Tag Archives: Justice Society

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Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1

Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1

First Published: September 2011

Contents: All-Star Comics #58 (January-February 1976) to #74 (September-October 1978), Justice Society stories from Adventure Comics #461 (January-February 1979) to #466 (November-December 1979)

Key Creator Credits: Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen, and Wally Wood

Key First Appearances: Karen Starr/Kara Zor-L/Power Girl, Vulcan, Helena Wayne/Huntress

Overview: In 1976, Jenette Kahn led an effort at DC Comics to reclaim the market share from Marvel Comics by increasing the number of titles published each month. Known as the DC Explosion, one of the titles launched was a relaunch of the All-Star Comics title, which had been home to the Justice Society of America in the 1940s and 1950s.

With the new launch of the JSA, three new members were brought into the team: The Earth-2 Robin, grown up and living on his own away from the Batcave; the Star-Spangled Kid, recently rescued from the past in the pages of Justice League of America; and in her first appearance anywhere, we meet Power Girl, the Earth-2 equivalent to Supergirl.

Over the next two years, many familiar faces would return to the JSA Brownstone Headquarters in Gotham City. Another new hero joins the team in Huntress, the daughter of the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman. As always, familiar foes challenge the heroes, such as Brainwave, Vandal Savage, and the Injustice Society.

Sadly, in 1978, DC Comics’ parent company, Warner, forced the publisher to scale back costs and operations, which led to the cancellation of many titles and letting go of many staffers. Unofficially known as the DC Implosion, All-Star Comics fell victim to the cancellation ax. However, Levitz and Staton were able to continue their run on the JSA over in Adventure Comics, which became a large ‘Dollar Comic’ anthology for other titles that had been canceled. Here we see the final battle for the Earth-2 Batman, and a revisit to All-Star Comics #57 to explain why the Justice Society disappeared in the 1950s.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: This is a fun, easy read that should be on many bookshelves. Power Girl and Huntress, which have both been mainstays in the DC Universe for 35+ years now, both get their starts here. For years, fans had been given teases of the JSA with their crossovers with the JLA. This was the first time readers got an extended ongoing storyline featuring just these characters. The JSA would generally remain as supporting characters for the next 20 years until Geoff Johns and friends brought back the JSA as a powerful super-hero team in the early 2000s. Fans of that series should definitely give this title a look.

Footnotes:  The original run of All-Star Comics ended with issue #57 (February-March 1951). The next issue featured a new title, All-Star Western Comics, and it continued the numbering, beginning with #58.

With All-Star Comics #57, that was the last Golden Age Justice Society story. The team was unseen for 12 years until they were brought back in The Flash #137 (June 1963).

If you like this volume, try: tracking down the Infinity Inc. series of the 1980s. Other than the annual crossovers with the Justice League, this is the continuation of the Justice Society storyline from this Showcase. The sons and daughters of the Justice Society members unite, along with the younger members of the JSA (Star-Spangled Kid, Power Girl, and Huntress), to form a new team for the new generation. Infinity, Inc., premiered in the pages of All-Star Squadron in 1983 and moved into their own title in 1984. This was a prestige-format book and was only available in comic book stores. It started out very strong, but then was damaged by the Crisis on Infinite Earths. With the multiple Earths being merged into one Earth, it altered the origin stories of many characters such as Fury (daughter of the Earth-2 Wonder Woman), Power Girl (cousin of the Earth-2 Superman), and Huntress (daughter of the Earth-2 Batman). The final year of the title limped to the finish, leading to the murder of the Star-Spangled Kid. There is a hardcover edition reprinting part of the All-Star Squadron crossover and part of the first Generations storyline. Sadly, DC has not issued a second edition to finish collecting Generations, so you are better off looking for these issues in a back issue bin.

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Showcase Presents Justice League of America Vol. 5

JLA5

First Published: February 2011

Contents: Justice League of America #84 (November 1970) to #106 (July/August 1973)

Key Creator Credits: Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, Len Wein, Neal Adams, and others

Key First Appearances: Assemblers (Blue Jay, Silver Sorceress, Wandjina, Jack B. Quick), Merlyn, Starbreaker, Nebula Man, Kathy Sutton

Story Continues From: Showcase Presents Justice League of America Vol. 4

Story Continues In: Showcase Presents Justice League of America Vol. 6

Overview: With apologies to Hanna-Barbera, “In the great hall of the Justice League, there are assembled the world’s greatest heroes, created from the cosmic legends of the universe — Superman! Batman! Wonder Woman! Aquaman! Flash! Green Arrow! Green Lantern! Hawkman! Black Canary! Atom! To fight injustice, to right that which is wrong, and to serve all mankind!”

This volume can be broken down into two sections, based on the two writers (Mike Friedrich and Len Wein) who script all but one of the stories in this collection. We saw in the last volume that Dick Dillin took over the art duties, which began one of the longest runs of any artist on a Justice League title. Artist Neal Adams does most of the cover work in this collection, helping to set the tone for each issue before the book is even opened.

Mike Friedrich was a fresh face in the industry in the 1970s. He was a long-time letter page writer who leveraged his ongoing correspondence with editor Julie Schwartz to start selling short stories and fill-in stories. Justice League of America was Friedrich’s first ongoing assignment for DC. His stories tended to stay in the formula long-established by Gardner Fox and then Denny O’Neil and utilized the roster put in place by O’Neil. Friedrich did make some addition to the cast of characters in the DC Universe. In his second JLA issue, he introduced the Assemblers, a group of heroes that seemed to resemble Marvel’s Avengers. (Call it an homage, seeing that Marvel had already introduced in the pages of the Avengers the Squadron Sinister/Supreme, which those characters were an homage back to the Justice League.) He also introduced the villain archer Merlyn, who would be a minor character for many years until being brought to the forefront with the Arrow TV show in the last few years.

The addition of Wein takes the title to new heights. Beginning with issue #100, he starts a three-part JLA-JSA team-up that also brings back the legendary Seven Soldiers of Victory, who have been trapped in limbo for years. The heroes are revived, but not before a hero makes a final sacrifice. How do you follow that epic? Easily, you send the Justice League to Rutland, Vermont, for the annual Halloween parade. For good measure, Len Wein writes himself, along with his wife Glynis and future JLA writers Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart, into the story. If Rutland sounds familiar, it became a nexus between comic book companies in the 1970s. (Check out my write-up for Essential Avengers Vol. 4 for more details.)

As with previous volumes, one of the highlights is seeing the new members elected into the JLA. Towards the end of this volume, we see the Elongated Man, a long-time friend of the Flash, and the Red Tornado, re-assembled and now living on Earth-1, join the league. There was one other vote in this collection, as the heroes debated and finally agreed to offer a spot to the Phantom Stranger, who makes his first appearance in this title. Only the Phantom Stranger didn’t stick around to hear the results of the vote. The Phantom Stranger would make numerous appearances in the title in the years to come, helping the League out of a tough situation or by just providing ominous warnings.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: This is a hodge-podge collection of issues, but it really does work. I think it is in this era, particularly when writer Len Wein takes over, that the full potential of this title takes hold, and this truly does feel like a book worthy of the plug, “World’s Greatest Super-Heroes!” Everything that you want to see in a JLA collection is here – new members joining the team, new villains being introduced, and multiple JLA-JSA team-ups. We also get to the point in the series where it stops being a collection of one-and-done stories, and there is more of an ongoing narrative that continues from issue to issue.

Footnotes: Justice League of America #85 and #93 are Giant-size reprint issues. collecting previously published stories. The covers for these two issues are in this volume.

Justice League of America #91 and #92 are also reprinted in Showcase Presents Robin Vol. 1.

Justice League of America #103 is also reprinted in Showcase Presents The Phantom Stranger Vol. 2.

If you like this volume, try: JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice original graphic novel from 2002. Released in late 2002, writers David Goyer and Geoff Johns (who were then writing the monthly JSA book) craft a fresh story bringing the two legendary teams together for the first time in the modern age. (Remember, the JLA-JSA team-up tradition came to an end with Crisis!). Artists Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino make the characters jump out from the page, truly capturing the individual personalities of each of the characters. The two teams have gathered together for a Thanksgiving dinner, but suddenly find many of their teammates possessed by the embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins. The unaffected members of the two teams must work together to free their friends as well as figure out who is the true foe they are going up against. This was originally released as a hardcover book, and the softcover edition came out the following year. The complete story was recently included in JSA Omnibus Vol. 1, which came out in 2014.