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 comparing ship dates on books that don't have months assigned to covers, like quarterlies and specials, to ship dates on monthlies to figure out where those books should be placed. All-Star Comics #3, for example, is dated "Winter" on the cover, but the on-sale date places it with books with December 1940 cover dates, so that's where I put it..
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
Reminds me of Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel, a challenge he set for himself to write a futuristic detective novel. Common knowledge had it that a murder mystery would be impossible in a futuristic science-fiction setting because scientific advances would render traditional detective work superfluous. There were only three suspect: the main character, his partner (a robot), and the actual killer (and, from my vantage point, I knew that Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw* would go on to be featured in a wholes series of novels).
*The "R" stands for "robot."
The "Minimidget" instalment in Amazing Man Comics #5 an imitation of the film The Devil-Doll (1936). On the face of it the story wasn't intended as the start of a series when it was done, and someone decided to make the supermidget in the story a regular character and use the story as the first instalment. The logo panel, using the Minimidget name, reflects the change.
"The Catman" is about a guy who disguises himself as an old woman to take revenge for the death of his wife, which parallels a different side of The Devil-Doll. The title character made a subsequent appearance, but isn't a superhero unless Madam Fatal is one. The artist was Tarpe Mills, who later did Miss Fury.
#6 introduces an underwater hero, the Shark. Minimidget's outfit - green trousers and orange shirt - matches Aquaman's. So I suspect the Shark and Minimidget were more the models for the DC hero than the Sub-Mariner.
Nothing like a mystery with only one possible suspect.
Actually, most of the stories I’ve read for this project are like that. These stories were aimed at kids, after all, and many don’t have the page count to develop red herrings. Usually if a new character is assigned an actual name, he'll turn out to be the bad guy.
It almost works in the first ever episode of Scooby Doo (September 13, 1969), because the original kiddie audience (hand up) didn't yet know that the ghost/monster would always be some guy in a costume.
My hand’s up, too.
Isn't a "midget" already "mini" by nature?
Yeah, but he was really, really small, and not a midget at all! He and his girlfriend Ritty were probably the first of the six-inch superhero set (Doll Man debuted three months later), although the concept could be traced as far back as The Devil-Doll (1936), Thumbelina (1835), Gulliver’s Travels (1726) and Tom Thumb (1621). Or possibly farther, if you throw in leprechauns, faeries and other little people of folklore, legend and myth. He and Ritty appeared in Amazing Man until both the title and the publisher (Centaur) went out of business in 1941. He never got a proper name in Amazing Man, but AC Comics later assigned him the name Jack Rhodes.
But having only researched “Minimidget,” and never read it, I didn’t know this:
On the face of it the story wasn't intended as the start of a series when it was done, and someone decided to make the supermidget in the story a regular character and use the story as the first instalment. The logo panel, using the Minimidget name, reflects the change.
Thanks, Luke! Minimidget was fatally injured by a mousetrap in his first appearance, with the added insult of the house blowing up. But then he somehow survived and became a series.
That brings to mind Marvel’s “The Man in the Ant Hill!” in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962), which also wasn’t meant to be the first of a series. At the end of that story, Henry Pym decides his size-altering serums are too dangerous, and dumps them down a drain. But then he’s revived in Tales to Astonish #35 as a genuine superhero.
"The Catman" is about a guy who disguises himself as an old woman to take revenge for the death of his wife, which parallels a different side of The Devil-Doll. The title character made a subsequent appearance, but isn't a superhero.
Not to be confused with Cat-Man, who debuts at Temerson/Helnit/Continental in 1940, and is an ongoing superhero, with a sidekick and everything. His debut in Crash Comics #4 will be noted at the appropriate time.
#6 introduces an underwater hero, the Shark. Minimidget's outfit - green trousers and orange shirt - matches Aquaman's. So I suspect the Shark and Minimidget were more the models for the DC hero than the Sub-Mariner.
That’s an interesting observation, that's very likely true. Still, I doubt Weisinger would have bothered with an underwater superhero if not for Sub-Mariner's sales.
That brings to mind Marvel’s “The Man in the Ant Hill!” in Tales to Astonish #27, which also wasn’t meant to be the first of a series. At the end of that story...
...the narration reads: "And so, our tale is ended... except for one brief note: never again did Henry Pym knowingly step on an ant hill!"
That's it? So much for the "omnicient" narrator!
Thanks for looking that up!
A question occurred to me today for us to consider when we get to the start of the actual JSA stories. I'm only writing it down now i case it slips my mind before then. Anyway, the question is:
"How many of the JSA's cases could have been resolved in minutes if Johnny Thunder wasn't a morom?"
That's kind of an unfair question, considering said cases (at various times) also included the Flash, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate and, lest we forget, the all-powerful agent of the Almighty, the Spectre!
I don't think that it is an unfair question, when you consoder how many of their early cases oinvolved rounding up gangs of mundane criminals. And if Johnny wasn't around, most of the JSA's cases - especially the early o nes - should have seen the others watching the Spectre clean up by himself.
to clarify, I thyink that we'll find that a lot of the JSA's early cases could have been resolved by Johnny saying, "Say, you, Thunderbolt! Round up all these guys that we're after."
OCTOBER 1939
'ADVENTURE COMICS' #43
Sandman
Cover: A scene that was probably becoming familiar by late 1939,at least to British merchant mariners. By Fred Guardineer.
Significance: First all-color issue.
Story: Untitled by Bert Christman (6 pages)
Where I read this story: Golden Age Sandman Archives Vol. 1
While vacationing (in his plane) in the South Seas, Dodds defends some white people from the natives, who have been stirred up by white pirate Red Hatch, who wants the pearl beds the other white people are fishing. When the natives "forget the white man's ways" and go on the attack, Dodds drops flares and gas bombs on them from his plane. They turn on Hatch and surrender to the big, iron bird. This one doesn't age well.
Sartorial note: Aviator Wesley Dodds wears a tight, long-sleeved, collar-less green shirt and brown jodhpurs. He pulls on the mask and yellow gloves as Sandman, but otherwise doesn't change clothes.
'MORE FUN COMICS' #48
Biff Bronson has a story.
'DETECTIVE COMICS' #32
Cover: Fred Guardineer draws a policeman overpowering a gunman. (No Batman.)
Batman: Untitled by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff (10 pages)
Where I first read it: 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-14 (February 1973)
Julie and Batman reach Hungary, where Batman rescues a woman named Dala from a speeding carriage in the "Carlathian Mountains." Batman has Dala sleep in the same room with Julie, because young Batman is an idiot. In the middle of the night, Batman finds Dala sleepwalking with blood on her lips. She is a vampire, and she has bitten Julie. She says she'll help them kill The Monk, who is also a vampire, because she hates him.
Batman flies to the Monk's castle, but the Batgyro is overcome by a net. Yes, a net. Batman is overcome by hypnosis, marched into a smaller net, and lowered into a pit of wolves. The Monk says he's going to turn Batman into a werewolf. Batman overcomes the wolves with gas and escapes via Batarang. He melts a silver statue and makes two silver bullets, which he places in his gun (!) and shoots The Monk and Dala in their coffins. The spell on Julie is broken, and they return to America.
Slam Bradley: Last Joe Shuster credit, but Jerry Siegel continues to write.
'ACTION COMICS' #17
Cover: Superman pushing a tank (by Joe Shuster).
Superman: More Ultra-Humanite. Siegel and Shuster (13 pages).
Tex Thomson and Zatara have stories in Action Comics #17.
'ALL-AMERICAN COMICS' #7
Hop Harrigan, Scribbly and Red, White and Blue have stories in All-American Comics #7.
THE COMPETITION
Marvel Comics (as Timely) enters the field. Namor the Sub-Mariner, Human Torch and The Angel debut in Marvel's Marvel Comics #1. The Sub-Mariner story is reprinted from Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 (First Funnies Inc., 1939), which was never published, but samples were given to movie theaters in New York. The series becomes Marvel Mystery Comics with its second issue, and the first 28 issues of the series have been reprinted in Marvel's Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vols. 1-7.
The Shark debuts in Centaur's Amazing Man #6.
Brookwood enters the field with Speed Comics #1. Shock Gibson debuts. Biff Bannon debuts. but is not to be confused with DC's Biff Bronson.
Worth Carnahan enters the field with Champion Comics #1. It looks like an ashcan on GCD, but they don't say so and have no information on contents.
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