The Massive, Extravagant, Over-the-top Golden Age JSA Re-read

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!

BONUS!

Another look at The Mist's debut.

'STARMAN' #18
April 1996
"First Joust" by James Robinson and John Watkiss (22 pages)

Synopsis: Shade's diary recounts the first encounter between the first Starman and The Mist.

A LONG DIGRESSION

We're here to talk about The Mist, but there's a lot more to talk about, if you'll indulge me.

For one thing, I had forgotten just how much comics history Robinson liked to pack into his Starman stories. One reason so little soaked in is because I had read so few Golden Age stories by the late '90s that many references or "aha" moments simply went over my head. I had no context for them, and they quickly faded from memory. I just didn't know enough Golden Age history, and the Internet was still in a primitive state. I'm really looking forward to correcting that with a Starman re-read, once I'm finished with this JSA behemoth. Sandman Mystery Theatre and All-Star Squadron are possibilities, too.

Meanwhile, Starman #18 begins with some Golden Age references on Page 1.

Robinson places the story where it ought to be (almost). Shade says he remembers it being autumn, but isn't certain. Mist's first appearance shipped in August 1941, and was cover-dated October, so "autumn" tracks well enough, especially as Shade mentions his memory is fuzzy on that point. Also, Shade makes it clear he hasn't yet met The Flash, which places the story before Flash Comics #33, in 1942.

It's worth pointing out here that The Shade had exactly one — 1 — Golden Age appearance, and it was that issue of Flash Comics. When he was revived in the Silver Age, it was in another Scarlet Speedster story: "Flash of Two Worlds!" in The Flash #123. Up until James Robinson's seminal series, I had thought of him as primarily a Flash villain. But Robinson not only suggests many more Flash-Shade battles (well into the '50s), he imbedded The Shade so deep in Starman history, and expanded Shade's character so broadly, that he becomes intrinsic to the Starman story. I'm thrilled, because not only were the stories terrific, but Robinson didn't contradict a jot of Golden Age history. Like with The Shade himself, he just added depth and breadth to existing canon, which was sparse enough to easily absorb it.

I might also note that one of Robinson's additions was that The Shade wasn't really a committed villain — he was just playing at it.

Robinson put a lampshade on that in Shade's first solo series, where he encounters The Spider. The Spider was an archer hero originally from Quality Comics, who takes over as Keystone City's principal protector after Flash retires in 1951. It turns out that, despite his heroic turns in Crack Comics and All-Star Squadron, The Spider is really a criminal mastermind — and one with a grudge against The Shade!

That's a whopper of a retcon, but I don't mind. For one thing, it was done well. For another, The Spider was a generic character with a nonsense code name who was redundant in the DC Universe. He won't be missed. Plus, Robinson doesn't change Golden Age history, so much as expand it. The original Spider stories can be read as they are, but now with the knowledge that it was all a front — Spider wasn't fighting crime so much as he was eliminating the competition.

It is The Spider who points out the obvious in The Shade #3 (June 1997): The Shade could have killed Jay Garrick easily. Since he didn't, Spider realized that, to The Shade, it was just a game. Once again, this is not a change to existing canon, but an explanation, and an expansion of lore.

Especially for The Shade. Robinson's many Shade stories expand the character's shifting, ambiguous morality to the extent that if we counted Shade stories, the ones where he's an out-and-out villain would be in the minority.

Anyway, in Starman #18 Shade says he went back to England in 1941 and met "a masked American aviator who flew with the RAF." It was Captain X. "He had a filthy sense of humor and he was a terrible card player, but his heart was pure and together we fought Hitler's spies on London's streets."

Now, when I first read that in 1996, I had no idea who Captain X was. As far as I knew, Robinson made him up on the spot. But now I know Richard Dare appeared in the first seven issues of Star-Spangled Comics, and never appeared in the Golden Age again. I don't know if that's because he wasn't a big seller — Star-Spangled was undergoing a revamp at the time — or because the U.S. joining the war made an American fighting with the RAF kinda pointless. (But probably because he wasn't a big seller.) He also appeared in four issues of Firestorm (1988), where it was established that he was Ronnie Raymond's grandfather (before dying in Firestorm #71). I hope, before the end, he had gotten better at cards.

Shade also references "a bizarre man-monster made by German science." At the time, I assumed this was a reference to The Heap, or Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, or some other Golden Age Frankenstein knockoff I didn't know much about. But in the years since I've read all the Golden Age Heap stories, and most of Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, and I know neither were created by German science. Further, neither are owned by DC Comics.

Further further, Robinson gave us a one-panel reference to Shade's anecdote, once again in The Shade #3. And you can see part of a Frankenstein's monster-type of creature, in what Shade refers to as the "blitz mystery."

So I guess Robinson had something original in mind. That makes me want all the more to read the Shade/Captain X team-up story that he has twice referenced, but never told. Maybe he never intended to.

Later in Starman #18, The Shade continues with more Golden Age references. "In the '50s, a Western private detective, Sierra Smith, made headlines for a year." I can't pretend I've read any Sierra Smith stories, although I have heard the name before. (Probably in Starman.) He was a backup feature in, of all places, Dale Evans Comics. He appeared in all but two of the 24 issues of that title, which ran from 1948 to 1952.

This comes up as Shade is ruminating on "crime-fighting sleuths." He places Starman in that group, along with Batman, "Ralph Digby" [sic], Roy Raymond, Martian Manhunter and "Wesley Dodds and his woman." Yes, "and his woman" is a bit dismissive, given her importance in Sandman lore, but that's to be expected of a Victorian gentleman.

NOW WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE MIST

The story in Starman #18 checks in on The Mist after his first robbery (which included 11 murders). He is coming to terms with the idea that he's now a villain. "He always thought his life would be judged one day by the awards and grants he received for his scientific achievements," the omniscient narrator intones. "That and his deeds in the great war."

This is consistent, as I said, with the one line of characterization he got in Adventure Comics #67. We then see that The Mist, while clever, is still learning how to be the bad guy. Not that he minds, as he seems to relish it. But he has a chance to kill Starman and doesn't, because, as he says later, "it didn't seem fair."

This baffles The Shade, who says Starman and Mist "become arch-foes. Hated enemies. There wasn't a year for the next few decades that these two wouldn't meet in battle." Once again, Robinson is implying lots of battles we've never seen. The Mist appeared only twice in Golden Age comics.

Anyway, it's part of Robinson's ongoing characterization of The Mist. At the end of the story, Starman asks why The Mist didn't kill him when he was helpless. The Mist reminds Starman he had the same chance, and didn't do it. Starman explains that heroes don't let their enemies die. "And villains do?" The Mist replies. "I shall remember that for next time." That ... does not end well, as readers of Starman #72 know.

The Mist also tries to commit suicide rather then be caught. "I won't be judged by your kind!" Wow. That's a pretty big tell right there. And we also learn that when Starman shows Mist's lair to five men, Mist eventually kills all five, for the "indignity." Again, that's some major cray-cray, all based on an out-of-control ego.

It's a good story. But there is a Spaniard in the works, to quote a certain Beatle. Maybe a spaniel or two, as well.

And it's that this Mist debut is directly at odds with the one in Adventure Comics #67. They really can't co-exist, unless you pretend the story in Adventure Comics #67 is the second time the two meet. It really wouldn't require much more than some dialogue change, but it is a change, and I'm on record wanting retcons to fit in between the existing issues, not replace them altogether. But if I have to pick one as the actual, true debut of The Mist, Robinson's is obviously the superior of the two. In my head canon, the story in Kentucky's Gigantic Cavern is the second Starman-Mist battle — where The Mist does try to kill Starman (and Doris Lee, too)

I should mention I'm not crazy about the art on this story. It looks a bit like a cross between Alex Toth and Mort Meskin, but not necessarily in a good way. It does have the effect of looking old-fashioned — again, not in a good way. The old-fashionedness may be the point. I'm unfamiliar with John Watkiss, so I don't know if this is a stylistic choice, or just the way he draws.

Too bad Jack Burnley couldn't have drawn Starman #18, followed by Gardner Fox amending the dialogue in Adventure Comics #67 to make it the second meeting. That would have been the best of all possible worlds.

More tomorrow!

Replies

Philip Portelli February 11, 2026 at 4:20pm

The Mist has been mad since the Great War? That was fifteen years ago! What was he doing all that time? Especially since he already had his invisibilty formula. Unless it didn't work as well as he thought, which was why it was rejected, and had to perfect it?

The Gravity Rod can emit anti-gravity and heat and can nullify a chemical formula! Quite the gadget!

Sandman meets a miniature man and gets shrunk himself (for the first but not the last time). In All Star Comics #3, he battled giants!

Given how much DC wanted Starman to be a hit, I always wondered why Superman, Batman, All-Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman didn't have at least one feature with a different hero? Yes, I know that was the point of having their own book but if doing FOUR stories an issue was stretching talent, why not THREE stories with the star and ONE with someone else? Put Starman in Superman or the Spectre or Star Spangled Kid. Have the Aton in All-Flash or Wildcat in Green Lantern!

That's how Timely did their solo books!
- Captain Comics > Philip Portelli February 11, 2026 at 6:33pm
  
  The Mist has been mad since the Great War? That was fifteen years ago! What was he doing all that time? Especially since he already had his invisibilty formula. Unless it didn't work as well as he thought, which was why it was rejected, and had to perfect it?
  
  According to Sandman Mystery Theatre, he's only been a murderous lunatic since about 1939. We'll get deeper into these weeds in the next two days!
Captain Comics February 11, 2026 at 7:21pm

The Gravity Rod can emit anti-gravity and heat and can nullify a chemical formula! Quite the gadget!

It can shoot ice, let Starman breathe underwater, and all sorts of things. Who knew starlight was so versatile?

Sandman meets a miniature man and gets shrunk himself (for the first but not the last time). In All Star Comics #3, he battled giants!

That occurred to me as well. Spectre would shrink and grow, also. Too much Alice in Wonderland, you ask me.

Given how much DC wanted Starman to be a hit, I always wondered why Superman, Batman, All-Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman didn't have at least one feature with a different hero? ... That's how Timely did their solo books!

Agreed! Even when I just skim All Flash. Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Green Lantern, it's too much of a good thing and I grow tired of the formula before I finish. Just one other character per issue would really liven things up.
Jeff of Earth-J February 12, 2026 at 6:45am

I have a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin in the house (from college), but I don't recall ever actually reading it, althgouh I do remember studying about it. I suspect, because I own an actual copy from University Bookstore, that it was one I was supposed to read (probably for my American Literature class) and just didn't. Before you judge me too harshly, let me point out that my standing assignment for my Adolescent Literature class was to read five YA novels per week for the entire semester, then to write "bookcards" on them. that way, by the end of the term, each of us was supposed to have a working knowledge of a good number of books our future students might read. This was in addition to our actual classload for that class. No one in my class completed the assignment. What we did was to read some books (maybe one per week), then traded the cards. The professor (who also happened to be my academic advisor) must have been aware of this.

Sorry. College flashback.
- Captain Comics > Jeff of Earth-J February 12, 2026 at 10:05am
  
  I still have anxiety dreams about not having read all the books assigned as the semester nears its end.
Captain Comics February 12, 2026 at 10:03am

BONUS!

Another look at The Mist's debut.

'STARMAN' #18
April 1996
"First Joust" by James Robinson and John Watkiss (22 pages)

Synopsis: Shade's diary recounts the first encounter between the first Starman and The Mist.

A LONG DIGRESSION

We're here to talk about The Mist, but there's a lot more to talk about, if you'll indulge me.

For one thing, I had forgotten just how much comics history Robinson liked to pack into his Starman stories. One reason so little soaked in is because I had read so few Golden Age stories by the late '90s that many references or "aha" moments simply went over my head. I had no context for them, and they quickly faded from memory. I just didn't know enough Golden Age history, and the Internet was still in a primitive state. I'm really looking forward to correcting that with a Starman re-read, once I'm finished with this JSA behemoth. Sandman Mystery Theatre and All-Star Squadron are possibilities, too.

Meanwhile, Starman #18 begins with some Golden Age references on Page 1.

Robinson places the story where it ought to be (almost). Shade says he remembers it being autumn, but isn't certain. Mist's first appearance shipped in August 1941, and was cover-dated October, so "autumn" tracks well enough, especially as Shade mentions his memory is fuzzy on that point. Also, Shade makes it clear he hasn't yet met The Flash, which places the story before Flash Comics #33, in 1942.

It's worth pointing out here that The Shade had exactly one — 1 — Golden Age appearance, and it was that issue of Flash Comics. When he was revived in the Silver Age, it was in another Scarlet Speedster story: "Flash of Two Worlds!" in The Flash #123. Up until James Robinson's seminal series, I had thought of him as primarily a Flash villain. But Robinson not only suggests many more Flash-Shade battles (well into the '50s), he imbedded The Shade so deep in Starman history, and expanded Shade's character so broadly, that he becomes intrinsic to the Starman story. I'm thrilled, because not only were the stories terrific, but Robinson didn't contradict a jot of Golden Age history. Like with The Shade himself, he just added depth and breadth to existing canon, which was sparse enough to easily absorb it.

I might also note that one of Robinson's additions was that The Shade wasn't really a committed villain — he was just playing at it.

Robinson put a lampshade on that in Shade's first solo series, where he encounters The Spider. The Spider was an archer hero originally from Quality Comics, who takes over as Keystone City's principal protector after Flash retires in 1951. It turns out that, despite his heroic turns in Crack Comics and All-Star Squadron, The Spider is really a criminal mastermind — and one with a grudge against The Shade!

That's a whopper of a retcon, but I don't mind. For one thing, it was done well. For another, The Spider was a generic character with a nonsense code name who was redundant in the DC Universe. He won't be missed. Plus, Robinson doesn't change Golden Age history, so much as expand it. The original Spider stories can be read as they are, but now with the knowledge that it was all a front — Spider wasn't fighting crime so much as he was eliminating the competition.

It is The Spider who points out the obvious in The Shade #3 (June 1997): The Shade could have killed Jay Garrick easily. Since he didn't, Spider realized that, to The Shade, it was just a game. Once again, this is not a change to existing canon, but an explanation, and an expansion of lore.

Especially for The Shade. Robinson's many Shade stories expand the character's shifting, ambiguous morality to the extent that if we counted Shade stories, the ones where he's an out-and-out villain would be in the minority.

Anyway, in Starman #18 Shade says he went back to England in 1941 and met "a masked American aviator who flew with the RAF." It was Captain X. "He had a filthy sense of humor and he was a terrible card player, but his heart was pure and together we fought Hitler's spies on London's streets."

Now, when I first read that in 1996, I had no idea who Captain X was. As far as I knew, Robinson made him up on the spot. But now I know Richard Dare appeared in the first seven issues of Star-Spangled Comics, and never appeared in the Golden Age again. I don't know if that's because he wasn't a big seller — Star-Spangled was undergoing a revamp at the time — or because the U.S. joining the war made an American fighting with the RAF kinda pointless. (But probably because he wasn't a big seller.) He also appeared in four issues of Firestorm (1988), where it was established that he was Ronnie Raymond's grandfather (before dying in Firestorm #71). I hope, before the end, he had gotten better at cards.

Shade also references "a bizarre man-monster made by German science." At the time, I assumed this was a reference to The Heap, or Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, or some other Golden Age Frankenstein knockoff I didn't know much about. But in the years since I've read all the Golden Age Heap stories, and most of Dick Briefer's Frankenstein, and I know neither were created by German science. Further, neither are owned by DC Comics.

Further further, Robinson gave us a one-panel reference to Shade's anecdote, once again in The Shade #3. And you can see part of a Frankenstein's monster-type of creature, in what Shade refers to as the "blitz mystery."

So I guess Robinson had something original in mind. That makes me want all the more to read the Shade/Captain X team-up story that he has twice referenced, but never told. Maybe he never intended to.

Later in Starman #18, The Shade continues with more Golden Age references. "In the '50s, a Western private detective, Sierra Smith, made headlines for a year." I can't pretend I've read any Sierra Smith stories, although I have heard the name before. (Probably in Starman.) He was a backup feature in, of all places, Dale Evans Comics. He appeared in all but two of the 24 issues of that title, which ran from 1948 to 1952.

This comes up as Shade is ruminating on "crime-fighting sleuths." He places Starman in that group, along with Batman, "Ralph Digby" [sic], Roy Raymond, Martian Manhunter and "Wesley Dodds and his woman." Yes, "and his woman" is a bit dismissive, given her importance in Sandman lore, but that's to be expected of a Victorian gentleman.

NOW WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE MIST

The story in Starman #18 checks in on The Mist after his first robbery (which included 11 murders). He is coming to terms with the idea that he's now a villain. "He always thought his life would be judged one day by the awards and grants he received for his scientific achievements," the omniscient narrator intones. "That and his deeds in the great war."

This is consistent, as I said, with the one line of characterization he got in Adventure Comics #67. We then see that The Mist, while clever, is still learning how to be the bad guy. Not that he minds, as he seems to relish it. But he has a chance to kill Starman and doesn't, because, as he says later, "it didn't seem fair."

This baffles The Shade, who says Starman and Mist "become arch-foes. Hated enemies. There wasn't a year for the next few decades that these two wouldn't meet in battle." Once again, Robinson is implying lots of battles we've never seen. The Mist appeared only twice in Golden Age comics.

Anyway, it's part of Robinson's ongoing characterization of The Mist. At the end of the story, Starman asks why The Mist didn't kill him when he was helpless. The Mist reminds Starman he had the same chance, and didn't do it. Starman explains that heroes don't let their enemies die. "And villains do?" The Mist replies. "I shall remember that for next time." That ... does not end well, as readers of Starman #72 know.

The Mist also tries to commit suicide rather then be caught. "I won't be judged by your kind!" Wow. That's a pretty big tell right there. And we also learn that when Starman shows Mist's lair to five men, Mist eventually kills all five, for the "indignity." Again, that's some major cray-cray, all based on an out-of-control ego.

It's a good story. But there is a Spaniard in the works, to quote a certain Beatle. Maybe a spaniel or two, as well.

And it's that this Mist debut is directly at odds with the one in Adventure Comics #67. They really can't co-exist, unless you pretend the story in Adventure Comics #67 is the second time the two meet. It really wouldn't require much more than some dialogue change, but it is a change, and I'm on record wanting retcons to fit in between the existing issues, not replace them altogether. But if I have to pick one as the actual, true debut of The Mist, Robinson's is obviously the superior of the two. In my head canon, the story in Kentucky's Gigantic Cavern is the second Starman-Mist battle — where The Mist does try to kill Starman (and Doris Lee, too)

I should mention I'm not crazy about the art on this story. It looks a bit like a cross between Alex Toth and Mort Meskin, but not necessarily in a good way. It does have the effect of looking old-fashioned — again, not in a good way. The old-fashionedness may be the point. I'm unfamiliar with John Watkiss, so I don't know if this is a stylistic choice, or just the way he draws.

Too bad Jack Burnley couldn't have drawn Starman #18, followed by Gardner Fox amending the dialogue in Adventure Comics #67 to make it the second meeting. That would have been the best of all possible worlds.

More tomorrow!
- Jeff of Earth-J > Captain Comics February 12, 2026 at 10:14am
  
  I'm really looking forward to correcting that with a Starman re-read, once I'm finished with this JSA behemoth.
  
  And I'll commit to reading along with you. I once considered doing a (nigh-)complete re-read of the Marvel Universe from Fantastic Four #1 forward, but I'm trying to wean myself from doing any more "long form" discussions.
- Captain Comics > Jeff of Earth-J February 12, 2026 at 10:41am
  
  Besides, somebody already did that and got a book out of it.
- Constantine Sarolas > Captain Comics February 12, 2026 at 10:50am
  
  Speaking of books, thus discussion would make a great book. Any chance of that happening?
- Captain Comics > Constantine Sarolas February 12, 2026 at 11:33am
  
  Hmm. I have a book contract that has lain fallow for a while, based on my Master's thesis. Maybe I'll pitch the editor on your idea instead.

of 185

This reply was deleted.