By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-342-8
The third volume of these cheap ‘n’ cheerful black and white compendiums of past Justice League classics covers a period in DC’s history that still makes many a fan shudder with dread but I’m going to ask them to reconsider their aversion to the “Camp Craze†that saw America go superhero silly in the wake of the Batman TV show (and, to a lesser extent, the Green Hornet series that introduced Bruce Lee to the world). I should also mention that comics didn’t create the craze. Many popular media outlets felt the zeitgeist of a zanier, tongue-in-cheek, mock-heroic fashion: Just check out DVDS of Lost in Space or The Man from U.N.C.L.E if you doubt me…
The third annual JLA/JSA team-up starts the fun, a largely forgotten and rather experimental tale wherein the Johnny Thunder of Earth-1 wrested control of the genie-like Thunderbolt from his Justice Society counterpart and used its magic powers to change events that led to the creation of all Earth-1’s superheroes. It’s JSA to the rescue in a gripping battle of wits in #37’s ‘Earth – Without a Justice League’ and the concluding ‘Crisis on Earth-A!’
Issue #39 was an Eighty-Page Giant reprinting Brave and the Bold #28 and #30 and Justice League of America #5, so this volume makes do with just a cover reproduction before continuing with issue #40 and the ‘Indestructible Creatures of Nightmare Island’ a challenging conundrum wherein an astral scientist’s machine to suppress Man’s basest instincts almost causes the end of humanity, but also an action packed psycho-thriller stuffed with super-villainous guest-stars.
Issue #41 introduced a modern version of an old Justice Society villain. The Earth-1 mastermind called The Key is a diabolical scientist who used mild-altering psycho-chemicals to control the behaviour of our heroes in ‘The Key – Master of the World!’ He was followed by a guest-appearance from DC’s newest superhero sensation. Acquitting himself splendidly against the Cosmic Force named The Unimaginable, he was naturally offered membership in the team but astonishingly, he declined in the in the controversial ‘Metamorpho says – No!’
Justice League of America #43 was cover dated March 1966 and introduced a villainous team led by an old foe. ‘The Card Crimes of the Royal Flush Gang’ is a fine “Goodies and Baddies†romp and the first issue to feature the legendary DC “Go-Go checkerboard†banner at the top of the cover. This iconic cover-feature still generates a frisson of child-like anticipation in many older fans and is often used in pastiches and homage today to instantly create an evocative mood. It also marked the end of a brilliant career, as veteran inker Bernard Sachs put down his brushes for the final time and retired from the League and the comics field.
The next issue was inked by Frank Giacoia, a tense bio-thriller entitled ‘The Plague that Struck the Justice League!’, and he was joined by Joe Giella for the witty monster-menace double-feature ‘The Super-Struggle against Shaggy Man!’ in issue #45.
A wise-cracking campy tone was fully in play with the next issue, in acknowledgement of the changing audience profile. It was the opening part of the fourth annual crossover with the Justice Society of America. This time the stakes were raised to encompass the destruction of both planets in ‘Crisis Between Earth-One and Earth-Two’ and issue #47’s ‘The Bridge Between Earths’, wherein a bold – if rash – experiment pulls the two sidereal worlds into an inexorable hyper-space collision, whilst to make matters worse an anti-matter being uses the opportunity to explore our positive matter universe.
Peppered with wisecracks and “hip†dialogue, it’s sometimes difficult to discern what a cracking yarn this actually is, but if you’re able to forgive or swallow the dated patter, this is one of the best plotted and illustrated stories in the entire JLA/JSA canon. Furthermore, the vastly talented Sid Greene signed on as regular inker with this classic adventure, adding expressive subtlety, beguiling texture and whimsical humour to the pencils of Mike Sekowsky and the increasingly light, comedic scripts of Gardner Fox.
The next issue was another Eighty-Page Giant (reprinting Brave and the Bold #29 and #30 and Justice League of America #2 and 3, represented here by its stirring Sekowsky/Murphy Anderson cover, followed by the ‘Threat of the True-or-false Sorcerer’ in which a small team of the biggest guns (Batman, Superman, Flash and Green Lantern) must ferret out a doppelganger Felix Faust before he inadvertently dissolves all creation. There’s no excessive hoopla to celebrate the fiftieth issue but ‘The Lord of Time Attacks the 20th Century’ is another brilliantly told tale of heroism, action and sacrifice that, uncharacteristically for the company and the time, references and includes the ongoing Vietnam conflict. With “Batmania†in full swing editor Julie Schwartz also deemed it wise to include Robin, The Boy Wonder with regulars Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Snapper Carr and Batman.
Issue #51 concluded a long-running experiment in continuity with ‘Z – As in Zatanna – and Zero Hour!’ in which a comely young sorceress concluded the search for her long-missing father with the assistance of a small group of Leaguers and guest-star Ralph “Elongated Man†Dibny.
Zatarra was a magician-hero in the Mandrake mould who had fought evil in the pages of Action Comics for over a decade beginning with the very first issue. During the Silver Age Gardner Fox had Zatarra’s young and equally gifted daughter, Zatanna, go searching for him by guest-teaming with a selection of superheroes Fox was currently scripting (if you’re counting, these tales appeared in Hawkman #4, Atom #19, Green Lantern #42, and the Elongated Man back-up strip in Detective Comics #355 as well as a very slick piece of back writing to include the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336 – ‘Batman’s Bewitched Nightmare’).
Experimentation was also the basis of #52’s ‘Missing in Action – 5 Justice Leaguers!’, a portmanteau tale that showed what happened to those members who didn’t show up for issue #50. Hawkman – plus wife and partner Hawkgirl – Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Superman reported their solo yet ultimately linked adventures, whilst the Atom referred them to his time-travelling escapade with Benjamin Franklin from the pages of his own comic (The Atom #27 ‘Stowaway on a Hot Air Balloon!’). Batman still managed to make an appearance through the magic of a lengthy flash-back, showing again just how ubiquitous the TV series had made him. No editor in his right mind would ignore a legitimate (or even not-so) chance to feature such a perfect guarantee of increased sales.
‘Secret Behind the Stolen Super-Weapons’ found Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Hawkman – again with Hawkgirl guest-starring – deprived of their esoteric armaments and in desperate need of the Atom, Flash, Aquaman and Superman. Card-carrying criminals returned in ‘The History-Making Costumes of the Royal Flush Gang’, a taut mystery-thriller with plenty of action to balance the suspense. This fed perfectly into another summer-spectacular team-up with the JSA.
Boasting a radical change, the Earth-2 team now starred an adult Robin instead of Batman, but Hourman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Wildcat, Johnny Thunder and Mr. Terrific still needed the help of Earth-1’s Superman, Flash, Green Lantern and Green Arrow to cope with ‘The Super-Crisis that Struck Earth-Two’ and ‘The Negative-Crisis on Earths One-Two!’
This cosmic threat from a dying universe was in stark contrast to the overly-worthy but well intentioned ‘Man – Thy Name is Brother!’ in issue #57, where Flash, Green Arrow and Hawkman joined Snapper Carr in defending human rights and equality via three cases involving ethnic teenagers; a black, a native American/Apache (and if that modern phrase doesn’t indicate the necessity and efficacy of such stories in the 1960’s then what does?) and an aid-worker in India. Beautifully drawn and obviously heartfelt, I still ponder on the fact that all the characters are male… but eventually comics would confront even that last bastion of institutionalised prejudice.
There’s one last Eighty-Page Giant cover in this gloriously cost-effective monochrome compendium (issue # 58 reprinted Justice League of America #1, 6 and 8), and it was produced by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. That’s followed by the extremely odd conceptual puzzler ‘The Justice Leaguer’s Impossible Adventure’ before the volume closes with the return of an old adversary and another “hot†guest-star. Issue #60 featured ‘Winged Warriors of the Immortal Queen!’ and pitted the enslaved and transformed team against DC’s newest sensation – Batgirl.
These phonebook-like collections – each in excess of 500 pages – are an absolute gift for modern fans with a desperate need to catch up without going bankrupt. They’re also the perfect gift for youngsters needing an introduction to a fabulous world of adventure and magic. Of all the various reprint editions and formats available for classic material, these monochrome tomes are my absolute favourites.
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