Comic Coverage

Summers Past: The JLA & JSA team-ups (part one)

I've been at this comic book collecting thing for awhile, and part of the fun has always been hunting down and (occasionally) completing major runs of a specific title.  Earlier this year, I bragged-up my 50+ years of Superman comics, so now I thought I'd cover another major milestone of my collection.

But before we get to that, let me set the stage a bit. 

One of the great summer traditions when I was growing up was the annual team-up between the Justice League of America and their Earth-2 counterparts the Justice Society of America.  Fascinated by all-things JSA and Earth-2 from the first moment I saw them, I anxiously awaited the annual JLA-JSA meeting from about the mid-70's onward. Since then, I've managed to collect every JLA-JSA team-up from the first one (1963) all the way through to the final one of the so-called "Pre-Crisis era" (1984).

Despite what the calendar says, we all know summer really ends when the new school year begins (which is next week for us), so what better way to mark the waning days of summer than by taking a look back at those legendary JLA-JSA team-ups of summers past?

Besides listing issue numbers and cover images, I'll also be including some additional information and art along with my own impressions for each of the team-ups. However, since there were a whopping twenty-two of them, logic (and compassion for my readers) dictates that I should probably break up the survey into smaller, easy-to-digest sections. 

WARNING: If stories from simpler times aren't your thing, or if extended nostalgia trips make you crazy, click on any of the excellent blog links in my sidebar and I'll see you another day.  But for those of you who share my fond memories for the JLA-JSA adventures, or if you're a newbie who wants to learn more about them, let's get started!

Summers Past: The JLA & JSA team-ups (part two)

As the summer winds to a close, I thought I'd revisit the legendary team-ups of the Justice League and their Earth-2 pals the Justice Society.  If you missed part one, click here.  If not, kick back and enjoy part two... 

Okay, then...where was I? Oh, yeah...

Justice League of America #64-65 (1968)

Roll Call: 

JLA: Superman, Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Hawkman, Green Arrow and JLA mascot Snapper Carr.

JSA: Starman, Flash, Hourman, Black Canary, Dr. Fate, the Atom, Sandman, Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Mr. Terrific and Red Tornado II.

Villains:  T.O. Morrow, the faceless androids, cosmic creatures, animated souvenir statues of Amazo, Starro, Dr. Light, the Diamond Creature and Super Duper.

Summary: An android calling himself the Red Tornado stormed a JSA meeting and demanded to join the team, so they invited him along on a mission.  While responding to a bank robbery with four JSA members, Reddy accidentally destroyed them (oopsie!), which made him wonder if he was created by some sinister hand for that very purpose. It turned out he was absolutely right, as the evil scientist T.O. Morrow revealed his master plan to eradicate the JSA using technology stolen from the future (which included the Red Tornado himself).

Learning this, Reddy attacked his creator, but instead ended up killing the rest of the JSA with a blast from a "FuturEnergy" gun (oopsie!).  With the JSA out of the way, T.O. Morrow then turned his focus to the JLA by sending an array of strange creatures, animated JLA trophies and even energy duplicates of their sweethearts to kill the Earth-1 heroes!

Like the JSA before them, the JLA are eventually "killed" by FuturEnergy, with only a barely-functioning Red Tornado left to save the day.  Reddy bridged the dimensional gap to Earth-1 and revived each JLA member with a kiss from their real sweethearts.  He then revived the fallen Earth-2 heroes, who (despite the android's horrible track record) immediately granted him full JSA membership.  True to form, Red Tornado greeted the good news with "I wish I was human" yearning and moping.

Highlights:  The Red Tornado's child-like earnestness as he tries to prove himself to the JSA, as well as the surreal casualness of both the JSA and the JLA being "killed" by FuturEngery.  These days, it would have been a twelve part series. Then?..a plot device!

 

Lowlights: Writer Gardner F. Fox's continual reliance upon generic, spontaneously-generated monsters to eat up the page count.

Artist Dick Dillin's perpetual inability
to draw Superman's S symbol.

Summers Past: The JLA & JSA team-ups (part three)

For those coming in late, part one covered the humble beginnings of what became a treasured annual tradition: the JLA-JSA team-ups.  Part two chronicled the expansion of the concept, as ever-greater threats were met with ever-increasing numbers of superheroes.  We now find ourselves in 1973, as the superhero head count just keeps going up! 

Justice League of America #107-108 (1973)

Roll Call: 

JLA: Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Elongated Man, and the Red Tornado (now a JLA member).

JSA: Superman, Flash, Hourman, Sandman, and Dr. Fate.

The Freedom Fighters of Earth-X: Uncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, and the Ray. Flashback cameos of Plastic Man and the Blackhawks.

Villains:  The Third Reich of Earth-X.

Summary: When a new dimensional transporter malfunctioned, three JLA members and three JSA members were mistakenly sent to yet another alternate earth, where they were immediately attacked by high-tech Nazi troops.  Just when things were looking grim, our heroes received an assist from the Freedom Fighters, the native superheroes of the nightmarish "Earth-X".  Following the battle, Uncle Sam (yes, that Uncle Sam) gave the JLA and JSA a quick history lesson, explaining that the German Third Reich of Earth-X had won World War II, and now controlled the entire planet using mind control devices stationed in various locations.

Wasting no time, the three teams combined their forces to hunt down and systematically destroy each of the mind control devices, and met with heavy resistance along the way.  When the final device was smashed, the JLA & JSA suddenly attacked the Freedom Fighters, indicating yet another mind control machine was in operation. Free of the device's control, the Red Tornado discovered it orbiting around the planet.  After an encounter with "Adolph Hitler" (actually just an android), Reddy smashed the satellite and freed his teammates.  Following a round of handshakes and back-slapping, the repaired dimensional transporter returned the JLA and JSA to their respective worlds.

Highlights: Wow...where to begin?  This one definitely makes the Top Five cut, since there's so much to like here. 

When I'm not reading fiction, I enjoy reading history..and occasionally I blend the two by reading "alternate history" fiction, so obviously the victorious Third Reich of Earth-X is a fascinating concept in and of itself.  Add to that the revival of Golden Age characters originally published by Quality Comics along with the generous number of battles with high-tech Nazis, and you've got yourself one heck of a story. 

Dick Dillin's artwork never looked better than when Dick Giordano was inking it (as he does here), evoking the work Giordano did with Neal Adams around the same time period.  Oh, and you'll be happy to learn that the Earth-2 Superman finally received his own subtly distinctive look with this story (the graying temples and Golden Age "S" symbol I was going on about in Part II).

Lowlights:  None come to mind.  This really is one of the very best.

Summers Past: The JLA & JSA team-ups (part four)

Way back in the summer of 1963, two legendary teams of superheroes bridged the dimensional gulf and shared an adventure. That adventure became an annual event, which continued on for another twenty-one summers. 

I've been fondly remembering each of those summer adventures, which you can catch-up on by reading parts one, two, and three.  We now find ourselves in 1978, fifteen years after that first fateful meeting...

Justice League of America #159-160 (1978)

Roll Call: 

JLA: Superman, Flash, Elongated Man, and Hawkman. Cameo appearances by Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, and Black Canary.

JSA: The Huntress, Dr. Mid-Night, Wonder Woman, and Star-Spangled Kid. Cameo appearances by Superman, Dr. Fate, and Green Lantern.

The Heroes of Yesterday: Jonah Hex, Viking Prince, Miss Liberty, Black Pirate, and Enemy Ace.

Villains:  The Time Lord and his computer, The Eternity Brain.

Summary: As the JLA and JSA enjoyed an elegant dinner at the swanky Club 22, five heroic figures from the past suddenly burst through the walls and plunged a number of the modern-day superheroes into a mysterious coma. Unsure of why or how they had done such a terrible thing, the oddly superpowered time-lost figures fled the scene.

Meanwhile, in the year 3786 A.D., the Time Lord and his time-manipulating "Eternity Brain" computer gloated over the attacks they engineered.  However, unknown to the Eternity Brain, the Time Lord actually feared the sentient computer and was plotting to destroy it with the unwitting help of his historic champions, the JLA and the JSA. The plan appeared to work, since the vengeful JLA and JSA followed the "history warriors" across time and space, straight to the Time Lord's Palace of Eternity.  One by one, the castle's defenses defeated the superheroes, sending them into the same coma-like state as their teammates back in 1978. One remaining hero, the Elongated Man, rose to the challenge and managed to destroy the Eternity Brain...proving to himself that he wasn't a "circus clown" unworthy of JLA membership.

Highlights: Er...not many to speak of here.  Yeah, it was intriguing to see historical heroes brought into the mix, but check out the Lowlights to see how that worked out. I thought the reluctance and fear of the Time Lord toward the Eternity Brain was an interesting twist to the standard supervillain motivation.  Elongated Man's big save at the end of the story was also nicely done.

Also, a tiny Atom hooked to a tiny I.V. on
a hospital bed.  Awww....ain't that cute?

Lowlights: While it was a novel idea to include some of the historical heroes of DC's past, granting them immense yet nonsensical superpowers while whisking them around the time stream was a really poor way to utilize them. Because of the breakneck pacing and the bewildering sci-fi surroundings, they were little more than one-dimensional, cliche-spouting caricatures.  The modern day heroes didn't fare much better, since their bizarrely overheated emotions and endless internal monologuing only added to the feeling of sensory overload.  Top it off with some exceptionally weak Dick Dillin art, and it's safe to say this story is one of the most forgettable JLA-JSA team-ups in my entire collection.

Summers Past: The JLA & JSA team-ups (conclusion)

The team-ups of the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America were a much-anticipated annual tradition for an entire generation of comic book fans...including me!  In fact, I became such a fan of their summer meetings that I've managed to collect all twenty-two of them.  I thought it would be fun to list them all, along with some of my own impressions.

Before I head into the fifth and final part of my series, I hope you've enjoyed parts one, two, three and four.  Putting this together has taken a bit more work than I initially thought it would, but really...it's been a labor of love.  These stories, lumps and all, were a big part of my "wonder years"...so it really has been a joy to get back into them again and to share them with you.  With that, let's finish this thing off...starting with a massive five part crossover with the All-Star Squadron...

Justice League of America #207-209 and
All-Star Squadron #14 & 15 (1982)

Roll Call: 

JLA: Superman, Firestorm, Hawkman, Zatanna, and Aquaman.

JSA: Green Lantern, Power Girl, Starman, Huntress, and Dr. Fate.

The All-Star Squadron: Commander Steel, Liberty Belle, Robotman, Johnny Quick, and Firebrand.

Villains:  Per Degaton; Ultraman, Power Ring, Superwoman, Owlman, and Johnny Quick; Nuclear the Magnetic Marauder.

Synopsis: As various JSA members hopped into their transmatter cube to visit the Earth-1 universe...you guessed it...something went wrong! Instead of the JSA exiting from the JLA's transmatter cube, it was the Crime Syndicate from Earth-3 in full attack mode!

After their evil doppelgangers soundly trounced them, the JLA transported to Earth-2 for answers and found the JSA's headquarters in ruins.  Not only that, but the world was ruled by the JSA's old time-traveling foe Per Degaton.

So where did the JSA go?  Well, they appeared on Earth-Prime (where we live), which they discovered had been devastated by a nuclear war.  After battling the standard post-apocalyptic mutated humans, the JSA traced the atomic devastation back to the history-twisting machinations of Degaton during Earth-Prime's 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Back on Earth-2, Superman flew the JLA back in time to 1942 for a clue on what happened to the 1982 JSA. Instead of finding the JSA, they (almost literally) ran into members of the All-Star Squadron (composed of other Golden Age heroes owned by DC Comics).  After getting everyone up to speed, the assembled heroes headed for the White House to meet with the always-available (and jovial) President Roosevelt.  During their Oval Office meeting, Degaton broadcast a video message to FDR and other world leaders demanding that he be made Ruler of Earth.  If not, he would unleash his nuclear arsenal (which he had stolen from 1962).

Got all that?  Good...because we're not done yet!

Once the JLA and the All-Star Squadron were joined by the time-jumping JSA, they split into smaller teams to hunt down Degaton's hidden stash of twenty-seven nuclear missiles.  Despite members of the Crime Syndicate guarding each location, the heroes defeated them and dismantled the weapons.

Next on the agenda, the heroes jumped to 1962 to prevent Degaton from stealing the missiles in the first place.  At that point, with the Crime Syndicate sent back to Limbo and Degaton totally defeated, time reverted back to its proper course...ensuring that the JLA-JSA meeting that opened the story could proceed without incident (and plenty of snacks).

Highlights: I was glad to see some of the more obscure Golden Age heroes brought into the mix through the All-Star Squadron (which was kinda the whole point of that series).  Speaking of which, I thought the chapters taking place in All-Star Squadron (parts 2 and 4) were the strongest of the two titles, mainly because of the fantastic artwork by Adrian Gonzales and the crisp inking of Jerry Ordway.

Despite having a more secondary role than I'd have liked, it's always good to see the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3.  Degaton's nuclear threat was also an interesting idea, since it used time-travel in such a malevolent new way.  Sure, the JLA villain T.O. Morrow had previously smuggled weapons from the future to use in his crimes, but this was different since the future weapons Degaton had stolen were "our" weapons (real-world nuclear missiles).  Definitely a thought-provoking twist.

Lowlights: Artist Don Heck, God bless him, had always been one of those competent artists who could get the job done, yet his work was never what you'd call flashy or dynamic.  Following his jump from Marvel to DC in the late 70's, Heck turned in art for titles like The Flash and Justice League that, as I said, was certainly competent and did the job of telling the story...but was also as dull as dishwater.  Not the ideal style of art you'd want for an epic time-traveling adventure with a cast of thousands (okay, dozens).

The story had the same frenetic pacing as past JLA-JSA team-ups, but I think what made it even harder to track was the additional element of time-travel...especially since three distinct time periods were in the mix (1942, 1962, and 1982).  Add to that the staggering number of cast members (some of whom I wasn't sure if they were the 1942 or 1982 versions of themselves), villains from yet another alternate earth, three U.S. Presidents, and elements of real political history, and you can start to see how this was a tough tale to follow over five installments.  Easily a third of parts two through five seemed to be spent recapping the adventure thus far...which is usually a sign that you've got too much on your plate.

Despite being a long-time fan of WWII superhero stories, I have to admit I get tired of President Roosevelt's constant cameo appearances.  In so many of the superhero stories set in WWII, especially those written by Roy Thomas (I love Roy, but you can sure tell the guy was a history major!), FDR shows up time and time again as this avuncular secular saint, spouting Solomonic Wisdom while chomping jut-jawed on his cigarette holder.  In fact, the man showed up so often in Roy's WWII stories, he became a sort of "wartime Professor X" (complete with wheelchair) coaching and cavorting with wartime superheroes.