.  He certainly did much to give the Angel some substance.

When you look at the Golden Age, DC really had the depth and breadth of superheroes.  Fawcett had the Marvel Family; but, the rest, like Mr Scarlet, Spy Smasher and Bullet Man just feel a bit average and mostly forgettable, other than Fawcett used some good artists.  MLJ had some nice ideas; but never seemed to execute them as well as they could, though Charles Biro's shop did seem nicely pulpy stories with a few.  It's no surprise that they were quickly upstaged by Archie.  The Shield got there first, but he was rather boring, compared to Simon & Kirby's Captain America.  I think that is why the revival attempts of the MLJ heroes always peters out quickly, as there isn't much to most of them.  There is potential; but not much history.  Quality did some fine superhero stories, but art always outdid story, there, with people like Lou Fine and Reed Crandall elevating some of the writing.  Plastic Man and Blackhawk had the best stories; but, Quality had a pretty decent line of heroes, which is why they worked relatively well at DC (with Len Wein and others, as the Freedom Fighters).

I liked James Robsinson's approach with Starman and The Golden Age (the mini), where he had a reverence for the characters; but not necessarily their old stories.  He kept the good elements and added new twists, gave them more personality, made them more real.  The Times Past stories in Starman used many an obscure character well, like the Quality Comics Jester, Phantom Lady, and even Alias the Spider.  His Vigilante mini, with Bugsy Siegel and the Hollywood underworld, was really underrated and very good.  I wish I could say the same for his use of some of the First Issue Special characters, from his Superman run.

The Red Skull appeared as you see him, in his earliest stories; and, pretty much the same when revived, with Cap (first via flashbacks). Eventually, he moved into other duds, including a variation on the SS dress uniform, which is what you mostly get these days (well, apart from the whole HYDRA replaces the Nazis take we seem to be stuck with). Lot of Golden Age villains had something along these lines, or a variation on a theatrical or circus costume.

I think this second part of the Marvel Premiere is probably most responsible for the Liberty Legion not getting the reception hoped; though, Roy has to shoulder some of it, as he doesn't really develop them and make them interesting. He had 4 issues; but, they don't exactly dominate the story. Bucky is more central to things and if you are playing second fiddle to the kid sidekick, you have problems.

I always liked the idea of the Liberty Legion; I just don't think Roy put in the effort he did in the All-Star Squadron. The later Kid Commandos (Bucky, Toro, Golden Girl and the Human Top) have similar problems. Roy seemed more content with throwing out characters as gimmicks, rather then developing them to add something more to the series, or to spin-off. I think he was more interested in inserting these old characters than doing something long term with them. He put far more into characters like Spitfire and Union Jack than he did for any of the Liberty Legion. With the Invaders, he seemed mostly interested in the big guns, and his own creations, than anything else. With All-Star Squadron, he seemed to be more interested in the lesser known heroes (or less seen), like Robotman, Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick, and Firebrand (which he gender swapped, replacing the original with a previously unknown sister). He centered the book on those characters, plus under-utilized JSAers, like Atom and Dr Midnite.

I said before I like Don Heck on the Avengers and some of his other work; but, not this. He really wasn't giving it his all. Robbins both understood the period and the pulpier nature of those old Timely stories and the Alex Schomburg covers. That really comes to the forefront in the next storyline.

Take a look at who inked it.  That may well have a lot to do with it.  I suspect Vinnie Colleta needs to take a fair bit of the credit.  

Heck was never well suited to doing super-hero books.  If you look at his earlier work it's heads and shoulders above most of his long-underwear books.  He was, at heart, a romance artist.  He was also very susceptible to his work being hacked by inkers.  Heck also got a lot of rush assignments.  So he was working on short deadlines.  

I appreciated Heck's Avengers run, as he brought a--shall I say--more "realistic" vision of how superheroes would appear if real, sort of like the rough work of a police sketch artist: stylish, but just real enough.

Have never read anything with him. I do think I have one of his appearance in Cap from the early 80s...its in my always growing "to read" pile.