By David S. Goyer, Geoff Johns & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-937-X
Some books you can talk about, but with others it’s simply a waste of time. This is one of the latter. If you’re aware that the Justice Society of America was the industry’s first super-team formed to fight in World War II, and are now an organisation who regularly save the world whilst mentoring the next generation of superheroes, whilst the Justice League of America are the World’s Greatest Superheroes (and have all the characters who’ve appeared on TV and in movies) then you have all the background you need to read this wonderful example of fights ‘n’ tights fiction.
The JLA and JSA have gotten together to celebrate Thanksgiving when the alien conqueror Despero attacks them and the entire world by releasing the Seven Deadly Sins who promptly possess Batman, Power Girl, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Plastic Man and Captain Marvel.
Can the remaining heroes defeat the sins without killing their friends, and save the world from total destruction? Of course they can, that’s the point. But seldom have they done it in such a spectacularly well written and beautifully illustrated manner.
This is a piece of pure, iconic genre narrative that hits every target and pushes every button it should. If you love superhero comics you should own this lovely book.
By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-342-8
The third volume of these cheap ‘n’ cheerful black and white compendiums of past Justice League classics covers a period in DC’s history that still makes many a fan shudder with dread but I’m going to ask them to reconsider their aversion to the “Camp Craze†that saw America go superhero silly in the wake of the Batman TV show (and, to a lesser extent, the Green Hornet series that introduced Bruce Lee to the world). I should also mention that comics didn’t create the craze. Many popular media outlets felt the zeitgeist of a zanier, tongue-in-cheek, mock-heroic fashion: Just check out DVDS of Lost in Space or The Man from U.N.C.L.E if you doubt me…
The third annual JLA/JSA team-up starts the fun, a largely forgotten and rather experimental tale wherein the Johnny Thunder of Earth-1 wrested control of the genie-like Thunderbolt from his Justice Society counterpart and used its magic powers to change events that led to the creation of all Earth-1’s superheroes. It’s JSA to the rescue in a gripping battle of wits in #37’s ‘Earth – Without a Justice League’ and the concluding ‘Crisis on Earth-A!’
Issue #39 was an Eighty-Page Giant reprinting Brave and the Bold #28 and #30 and Justice League of America #5, so this volume makes do with just a cover reproduction before continuing with issue #40 and the ‘Indestructible Creatures of Nightmare Island’ a challenging conundrum wherein an astral scientist’s machine to suppress Man’s basest instincts almost causes the end of humanity, but also an action packed psycho-thriller stuffed with super-villainous guest-stars.
Issue #41 introduced a modern version of an old Justice Society villain. The Earth-1 mastermind called The Key is a diabolical scientist who used mild-altering psycho-chemicals to control the behaviour of our heroes in ‘The Key – Master of the World!’ He was followed by a guest-appearance from DC’s newest superhero sensation. Acquitting himself splendidly against the Cosmic Force named The Unimaginable, he was naturally offered membership in the team but astonishingly, he declined in the in the controversial ‘Metamorpho says – No!’
Justice League of America #43 was cover dated March 1966 and introduced a villainous team led by an old foe. ‘The Card Crimes of the Royal Flush Gang’ is a fine “Goodies and Baddies†romp and the first issue to feature the legendary DC “Go-Go checkerboard†banner at the top of the cover. This iconic cover-feature still generates a frisson of child-like anticipation in many older fans and is often used in pastiches and homage today to instantly create an evocative mood. It also marked the end of a brilliant career, as veteran inker Bernard Sachs put down his brushes for the final time and retired from the League and the comics field.
The next issue was inked by Frank Giacoia, a tense bio-thriller entitled ‘The Plague that Struck the Justice League!’, and he was joined by Joe Giella for the witty monster-menace double-feature ‘The Super-Struggle against Shaggy Man!’ in issue #45.
A wise-cracking campy tone was fully in play with the next issue, in acknowledgement of the changing audience profile. It was the opening part of the fourth annual crossover with the Justice Society of America. This time the stakes were raised to encompass the destruction of both planets in ‘Crisis Between Earth-One and Earth-Two’ and issue #47’s ‘The Bridge Between Earths’, wherein a bold – if rash – experiment pulls the two sidereal worlds into an inexorable hyper-space collision, whilst to make matters worse an anti-matter being uses the opportunity to explore our positive matter universe.
Peppered with wisecracks and “hip†dialogue, it’s sometimes difficult to discern what a cracking yarn this actually is, but if you’re able to forgive or swallow the dated patter, this is one of the best plotted and illustrated stories in the entire JLA/JSA canon. Furthermore, the vastly talented Sid Greene signed on as regular inker with this classic adventure, adding expressive subtlety, beguiling texture and whimsical humour to the pencils of Mike Sekowsky and the increasingly light, comedic scripts of Gardner Fox.
The next issue was another Eighty-Page Giant (reprinting Brave and the Bold #29 and #30 and Justice League of America #2 and 3, represented here by its stirring Sekowsky/Murphy Anderson cover, followed by the ‘Threat of the True-or-false Sorcerer’ in which a small team of the biggest guns (Batman, Superman, Flash and Green Lantern) must ferret out a doppelganger Felix Faust before he inadvertently dissolves all creation. There’s no excessive hoopla to celebrate the fiftieth issue but ‘The Lord of Time Attacks the 20th Century’ is another brilliantly told tale of heroism, action and sacrifice that, uncharacteristically for the company and the time, references and includes the ongoing Vietnam conflict. With “Batmania†in full swing editor Julie Schwartz also deemed it wise to include Robin, The Boy Wonder with regulars Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Snapper Carr and Batman.
Issue #51 concluded a long-running experiment in continuity with ‘Z – As in Zatanna – and Zero Hour!’ in which a comely young sorceress concluded the search for her long-missing father with the assistance of a small group of Leaguers and guest-star Ralph “Elongated Man†Dibny.
Zatarra was a magician-hero in the Mandrake mould who had fought evil in the pages of Action Comics for over a decade beginning with the very first issue. During the Silver Age Gardner Fox had Zatarra’s young and equally gifted daughter, Zatanna, go searching for him by guest-teaming with a selection of superheroes Fox was currently scripting (if you’re counting, these tales appeared in Hawkman #4, Atom #19, Green Lantern #42, and the Elongated Man back-up strip in Detective Comics #355 as well as a very slick piece of back writing to include the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336 – ‘Batman’s Bewitched Nightmare’).
Experimentation was also the basis of #52’s ‘Missing in Action – 5 Justice Leaguers!’, a portmanteau tale that showed what happened to those members who didn’t show up for issue #50. Hawkman – plus wife and partner Hawkgirl – Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Superman reported their solo yet ultimately linked adventures, whilst the Atom referred them to his time-travelling escapade with Benjamin Franklin from the pages of his own comic (The Atom #27 ‘Stowaway on a Hot Air Balloon!’). Batman still managed to make an appearance through the magic of a lengthy flash-back, showing again just how ubiquitous the TV series had made him. No editor in his right mind would ignore a legitimate (or even not-so) chance to feature such a perfect guarantee of increased sales.
‘Secret Behind the Stolen Super-Weapons’ found Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Hawkman – again with Hawkgirl guest-starring – deprived of their esoteric armaments and in desperate need of the Atom, Flash, Aquaman and Superman. Card-carrying criminals returned in ‘The History-Making Costumes of the Royal Flush Gang’, a taut mystery-thriller with plenty of action to balance the suspense. This fed perfectly into another summer-spectacular team-up with the JSA.
Boasting a radical change, the Earth-2 team now starred an adult Robin instead of Batman, but Hourman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Wildcat, Johnny Thunder and Mr. Terrific still needed the help of Earth-1’s Superman, Flash, Green Lantern and Green Arrow to cope with ‘The Super-Crisis that Struck Earth-Two’ and ‘The Negative-Crisis on Earths One-Two!’
This cosmic threat from a dying universe was in stark contrast to the overly-worthy but well intentioned ‘Man – Thy Name is Brother!’ in issue #57, where Flash, Green Arrow and Hawkman joined Snapper Carr in defending human rights and equality via three cases involving ethnic teenagers; a black, a native American/Apache (and if that modern phrase doesn’t indicate the necessity and efficacy of such stories in the 1960’s then what does?) and an aid-worker in India. Beautifully drawn and obviously heartfelt, I still ponder on the fact that all the characters are male… but eventually comics would confront even that last bastion of institutionalised prejudice.
There’s one last Eighty-Page Giant cover in this gloriously cost-effective monochrome compendium (issue # 58 reprinted Justice League of America #1, 6 and 8), and it was produced by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. That’s followed by the extremely odd conceptual puzzler ‘The Justice Leaguer’s Impossible Adventure’ before the volume closes with the return of an old adversary and another “hot†guest-star. Issue #60 featured ‘Winged Warriors of the Immortal Queen!’ and pitted the enslaved and transformed team against DC’s newest sensation – Batgirl.
These phonebook-like collections – each in excess of 500 pages – are an absolute gift for modern fans with a desperate need to catch up without going bankrupt. They’re also the perfect gift for youngsters needing an introduction to a fabulous world of adventure and magic. Of all the various reprint editions and formats available for classic material, these monochrome tomes are my absolute favourites.
By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-1203-2
I love these cheap ‘n’ cheerful black and white compendiums of past classics! This second volume collecting the entire run of adventures of “The World’s Greatest Superheroes†comprises issues #17-36, t(he February, 1963 to June 1965 instalments) which bring the readers chronologically to the point where superhero comics would explode across the public consciousness.
‘Triumph of the Tornado Tyrant’ saw a sentient cyclone that had once battled the indomitable Adam Strange (in Mystery in Space #61- or Adam Strange Archives volume 1, ISBN: 1-4012-0148-2) set up housekeeping on an desolate world and ponder the very nature of Good and Evil, before realising that it needed the help of the Justice League to reach a survivable conclusion. Teaser Alert: As well being a cracking yarn, this story is pivotal in the development of the android hero Red Tornado…
Issue #18 saw the team summoned to a subatomic world by three planetary champions whose continued existence threatened to destroy the very world they were designed to protect. ‘Journey to the Micro-World’ found our heroes compelled to defeat opponents that were literally unbeatable. Another perplexing riddle was posed in ‘The Super-Exiles of Earth’ when unstoppable duplicates of the team go on a crime-spree and force the world’s governments to banish the heroes into space.
‘The Mystery of Spaceman X’ was an interplanetary adventure and a cunning brainteaser, with lots of action that serves to whet the appetite for the genuine pivotal classic that followed.
‘Crisis on Earth-One’ (Justice League of America #21) and ‘Crisis on Earth-Two’ (#22) combine to become one of the most important stories in DC history and arguably one of the most important tales in American comics. When ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ introduced the concept of Infinite Earths and multiple heroes to the public, pressure began almost instantly to bring back the lost heroes of the “Golden Ageâ€. The editorial powers-that-be were hesitant, though, fearing that too many heroes would be silly and unmanageable, or worse yet put readers off. If only they knew what we know now!
The plot sees a team-up of assorted villains from each Earth plundering at will and trapping our heroes in their own HQ. Temporarily helpless the JLA contrive a desperate plan to combine forces with the champions of a bygone era! It’s impossible for me to be totally objective about this saga. I was a drooling kid in short trousers when I first read this story and the thrills haven’t diminished with this umpty-first re-reading. This is what superhero comics are all about!
Faced with the impossible task of topping that, creative team Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs rose to the challenge with the eccentric outer-space thriller ‘Drones of the Queen Bee’. As the team escaped enslavement to the alien seductress, the continuity bug was growing, and the mention of the individual cases of members would become a mainstay of most future issues.
Alien despot Kanjar Ro returned in ‘Decoy Missions of the Justice League’ a sinister world conquest plot that featured another guest-shot for off-world adventurer Adam Strange and a perplexing mystery with planet-shaking consequences temporarily baffled the team in the rousing romp ‘Outcasts of Infinity!’ Issue #26, ‘Four Worlds to Conquer’ dealt with an insidious revenge plot of the three-eyed alien Despero whilst a much more metaphysical menace assaulted the team in ‘The “I†Who Defeated the Justice League’. Although the deadly android Amazo was also on hand to add some solid threat to the proceedings.
The charmingly naff Head-Mastermind and a bunch of second-string super-villains tried to outfox the League in #28’s ‘Case of the Forbidden Super-Powers’, but not so easily defeated or forgotten are the next two tales. ‘Crisis on Earth-Three’ and ‘The Most Dangerous Earth of All!’ reprised the team-up of the Justice League and Justice Society, when the super-beings of yet another alternate Earth discovered the secret of multiversal travel. Unfortunately Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring are villains on a world without heroes, and see the costumed crusaders of the JLA and JSA as living practise dummies to sharpen their evil skills upon. With this cracking two-part thriller the annual summer team-up became solidly entrenched in heroic lore, giving fans endless joys for years to come and making the approaching end of school holidays less gloomy than they could have been.
(A little note: although the comic cover-date in America was the month by which unsold copies had to be returned – the off-sale date – export copies to Britain travelled as ballast in freighters. Thus they usually went on to those cool, spinning comic-racks the actual month printed on the front. You can unglaze your eyes and return to the review proper now, and thank you for your patient indulgence.)
JLA #31 saw the induction into the team of Hawkman, who would be the last successful inductee until Black Canary joined the team in #75. ‘Riddle of the Runaway Room’ found an alien wish-granting machine in the hands of second-rate thug Joe Parry, who nonetheless made life pretty tough for the team before their eventual victory. The visually impressive Hawkman must have been popular with the creators, if not the fans, as he was prominently featured in all but one of the next half-dozen adventures. ‘Attack of the Star-Bolt Warrior!’ introduced the uncanny villain Brain Storm who attacked the League to avenge his brother who had been murdered by one of their number!
The universe was again at stake in the time-travelling thriller ‘Enemy from the Timeless World’ and a persistent old foe had another go in #34’s ‘The Deadly Dreams of Doctor Destiny!’, a thriller packed with an army of guest-villains. The team were attacked by their own clothes in the supernatural adventure ‘Battle Against the Bodiless Uniforms’, a fall-back plan by the demons Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast, which had been slowly percolating since the end of JLA #11.
This volume closes with a heart-warming and poignant fable. ‘The Case of the Disabled Justice League’ saw the team raise the morale of despondent kids with disabilities by overcoming physical handicaps to defeat the returning Brain Storm. This tale was in fact inspired by ‘A Place in the World’, a Justice Society adventure from 1945 (All Star Comics #27) produced at a time when returning servicemen disabled in combat were becoming an increasingly common sight on the streets of America.
These inexpensive compendiums are an absolute gift for modern fans desperate to catch up without going bankrupt. They’re also the perfect gift for youngsters needing an introduction to a fabulous world of adventure and magic. Of all the various reprint editions and formats available for such classic material, these monochrome tomes are my very favourite.
By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-0761-8
After the actual invention of the comicbook superhero – for which read the launch of Superman in 1938 – the most significant event in the 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. Plus of course, a whole bunch of superheroes is a lot cooler than just one – or even one and a sidekick.
And so the Justice Society of America is rightly revered as a true landmark in the development of comic books, and, when Julius Schwartz revived the superhero genre in the late 1950s, the key moment would come with the inevitable teaming of the reconfigured mystery men.
That moment came with issue #28 of The Brave and the Bold, a classical adventure title that had recently become a try-out magazine like Showcase. Just before Christmas 1959 the ads began running. “Just Imagine! The mightiest heroes of our time… have banded together as the Justice League of America to stamp out the forces of evil wherever and whenever they appear!â€
Released with a March 1960 cover-date, that first tale was written by the indefatigable Gardner Fox and illustrated by the quirky and understated Mike Sekowsky with inks by Bernard Sachs, Joe Giella and Murphy Anderson. ‘Starro the Conqueror’ saw Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and J’onn J’onzz, Manhunter from Mars defeat a marauding alien starfish whilst Superman and Batman stood by (in those naive days editors feared that their top characters could be “over-exposed†and consequently lose popularity). They also picked up a typical American kid as mascot. Snapper Carr would prove a focus of fan controversy for decades to come.
Confident of his material and the superhero genre’s fresh appeal Schwartz had two more thrillers ready for the following issues. B&B #29 saw the team defeat a marauder from the future in ‘The Challenge of the Weapons Master’ (inks by Sachs and Giella) and #30 saw their first mad-scientist arch-villain in the form of Professor Ivo and his super android Amazo. ‘The Case of the Stolen Super Powers’ by Fox, Sekowsky and Sachs ended their tryout run. Three months later the new bi-monthly title debuted.
Perhaps somewhat sedate by histrionic modern standards, the JLA was revolutionary in a comics marketplace where less than 10% of all sales featured costumed adventurers. Not only public imagination was struck by hero teams either. Stan Lee was given a copy of Justice League by his boss and told to do something similar for the tottering comics company he ran – and look what came of that!
‘The World of No Return’ introduced trans-dimensional tyrant Despero to bedevil the World’s Greatest Heroes, but once again the plucky Snapper Carr was the key to defeating the villain and saving the day. The second issue, ‘Secret of the Sinister Sorcerers’, presented an astounding conundrum. The villains of Magic-Land transposed the location of their dimension with Earth’s, causing the Laws of Science to be replaced with the Lore of Mysticism. The true mettle of our heroes (and by this time Superman and Batman were allowed a more active part in the proceedings) was shown when they had to use ingenuity rather than their powers to defeat their foes.
Issue #3 introduced the despicable Kanjar Ro who attempted to turn the team into his personal army in ‘The Slave Ship of Space’, and with the next episode the first of many new members joined the team. Green Arrow saved the day in the science-fiction thriller ‘Doom of the Star Diamond’, but was almost kicked out in #5 as the insidious Doctor Destiny inadvertently framed him ‘When Gravity Went Wild!’
‘The Wheel of Misfortune’ introduced the pernicious and persistent master of wild science Professor Amos Fortune, and #7 was another alien plot centred on an amusement park and more specifically ‘The Cosmic Fun-House!’. ‘For Sale – the Justice League!’ was a sharp crime caper where a cheap hood finds a mind control weapon that enslaves the team and once again simple Snapper Carr has to save the day.
Issue #9 is a well-known and oft-recounted tale, and the start of a spectacular run of nigh-perfect super-hero adventures. ‘The Origin of the Justice League’ recounts the circumstances of the team’s birth, an alien invasion saga that still resonates with today’s readership, and it’s followed by the series’ first continued story. ‘The Fantastic Fingers of Felix Faust’ finds the World’s Greatest Superheroes battling an invader from the future when they’re spellbound by sorcerer Faust. This magician has awoken three antediluvian demons and sold them the Earth in exchange for 100 years of unlimited power. Although they defeat Faust the team have no idea that the demons are loose…
In the next instalment ‘One Hour to Doomsday’ the JLA pursue and capture The Lord of Time, but are trapped a century from their home-era by the awakened and re-empowered Demons. This level of plot complexity hadn’t been seen in comics since the closure of EC Comics, and never before in a superhero tale. It was a profound acknowledgement by the creators that the readership was no longer simply little kids – if indeed it ever had been.
These cheap compendiums are a dedicated fan’s delight. As well as superb artwork presented in pristine black and white lines, there’s enough page count to add sidebar tales that affect continuity but which originally appeared outside the canonical source. The next adventure of the JLA appeared in the pages of Mystery in Space #75 (May 1962), as the team guest-starred in a full-length thriller starring Adam Strange. Strange was an Earth archaeologist who was regularly teleported to a planet circling Alpha Centauri, where his wits and ingenuity saved the citizens of Rann from all sorts of interplanetary threats.
In ‘The Planet that came to a Standstill!’ Kanjar Ro attempted to conquer Strange’s adopted home and the gallant hero had to enlist the aid of the JLA, before once again saving the day himself. This classic team-up was written by Fox, and illustrated by the wonderful Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.
Arch-villain Doctor Light, attempted a pre-emptive strike on the team in #12, but ‘The Last Case of the Justice League‘ proved to be anything but, and with the next issue the heroes saved the entire universe by solving ‘The Riddle of the Robot Justice League’. ‘The Menace of the “Atom†Bomb’ in issue #14 was a clever way of introducing newest member The Atom whilst showing a new side to an old villain and issue #15’s ‘Challenge of the Untouchable Aliens’ added some fresh texture to the formulaic plot of extra-dimensional invaders out for our destruction.
This book ends with the challenging, intellectual poser ‘The Cavern of Deadly Spheres’, a change-of-pace tale with a narrative technique that just couldn’t be used on today’s oh-so-sophisticated audience, but still has the power to grip a reader.
These inexpensive collections are an absolute gift for modern fans that desperately need to catch up without going bankrupt. They are also perfect to give to youngsters as an introduction into a fabulous world of adventure and magic. Of all the various reprint editions and formats available for classic material, these monochrome tomes are my very favourite.
By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-56389-540-1
JLA #31 finally saw the induction of Hawkman into ‘The World’s Greatest Superheroes’ – and not before time. In this ancient world of Boy’s Clubs and willing segregation his dutiful wife Shayera would have to wait for more than a decade before she herself was invited to join as Hawkgirl. Hawkman would be the last successful inductee until Black Canary joined the team in #75.
‘Riddle of the Runaway Room’ found an alien wish-granting machine in the hands of a second-rate thug, who nonetheless made life pretty tough for the team before their eventual victory. The visually impressive Hawkman must have been popular with the creators, if not the fans, as he was prominently featured in all but one of next half-dozen adventures. Issue #32 ‘Attack of the Star-Bolt Warrior!’ introduced the uncanny villain Brain Storm who attacked the League to avenge his brother who had been murdered by one of their number!
The entire universe was once again at stake in the time-travelling thriller ‘Enemy from the Timeless World’ and a persistent old foe had yet another go in #34’s ‘The Deadly Dreams of Doctor Destiny!’, a thriller packed with an army of guest-villains. The team were attacked by their own clothes in issue #35’s supernatural adventure ‘Battle Against the Bodiless Uniforms’, a fall-back plan by the demons Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast, which had been slowly percolating since the end of JLA #11 (Justice League Of America Archive Edition volume 2 ISBN: 1-56389-119-0).
Issue #36’s ‘The Case of the Disabled Justice League’ saw the team raise the morale of despondent kids with disabilities by overcoming physical handicaps to defeat the returning Brain Storm. This tale was in fact inspired by ‘A Place in the World’, a Justice Society adventure from 1945’s All Star Comics #27, produced at a time when returning servicemen, maimed and disfigured in combat, were becoming an increasingly common sight on the streets of America.
The third annual JLA/JSA team-up follows, a largely forgotten and rather experimental tale wherein the Johnny Thunder of Earth-1 wrested control of the genie-like Thunderbolt from his Justice Society counterpart and used its magic to alter the events that led to the creation of all Earth-1’s superheroes. Then it’s JSA to the rescue in a gripping battle of wits in #37’s ‘Earth – Without a Justice League’ and the concluding ‘Crisis on Earth-A!’
Issue #39 was an Eighty-Page Giant reprinting Brave and the Bold #28 and #30 and Justice League of America #5, so this volume concludes with issue #40 and the ‘Indestructible Creatures of Nightmare Island’ a challenging mystery wherein an astral scientist’s machine to suppress Man’s basest instincts almost causes the end of humanity, an action packed psycho-thriller stuffed with villainous guest-stars.
These classic tales are as irresistible now as they ever were and absolutely shine in these deluxe hardback collections. Suitable for readers of all ages they are the absolute epitome of great superhero storytelling. I can’t believe you haven’t got a complete set yet!
By Brad Meltzer & Ed Benes (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-555-2
Comics must finally have come “of age†when the creator names on the dust-jacket are actually larger than the character logo or even the illustration. Still and all, this latest reboot of such perennial favourites as the “World’s Greatest Superhero Team†is a very impressive package, thanks in no small part to the meticulous efforts of scripter Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes.
A welcome innovation this time around is the inclusive nature of the restructuring as more than mere lip-service is paid to all the previous incarnations of the comic and the creators provide a nostalgic subtext that should appease all the dizzy, weary fans that have endured so many bewildering changes and incarnations.
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, One Year Later and 52, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman convene as a star-chamber to reform the Justice League of America as a force for good, only to discover that events have escaped them and a new team has already congealed (I really can’t think of a better term) to defeat the imminent menace of Professor Ivo, Felix Faust and the lethal android Amazo, plus a fearsome mystery mastermind and a few classic villains as well.
Told through the heartbreaking personal tragedy of the Red Tornado, who achieves his deepest desire only to have it torn from him, this is an enjoyable if complex dramatic tale that hides well its true purpose – that of repositioning the company’s core team in the expanded DC universe: one which encompasses all media. Therefore, there’s a tacit acceptance of influences from the various TV shows, movies and even animated cartoons underpinning everything here – even to the new Super Friends and Justice League Unlimited inspired headquarters. So whichever media experience brought you here, this is a new Justice League that should feel fresh yet comfortingly familiar.
By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-412-1
By the time of this fourth collection’s contents (Justice League of America #23-30) a winning formula had been ironed out. Mix earth-bound crime and disaster with high-concept alien encounters, keep the super-villain content high and above all, get better and better with each issue.
Faced with the impossible task of topping the resurrection of the Justice Society of America in all their glory (see Justice League of America Archive Edition Volume 3 ISBN: 1-56389-159-X) creative team Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs rose to the challenge with the eccentric outer-space thriller ‘Drones of the Queen Bee’, wherein the heroes of Earth 1 had to fulfil the devious wishes of an alien super-criminal with aspirations of immortality. As the team escaped enslavement to the alien seductress, the continuity bug was growing, and the casual referencing of the ongoing cases of individual members would become a mainstay of most future issues.
Alien despot Kanjar Ro returned in ‘Decoy Missions of the Justice League’ (JLA #24) a sinister world conquest plot that featured another guest-shot for off-world adventurer Adam Strange whilst a perplexing mystery with planet-shaking consequences temporarily baffled the team in the rousing off-world thriller ‘Outcasts of Infinity!’ Issue #26’s ‘Four Worlds to Conquer’ dealt with an insidious revenge plot of the three-eyed alien Despero whilst a much more metaphysical menace assaulted the team in ‘The “I†Who Defeated the Justice League’. Although the deadly android Amazo was also on hand to add a more solid threat to the proceedings.
The charmingly naff Head-Mastermind and a bunch of second-string super-villains tried to outfox the League in #28’s ‘Case of the Forbidden Super-Powers’, but not so easily defeated or forgotten are the next two tales. ‘Crisis on Earth-Three’ and ‘The Most Dangerous Earth of All!’ reprised the team-up of the Justice League and Justice Society, when the super-beings of yet another alternate Earth discovered the secret of multiversal travel.
Unfortunately Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring were villains on a world without heroes, and saw the costumed crusaders of the JLA and JSA as living practise dummies to sharpen their evil skills upon. With this cracking two-part thriller the annual summer team-up became solidly entrenched in comic lore, giving fans endless joy for years to come and making the approaching end of school holidays less gloomy than they might have been.
(A little note: Although the comic cover-date in America was the month by which unsold copies had to be returned – the off-sale date – export copies to Britain travelled as ballast in freighters. Thus they usually went on to those cool, spinning comic-racks in the actual month printed on the front. You can unglaze your eyes and return to the review proper now, and thank you for your patient indulgence at my sad showing-off.)
The wonder years of the Justice League were a time of startling creativity and these tales just seem to get more marvellous with every re-reading. This deluxe format is an admittedly expensive indulgence, but these books are ones you always return to and their bright shiny resilience is well worth the extra outlay.
By Gardner Fox, Denny O’Neil, Mike Sekowsky, Dick Dillin & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 1-56389-977-9
By 1968 the new superhero boom looked to be dying just as its predecessor had at the end of the 1940s. Sales were down generally in the comics industry and costs were beginning to spiral, and more importantly “free†entertainment, in the form of television, was by now ensconced in even the poorest household. If you were a kid in the sixties, think on just how many brilliant cartoon shows were created in that decade, when artists like Alex Toth and Doug Wildey were working in West Coast animation studios.
It was also a time of great political and social upheaval. Change was everywhere and unrest even reached the corridors of DC. When a number of creators agitated for increased work-benefits the request was not looked upon kindly. Many left the company for other outfits and some left comics altogether.
This deluxe volume reflects the turmoil of the times as the writer and penciller who had created every single adventure of the World’s Greatest Superheroes since their inception gave way to a “new wave†writer and a fresh if not young artist. Collecting issues #61-66 and #68-70 (#67 was a giant edition which reprinted issues #4, 14 and 31, and only the wonderful Neal Adams cover is included here), this edition covers a society in transition and a visible change in the way DC comics stories were told.
Kicking off is ‘Operation: Jail the Justice League!’, a sharp and witty action-mystery with an army of super-villains by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and the superb Sid Greene wherein the team must read between the lines as Green Arrow announces that he’s quitting the team and super-hero-ing!
George Roussos replaced Greene as inker for ‘Panic from a Blackmail Box’, a taut thriller about redemption involving the time-delayed revelations of a different kind of villain, and ‘Time Signs a Death-Warrant for the Justice League’, where the Key finally acts on a scheme he initiated way back in Justice League of America #41. This rowdy fist-fest was Sekowky’s last pencilling job on the team. He was transferring his attentions to the revamping of Wonder Woman (for which see the marvellous Diana Prince: Wonder Woman volume 1, ISBN: 978-1-84576-776-1).
Gardner Fox ended his magnificent run on a high point with the two-part annual team up of the League and the Justice Society of Earth Two. Creative to the very end, his last story was yet another of the Golden-Age retoolings that had recreated the superhero genre. Issues #64 and 65 featured the ‘Stormy Return of the Red Tornado’ and ‘T.O. Morrow Kills the Justice League – Today!’ with a cyclonic super-android taking on the mantle of the comedic 1940s “Mystery Man†who appeared in the very first JSA adventure (if you’re interested, the original Red Tornado was a brawny washer-woman named Ma Hunkle).
Fox’s departing thriller was the pencilling debut of Blackhawk artist Dick Dillin, a prolific artist who would draw all the JLA’s exploits for the next twelve years, as well as many others adventures of DC’s top characters like Superman and Batman. His first tales were inked by the returning Sid Greene, a pairing that seemed vibrant and realistic after the eccentrically stylish, almost abstract Sekowsky.
Not even the heroes themselves were immune to changes. As the market contracted and shifted so too did the team. With no fanfare the Martian Manhunter was dropped after #61. He just stopped appearing and the minor heroes (ones whose strips or comics had been cancelled) got less and less space in future tales.
Denny O’Neil took over with #66, a rather dated and heavy-handed satire entitled ‘Divided they Fall!’ wherein defrocked banana-republic dictator Generalissimo Demmy Gog (did I mention it was heavy-handed?) uses a stolen morale-boosting ray to cause chaos on a college campus. O’Neil was more impressive with his second outing. ‘Neverwas – the Chaos Maker!’ was a time-lost monster on a rampage, but the compassionate solution to his depredations better fitted the social climate and hinted at the joys to come when the author began his legendary run on Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
‘A Matter of Menace’ featured a plot to frame Green Arrow, but is most remarkable for the brief return of Diana Prince. Wonder Woman had silently vanished at the end of #66 and her cameo here is more a plug for her own adventure series than a regulation guest-shot. The volume concludes with a more traditional one in #70’s ‘Versus the Creeper’ where the much diminished team of Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern and Atom battle misguided aliens inadvertently brought to Earth by the astoundingly naff Mind-Grabber Kid (most recently seen in Seven Soldiers and 52) with the eerie Steve Ditko-created hero along for the ride but largely superfluous to the plot.
Although an era of greatness had ended, it ended at the right time and for sound reasons. The audience was changing and the industry was forced to change with them. Some of the Justice League’s greatest triumphs were still to come…
By Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-159-X
The third deluxe volume recounting the adventures of “The World’s Greatest Superheroes†begins with ‘Challenge of the Untouchable Aliens’ (Justice League of America #15, cover-dated November 1962), an exotic, doom-laden mystery which added some fresh texture to the formulaic plot of extra-dimensional invaders out for our destruction. Following that is the intellectual poser ‘The Cavern of Deadly Spheres’; a change-of-pace tale with a narrative hook that just wouldn’t be used on today’s oh-so-sophisticated audience, but which still has power to grip a reader.
‘Triumph of the Tornado Tyrant’ (#17) saw a sentient cyclone that had once battled the indomitable Adam Strange set up housekeeping on an desolate world to ponder the very nature of Good and Evil, before realising that it needed the help of the Justice League to reach a survivable conclusion. Teaser Alert: As well being a cracking yarn, this story is pivotal to the development of the android hero Red Tornado…
Issue #18 saw the team summoned to a subatomic civilisation by three planetary champions whose continued existence threatened to end the very world they were designed to protect. ‘Journey to the Micro-World’ found our heroes compelled to defeat opponents who were literally unbeatable. Another perplexing riddle was posed in ‘The Super-Exiles of Earth’ when unstoppable duplicates of the team go on a crime-spree with the result that the world’s governments are forced to banish the heroes into space.
‘The Mystery of Spaceman X’ is an interplanetary romp and a cunning brainteaser, with lots of action serving to whet the appetite for the genuine pivotal classic that follows.
‘Crisis on Earth-One’ (Justice League of America #21) and ‘Crisis on Earth-Two’ (#22) combine to become one of the most important stories in DC history and arguably in all American comics. When ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ introduced the concept of Infinite Earths and multiple heroes to the public, fan pressure began almost instantly to bring back the lost heroes of the “Golden Ageâ€. The editorial powers-that-be were hesitant, though, fearing that too many heroes would be silly and unmanageable, or worse yet put readers off. If only they knew what we know now!
The plot sees a team-up of assorted villains from each Earth plundering at will and trapping our heroes in their own HQ. Temporarily helpless the JLA contrive a desperate plan to combine forces with the champions of a bygone era! It’s impossible for me to be totally objective about this saga. I was a drooling kid in short trousers when I first read this and the thrills haven’t diminished with this umpty-first re-reading. This is what superhero comics are all about!
This volume shows the very best of DC at the height of its creative output: Sheer fun and excitement to delight readers of any age and temperament.
By Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, Al Gordon & Terry Austin (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-787-7
When the continuity-altering bombast of Crisis on Infinite Earths resulted in such spectacular commercial success, DC must have felt more than justified in revamping a number of their hoariest icons for their next fifty years of publishing. As well as Superman, Flash, and Wonder Woman, the moribund and unhappy Justice League of America was earmarked for a radical revision. Editor Andy Helfer assembled plotter Keith Giffen, scripter J.M. DeMatteis and untried penciller Kevin Maguire to produce an utterly new approach to the superhero monolith: they played them for laughs.
A few months ago I reviewed the 1990s collection (reprinted in entirety in this impressive hardcover) with my usual bleating that such great material deserved a high-profile re-release and I’m delighted to see that DC were already thinking the same thing. These wild and woolly tales are a perfect panacea to all the doom and gloom that infests so much of today’s comics content. I’m also happy to say that this time the editors found room to include the great Maguire JLI poster from 1987 and the Who’s Who entry and artwork this time around.
Leading directly on from the DC crossover-event Legends, the new team debuted in May 1987, combining a roster of second-stringers Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Dr. Fate, Guy Gardner/Green Lantern, and Mr. Miracle with heavyweights Batman and Martian Manhunter – as nominal straight-men – later supplemented by Captain Atom, Booster Gold, Dr. Light, and Rocket Red. According to Keith Giffen’s new introduction the initial roster was mandated from on high but there’s certainly no stiffness or character favouritism apparent in these early tales.
Introducing the charismatic manipulator Maxwell Lord, who used wealth and influence to recreate the super-team, the creators crafted a mystery that took an entire year to play out – so let’s hope a second volume is due soon. The team passed the time fighting terrorist bombers (#1; ‘Born Again’ inked by Terry Austin), displaced alien heroes determined to abolish nuclear weapons (#2-3; ‘Make War No More’ and ‘Meltdown’) and saw off old-fashioned super-creeps like the Royal Flush Gang (#4; ‘Winning Hand’).
‘Gray Life, Gray Dreams’ and ‘Massacre in Gray,’ guest-starring the Creeper, was a memorable supernatural threat in issues #5-6, and Lord’s scheme bore fruit in #7’s ‘Justice League… International’ as the team achieved the status of a UN agency, with rights, privileges and embassies in every corner of the World.
These wonderful yarns are full of sharp lines and genuinely gleeful situations, perfect for the Ghostbusters generation and still as appealing today. That the art is still great is no surprise and the action still engrossing is welcome, but to find that the jokes are still funny is a glorious relief. Indulge yourself and join that secret comics brotherhood who greet each other with the fateful mantra “Bwah-Hah- Hah!â€
