The Massive, Extravagant, Over-the-top Golden Age JSA Re-read

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Captain Comics July 29, 2026 at 11:46am

We digressed yesterday for an alt-Pearl Harbor story. Let's return now to where we left off in All-Star Squadron, before we return to where we left off in All-Star Comics. This can get complicated!

BONUS!

SEPTEMBER 1, 1981

ALL-STAR SQUADRON #4
December 1981, DC Comics Inc., 36 pages
Cover by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano. Somebody should have told them that Doctor Fate doesn't do magic any more. And, it should be noted, this scene doesn't actually happen in the story. Which is a good thing, because Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle and Robotman vs. Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, Spectre, Superman, Thunderbolt and Wonder Woman is a grotesque mismatch. Although the in-joke of Man of Steel vs. Man of Steel is nice enough.

"Day of the Dragon King"
By Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway (25 pages)

Title Watch: This one may have been inspired by "Day of the Dragon," a sci-fi short story by Guy Endore, published in a 1934 issue of Blue Book.

Calendar Watch: Early morning hours of Dec. 8, 1941. It takes place directly after the events of All-Star Squadron #3.

JSA Roll Call: The Atom, Batman, Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Johnny Thunder, Sandman, Starman, Spectre, Superman.

All-Star Squadron Roll Call: Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Phantom Lady, Plastic Man, Robin, Robotman, Shining Knight, Wonder Woman.

The gathered heroes decide to go to Pearl Harbor (they are in San Francisco). However, Plastic Man says he has to go back to work at the FBI, and Phantom Lady has to find her father and tell him Sandra Knight is OK. Just like that, the only Quality characters present disappear from the narrative.

That leaves (deep breath) Atom, Batman (and Robin), Doctor Mid-Nite, Doctor Fate, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Johnny Quick, Johnny Thunder (and Thunderbolt), Liberty Belle, Robotman, Sandman, Shining Knight (and Danette Reilly), Spectre, Starman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

With some of them getting a mystical boost, they all fly in a formation obviously inspired by the cover of DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #DC-13 (1972) by Neal Adams.

Spectre asks Doctor Fate about his recent loss of power, and he nervously changes the subject. He does mention his helmet, but 1981 readers would have to wait until All-Star Squadron #23 to get the whole story. (We 1981 readers already had a pretty good idea from 1st Issue Special #9 and DC Special Series #10, and would get another take soon in The Flash #306.)

Johnny Thunder tells Wonder Woman "we gotta get you into the Justice Society one of these fine days!" This anticipates both Doctor Fate's invitation at the end of All-Star Comics #11, and another version of Johnny's invitation in All-Star Squadron #21. Needless to say, Wonder Woman does become a member, first appearing with the team (in some capacity) in All-Star Comics #11, and never missing an issue after that.

A full-page shot of destruction at Pearl Harbor includes reaction shots of 18 of the 20 present. The only reason I mention it is that Superman and Flash are the only two who don't get a reaction shot, and that's just odd. Why exclude those two? Thanks to the presence of Johnny Quick, Jay Garrick is mostly absent from All-Star Squadron, which may be an explanation for ignoring him. But Superman is front and center in this story, so his exclusion is weird.

Superman is stunned by an exploding shell, and a footnote reminds us he's not as invulnerable as the Earth-One version.

Shining Knight and Danette find Rod Reilly in a coma in a hospital. Slugger Dunn seems fine, although he has a cast on his leg. It's already issue #4 and Danette hasn't become Firebrand yet, which is a slower burn (heh) than I remembered.

Back to the JSA — excuse me, the All-Star Squadron. Leaving some members behind to help at Pearl, a group leaves in search of the Japanese fleet, as of course they would. The task force consists of flying members Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Johnny Thunder, Spectre, Superman and Wonder Woman, and non-flying members (held up by GL's ring) Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle and Robotman.

Hawkman references All-Star Comics #9, and Axis activity in Mexico. He's worried about Shiera, who's on an archaeological dig in the Yucatan. That will be the plot for the next issue, in case you're wondering why he brought it up.

Dragon King makes his debut, a character mixing science and Holy Grail magic. He made so little impression on me in 1981 that when he appeared on TV's Stargirl, I had to look him up to make sure he was pre-existing. An underling mentions the Black Dragon Society "from whose robed loins you sprung," angering Dragon King. The Black Dragon Society will be the JSA's foes in All-Star Comics #12 (a story re-imagined in All-Star Squadron #30). Dragon King tells how Japan came to possess the Holy Grail, and in so doing references the Spear of Destiny and DC Special #29.

Dragon King says a Dr. Daka is disguising the fleet, and a footnote says we'll find out more later. (And we will, but not until All-Star Squadron #42-43.) Meanwhile, the Holy Grail magic takes control of magical characters Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Johnny Thunder (instead of the magical Thunderbolt, who is incapable of acting independently). Spectre and Superman are also affected, but it takes longer to control them and they resist (or the issue would be over really fast).

Green Lantern puts the non-fliers down on an island for Japanese soldiers to kill. (The All-Stars win instead.) Meanwhile, Hawkman discovers that the Grail's range has a limit, and he suckers all the fliers into flying outside it. Everyone recovers, but they realize that there's a limit to how far they can operate off the U.S. West Coast.

Takeaways

1. Thomas has now established why the JSA didn't stop the Pacific War (See: Holy Grail), just like DC Special #29 established why they didn't stop the war in Europe (Spear of Destiny). And in All-Star Squadron #20, coming up shortly, we'll find out another reason why Green Lantern didn't stop the war single-handedly.

2. I have to take exception to the "away team" in this issue. It should be prima facie evident to all sentient beings that taking non-fliers on missions over oceans is a bad idea. If not, it would certainly have been made obvious by DC Special #29, where a bunch of non-fliers were basically spectators in a fight over the Atlantic. Worse, they were liabilities, since Green Lantern had to split his focus on the enemy and on not dropping Atom & Co. into the ocean.

Rationally, any task force sent over the Pacific Ocean after the Japanese fleet should consist of members who A) can fly under their own steam, and B) are powerful enough to survive and overcome the resistance one would expect (anti-aircraft, small-arms fire, naval guns, fighter aircraft). That means Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Starman, Superman and Spectre. Wonder Woman and Shining Knight should be excluded, as they rely on something extraneous for flight, and if that were removed, they would become a liability. Johnny Thunder need not apply, because he's an idiot. Those three and everyone else should stay home.

Instead, the writer includes a motley group of non-flying, mostly non-powered characters whose only conceivable use is "audience." They would be a liability to Green Lantern directly, who has to focus on carrying them, and to the fliers other indirectly, who would be obliged to protect them.

I know that Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle and Robotman comprised the team for the first seven issues of All-Star Squadron, and that's the name of the book. They are the stars of the series, and most of them will continue carrying the All-Star banner long after these JSA power players are gone. Even though keeping them in THIS story seems like superhero malpractice.

3. How about this instead: Hawkman leads the fliers of the JSA over the Pacific (he was the last chairman), while those who can't fly have an adventure on Oahu. There's plenty of potential drama in bombed-out Pearl — search and rescue, unexploded ordnance, perhaps some downed Japanes pilots (or other stragglers). Maybe shine a light on some Japanese-Americans deciding to join Nisei outfits (some 33,000 did).

4. Once non-flying, mostly useless characters are established over the Pacific, further nonsense has to be introduced to keep them alive. For example, the ensorcelled Green Lantern gently places the non-fliers on an island, instead of squeezing them into a fine mist, or simply dropping them into the Pacific. (I don't imagine Robotman is a very strong swimmer.) GL, who was mind-controlled into killing these characters, went out of his way to keep them alive.

5. The All-Stars fighting ordinary Japanese soldiers on a random island (without killing or capturing any of them), which is no contest, is a paper-thin excuse to give them something to do that has no historic consequences. It underscored to me that they shouldn't be there.

6. Once again Starman is excluded. He was left to guard Pearl Harbor. This despite the fact that he'd be more useful over the Pacific than Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle and Robotman put together. Conversely, those five characters might actually be useful on Oahu, as I said above. They could serve to guard the facility while also performing search and rescue, debris removal and first aid. I'm beginning to think Roy Thomas just doesn't like using Starman.

7. Atom whinges about being nothing more than a "pint-size weight-lifter," and I couldn't agree more. He's being established as having an inferiority complex compared to the rest of the JSA, and how could he not? If there's one retcon I'd honestly welcome, it would be giving Atom super-strength from the get-go, to justify his existence in 54 issues of All-Star Comics. (I also won't squawk if they establish Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl as founding members, either, which they almost did in "Year One." Wonder Woman is in every issue from #11 onward, and Hawkgirl could have been — just imagine her next to Hawkman in every issue, saying something Myrna Loy-like.)
Philip Portelli July 29, 2026 at 1:18pm
My comments on All Star Squadron #4:
- the fact that no one remembers why they got together is hammered home several times!
- Danette Reilly feels "warm to the touch".
- The Shining Knight gets some good characterization here.
- Green Lantern says that his lantern was in Los Angeles! Why?
- They flew from California to Hawaii pretty easily. The heck with being superheroes! They should have opened a travel agency!
- When you mentioned Dr. Daka, you mean All Star SQUADRON, not COMICS.
- The Atom complains about being only good to hold someone's coat, then Superman gives him a pep talk. He should have made the Atom hold his cape!
- Batman doesn't speak but looks like he doesn't want to be there!
- Starman was left behind to maintain an aerial presence on Pearl Harbor.
- The JSA doesn't decimate the All Stars because they're subconsciously holding back or they're just poor villains!
- The Dragon King was meant to be a major villain. He even got an entry in Who's Who but Roy apparently forgot about him!
- Superman thinks of himself as "an orphan from space" which upset some people at the time. The rationalization was that while he didn't know about Krypton, the Kents must have told him that he was found in a rocket ship! But doesn't explain why he would invent the Krypto-Ray Gun!
Captain Comics July 30, 2026 at 8:41am

Starman was left behind to maintain an aerial presence on Pearl Harbor.

I get that, but being bulletproof and able to fly made him better suited to the "away" team than Wonder Woman or Johnny Thunder -- and they could fly CAP over Pearl. (And, as I was emphasizing, the non-flying All-Stars had no business on the away team at all, being more hindrance than help.) It was a poor assignment of personnel, dictated by plot needs rather than in-story logic. This is not a new conclusion, as I came to it in the '80s and my opinion hasn't changed.

When you mentioned Dr. Daka, you mean All Star SQUADRON, not COMICS.

Fixed, thanks!
Captain Comics July 30, 2026 at 12:58pm
Wait, here are two more stories that take place on Dec. 7. 1941. (At least partly.)

JANUARY 19, 1998

SECRET ORIGINS #26
May 1998, DC Comics Inc., 36 pages
Cover by Kevin Nowlan

Calendar Watch: Dec. 7, 1941.

"The Secret Origin of Miss America"
By Roy Thomas and Grant Miehm (19 pages)

This story recapitulates Miss America's origin in Military Comics #1 (September 1941), where reporter (later FBI agent) Joan Dale thinks the Statue of Liberty appears to her in a dream while she's dozing on a park bench on Bledsoe Island (now Liberty Island). She believes the statue grants her transmutation powers, which she puts to work as "Miss America" through Military Comics #7 (February 1942).

That was her last Quality appearance, and also her last appearance in the Golden Age. But not her last Golden Age appearance!

She next appeared in flashback in All-Star Squadron #31, as Uncle Sam tells the Squadron about recruiting her, Magno, Invisible Hood, Red Torpedo, Neon the Unknown and Hourman to stop the Pearl Harbor of Earth-X. The flashback continues in All-Star Comics #32 (and Secret Origins #26), describing how they stopped the attack, although everyone but Uncle Sam appeared to die.

We know from other books that they all survived, except Magno. Secret Origins explains that Sam and Joan, both unconscious, were picked up by a submarine from the rogue U.S. government agency Project M. Sam is sent elsewhere (to escape and tell his story to the All-Star Squadron), but Joan is kept, albeit in a coma. It is then revealed that it was Professor Mazursky of Project M who had given Joan her powers, in an attempt to make a super-soldier. Emerging from the Project M base under the Statue of Liberty, Agent X (real name never revealed, afaik) had gassed and kidnapped her as she daydreamed on the park bench (that bit remains in continuity). The part about the statue coming to life was a hallucination brought on by the gas. Her story continues in Young All-Stars #12 (May 1988).

Continuity Carousel
- This is the post-Crisis origin of Miss America, so obviously Sam didn't take her to Earth-X, where they stopped the entirety of Pearl Harbor. This all occurred on the combined Earth, where she and her squad stopped a single wave of fighter planes, at high cost.
- Miss America's original Golden Age career ended with Military Comics #7, which shipped Dec. 10, 1941. Move that back a week, and it dovetails neatly with her being recruited for Pearl Harbor, and not having a solo career after that.
- Miss America is the post-Crisis substitute for Wonder Woman in some stories.
- Miss America's remaining Golden Age-set stories are in Young All-Stars #12, 14, 27 and 31; and Young All-Stars Annual #1.
THE RAY

In The Ray v2 #9 (February 1995), Ray II (Ray Terrill) accidentally goes back in time to Dec. 6, 1941, where he delays his father, Hank "Happy" Terrill, from getting his powers as described in Smash Comics #14 (September 1940). In The Ray v2 #10 (March 1995), Ray corrects his error so that his father does get his powers (on Dec. 7, 1941), and then returns to the present.

Continuity Carousel: I don't know if it was the point of the story, but re-positioning the Golden Age Ray's origin gives him a get-out-of-Pearl-Harbor-free card.
Philip Portelli July 30, 2026 at 5:54pm

I had no problem with Miss America as one of the proto Freedom Fighters and an early example of the super heroine. Her initial death actually made her more poignant.
Then she became Wonder Woman's Post Crisis replacement and while I didn't "hate" her or screamed that they ruined my childhood or yelled at the clouds, I basically ignored her. When I thought about the JSA membership, I never included her!

Roy Thomas has said that he originally wanted EC Comics' MOON GIRL to take Wonder Woman's spot and was promised that DC would acquire her but it never happened so he had to improvise with Miss America.
Then she had to be plugged in to all aspects of the Amazon Princess, becoming the JSA secretary, retiring in 1951, marrying a pilot named Trevor, adopting Infinity Inc's Fury (Lyta Trevor), raising her on an island with giant kangas and losing her powers! No JSA reunions for her!
She was seen in a few JSA flashbacks like in Infinity Inc #50.
Personally, I could have dealt with Miss America better if they actually did something to make her remotely interesting or special but she was just a fill-in character.
In my head canon, Miss America was the JSA's non-active secretary until the late 40s when she was replaced by the Young All Stars' Fury (Helena Kosmatos) who also took Wonder Woman's role in the Silver Age JLA/JSA teamups as Iron Munro did with Superman.
Captain Comics July 31, 2026 at 10:30am

Then she became Wonder Woman's Post Crisis replacement and while I didn't "hate" her or screamed that they ruined my childhood or yelled at the clouds, I basically ignored her. When I thought about the JSA membership, I never included her!

Same here. While I tried very hard to accept Crisis and move with the times, some off the post-Crisis fixes just felt so wrong, and took so much mental work to re-imagine almost 50 years of continuity, my brain wouldn't accept them. I read these changes, I understood these changes, but I wouldn't mentally explore the ramifications (the horror!) or remember them. They just bounced off my head like popcorn. Among them was Miss America in the Justice Society. Neither she nor Fury satisfied my mental checklist to fill in for 48 years of Wonder Woman, and in my head canon, they didn't.

Bob said as far as he's concerned, Wonder Woman has been around all this time because she's immortal, and that's that. No mental gymnastics required. Mr. Occam, and my first impulse, agree with him.

When Byrne suggested Hippolyta as the Wonder Woman of the '40s, it was the first time the JSA Wonder Woman slot was properly filled. When I think of the wartime JSA, Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are the center of the image. If that Wonder Woman is really Diana's mother in an identical outfit, the image doesn't really change, and I have clung to that idea like a life preserver. All those All-Star Comics covers don't change a lick!

I kinda like the Moon Girl idea, now that I've read those stories. She was a straight Wonder Woman rip-off, so close enough. I can see Hippolyta doing the job until the Nazis are sorted, and then tapping in a replacement so she can get back to queening (or maybe becoming a mother) -- and that replacement being Moon Girl. Only in this version, a genuine Amazon (her 1947-1949 stories really wouldn't change much), wearing the patriotic swimsuit. The first Wonder Girl, if you will. But certainly a Themysciran champion, chosen by tournament. I have no explanation for Amazon Boy, or whatever the Prince was, but a better writer might. Maybe he was a demigod from Greek mythology, someone like Theseus, Jason or Achilles.

Would she fill the role all the way to 1985? She could, I suppose, and then she'd be the one who graduated to godhood in Crisis. Or maybe, like with Captain America, we'd discover there was a sequence of fill-ins until the "real" one came along. I never had any problem with that, and it might be because they all wore the uniform. Give me Wonder Woman fill-ins who wear the right gear, and maybe I can roll with it better.
Philip Portelli July 31, 2026 at 10:57am

The Helena Kosmatos Fury eventually joining the Justice Society was apparently Roy Thomas' plan before going with Miss America as seen in this page from Infinity Inc #35 by Todd McFarlane who never met a cape he didn't want to exaggerate!

He had chances to include her in JSA flashbacks but never did so!
Captain Comics July 31, 2026 at 1:24pm

I guess he decided an existing character had more credibility than one made up on the spot. Or maybe I'm projecting my own preferences.
Captain Comics July 31, 2026 at 1:24pm
STRANGE INTERLUDE

I'm publishing this issue a little before it's due, for reasons that will become immediately clear.

JUNE 23, 1942

GREEN LANTERN #4
Summer 1942, All-American Publications Inc., 68 pages
Cover by Irwin Hasen

Calendar Watch: Dec. 7, 1941, in the Golden Age. Dec. 8, 1941, in the modern age.

GREEN LANTERN
"Total War! Chapter 1: Foemen in the Fog!'
By Bill Finger and Marty Nodell (13 pages)

Irene is giving Alan grief for not enlisting, even though he registered for the draft (and is classified 2-A, due to "essential work"). Doiby says the boss wants them to report on a wreck sighted at sea. Taking an autogiro with pontoons, the trio investigate the wreck, which looks like it's been torpedoed. They become fogbound and are rescued by a warship helmed by Captain Kortz, who identifies himself as the Gestapo leader of an invasion of America's East Coast, in conjunction with the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Kortz puts Scott and Dickles in a cell, while putting the moves on Irene at dinner. Alan has left his ring and costume in his suitcase (which isn't very smart) and has to get them by casting Doiby's suspenders from his cell window, as if he's fishing. Irene throws wine in the face of the Nazi commander, and is rescued by Green Lantern.

The ship, described by Irene as "a warship disguised as an American freighter," is also an aircraft carrier. At dawn on Dec. 8, 1941, airplanes lift off from its deck to bomb military targets and hospitals. Green Lantern destroys them all, then destroys the ship. He tells Irene he has already rescued Alan Scott, but she says she's still mad at him for not enlisting. Captain Kortz is seen escaping on a life raft.

1,001 Uses for a Power Ring: GL dissolves airplanes in flight. It is not said what happens to the pilots. We talk about The Spectre's lethality a lot, but I think if you add up Green Lantern's victims, he killed far more people in the Golden Age.

Continuity Carousel: The story opens on "the morning of December 7, 1941 ... the country's last few hours of peace!" In modern continuity, however, Green Lantern and the rest of the JSA were captured on Dec. 6, 1941 ("All-Star Squadron Preview"), and were held captive on the West Coast on Dec. 7 (All-Star Squadron #1-3 ). During the early morning hours of Dec. 8, GL and the All-Stars were in pursuit of the Japanese fleet (All-Star Squadron #4). There isn't any wiggle room for Alan Scott to run off to the East Coast, change clothes and settle into in a comfortable chair, as we see here. Roy Thomas' solution is to place this story later in the day on Dec. 8, 1941, after Green Lantern has returned to Capitol City from California. (Although Thomas would probably be thinking "Gotham City.")

I don't mind the "cheating." For one thing, the stories were published out of order in the Golden Age, too. The first story in Green Lantern #4 logically takes place before the end of All-Star Comics #11, but was published two months later. For another, the German commander delays his attack in-story to Dec. 8. So all's well that ends well.

Fun Facts
- In this story, Irene is a "confidential secretary," although to whom is not said.
- Doiby refers to the head of Apex Broadcasting Co. as "da boss." I guess it could be shorthand for Alan's boss, but it sure sounds like Doiby is employed by Apex.
- Doiby can pilot an autogiro.
- Captain Kortz says the Japanese will "smash your Pacific defenses" at 2 p.m. EST. The attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:55 a.m. HST, so Kortz is exactly right. There's a six-hour difference between Hawaii time and New York time.
- Green Lantern recites a truncated oath: "I shall shed my light over dark evil, for dark things cannot stand the light of the Green Lantern!"
- Doiby wears his Green Lantern Jr. outfit again. Irene addresses him as Doiby, but somehow doesn't seem to connect tall, blond, well-built Alan Scott with tall, blond, well-built Green Lantern. In short: Two men went with her to the ship, and changed into Green Lantern costumes, but she only recognizes one of them after they change clothes.
GREEN LANTERN
"Chapter 2: The Den of Doom!'
By Bill Finger and Marty Nodell (13 pages)

Green Lantern, believing the warship's attack would have been the signal for fifth columnists to rise up, consults with a Gen. Brock about going undercover as a Nazi sympathizer to find them. Although we didn't see it, he says he found an "introduction" (a location and password) to the organization on the warship. Scott convinces a Dr. Zapt that he is a Nazi, and possibly Gestapo. He fights big, dumb "Schloss" to prove his bona fides. Meanwhile, Captain Kortz and another Nazi separate as they reach shore in a raft. Not-Captain Kortz runs into Doiby and Irene on the beach, where GL had left them, and Doiby subdues him. (Then Irene accidentally knocks out Doiby while trying to help, which I assume is '40s humor.) They also plan to infiltrate the spy ring.

Four days pass, and on the morning of Dec. 11, "Herr Unknown" (Alan Scott) is arguing for the cell to remain inactive, since the attack didn't happen. Then Doiby appears with the German spy's papers, giving the same message. Then Captain Kortz appears and argues that Alan and Doiby are imposters, while they argue that he is one. Then everyone hears a newsboy outside shout that Germany and Italy have declared war on the U.S., and the cell turns on Alan and Doiby. Alan changes to GL (privately, somehow), but is overcome with a chair, and Doiby is overwhelmed. They are taken to the house of Townsend Clay, a millionaire pacifist, whom the Nazis think of as a useful idiot. However, Irene is there interviewing him and they overhear that he is now pro-war. The Nazis decide to kill him before his new views are known.

"The blame will be fastened on the pro-war movement," Kortz says. "Pacifists will consider Townsend Clay a martyr, and fight the harder to sabotage American defense!"

GL and Doiby escape their bonds, and as the Emerald Gladiator beats up on the spies, Doiby blurts out that he can be hurt with rocks or sticks. One spy escapes with this knowledge. Zapt sets off an explosion so he and Kortz can escape. GL saves Doiby, but the man who knows Green Lantern's weakness was caught in the explosion. He gasps the information to Zapt and Kortz as he dies, and they escape.

Continuity Carousel
- The opening caption of this chapter specifies the night of Dec. 7, 1941. If we call it Dec. 8, everything fits.
- Gen. Brock tells Green Lantern to keep his defeat of the Nazi warship a secret for his plan to work. Which is why it never showed up in 1940s newspapers, and why we didn't declcare war on Germany immediately (instead of of Dec. 11). I'm starting to feel sorry for these Golden Age writers, having to come up with heroic actions against the Axis without it being important enough to violate history — some of which hasn't happened yet!
- There's no reason for Alan Scott to remain with the spy cell urging them to remain inactive. On Day 1, he can go to the FBI and have them all arrested. Or, if he's not allowed to leave, change to Green Lantern and arrest them himself.
- If my reading of history is right, the American pacifist movement — led in part by the famous Charles Lindbergh — collapsed after Pearl Harbor. There was only one vote in the House against declaring war on Japan, by lifelong pacifist Jeanette Rankin. The scene with Kortz and Zapt contemptuously regarding pacfists as useful idiots seems to fall in line with the new war fervor, but I feel like the pacifist movement has been gently sidestepped in DC/AA comics to this point. (Unless I'm just forgetting something.)
- Irene, a personal secretary in the first chapter, is a radio interviewer in this one.
GREEN LANTERN
"Chapter 3: Green Lantern enlists!!'
By Bill Finger and Marty Nodell (13 pages)

Back at the station, Irene berates Alan Scott again, and goes out on a date with Lt. Sowers, an Apex employee already in uniform. Alan decides to enlist, as does Doiby ("I wuz in de last war, and I'm gonna be in dis one!!") Doiby is rejected for being under height, overweight and over age. He starts a fight with the doctors as Green Lantern arrives, as does Gen. Brock, who recognizes "Sgt. Dickles" from the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. Brock restores Doiby's rank, and he and new recruit Pvt. Alan Scott are assigned to Lt. Sowers' command.

Kortz and Zapt open a diner near the Army base, hoping for a chance to kill Green Lantern. Doiby happens to come in, so they poison him. Alan Scott comes across the dying Doiby in an alley and uses his ring to rid his friend of the poison. The two return to the diner and beat up on Kortz and Zapt, who nevertheless escape through a trap door. GL burns the diner down.

Back at camp, Sowers denies Scott leave, but takes some himself so he can steal a march on wooing Irene. Doiby has leave, and follows. They go looking for the Nazis, as Irene says the company's "finding devices" have located the neighborhood where a secret radio is broadcasting. Sowers happens to have been working on a "magneto-tracer" at camp. THey discover a hidden entrance to a Nazi den, where Sowers, Zapt and some other Nazis take them prisoner.

Doiby follows, and is attacked by a Japanese lookout man. This alerts the Nazis, and they chase Doiby to a rooftop, where he sets off a green flare. Pvt. Alan Scott sees it, and arrives as Green Lantern. He makes short work of the Nazis chasing Doiby and follows footprints to the hidden entrance. He bursts in, but the Nazis are ready with, presumably, rocks and sticks.

Continuity Carousel: This probably takes place a few days after the previous chapter, if not weeks. I'd place it sometime after Dec. 9 (the first three pages of All-Star Comics #11), when the rest of the team decides to enlist. I imagine they all enlisted at about the same time. Then there's basic training, which was several weeks in whatever branch you found yourself.

Takeaways
- Doiby fighting in World War I would put him in his 40s in World War II. I had no idea he was that old.
- I am delighted to see Green Lantern use his ring to save a dying man here in the Golden Age. It justifies something similiar in All-Star Squadron #31.
- Irene is played as a Lois Lane type here. "Dere she goes again! Lookin' for trouble -- and if I knew her, she'll find it!" Doiby thinks. "How can such a swell dish be such a lunkhead? Ain't Miss Irene got no womanly intuishun?"
- Wait, a "Japanese lookout man"? I know people at the time viewed the Axis as a monolith, but the Germans and Japanese both had racist contempt for each other. How this came to be is probably a story in itself.
GREEN LANTERN
"Chapter 4: Journey's End for Nazis!'
By Bill Finger and Marty Nodell (13 pages)

Kortz has devised a green glass shield, which proves effective at blocking Green Lantern's ray. He hits GL over the head with it, knocking him out. He threatens Irene's life if GL doesn't cough up the secret of the ring. (Although he tells Irene he has no intention of killing her.) He wires Hitler, who cameos with the order to "bring the radio girl" but kill Green Lantern. Kortz puts Green Lantern and Lt. Sowers in a hole, and fills it with cement. Then Kortz, Zapt, Irene and the other Nazis leave on a seaplane for Germany. U.S. warplanes are sent up to shoot it down, but another disguised German aircraft carrier launches planes in defense of Kortz. A dogfight over the Atlantic ensues.

Meanwhile, Green Lantern has escaped from the cement trap. (Which is hardly a surprise. Kortz should have just beaten him to death with clubs.) A Nazi Lt. Hofer suckers GL and Doiby into a trap, disguised as an old woman. He says he was "left behind to deal with you in case you escaped that concrete tomb!" Which wouldn't have been necessary if they'd just beaten GL to death with clubs. (They're Nazis! That would be nothing to them! And Hitler told them to kill him, not put him in an escapable death trap!) They escape, and attack Kortz's seaplane. (I'm not mentioning Zapt any more, because Finger isn't. Zapt seems to have dropped out of the story, but I think we can assume he dies in one of these battles, which eventually kills all the Nazis.) GL launches Doiby at the Nazi pilot, who loses control of the airplane. Kortz tries to kill Irene, but GL escapes with her and Doiby and the plane crashes. Kortz parachutes out, and is picked up by another Nazi seaplane. The plane shoots a shell at GL, who turns it back on the plane, which is destroyed and Kortz dies. Irene rewards GL with a romantic kiss.

Back at camp, Scott is late for roll call (maybe it was more than a kiss), so Sowers has Dickles discipline him. Dickles assigns him to peel potatoes, but says he'll do anything to square it with him. So Scott has Dickles peel the potatoes, and lights a pipe. (Womp womp!)

Continuity Carousel: The potatoes scene is repeated in All-Star Squadron #20, which takes place in February 1942. If we take that as gospel, Green Lantern's battle with Captain Kortz lasted around two months.

The Wit and Wisdom of Doiby Dickles

The sidekick has some good lines in this one, especially toward the end.
- To a Nazi pilot: "Leggo dem controls! I'm gonna demoralize you!"
- After landing on a roof: "Say! Is not it great to be back on old terra cotta again, huh?"
- GL says he's sometimes jealous of himself as Alan Scott: "Dat's one of de many inconveniences attached to bein' a mystery man!"
Takeaways
- Finger's script acts like there's something special about the green shield. When it is destroyed, Kortz acts like it's a great loss. "The shield is smashed! It cannot be replaced!" Whereas a modern reading is that the shield was a defense because it wasn't metal. And it could easily be replaced, with other glass shields. I guess Finger was trying to obviate the idea of everyone making glass shields in the future.
- Kortz says Irene will be spared because her "radio skills" will be useful to the Reich. FIrst a secretary, then on-air talent, now an engineer of sorts. A girl of many talents.
- Hitler is a real hands-on dictator.
- The Nazi seaplane leaves from "Sennet Harbor" and "Sennet Bay," but Google doesn't find those places.
- Jeff of Earth-J > Captain Comics July 31, 2026 at 4:49pm
  
  In this story, Irene is a "confidential secretary," although to whom is not said.
  
  These days they prefer to be called "sex workers." :)

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