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 Golden Age adventures:
- 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 Riddler - Prinze 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 cover date, but complications ensued for books without them, like quarterlies and specials. 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
I read JSA #13 (a.k.a. "Year One: Chapter I"). I found it to be very "21st century," not only in terms of storytelling but in tone as well. In one way it's like the DC version of Spider-Man: Torn in that the writer takes advantage of decades of continuity to add "foreshadowing" and "verbal irony."
That sort of thing is precisely why I wouldn't read "JSA: Year One" on a promise. The dissonance of those long-time characters against contemporary writers' modern sensibilities and woke attitudes is too much for my brain. I'm not saying that the stories have to be written in the rough, anything-to-get-from-plotpoint-A-to-plotpoint B approach of the Golden Age. The more logically developed, plot-driven stories of the Silver Age obviously worked for me. And I don't mind a few continuity threads, as in tales from the '70's. But the modern era's writing approach, layered over revision upon revision, takes it out of the Justice Society, as I know it.
The problem for me is there are no Silver-Age writers left. Comics the way I liked them will never come back. And no-one can sell me on someone writing a story that is "just like" a Silver-Age tale. That trick never works, just like with all those movie remakes from thirty years ago of old television programmes like The Beverly Hillbillies and Leave It to Beaver. The writers and producers of those films couldn't help applying modern sensibilities to those remakes; consequently, they ruined the very qualities that made the television shows so popular. It's no wonder that all of those TV-remake films failed to make a profit.
The same thing would inflict on a modern comics writer who attempted to write a story in the style of the Silver Age. Not being a product of the societal attitudes and mutual experiences of national/world events of the earlier generation, a contemporary writer couldn't possibly, with accuracy, replicate the genuine product of the Silver Age. For example, say John Moderncomicswriter set down to author a story "just like" one from the Silver Age, despite his efforts to be authentic, would he include a panel like this one from Justice League of America # 40 (Nov., 1965)?
No way. It would be either beyond his understanding, or he couldn't help himself in standing on his modern principles and correcting that perceived inequality.
I'm not taking a stance here on whether that's good or bad. I'm simply saying that there will never be another authentically Silver-Age story written. You had to be there at the time.
Another factor that would prevent a truly accurate re-creation of a Silver-Age story is that it's a sure bet that the writer or the artist would get some of the characters' established details wrong for the time. That happened as early as the 1970's, when the "Young Turk" writers relied on their faulty memories of the old stories, instead of going back and verifying. With all of the revisions since, you know that would happen to-day.
CAPTAIN COMICS RESPONSE SECTION:
I wouldn’t want them to try to mimic the Golden Age type of storytelling. It wasn’t very good!
Granted. But I had hoped for something more evocative of the era, less "modern."
You’ve said before that you consider each new #1 to be a new parallel world, or words to that effect. This probably qualifies.
It does.
I don’t expect it to line up perfectly, either. But I want to be aware of where it doesn’t, because later writers are going to consider it canon.
Tomorrow I'll probably turn around and do exactly the same thing. I'm still very leery about DC's current "Everything's in!" approach to continuity. My biggest problem (so far) is the notion that the current Supergirl is the same one who died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. But I digress...
COMMANDER BENSON RESPONSE SECTION:
That sort of thing is precisely why I wouldn't read "JSA: Year One" on a promise.
Often when I post my thoughts on comics I have read I will add recommedations to those I think might enjoy it. Yesterday I almost added: "I know who I wouldn't recommend this to."
I'm not saying that the stories have to be written in the rough, anything-to-get-from-plotpoint-A-to-plotpoint B approach of the Golden Age.
That's the point I was trying to make yesterday.
And no-one can sell me on someone writing a story that is "just like" a Silver-Age tale... Not being a product of the societal attitudes and mutual experiences of national/world events of the earlier generation, a contemporary writer couldn't possibly, with accuracy, replicate the genuine product of the Silver Age.
That is almost verbatim what you said about Tom Strong in a discussion 20 years ago, comments that have stuck with me ever since and influenced my perception of such stories. But it is that kind of storytelling (i.e., evocative of the age without trying to mimic it) I had hoped for in "Year One: Chapter I." I never told you this, but once had in mind a topic I would have titled "Five Recent Comic Book Series I Would Recommend to Commander Benson." As I came to know you better through your posts, I eventually whittled that list down to zero. (You're welcome.) The first one I put on the list (and the first one I took off) was JLA: Year One by Mark Waid Brian Augustyn and Barry Kitson. Another was DC's sequel to the TV show The Prisoner (1988) by Dean Motter. There are two others I wouldn't "recommend" per se, but which I'd be curious to hear what you had to say about them.
THE NEW FRONTIER by Darwyn Cooke: We had a good discussion about this series on this board while it was being released and I remember that Hal Jordan's pacifistic depiction turned you off the whole series. I don't disagree with you in the least about that, but if you could somehow ignore those sections (or rewrite them in your head as you read, as I sometimes do), I would still be interested to hear your thoughts on the other aspects of the series.
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely: This is nothing the Silver Age "Superman" except in the way it approaches pure, unbridled imagination. To me, this series is an example of what I was talking about above, a series that evokes the Silver Age without trying to mimic it. Again, I don't necessarily think you'd like it, I would just like to hear your thoughts one it.
I no longer remember what the fifth series was.
'FLASH COMICS' #15
March 1941
On-sale date: Jan. 17, 1941
Cover: Hawkman, by Sheldon Moldoff
Untitled by Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (11 pages)
Where I read it: Golden Age Flash Archives Vol. 1
Flash and Joan go to the circus, where they witness two thugs trying to force a girl into a cab. Jay gets in the cab and politely refuses to get out, and politely refuses to get hit in the head with a gun butt (by moving his head at super-speed). The two thugs — Muggsy McGrew and Spike — give up and go to their house, with Jay in the cab. Now he knows where they live. He invisibly rescues the girl, who faints from the speed. When she wakes up, Jay has changed into the Flash ("What a queer costume!"). She says her father owns the circus, and Muggsy and Spike have stolen the payroll. Flash races back to the house (Muggsy: "Must be from the circus with that outfit on!") and takes the money back.
Flash takes the girl, Nellie Craft by name, back to the circus. She complains that the circus will fold because they have no special attractions. Flash decides to be one, and begins performing for the crowd. (Since this is a one-time performance, I don't see how this will help future ticket sales. But the point is super-speed antics, not logic.) Muggsy and Spike return and try to kidnap Nellie again. The Flash has fun with them, and then dresses Muggsy like a clown. Embarrassed, he tells Flash to do the same to Spike. He does, and both decide that working for a living — as clowns — isn't so bad, and they become the new star attractions of the circus.
Nellie is flattered, thinking Flash did all this for her. Joan is annoyed at being left behind, and wants to be part of the action next time. This is a nice touch, as girls are often just one-dimensional constructs in these stories. Two of them having actual, human reactions gives them a little characterization.
Takeaways: A boy at the circus says, "Hey, Mr. Flash, I seen ya in Flash Comics — and All-Star too!" It's just cheap product placement, but it raises questions from a reader's perspective. For example, the reader must assume that there's an All-American Publications Inc. that exists in-story, which publishes Flash Comics and All-Star Comics. Since this is an issue of Flash Comics, will this kid later see himself, saying what he knows he said, in a future (to him) issue of Flash Comics? Is the story in that Flash Comics the same as the one we're reading, with Jay's and Joan's names revealed? If so, does Flash know he's a character in a comic book? If not, how are the Flash's secrets edited out, and what sort of story results? And are these the same stories that Barry Allen is seen reading in Showcase #4? If so, do the Flash Comics of Earth-One vary from the Flash Comics of Earth-Two, and do either or both vary from the ones we read?
I know my answer. (The stories in in-story Flash Comics are adaptaed form newspaper reports, or just invented, by the Earth-Two versions of Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff.) What's yours?
Hawkman
Untitled by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff (9 pages)
Where I read it: Golden Age Hawkman Archives Vol. 1
The intro says that Carter Hall discovered Ninth metal, and that his hawk wings contain a tiny motor that he built. I think this may be new information.
Carter is driving to the home of Elwin Thayer, a friend of his father's who owns the Everest Emerald and has been getting threats. On the way, coincidentally, he finds Teddy Thayer, Elwin's daughter, lying in the grass. She says her father screamed he was being attacked by a hand and to run away, so she did, and fainted. At the house Elwin has been strangled to death in a room witn no ready access. Carter takes Teddy to stay with Shiera Sanders, allowing her to think him a coward. ("If Teddy knew I was Hawkman, she'd tell everybody!") Hawkman returns to the Thayer mansion for clues, and independently Shiera decides to do the same.
In a nearby apartment, we meet Elwin's brother Edward, who has a created a floating hand (which Moldoff does a great job with). Edward and the hand converse (!), where we learn that Edwin sent the hand to kill Elwin and steal the emerald, to impress a girl named Sandra. He sends the hand to kill Teddy.
Hawkman discovers soot from the chimeny on the floor of the Thayer mansion, but is interrupted by Shiera and Teddy and flies to the roof. In the house, Teddy is attacked by the hand, that flees for some reason. It flies up the chimney, revealing how the murder was committed, and surprising Hawkman. He follows the hand to Edward's apartment, but Edward is dead, killed by Sandra and two accomplices. While Hawkman subdues the henchmen, Sandra shoots him in the shoulder. Sandra flees and stumbles on Shiera and Teddy, whom she takes prisoner. They drive away in Shiera's car.
Hawkman revives, thanks to his "powerful constitution." The hand, still loyal to Edward, wants revenge on Teddy. They go after the trio, and the hand attacks Sandra, who is driving, and the car goes off a cliff. Hawkman saves Shiera and Teddy, but Sandra (and evidently the hand) die as the car crashes. Teddy continues to believe Carter is a "fraidy cat," and praises Hawkman's courage, but Carter and Shiera share the secret joke that he is Hawkman.
Takeaways: What can I say? Carter runs into Teddy. Sandra runs into Teddy and Shiera. Coincidence piled on coincidence. But it keeps the story moving, and the floating hand is creepy and cool. Moldoff's art is getting better even when it's not swiped. (Although many scenes obviously are.)
Fox doesn't bother to explain how the floating hand was created, or how it works (and how it talks without a mouth, tongue, larynx or lungs). If the hand survived the car crash, maybe it can be on our supervillain list.
Hawkman stamp: It's labeled "Weapons of the Past," and features "shield and dagger."
Johnny Thunder
Untitled by John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier (6 pages).
No reprint, but read online
A topper, which is not part of the story, shows Johnny shaking his fist at a red, anthropomorphized thunderbolt. "Darn you! You're always getting me in hot water! Why can't you leave me alone?"
The accompanying caption lays out the rules of the strip. "Fate apprently thinks our hero Johnny Thunder is something you can kick around like a football ... it handed him a real live thunderbolt to play with ... then forgot to tell him the magic words to control it with ... the unhappy result is, Johnny never knows where he's at with which end up!"
Johnny doesn't like his new job as a firefighter, and thinks it's the fault of "that stupid thunderbolt that's always hanging around." But his wishes come in handy, as Thunderbolt makes the firetruck go faster, puts out a fire on a boat (by dunking it like a donut), and rescuing a mother and daughter in danger of being run over by the firetruck.
A passerby sees the rescue and says, "It's fourth-dimensional stuff!" Well, he's close: Thunderbolt is revealed in the modern age to be a being named Yz from the fifth dimension, where Mxyzptlk (1944), Bat-Mite (1959) and Qwsp (1962) live. But all of those characters are, at the time of this comic book, in the future. In 1940, Johnny's power seems to be a sentient lightning bolt.
The fire team goes on two more calls that Johnny solves with Thunderbolt, one to get a cat out of a tree and another fire. In the first, Thunderbolt creates a fireman's pole for the cat to slide down. In the second, the thunderbolt dumps sand on the building. But the firehouse is on fire, and Johnny's hour is up, so he can't fix it. He is fired.
Thunderbolt watch:
Continuing: Les Watts, The Whip, Cliff Cornwall, The King.
Hawkman revives, thanks to his "powerful constitution."
Years ago, I heard a story on NPR where they interviewed a physician who discussed how unrealistic it was that "action heroes" in fiction would be ready to go back into action right after being knocked unconscious or shot, and since then, it's been hard for me to take a story seriously where a mundane hero recovers quickly in such a situaion.
My wife and I were actually laughing about how many bullets the Punisher was taking in his last TV series, and grimly moving on, whereas anytime he shot somebody else just once, they dutifully fell down and stopped moving.
That's what I liked about that one story where it's implied that Frank effectively did a deal with Death: Death doesn't take Frank, and Frank sends Death a lot of business.
It's really the only explanation for TV gunfights. In the climax to Peacemaker season one, the 11th Street Kids march through a field shooting tons of people, who obediently lie down if a gun discharges in their direction and are no longer a threat. No wounded people! Nobody crawling toward the gun! Meanwhile, our heroes walk through a hail of gunfire more or less unscathed. (One of them got hit, I think.)
They could have said that the Ninth metal healed him quickly which is what they'd do nowadays. Anything to make Hawkman more than a flying target! ;-)
'FLASH COMICS' #15
I have the "Flashback" edition of this comic puiblished by Alan Light. I have quite a few of them. They're pretty neat. The interiors are b&w, but the covers are vibrantly colored, printed on cardstock, and are Golden age dimensions.
Magic lightning bolts have souls?
Or, for that matter, bodies?
Good point!
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