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!
Replies
Where I read it: Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1
The cool thing about the Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1 is that it comprises his entire solo run from More Fun Comics, so if you want to read it all, look no further.
In the 1936 film "The Walking Dead" Boris Karloff portrays a man executed for a murder he did not commit. When Karloff's character is brought back to life by a scientist's experiment, he seeks vengence on the gangsters and crooked politicians who framed him. Following his return to life, Karloff's character demonstrates some very Spectre-like powers. I have to wonder if the Golden Age Spectre was inspired by this film.
The cover of More Fun #55 tickles me. The guy jumps out of the car with a handgun. He's shooting at a giant, even if he doesn't know he's supernatural. Overconfident?
I just recently took the replica version of DC 100 Page Super Spectacular #6 out of storage when I got the Millenium Edition run.
Jerry Siegel was so successful with Superman with all his physical powers that he hoped the Spectre with all his supernatural powers would be as successful if not more so. There was a rumor that had it not been for the war and the paper shortage, the Spectre would have gotten his own book (Hawkman, too).
As for DOCTOR FATE, as we know, he became the star of the JLA/JSA team-ups, appearing in 15 out of 23 of them. He had numerous guest starring roles and solo stories in the 60s and beyond becoming the anchor of the Justice Society.
Though he was only in one of the eight JSA reprints, they spotlighted several of his solo adventures but only one where he wore his half-helmet in Wanted #9 (S'73). I can just imagine what newer readers thought when they saw him like that in All Star Squadron.
The cool thing about the Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives Vol. 1 is that it comprises his entire solo run from More Fun Comics.
Yes! This excites me greatly! We also have the full run of Starman (in two volumes) and Black Canary. And we have all Golden Age Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, at least through the run of All-Star Comics. Now if they'd just finish Flash, Green Lantern, Spectre, Sandman, Hourman, Atom, Hawkman, Wildcat, Johnny Thunder and Mister Terrific ...
There was a rumor that had it not been for the war and the paper shortage, the Spectre would have gotten his own book (Hawkman, too).
I've read that somewhere too. It took until the Silver Age before we'd see titles named Hawkman and The Spectre.
As for DOCTOR FATE, as we know, he became the star of the JLA/JSA team-ups, appearing in 15 out of 23 of them.
He was always the star for me. The Li'l Cap'n was disappointed when he wasn't in the crossover, because I thought he was the coolest JSAer. And he seemed the most powerful of the Justice Society in the '60s, outside of The Spectre, who was rarely around.
The Spectre story can't be true, because he was dropped as the cover-star of More Fun Comics after #67 in favour of Dr Fate, who in turn lost the covers to Green Arrow after #76. Percival Popp became the co-star of the Spectre's feature in #74. From this point slapstick comedy dominated the feature. The Spectre ceased to display immense power, and from #90 mostly accompanied Popp invisibly.
Another tell is the Spectre wasn't featured in World's Finest Comics. Nor was Dr Fate. Aquaman made one appearance in the title in the period, in #6. Green Arrow was regularly featured from #7.
The initial issues of Star Spangled Comics had two or three stories starring the Kid and Stripsey, so it was half the Kid's own book. That changed with #7, when "The Newsboy Legion" was introduced as the new lead feature.
So the third DC-proper feature to get its own title was "Boy Commandos". "Liberty Belle" debuted as a supporting feature in Boy Commandos #1-#2.
DC and AA were connected, but really different companies. When Wonder Woman debuted, in Oct 1941, Green Lantern had only just gotten his solo title. Hop Harrigan wasn't yet on the radio. Hawkman was AA's next most prominent superhero, featured on every other cover of Flash Comics. But it was Wonder Woman who was the next to get a solo title, in 1942, and Hawkman wasn't included in the line-up of Comic Cavalcade when it started later in the year.
'ADVENTURE COMICS' #50
Cover date: May 1940
On sale date: April 5, 1940
Cover: Hourman by Bernard Baily
Sandman
Untitled by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel (10 pages)
Where I read it: Golden Age Sandman Archives Vol. 1
Sandman is driving along where he happens to see a hit-and-run. (Soooo much coincidence in Golden Age stories.) He chases down the driver who turns out to have been shot to death, then goes back to the victim to discover the same. Returning home, he discovers an intruder and gasses him. Only it's not a him — it's a her. It's Dian! When she wakes up, she conveniently fills in the gaps of the coincidence that started the story: Two men who were sent to prison are out, vowing revenge. They've already killed two members of the jury in the very "accident" that Sandman witnessed. (How Dian knows that already is unexplained.) They return to the scene and track the two crooks (Tuffy and Limpy by name) to their shabby lair, but they're gone. Sandman realizes they've gone after Dian's father, D.A. Belmont.
Going 150 mph, Sandman is pulled over by a motorcycle cop. He explains the situation and demands a police escort to Belmont's house, which he gets. (While the cops sometimes regard Sandman as a crook, they are consistent in showing him respect. It's probably just plot convenience, but I justify it by thinking street cops knows Sandman's good work.) Sandman arrives as Tuffy enters Belmont's room with a gun. They both fire — Tuffy goes down, but Sandman is winged. Limpy helps Tuffy get away over the rooftops, and Sandman tries to follow ... but passes out.
Dian chastises her father for not giving Sandman more police help ("But he's a known criminal") and goes to his rescue herself. She finds him on the rooftop, where he gets a second wind. They go to an old hangout of Limpy's and both men are there. (Why they didn't do this back on Page 2 is unexplained.) The crooks have a gun on him, but Sandman explodes into action and puts them both down before gassing them. Then he is in danger of passing out again. Dian gets him home and patches him up. He is shown in bed, and it's likely he'll be there for a while.
Dian's badgering finally gets through to her father, and he offers to drop all outstanding charges against the Sandman if he reveals his identity. "That's a laugh," Dodds says, as he reads the offer in the newspaper. "If I told the police who I am — the underworld would 'get me' that very day! No thanks, Mr. District Attorney, the Sandman remains unknown! Except — to Dian Belmont!!"
Fun facts
Hourman
Untitled by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily (6 pages)
Where I read it: JSA All-Star Archives Vol. 1
It appears "Tick-Tock Tyler, the Hour-Man" is a well-known name, but nobody connects it to Rex Tyler. Granted, Tyler is a rather public coward. Seems like he's taking a chance just the same.
Speaking of which, Tyler's ad brings a plea for help from a horse owner who is being extorted. Tyler shows up as a representative of, uh, Tyler, and both are beaten senseless by the gangsters. They are both hospitalized, and Tyler suggest to the owner that he give in. It's not a ploy; Tyler is just a scaredy-cat. Instead, the horse owner goes public to the newspapers, and the gang comes up with a new plan. Later, Tyler and the horse owner are both accosted by the gangsters on the street, and Tyler manages to run away. He goes back to the lab, where he is upbraided by his boss for being in the papers (for being beaten up). The boss goes to the races, and tells Tyler he expects to see him working when he gets back. Instead, Tyler takes his pill, runs to the racetrack, and beats up all the gangsers. He goes back to work, where once again his boss insults him about his cowardice.
In an earlier part of this thread there was some discussion about whether Tyler was pretending to a coward, a la Clark Kent, or really was one, and it was the pill that gave him courage. This story convinced me that Tyler really is a coward, and it is the pill that gives him courage. YMMV.
Continuing: Barry O'Neill, Federal Men, Socko Strong, Steve Conrad, Anchors Aweigh! and Cotton Carver.
The Spectre story can't be true, because he was dropped as the cover-star of More Fun Comics after #67 in favour of Dr Fate ...
This is an excellent analysis, Luke. But I would like to add a couple of data points.
Another tell is the Spectre wasn't featured in World's Finest Comics.
And who was? Green Arrow. I bring this up because I've always been suspicious of how characters created by Mort Weisinger got such major attention in 1940s and 1950s in books edited by ... Mort Weisinger. I can't find any other explanation for why a Batman knockoff (Green Arrow), a Sub-Mariner knockoff (Aquaman) and a Flash knockoff (Johnny Quick) had such outsized prominence and longevity. So when I see Green Arrow shove Spectre and Doctor Fate into the background, my first thought is that it's Mort Weisinger playing favorites, not a reflection of the true popularity of the characters. Doubtless there are more factors at play, and popularity would certainly be among them. But the persistence, consistency and conspicuence of Weisinger elevating his characters over all the other non-Super, non-Bat and non-Wonder characters can't be waved away.
I agree that the advent of Percival Popp, and the half-helmet change in Doctor Fate indicate that the editors thought the strips needed beefing up or changes in some way. Sales were evidently lacking in a way that didn't apply to Green Arrow. But I have a chicken-and-egg argument here. If Spectre and Doctor Fate had remained the cover features of More Fun, and had they appeared in as many magazines as Green Arrow, would they have been equally popular? But we'll never know, because when Green Arrow arrived, they were shoved to the back of the bus where popularity couldn't gain a toehold.
I don't have anything on the record to directly support this assertion. It's just what the facts suggest to me. If anyone has any pertinent information or quotes or interviews, that would be awesome.
Anyway, that's data point #1: Mort Weisinger didn't play fair.
DC and AA were connected, but really different companies.
Yes, they were. But they weren't equal companies. DC CEO Harry Donenfeld held the hammer, because he owned the distribution company used by both publishers. And AA CEO M.C. Gaines borrowed money from Donenfeld to launch AA in 1939, and I don't know if or when that loan was paid back. But it was certainly a Sword of Damocles over Gaines for however long it lasted. These two factors were enough that Gaines was forced to accept Donenfeld's partner, Jack Liebowitz, as a partner in AA -- something Gaines definitely didn't want, but was forced to accept. These factors all gave Donenfeld a powerful say in AA's actions -- veto power, at the very least. Meanwhile, Gaines had no power in the halls of DC at all.
This plays into our conversation about merit. I have long been suspicious of why none of AA's big hitters were in New York World's Fair Comics #2, or World's Best Comics #1. Both used characters from the two companies. But the DC characters included Superman, Batman and Robin. The AA characters were ... Johnny Thunder (both issues), Red White and Blue (World's Fair) and The King (World's Best). Not exactly world beaters, much less world's best.
Flash and Hawkman were available when World's Fair #2 was being planned. Flash, Hawkman, Atom and Green Lantern were available when World's Best was being put together. But what we got was AA's C-list, when DC put forth its A-list. In the absence of any obvious explanation, I have to wonder if DC simply didn't want their biggest guns directly challenged by AA's biggest guns -- although sales would certainly have benefited.
Again, I could be wrong about this, as I'm drawing all this from inference. If anyone has information, it would be welcome.
But that's my data point #2: Harry Donenfeld didn't play fair.
But it was Wonder Woman who was the next to get a solo title, in 1942, and Hawkman wasn't included in the line-up of Comic Cavalcade when it started later in the year.
Because Wonder Woman was a sales phenomenon, who may have occasionally outsold Superman and Batman. She earned an eponymous title through explosive sales. All things being equal, an older character would have gotten the nod. But things weren't equal: Wonder Woman was a gimmie after sales figures came in on All-Star Comics #8 and Sensation Comics #1.
I don't think Hawkman's absence in Comic Cavalcade is that significant, since AA picked the three superheroes who already had their own comic books to headline it. Comic Cavalcade wasn't a marketing gimmick to promote B-list characters to A-list, like All-Star Comics. it was a straight-up cash grab. It lines up with virtually every other comic book company at the time, almost all of which had a title with its three biggest stars. Jackpot Comics, Big Three, Marvel Mystery Comics, World's Finest Comics ... pick the publisher, and you'll find a Comic Cavalcade equivalent, with the publisher's three biggest stars. AA didn't invent the trend, but it certainly followed it. And Comic Cavalcade gave AA's big three a third spot for solo stories, like Superman, Batman and Robin had with World's Finest. AA wasn't equal to DC, but I'm sure Gaines wanted it to be.
Am I certain of any of this? I am not. I'm reading 80-year-old tea leaves and trying to read the minds of dead men. But I have my opinions and suspicions, and wanted to take them out for a test drive, to see if they had gas.
The initial issues of Star Spangled Comics had two or three stories starring the Kid and Stripsey, so it was half the Kid's own book. That changed with #7, when "The Newsboy Legion" was introduced as the new lead feature.
I guess they had high hopes for the Kid. He was created by Jerry Siegel, after all, and had the sidekick-inversion gimmick as a potential draw for kids. But from a modern perspective, it's more like, "Man, what were they thinking?"
About the characters mixes of "New York's Fair Comics" and "World's Best Comics"... in the absence of evidence either way, I can see the desire of DC protecting its property from shadow from AA's as a likely explanation for how it turned out.
But it is perhaps just as possible that it was instead AA (or Gaines himself) who would rather not use their best cards in someone else's show.
From what I gather, Gaines had enough of a challenge keeping AA books perceived as their own thing already (they even used the DC logo), and ultimately sold his IPs to Liebowitz in 1944 - not even two years after Comic Cavalcade debuted.
Just a very ill informed guess, but for all I know he feared that if you could get a fair amount of Green Lantern, Flash and/or Hawkman in "NY World's Fair" and "World's Best" instead of just "All-Star", "Flash", "All-Flash" and "All-American" then there would be less reason for readers to buy his own books. Also for all I know, that just might be a very justified fear. Perhaps he would have sold his assets a year or two earlier in that case.
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