Welcome to our re-read of the first and greatest superhero team in comics ... and quite a bit more!
My plan is to re-read and discuss the Golden Age Justice Society of America, which ran from All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940) to All-Star Comics #57 (February-March 1951), and is currently being reprinted in DC's "DC Finest" line.
But, as ever, I am consumed by context. What events brought us to All-Star Comics #3? What characters did editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox have available from which to choose? What else was competing in the superhero space? To achieve that context, I plan to start the discussion at the publisher's beginning, when Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson launched National Allied Publications Inc. in 1935. That was the first step toward the Justice Society — and to DC Comics as we know it today.
So before we even get to the JSA, I'll re-read and open for discussion all the solo stories starring JSA members, mostly from DC's Archives and Famous First Edition series. Which is actually quite a lot! (Although not as much as I'd prefer. I want it ALL!) I'll be writing about non-JSA superheroes created by National, Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Comics Inc. too, like Crimson Avenger and Doctor Occult. I'll also be tipping my hat to some non-powered characters, principally those who managed to appear outside their parent title, like Slam Bradley and Hop Harrigan. That means no re-read for the likes of "Bart Regan, Spy" and "Speed Saunders." Sorry, fellas, but I had to draw the line somewhere — before I found myself doing a deep dive into the history of Ginger Snap.
Speaking of drawing lines, I won't be re-reading Superman and Batman. They are peripheral at best to the Golden Age JSA, and would overwhelm the discussion through sheer volume. The volume issue extends to Wonder Woman as well (Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade), but she was a major player in the JSA, so I haven't decided yet if I'll include her solo stories. (And I have quite a bit of time to decide, since the bulk of DC"s Golden Age Archives books consist of material published before Sensation Comics #1.) Fortunately, Jeff of Earth-J is already doing a re-read of the Golden Age Superman.
I should note that I'm using cover dates instead of ship dates (not all ship dates are available) and assigning specific months to seasonal cover dates. That is to say, I consider "Spring" to mean March-April-May, "Summer" to mean June-July-August, "Fall" to mean September-October-November and "Winter" to mean December-January-February. I know the books with seasonal dates don't always align with the months I've assigned. But I'm organizing by month, so I have to assign months to seasonal cover dates. The cover date for All-Star Comics #3 was Winter 1940, for example, so I'm going to call it "December." (The actual ship date was Nov. 22, 1940, according to the Grand Comics Database, for whatever that's worth.) It's not necessary for Golden Age books to be in specific order very often, but where they need to be (like Detective Comics #38 and Batman #1), I'll order them properly.
I've tried to be comprehensive, relying on a variety of sources, from online to reprints to "companion" books. A tip of the cowl to some of Luke Blanchard's posts in what amounts to almost an outline for this discussion. But I'm sure I've left out tons, especially reprints that I don't have or can't find, which may be at hand in your collection. I hope folks will do re-reads of reprints I've left out, as well as comment on what I've written. So let's hear what I've missed Legionnaires — and what you think!
Replies
As you can see above, I've deleted most of what you find objectionable in the post you're quoting, and re-written the original post. Onward.
Cap, I didn't find any of what you said objectionable.
I quoted the bits I agreed with!
The stories from the first two years of "Spy" are comedy-adventure and enjoyable for their high spirits and female co-lead, although the plots are always slight. You might find them worth a look. Siegel and Shuster may have been the only people doing comedy-adventure in comics at that point.
"Speed Saunders" was initially drawn by Creig Flessel. Later there's a run by Fred Guardineer, whose stylised work I love on anything.
Ken Fitch, who had stories in New Fun #1, was the co-creator of Hourman.
The stories from the first two years of "Spy" are comedy-adventure and enjoyable for their high spirits and female co-lead, although the plots are always slight.
Thanks, Luke! I might give "Spy" a try. Did you read them at Comic Book Plus, or do you know of some other place?
I read on GCD that in the "origin" of Spy, Bart Regan is publicly "fired" from his agency so that he can surreptitiously become a spy at a new agency. He breaks up with his girlfriend, who refuses to be broken up with, finds out his secret, and then becomes his partner in espionage. If that's played as screwball comedy, it works for me.
Siegel and Shuster may have been the only people doing comedy-adventure in comics at that point.
Sometimes it seems like they're writing and drawing every adventure strip at National in these early days!
"Speed Saunders" was initially drawn by Creig Flessel.
He has a nice run on Sandman.
Later there's a run by Fred Guardineer, whose stylised work I love on anything.
He was the primary guy on Zatara, at least as far as I've researched (mid-1940).
Ken Fitch, who had stories in New Fun #1, was the co-creator of Hourman.
Coming up soon!
EDIT! - EDIT! - EDIT!
It just occurred to me that yesterday, in my previous post, I wrote "Critical Race Theory" when I meant to write "Replacement Theory."
"Critical Race Theory" IS a theory;
"Replacement Theory" is NOT.
I hope I corrected it before too many people read it and drew the wrong impression (of me).
I heard what you meant and didn't worry about it. Others probably did as well.
Say, I've deleted most of what I wrote that you were reacting to, so if you want to amend your remarks, feel free. Or if there's some sort of time limit, I can amend for you (send me what you want to say). I think you can delete a post indefinitely, but I'm not sure. At any rate, my half of the discussion has basically disappeared, so if you want to fix your end to match,or just rewrite your post as an essay to make your point, just let me know.
I've edited typos in posts from years ago, so I don't think there's a limit.
I already edited my mistake. It was up for only nine hours, overnight, so I think it's all right now. I'm going to let the rest of it stand, though (and I did read your rewritten post). All I was really trying to say is that, when it comes to the "first" comic book, you have your criteria and I have mine, but our "theories" are goping to have to remain just that, until such a time as we are able to actually read some of the publications in contention. I think we're closer to saying the same thing than you think.
I do have my own opinion about what constitutes "the first comic book" (based on those I have actually seen), but I don't want to get ahead of the discussion.
MARCH 1935 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 1935
New Fun continued through issue #5 (August 1935) without content pertinent to our discussion, or any physical reprints of which I'm aware. Nothing significant was going on elsewhere in the field, either.
OCTOBER 1935
New Fun #6 (October 1935) gives us DC's first mystery man: Doctor Occult. I don't know of any physical reprints of his adventures, but I did find him online.
Real name: Richard Occult
Created by: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Debut Story: Untitled by Siegel and Shuster (1 page).
Where I read this story: Comic Book Plus.
Significance: DC's Ur-superhero
In his first appearance, Occult and "his lovely assistant" Rose Psychic go from hearing a cry for help in an alley to battling a vampire in the stately home of Sander Amster. There's no time to waste in a one-page feature!
In the final panel, Occult is holding up the "Mystic Symbol of the Seven," a white, palm-sized disk with a red Bolsinari Cross on it. (I think that's what it is. The arms of the cross on the Symbol flare out as they extend, and the Bolsinari Cross is the closest I could find to that.) Modern stories tend to have Occult focus his powers throught it, but in the Golden Age he used a variety of talismans. Or maybe it was just the one talisman, and Joe Shuster just didn't draw it consistently. Hard to say. But this specific look for the Symbol never appears again in the Golden Age that I can find.
You might note that Occult bears more than a little resemblance to Superman. That's to be expected, as all of Joe Shuster's leading men bear more than a little resemblance to Superman. And it really is Superman's creators on this strip, despite the pen names Leger and Reuths, which are partial anagrams of their real names.
Occult didn't have an origin in the Golden Age, but Roy Thomas and E. Nelson Bridwell provided one in Secret Origins #17 (second series, August 1987). In "The Secret Origin of Doctor Occult," we learn that Richard and Rose were kidnapped as babies by an evil mystical cult, and then rescued by a good mystical cult, "The Seven," who raise them to learn magic. The male proves more adept, so he is granted the title "Dr. Occult" and the "Mystic Symbol of the Seven." I have no idea how Rose got her name. Who knows, maybe she was born with it.
Fun facts:
Golden Age appearances: New Fun #6, More Fun #7-8, More Fun Comics #9-32 and The Comics Magazine #1 (as Dr. Mystic). I don't know of any that have been reprinted physcially, but most are available at Comic Book Plus.
Current status: Occult showed up in All-Star Squadron, which was a period book, and was established as still alive in the modern age in in Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (March 1986). He currently appears in Justice League Unlimited. Occult was a player during Vertigo's heyday, and appeared in titles like Books of Magic (2018-2020) and Trenchcoat Brigade (1999). At some point it was revealed that either Occult or Rose had suffered some fatal injury, and the two were forced to mystically merge. Sometimes in the aforementioned Vertigo books, Rose could take charge of the shared body. I don't know if that is still true.
Also in New Fun #6: Siegel and Shuster launch a Three Musketeers-era swordsman named Henri Duval, who lasted until More Fun Comics #10 (May 1936). The character isn't important, but the name is. Siegel would use it again.
NOVEMBER 1935
The vampire story continues in Doctor Occult through More Fun Comics #9 (March 1936), although Occult doesn't do anything particularly mystical. Or even heroic, as it is Mrs. Amster who saves the day. I'll continue with Occult in More Fun Comics #10 in the next post or two,
The Big Book of Fun Comics (November 1935), a one-shot from National, reprints material primarily from New Fun #1-4.
I was going to mention a cosmetic change to Doctor Occult but you probably will discuss that later.
I recall being excited about his revival in All Star Squadron, being a pre-Superman Siegel & Shuster creation. I liked his look being a mystical detective as opposed to the other supernatural characters like Doctor Fate, Spectre, Zatar and Sargon.
I wonder if S&S dropped Doctor Occult to focus on Superman and then got swamped by the Man of Steel's popularity!
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 12 Next