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.
But I will be re-reading reprints, or availing myself of online information where reprints don't exist, of 14 of the 17 Golden Age characters who launched or appeared in All-Star Comics #3-57. Those characters include:
- The Atom: All-American Comics #19-46, 48-61, 70-72; All-Star Comics #3-26, 28-35, 37-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Flash Comics #80, 82-85, 87 89-95, 97-100, 102-104; Comic Cavalcade #22-23, 28; Sensation Comics #86.
- Black Canary: All-Star Comics #38-57; Comic Cavalcade #25; Flash Comics #86-88, 90-104.
- Doctor Fate: All-Star Comics #3-12, 14-21; More Fun Comics #55-98.
- Doctor Mid-Nite: All-American Comics #25-102; All-Star Comics #6 (text story), 8-57.
- The Flash: All-Flash #1-32; All-Star Comics #1-7, 10, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties)
- Green Lantern: All-American Comics #16-102; All-Flash #14; All-Star Comics #2-8, 10, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Green Lantern #1-38.
- Hawkman: All-Star Comics #1-57, Big All-American Comic Book, Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
- Hourman: Adventure Comics #48-83, All-Star Comics #1-7, New York World's Fair Comics [#2].
- Johnny Thunder: All-Star Comics #2-4, 6-35, 37-39; Big All-American Comic Book; Flash Comics #1-91; New York World's Fair Comics [#2]; World's Best Comics #1; World's Fair Comics #2-3; Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
- Mister Terrific: All-Star Comics #24, Big All-American Comic Book, Sensation Comics #1-63.
- Sandman: Adventure Comics #40-102, All-Star Comics #1-21, Boy Commandos #1, Detective Comics #76, New York World's Fair Comics [#1-2], World's Finest Comics #3-7.
- The Spectre: All-Star Comics #1-23, More Fun Comics #52-101, a single panel in More Fun Comics #51.
- Starman: Adventure Comics #61-102, All-Star Comics #8-23.
- Wildcat: All-Star Comics #24, 27; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-2; Sensation Comics #1-90.
The obvious exceptions here are Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. Superman and Batman, called "honorary members" in the text, appeared twice in All-Star Comics, but I don't plan to re-read all their adventures from 1938 to 1951. They are peripheral at best to the Golden Age JSA, and would overwhelm the discussion through sheer volume. This problem extends to Wonder Woman as well, who appears in four titles in the Golden Age (Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade, All-Star Comics). I'll re-read and report on her JSA adventures, but like Batman and Superman, I'll just note her solo stories in passing with a summary that I'll grab somewhere online. That will keep the discussion abreast of any major developments, like new supervillains, in Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman stories.
Here are their appearances that are concurrent with All-Star's run:
- Batman: All-Star Comics # 7 (cameo), 36; Batman #1-63 (February-March 1951); Batman 3-D #1; Detective Comics #1-169 (March 1951); New York World’s Fair Comics [#2]; World’s Best Comics #1, World’s Fair Comics #2-50 (February-March 1951).
- Superman: Action Comics #1-154 (March 1951); All-Star Comics #7 (cameo), 36; New York World’s Fair [#1-2]; Superman #1-69 (March-April 1951); Superman 3-D #1; Superman at the Gilbert Hall of Science; Superman Miniature; World’s Best Comics #1; World’s Fair Comics #2-50 (February-March 1951).
- Wonder Woman: All-Star Comics #8, 11-22, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Sensation Comics #1-102; Wonder Woman #1-46 (March-April 1951).
Fortunately, Jeff of Earth-J is already doing a re-read of the Golden Age Superman. Jeff isn't doing a re-read of all Batman books, but he is compiling "The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told," by which he means "all of them." Recently he's begun re-reading other major Bat-villains, which he discusses in Batman vs. Penguin, Riddler — Prince of Puzzles, The Crimes of Two-Face and Catwoman: Nine Lives of a Feline Fatale.
I should note that my methodology changed over time, as realities required. For instance, I initially lumped books together by monthly cover date, but complications ensued for books without them, like quarterlies and one-shots. As the number of quarterlies and their importance increased, I ended up going by on-sale dates as the primary organizational tool. (Which aren't available for all books, but that's a lesser devil than chronologically misplacing Batman or All-Star Comics). Initially I only included mention of others strips in anthology books if they were of some importance, like Slam Bradley, but eventually I started including all of them. Here and there I would try to improve the format. And so forth. In some imaginary "someday" I'll go back through and make them all consistent.
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 a Luke Blanchard post in what amounts to an outline for this discussion. But I'm sure I've left out tons, especially stories I don't have or can't find, which may be at hand in your collection. I hope folks will do re-reads of stories 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!
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Now I have to go watch Red Buttons on YouTube.
The Golden Age Sandman has fascinated since I first saw in the JSA group shot seen above. He should look dorky ( see his Silver Age return in Justice League of America #46 in 1966) but he always appeared foreboding to me.
I read reprints of his gasmask and yellow/purple phases and enjoyed both versions. And I knew that they were the same because my first JLA/JSA team-up was in JLA #113 (O'74) which explained it.
It's fitting that he is the earliest Justice Society member (save for instant honoraries Superman and Batman) as he is the most "realistic" of them, the link from the pulp hero detectives/adventurers/mystery men to the superhero that he eventually becomes.
He also has a butler, Humphries, before Batman gets Alfred. I think that he knew that his employer was the Sandman.
(Of course, having watched some episodes of Jeeves and Wooster, I can't help wishing for a superhero series where the valet is the real hero!)
I read this story when I got a crisp copy of JLA #94 (N'71), the Neal Adams Deadman issue, that also contained Starman's debut. #99 also had a Sandman reprint.
Len Wein used the Slumbering Sentinel in all three of his JLA/JSA team-ups, a feat shared by Batman and the Elongated Man!
Worth noting that we are seeing the birth of DC's Super-Villains with the Ultra-Humanite with Superman, Doctor Death with Batman and the Tarantula with Sandman. Along with Zatara's Tigress and Tex Thomson's the Gorrah, this would lead to three important baddies in the next year or so!
The Golden Age Sandman has fascinated since I first saw in the JSA group shot seen above. He should look dorky ( see his Silver Age return in Justice League of America #46 in 1966) but he always appeared foreboding to me.
When I first "met" him in the '60s JLA/JSA crossovers, I dismissed Sandman as one of the many superfluous "punchy" heroes in the JSA with limited or non-existent super-powers. I wanted to see heavy hitters like Doctor Fate, Spectre and Starman! But I have grown to really appreciate Wesley Dodds for his many unique qualities. He probably didn't belong in the JSA (really, most of the punchy characters were superfluous), but I'm re-reading his solo adventures in the Golden Age Sandman Archives with enthusiasm.
Worth noting that we are seeing the birth of DC's Super-Villains with the Ultra-Humanite with Superman, Doctor Death with Batman and the Tarantula with Sandman. Along with Zatara's Tigress and Tex Thomson's the Gorrah, this would lead to three important baddies in the next year or so!
I hadn't considered that! Sort of an early Legion of Doom. I know next to nothing about Tex Thomson, but I have added "The One-Eyed Gorrah" to his entry in Action Comics #2. Feel free to tell me more about Thomson! Wikipedia tells me The Gorrah moves to Brooklyn in Action Comics #27. What th-?!
I think the Tarantula returns in All-Star Comics, but decades later Matt Wagner killed him off in his first story in Sandman Mystery Theatre #4. That's one of the many ways that Vertigo series re-wrote continuity (or was a separate continuity). In 1940 we'll be getting some more Ultra-Humanite-level baddies like Zor (Spectre), Wotan (Doctor Fate) and Luthor (Superman). And some Joker in Gotham!
I didn't even mention the Sandman's special "Silver Age" gun that shoots out cinder blocks and glass rods!
The Tarantula reappeared in All Star Squadron Annual #3 (1984) where he's dispatched in one panel by the Sandman and the Atom who comments how easy Sandman's first battle with him must have been! There's no coming back when you get dissed by the Golden Age Atom!
As for Tex Thomson, all I know is from his brief appearances in All Star Squadron, Secret Origins, Hero Hotline and The Golden Age. Which is not much though I know that he as Mister America had one of the silliest sidekicks in Fatman.
And that the Gorrah was becoming too popular so they dropped him!
The Golden Age Sandman has fascinated since . . .
Like Cap, I first encountered the Sandman in Justice League of America # 46-7 (Aug. and Sep., 1966). His multi-barreled sand-gun didn't bother me any more than Doctor Mid-Nite's cyrotuber did, and it wouldn't have, even if I'd been familiar with the Grainy Gladiator's grass roots. It made sense to me that the heroes from the Golden Age would've upgraded their weaponry over the ensuing decades.
What fascinated me most about the Sandman was his costume. It struck me as one of the most sensible outfits going for a "mystery-man". Most of it was normal civilian attire---a business suit and a fedora. All he needed to do to become his alter ego was don a gas mask and an opera cape. Heck, he could carry those in a briefcase. He could change to the Sandman in a flash, without any of the "I've learnt how to become a quick-change artist" nonsense that the Batman and most other non-powered costumed heroes threw at us. All Dodds had to do was put on the gas mask and tie on the cape, and he was good to go.
Moreover, for the Sandman, there was no worries over leaving his street clothes behind (something that most comics writers of that day ignored, anyway).
And if he had to become Wesley Dodds in a hurry, again it was swift and easy. He simply had to take off the mask and cloak and dump them in a handy dustbin or shove them into a near-by closet or something.
I loved the common-sense utility of it.
As has been mentioned, I couldn't help but see the Sandman as a pulp hero. At the time of JLA # 46-7, I was devouring all of the Doc Savage paperbacks I could find. (In a few years, I scarfed up the Avenger paperbacks.) He fit fight into the wealthy-playboy-secretly-a-masked-crimefighter trope of the Spider, the Black Bat, and the Phantom Detective. (The success of the paperback reprints of Doc Savage saw brief revivals of those characters in paperback form in the mid-to-late 1960's too, along with G-8 and Operator № 5. I sampled them all and found them readable, but second-rate to Doc. Lester Dent was a master of the medium.)
DC might've missed a bet. There was precidence for a comic-book hero to jump to the pulps. The Black Hood débuted as a comic-book character in Top-Notch Comics # 9 (Oct., 1940), put out by MLJ, which also published the Shield and Archie. The Black Hood did some title-jumping over the years, but his comics series lasted until 1947.
He was popular enough to jump to the pulps in 1941, starting with Black Hood Detective (Sep., 1941), published by Columbia Publications.. And that might've been the key---Columbia was owned by Louis SIlberkleit and Maurice Coyne, two of the three men who founded MLJ comics. Unfortunately, what was sauce for the comics wan't sauce for the pulps. The Black Hood's pulp career lasted for only three stories, the last two appearing in Hooded Detective (a title change, which always signifies a struggling magazine), with cover dates of November, 1941, and January, 1942. I've read all three of those Black Hood stories, and they're decently written, solidly in the nature of pulp pot-boilers. I guess he just didn't catch on with fans of prose heroes.
Thus, I can't say that the Sandman would've been a successful pulp series---but certainly all the elements were there.
I liked the Sandman's original costume for many of the same reasons.
I dismissed Sandman as one of the many superfluous "punchy" heroes in the JSA with limited or non-existent super-powers . . .He probably didn't belong in the JSA (really, most of the punchy characters were superfluous) . . .
"Great minds" and all of that, Cap. On the "Time Capsule" threads of the DC Archives Message Board, I regularly do reviews (the gimmick of the Time Capsules is that they cover comics that came out fifty years previous to the current month), and even though we're long past the Silver Age, I still keep my hand in. I've offered to review the revived All Star Comics which hit the stands in late 1975. We haven't hit that "fifty years ago" month yet, but I've finished my review of the first issue of the revival, All Star Comics # 58 (Jan-Feb., 1976) for when we get there.
In my commentary of adding the Star-Spangled Kid to the mix, I remarked on gimmick of the Kid using the cosmic rod, loaned to him by Starman, and that's where I made my own statement about "punchy" heroes in the Justice Society. To wit:
I didn’t understand [the need to give the Star-Spangled Kid the cosmic rod] (any more than I understood why Denny O’Neil felt the Black Canary had to be given a sonic-scream power in order to join the Justice League). The JSA had quite a few members whose only “power”, outside of a gimmick or two, was the ability to punch good---Black Canary (when she was still around), Mister Terrific, Sandman, Wildcat.
I didn't mind the "punchy" heroes in the JSA as much as you did, Cap. But, after reading the entire original run of All Star, I have to admit that it was obvious that the "punchy" heroes were overshadowed by the super-powered members, especially guys like Doctor Fate and the Spectre. The writers had to go some to make it appear that the "punchy" heroes were contributing as much as the others.
The Spectre: "I am basically God's Understudy."
The Atom: "I have the proportionate strength and speed of a short guy."
Robin: "Sure, but I can't get in the JSA! Just wait till I grow up!"
The Atom: "I have the proportionate strength and speed of a short guy."
"And I work out regularly!"
All jokes aside, Al Pratt demonstrates super-strength in his first five adventures (All-American Comics #18-22, 1940), the ones reprinted in JSA All-Stars Archives Vol. 1. I do a re-read on those, but that's pretty much all the solo Atom reprints I have. I had always believed, because Roy Thomas said so in All-Star Squadron, that Atom got super-strength by being irradiated by Cyclotron (All-Star Squadron #21, I think). And he changed costumes in 1948 to reflect that. But maybe I'm' misremembering, or maybe Atom only demonstrated super-strength in his parent title. I'm curious to see Atom's power level in All-Star Comics when we get there. (We will get there soon, I promise!)
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