The Golden Age Sandman Archives volume 1


By Bert Christman, Gardner F. Fox, Creig Flessel, Chad Grothkopf, Ogden Whitney & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0155-5 (HB)

Probably illustrated, scripted and created by multi-talented all-rounder Bert Christman (with the assistance of young scripting star Gardner F. Fox), The Sandman premiered in either Adventure Comics #40 July 1939 (two months after Batman’s debut in Detective Comics #27) or two weeks earlier in New York World’s Fair Comics 1939 – depending on whose distribution records you choose to believe. Intriguingly, the Dark Knight didn’t make the cut for the legendary commemorative comic book and only appeared in New York World’s Fair Comics #2 in Summer 1940…

Head obscured by a gas-mask and slouch hat; caped, business-suited millionaire adventurer Wesley Dodds was cut from the radio drama/pulp fiction mystery-man mould that had made The Shadow, Green Hornet, Lone Ranger, Phantom Detective, Black Bat, Spider, Avenger and so many more into household names of early mass-entertainment and periodical publication. Wielding a sleeping-gas gun and haunting the night to hunt a host of killers, crooks and spies, he was eventually joined and accompanied by plucky paramour Dian Belmont, before gradually losing readers’ interest and slipping from cover-spot to last feature in Adventure Comics, just as the shadowy, morally ambiguous avengers he emulated slipped from popularity in favour of more flamboyant, true-blue fictional fare.

This splendidly sturdy, moodily atmospheric Archive edition gathers those landmark early appearances from New York World’s Fair Comics 1939 & 1940 and the rip-roaring exploits from Adventure Comics #40-59, spanning July 1939 to February 1941: a period when Detective Comics Incorporated frantically sought to follow up Superman and Batman with the “Next Big Thing in comic books”…

Following an erudite appreciation from historian and comics all-star Jim Amash, the dramas begin with the fast-paced thriller from the groundbreaking, pioneering comics premium New York World’s Fair Comics #1 as Christman & Fox introduced ‘Sandman at the World’s Fair’. In those long-lost days, origins and back story were not as important as action and spectacle so we quickly plunge into a fast-paced yarn as wealthy, rugged playboy scientist Dodds visits the global festival with plans for a new ray-gun. En route he encounters spies and a traitor within his own company. Already active as The Sandman – and sought by the cops for it – the vigilante tracks down and deals with the pre-war enemies of America…

Over in Adventure Comics #40, at about the same time, the cover-featured crusader saves kidnapped actress Vivian Dale when ‘The Tarantula Strikes’ (Christman & Fox) in a rousing romp reminiscent of the High Society hi-jinks of movie marvels The Saint, Falcon or Lone Wolf: prowling allies and moonlit rooftops, breaking into criminals’ lairs, rifling safes and dealing as much death as dream gas. He also utilised a unique calling card, sprinkling sand to proclaim and terrify wherever he has silently been and gone…

Christman wrote and drew many of the early thrillers such as #41’s ‘On the Waterfront’, wherein plucky reporter Janice Blue inadvertently stumbles into a dockside narcotics ring just as murderous seadog Captain Wing makes a fateful takeover bid. Luckily for Janice, the stealthy Sandman is already on the case…

Adventure #42 highlighted Christman’s love of aviation in ‘The Three Sandmen’, as Dodds met up with former Navy Flying Corps buddies to solve a string of murders. Somebody was rubbing out all the members of the old squadron…

Allen Bert Christman first came to public attention by following near-mythic Noel Sickles on seminal newspaper strip Scorchy Smith. A dedicated patriot and flyer, Christman entered the Naval Air School in 1940 and joined Claire Lee Chennault’s 1st American Volunteer Group, known as the legendary fighter squadron The Flying Tigers. These volunteers began fighting the Japanese in China long before America officially entered WWII on December 8th 1941, and Christman – officially designated a Colonel in the Chinese Air Force – used his artistic talents to personalise and decorate many of the planes in his Flight. He was shot down and died in horrific circumstances on January 23rd 1942.

Issue #43 saw his last official story as Dodds went on a South Seas flying vacation and was embroiled in an ‘Island Uprising’: spectacularly saving embattled white pearl hunters from natives enraged to fury by latter-day pirate Red Hatch

In Adventure #44 (November 1939), Fox & Creig Flessel stepped into the breach left by Christman when ‘The Sandman Meets the Face’. Here the playboy was back in civilisation and aiding a down-&-out friend against a mercurial disguise artist and mob boss terrorising the city. This splendid blood-&-thunder caper also saw the page count rise from 6 to 10 as The Sandman finally found his lurking, moody metier…

‘The Golden Gusher’ (#45 by Fox & Flessel) was nightclub singer Gloria Gordon, threatened with kidnap or worse until the Master of Sleep intervened, whilst #46’s ‘The Sandman Meets with Murder’ saw rising talent Ogden Whitney step into the artistic hot seat when the slaying of another old Dodds chum led into a deliciously convoluted murder-mystery involving beautiful twins, counterfeiting and a macabre cross-dressing killer…

A huge step in continuity occurred in #47 as District Attorney Belmont agreed to an unofficial truce with The Sandman following the assassination of a prominent banker. Simultaneously, Wesley caught a wily thief trying to crack his safe and became unwilling partner to the ‘Lady in Evening Clothes’ (Fox & Whitney) after she uncovered his secret identity. A celebrated cat-burglar, the sophisticated she-devil was plagued by not knowing who her parents were, but happily went straight(ish) in return for Dodd’s pledge to help her…

Eventually revealed as long-lost Dian Belmont, she became a regular cast addition in #48 as ‘Death to the D.A.’ found her newly-found father under threat from gangsters and far less obvious killers on a palatial island retreat, after which ‘Common Cold – Uncommon Crime’ (#49 by Fox, Flessel & perhaps Chad Grothkopf on inks) sees the mystery-man tracking killers who were eradicating scientists who refused to hand over their cure for one of our most unforgiving ailments.

With a year gone by and global war looming, the “World of Tomorrow” exhibition was slowly closing, but there was still time for New York World’s Fair Comics #2, where this time ‘Sandman Goes to the World’s Fair’ (by Fox & Grothkopf) delivered a blistering crime caper as Wesley and Dian are stuck babysitting her maiden Aunt Agatha around the Fair and targeted by ambitious but exceedingly unwise kidnapper Slugger Slade

In Adventure Comics #50 ‘Tuffy and Limpy’s Revenge Plot’ – by Fox & Flessel – covered similar ground as a murderous campaign of apparently unrelated deaths points to another scheme to remove the dauntless DA, drawing Sandman and Dian into a blockbusting battle against ruthless rogues, whilst #51’s (June 1940, by Fox & Flessel and previously reprinted elsewhere as ‘The Pawn Broker’) ‘The Van Leew Emeralds’ provided a fascinating mystery romp for the romantically inclined crimebusters to solve in fine style and double-quick time.

A burglary at the Belmont residence only netted a pair of gloves in #52’s ‘Wanted! Dead or Alive’, but inexorably led to a perplexing scavenger hunt with sinister overtones and a deadly pay-off when scandalous Claudia Norgan framed her best gal-pal Dian for the Amber Apple Gang‘s crimes, after which in #53, ‘The Loan Sharks’ unwisely aroused the dynamic dream-maker’s ire after graduating from simple leg-breaking to murder to enforce their demands. They almost ended the Sandman too before he finally got the better of them…

Adventure #54’s ‘The Case of the Kidnapped Heiress’ saw Wes and Dian witness a bold snatch-&-grab, but their frenzied pursuit only resulted in both the DA’s daughter and millionairess Nana Martin being abducted together. Fury-filled and frantic, Sandman tracked down the ransoming rogues only to find himself in the unexpected role of Cupid.

When the legendary jewel ‘The Star of Singapore’ was stolen in #55, the trail led to an ever increasing spiral of death and destruction until the Man of Dreams finally recovered it, whilst next issue, ‘The Crook Who Knew the Sandman’s Identity’ (Fox, Flessel & Grothkopf) learned to his regret it just wasn’t so, thanks to Dian’s imaginative improvisation…

Mystery and general skulduggery gave way to world-threatening science fiction in #57 when The Sandman battled a mad scientist who had devised a deadly atom-smasher for blackmail and ‘To Hammer the Earth’, after which more macabre murders point the dream-team to spies and killers profiting from ‘Orchids of Doom’. This stylish selection of outré crime-thrillers concludes with Adventure #59’s ‘The Story of the Flaming Ruby’ as a cursed gem enables a hypnotic horror to turn honest men into thieves and Dian into a mindless assassin…

Possessing an indefinable style and charm but definitely dwindling pizzazz, the feature was on the verge of cancellation when The Sandman abruptly switched to a skin-tight yellow-&-purple bodysuit – complete with billowing cape for two issues – and gained boy-sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy (in Adventure Comics #69, December 1941, courtesy of Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris), presumably to emulate the overwhelmingly successful Batman and Captain America models then reaping such big dividends. It didn’t help much at first but when Joe Simon & Jack Kirby came aboard with #72 it all spectacularly changed.

A semi-supernatural element and fascination with the world of dreams (revisited by S&K a decade later in their short-lived experimental suspense series The Strange World of Your Dreams) added a moody conceptual punch to equal the kinetic fury of their art, as Sandman and Sandy became literally the stuff of nightmares to the bizarre bandits and murderous mugs they stalked. Those spectacular but decidedly different adventures can be found in The Sandman by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby… if you dare…

With covers by Sheldon Mayer, Jack Burnley and Flessel, these raw, wild and excessively engaging early comics capers are some of the best but most neglected thrillers of the Golden Age. Modern tastes have moved on and these yarns are far more in tune with contemporary mores, making this a truly unmissable treat for fans of mystery, murder and stylish intrigue…
© 1939, 1940, 1941, 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Sandman Mystery Theatre Book One


By Matt Wagner, Guy Davis, John Watkiss, R.G. Taylor, David Hornung & John Costanza & various (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6327-0 (TPB/Digital edition)

Created by Bert Christman & Gardner F. Fox, The Sandman premiered in either Adventure Comics #40 July 1939 (two months after Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27) or two weeks earlier in New York World’s Fair Comics 1939, depending on which rather spotty distribution records can be believed.

Head and face utterly obscured by a gasmask and slouch hat; caped, business-suited millionaire adventurer Wesley Dodds was cut from the iconic masked mystery-man mould that had made pulp fictioneers The Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, The Shadow, The Spider and many more household names. Those dark red-handed heroes were also astonishing commercial successes in the early days of mass periodical publication…

Wielding a sleep-gas gun and haunting the night to battle a string of killers, crooks and spies, he was accompanied in the earliest comicbooks by his plucky paramour Dian Belmont, before gradually losing the readers’ interest and slipping from cover-spot to last feature in Adventure Comics, just as the cloaked pulp-hero avengers he emulated slipped from popularity in favour of more flamboyant fictional fare.

Possessing a certain indefinable style and charm but definitely no especial pizzazz, the feature was on the verge of being dropped when the Sandman abruptly switched to skin-tight yellow-&-purple and gained boy-sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy (Adventure Comics #69, December 1941, courtesy of Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris). All this, presumably to emulate the overwhelmingly successful Batman and Captain America models then reaping big dividends on newsstands.

It didn’t help much, but when Joe Simon & Jack Kirby came aboard with #72 it all changed. A semi-supernatural element and fascination with the world of dreams (revisited by S&K a decade later in their short-lived experimental suspense series The Strange World of Your Dreams) added moody conceptual punch to balance the kinetic fury of their art, as Sandman and Sandy became literally the stuff of nightmares to bizarre bandits and murderous mugs…

For what happened next you can check out the superb Simon & Kirby Sandman collection.

Time passed and in the late 1980s Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith & Mike Dringenberg took the property in a revolutionary new direction, eventually linking all the previous reboot elements into an overarching connective continuity under DC’s new “sophisticated suspense” imprint Vertigo. Within a few years the astounding success of the new Sandman prompted editorial powers-that-be to revisit the stylishly retro original character and look at him through more mature eyes. Iconoclastic creator Matt Wagner (Mage, Grendel, The Demon, Batman) teamed with artistic adept Guy Davis (Baker Street, B.P.R.D.) and colourist David Hornung to channel a grittier, grimier, far more viscerally authentic 1930s, where the haunted mystery man could pursue his lonely crusade with chilling verisimilitude.

The tone was darkly modernistic, with crime-busting played out in the dissolute dog-days of the Jazz Age and addressing controversial themes such as abuse, sexual depravity, corruption and racism; all presented against the rising tide of fascism sweeping the world then.

Consider this a warning: Sandman Mystery Theatre is not for kids.

This compendium collects the first three redefining story-arcs from issues #1-12 (April 1993 to March 1994) and commences after an absorbing introduction from veteran journalist, critic and pop culture historian Dave Marsh.

Each chapter preceded by its original evocative faux pulp photo cover created by Gavin Wilson and Hornung, the dark drama opens with The Tarantula, taking us to New York in 1938 where District Attorney Larry Belmont is having the Devil’s own time keeping his wild-child daughter out of trouble and out of the newspapers. Dian is gallivanting all over town every night with her spoiled rich friends: drinking, partying and associating with all the wrong people, but the prominent public servant has far larger problems too. One is a mysterious gas-masked figure he finds rifling his safe soon after Dian departs…

The intruder easily overpowers the DA with some kind of sleeping gas – which also makes you want to blurt every inconvenient truth – before disappearing, leaving Belmont to awaken with a headache and wondering if it was all a dream…

After a rowdy night carousing with scandalous BFF Catherine Van Der Meer and her latest (gangster) lover, Dian gets up with a similar hangover, but still agrees to attend one of father’s dreary public functions that evening. The elder Belmont is particularly keen that she meet a studious young man named Wesley Dodds, recently returned from years in the Orient to take over his deceased dad’s many business interests. Dodds seems genteel and effete, yet Dian finds there’s something oddly compelling about him. Moreover, he too seems to feel a connection…

The Gala breaks up early when the DA is informed of a sensational crime. Catherine Van Der Meer has been kidnapped by someone calling himself as The Tarantula

Across town, mob boss Albert Goldman meets with fellow gangsters from the West Coast and, as usual, his useless son Roger and drunken wife Miriam embarrass him. Daughter Celia is the only one he can depend on these days, but even her unwavering devotion seems increasingly divided. After another stormy scene, the conference ends early, and the visiting crimelords are appalled to find their usually diligent bodyguards soundly asleep in their limousines…

Even with Catherine kidnapped, Dian is determined to go out that night, but when Wesley arrives unexpectedly changes her mind, much to her father’s relief. The feeling doesn’t last long, however, after the police inform him the Tarantula has taken another woman…

When a hideously mutilated body is found, Dian inveigles herself into accompanying dear old Dad to Headquarters but is promptly excluded from the grisly “Man’s Business”. Left alone, she starts snooping in the offices and encounters a bizarre gas-masked figure poring through files. Before she can react, he dashes past her and escapes, leaving her to explain to the assorted useless lawmen cluttering up the place.

Furious and humiliated, Dian then insists that she officially identify Catherine and nobody can dissuade her. Shockingly, the savagely ruined body is not her best friend but yet another victim. Somewhere dark and hidden, Van Der Meer is being tortured, but the perpetrator has far more than macabre gratification in mind…

In the Goldman house, Celia is daily extending her control over darling devoted Daddy. They still share a very special secret, but these days she’s the one dictating where and when they indulge themselves…

With all the trauma in her life, Dian increasingly finds Wesley a comforting rock, but perhaps that view would change if she knew how he spends his nights. Dodds is tormented, plagued by bad dreams. Not his own nightmares, but rather somnolent screams of nameless victims and their cruel oppressors haunt his troubled slumbers. Worst of all, these dreams are unrelenting and somehow prophetic. What else can a decent man do then, but act to end such suffering?

In a seedy dive, uncompromising Police Lieutenant Burke comes off worst when he discovers the gas-mask lunatic grilling a suspect in “his” kidnapping case and again later when this “Sandman” is found at a factory where the vehicle used to transport victims is hidden.

Even so, the net is inexorably tightening on both Tarantula and the vigilante interfering in the investigation, but Burke doesn’t know who he most wants in his nice, dark interrogation room…

As the labyrinthine web of mystery and monstrosity unravels, tension mounts and the death toll climbs, but can The Sandman stop the torrent of depraved terror before the determined Dian finds herself swept up in all the blood and death?

Of course, he does but not without appalling consequences…

Scene and scenario suitably set, John Watkiss steps in to illuminate second saga The Face (issues #5-8). Attention switches to Chinatown in February of 1938, where Dian and her gal-pals scandalously dine and dish dirt… until Miss Belmont meets again an old lover.

Jimmy Shan once worked in her father’s office but now serves as lawyer and fixer for his own people amongst the teeming restaurants, gambling dens and bordellos of the oriental district. Dian would be horrified to see Jimmy – or Zhang Chai Lao as his Tong masters know him – consorting with unsavoury criminals, and would certainly not be considering reviving her scandalous out-of-hours relationship with him. All such frivolous thoughts vanish, however, when the diners vacate the restaurant and stumble upon a severed head: a warning that the ruling factions are about to go to war again in Chinatown. As usual, white police are utterly ineffectual against the closed ranks of the enclave…

Later at a swanky charity soiree to raise money for a school, Dian meets Jimmy again and agrees to a meeting. At the same shindig she later sees Wesley, and in the course of their small talk, Dodds reveals that he recognises Shan from somewhere.

…And in Chinatown, another beheading leads to greater tension between the Lee Feng and Hou Yibai Societies. When an enigmatic gas-masked stranger starts asking unavoidable questions, he finds both Tongs denying all knowledge of the killings…

As the grisly murder-toll mounts, The Sandman’s investigations lead to one inescapable conclusion: a third party is responsible. But who, and why? Before this drama closes, Dian will learn more hard truths about the world and the money-men who secretly run it…

Issues #9-12 (December 1993-March 1994) are illustrated by R.G. Taylor, plumbing the darkest depths of human depravity in the tale of ‘The Brute’. The friendship of Dian and Wesley slowly deepens and life seems less fraught in the city, but that ends as a hulking degenerate stalks the back-alleys, killing and brutalising prostitutes and their clients…

Dodds is also on the mind of boxing promoter and businessman Arthur Reisling who’s looking for a fresh financial partner in his global exploitations. The effete-seeming scholar is hard to convince, though, unlike Eddie Ramsey. He’s a poverty-stricken pugilist and single parent desperate to make enough money to pay for his daughter Emily’s TB medicine. Riesling’s offer to him is just as scurrilous but the broken-down pug doesn’t have the luxury of saying “no”…

Eventually, with Dian in tow, Wesley accepts a party invitation from the speculator and meets his dynasty of worthless, over-privileged children. None of them seem right or well-adjusted. Later, when Eddie tries to come clean by informing the authorities of Riesling’s illegal fight events, he’s attacked by the promoter’s thugs and saved by The Sandman – at least until the colossal mystery killer attacks them both and they’re forced to flee for their lives…

As Dodds returns home to recuperate, the punishing dreams escalate to mind-rending intensity. Eddie, meanwhile, is left with no safe option and takes to the streets with Emily. His decision will lead to revolting horror, total tragedy and utter heartbreak.

The Sandman returns to his covert surveillance, silently unearthing the depths of Reisling’s underworld activities and coincidentally exposing a turbulent, dysfunctional atmosphere in the magnate’s home life to match his criminal activities. In this house, corruption of every kind runs deep and wide, and the masked avenger decides it’s time to bring his findings to Dian’s father. This time, District Attorney Belmont is prepared to listen and to act…

As murders mount and Dodds’ dreams escalate in intensity, the strands of a bloody tapestry knot together and the appalling secret of the bestial killer’s connection to Reisling is exposed; only a detonation of expiating violence can restore order…

Stark, compelling and ferociously absorbing, these bleak thrillers depict a cruel but incisive assessment of good and evil no devotee of dark drama should miss, with the period perils accompanied by a gallery of the series’ original, groundbreaking comic book photo-covers and posters by Gavin Wilson, plus later collection covers and related art from Matt Wagner, Alex Toth and Kent Wilson.
© 1993, 1994, 1995, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Legends of the DC Universe Carmine Infantino


By Carmine Infantino, with Arthur Peddy, Alex Toth, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia, Frank McLaughlin, Joe Kubert, Bernard Sachs, John Giunta, Sy Barry, George Roussos, John Celardo, Dave Hunt, Tony DeZuñiga, Joe Orlando, Klaus Janson, Carl Gafford & Linda Kachelhofer: written by Gardner F. Fox, Robert Kanigher, John Broome, Joseph Greene, Arnold Drake, Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Cary Bates & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-6054-9091-5 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Shining Star Remembered… 10/10

Born on May 24th 1925, Carmine Michael Infantino was one of the greatest comic artists America ever produced: a multi award-winning innovator there when comic books were born, he reshaped the industry in the Silver Age and was still making fans when he died in 2013.

As an artist he co-created among others Black Canary, Detective Chimp, King Faraday, Pow-Wow Smith, the Silver Age Flash, Elongated Man, Strange Sports Stories, Deadman, Batgirl and The Human Target whilst placing his unique stamp on characters such as Adam Strange and Batman. Infantino worked for many companies, and at Marvel ushered in a new age by illustrating the licensed Star Wars comic whilst working on titles and characters such as The Avengers, Daredevil, Ms. Marvel, Nova, Star-Lord and Spider-Woman. His work on two separate iterations of Batman newspaper strips is fondly remembered and whilst acting as Art Director and Publisher of National DC, Infantino oversaw the most critically acclaimed period in the company’s history, overseeing the “relevancy” era and poaching Jack Kirby from Marvel to create the Fourth World, Kamandi, The Demon, OMAC and more…

Very much – and repeatedly – the right man at the right time and place, Infantino shaped American comics history in a manner only Kirby ever equalled, and this long overdue bumper compendium barely touches all his contributions to DC’s history. Hopefully we’ll be seeing a few more in future…

After appreciative and informative Introduction ‘Carmine the Icon’ by author/ historian J. David Spurlock, this small sampling from decades of triumphs opens with hard-hitting social commentary as ‘The Plight of a Nation’ details how the Justice Society of America (The Flash, Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite, The Atom and Black Canary) hunt a gang of thieving hoodlums whilst tackling the true threat – how charismatic hoods like the Crimson Claw Gang have become insidious role models for youngsters…

Scripted by John Broome, and limned in collaboration with Arthur Peddy, Alex Toth & Bernard Sachs, the saga from All-Star Comics #40 (April/May 1948) tackled head-on the glamour of crime, goad of poverty and contemporary obsession with “juvenile delinquency” but still offered spectacular action and drama to sweeten the harsh message…

Black Canary was one of the first of the pitifully few female heroes to hold a star spot in the DC Universe – or indeed any comics before 1980s. She followed Wonder Woman, Liberty Belle, antihero Harlequin and Red Tornado (who masqueraded as a man to comedically crush crime – with a couple of kids in tow, too!). The Canary predated Merry, the Gimmick Girl – remember her? No, you don’t – and disappeared with the majority of costumed crusaders at the end of the Golden Age: a situation that was not remedied until her revival with the Justice Society of America in 1963.

Created by Robert Kanigher & Infantino in 1947, the Canary echoed worldly, dangerous women cropping up in crime novels and Film Noir movies better suited to the more cynical Americans who had endured a World War and were even then gearing up for a paranoiac Cold one. Clad in a revealing bolero jacket, shorts, fishnet stockings and high-heeled pirate boots, the devastating shady lady – who looked like Veronica Lake – began life as a thief…

In the desperate days of post-war uncertainty, continuity was negligible and nobody cared much about origins. All that mattered was pace, plot, action and spectacle. Flash Comics #86 (August 1947) was just another superhero anthology publication, suffering a slow sales decline wherein perennial B-feature Johnny Thunder had long since passed his sell-by date. Although a member of the Justice Society of America, Johnny was an old-fashioned comedy idiot; a true simpleton who just happened to control a lightning-shaped genie – Thunderbolt.

His affable, good-hearted bumbling had carried him through the war, but changing fashions had no room for a hapless (adult) hero anymore. In the tale presented here, when he meets a seductively masked female Robin Hood who stole from crooks, the writing was on the wall. In debut yarn inked by Joe Giella, ‘The Black Canary’ tricks him and T-Bolt into acquiring an invitation to a crime-lord’s party, where she lifts the ill-gotten loot and leaves Johnny to mop up the hoods. It was lust at first sight and the beginning of a legend…

In the same issue Infantino allowed his wacky sense of humour full expression in another tale of The Ghost Patrol – three French Foreign Legion aviators who were killed in the early days of WWII but somehow stuck around to fight Nazis and other evils. Scripted by John Wentworth ‘The Case of the Extra Ghost!’ finds ectoplasmic trio Fred, Pedro and Slim in post-war America investigating a haunted house and scuppering a scheme to defraud its latest inheritor…

Flash Comics #90 (December 1947, written by Kanigher & inked by Joe Giella) featured a sporty tale for lead hero The Flash to shine in. Scientist Jay Garrick was exposed to fumes of “Hard Water” to become the first “Fastest Man Alive” – one of the Golden Age’s leading stars. In this instance he uses his gift to save a baseball team from defeat and their mangers from death by despair by filling ‘Nine Empty Uniforms!’ after which fellow superstar Green Lantern/Alan Scott solo stars in Kanigher-scribed tale ‘The Unmasking of the Harlequin!’ (All-American Comics #95, March 1948) wherein the Emerald Gladiator again clashes with the mesmerising super thief when mysterious imitators frame them both for vicious crimes…

Tiny Titan and eternal apparent underdog The Atom was solid B-Feature throughout the Golden Age and here – courtesy of Infantino and writer Joseph Greene – solves the ‘Mystery of the Midway Tunnel!’ (Comic Cavalcade #28, August/September 1948) as college student Al Pratt resorts to his masked persona when his professor – a former GI turned civil engineer – finds his dream project is being sabotaged by gangsters.

Times were changing and superheroes vanishing as the forties closed and new times called for fresh ideas. Created by Kanigher & Bob Oksner, Lady Danger appeared in Sensation Comics#84-93: determined, safety-averse crime reporter Valerie Vaughn who regularly risked life and limb in pursuit of a scoop. Infantino and an unknown author produced another gripping tale for #87 (cover-dated March 1949), uncovering skulduggery at a charity bazaar whilst looking for ‘The Needle in the Haystack!’

Crime comics were not the only beneficiary of the decline of Mystery Men. Science fiction also enjoyed renewed public popularity and DC responded with two themed anthologies: Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space. Each combined stand-alone tales of fantastic imagination with continuing character features such as Captain Comet or – as here – Future Paladins The Knights of the Galaxy. Scripted by Kanigher as “Dion Anthony” and inked by Frank Giacoia, Joe Giella & John Giunta, Mystery in Space #3 (August/September 1951) led with ‘Duel of the Planets!’ as Round Table champion Lyle finds his comrades divided over Mercurian member Millo when the first planet declares war on the rest of the galaxy…

The biggest trend of the era was Romance Comics as almost every publisher jumped on the bandwagon created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby in 1947. Amongst National/DC’s tranche of tearjerkers was Secret Hearts and in #8 (February/March 1952) Infantino (& Giacoia) limned a case study of Ann Martin, counsellor for Romance, Inc. Anonymously scripted, ‘Condemned Love!’ details how a client responds to learning her current beau is married…

Infantino regularly claimed his favourite character was not human but an hirsute anthropoid crimebuster. In The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #4 (July/August 1952) readers were first invited to ‘Meet Detective Chimp!’ in charming comedy thriller by Broome and inked by Giacoia. The first outing of seminal comics lunacy saw Oscaloosa, Florida sheriff Chase solve a murder at the Thorpe Animal Farm with the help of Bobo and consequently adopt and deputise the super-smart simian. Bobo was assistant sheriff right up until the final issue (#46, November 1959) and has enjoyed new fame in the 21st century when a new generation of creators and fans rediscovered him.

Despite years when superheroes all but vanished America’s comic book industry never really stopped trying to revive the genre. When Showcase #4 was released in 1956 it was on the back of two successful DC launches: Captain Comet (December 1953-October 1955) and Manhunter from Mars (November 1955 until the end of the 1960’s and almost the end of superheroes again!) What made the new Fastest Man Alive stand out and stick was style!

Cover-dated September/October 1956, the epochal issue was released in late summer and from it stems all today’s print, animation, games, collector cards, cos-play, TV and movie wonderment.

Once DC’s powers-that-be decided to try superheroes once more, they too moved pretty fast. Editor Julie Schwartz asked office partner, fellow editor and Golden Age Flash scripter Kanigher to recreate a speedster for the Space Age: aided and abetted by Infantino & Joe Kubert, who had also worked on the Jay Garrick incarnation.

The new Flash was Barry Allen, a forensic scientist simultaneously struck by lightning and bathed in exploding chemicals from his lab. Supercharged by the accident, Barry took his superhero identity from a comic book featuring his childhood favourite. Now a major talent rapidly approaching his artistic and creative peak Infantino designed a sleek, streamlined bodysuit, as Barry Allen became point man for the spectacular revival of a genre and an entire industry.

Scripted by Kanigher & inked by Kubert, ‘Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!’ sees Barry endure his electrical metamorphosis and promptly go on to subdue bizarre criminal mastermind and “Slowest Man Alive” Turtle Man, after which ‘The Man Who Broke the Time Barrier!’ – scripted by Broome – sees the Scarlet Speedster battling a criminal from the future: ultimately returning penal exile Mazdan to his own century, and proving the new Flash was a protagonist of keen insight and sharp wits as well as overwhelming power.

The return of costumed heroes was cautious and gradual and Infantino continued drawing his regular fare extraordinarily well. For Western Comics #73 (January/February 1959) he illustrated “Indian Lawman” Pow-Wow Smith with this example – ‘The Return of the Fadeaway Outlaw!’ scripted by Gardner Fox, with Sioux sleuth Ohiyesa again outwitting a bandit who specialises in astounding escapes…

Inevitably the superhero boom dominated comic books with the Scarlet Speedster in the vanguard of the revolution. A new star was born in The Flash #112 (April/May 1961 by Broome, Infantino & Giella) as ‘The Mystery of the Elongated Man’ introduced an intriguing super-stretchable newcomer to the DC universe, who might have been hero or villain in a beguiling tantaliser. The continuing adventures of the Scarlet Speedster were the bedrock of the Silver Age Revolution, with key writers Broome and Fox setting an unbelievably high standard for superhero adventure in sharp, witty tales of technology and imagination, illustrated with captivating style and clean simplicity by Infantino.

Fox didn’t write many Flash scripts at this time, but the few he did were all dynamite; none more so than the full-length epic which changed the scope of US comics forever. ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ (Flash #123, September 1961 and inked by Giella) introduced the concept of alternate Earths to the continuity which grew by careful extension into a multiversal structure comprising Infinite Earths. Once established as a cornerstone of a newly integrated DCU through a wealth of team-ups and escalating succession of cosmos-shaking crossover sagas, a glorious pattern was set which would, after joyous decades, eventually culminate in the spectacular awe-inspiring Crisis on Infinite Earths

During a benefit gig, Flash accidentally slips into another dimension where he finds the comic book hero upon whom he based his own superhero identity actually exists. Every ripping yarn he’d avidly absorbed as an eager child was grim reality to Jay Garrick and his comrades on the controversially designated “Earth-Two”. Locating his idol, Barry convinces the elder to come out of retirement just as three old foes make their own comebacks.

It was a time when anything was worth a punt, and Schwartz’s dream team indulged in in a truly bizarre experiment combining tried-&-tested science fiction tropes with America’s greatest obsession. Try-out title The Brave and the Bold dedicated five issues (#45-49) to testing the merits of Strange Sports Stories and here #49 (August/September 1963) sees a unique conquest by stealth as ‘Gorilla Wonders of The Diamond!’ sees an all-anthropoid team play baseball with a hidden agenda in a captivating coup by Fox, with Infantino producing some of his most innovative drawing for Giella to ink.

By the end of 1963, Julius Schwartz had spectacularly revived much of DC’s line – and the entire industry – with his modernisation of the superhero, and was then asked to work his magic with the creatively stalled and nigh-moribund Caped Crusaders. Bringing his usual team of top-notch creators with him, Schwartz stripped down and back to core-concepts, downplaying aliens, outlandish villains and daft transformations to bring a cool modern take on crimebusting. He even oversaw a streamlining and rationalisation of the art style itself.

The most apparent innovation was a yellow circle around the Bat-symbol, but far more importantly, the stories also changed. A subtle aura of genuine menace re-entered the comfortable and absurdly abstract world of Gotham City. Infantino was key to the changes that reshaped a legend – but this was while still pencilling The Flash – so, despite generating the majority of covers, Infantino’s interior art was limited to alternate issues of Detective Comics with the lion’s share of narrative handled by Bob Kane’s then-uncredited deputies Sheldon Moldoff, Giella, Chic Stone & others, plus occasional guest artists like Gil Kane…

Infantino’s part in the storytelling revolution began with Detective #327 – written by Broome and inked by Giella at the peak of their own creative powers. ‘The Mystery of the Menacing Mask!’ is a cunning “Howdunnit?”, long on action and moody peril, as discovery of a criminal “underground railroad” leads Gotham Gangbusters Batman & Robin to a common thug seemingly able to control them with his thoughts…

When Schwartz took editorial control he finally found a place for a character who had been lying mostly fallow ever since his debut and six subsequent walk-ons in The Flash. Designed as a modern take on Golden Age great Plastic Man, The Elongated Man was Ralph Dibny, a circus-performer who discovered an additive in soft drink Gingold which granted certain people increased muscular flexibility. Intrigued, Dibny refined the drink until he had a serum bestowing the ability to stretch, bend and compress his body to an incredible degree.

When the back-up spot opened in Detective (a position held by Martian Manhunter since 1955 and only vacated because J’onn J’onzz was promoted to lead in House of Mystery) Schwartz had Ralph slightly reconfigured as a flamboyant, fame-hungry, brilliantly canny globe-trotting private eye solving mysteries for the sheer fun of it. Aided by his equally smart but thoroughly grounded wife Sue, the vignettes were patterned on classic Thin Man films starring Nick and Norah Charles, blending clever, impossible crimes with slick sleuthing, garnished with outré heroic permutations and frantic physical antics.

The complex yet uncomplicated sorties, drenched in sly dry wit, began in Detective #327 with ‘Ten Miles to Nowhere!’ (by Fox & Infantino, who inked himself in early episodes). Here Ralph, who publicly unmasked to become a celebrity, discovers someone has been stealing his car every night and bringing it back as if nothing had happened. Of course, it must be a criminal plot of some sort…

Almost all of Infantino’s Silver Age stories have been collected somewhere but as he was transitioning to managerial levels he co-created one last landmark character just as DC faced an existential crisis. As the 1960s ended and costs spiralled, the superhero boom became a slow but certain bust, with major stars no longer able to find enough readers to keep them alive. The taste for masks was again diminishing in favour of traditional genres, and one rational editorial response was to reshape costumed characters to fit evolving tastes.

Publishers swiftly changed gears and even staid, cautious DC reacted rapidly: making masked adventurers designed to fit the new landscape. Newly revised and revived costumed features included roving mystic troubleshooter The Phantom Stranger and Golden Age colossus The Spectre. Supernatural themes and horror-tinged plots were shoehorned into the superhero titles that weathered the trend-storm. Arguably, the moment of surrender and change arrived with the creation of Boston Brand in the autumn of 1967, when science fiction anthology Strange Adventures was abruptly retooled as the home of an angry ghost…

Without fanfare or warning, Deadman debuted in #205 with ‘Who Has Been Lying in My Grave?’ by Arnold Drake, Infantino & George Roussos wherein we attend the funeral of high wire acrobat Brand: a rough, tough, jaded performer who had seen everything and masked a decent human heart behind an obnoxious exterior and cynical demeanour. As “Deadman”, he was the star attraction of Hills Circus and lover of its reluctant owner Lorna Carling, as well as a secret guardian for the misfits it employed and sheltered. That makeshift “family” included simple-minded strongman Tiny and Asian mystic Vashnu, but also had some bad apples too… like alcoholic animal trainer Heldrich and chiselling carnival Barker Leary. The aerialist kept them in line… with his fists, whenever necessary…

One fateful night, Brand almost missed his cue because of Leary and Heldrich’s antics but also because he had to stop local cop Ramsey harassing Vashnu. It would have better if he had been late, because as soon as he started his act – 40 feet up and without a net – someone put a rifle slug into his heart…

Despite being dead before he hit the ground, Brand was scared and furious. Nobody could see or hear him screaming, and Vashnu kept babbling on about the chosen of Rama Kushna – “the spirit of the universe”. The hokum all came horribly true as that entity made contact, telling Brand that he would walk among men until he found his killer…

The sentence came with some advantages: he was invisible, untouchable, immune to the laws of physics and able to take possession of the living and drive them like a car. His only clue was that witnesses in the audience claimed that a man with a hook had shot him…

Outraged, still disbelieving and seemingly stuck forever in the ghastly make-up and outfit of his performing persona, Deadman’s first posthumous act is to possess Tiny and check out the key suspects. Soon the dormant Hercules finds that the cop and Heydrich are involved in a criminal conspiracy, but they definitely are not Brand’s murderers…

Eventually Infantino returned to his drawing board – primarily for Marvel – but returned to DC in the 80s. The House of Mystery #296 (September 1981) shows his mastery of horror themes and short stories in ‘Night Women’: written by Gerry Conway, with John Celardo inking and Carl Gafford colouring, but the move was primarily to draw The Flash again (from 1981 with #296), but here we see a lesser known yarn from DC Comics Presents #73 (September 1984) teaming the Vizier of Velocity with Superman in ‘Rampage in Scarlet’. Written by Cary Bates, with Dave Hunt inking and Gafford on hues, it sees the heroes unite to save an alien civilisation from an army of Phantom Zone villains, after which Secret Origins #17 (August 1987) reprises ‘The Secret Origin of Adam Strange’, with Conway, Tony DeZuñiga & Joe Orlando joining Infantino in revisiting the artist’s other signature Silver Age star.

This book closes with a complete miniseries similarly reviving one of Infantino’s lost 1950’s triumphs. King Faraday debuted in Danger Trail #1 (July 1950): a two-fisted globe-trotting US spy co created by Kanigher & Infantino. The book was cancelled with the fifth issue and one last tale was published in Worlds Finest Comics #64 (May/June 1953). An attempt to revive The Intercontinental Operative failed in early 1964 when reprints of his adventures appeared in Showcase #50-51 under the code title I… Spy! King eventually joined the integrated DCU in 1979 as a guest in Batman #313, scripted by Len Wein.

In 1993 the writer gave the spy a second shot in a 4-issue miniseries spanning cover-dates April to July, inked by Frank McLaughlin & coloured by Linda Kachelhofer. Danger Trail (volume 2) #1-4 comprises ‘The Serpent in the Garden File’ as the aging agent chases a mystery schemer around the world in ‘Chapter One: On the Road Again!’, drops a growing pile of bodies in ‘Chapter Two: Hot Pursuit!’ and discovers his quarry is not the usual ideological adversary and that no friend can be trusted in ‘Chapter Three: Coiled to Strike’.

With the world at stake, Faraday – and notional ally Sarge Steel – at last confront the pitiless hidden enemy in ‘Chapter Four: Into the Snake Pit’ and barely save the day again…

Although the book features every pertinent cover by Infantino, the comic delights conclude with a stellar ‘Cover Gallery’ of graphic glories inked by Giacoia, Giunta, Giella, Drake, Roussos & Orlando plus a brief biography.

These tales are pure comics gold: must-not-miss material any fan would be crazy to miss.
© 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1993, 2023 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Crisis on Multiple Earths Book 3: Countdown to Crisis


By Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Kurt Busiek, George Pérez, Marv Wolfman, Dick Dillin, Don Heck, Adrian Gonzales, Chuck Patton, Keith Pollard, Rich Buckler, Alan Kupperberg, Jerry Ordway & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-2176-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Unmissable Family Get-togethers… 9/10

As I’ve incessantly mentioned, I was a “Baby Boomer” raised on Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox and John Broome’s gradual reintroduction of Golden Age superheroes during the halcyon, eternal summery days of the early 1960s. To me, those fascinating counterpart crusaders from Earth-Two weren’t vaguely distant memories rubber-stamped by parents or older brothers – they were cool, fascinating and enigmatically new. And for some reason the “proper” heroes of Earth-One held them in high regard and treated them with obvious deference…

The transcendent wonderment began in The Flash: pioneering trendsetter of the Silver Age Comics Revolution. Showcase Editor Julie Schwartz ushered in a new age with his landmark successes – which also included Adam Strange, Green Lantern, The Atom and (in The Brave and the Bold) Hawkman – directly leading to the invention of the Justice League. That in turn inspired the Fantastic Four and Marvel’s entire empire – changing forever the way comics were made and read…

Whereas the 1940s were about magic and macho, the Silver Age polished everything with a thick veneer of SCIENCE and a wave of implausibly rationalistic concepts which filtered into the dawning mass-consciousness of my generation. The most intriguing and ultimately rewarding was, of course, the notion of parallel worlds. After triumphantly ushering in the return of superheroes, the Scarlet Speedster – with Fox & Broome writing – set an unbelievably high standard for costumed adventure in sharp, witty tales of science and imagination, illustrated with captivating style and refined simplicity by Carmine Infantino.

The epochal epic that changed American comics forever was Fox’s ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ (Flash #123 September 1961, reprinted in many places, but not here): introducing to an emerging continuity the concept of alternate Earths and, the multiversal structure of the future DCU, as well as all successive cosmos-shaking yearly Crises sagas that grew from it.

… And again, where DC led, others followed…

Received with tumultuous acclaim, the notion was revisited in Flash #129 which teasingly reintroduced evergreen stalwarts – Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Green Lantern, The Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite and Black Canary: venerable members of the Justice Society of America. Clearly Editor Schwartz had something in mind…

The tale led to the elder team’s first meeting with the Justice League of America and start of an annual tradition. When ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ brought us the notion of Infinite Earths and alternate iterations of costumed crusaders, fans began agitating for the return of the Greats of the Golden Age. Editorial powers-that-be were hesitant, fearing too many heroes would be silly and unmanageable, or worse yet, put readers off. If they could see us now…

These innovative adventures generated an avalanche of popular and critical approval (big sales figures, too) so inevitably the trans-dimensional tests led to the ultimate team-up in the summer of 1963. Once DC’s Silver Age heroes began regularly meeting their Golden Age predecessors from “Earth-Two”, a yearly tradition commenced and every summer (ish) the JLA would team-up with the JSA to combat a trans-dimensional threat. This gloriously enthralling volume celebrating Infinite Diversity in Infinite Costumes gathers the last combinations and summer double-headers starring the JLA & JSA and includes another outreach team-up designed to set young hearts racing and pulses pounding.

Encompassing October 1979 – November 1984, Justice League of America #171-172, 183-185, 195-197, 207-209, 219-220, 231-232, All-Star Squadron #14-15 and DC Comics Presents Annual #1 cover a transitional period as DC prepared for its 50th anniversary by planning to destroy everything they had built in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The collection opens with a locked-room mystery by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin as ‘The Murderer Among Us: Crisis Above Earth One!’ sees the League feting the Society in their satellite HQ and horrified to find one of their veteran guests throttled by unseen hands.

With no possible egress or exit, the greatest detectives of two worlds realise one of their heroic complement must be the cold-blooded killer and a methodical elimination of suspects leads to tense explorations and explosive repercussions in the revelatory finale ‘I Accuse…’

With the next summer’s team-up an artistic era ended as criminally underappreciated illustrator Dick Dillin passed away whilst drawing the saga. He and McLaughlin only completed Conway’s first chapter – ‘Crisis on New Genesis or, Where Have All the New Gods Gone?’ – leaving up-and-coming star George Pérez to fill some very big boots (and gloves and capes and…).

An epic confrontation between JLA, JSA and futuristic deities of Jack Kirby’s astounding Fourth World in #183-185 (October-December 1980) begins with the assembled heroes unilaterally shanghaied out of the regular universe and transported to transdimensional paradise planet New Genesis. That world is utterly deserted but for a furiously deranged warrior Orion who seems set on crushing them all. Happily, he is stopped by late-arriving Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Oberon and Metron who reveal their fellow gods have been captured and sent to hell-world Apokolips by three Earth-2 villains. The world has been in turmoil since Orion killed evil overlord Darkseid. In the interim the vanquished devil’s spirit travelled to Earth-Two and recruited The Shade, Icicle and Fiddler to resurrect him…

Details are reviewed in ‘Crisis Between Two Earths or, Apokolips Now!’ (Conway, Pérez & McLaughlin) as – freshly restored – Darkseid strives to make his still-tenuous existence permanent. In response, the heroes split up to stop him by hitting key components of his technology and support teams. En route they encounter a resistance movement of battle-scarred super-powered toddlers, the horrific reason New Genesisians were initially taken and even how Darkseid plans to invade the natural universe by cataclysmically warping Apokolips into the space currently occupied by Earth-Two…

The diabolical denouement reveals a ‘Crisis on Apokolips or, Darkseid Rising!’, as the scattered champions reunite to stop imminent catastrophe and set the worlds to rights in an explosive clash with no true resolution. Such is the nature of undying evil…

Issues #195-197 (October-December 1981, edited by Len Wein) offered action and intrigue in ‘Targets on Two Worlds’ (Conway, Pérez & John Beatty), as Earth-Two’s premiere mad scientist and serial body-snatcher The Ultra-Humanite gathers a coterie of villains from his own world and Earth-One into a new incarnation of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

The wily supergenius has divined that by removing five specific Leaguers and JSA-ers from their worlds he can achieve an alteration of the Cosmic Alignment and create a world utterly devoid of all superheroes. Selling the plan to his suspicious pawns Monocle, Psycho Pirate, Brain Wave, Rag Doll, The Mist, Cheetah, Signalman, Killer Frost and Floronic Man is relatively easy. They can see the advantages and have no idea the duplicitous savant is playing them for his own ultimate advantage…

Inked by Romeo Tanghal, the plan successfully concludes in ‘Countdown to Crisis!’ as Earth-One’s Batman, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Firestorm and Atom are ambushed with their other-world guests Flash/Jay Garrick, Hourman, Hawkman, Superman and Johnny Thunder. Despatched to an inter-dimensional void, they learn the longed-for Realignment results in a hero-free planet as the triumphant miscreants quickly fall out. Similarly banished, Earth-One’s villains spitefully retaliate by freeing the lost heroes from a ‘Crisis in Limbo!’ (illustrated by Keith Pollard, Pérez & Tanghal) and join them in crushing the Ultra-Humanite to restore the previous status quo…

DC Comics Presents Annual #1 (September 1982) then adds another crucial component of Crisis on Infinite Earths, as Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler & Dave Hunt reintroduce the world where good and evil are transposed. ‘Crisis on Three Earths!’ sees the Supermen of Earths One & Two again thrash their respective nemeses Lex and Alexei Luthor only to have the villains flee to another universe…

In Case You Were Wondering: soon after the Silver Age brought back an army of costumed heroes, ‘Crisis on Earth-One’ (Justice League of America #21, August 1963) and ‘Crisis on Earth-Two’ (in #22) became one of the most important stories in DC history and arguably one of the most important tales in American comics. Sequel saga ‘Crisis on Earth-Three’ & ‘The Most Dangerous Earth of All!’ (JLA#29-30) reprised the team-up thrills after the super-beings of yet another alternate Earth discovered the secret of multiversal travel.

Unfortunately, Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring were super-criminals The Crime Syndicate of Amerika on a world without heroes. They see the JLA and JSA as living practise dummies to sharpen their evil skills upon…

Back at the DCCP Annual, the Luthors land on Earth-3 and begin transdimensional attacks on their archenemies: even tentatively affiliating with Ultraman whilst treacherously planning to destroy all three Earths…

This potential cosmic catastrophe prompts the brilliant and noble Alex Luthor of Earth-Three to abandon his laboratory, turn himself into his world’s very first superhero and join the hard-pressed Supermen in saving humanity three times over…

That same year later – specifically October-December 1982 – the annual scenario expanded into a sprawling multi-title extravaganza: a team-up and chronal crossover encompassing Justice League of America #207-209 and WWII set All-Star Squadron #14-15. Played out across alternate universes and divergent histories, the drama commenced in Justice League #207 as ‘Crisis Times Three!’ (Conway, Don Heck & Tanghal) sees members of the JSA diverted from a trans-dimensional exchange and rendezvous with the JLA.

They are deposited on a terrifying post-apocalyptic alternate Earth where 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis resulted in atomic war, whilst the JLA are smashed by the unexpected arrival of their evil counterparts the Crime Syndicate of Earth-Three. As the lost JSAers explore a nuclear nightmare, the story unfolds and an old enemy is exposed. This Earth was devastated due to the intervention of malign time-meddler Per Degaton

Having barely survived the attack of the Syndicators, a team of Justice Leaguers – Superman, Zatanna, Firestorm, Hawkman and Aquaman – jump to Earth-Two and discovers a fascistic society which has been ruled by Degaton since the 1940s. Barely escaping, they then plunge back down that timeline to January 1942 to solve the mystery and stumble upon the JSA’s wartime branch: the All-Star Squadron

After the creation of Superman and the very concept of Superheroes, arguably the next most groundbreaking idea for comic books was to stick a bunch of individual stars into a team. Thus when anthology title All Star Comics #3 revealed its previously solo line-up interacting as a comradely group, the very nature of the genre took a huge leap in evolution.

The Justice Society of America inspired innumerable similar iterations over decades but for many of us tragically nostalgia-paralysed fans, the original and genuine pioneers have always been Simply the Best.

Possibly their greatest living fan, advocate and perpetuator is writer, editor and historian Roy Thomas who has long championed – when not actually steering – their revivals and continued crusades against crime, tyranny and injustice. When he moved from Marvel to DC in the early 1980s, Thomas created Arak, Son of Thunder and Captain Carrot, wrote Batman and Wonder Woman and inevitably revived the world’s original Super-Team. Moreover, he somehow convinced DC’s powers-that-be to put them back where they truly belonged – battling for freedom and democracy in the white-hot crucible of World War II. The All-Star Squadron was comprised of minor characters owed by DC/National and All American Comics, retroactively devised as an adjunct to the main team and indulging in “untold tales” of the War period…

The action resumes in All-Star Squadron #14, courtesy of writer Thomas and illustrators Adrian Gonzales & Jerry Ordway. In ‘The Mystery Men of October!’ they are an unknown quantity to the recently arrived Leaguers in search of Degaton. Their arrival coincides with the rogue recovering his erased memories, stealing his boss’s time machine (long story: buy the book for the full details) and heading into the time stream where he encounters and liberates the Crime Sydicators from an energy-prison the heroes had created for them…

Joining forces, the murderous monsters foray forward and across the realities. Arriving in a 1962 and stealing nuclear missiles Russia had stockpiled in Cuba, they precipitate a clash of wills between President John F. Kennedy, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro triggering atomic Armageddon. Sadly, none of this is known to the JLA or All-Stars in 1942 who see costumed strangers and instantly attack…

That battle ends in JLA #208 after Degaton makes his ultimatum known: America and the world’s total surrender or successive detonation of dozens of atomic super explosives in many nations. Happily the heroes of two eras are ready to stifle ‘The Bomb-Blast Heard ‘Round the World’ (Conway, Heck & Sal Trapani) and deploy accordingly. They are soon joined by JSA comrades from 1982 who have escaped their dystopian dungeon dimension and headed back 40 years for the beginning of the end in A-SS #15’s all-action clash of titans ‘Masters of Worlds and Time!’ (Thomas, Gonzales & Ordway).

The senses-shattering conclusion comes in JLA #209 with Conway & Heck detailing the cautious restoration of all consensus realities in ‘Should Old Acquaintances Be Forgot…’

Thomas joined Conway scripting the penultimate pairing (JLA #219-220 October to November) with Chuck Patton, Tanghal & Pablo Marcos illustrating ‘Crisis in the Thunderbolt Dimension!’ and ‘The Doppelgänger Gambit!’

Here an attack on Earth-One by a coterie of villains from both worlds begins with the magical Thunderbolt of retired JSA stalwart Johnny Thunder inexplicably ambushing the Justice League’s biggest guns. With the heroes in comas, The Wizard, Fiddler, Felix Faust, The Icicle, Chronos and Dr. Alchemy plunder the planet as the remaining costumed champions uncover a shocking secret about Earth-Two émigré Black Canary and clash with a long-forgotten foe who can also control the electrical genie who exposes an awful secret and the hidden history of the JSA… before the good guys and – late addition Sargon the Sorcerer – lower the boom again…

The end of the tradition came one year later as Kurt Busiek, Alan Kupperberg & Buckler debuted a quarrelsome clan whose ‘Family Crisis!’ had cosmic repercussions. Spanning #231 & 232 it begins when Dr. Joshua Champion inadvertently opens the doors of reality and allows a marauding force to enter and endanger all existence. Altered by the exchange, Champion’s children enlist the aid of the JLA and JSA to resist and repel the ghastly Commander on all ‘Battlegrounds!’ imaginable…

Guest-starring Supergirl, the nuanced saga saw realities topple and reborn, as an appearance of The Monitor and his future Harbinger presaged bigger surprises in store…

With previous collection art, covers by Dillin, Dick Giordano, Jim Starlin, Bob Smith, Pérez, Mike DeCarlo, Buckler, Joe Kubert and Patton, plus full biographies of creators, this is a nostalgic delight for all who love superheroes and villains, crave carefully constructed modern mythologies and adore indulgently fantastic adventure, great causes and momentous victories: captivating Costumed Dramas no lover of Fights ‘n’ Tights fun could possibly resist.
© 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2023 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

DC Pride 2021


By Vita Ayala, Sina Grace, Sam Johns, Danny Lore, Nicole Maines, Steve Orlando, Andrea Shea, Mariko Tamika, James Tynion IV, Andrew Wheeler, Stephen Byrne, Elena Casagrande, Klaus Janson, Nic Klein, Trung Le Nguyen, Amancay Nahuelpan, Slylar Patridge, Amy Reeder, Ro Stein & Ted Brandt, Lisa Sterle, Rachael Stott, Luciano Vecchio & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-88456-804-6 (HB/Digital edition)

Since the 1960s and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement, comics have always been at the forefront of the battle for equality. Maybe more so in terms of racial issues at the start and not so much on gender disparity or sexual complexity, but now most print and screen superheroes work towards greater diversity and inclusion. The most noticeable strides and breakthroughs have come from industry leaders DC and Marvel, but maybe it’s just that more is expected of them…

In 2021, the former celebrated accumulated personal freedoms by collecting one-shot DC Pride #1 and select material from similarly-themed specials New Years Evil #1, Mysteries of Love in Space #1 and Young Monsters in Love #1 (cumulatively spanning 2018-2021), celebrating the infinite variety of interpersonal relationships focusing on LGBTQIA+ characters in the DC catalogue as interpreted by creators equally all-embracing.

The compilation – variously lettered by Aditya Bidikar, Josh Reed, Arian Maher, Becca Carey, Steve Wands, Tom Napolitano and Dave Sharpe – opens with a fulsome Foreword from Out & Proud bestselling author and comics scribe Mark Andreyko before we plunge into assorted antics…

James Tynion IV & Trung Le Nguyen begin the festivities with ‘The Wrong Side of the Looking Glass’ as Batwoman Kate Kane confronts memories of her twin sister/deranged arch nemesis Alice and how her enforced solitude after Beth Kane seemingly died may have affected her own life path, after which John Constantine meets magician Extraño in a pub and starts chatting. Gregorio de la Vega was officially DC’s first openly gay super-character, debuting in weekly megaseries Millennium #2 (January 1988) and latterly as a member of The New Guardians. For ‘Time in a Bottle’ creators Steve Orlando & Stephen Byrne pit him in a tall tale contest co-starring Midnighter and featuring queer Nazi vampire cultist Count Berlin

Vita Ayala, Skylar Patridge and colourist José Villarrubia then set lesbian cop Renee Montoya and her alter ego The Question on the trail of a missing politician in ‘Try the Girl’ whilst Mariko Tamaki, Amy Reeder & Marissa Louise have Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy spectacularly and near-lethally address their unique relationship problems in ‘Another Word for a Truck to Move Your Furniture’.

After being in the closet since the 1930s, original Green Lantern Alan Scott shares the story of his first love with openly out son Todd AKA Obsidian. As related by Sam Johns, Klaus Janson & colourist Dave McCaig, ‘He’s the Light of My Life!’ is a sweet romantic interlude balanced by ‘Clothes Makeup Gift’ – by Danny Lore, Lisa Sterle & Enrica Angiolini – a female wherein future Flash multitasks prepping for a date with a new girlfriend and taking down a Mirror Master knockoff Reflek

The Flash connection continues with reformed Rogue Pied Piper foiling and then mentoring social activist outlaw Drummer Boy in wry caper ‘Be Gay, Do Crime’ by Sina Grace, Ro Stein & Ted Brandt before DCTV superhero Dreamer makes their comic book debut in ‘Date Night’, courtesy of Nicole Maines, Rachael Stott and Angiolini.

Arch villains Monsieur Mallah and The Brain prove to gay cop Maggie Sawyer that love truly comes in all forms in Orlando & Nic Klein’s moving confrontation ‘Visibility’ after which Lobo’s troubled, long-abandoned daughter Crush learns some hard truths from the wrong role model in ‘Crushed’ by Andrea Shea and Amancay Nahuelpan Trish Mulvihill…

Harley Quinn offers her particular seasonal felicitations to Renee Montoya and Gotham City in Ayala, Elena Casagrande & Jordie Bellaire’s rendition of ‘Little Christmas Tree’ prior to a host of gay heroes attending a Pride March and forming a team of their own to battle Eclipso in ‘Love Life’ by Andrew Wheeler, Luciano Vecchio & Rez Lokus.

The combination of Aqualad Jackson Hyde, Aerie, Wink, Apollo & Midnighter, Bunker, Tasmanian Devil, The Ray, Shining Knight, Steel/Natasha Irons, Sylvan Ortega, Tremor, Traci 13, Extraño, Batwoman and Crush proved unbeatable and led to them proudly declaring themselves Justice League Queer

This award-winning collection also comes with a cover gallery including 17 variant covers for DC titles during Pride Month and featuring many other out stars, crafted by David Talaski, Brittney Williams, Kevin Wada, Kris Anka, Nick Robles, Sophie Campbell, Travis Moore & Alejandro Sánchez, Jen Bartel, Paulina Ganucheau, Stephen Byrne and Yoshi Yoshitani and closes with a screen-loaded fact feature.

‘DCTV: The Pride Profiles’ offers brief interviews, and Q-&-As of LGBTQ characters in The CW shows – including Batwoman/Ryan Wilder (played by Javicia Leslie), Dreamer (Nicole Maines), White Canary/Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), John Constantine (Matt Ryan), Thunder (Nafessa Williams) and Negative Man (Matt Bomer).

Forthright, fun, thrilling and fabulous, feel free to find and feast on these comics and stories.
© 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

JSA by Geoff Johns Book Two


By Geoff Johns, David S. Goyer, Stephen Sadowski, Michael Bair, Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Phil Winslade, Mike Perkins, Steve Yeowell, Keith Champagne, Buzz, Rags Morales, Dave Meikis, Paul Neary, Rob Leigh, Javier Saltares, Ray Kryssing, Andrew Pepoy & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8154-0 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Pure Perfection for Superhero Connoisseurs… 9/10

After the actual invention of the comic book superhero – for which read the creation of Superman in 1938 – the most significant event in the genre, and indeed industry’s progress, was the combination of individual sales-points into a group. Thus, what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven – a number of popular characters could multiply readership by combining forces and readerships. Plus of course, a whole bunch of superheroes is a lot cooler than just one – or even one and a sidekick.

The Justice Society of America was created in the third issue of All-Star Comics (Winter 1940/1941), an anthology title featuring established characters from various All-American Comics publications, by the simple expedient of having the heroes gather around a table and tell each other their latest adventure. From this low-key collaboration, it wasn’t long before the guys – and they were all white guys (except the original Red Tornado, who only pretended to be one) until Wonder Woman premiered in the eighth issue – regularly joined forces to defeat the greatest villains and social ills of their generation.

Within months the concept had spread far and wide…

And thus, the Justice Society of America is rightly revered as a true landmark in the development of comics and, when Julius Schwartz revived the superhero genre in the late 1950s, a key moment would come with the inevitable teaming of the reconfigured mystery men into a Justice League of America.

From there it wasn’t long until the original and genuine returned. Since then we’ve enjoyed many attempts to formally revive the team’s fortunes but it wasn’t until 1999, on the back of both the highly successful revamping of the JLA by Grant Morrison & Howard Porter and the seminal but critically favoured new Starman by Golden Age devotee James Robinson, that the multi-generational team found a concept and fan-base big enough to support them.

It didn’t hurt that the writers – all with strong Hollywood connections – adored the original concept, but also knew what mass-market action audiences liked. And now that the JSA have cracked the large and small screen markets, my cup – at least – truly runneth over…

Their highly successful revival began as the last survivors of the original team reconvened after losing most of their membership to old age, infirmity or enemy action. Following the death of founding comrade Wesley Dodds/The Sandman, Wildcat, Flash and Green Lantern/Sentinel united with youthful inheritors of the old team’s legacy. These included members’ children and former Infinity Inc members Atom Smasher, Obsidian and Hourman, Dodds’ sidekick Sand, Stargirl (then called Star Spangled Kid), the third Dr. Mid-Nite, Starman and Mister Terrific plus new Hawkgirl Kendra Saunders, Black Canary and Wonder Woman (in actuality, her mother Hippolyta who was an active Nazi crusher during WWII).They all united to rescue three babies; one of which became the next incarnation of magical hero Doctor Fate. Once they were successful most of the squad stuck together to continue the traditions and train a new generation of heroes…

Shortly thereafter, as old guard Flash, Sentinel and Wildcat assumed the role of mentors for both current and future champions, the multi-generational unit was attacked by demented super-human (and current Man of the Moment) Black Adam: a magically empowered superman, who usually harassed agents of do-gooding wizard Shazam!. The bombastic battle served to introduce more very far-reaching plot threads and led to a fearsome clash with a new iteration old enemy outfit the Injustice Society

Officially concentrating on the efforts of Geoff Johns, this second volume re-presents in whole or in part Secret Origins of Super-Villains File 80-Page Giant #1, JSA #16-25, Our Worlds at War #1, JLA/JSA: Secret Files & Origins #1 and JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice: bringing the revered, revived and very legendary Justice Society of America into DC’s modern pantheon and continuing the writer’s campaign to restore and re-induct all the classic stars by resurrecting the biggest name and most visually arresting of the originals – Hawkman.

It begins with a prelude from December 1999’s Secret Origins of Super-Villains File 80-Page Giant #1. Crafted by Johns & Goyer and illustrated by Phil Winslade & Mike Perkins, ‘Sorrow Ever More!’ sees demonically-tainted gang boss Johnny Sorrow break veteran villain Cameron Makent – AKA legacy JSA foe The Icicle – out of super penitentiary The Slab. The lachrymose liberator has connections with the original Icicle and expects the successor to join his war on modern heroes. He also knows an awful lot about the Makent family…

Major storyline Injustice be done opens with ‘Divide and Conquer’ (JSA #16, illustrated by Stephen Sadowski & Michael Bair) wherein an expanded Injustice Society – including Black Adam and in possession of the heroes’ most intimate secrets – ambushes them and fellow Golden Age champion Scarab whilst they’re off guard…

The blitz attack meets with significant success, and in ‘Cold Comfort’ mastermind Johnny Sorrow reveals his plans as the heroes begin their fight back, and we see his horrific origins in ‘Sorrow’s Story’ (with additional art Steve Yeowell), before the World goes to Hell with ‘Into the Labyrinth’ (extra inks by Keith Champagne) and the ghostly Spectre returns to save the day from Sorrow’s patron master The King of Tears.

And spectacularly fails…

The saga concludes in cataclysmic fashion with ‘Godspeed’ as Black Adam and Jakeem “J.J.” Thunder (heir of genie-wielding Johnny Thunder) join the team, but not before first Flash Jay Garrick is lost in time and space…

Compelling as it was, that entire saga was just a set-up for the eponymous ‘Return of Hawkman’ which I’ll get to after this necessary diversion…

One of the oldest and most revered heroes in comics, Hawkman premiered right behind Jay Garrick in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940). He was created by Gardner Fox & Dennis Neville, although the most celebrated artists to have drawn the Winged Wonder are Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Kubert, whilst young Robert Kanigher was justifiably proud of his later run as writer.

Carter Hall was a playboy archaeologist until he found a crystal knife that unlocked his memories. He knew that once he had been Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt, and that he and his lover Shayera had been murdered by High Priest Hath-Set. Moreover, with returned lives came the knowledge that his love and his killer were also nearby.

Using the restored knowledge of his past life, Hall fashioned a costume and flying harness, hunting his past and future murderer as the Hawkman. Inevitably triumphant, he and modern-day amour Shiera Saunders maintained their “Mystery-Man” roles: warring on modern crime and tyranny with weapons of the past.

Lost as the Golden Age ended, they were revived by Julie Schwartz’s crack creative cohort in the early 1960s (specifically Fox, Joe Kubert & Murphy Anderson) and – after a long career involving numerous revamps and retcons – “died” during the Zero Hour crisis.

Now in JSA #21 after the race of his life, lost Jay Garrick awakens in old Egypt: greeted by a pantheon of that era’s super champions. Nabu, the Lord of Order who created Doctor Fate, the original incarnation of Black Adam and Prince Khufu himself reveal the true origins of Hawkman whilst in the 21st century the JLA’s heavenly hero Zauriel informs the modern Hawkgirl just who and what she really is in ‘Guardian Angels’

The epic further unfolds as a major connection to the alien Hawkworld of Thanagar is clarified and explored in ‘Lost Friends’ and as Garrick returns to his home era, Hawkgirl is abducted to Thanagar by its last survivors, desperate to thwart the schemes of the insane death-demon Onimar Synn who has reduced the entire planet to a zombie charnel house.

As the JSA frantically follow their abducted member to distant Polaris in ‘Ascension’ Carter Hall makes his dramatic return from beyond and saves the day in ‘Icarus Fell’, before leading the team to magnificent victory in spectacular conclusion ‘Seven Devils

Illustrated by Buzz, Rags Morales, Sadowski, Bair, David Meikis and Paul Neary, this latest return not only led to Hawkman regaining his own title (more graphic novel magic to review ASAP) but also stands as one of the most cosmic and grand-scaled of all the JSA’s adventures.

The cosmic calamity continued as current DC Crossover Event “Worlds At War” – wherein an alien doomsday device/inimical manifested concept Imperiex almost destroyed the planet and unravelled the universe – tragically impacted the team. JSA: Our Worlds at War #1 saw the embattled planet calling on all its metahuman resources with Society members past, present – 28 in all – and simply affiliated gather as ‘The All-Stars’ (Johns, Javier Saltares & Ray Kryssing). Their mission is to take the war to Imperiex, assaulting its Jupiter-sized base-ship and even American President Lex Luthor is astounded by the result of the raid…

Billy Batson/Captain Marvel makes his troubled debut with the team via an introductory prelude in JLA/JSA: Secret Files & Origins #1 (January 2003). ‘The Day Before’, by Johns, Goyer, Sadowski & Andrew Pepoy, has the teen hero warned by his wizard mentor that an indiscernible threat menaces both teams of heroes. That conference leads directly into the last item on this agenda: JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (February 2003).

Once upon a time the Justice Society was Earth’s premiere super-team: formed to crush oppression and injustice while raising morale during World War II. When the Justice League debuted in 1960, their success led to the reintroduction of the originals – albeit now revealed to have worked on the alternate reality dubbed Earth-Two. After many years of annual team-ups, the heroes of both – and indeed other worlds – were merged in mega event Crisis on Infinite Earths.

A reordered history reduced the JSA to the role of elder statesmen of metahumanity and they became an organisation regularly saving the world whilst mentoring the next generation of superheroes.

Their inspired successors, the Justice League of America were currently the World’s Greatest Superheroes – and have all the characters who until very recently appeared on TV and in cartoons and movies. You now have all the background you need to read this superb Original Graphic Novel.

As they have done for years, the JLA and JSA have gotten together to celebrate Thanksgiving when suddenly alien conqueror Despero attacks them and the entire world by releasing the Seven Deadly Sins. These deadly demons promptly possess Batman, Power Girl, Mister Terrific, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Plastic Man and Captain Marvel (as today’s Shazam! was called back then)…

Can the remaining heroes defeat the Sins without killing their friends, and save humanity from total destruction at the hands of a hidden malign mastermind?

Of course they can; that’s the point. But seldom have they done it in such a spectacularly, well written and beautifully illustrated manner.

Crafted by Johns, Goyer, the much-missed Carlos Pacheco & Jesús Merino, this is the perfect conclusion to this sublime collection: a pure, iconic genre “Fights ‘n’ Tights bravura action romp that hits every target and pushes every button it should. If you love superhero comics, you will treasure this magnificent tale.

Complex and enthralling, these super shenanigans are the very best of their type: filled with wicked villains and shining, triumphant heroes, cosmic disaster and human tragedies, yet always leavening the doom and destruction with optimism and humour. Enticing, thrilling and stuffed with the biggest and best sort of superhero hijinks, if costume drama is your meat, this JSA compilation should be your prey…
© 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2018 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice


By Len Strazewski, John Broome, Paul Levitz, Rick Burchett, Grant Miehm, Mike Parobeck, Tom Artis, Frank McLaughlin, Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy, Bernard Sachs, Joe Staton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0744-0 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Golden Ageist Evergreen Enjoyment… 8/10

Released in 2021 to celebrate their 80th anniversary, here’s yet another DC core concept given fresh wings by a modern movie. If you can find it, this hardback/digital delight is good old fashioned fun and will make a perfect present for you or yours…

After the actual invention of the comic book superhero – the Action Comics debut of Superman in 1938 – the most significant event in the industry’s history was the combination of individual sales-points into a group.

Thus what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: consumers couldn’t get enough of garishly-hued mystery men, and combining many characters inevitably increased readership. Plus, of course, a mob of superheroes is just so much cooler than one – or one-and-a-half if there’s a sidekick involved…

The creation of the Justice Society of America utterly changed the shape of the budding business and – technically – All Star Comics #3 (cover-dated Winter 1940-1941, released in December 1940) was the kick-off. However, in that landmark, the assembled heroes merely had dinner whilst recounting recent cases and didn’t actually go on a mission together until #4 (cover-dated April 1941).

With the simple notion that mighty mystery men hung out together, history was made and it wasn’t long before they started working together…

However, when WWII ended, superheroes gradually declined, and most companies had shelved them by 1950. The plunge in popularity led to a revival in genre-themed titles and characters, and it was a stripped-down team (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Black Canary, Dr. Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman) who battled on in contemporarily tailored crime and science fiction sagas before the title abruptly changed into All Star Western with #58.

It would take a second age of superheroes to revive them, this time as the champions of a parallel universe dubbed Earth Two…

Gathered here is a near-forgotten limited series concerning the latter days of the team’s Golden Age that originally ran in Justice Society of America #1-8 (April to November 1991), augmented by the last tale of the original era as seen in All-Star Comics #57, (February/March 1951), plus a turning point tale from Adventures Comics #466 (December 1979). They are preceded a sparkling, informative and appreciative Foreword by Golden Age aficionado and super scripter Mark Waid.

The miniseries – subtitled Vengeance from the Stars! – that comprises the majority of this tome was scripted by journalist and educator Len Strazewski (Speed Racer, The Flash, Phantom Lady, Starman, The Fly, The Web, Prime, Prototype, Elven) and illustrated by a rotating team of artists, opening as Rick Burchett illustrates ‘Beware the Savage Skies’. Here recently-retired mystery man Ted Knight – AKA Starman – is attacked in his private New Mexico observatory by incredible astral energy beings. Broken and dispirited, he is then enslaved by an old enemy who purloins his wondrous gravity rod before luring Jay (Flash) Garrick into a deathtrap that results in power outages across America…

The plot thickens with ‘The Sack of Gotham’ (art by Grant Miehm) as radio and television executive Alan Scott seeks to keep the lights on in his city whilst Black Canary prowls the darkened streets deterring looters and career criminals. Distracted by a museum break-in, she finds herself punching way, way up as undead monster/moron Solomon Grundy and a gang of determined bandits help themselves to ancient Egyptian artefacts at the behest of a hidden client. By the time Scott arrives as Green Lantern, the Canary has been thrashed and captured, leaving him to battle an animated star constellation dubbed Sagittarius

Burchett inks the astoundingly talented Mike Parobeck in #3’s ‘Dead Air’, as the star thing blacks out Gotham and Scott struggles to stop it. Complications occur when Grundy – afflicted with an obsessive hatred of Green Lantern – forgets the orders from the mystery Machiavelli to attack his emerald enemy. Far away, Ted Knight learns that his gleeful foe intends to conquer Earth by eradicating modern technologies and attitudes and replace them with primordial magic and tyranny…

Tom Artis & Frank McLaughlin limn #4 as ‘Evil of the Ancients’ sees reincarnating Egyptian warrior Hawkman uncovering star-themed neolithic treasures in his day job as archaeologist Carter Hall. These findings expose the history and provenance of the constellation creatures, but also trigger the arrival of another…

Despite aerial valour and the US Army’s best efforts, deadly colossus Andromeda storms off with a clutch of atom bombs and only the sudden arrival of The Flash prevents utter disaster. The clash resumes in ‘Double Star Rising!’ by Parobeck & Burchett, as arcane knowledge and modern tech savvy combine to trace the stellar plunderer and the incredible pyramid of power it is constructing. When the heroes try to destroy it they are confronted with a second energy horror but find a way to defeat both at once, compelling the man behind the plot to finally take a personal hand in the fight…

Far across the country the Lantern and the Canary escape captivity in ‘Danger Flies the Skies’ (Artis & McLaughlin), thanks to some timely aid from valiant sidekick Doiby Dickles, and track west after the museum artefacts in time to reinforce Flash and Hawkman in ‘The Return of the Justice Society’ (art by Miehm & Burchett). Redeemed and reinspired, Knight once more takes up his costumed identity to end the villain’s plot in ‘Battle of the Stars!’

In the heady aftermath, the JSA ponder what the next decade will bring, unaware that political conspiracies, public paranoia and a wave of intolerance masquerading as social conformity was waiting to change the world in ways no one could anticipate…

In continuity terms, this was technically the antepenultimate adventure of the JSA, with the rousing romp slyly heralding mood swings in the heartland of Democracy. It is thus smartly supplemented by the team’s final appearance of the Golden Age (in All-Star Comics #57) and a chilling, thematically-aligned codicil from Adventures Comics #466.

Written by John Broome and illustrated by Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs, All-Star Comics #57 was the JSA’s last hurrah as ‘The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives!’ pitted them against criminal mastermind The Key. When he abducted Earth’s greatest criminologists in advance of a spectacular robbery spree, the superheroes were called in to solve the case and prevent an impending catastrophe. It took a lot of time and effort, but the JSA never fail…

The fallow period and gradual return of the JSA was a major success of fan power in the 1960s, but that decade too ended with superheroes on the wane. During the torrid and turbulent 1970s, many of the comics industry’s oldest publishing ideas were finally laid to rest. The belief that characters could be “over-exposed” was one of the most pernicious and long-lasting (although it never hurt Superman, Batman or the original Captain Marvel), garnered from years of experience in an industry which lived or died on that fractional portion of pennies derived each month from the pocket-money and allowances of children which wasn’t spent on candy, toys or movies.

By the end of the 1960s, comic book costs and retail prices were inexorably rising and a proportion of titles – especially the newly revived horror stories – were consciously being produced for older readerships. Nearly a decade of organised fan publications and letter writing crusades had finally convinced publishing bean-counters what editors already knew: grown-ups avidly read comics too. Moreover, they happily spent more than kids and craved more, more, more of what they loved.

Explicitly: If one appearance per month was popular, extras, specials and second series would be more so. By the time Marvel Comics Wunderkind Gerry Conway left The House of Ideas, DC was willing and ready to expand its variegated line-up with some oft-requested fan-favourite characters. Paramount among these was the Justice Society of America, the first comic book super-team and a perennial gem whose annual guest-appearances in the Justice League of America and other superhero titles had become a beloved tradition and treat.

Thus in 1976 writer/editor Conway marked his second DC tenure (he had first broken into the game writing horror shorts for Joe Orlando) by reviving All Star Comics with #58.

In 1951, the original title transformed overnight into All Star Western with the numbering running for a further decade for the home of cowboy crusaders like Strong Bow, The Trigger Twins, Johnny Thunder and Super-Chief. Now, set on Earth-Two, and in keeping with the editorial sense of ensuring a series be relevant to young readers too, Conway reintroduced the veteran team, leavened with a smattering of teen heroes forming a contentious, generation gap-fuelled “Super Squad”…

Augmented by Robin (a JSA-er since the mid-1960s in Justice League of America #55), Sylvester Pemberton/Star-Spangled Kid and a busty young thing who rapidly became the feisty favourite of a generation of growing boys: Kara Zor-L Power Girl. Closing this collection is a short piece as she and fellow newcomer Huntress discuss how the Golden Age ended…

Taken from massive 68-page anthology title Adventure Comics 466 where Paul Levitz & Joe Staton delivered a pithy history lesson exposing the reason why the team vanished at the beginning of the 1950s, ‘The Defeat of the Justice Society!’ shows how the American Government cravenly betrayed their greatest champions. Set during early days of the McCarthy era anti-communist witch-hunts, a sham trial provoked the mystery men into voluntarily withdrawing from public, heroic life. There they stayed until the costumed stalwarts of Earth-One started the whole Fights ‘n’ Tights scene all over again…

These exuberant, rapid-paced and imaginative yarns perfectly blend the naive charm of Golden Age derring-do with cynically hopeful modern sensibilities. Here you will be reassured that no matter what, in the end our heroes will always find a way to save the day. These are classic tales from simpler times and a glorious example of traditional superhero storytelling at its finest: fun, furious and ferociously engaging, excitingly written and beguilingly illustrated. No Fights ‘n’ Tights fan should miss these marvellous sagas.
© 1951, 1979,1991, 2020 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Crisis on Multiple Earths Book 2: Crisis Crossed


By Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, Martin Pasko, E. Nelson Bridwell, Cary Bates, Elliot S! Maggin, Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, Frank McLaughlin, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-77951-342-7 (TPB/Digital)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: utterly Unmissable Entertainment… 9/10

As I’ve incessantly mentioned, I was one of the “Baby Boomer” crowd growing up with Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox and John Broome’s tantalisingly slow reintroduction of Golden Age superheroes during the halcyon, eternal summery days of the early 1960s. To me, those fascinating counterpart crusaders from Earth-Two weren’t vague and distant memories rubber-stamped by parents or older brothers – they were cool, fascinating and enigmatically new. And for some reason the “proper” heroes of Earth-One held them in high regard and treated them with obvious deference…

The transcendent wonderment began, naturally enough, in The Flash; pioneering trendsetter of the Silver Age Revolution. After successfully ushering in the triumphant return of the superhero concept, the Scarlet Speedster – with Fox & Broome writing – set an unbelievably high standard for costumed adventure in sharp, witty tales of science and imagination, always illustrated with captivating style and clean simplicity by Carmine Infantino.

The epochal epic that literally changed the scope of American comics forever was Fox’s ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ (Flash #123 September 1961, reprinted in many places, but not here): introducing to an emerging continuity the concept of alternate Earths and, by extension, the multiversal structure of the future DCU as well as all the succeeding cosmos-shaking yearly “Crisis” sagas that grew from it.

…And, where DC led, others followed…

Received with tumultuous acclaim, the concept was revisited months later in Flash #129 which also teasingly reintroduced evergreen stalwarts – Wonder Woman, The Atom, Hawkman, Green Lantern, Doctor Mid-Nite and Black Canary: venerable members of the fabled Justice Society of America. Clearly Editor Schwartz had something in mind…

That tale directly led into the veteran team’s first meeting with the Justice League of America and the start of an annual tradition. When ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ brought us the notion of Infinite Earths and multiple iterations of costumed crusaders, fan pressure had begun almost instantly to agitate for the return of the Greats of the “Golden Age”. Editorial powers-that-be were hesitant, fearing too many heroes would be silly and unmanageable, or worse yet, put readers off. If they could see us now…

These innovative adventures generated an avalanche of popular and critical approval (big sales figures, too) so inevitably the trans-dimensional tests led to the ultimate team-up in the summer of 1963. This second gloriously enthralling volume celebrating Infinite Diversity in Infinite Costumes gathers more summer double-headers starring the JLA & JSA and includes a number of revivals and outreach tam-ups designed to set young hearts racing and pulses pounding. The alliances encompass Justice League of America # 91-2, 100-102, 107-108, 113, 123-124, 135-137, 147-148 and 159-160: stunning superhero wonderments which never fail to astound and delight. Also on offer are Len Wein’s context-conveying Foreword ‘Too Much of a Good Thing?’ revealing how the landmark anniversary team-up he scripted came about, and colourist Carl Gafford’s Introduction discussing the incredible achievements of the series’ illustrators such as the criminally underappreciated Dick Dillin who pencilled every story here… usually with his long-term inker Frank McLaughlin, although there are few other old friends here.

In terms of narrative, the writing – by a formidable cohort of writers nurtured and mentored by “Julie” – consists of nothing more and nothing less than bunches of beguiling mystery men getting together to deal with extra-extraordinary problems…

From the early 1970s, DC started methodically reintroducing lost and forgotten characters from other companies and pantheons DC had bought out over the years, at last convinced that costumed heroes were not a fad but here to stay. With hindsight, it was all also about sales and the attempted revival of so many super-characters during a period of intense sales rivalry between DC Comics and Marvel was just sound business sense…

The dramas resume with Mike Friedrich, Dillin & inker Joe Giella’s Justice League of America #91 (cover-dated August 1971), the hero-heavy opening chapter of the annual get-together. In ‘Earth… the Monster-Maker!’, the Supermen, Flashes, Green Lanterns, Hawkmen, Atoms and Robins of two separate Realities simultaneously but ineffectually battle an alien boy and his symbiotically-linked “dog” on twin planets a universe apart.

The result is pointless carnage and imminent death until ‘Solomon Grundy… the One and Only!’ gives all concerned a life-saving lesson on togetherness and lateral thinking…

Justice League of America #100 (August 1972) heralded a move away from relevancy and social hot-button topics that had dominated the industry for a number of years and a return to full-on Costumed melodramas, beginning with a colossal 3-team collaboration that also featured almost every hero in then-DC’s pantheon.

‘The Unknown Soldier of Victory!’ saw debuting scripter Len Wein assemble champions of two Earths to facilitate a monumental hunt through time and retrieve forgotten heroes the Seven Soldiers of Victory: not simply out of common decency, but also because the vanished vigilantes held the answer to defeating a criminal mastermind literally holding the world of Earth-Two to ransom.

Inked by Giella & Dick Giordano, the quest continued in ‘The Hand that Shook the World!’ before ending in one adventurer’s gallant final sacrifice in ‘And One of Us Must Die!’

A year gone by, Justice League of America #107 by Wein, Dillin & Giordano proclaimed ‘Crisis on Earth-X!’ as the opening chapter of another landmark crossover. Following the successful revival of a lost team in their previous get-together, this time the annual shenanigans reintroduced another band of Golden Age warriors – from corporate acquisition Quality Comics and newly rechristened The Freedom Fighters

It begins when a recreational trip across the dimensional barrier is accidentally sabotaged by android stowaway Red Tornado, depositing Batman, Green Arrow and Elongated Man from Earth-One and Superman, Sandman and Doctor Fate from Earth-Two into another alternate universe – one where the Nazis had won World War II.

Trapped and outnumbered, the seven displaced heroes were rescued by the last liberty-loving champions of a world dominated by fascist super-science and a secret dictator. Joining forces with embattled champions Uncle Sam, The Ray, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, Black Condor and The Human Bomb, the newcomers ended the fascist threat forever in sinister sequel ‘Thirteen Against the Earth!’

With everybody returned to their home planes, #113 (September/October 1974) proved how desperate times were the for the spandex set as the epic annual collaboration was restricted to a single issue. Nevertheless, ‘The Creature in the Velvet Cage!’ proved to be one of the very best tales as a JLA visiting party to Earth-Two (Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Elongated Man) share the shame and horror of The Sandman, when his greatest secret is catastrophically revealed.

Years previously, the Master of Dreams had accidentally transformed his sidekick Sandy, the Golden Boy into a ravening silicoid monster during an attempt to modify their crimebusting technology. Dreading a holocaust, Wesley Dodds been compelled to sedate and imprison his best friend for years…

Now after three decades the beast was awake and free, seemingly intent on destroying the world. At least, that’s what Hourman and the Golden Age Flash and Wonder Woman believe] when they join their old comrade on his tragic manhunt…

For the next annual yarn, Cary Bates, Elliot S! Maggin, Dillin & Frank McLaughlin stepped far off the reservation with ‘Where on Earth Am I?’ and ‘Avenging Ghosts of the Justice Society!’ (#123 and 124)….

In Flash #179 (‘The Flash – Fact of Fiction?’: May 1968) Bates & Gardner Fox first took the multiple Earths concept to its illogical conclusion by trapping the Monarch of Motion in “our” Reality of Earth-Prime, where the Sultan of Speed was merely a fictional comic book character.

For this sequel, Bates and co-scripter Maggin revisited the notion, as a story conference in Editor Julie Schwartz’s office leads to the oafish goons playing with the Flash’s hastily-constructed Cosmic Treadmill. Inevitably their meddling sends one of them hurtling between dimensions…

Transformed and empowered by the journey, Bates becomes the most dangerous villain alive, leading Earth-Two criminals The Wizard, Shade, Sportsmaster, Huntress, Icicle and The Gambler in a lethal assault on JSA heroes Robin, Hourman, Wildcat, Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder and Dr. Mid-Nite.

Maggin, meanwhile, has followed his friend but ended up on Earth-One. Undaunted, he recruits Batman, Black Canary, Aquaman, Hawkman, Green Arrow and Flash to save three imperilled universes, but it takes the Divine Might of the supernal Spectre to truly set everything back to its assigned place and time…

Plotted by E. Nelson Bridwell and scripted by Marty Pasko, 12 months later the get-together attained epic proportions with the inclusion of venerable champions of the recreated Shazam! Universe – imaginatively dubbed Earth-S. It opens with a ‘Crisis in Eternity!’

One of the most venerated and loved characters in American comics, the original Captain Marvel was created by Bill Parker & C. C. Beck: the best of a wave of costumed titans devised in the wake of Superman’s blockbuster 1938 debut.

Although there were many similarities in the early years, the Fawcett character moved early into fanciful light entertainment and even comedy, whilst as the 1940s progressed the Man of Steel increasingly left whimsy behind in favour of action and drama.

Homeless orphan Billy Batson was chosen to battle injustice by an ancient wizard who bestowed upon him the powers of six gods and heroes. Billy transforms from scrawny boy to brawny (adult) hero by speaking aloud the wizard’s name – an acronym for the legendary patrons Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. At the height of his popularity Captain Marvel was published twice a month and outsold Superman.

However, as tastes and the decade changed, sales slowed and a court case begun by National Comics citing copyright infringement was settled. The Big Red Cheese disappeared – as did many superheroes – becoming merely a fond memory for older fans.

As America lived through another superhero boom-&-bust, the 1970s dawned with a shrinking industry and wide variety of comics genres servicing a base that was increasingly founded on collector/aficionados, not casual or impulse buys. DC needed sales and were prepared to look for them in unusual places: opting to tap into a proven, discriminating fanbase…

After the settlement with Fawcett in 1953, DC secured the rights to Captain Marvel and Family, even though the name itself had been taken up by Marvel Comics (via a circuitous and quirky robotic character published by Carl Burgos and M.F. Publications in 1967). In 1973, riding a wave of nostalgia, DC brought back the entire beloved Fawcett cast and crew in their own kinder, weirder universe. To circumvent an intellectual property clash, they entitled the new comic book Shazam! (With One Magic Word!) the trigger phrase used by most of the many Marvels to transform to and from mortal form, and a word that had entered the American language due to the success of the franchise the first time around…

In Justice League of America #135, the usually stand-alone Shazam heroes meet other costumed champions when antediluvian dictator King Kull (a bestial despot from a pre-human civilisation who held mankind responsible for the extinction of his race) invaded the Wizard’s home on the Rock of Eternity.

From this central point in the Multiverse, Kull intends wiping out humanity on three different Earths and commences by capturing the gods and goddesses who empower Billy and his magical allies Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel.

Thankfully, fleet Mercury is able to escape, warning Earths-One and Two, even as lesser heroes Bulletman & Bulletgirl, Ibis the Invincible, Spysmasher and Mister Scarlet & Pinky take up the fight without the missing Marvels…

Recruiting an army of super-villains from three worlds, Kull unleashes a plague of unnatural disasters in ‘Crisis on Earth-S!’, unaware that Mercury, Shazam and dim-witted magic-wielder Johnny Thunder are undertaking a devious counterattack to bring the vanished Marvel Family back into action, just in time to avert a cataclysmic ‘Crisis in Tomorrow!’

The cross-collaboration protocol resurfaces one year later in brace of double-length sagas guest-starring Silver Age DC’s second-most popular superteam…

Once upon a time, a thousand years from now, a band of super-powered kids from many worlds took inspiration from the greatest heroic legend of all time, founding a club of champions. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited their inspiration to join them…

Thus began the vast, epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder & artist Al Plastino when the many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers debuted in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958), just as the revived superhero genre was gathering an inexorable head of steam in America.

The coalition grew and prospered, becoming a phenomenon generally attributed with birthing organised comics fandom. After years of slavishly remaining a closely-guarded offshoot of Superman’s corner of continuity, the Legion finally crossed over into the broader DCU with this saga wherein Paul Levitz & Martin Pasko united to detail ‘Crisis in the 30th Century!’

It begins when ultimate sorcerer Mordru drags a handful of JLA and JSA-ers (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary from Earth-One plus the other Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, Power Girl, Flash and Hawkman from E-Two) into the future to replace a band of ensorcelled Legionnaires he has somehow lost contact with…

Mordru’s previous slaves had been tasked with retrieving three arcane artefacts that were in the JLA’s keeping a millennium past, but with the pawns lost, the wizard now expects his new pets to finish the task. Naturally, the ancient heroes have other ideas…

Even after linking up with the lost Legionnaires, the 20th Centurians cannot prevent the return of demonic triumvirate Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast, but happily, their eons in stasis have affected the eldritch horrors’ psychological make-up and their consequent disunity gives the puny humans one shot at saving the universe from a ‘Crisis in Triplicate!’

This monumental melange of metahuman mayhem concludes with another time tempest and more forgotten stars as five legendary warriors are plucked from history by a most malevolent malefactor for the noblest of reasons. They are then pitted against the greatest superheroes of two worlds in ‘Crisis from Yesterday!’ by scripter Gerry Conway and artistic dynamic duo Dillin & McLaughlin.

In his zeal to conquer and plunder, the nefarious Lord of Time has accidentally created an omnipotent super-computer which is counting down to permanently ending the passage of time. Unable to halt or avoid an impending cosmic catastrophe, the temporal terrorist extracts Jon, the Viking Prince, English freebooter Black Pirate, Revolutionary War heroine Miss Liberty, western gunman Jonah Hex and WWI German enemy ace Hans von Hammer: supercharging them with eerie energies and programming them to attack the united Justice League and Society.

The Time Lord’s logic is simple: after suffering a shattering defeat, the teams – fired with determination and righteous fury – will promptly track him down, invade his Palace of Eternity and destroy for him his unstoppable computer. Or at least, the survivors will…

Surprisingly, that convoluted plan seems to work out in ‘Crisis from Tomorrow!’, but only after the chronally kidnapped quintet overcome their perfidious programming and revert to their valiant true selves. Even as the beleaguered superhero teams sacrifice everything to thwart the Lord of Time, the time-lost warriors prove their mettle against the errant computer…

This staggering panoply of multi-manned calamities and alternate Armageddons is rounded off with an instructive contextual lecture in John Wells’ Afterword ‘Those Were the Days’, augmented by all the rousing front covers by Neal Adams, Giordano, Nick Cardy, Ernie Chan, Frank Giacoia, McLaughlin, Rich F. Buckler, Jack Abel & Dillin: supported by full creator biographies and a ‘Cover Gallery’ from Alex Ross, featuring his painted delights from earlier collected editions.

These tales won’t suit everybody, and I’m as aware as any that in terms of the “super-powered” genre, the work here can be boiled down to bunches of heroes formulaically getting together to deal with extra-extraordinary problems.

Thankfully, I don’t have to be mature in my off-hours and for those who love costume heroes, crave cunningly constructed modern mythologies and actually care about fun, this is simply a grand parade of straightforward action, great causes and momentous victories.

…And since I wouldn’t have it any other way, why should you?
© 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2021 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Wonder Woman in the Fifties


By Robert Kanigher, John Broome, Harry G. Peter, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-779507-624-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

In the early years of this century, DC launched a series of graphic archives intended to define DC’s top heroes through the decades: delivering magnificent past comic book magic from the Forties to the Seventies via a tantalisingly nostalgic taste of other – arguably better, but certainly different – times. The collections carried the cream of the creative crop, divided into subsections, partitioned by cover galleries, and supplemented by short commentaries; a thoroughly enjoyable introductory reading experience. I prayed for more but was frustrated… until now…

Part of a trade paperback trilogy – the others being Superman and Batman (thus far, but hopefully Aquaman, Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter are in contention too, as they have become such big shot screen stars these days) – the experiment was recently re-run, with even more inviting samples from the company’s vintage, family-friendly canon.

Gathered here is a menu of deliciously dated delights starring Earth’s most recognisable Female Heroic Ideal, heralded by a time-&-tone-setting Introduction from historian, author and columnist Andy Mangels augmenting each context-stuffed chapter text piece.

With Robert Kanigher as primary writer of record throughout the book, the contents here originated in Sensation Comics #97, 100; Wonder Woman #45, 50, 60, 66, 72, 76, 80, 90, 94-95, 98-105, 107, 108, 750; and All-Star Comics #56, 57 spanning the entire decade whilst attempting to reconcile an indomitable symbol of female emancipation and independence with a post-war world determined to turn them back into docile brood mares and passive uber-consumers…

Wonder Woman was created by polygraph pioneer William Moulton Marston – apparently at the behest of his remarkable wife Elizabeth and their life partner Olive Byrne. The vast majority of the outlandish early adventures were limned by illustrator Harry G. Peter.

The Astounding Amazon debuted in All Star Comics #8 (cover-dated December 1941, and top-selling home of the Justice Society of America) just before launching in her own solo series and cover-spot of new anthology Sensation Comics the following month. She was an instant hit, and gained her own eponymous title in late Spring of that year (Summer 1942).

Using the nom de plume Charles Moulton, Marston & Co scripted all her many and fabulous exploits until his death in 1947, whereupon Kanigher officially took over the writer and editor’s role. The venerable Peter continued until his own death in 1958. Wonder Woman #97 – in April of that year – was his last hurrah and the end of an era.

Supported by a factual briefing, the comics classics commence with The (Many) Origins of Wonder Woman, and the first adjustments to the classic origin tale…

For purposes of comparison, the 1940s saga stated that on a hidden island of immortal super-women, American aviator Steve Trevor of US Army Intelligence crashed to Earth. Near death, he was nursed back to health by young, impressionable Princess Diana.

Fearing her growing obsession with the creature from a long-forgotten, madly violent world, her mother Queen Hippolyte shared the hidden history of the Amazons: how they were seduced and betrayed by men, but rescued by goddess Aphrodite on condition they isolated themselves from the world, devoting their eternal lives to becoming ideal, perfect creatures.

However, when Athena and Aphrodite subsequently instructed Hippolyte to despatch an Amazon with the American to fight for global freedom and liberty and against oppression and barbarism, Diana overcame all other candidates in a brutal open competition to became their emissary – Wonder Woman.

On arriving in America, she purchased the identity and credentials of lovelorn Army nurse Diana Prince, elegantly allowing the Amazon to be close to Steve and the heartsick medic to wed her own fiancé in South America. Diana also joined Army Intelligence as secretary to General Darnell, ensuring she would always be able to watch over her beloved. She little suspected that, although painfully shallow Steve only had eyes for the dazzling Amazon superwoman, the General had fallen for mousy yet superbly competent Lieutenant Prince…

As the decade turned it was deemed time for a refurbished origin and – illustrated by Harry G. Peter – WW #45 (cover-dated January/February 1951) delivered ‘The Wonder Woman Story!’

This found childhood rivals vying for the journalistic kudos of publishing the Amazon’s backstory. However, after a hard-won trip to Paradise Island led to Mary Ellen learning the details of it all – Hercules’s ancient ‘Act of Treachery!’ and how the Princess defied authority for love – all manner of trouble emerged…

Cunning competitor John Lane had bugged Mary’s jewellery and craftily followed her to the Amazon homeland, causing a major upset…

Back then Wonder Woman’s artists were astonishingly faithful and true, staying with her for pretty long hauls. Peter and his uncredited team of female assistants served nearly 20 years before he was let go mere weeks before dying. His replacements Ross Andru & Mike Esposito drew her adventures from 1958 to the middle of 1967 (#98 – 171), and limned this breakthrough tale from WW #105 (April 1959)

The issue debuted Wonder Girl in the ‘‘The Secret Origin of Wonder Woman’, revealing how centuries ago Olympian divinities bestowed unique powers on the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and how – as a mere teenager – the indomitable Diana brought the Amazons to Paradise Island. Continuity – let alone consistency or rationality – were never as important to Kanigher as strong story or breathtaking visuals, and this eclectic odyssey is a great yarn that simply annoyed the heck out of a lot of fans – but not as much as the junior Amazon would in years to come after these teen tales spawned an actual junior Amazon as sidekick to Diana…

That ball started rolling in #107 (July 1959) and proved that the high fantasy exploits of the minor had clearly caught somebody’s editorial fancy. Follow-ups came thick and fast after ‘Wonder Woman Amazon Teen-Ager!’ saw the youngster ensnare an unwanted romantic interest in merboy Ronno, whilst dutifully undergoing a quest to win herself a superhero costume…

Fronted by an article on her legendary kit and illustrated throughout by H.G. Peter, Fashion as Armor: The Equipment List shares some of Kanigher’s frequent and often contradictory exposés on the source and powers of Wonder Woman’s combat gear. It begins with ‘The Secret Story of Wonder Woman’s Lasso!’ (WW #50, November/December 1951), depicting how the princess undertakes three divine tasks to ensure the rope gains magical traits of unbreakability, infinite elasticity and truthful compulsion. Along the way she uses it against crooks, spies, other Amazons, submarines, dinosaurs and a Roc…

That mythological bird, another dinosaur and aliens play a major role in ‘The Talking Tiara!’ (#66, May 1954) as Steve learns how Diana belatedly won possession of her headpiece, a “Linguagraph Tiara” capable of translating any language past present or future, whilst ‘The Secret of Wonder Woman’s Sandals’ (#72, February 1955) reveals some odd characteristics of the footwear as she performs incredible feats (sorry!) to confirm her worthiness…

Cover-dated February 1956 ‘The Origin of the Amazon Plane!’ featured in Wonder Woman #80, recalling a trio of tasks undertaken to collect separated sections of her faithful, invisible robot conveyance before #95 (January 1958) offered ‘The Secret of Wonder Woman’s Tiara!’: this time in the form of a tale told to toddlers, revealing how the hat was a gift from aliens given in thanks for saving them from marauding Phenegs…

Moving on to highlight the Amazon’s noteworthy collaborations, One of the Team offers a trio of tales. The section is a somewhat “Marmite” moment that fans will either love or hate…

The majority of the chapter is devoted to a brace of tales starring the Justice Society of America and, whilst I’m never going to complain about seeing such classics where new readers can discover them, it’s a lot of pages to hand over to a group who had Wonder Woman serving coffee and taking notes as “Club Secretary” for years. At least here, in the last of the original run, she’s graduated to being an leading participant in their adventures…

After the actual invention of the superhero via the 1938 Action Comics debut of Superman, the most significant event in our industry’s history was the combination of individual stars into a like-minded group. Thus, what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: consumers can’t get enough of garishly-hued mystery men, and combining a multitude of characters inevitably increases readership. Plus, of course, a mob of superheroes is just so much cooler than one…or one-and-a-half if there’s a sidekick involved…

The creation of the Justice Society of America in 1941 utterly changed the shape of the budding industry. Following the runaway success of Superman and Batman, both National Comics and its separate-but-equal publishing partner All-American Comics went looking for the next big thing whilst frantically concentrating on getting anthology packages into the hands of a hungry readership. Thus All Star Comics: conceived as a joint venture affording characters already in their respective stables an extra push towards winning elusive but lucrative solo titles.

Technically, All Star Comics #3 (cover-dated Winter 1940-1941 and released in December 1940) was the kick-off, but the mystery men merely had dinner and recounted recent cases and didn’t actually go on a mission together until #4, which had an April 1941 cover-date.

The merits of the marketing project would never be proved: rather than a runaway favourite graduating to their own starring vehicle as a result of the poll, something radically different evolved. For the third issue, prolific scribe Gardner Fox apparently had the bright idea of linking all the solo stories through a framing sequence with the heroes gathering to chat about their latest exploits. With that simple notion that mighty mystery men hung out together, history was made and it wasn’t long before they started working together…

However, after WWII ended, superheroes gradually declined, and most companies had shelved them by 1950. Their plummet in popularity led to a revival in genre-themed titles and characters, and it was a stripped-down team (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Black Canary, Dr. Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman) in contemporarily tailored crime and science fiction sagas before the title abruptly changed into All Star Western with #58.

Both JSA stories were written by John Broome and illustrated via alternating chapters by Frank Giacoia and Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs. Leading off is All-Star Comics #56 (December 1950/January 1951) and ‘The Day the World Ended!’ wherein a future scientist goes to extraordinary lengths to recruit the 20th century stalwarts to save Tomorrow’s World from shapeshifting invaders. Issue #57 was the JSA’s last hurrah with ‘The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives!’ pitting them against criminal mastermind The Key after he abducts Earth’s greatest criminologists in advance of a spectacular robbery spree. Both are great yarns that deserve their own archival volume, but the Amazon’s contributions are barely visible in both…

Of more interest is the Kanigher & Peter tale from Wonder Woman #72 (November 1957). ‘The Channel of Time’ begins as an unashamed plug for The Adventures of Superman TV show, with the Amazon eagerly enjoying the latest episode when interference turns the screen into an SOS through time, displaying old ally Robin Hood in existential peril…

An initial iteration of the legendary archer had debuted in New Adventure Comics #23 (January 1938), and National/DC also acquired Quality Comics’ Robin Hood Tales title. That version had begun in February 1956, with DC continuing the run from #7 (cover-dated February 1957) as well as featuring the hero in Kanigher’s The Brave and the Bold from #5 (May 1956). That was (coincidentally?) the same month The Amazing Amazon first met the Sentinel of Sherwood Forest, who here requires assistance against a dragon, wicked foemen and a shark-infested moat safeguarding evil Prince John…

Seeing Double then highlights the hero’s tendency to encounter copies of herself – everything from evil doppelgangers from parallel universes to weirdly exact robot facsimiles…

When Showcase #4 rekindled the readership’s imagination and zest for masked mystery-men with a second, brand-new iteration of The Flash in 1956, the fanciful floodgates opened wide once more. As well as re-inventing Golden Age stars like Green Lantern and Hawkman, the company consequently updated many hoary survivors like Green Arrow and Aquaman. Also included in the revitalising agenda were the High Trinity: Man of Steel, Caped Crusader and the ever-resilient Princess of Power…

Andru & Esposito had debuted as cover artists 3 issues earlier, but with Wonder Woman #98 they took over the entire comic book as Kanigher reinvented much of the old mythology and tinkered with her origins in The Million Dollar Penny!’ After Athena visits an island of super-scientific immortal women, informing Queen Hippolyta that she must send an emissary and champion of justice to crime-ridden “Man’s World”, the sovereign declares an open competition for the job.

She isn’t surprised when her daughter wins and is given the task of turning a penny into a million dollars in one day – all profits going to children’s charities, of course…

Just as the new Wonder Woman begins her coin chore, American airman Steve Trevor bails out of his malfunctioning jet high above the magically hidden isle, unaware that should any male set foot on Amazon soil the immortals would lose all their powers. Promptly thwarting impending disaster, Diana and Steve then team up to accomplish her task, encountering along the way The Undersea Menace’ before building The Impossible Bridge!’

Following that epic comes the lead from landmark issue #100 (August 1958): a spectacular battle saga commencing with The Challenge of Dimension X!’ as an alternate Earth Wonder Woman competes with the Amazing Amazon for sole rights to the title: all culminating with a deciding bout in The Forest of Giants!’

No celebration of the fifties could be complete without an exploration of the outdated concept of gainful female employment. With art by Peter, Working 9 to 5: The Careers of Wonder Woman offers a quick peek of typical opportunities beginning with Sensation Comics #97 (May 1950). ‘Wonder Woman, Romance Editor’ sees the Amazon agree to a task no male journalist can handle, solving the woes of lovelorn women seeking husbands, whilst her own duties prevent her giving in to Steve’s increasingly urgent demands to settle down… Cover-dated November 1950, Sensation Comics #100 showcases ‘Wonder Woman, Hollywood Star!’ as the Amazon and Steve endure peerless perils making a movie one crazed glamour queen is determined only she should star in, after which two millionaires make a bet that propels the Amazon into a string of crazy roles culminating in her shepherding an infant T-Rex as ‘Wonder Woman, Amazon Baby Sitter!’ (WW #90, May 1957)…

As you’ve probably ascertained, much of Kanigher’s oeuvre depended on the Princess of Paradise undergoing tasks and tests for a variety of reasons and this voyage of rediscovery concludes with some of the most noteworthy, gathered as The Trials of Wonder Woman

Leading off is Peter-rendered classic ‘The Secret Olympics!’ (WW #60, July 1953) as Diana justifies her legendary brief as “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Mercury (sic) and stronger than Hercules”…

 Issue #76 (August 1955) introduces ‘The Bird Who Revealed Wonder Woman’s Identity!’ before Diana devises a way to undermine a gabby Mynah’s proclamations before Andru & Esposito assume the art duties for the remainder of the book, beginning with Top Secret!’ from Wonder Woman #99 (July 1958).

Introducing the Hellenic Hero’s new covert identity as Air Force Intelligence officer Lt. Diana Prince the tale opens a decade of tales with Steve perpetually attempting to uncover her identity and make the most powerful woman on Earth his blushing bride, whilst his bespectacled, glorified secretary stands unnoticed, exasperated and ignored right beside – or slightly behind – him…

Here that means attempting to trick her into marriage with a rigged bet – a tactic the creep tried a lot back then – after which ‘Wonder Woman’s 100th Anniversary!’ (WW #100 again) deals with the impossibility of capturing the far-too-fast and furious Amazon’s exploits on film for Paradise Island’s archives…

In #101 (October 1958), ‘Undersea Trap!’ sees Steve tricking his “Angel” into agreeing to marry him if she has to rescue him three times in 24 hours (just chalk it up to simpler times, or you’ll pop a blood vessel, OK?) after which January 1959 and WW #103 spotlight ‘The Wonder Woman Album!’ returning to the previously explored “impossible-to-photograph” theme, before we close on Wanted… Wonder Woman’ (#108, August 1959), as Flying Saucer aliens frame her for heinous crimes as a precursor to a planetary invasion but are not smart enough to realise when they are being played…

Also including a selection of breathtaking covers by Irwin Hasen & Sachs, Irv Novick, Peddy and Andru & Esposito plus a Bonus Cover Gallery by the latter pair, this is a fascinating but potentially charged tome. By modern standards these exuberant, effulgent fantasies are all-out crazy, but as examples of the days when less attention was paid to continuity and concepts of shared universes and adventure in the moment were paramount, these outrageous romps simply sparkle with fun, thrills and sheer spectacle -a s long as you keep in mind the outrageous undercurrent of blatant sexism underpinning it all. This was a period when – officially – only men could tell the tales of the Amazing Amazon…

Wonder Woman is rightly revered as a focal point of female strength, independence and empowerment, but the welcoming nostalgia and easy familiarity of these costumed fairy tales remain a delight for all open-minded readers with the true value of these exploits being the incredible quality of entertainment they provide.
© 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 2020, DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Superman: Time and Time Again


By Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding, Dennis Janke, Tom Grummett, Jose Marzan & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1852865702 (TPB)

When Superman was re-imagined after Crisis on Infinite Earths, many of his more omnipotent abilities were discarded. Like his earliest days, he was a far from omnipotent hero, more in touch with humanity because he wasn’t so far above it. One thing that was abandoned was his casual ability to travel through time.

Indeed, rather than being able to navigate the chronal corridors with ease, in this splendid epic from 1991 (originally published serially in Action Comics #663-665, Adventures of Superman #476-478, and Superman (volume 2) #54-55 -with epilogues from #61 & 73 – the Man of Tomorrow is trapped in a cataclysmic and volatile temporal warp, bounced around from era to era with his abilities constantly diminishing and utterly unable to regain his home and loved ones.

That specifically means co-worker and girlfriend Lois Lane, to whom he has just divulged his greatest secret… his real identity…

It all begins in Adventures of Superman #476 as Dan Jurgens & Brett Breeding’s ‘The Linear Man’ sees a rogue (self-appointed) guardian of the Time Stream attempt to forcibly return chronal refugee-turned superhero Booster Gold to the 25th century he originated from. When Superman intervenes, the battle sparks a tremendous explosion, causing the Caped Kryptonian to careen through time. Each “landing” leaves him in a significant period of Earth’s history such as Roger Stern & Bob McLeod’s ‘Lost in the ‘40s Tonight’ (Action Comics #663) precipitating a meeting with that era’s first mystery men before almighty wraith the Spectre transports him not home but to ‘The Warsaw Ghetto!’ to act as temporary savour in an iconic battle saga by Jerry Ordway & Dennis Janke from Superman #54.

Apparently only gigantic explosions can launch him back into the time stream, such as occurs in in ‘Death Rekindled’ (Adventures of Superman #477 Jurgens & Brett Breeding) when a trip to the future introduces him to an iteration of the Legion of Super-Heroes needing help to destroy a monstrous Sun Eater… ‘

That climactic detonation deposits him ‘Many Long Years Ago’ (Action Comics #664, Stern & McLeod) to end up a Jurassic castaway until a clash with marooned time thief Chronos propels him into the Pleistocene and a chronologically adrift encounter with primordial alien race the H’v’ler’ni (AKA the Host)…

That tussle tosses him forward to ‘Camelot’ just as the Dark Ages begin, battling valiantly but in vain beside eventual All-Star Squadron champion and Seventh Soldier of Victory Sir Justin the Shining Knight in Superman #55 (Ordway) before landing again with another LSH for blockbusting finale ‘Moon Rocked’ (Adventures of Superman #478 Jurgens & Breeding) and resolution and reunion with Lois via a 5-page excerpt from Action Comics #665’s ‘Wake the Dead’

Also included are the contents of Superman #61’s ‘Time and Time Again Again!’ and #73’s ‘Time Ryders’ – both by Jurgens & Breeding – as the Man of Tomorrow has further dealings with the Linear Men Matthew Ryder, Waverider, Liri Lee and Hunter

As Superman is gradually depowered whilst seeking to get home without wrecking reality, he enjoys incredible memorable moments – such as walking with dinosaurs, cathartically crushing Nazis, tussling with a mammoth and fighting Etrigan the Demon during the fall of civilisation. He also meets many milestone characters from DC history including the WWII Justice Society of America, and encounters the Legion of Super-Heroes at three critical points of their long and varied career: making this tale a significant marker for establishing the key points of post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity…

This hugely enjoyable epic is highly readable and cheerfully accessible for both returning and first time fans so it’s a true shame it’s currently out of print and still unavailable as a digital edition. Hopefully with Superman’s 85th anniversary impending there are moves afoot to rectify that…
© 1991, 1992, 1994 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.