Justice League International Year Five, Part I: Nightcrawlers! / Stars in Your Eyes (JLA #51-52 / JLE #23-28)

This post covers fewer issues of the two JLI monthlies than normal, because the next post covers all sixteen issues of the Breakdowns crossover in one go, leaving just eight issues of JLA and JLE to cover here. Those are supplemented, though by three issues of Justice League Quarterly, each of which is as long as four regular issues, so it definitely evens out! The JLQ issues are roughly placed by publication order in the omnibus, but I think they read better in the gap after JLA #50 (since General Glory is in most of them) and before JLE #23 (since #23-28 make a continuous run that leads straight into Breakdowns). Note, though, that the main story of JLQ #5 probably takes place significantly earlier based on the status of Guy and Ice's relationship; I'd guess around the time of JLA #38 / JLE #21.

from Justice League Quarterly #3

"Burning Bridges" / "When You Wish..." / "The Sunnie Caper" / "Cracked Ice!" / "CATales" / "Be Careful What You Wish For!" / "Light Housekeeping" / "Jillion Dollar Legs" / "My Dinner with G'nort", from Justice League International Special #2 (1991), Justice League Quarterly #3-5 (Summer-Winter 1991), and Justice League America #51 (June 1991); reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 3 (2024)
plots by Keith Giffen and Marshall Rogers; scripted by Joey Cavalieri, Gerard Jones, Will Jacobs, J. M. DeMatteis, Mark Waid, and Bill Loebs; pencilled by Joe Staton, Mike McKone, Jason Pearson, Darick Robertson, Marshall Rogers, Jan Duursema, Mike Parobeck, and Adam Hughes; inked by Pablo Marcos, Bob Smith, Randy Elliott, John Beatty, P. Craig Russell, Andrew Pepoy, Jan Duursema, Ty Templeton, and Joe Rubinstein; lettered by Albert De Guzman, John Costanza, Bob Pinaha, Bob Lappan, and Tim Harkins; colored by Tom Ziuko, Gene D'Angelo, Tom McCraw, Matt Hollingsworth, and Rick Taylor

This is a set of standalone stories, some of them published a bit later, set in the lull of events prior to Breakdowns. In that sense, it's sort of a last hurrah for the Giffen/DeMatteis status quo, the last time we'll get to spend time with these characters in these configurations. The first story is the second (and final) issue of JLI Special, focusing on the Huntress. I actually read this a long time ago, back when I read through the 1989-90 Huntress ongoing; this serves to cap off that series, which was cancelled. Unfortunately, even though it's branded as a Justice League story and not a Huntress one, it gives no quarter to people who have been reading Justice League but not Huntress; it's filled with characters and situations that I did not know, and I found it largely incomprehensible. But it is nice to see some Joe Staton artwork.

The stories from Justice League Quarterly are hit and miss. The story from JLQ #3 is, like the one from issue #1, a long 72-page story. This one is about the Extremists again; Kilowog and Uncle Wacky, the Walt Disney pastiche who accidentally created the Extremists, travel back into the world that he, Silver Sorceress, and Bluejay came from in an effort to reverse its destruction via time travel... only because they reconfigured Imskian tech, they end up miniaturized. The members of the JLI need to track them down and stop them. It's a good premise, but I found the story meandered a lot; in particular, the bit at the end where everyone ends up in the JLA cave HQ back when Barry Allen was alive feels tacked on. Also this was the first story when I noticed that Mike McKone for some reason draws Guy Gardner with outrageously large boots. (Also, I don't think previous stories depicted Sorceress and Bluejay's world as an alternate Earth, did they?)

from Justice League Quarterly #5

JLQ #4 features the Injustice League again, but in a story not by Giffen & DeMatteis, and I didn't find it very funny, unfortunately. Its two backup stories are, thankfully better; one advances the Guy/Tora romance, with them having their first kiss, while the other is a series of three-page strips told from the perspective of Power Girl's cat. If you don't like this stuff, you don't like life! 

Lastly, JLQ #5 establishes what will be the format of the series going forward: a thirtyish-page main story with three backups (though one of the three backups is set during Breakdowns, and thus positioned later in the omnibus). The main story is okay; Guy is very much negging Ice over her confidence (this must be set earlier than #4), but proves she has enough willpower to operate his power ring and save the day through her compassion. One of the backups is about Ice again, along with Fire, as she deals with an overenthusiastic letter writer. It was fine, and I always love some Jan Duursema art (she was surely born to draw Fire). Originally I was confused why are Fire and Ice living in a rundown apartment building, not the JLI embassy, but eventually I realized it's probably set after Breakdowns, before Justice League Spectacular, when the team has broken up. Lastly, there's a General Glory story told in the style of the Golden Age. Good jokes, sure, but the real selling point is that you know Ty Templeton was born to draw this.

Finally we get back to JLA, with a funny story about J'onn, Kilowog, and G'nort going out for a night on the town. This is the last time we get a standalone comedy story from the classic Giffen/DeMatteis team, and it's a great one to go out on. I love their characterization of the long-suffering J'onn.

from Justice League Europe #23

"Foxy Ladies" / "Worm Food" / "Nightcrawlers!", from Justice League Europe #23-25 (Feb.-Apr. 1991), reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 2 (2020)
plot by Keith Giffen, scripts by Gerard Jones, pencils by Bart Sears, inks by Randy Elliott, letters by Bob Lappan, colors by Gene D'Angelo

These three issues are reprinted in volume 2 of the JLI Omnibus (because of their publication sequence), but they lead straight into issues #26-28 of JLE, which lead straight into Breakdowns, so I think they read better in volume 3. In these, we learn the secret of the Crimson Fox, and then there's a bunch of stuff about giant worms. It's fine, but a bit action-heavy, like a lot of recent JLE stories; I don't feel like the characters pop as much as they should.

"Stars in Your Eyes" / "The Vagabond King" / "The Man Who Wears the Star" / "The Battle of the Century! Decade! Year! Month?", from Justice League Europe #26-28 (May-July 1991) and Justice League America #52 (July 1991), reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 3 (2024)
plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, dialogue by Gerard Jones and J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Bart Sears and Trevor von Eeden, inks by Randy Elliott, letters by Bob Lappan, colors by Gene D'Angelo

from Justice League Europe #27

The last three pre-Breakdowns issues of JLE see the return of Starro. These I enjoyed a lot; there are some clever twists and turns as Starro takes over J'onn J'onnz and the JLE must figure out how to defeat the most powerful member of the League. Finally, we get a fairly ridiculous story where Blue Beetle and Guy Gardner challenge each other to a boxing match... but Ted is getting too overweight to be an effective fighter, and Guy goes too far... and even he knows it. It's another solid character-based comedy, the very last one because the issue ends with a cliffhanger that leads into Breakdowns. But more on that next time!

This is the seventh in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers issues #53-60 of JLA and #29-36 of JLE. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 
4. Justice League America #31-36 / Justice League Europe #7-12 (Oct. 1989–Mar. 1990)
5. Justice League America #37 / Justice League Europe #13-21 (Apr. 1990–Dec. 1990)
6. Justice League America #38-50 / Justice League Europe #22 (May 1990–May 1991)

Review: The Immortal Doctor Fate by Martin Pasko, Keith Giffen, et al.

This is again a series that wasn't originally on my list, but I learned about from reading the lettercol in an earlier Earth-Two comic; Roy Thomas shilled for it at some point during All-Star Squadron. At first I was not interested-- and certainly in the future I will not be incorporating each and every Doctor Fate comic into my JSA read-through-- but 1) I liked Roy's Doctor Fate origin in All-Star Squadron #47, and 2) I am a sucker for the 1980s reprint miniseries where they took some archival material and reprinted it ad-free on high-quality paper with new covers. (I also have the IronWolf one-shot, the Green Lantern/Green Arrow one, and some other I cannot bring to mind.)

Mostly this series focuses on the Doctor Fate work of Martin Pasko, Keith Giffen, and Larry Mahlstedt; issues #2 and 3 each reprint a four-issue story originally published as a backup in The Flash in 1982. Issue #1 provides some context by including a Fate origin by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton from DC Special #10 (1978), a one-off by Martin Pasko and Walter Simonson from 1st Issue Special #9 (1975), and a six-page Golden Age story by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman. (I assume the latter is included to bring the page count up, because it very much doesn't fit otherwise. It's also pretty nonsensical, even by Golden Age standards.)

from The Immortal Doctor Fate #1
(script by Martin Pasko, art by Walt Simonson)

I'm of two minds about this. One the one hand, I appreciate the artistry involved. The layouts-- especially those by Simonson and Giffen-- are explosive and energetic, communicating the apocalyptic tone, and unlike the kind of stuff you would have seen elsewhere in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There are disturbing, twisted, magical images here, and they feel unique to Doctor Fate. So too does the writing, which avoids the trap of being generic superheroics with a veneer of magic. I also like the "domestics" of Fate's set-up, his relationship with Inza and such. And Inza herself is pretty awesome.

from The Immortal Doctor Fate #2
(script by Martin Pasko, art by Keith Giffen & Larry Mahlstedt)

But something just never grabs me about Fate stories, even ones I can recognize as well done. I think it's because the magic can often be the fantasy equivalent of technobabble, what I often call "thaumababble." It feels like anything can happen, which is sometimes cool, but also means it's hard to grasp the logic of the world. Or maybe more accurately, I don't need to grasp the logic of fantasy stories (sometimes that removes the magic), but I do need to feel like there is a logic I could grasp. Le Guin treads this line well. It feels churlish to complain that Martin Pasko isn't Ursula K. Le Guin, but well, there you go. Worth tracking down (it took mildly more effort than 1980s comics usually do) and reading but I probably wouldn't reread them.

The Immortal Doctor Fate was published in three issues (Jan.-Mar. 1985). The original stories were published in various comics from 1940 to 1982, and were written by Paul Levitz, Gardner Fox, Martin Pasko, and Steve Gerber; pencilled by Joe Staton, Hal Sherman, Walt Simonson, and Keith Giffen; inked by Mike Nasser, Hal Sherman, Walt Simonson, and Larry Mahlstedt; lettered by Shelly Leferman, John Costanza, Ben Oda, and Adam Kubert; colored by Adrienne Roy, Anthony Tollin, and Tatjana Wood; and edited by Gerry Conway, Mike W. Barr, and Len Wein. The reprints were edited by Nicola Cuti.

 

This post is nineteenth in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)
2. The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)
3. All-Star Squadron (1981-87)
4. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)
5. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)
6. Showcase Presents... Power Girl (1978)
7. America vs. the Justice Society (1985)
8. Jonni Thunder, a.k.a. Thunderbolt (1985)
9. Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 7 (1983-85)
10. Infinity, Inc. #11-53 (1985-88) [reading order]
11. Last Days of the Justice Society of America (1986-88)
12. All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant (1999)
13. Steel, the Indestructible Man (1978)
14. Superman vs. Wonder Woman: An Untold Epic of World War Two (1977)
• Wonder Woman: Earth-Two (1977-78)
15. Secret Origins of the Golden Age (1986-89)
16. The Young All-Stars (1987-89)
17. Gladiator (1930)
18. The Crimson Avenger: The Dark Cross Conspiracy (1981-88)
    

Review: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Volume Two by Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway, Joe Staton, et al.

Comic hardcover, 463 pages
Published 2018 (contents: 1978-80)
Acquired July 2018
Read July 2020

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Volume Two

Writers: Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Steve Apollo 

Pencillers: James Sherman, Arvell Jones, Joe Staton, Steve Apollo, Dick Dillin, Steve Ditko
Inkers: Bob McLeod, Danny Bulanadi, Jack Abel, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson, Dick Giordano, Dave Hunt, Joe Staton, Frank Chiaramonte, Vince Colletta, Dan Adkins
Colorists: Cory Adams, Gene D'Angelo, Glynis Wein, Adrienne Roy, Jerry Serpe
Letterers: Ben Oda, Shelly Leferman, Jean Simek, Todd Klein, Mike Stevens, Milt Snapinn

DC inches ever closer to plugging the gap between the last Legion of Super-Heroes Archive and The Great Darkness Saga with this, the second and final volume of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. (The just-annonced Before the Darkness series will continue from where this collection leaves off.) I'm glad this collection exists, but it's not the Legion's best material.

I don't know much behind-the-scenes information for this era, but the book gives every indication of being jerked around. First we have the five-part Earthwar saga scripted by Paul Levitz, where Earth is invaded by Khunds working for Mordru (to be honest, I don't remember who Mordru is). This is okay: it does nicely subvert your expectations at points, and the events are big... but they never feel big. When Levitz came back to the book for The Great Darkness Saga, he would do much better and more epic work than he did here, and it would feel meaningful to the characters in a way this sorely does not.

James Sherman, why couldn't you have stuck around for more than two issues?
from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #241 (script by Paul Levitz, art by James Sherman & Bob McLeod)

Then we get a couple issues written or co-written by Len Wein that read like inventory stories to me, with small references to the recent big events shoehorned in. I did kind of like the idea of "Savage Sanctuary!", where the Fatal Five kind of go legit, though the actual story got a bit stupid. The rule forbidding married couples to be in the Legion is rescinded, and thus Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad rejoin, and Lightning Lad is elected to leadership in short order, replacing Wildfire.

Poor Emerald Empress.
from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #247 (script by Len Wein, art by Joe Staton & Jack Abel)

Then we have a couple stories by Gerry Conway that more directly deal with the aftermath of Earthwar-- suddenly Earth is a wreck in need of repair. These are okay, nothing special. (Brainiac is extra jerk-like, which I assume is to set up the next story, though.)

That's uh, quite an outfit. (How does Reep having the hots for humanoid women fit with Invasion!'s revelation that the actual form of Durlans is a weird squid monster?)
from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #249 (script by Paul Kupperberg, art by Joe Staton)

Then we have a couple stories by Steve Apollo (better known as Jim Starlin) that were clearly orignally written to slot in around the time of Earthwar, with some last-minute dialogue tweaks: lip service is given to the fact that Lightning Lad is leader, but he and Saturn Girl aren't in the story even though it supposedly features all active Legionnaires (even Tyroc turns up!); Wildfire is clearly in charge. In this story, Brainiac is revealed to be a murderer, having gone insane, and Matter-Eater Lad goes insane, too. Not a lot of it makes sense. I didn't really buy any of this, and why do we need another giant attack on Earth when we just had one?

Tall panel!
from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #250 (plot & layouts by Steve Apollo, script by Paul Levitz, art by Dave Hunt)

Then Gerry Conway takes over permanently, dealing with the fallout of Apollo's story... but his stories are repetitive (three different ones are about people coming to take revenge on the Legion for slights, real or imagined) and contrived (the one where Superboy makes people think Legionnaires are dead by activating a latent chemical in their bloodstreams is particularly bad). Brainiac is healed in an entirely unconvincing way, and the Legion undertakes bizarre lengths to do it. The only thing I liked was the subplot about how R. J. Brande went bankrupt... but then realized he was a hoarder and gave away all his money.

If my dreams were like this, I wouldn't want to leave them, either.
from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #252 (script by Gerry Conway, art by Joe Staton & Dave Hunt)

(There's also a couple issues of DC Comics Presents by Levitz included, where Superman gets told by the Legion that he has to let Pete Ross's son be kidnapped by aliens to preserve future history. I found this kind of gross.)

Shouldn't Saturn Girl know that Pete Ross knows Superboy's secret identity, because Pete was a Legionnaire himself?
from DC Comics Presents #13 (script by Paul Levitz, art by Dick Dillin & Dick Giordano)

Finally, the last issue writes out Superboy from the comic that used to bear his name (Superboy vol. 1 became Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes became Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2). I liked how this was done, actually: Superboy finds out how his parents will die. The problem is that when he travels back to the 1950s, he loses his knowledge of future history only to regain it up returning to the 2970s. This means that every time he travels to the future from now on, he will be newly hit with the knowldge of how his parents die. Ouch! He promises to keep up his visits, but the Legion (okay, this part I like less) plant a telepathic block to stop him from doing so, so he flies off to the past for the last time.

Poor Clark.
from Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 2 #259 (script by Gerry Conway, art by Joe Staton & Dick Dillin)

Conway is often not a great writer (I found his run on All Star Comics around this same time pretty bleh), and Legion feels typical of his lesser output. Lots of bombast, not a lot of sense. Which you can kind of get away with in other comics, but Legion is trying to have an ongoing story with ongoing consequences, and those just don't play to Conway's strengths. There are some good artists on the book (e.g., Joe Staton, Jim Starlin), but it's no one's best work. James Sherman, who I really like, does the first couple issues but that's it. His characterful work could have kept this all a bit more grounded, I reckon.

I read a Legion of Super-Heroes collection every six months. Next up in sequence: Five Years Later Omnibus, Volume 1

Review: Showcase Presents... Power Girl by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, Dick Giordano, et al.

After her debut in All Star Comics, Power Girl got a three-month feature in Showcase, DC's title with rotating stars (for example, the Doom Patrol starred before her, and Hawkman after). I had originally skipped this in my Earth-Two reading project because the back issues are pretty expensive, and the trade they're in is half Geoff Johns shit with an awful Adam Hughes cover, but after early issues of Infinity, Inc. made a couple references to them, I looked into picking them up, and saw they were just $0.99 on Comixology. I don't normally like buying DC stuff on Comixology (unlike IDW publications, you can't download a PDF, so you have to read it in the terrible Comixology viewer), but $3 seemed hard to turn down.

It's a bit off. Since Power Girl was just one of an ensemble in All Star Comics, she didn't have much of a backstory there-- she's just like, "oh I'm Superman's cousin, hi"-- and these stories fill it in to an extent, and also give her a status quo outside of her JSA activities. But it's kind of awkward and weird. Power Girl was rocketed to Earth as an infant to escape the destruction of Krypton, of course, but unlike Kal-L, who landed on Earth still a small child, Kara Zor-L was raised to a young adult level in an artificial simulation of Kryptonian childhood before she reached Earth. I think there's real potential in such a situation, but the story doesn't make a whole lot of it: Kara's "symbioship" is trying to reabsorb her, she reveals her backstory, she defeats it with the help of Andrew Vinson (a Gotham reporter), the end, all in the space of two issues.

from Showcase #98 (art by Joe Staton & Dick Giordano)

It's over improbably quickly, and I'm not sure why the symbioshop had to attack Power Girl and try to absorb Vinson, but it is a set-up with some good dramatic potential. I like the idea that she fits so poorly into human society because she was raised in Kryptonian society... but that was an illusion, so the only thing she knows is fake. It's a much more tragic take on the Krypton backstory than Superman's. (Though All Star indicated she was raised by the Kents, who are never mentioned here.)

from Showcase #98 (art by Joe Staton & Dick Giordano)

But it's all over just like that. Between the second and third issues, she concocts a human identity as Karen Starr, Wonder Woman uses an Amazonian teaching machine to give her knowledge of human culture as well as software development, and Vinson gets her a job at a software company. Like, that's it? It seems pretty meh that she didn't even know what software was until the machine taught it to her, so her job doesn't even build on any preexisting interests or skills. I mean, she was raised in a computer world, the connection is right there, but the story never makes it! Why give her a dilemma she actually never confronts in a story? (I'll be curious to see if future Power Girl stories, in Infinity, Inc. or elsewhere, make more of this. Probably not, because the Crisis on Infinite Earths will wipe this whole backstory away.)

from Showcase #99 (art by Joe Staton & Dick Giordano)

There's a subplot in the first two issues about someone stealing technical equipment; it turns out to be the Brain Wave at the end of the second, and the third focuses on Kara's battle with him. For some reason he hates Power Girl more than the rest of the Justice Society because she's defeated him more (really?) than them. I thought his power was brain stuff, but here he's building tripod war machines and sending cities into dimensional limbo, which doesn't really flow from that as far as I can tell. I do really like how Joe Staton draws his enlarged cranium, though.

from Showcase #97 (art by Joe Staton & Joe Orlando)

As always, I like Staton's art. Lightly stylized but full of energy, too, and his Kara looks like a powerhouse. Power Girl wears a choker; so did Black Canary at this time if I recall correctly, so I guess it was a thing then.

Showcase Presents... Power Girl originally appeared in issues #97-99 of Showcase (Feb.-Apr. 1978). The story was written by Paul Levitz; illustrated by Joe Staton (#97-99), Joe Orlando (#97), and Dick Giordano (#98-99); lettered by Ben Oda (#97-98) and Shelly Leferman (#99); colored by Jerry Serpe (#97) and Adrienne Roy (#98-99); and edited by Joe Orlando.

This post is the sixth in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers America vs. the Justice Society. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)
2. The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)
3. All-Star Squadron (1981-87)
4. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)
5. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)
   

Review: The Huntress: Origins by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, et al.

Comic trade paperback, 224 pages
Published 2020 (contents: 1977-82)
Acquired January 2020
Read February 2020

The Huntress: Origins

​

Writer: Paul Levitz

Penciller: Joe Staton
Inkers: Steve Mitchell, Bob Layton, Bruce Patterson, Jerry Ordway, Bob Smith, Mike DeCarlo
Colorists: Adrienne Roy, Anthony Tollin, Gene D'Angelo
Letterers: Todd Klein, John Costanza, Ben Oda, Janice Chiang, Bruce Patterson, Jean Simek, Milt Snapinn

The Huntress was, I think, the first concept original to Earth-Two to receive an ongoing feature since Earth-Two became Earth-Two, i.e., since the end of the Golden Age and the return of its characters as alternate reality denizens in the Silver Age. It demonstrates the potential of the concept: the Huntress is a character who could only exist on Earth-Two, a young woman trying to find her own way in the world while living up to the legacies of her superhero father and supervillain mother. You couldn't tell this story on Earth-One, but this kind of thing would become the backbone of Earth-Two stories, and then with the integration of Earth-Two, into DC's approach to its superheroes in general.

This story, where she has to defend a retired Alfred, was one my favorites, I think.
from Wonder Woman vol. 1 #294 (art by Joe Staton & Jerry Ordway)

The individual stories here are probably nothing special, but they work. Helena works at a public-interest law firm by day and fights crime by night. There's a nice sense that this is all grounded in the social realities of Gotham; you've read much more fanciful Batman-adjacent stories. The Huntress was always a feature in an anthology title, so the stories are typically serialized across installments of about eight pages, which keeps them moving briskly. I couldn't single any one story out, but I know that as I read them, I was always interested and engaged.

Nice eyebrows.
from Wonder Woman vol. 1 #271 (art by Joe Staton & Steve Mitchell)

Part of that is because of Joe Staton. Staton, I think, is a now-neglected heavyweight of 1980s comics, an era where he did good work on Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Lantern, Action Comics, and Millennium (among, I'm sure, others). I always like his atmospheric style, but it's particularly suited to adventures in Gotham City at night, sometimes blocky, but with Helena's athleticism and attractiveness always clear.

A very helpful torturer.
from Wonder Woman vol. 1 #289 (art by Joe Staton & Bruce D. Patterson)

This volume collects the first five years of Huntress solo adventures, all of the ones written by Paul Levitz. Joey Cavalieri took over writing the character after that, with Staton continuing on art at first, up until the point the character was obliterated by the Crisis,* but none of that material has been collected. Unfortunately, as I'm willing to track down some pretty random stuff, but buying a ton of issues of Wonder Woman because of a back-up feature doesn't really appeal.

* Well, beyond, actually, as Cavalieri also wrote the 1989-90 ongoing series that introduced the post-Crisis Huntress, who had no relationship to Bruce Wayne or Selina Kyle.

This post is the second in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers All-Star Squadron. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)
   

Review: All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever by Gerry Conway, Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, et al.

Comic hardcover, 446 pages
Published 2019 (contents: 1976-79)
Acquired January 2020
Read February 2020

All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever

​

Writers: Gerry Conway, Paul Levitz

Pencillers: Ric Estrada, Keith Giffen, Joe Staton & Wally Wood
Inkers: Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, Dave Hunt, Bob Layton, Joe Staton, Wally Wood
Colorists: Liz Berube, Carl Gafford, Adrienne Roy, Jerry Serpe, Anthony Tollin
Letterers: Todd Klein, Bill Morse, Ben Oda, Milt Snapinn

I've decided to read my way through most of DC's Earth-Two/Justice Society work. Specifically, I'm interested in what they did with the concept from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. The Justice Society qua the Justice Society doesn't particularly interest me: I have no need to read a bunch of 1940s team-up comics. Rather, one of the thing I like most about DC is the sense of legacy and development, and I think you could argue that really starts with the Justice Society of America: because those characters didn't need need to stay eternally youthful like the Earth-One/Justice League ones, they could age, have children, change identities, and such, and when Earths-One and -Two were merged during the Crisis, this aspect of the premise got incorporate into the wider DC universe. So I'm not reading (much of) the old stuff, and I'm not going into the Geoff Johns era because, really, a little bit of Geoff Johns goes much too far in my experience. (And then in the "New 52" era, DC abandoned what made the concept work entirely.)

Helena, you're the best.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #465 (script by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton & Dave Hunt)

Anyway, I think that whole approach to the JSA really begins here, with its first ongoing revival in the 1970s. At this point the JSA had guested in a number of Crisis on Multiple Earths stories, but this was the first time they appeared as the stars of their own series since they were shunted out of All Star Comics back in 1951.

Go Justice Society!
from All-Star Comics #74 (script by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton & Joe Giella)

That said, this isn't that great. I mean, it's totally serviceable superhero action... but that's about it, with a couple exceptions. Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz have the sort of storytelling where the JSA is plunged from adventure into adventure: usually each storyline ends with a hook for the next already underway. But this actually makes the adventures seem small-- the pacing is never able to emphasize anything. It also makes it feel like these characters don't really have any lives outside of this title, since there's no gaps where they can live their own lives and have solo adventues. I mean, they literally don't, since none of them have ongoing series... but I would argue that they ought to feel like they do. Where do Sylvester Pemberton or Power Girl even live? What do they do when not superheroing? They feel more like, I dunno, the Teen Titans or the X-Men, than they do the multiversal equivalents of the Justice League.

Bruce Wayne: in any reality, still a jerk.
from All-Star Comics #69 (script by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton & Bob Layton)

Most of the original threats here aren't very interesting, either. Vulcan, the astronaut who's always on fire? Some underground people? (Why is it always with the underground people in comics?) The writing is a little inconsistent, too. No one seems to know if Power Girl can fly or just jump really far. (In the earliest Golden Age comics, Superman could just jump really far, but by this point, he was long able to fly, and Power Girl ought to have the same power set.) Sometimes the book seems to be about a subset of the JSA called the "All Star Super Squad" but this is pretty inconsistently indicated, and eventually fades away.

And to think, Roy Thomas brought this guy back. Roy Thomas gonna Roy Thomas, I guess.
from All-Star Comics #60 (script by Gerry Conway, art by Keith Giffen & Wally Wood)

I did think it was interesting that the "parallel Earth" angle was occasionally pushed: this Earth has no apartheid in South Africa, for example. Not much was done with that, however.

If I was decades out of time, surely the thing I'd be reading about was earthquake science, too. (In later issues of All Star Comics, as well as Infinity, Inc., it becomes clear he didn't even look up his own family!)
from All Star Comics #59 (script by Gerry Conway with Paul Levitz, art by Ric Estrada & Wally Wood)

That said, this comic has some interesting seeds and nuggets. I liked the development of Dick Grayson, now American ambassador to South Africa. I liked the introduction of Power Girl, even if she was sometimes written too broadly. (I think you can write a confident feminist, and not have her come off like this.) I liked the secret origin of the Justice Society. I liked the Wildcat focus issue. I liked the idea of the Star-Spangled Kid being out of time. (In execution, I didn't always understand it. Why was he so lonely? Weren't all of the Seven Soldiers of Victory out of time? Go hang out with them!) I liked the introduction of the Huntress. I liked the death of the Earth-Two Batman. I liked the explanation for why the JSA was inactive from 1951 to the mid-1960s.

Oh, poor Helena.
from All-Star Comics #71 (script by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton & Bob Layton)

You can see how later writers, especially Roy Thomas in the 1980s, would pick up and develop what was done here. There's the kernel of a good premise here, but (as it often is in mass-produced superhero comics) it will take a while for it to develop.

I haven't got to it yet, but I'm pretty sure Roy Thomas turned this one-issue story about the end of the original JSA into a whole epic.
from Adventure Comics vol. 1 #466 (script by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Staton)

(A couple quibbles about this collected edition. It's clearly from the same "masters" as the Justice Society, Volume 1 and Volume 2 collections of 2006. Those collections replaced references to issue numbers from the original comics with ones to collections of that era. Now, those make no sense: they should have been updated again or (my preference) changed back to the originals. Also, it would have been nice if Justice League of America #171-72 had been included here, between Adventure Comics #465 and 466, since those issues of Adventure lead into the JSA's appearance in JLA and follow up on it. Also, I remember it as being rather good! Also also, I think choosing "All Star Comics" as the series imprint is weird; I feel like people are far more likely to find what they want and know what they're looking at with "Justice Society" branding. Collections of issues of Action Comics are never called "Action Comics" on the cover, and if they are, it's "Superman: Action Comics.")

This post is the first in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers The Huntress: Origins.

The Prehistory of the Omega Men

I didn't know when I began reading DC's The Omega Men that it was a spin-off of previous comics, mostly those by Marv Wolfman; I was actually surprised when I realized that Teen Titans's Starfire was from the Vega system that is the setting for The Omega Men. So now, as part of my dive back into 1970s-80s DC space comics, I'm reading a collection of random stuff that tied into The Omega Men in some way. Two enemies of the Omega Men, the Citadel and the Spider Guild, both appeared in Green Lantern originally (issues #136 and 167, respectively), for example. The Omega Men appeared in a number of stories across Green Lantern, Action Comics, and The New Teen Titans before they got their own ongoing, and it's those I want to talk about today.

* * * 

In addition to the issues of Green Lantern cited below, I also read #136-39, 164, 167, 172, and 180-90. I was in general impressed by what I read of writer Marv Wolfman's run (which in full goes from #133 to 153); Wolfman is very adept as balancing ongoing plots with standalone stories in the way that I feel is ideal, and even though I was plunged right into the middle of several ongoing stories, I never failed to understand what was going on. Those old comics where the characters spend a page thinking about what's happened to them recently might look a little silly to us now, but that conceit sure is helpful!

The Omega-Men Saga! actually gives very terrestrial roots to what would become quite a cosmic concept. Carol Ferris has been deposed as head of Ferris Aircraft by her father, so Carol and Hal Jordan-- who have only recently rekindled their relationship-- go on a trip to Newfoundland to get away from it all. Writer Wolfman implies a lot of tent sex. Because Hal Jordan is dumb, they run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, and when he uses his ring to get to the nearest town, they discover the whole thing is an illusion created by... the Omega Men! They're a group of resistance fighters from the Vega star system, who are masking themselves from the hunters of the Citadel, the evil empire that dominates their home system. Of course Green Lantern fights them, but when the Gordanian hunters arrive, they unite against their enemy. (Green Lantern previously fought the Gordanians in the 22nd and 58th centuries in Green Lantern #136-37.)

It's an okay story. With eight different Omega Men to incorporate (Primus, Kalista, Tigorr, Broot, Nimbus, Harpis, Demonia, and Auron) into what's really just two issues, none of them make much of an impression. Primus is the boss one, Kalista is the girl one, Demonia is the evil one, Auron is the god one, and that's basically it. And can I just say that Wolfman's naming is incredibly unimaginative? Primus is the leader, Tigorr is a tiger, Broot is a brute, Nimbus is a cloud, Harpis is a harpy, Demonia is a demon, and Auron is a light. Anyway, Joe Staton draws some good fights, the Gordanians are sent packing, and the Omega Men will stop hiding on Earth and go back into space to fight the Citadel.

* * * 

If this story (hardly a saga) had been their only appearance, I doubt anyone would remember them, but Marv Wolfman brought them back a year later, by which time he and Joe Staton were writing and drawing Action Comics. The end of The Omega-Men Saga! implied that the Omega Men were heading off into space, but apparently they actually didn't because they still had stuff to do. They need Green Lantern's help to finish fueling up their ship, only he's in space, so here they go ask Superman instead. However, we'vre right in the middle of an ongoing plot for Superman, where he's been split into two different people, each of which only has some of his powers, and one of which is lost in the medieval era. Just another Tuesday for Superman. So the Omega Men end up helping him and Lois (Wolfman is good at giving the female love interests stuff to do) fight some underground people who want to auction him off.

Not all of the Omega Men appear in this story, but the beginning of The Starfire Saga is also perfunctory. Some fighting, blah blah blah. Like with the holographic village in Green Lantern, the Omega Men seem to have a level of power not really consistent with what we see in the later ongoing Omega Men series by Roger Slifer and company; here, Kalista can use sorcery to summon someone on the opposite side of the Earth! It's hard to imagine the Omega Men leaving Vega at all, actually, based on the ongoing. (There definitely were some retcons when the Omega Men were made into their own thing.) The Superman stuff here was honestly more interesting than the Omega Men stuff. Which I guess makes sense; it's Superman's series after all!

However, at the end of its second issue, Superman takes the Omega Men to the Justice League satellite, where he provides them with the fuel they seek... only to be interrupted by the New Teen Titans barely reaching the satellite, as they nearly asphyxiate in space. The Starfire Saga continues from there in the pages of The New Teen Titans, which fill in how they ended up in this predicament: they were trying to rescue Starfire from being kidnapped by her sister Blackfire, who works for the Citadel. (Starfire and Blackfire's backstory was depicted by the recent Tales of the New Teen Titans #4, where we got our first glimpse of the key Vegan world of Okaara.)

The Omega Men have to go to Vega anyway, and hate the Citadel already, so they let the Titans accompany them in what leads to a series of pitched battles, as the Citadel tries to steal the Vegan god X'Hal. Some of the Titans stay on Okaara to defend the planet, while others go to the Citadel itself to rescue Starfire.

It's all exciting stuff. Marv Wolfman and George Pérez were at the top of their game in the 1980s. These are cosmic battles and personal foibles as only they can tell it, and even though I've scarcely read any of The New Teen Titans, they made me want to start collecting some expensive omnibus volumes. The Omega Men are still kind of just there, except for Demonia who is so evil that it seems improbable the rest would put up with her.

These stories do succeed in making you want the Omega Men get their own series, though, because of the worldbuilding. We see several planets in the Vega system, each with some kind of cool cosmic imagery, like the crystal interior of Okaara, or the asteroid fortress moons of the Citadel. You finish the story wanting to see more of this incredible world, and the best stories from the Omega Men ongoing would do just that. The only thing not to like is that the gorilla-like Citadelians are written as so stupid it beggars belief they could manage an interplanetary empire. (And Marv Wolfman doesn't seem to know the difference between a solar system, a galaxy, and a universe.)

* * * 

The last Omega Men story before they got their own spin-off was a two-issue return to Green Lantern. It's a simple story: Green Lantern is captured by some old enemies, the Headmen, who have really big heads. Listen, not every concept can be a winner. The Headmen seek to demonstrate their fitness to join the Citadel Empire by executing a Lantern. (The Citadel is much more expansionist in these precursor stories than it would be in the actual Omega Men series; I don't remember them ever trying to expand beyond Vega in those.) The Omega Men intercept the transmission between the Headmen and the Citadel, and go and rescue Green Lantern to repay their old debt. That's basically it, though it's a decent story; like Staton and Pérez, Pollard is a strong artist.

Its final issue came out in Feb. 1983, and The Omega Men began in Apr. 1983, so it seems likely this story was intended to directly set up the ongoing; it clarifies what would become a key part of the Omega Men mythos, that the Green Lanterns are forbidden by treaty from interfering with the Vega system. I found it weird, though, that the book doesn't actually mention that the Omega Men are about to get their own series. Shouldn't the new book get some explicit advertising?

* * * 

A collected edition of much of this material was solicited by DC a few years ago, but never released. I'm glad, then, that I tracked these issues down, and I look forward to someday rereading The Omega Men with this context in mind.

The Omega-Men Saga! originally appeared in issues #141-44 of Green Lantern vol. 2 (June-Sept. 1981). The story was written by Marv Wolfman, illustrated by Joe Staton, lettered by John Costanza (#141) and Ben Oda (#142-44), colored by Carl Gafford (#141-43) and A. Tollin (#144), and edited by Len Wein (#141-42) and Cary Burkett (#143-44).

The Starfire Saga originally appeared in Action Comics vol. 1 #535-36 (Sept.-Oct. 1982), The New Teen Titans vol. 1 #23-25 (Sept.-Nov. 1982), and The New Teen Titans Annual  vol.  1 #1 (1982). The story was plotted by Marv Wolfman (#535-36, #23-25, Annual #1) and George Pérez (#23-25, Annual #1); scripted by Marv Wolfman (#535, #23-25, Annual #1) and Paul Kupperberg (#536); illustrated/pencilled by Joe Staton (#535-36) and George Pérez (#23-25, Annual #1); embellished/inked by Pablo Marcos (#535), Sal Trapani (#536), and Romeo Tanghal (#23-25, Annual #1); lettered by Todd Klein (#535, #24) and Ben Oda (#536, #23, 25, Annual #1); colored by Gene D'Angelo (#535-36) and Carl Gafford (#23-25, Annual #1); and edited by Julius Schwartz (#535-36) and Len Wein (#23-25, Annual #1).

"Head Trip!" and "…And They Shall Crush the Headmen!" originally appeared in issues #160-61 of Green Lantern vol. 2 (Jan.-Feb. 1983). The story was written by Mike W. Barr, pencilled by Keith Pollard, embellished by Sam de la Rosa (#160) and Pablo Marcos (#161), lettered by Todd Klein (#160) and Ben Oda (#161), colored by Tom Ziuko (#160) and Anthony Tollin (#161), and edited by Ernie Colón. 

The first two of these titles are not quite official. The cover of Green Lantern #143 calls the issue "THE SHATTERING CONCLUSION OF THE OMEGA-MEN SAGA!" while the lettercol of New Teen Titans refers to the story begun in Action Comics as "the Starfire saga" on occasion. There is no overarching title given to Green Lantern #160-61.

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 13 by Paul Levitz, Jack Abel, et al.

Every six months, I read another volume of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and now it's time to catch up:

Comic hardcover, 251 pages
Published 2012 (contents: 1977)
Acquired November 2013
Read September 2014

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 13

Writers: James Shooter, Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway

Pencils: Mike Grell, James T. Sherman, Mike Nasser, Joe Staton, Arvell Jones, Ric Estrada
Inks: Bob Wiacek, Jack Abel, Bob Layton

This feels like a transitional set of Legion tales: these come from Paul Levitz's first run, and are definitely mostly weird throwaways in the 1970s style, rather than the complex, character-driven plots he would perfect with Keith Giffen later on. Mike Grell also eases out of the title during this volume, and no one artist really takes over for him, though Jack Abel does ink a lot. As a result, neither the writing nor the art are very consistent. Flipping back through the volume to write this review, nothing really stands out for me, though Saturn Girl and Dream Girl remain my favorite Legionnaires, and Wildfire is a nice addition to the team-- he breaks up the cliquishness of the longtime members.

Next Week: Back to the beginning of the Legion of the Super-Heroes, with a celebration of 1,050 Years of the Future!

Review: Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 12

Comic hardcover, 239 pages
Published 2003 (contents: 1975-77)
Acquired November 2012
Read March 2014

Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 12

Writer: Jim Shooter, Cary Bates, Paul Levitz

Pencils: Mike Grell, Ric Estrada, Mike Nasser
Inks: Mike Grell, Bill Draut, Joe Staton, Bob Wiacek, Bob Layton

I enjoyed this more than volume 11 of Legion of Super-Heroes; the plots felt less insubstantial, the characters more rounded. I mean, some of these are just really not good (one of the stories is resolved via a machine that lets our heroes win by wishing they win, which they then just hide away; another is one of those aggravating stories where the Legion deceives a (potential) member for no good reason; and then there's the infamous one that "explains" the lack of black characters in this 1950s future by revealing the world's blacks all live on one isolationist island), but when it hits, it hits!

I particularly enjoyed "The Hero Who Wouldn't Fight!" (Cosmic Boy is the only member of the Legion available on a day where the people of his planet are forbidden from using their magnetic powers), "The Private Lives of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel" (that Mike Grell art is probably illegal), "The Super Soldiers of the Slave-Maker" (the Legion tries to save a planet of slaves who don't want to be saved, requiring quick-thinking and heroism from Superboy and especially Phantom Girl), and "We Can't Escape the Trap in Time!" (which has some cool panel transitions). More of the stories in this volume seem to have involved real thought to write, which makes a nice change over volume 11. Nothing amazing perhaps (those days are yet to come), but good outer-space adventure.