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

Captain Comics September 14, 2026 at 9:52am

DECEMBER 7, 1982

ALL-STAR SQUADRON #19
March 1983, DC Comics Inc., 36 pages
Cover by Jerry Ordway

"Death, Considered as a State of Mind!"
By Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway (23 pages)

Title Watch: The phrasing sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. Anyone know?
Calendar Watch: February 1942.
JSA Roll Call: Atom, Doctor Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Thunder, Sandman, Spectre (flashback), Starman, non-member Wonder Woman.
All-Star Squadron Roll Call: Firebrand, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Robotman, Steel, Tarantula.

The All-Star Squadron (Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Firebrand, Robotman, Steel, Tarantula) are summoned to the New York World's Fairgrounds, specifically the Perisphere, where they see seven JSA members (Atom, Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Johnny Thunder, Sandman, Starman) and non-member Wonder Woman unconscious. They're under the control of Brain Wave, who is showing each of the JSA members a violent dream over and over, dreams which will eventually result in their deaths.

The dreams are, specifically, the individual chapters for those seven members (and Wonder Woman) in All-Star Comics #11. (Spectre didn't have a solo chapter in All-Star Comics #11, and is not involved here.) So let's put All-Star Squadron #19 on hold, to once again engage with ...

ALL-STAR COMICS #11 (Part 3)
June-July 1942, All-American Publications Inc., 68 pages
Cover by Sheldon Moldoff

The parts of most individual chapters that "count" are posted on page 176. The rest of the chapters are retconned in All-Star Squadron #19 as dreams induced by Brain Wave. Here are those dreams, as originally presented.

HAWKMAN
By Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff (7 pages)

The first five panels of Hawkman's solo chapter, as seen on page 176, are in continuity. In those panels, Carter Hall graduates flight school and is assigned to San Francisco. The dream begins there, as he runs into Shiera Sanders, who has enlisted as a nurse and is scheduled to leave on a convoy to the Philippines. We also meet Carol Williams, an actress, who has has volunteered as an air-raid warden. Hall notices a "Diana Prince" on the manifest of Shiera's ship, and wonders if she is the Diana Prince who is also Wonder Woman.

Shiera's convoy leaves San Francisco as the Japanese invade the city. Hall switches to Hawkman and takes flight with a machine gun. He shoots down multiple planes, then helps Carol Williams (and some random All-American kids) usher San Franciscans into air-raid shelters. Then he fights Japanese invaders in the city, and attacks the Japanese fleet with their own bombs and torpedoes. Hawkman is then asked to guard the convoy headed to the Philippines.

Fun Facts:

In the real world, there never was a Japanese invasion of California. But Americans were worried about that after Pearl Harbor, and that's what Gardner Fox wrote about.
"Carol Williams" is likely based on Carole Lombard (inset photo) who traveled the country raising money in defense bonds after Pearl Harbor. DUring her flight back to Hollywood on Jan. 16, 1942, her plane crashed, killing all aboard. There's no way Fox could have anticipated that while writing this story.
San Francisco didn't actually have air-raid shelters in World War II. (Or probably now.)

Interlude
By Gardner Fox and Jack Burnley (1 page)

Hawkman visits Shiera on the deck of her convoy ship, where she has met Diana Prince. He says to the latter, "Why, you must be Wonder Woman!" and when she asks how he knows that, he says, condescendingly, "The Justice Society manages to learn many things!" After he leaves, Diana chides Shiera for being so affectionate with Hawkman, after she had been mooning over Carter Hall earlier. Shiera laughs and shares the double identity.

Note: I wouldn't have mentioned this as separate from the Hawkman chapter, except it was drawn by a different artist. But it's pretty much part of the Hawkman chapter.

WONDER WOMAN
By Gardner Fox and Harry Peter (6 pages)

This entire chapter is a dream.

Army nurse Diana Prince arrives in the Philippines and is sent to "a little skirmish on the coast near Vigan!" The Japanese are invading, and the Marines are taking heavy losses. Diana decides to take part as Wonder Woman, and defeats the invasion force single-handed. She reports to the commanding officer, who shows her two places where he doesn't have sufficient forces, so she runs off and defeats those invasions, too. She is made an honorary member of the Marine detachment.

Best Line: While sabotaging a Japanese ship from beneath, Wonder Woman says, "This will keel them. Oh — what an awful pun. But it's the best I can do under water!"

Worst Line: While lassoing a Japanese soldier, Wonder Woman says, "Come along, little yellow doggie!"

Fun Facts

In the real world, the Philippines fell on May 6, 1942.
Given atrocities like the Bataan Death March, it's almost painful to read this fantasy.
There actually is a Vigan City in the Philippines.
At one point Wonder Woman says, "I'm so proud to be an American!" But ... but ... she's not. Is she?

SANDMAN
By Gardner Fox and Cliff Young (6 pages)

Wesley Dodds graduating gunnery schoo in his solo chapter is "real." The dream begins on the second page, where he's on Wake Island and volunteers for guard duty, but isn't selected. So as Sandman he sneaks out and steals a captured Japanese two-man sub. (Convenient!) He finds a Japanese fleet and sets one of the aircraft carriers ablaze by wirepooning airplane gas tanks and setting the fuel alight. He sends misinformation to the Japanese fleet from his sub radio, and the ships scatter. He torpedoes one of the ships. He climbs into the cockpit of a plane on a carrier deck, and uses the plane's guns against the crew. American bombers arrive to attack the fleet and a prize crew boards the ship Sandman is on to bring it back to Wake.

Fun Facts

In the real world, Wake fell on Dec. 23, 1942.
Sandman signs his fake messages to the Japanese "Shinemorusa." It's a nonsense word from Kate Smith's "Rose O'Day (The Filla-Ga-Dusha Song)."

THE ATOM
By Gardner Fox and Ben Flinton (6 pages)

Al Pratt graduating tanks school counts. The dream begoins as he is assigned to Thailand in defense of Singapore. Al's tank leads a counter-attack against the Japanese, and then he changes to Atom and attacks the tanks directly, flipping them over with a tree branch. Then he commandeers a Japanese tank and turns it against the Japanese. The attack is repulsed.

Fun Facts

In the real world, Singapore fell on Feb. 15, 1942.
Atom fighting tanks with a tree branch is pretty silly, so I'm kinda glad this is a dream.

DOCTOR FATE
By Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman (6 pages)

After training as a paratrooper at Fort Benning, Georgia (real), Kent Nelson is sent to the Aleutian Islands, where the Japanese are attacking Unalaska Island (dream). Nelson parachutes down, but as his unit comes under fire, he switches to Doctor Fate. He handles the Japanese garrison easily, and then destroys the supporting Japanese fleet. He flies through ships like a missile.

Fun Facts

In the real world the Japanese didn't invade Unalaska. They did, however, invade the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska on June 3, 1942. A May 11 counter-attack restored Attu to Allied hands (the Japanese garrison was wiped out, with a great many Marine casualties). An Aug. 15 counter-attack on Kiska revealed the Japanese had withdrawn.
Roy Thomas seems to think Dr. Fate was depicted as too powerful in that scene. In All-Star Squadron #19, he has Brain Wave say, "Doctor Fate imagines himself far more powerful than he is, in these post-magical days."

DOCTOR MID-NITE
By Gardner Fox and Stan Aschmeier (6 pages)

In the last panel of the second page of his solo chapter, Charles McNider is working on Dr. Benson's serum on an unnamed Pacific island. That's where his story picks up in All-Star Squadron #10. But the dream begins at the top of the third page, where the Japanese invade. McNider becomes Dr. Mid-Nite and puts a spotlight on enemy planes for AA to do its work. Then he captures a bunch of Japanese paratroopers in the dark, where they can't see. (You'd think they'd be issued flashlights, parachuting in the dark and all.) The invasion is foiled. Myra excitedly tells McNider that Dr. Mid-Nite stopped the invasion. McNider replies, "Can't we lose that comic book hero of yours even out here in the middle of the ocean?"

Geez, he's snarky to Myra even in his dreams. Has anyone answered why McNider wasn't picked to be the gay JSAer? He never shows any romantic interest in Myra, and was unmarried when re-introduced in the Silver Age. Meanwhile, the guy they did pick had multiple girlfriends (and was seen smooching some of them), plus two kids.

STARMAN
By Gardner Fox and Jack Burnley (6 pages)

Ted Knight is assigned to Hickam Field (Hawaii), and we see him flying there in both All-Star Comics #11 and All-Star Squadron #10. But upon arrival, the dream begins. Knight is told that Japanese forces in Formosa (now Taiwan) plan to bomb the Philippines. Knight's squadron is ordered to destroy the Japanese build-up on Formosa, but it's a trap and they are all going to be wiped out. Knight changes to Starman and saves the crew on his bomber, then starts destroying Japanese planes and ships. He captures a Japaese radio shack and orders all the Japanese on Formosa to surrender, and they do.

Fun Facts:

In the real world, Japan occupied Formosa from 1895 to the surrender in 1945.
In the real world, Japan invaded the Philippines hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

JOHNNY THUNDER
By Gardner Fox and Stan Aschmeier (6 pages)

This entire chapter is a dream.

Johnny joins the Navy and is such a screw-up he's nicknamed "Death-Trap Thunder." His commander dumps him on "aircraft carrier commander Sewell." While attempting to hang a picture (badly) and get matches for his commander, Johnny accidentally uncovers and captures a spy. Then the Japanese attack, and the spy has prevented planes from taking off. Johnny wishes he was in an airplane, and the Thunderbolt obliges. His incompetent flying and sequential blunders disrupt the attack and the commander says he'll "let you lead all air attacks after this."

Fun Facts

There wasn't an aircraft carrier commander named Sewell in World War II, and the flattop itself isn't named.
Johnny remains in the Navy until Flash Comics #53 (May 1944), while the rest of the JSA musters out immediately to become the "Justice Battalion" (see below).

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
By Gardner Fox and Jack Burnley (2 pages)

This entire chapter is a dream.

Various officers are arguing (in some undisclosed location) that each of the JSA members in their particular chain of command is the best. Johnny says, "we'd go swell as a whole battalion, wouldn't we?" and has the Thunderbolt bring the gang together, including Wonder Woman. "I'm commanding officer, Hawkman," the unnamed top dog says. "Do you realize you and your Justice Society are disrupting my army?" When asked what he means, the commander says, "The trouble is, you make too good soldiers! You have all my division commanders fighting among themselves as to who is the best among you! This has got to stop!" So he says, "I have wired Washington for permission to make you a special battalion, on Johnny Thunder's advice, to be known as the Justice Battalion of America!"

Fun Fact: Wonder Woman is active with the JSA crack out of the box, without any sort of preamble whatsoever. She even gets a solo chapter, displacing The Spectre. "The original idea had surely been to add the Amazon as a 9th active JSAer," Dennis Mallonee wrote in All-Star Compantion Vol. 2, "even though there were only pages enough for 8 heroes to have solo adventures. Thus, in All-Star #11-13, first The Spectre, then Wonder Woman, then Doctor Fate played little part in the story; indeed, Fate missed the entire meeting!"

However, it's made clear at the end that she isn't a member just quite yet, as Doctor Fate suggests they make her one.

Naming Convention

The "what do we call ourselves" scene has happened at least five times. For my own sake, if for no other reason, let's recap what these super-folks were called in World War II.

Summer 1940: In JSA v3 #18 (June 2026), Green Lantern names the team the Justice Society of America.
Nov. 10, 1941: In DC Special #29 (August-September 1977) FDR suggests they stay together as a team. "You'd make a snappy Army regiment!" Instead, Superman suggests Justice Society of America. This scene also appears in flashback in All-Star Squadron #7.
Nov, 10, 1941: In Secret Origins #31 (October 1988), FDR says the same thing. But this time, it's Spectre who suggests Justice Society of America.
Dec. 8, 1941: In All-Star Squadron #1 (September 1991), FDR names them (and all extant superheroes) the All-Star Squadron.
Dec. 7, 1941-Jan. 2, 1942: In All-Star Comics #11 (June-July 1942), an unnamed Army officer names them the Justice Battalion on an unspecified date.

Now, back to our previously scheduled issue ...

What Brain Wave emphasizes about these dreams is how violent they are, and how many Japanese the JSA members kill. Which is, more or less, true of All-Star Comics #11. Penned after Pearl Harbor, it manifested the anger and thirst for revenge felt by many Americans.

But here, the JSA bloodlust isn't real. It's an invention by, and a tool of, Brain Wave. It has an evil purpose. "You dirty — !" Johnny Quick says. "Hours of dreaming nothing but that — would turn anybody into no more than a killing machine!"

Next, all of Brain Wave's captives dream the same dream of being re-named Justice Battalion, as described above.

Then, in the dream, they are sent to attack Japan proper. (Which did not happen in All-Star Comics #11.) Whereupon they are killed, even Dr. Fate, who is suffocated by a special Japanese shell. Hawkman is killed by Brain Wave, masquerading as The Spectre (who, as mentioned, didn't get a chapter in All-Star Comics #11).

Of course, they're not really dead yet. "But they will be within moments," Brain Wave says, "for my death-images are even now robbing them swiftly, relentlessly, of their combined will to live ... and the death of even one of them will pull the others over the edge!"

Or, you know, he could just shoot them all in the head as they lie helplessly. I guess that's too easy.

Fun Facts

None of the characters ever see Brain Wave, preserving the reveal, I presume, for his historical debut in All-Star Comics #15.
Brain Wave describes Johnny Thunder as "little more than the others' mascot." I assume that's how Thomas sees him. I see him as mentally challenged. Proper use of the Thunderbolt would have made him one of the most powerful members, but he can't seem to rise to the necessary level of maturity. Yes, he's young — about 24, given his official birth date of 7/7/17. But Atom is younger, and not nearly as stupid.
Speaking of Johnny, he's in his sailor uniform, which is why I posted "The Navy Is Looking for You, Johnny" early (see page 175).

Philip Portelli September 14, 2026 at 3:07pm

The artwork soars as Jerry Ordway begins his incredible run.
However, Roy Thomas becomes very...verbose with copious amounts of word balloons, high levels of exposition and numerous time specific references that went over most young readers' heads!

And he was clearly enamored with the Trylon, Perisphere and Elektro the Robot, even adding him to the book!

And what a shocker! Starman is the first to "die"! And on the ground, Sandman and Johnny Thunder quickly get "killed", Doctor Mid-Nite lasts a few panels and the Atom gets a grander "death"!

Not to mention that Hawkman gets far more screen time than the rest!

Of course, the Brain Wave has no idea where the real Spectre is or if he could defeat him!

If anything could kill the JSA in real time, it would be the guilt of the destruction they caused and the hubris that they, and they alone, could stop the war!
Brain Wave says that the JSA will die "within mere moments" but they last far longer!

Captain Comics September 14, 2026 at 4:28pm

The Spectre is, conveniently, off battling Kulak. We'll get the specifics in All-Star Squadron #28.

Philip Portelli > Captain Comics September 14, 2026 at 4:46pm

Yes, the readers know that but not Brain Wave! I'd be a little more worried about the Spectre showing up!

Captain Comics September 15, 2026 at 11:37am

JANUARY 4. 1983

ALL-STAR SQUADRON #20
March 1983, DC Comics Inc., 36 pages
Cover by Jerry Ordway

... For the Dark Things Cannot Stand the Light ...!"
By Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway (23 pages)

Title Watch: Part of the Golden Age Green Lantern's oath, which will be new information to absolutely no one.
Calendar Watch: February 1942.
JSA Roll Call: Atom, Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder, Sandman, Starman, future member Wonder Woman. In flashback: Batman, Flash, Spectre and Superman.
All-Star Squadron Roll Call: Firebrand, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Robotman, Steel, Tarantula.

The six All-Star Squadron members dive into Brain Wave's dreamscape to save the JSA, but end up in the same situation. Brain Wave then recaps his origin, and discusses how he got all these superheroes in one place.

I mentioned some of this issue already, following All-Star Comics #8. Here's what I said then:

"In All-Star Squadron #20, Brain Wave claims to have been using Dr. Able/Elba as a cat's paw for the entirety of All-Star Comics #8. ... And a flashback shows him mingling with the JSA during the conversation at the end, dressed as Henry King. While they're chatting, Brain Wave implants a mental image of an old foe in the mind of The Spectre, so he will fly off. Brain Wave feared he was too powerful. He also implants a subconscious command for the remaining JSA members to assemble at the Perisphere on a specific date in late January 1942, a date to which we are not privy.

He says he did the same with Wonder Woman, after running into her "by chance." He doesn't say where or when. He summoned the All-Star Squadron via Morse-code message from a transmitter in the New York World's Fair Trylon, as we saw at the end of All-Star Squadron #18.

Brain Wave then wonders about the missing JSA members (excluding, as usual, Hourman). We see vignettes of:

Spectre vs. Kulak (which will be explained in All-Star Squadron #28);
Superman in "When Titans Clash" (Superman #17, July-August 1942);
Batman vs. The Joker (Batman #11, June-July 1942);
Flash in "The Tale of the Time Capsule!" (All-Flash #4, Spring 1942); and
Green Lantern from the end of "Chapter 4: Journey's End for Nazis!' (Green Lantern #4, Summer 1942)

All those stories didn't come out the same month as All-Star Comics #11, but they were mostly close. And now they apparently do happen at the precise moment Brain Wave wonders about the five JSAers. And the Green Lantern vignette continues beyond the end of Green Lantern #4, as Alan Scott hears on the radio about the Morse-code message that drew in the All-Star Squadron in issue #19. He charges up the ring in a lovely Jerry Ordway sequence, and flies to the rescue.

Unfortunately, he goes into the dreamscape, too. But fortunately, his will power is stronger than the others — too strong for the neuro-augmentron. Brain Wave throws everything he has at him, but Green Lantern responds by escalating until he destroys the entirety of dreamscape Japan. Brain Wave is disabled by the feedback through his machine and slinks away in defeat. (He was never actually present at the Perisphere, and presented to the All-Stars as an image of a floating brain.)

Meanwhile, Green Lantern, no longer pumped with bloodlust by Brain Wave, but still having the greatest will power on Earth and a magic ring, thinks he's a mass murderer who has destroyed the real Japan. He's about to commit suicide — to avoid this happening again — when the others convince him that they're alive, and Japan's alive, and it's all a dream. The issue ends with GL physically fine, but whimpering in Wonder Woman's lap.

Continuity Carousel

We can guess why Roy Thomas selected the stories he did, for the most part. These particular stories prevented three of the five characters from responding immediately to Brain Wave's challenge. Superman, for example, had lost his powers to the Powerstone in Superman #17. Flash was traveling through time in All-Flash #4. As for Batman, Robin had been captured by The Joker in Batman #11, which kept the Dark Knight busy. (But, really, Thomas could have picked almost any Batman story of the era and it would have played the same, as one or both were captured in almost every story. Which is probably why the Batman vignette is the only one he chose that was actually published the same month as All-Star Comics #11!) Green Lantern was depicted at the end of Green Lantern #4, after his adventures there, so as soon as the Morse-code challenge was reported on the radio, he was available to play calvalry.

However, there was no Golden Age reason for The Spectre to be truant. In the concurrent issue of More Fun Comics, Spectre was battling the King of Color, which didn't take long. So Roy Thomas invented a story involving Kulak, whose one and only Golden Age appearance had been All-Star Comics #2.

Philip points out that Brain Wave should have been worried about The Spectre, and he's right. Sure, the Mind Master implanted a mental image of "an old foe" to draw the Ace of Shades away, but who's to say that would hold The Spectre long? Who knows if a mental implant would even work on the Ghostly Guardian? As it happens, Spectre discovered Kulak had the Ring of Life in that moment, which forced hin into extended battle, so Brain Wave's gambit accidentally paid off. (Thanks to a heaping helping of writer's fiat.) My only explanation is the one that has been mentioned in this thread before, that it's likely that the general consensus in 1942 was that Spectre was just an ordinary mystery man with a ghost schtick. So he probably wasn't as feared as he should have been. Nor, in all honesty, did his More Fun strip usually display the full extent of his powers to the public, especially after the advent of Percival Popp.

Fun Facts

Now we know why Green Lantern didn't end World War II after Pearl Harbor, and it ain't got nuttin' to do wit' no Spear of Destiny, as Doiby would say.
Green Lantern #4 has been mentioned in two different All-Star Squadron issues, issues #5 and #20, bookends of the issues which occur during All-Star Comics #11. But Green Lantern #4 didn't come out until June 23, 1942 — two months after All-Star Comics #11! Since it had to be moved back to accommodate Thomas' story, I posted about it back on page 171.
Green Lantern refers to the All-Stars as "the second team." He clearly considers the JSA the varsity team.
Green Lantern quotes the "I am become death" line from the Bhagavad Gita. I knew Roy Thomas was a poetry buff, but I didn't know Alan Scott was.
The "Justice Battalion" business is introduced in "reality" (as opposed to Brain Wave's induced dreams) in the next issue, All-Star Squadron #21. But that's the first chapter in the "Ultra War," which continues through All-Star Squadron #26 and All-Star Squadron Annual #1. Imma hold off on that for a while, as I explain in the next bit.

Take Ten

Speaking of comics that coincide with All-Star Comics #11, you might have noticed that there were a lot of them. And I didn't catch them all. I just stumbled on Justice League v4 #30-37 in my research, which seems to take place between All-Star Comics #10 and #11. And I should have placed some stories differently. I'd guess the first two chapters of Green Lantern #4 occur just before All-Star Squadron #5, and the last two just before All-Star Squadron #19. I ran them all in one place. Adventure Comics #75 and Flash Comics #31, which arrived on newsstands after All-Star Comics #11, probably should have been placed before it. There are more, but you get the idea.

These errors arose because originally I had planned to simply re-read Golden Age stories in the order in which they were published. But with the addition of modern retcons, and due to wartime factors affecting the timeliness of various Golden Age stories, it's clear that I need to create a proper timeline.

So I'm going to take a break from posting, specifically to map out All-Star Comics #12-14, the coincident Golden Age solo stories, the rest of All-Star Squadron and Young All-Stars, and whatever retcons and flashbacks my research (and/or fuzzy memory) turns up. I'll be leaning hard on web resources like Cosmic Teams, DCU Guide and the Grand Comics Database. (Feel free to suggest other resources, y'all!) But those are fan-sourced sites, and I don't know their reasoning for why they place the books where they do. And someties they contradict. So I need to do my own research, as they say, and re-read the books myself before making decisions.

I don't know how long this will take, but I'm determined to assemble — and post — a definitive timeline before I take another step.

The Baron > Captain Comics September 15, 2026 at 12:12pm

Green Lantern quotes the "I am become death" line from the Bhagavad Gita. I knew Roy Thomas was a poetry buff, but I didn't know Alan Scott was.

Which is also of course the same line that Oppenheimer is said to have quoted after the first A-bomb was set off.

Philip Portelli September 15, 2026 at 1:58pm

Brain Wave is very dismissive about Johnny Thunder but he'll get hoisted on his own petard in the future!
Indeed, in the prior JLA/JSA team up, Brain Wave was considered Johnny's counterpart in long term enmity.

Weirdest thing was Robotman's head being blown off and he's explaining that he only has five seconds to live and gives Steel a warning!

For all their violent "deaths", their bodies look pretty pristine! Guess Brain Wave is the squeamish type!

Captain Comics September 30, 2026 at 2:06pm

Hello! I am not dead! Let me provide some proof of life!

I have, since last posting, created a list (with publishing dates, cover dates and story titles) of all JSA stories (solo and team) from Action Comics #1 to All-Star Comics #57, inclusive. I have also inserted all 1940s retcons, time-travel and flashback stories where they seem appropriate -- well, those that I could remember or my research turned up. I'm sure I'm missing a few, but I'm researching and placing the ones I have at hand. I hope to have at least all the major ones, such as All-Star Squadron, Young All-Stars, Justice Society: Strange Adventures, Last Days of the Justice Society, "Wedding in Vegas" (Jay Garrick), etc. I have used a number of online sites, Google's Gemini and in-story dates to order this list. Some of them don't seem to make much sense now, but perhaps they will when I read (or re-read) them.

I'm sad to report that the most complicated part is the one we're currently in. From All-Star Comics #11 to All-Star Comics #15 are a blizzard of retcons, plus the various online sites move a lot of solo stories around to accomodate All-Star Squadron and Young All-Stars, All-Flash while matching the solo, JSA and anthology adventures of the big five. I get a headache just thinking about it. But when I begin re-posting, I'll do so in the recommended order. Otherwise, what's the point of all this research?

There are some modern stories, sadly, that should have been inserted before our current position in late February 1942. I will summarize some of those when I return, or do full re-reads, depending on their importance.

One item I can address now, at least in general, which may be worthy of consideration and/or comment.

And that is: I hadn't put it together until now that DC has pushed back the debut of at least six of its 1940s heroes. I don't think it's some sort of company mandate, or it would have happened all at once. And since it didn't happen all at once, it has sneaked up on me. But:

When I read "Year One" it surprised me that Hawkgirl was already Hawkman's partner in Summer 1940. It shouldn't have. It has been suggested, at least as far back as Hawkman Annual #2 (1995) that Shiera Sanders was eyeing the wings in Hawkman's first adventure in Flash Comics #1. It's possible that she has been with Golden Age Hawkman in his every adventure in "reality," wheras she was sometimes sidelined in "comic book stories" published in Flash Comics. For my part, my head canon imagines her by Hawkman's side in most Golden Age stories, saying Myrna Loy-like things.

Sandman Mystery Theatre pushed Sandman's debut back to 1938, which has generally been believed to be out of continuity. And I did for a while. But recently I tried to overlay Sandman Mystery Theatre and Sandman's strip in Adventure Comics, and found they were a pretty good match. I have no doubt this was done on purpose by writer Matt Wagner. In brief, if you line up the adventures Wagner re-wrote with the originals, Sandman Mystery Theatre and Adventure Comics proceed almost without contradiction. I say "almost" because of those re-written stories. But if you consider Sandman Mystery Theatre to be what "really" happened and Adventure Comics to be the sanitized "comic book" version, it accomodates both versions of The Tarantula, The Face, Phantom of the Fair and Dian Belmont's origin (her discovery of Wesley's identity in Sandman Mystery Theatre coincides with her origin story in Adventure Comics #47). Pushing Adventure Comics #40 back to 1938 is the one major variation required, and then the two series proceed apace, with Adventure Comics #48 picking up after the end of Sandman Mystery Theatre #70 -- with Dian at that point fully aware of Wesley's double identity, and acting as his partner, in both series.

Wesley Dodds met Ted Knight, Jim Corrigan and Charles McNider in Sandman Mystery Theatre, a series which comes to a close around January 1940, before any of those men suited up. And they don't suit up in SMT, so adding the series doesn't affect any generally accepted continuity. However, one JSA member does debut too early in the pages of Sandman Mystery Theatre: Hourman. He appears twice in 1939, before his official debut in Adventure Comics #48 in 1940. I don't have a problem accepting that, either -- let's just say that it took him a few months to get a handle on this mystery-man business, or that he had a few untold adventures. It's really only a month in real time between Hourman's second appearance in "The Hero" (which ends on Jan. 1, 1940), and Hourman's official debut in Adventure Comics #48 (on-sale date Feb. 2, 1940).

As late as Doomsday Clock #10 (2019), Alan Scott debuted when All-American Comics #16 said he did, in 1940. But Jay Garrick: The Flash (2023) says he debuted in June 1938 (in place of Superman) and Alan Scott: The Green Lantern (2023) suggests an earlier date as well -- I read it as 1939, but with fudging we can go with 1938. JSA's "Year One" (2025) takes place in Summer 1940, and in that story Alan Scott is no beginner, again suggesting an earlier start date than All-American Comics #16, which shipped on May 17, 1940, with a cover date of July 1940.

Speaking of "Year One," it takes place before The Atom even debuted! "Summer 1940" is too early for Atom's bow in All-American Comics #19 (on sale in August, October cover date). So we have to fudge. Al Pratt's first story was basically a training montage, and he doesn't appear in costume until All-American Comics #20 (on sale in September, November cover date). If we take those two stories, which I consider his origin story, and place them in early summer 1940, then his timeline jibes with "Year One" in Summer 1940. Heck, the training montage could have started considerably earlier than Summer 1940, which would probably place Al's entry into college in the fall semester of 1939, necessary anyway to make him a sophomore by All-Star Comics #3 in November 1940, as he was said to be. This arrangement would mean a pause in Atom's adventures from "Year One" until All-American Comics #21 (on sale in October, December cover date), which is inconvenient but not fatal to my theory.

"Year One" introduces Hippolyta as Wonder Woman (in full costume) much earlier than her official debut. All-Star Comics #8 gave us the preview of Diana as Wonder Woman, on sale Oct. 21, 1941 (with a December cover date). Her actual first story, in Sensation Comics #1, arrived on Nov. 5 (with a January 1942 cover date). But here's "Year One" showing her sneaking around unnamed (but in costume) in Summer 1940. Wonder Woman's history has been in flux since Crisis on Infinite Earths, but if we're to accept that Hippolyta was the World War II Wonder Woman (unclear on whether she time traveled), and it began in Summer 1940 and (according to John Byrne's "eight years") ended in 1948. Who played Wonder Woman from 1948 to 1986 is still a mystery. Maybe it was Moon Girl.

So that's four founders, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl ratcheted back to far earlier than we have long believed. I don't find any of it implausible, and actually like those early stories having room to breathe. Of course, we can reject these changes for our individual head canons, and no doubt many do. But if we accept them, what do y'all think of this amended timeline?

June 10, 1938: Sandman debuts.
Also June 1938: Green Lantern debuts.
July 7, 1938: Johnny Thunder turns 21, mystery power begins.
Jan. 1, 1939: Hourman debuts.
Fall 1939: Al Pratt begins training.
November 1939: Flash, Hawkman and Hawkgirl debut.
December 1939: The Spectre debuts.
March 1940: Dr. Fate debuts.
May 1940: Jay Garrick graduates college.
June 1940: Atom debuts.
Summer 1940: Wonder Woman (Hippolyta), Amazing Man debut. JSA forms.

I have this in more elaborate form elsewhere, but that's the gist of it.

The Baron > Captain Comics September 30, 2026 at 2:32pm

Hello! I am not dead!

Do you feel happy? Do you think you'll go for a walk?

Jeff of Earth-J September 30, 2026 at 2:51pm

But if we accept them, what do y'all think of this amended timeline?

I mean, it fits the revised history (as you have laid it out), but I'm not sure I do accept it.

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