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

[Captain Comics]

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:

1. 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.
2. Black Canary: All-Star Comics #38-57; Comic Cavalcade #25; Flash Comics #86-88, 90-104.
3. Doctor Fate: All-Star Comics #3-12, 14-21; More Fun Comics #55-98.
4. Doctor Mid-Nite: All-American Comics #25-102; All-Star Comics #6 (text story), 8-57.
5. 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)
6. 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.
7. Hawkman: All-Star Comics #1-57, Big All-American Comic Book, Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
8. Hourman: Adventure Comics #48-83, All-Star Comics #1-7, New York World's Fair Comics [#2].
9. 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).
10. Mister Terrific: All-Star Comics #24, Big All-American Comic Book, Sensation Comics #1-63.
11. 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.
12. The Spectre: All-Star Comics #1-23, More Fun Comics #52-101, a single panel in More Fun Comics #51.
13. Starman: Adventure Comics #61-102, All-Star Comics #8-23.
14. 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!

[The Baron]

[JD DeLuzio]

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Murray Slaughter to Mary Richards about Ted Baxter (paraphrase): "What do you expect from someone whose favorite Marx Brother is Zeppo?"

From what I have read, Zeppo was the wittiest of the brothers IRL. Gummo was a Hollywood agent.

During An Evening with Groucho at Carnigie Hall, he discussed the origins of the brothers' names. (Working from memory here, although I still have it on vinyl).

"Harpo played the harp, that was pretty obvious."

"Chico was what they used to call a 'chicken chaser'. In England now they call 'em 'birds'."*

"Someone once gave Gummo a pair of rubbers**... in a nice way I mean."

"And my name... I never did understand it."***

*Chico is properly pronounced "Chicko".
**Also known as "gumboots." 
***Based on his "taciturn personality" and "Sherlocko the Monk" from the comic strip Hawkshaw the Detective, which spawned a fad of nicknames ending in O.

[Captain Comics]

I didn't expect all the Zeppo love! (And Gummo love!) You guys are the best.

[Captain Comics]

NOVEMBER 22, 1941

'ALL-FLASH' #3
Cover date: Winter 1941
Cover by E.E. Hibbard

Where I Read It: Golden Age Flash Archives Vol. 2 (2006)

The Flash
“Chapter 1: The Adventure of the Duplicate Faces!”
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (13 pages)

A research scientist named Adam Addams can change the human face with glandular activities. He cures wealthy Jeb Young with the same technique (but doesn't change his face, on condition the man serve him unquestioningly for a year. Flash is friends with Jeb, of course, because he is friends with everybody the plot requires him to be. He is also friends with Dr. French, who is worried that Addams will sabotage his hospital out of spite, because French married Louisa, whom Addams loved. Flash checks it out, and catches Jeb and two confederates stealing radium. Jay leaves Jeb with the police, and Addams (disguised as French) has him released. He also kidnaps all the doctors at French's hospital and replaces them glandular lookalikes, who are really his gang. They plan to kill all the patients. Flash puts a stop to it, and rescues the doctors, French and Joan (she had been kidnapped, because she is always kidnapped). Louisa jumps in the river to get away from Addams (Flash saves her), while Addams escapes in a submarine. What, you don't have a submarine and docking bay under your house? I thought everybody did!

Fun Facts

• Caption: "When Jay is the Flash he moves so quickly that even when he is visible his features are sort of a haze." This must apply even when Flash isn't unconscious, as we have seen in previous issues.
• Addams hasn't heard of The Flash. I guess he's not your garden-variety crook.
• Although the copy says Addams' glandular formula allows him to impersonate other people, he is seen throughout the story employing rubber masks.

The Flash
"Chapter Two: The Adventure of the Savage Centaurs”
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (13 pages)

Jay Garrick and Joan Williams visit Western University on homecoming week, where they are met by Dr. Manning. Manning is being threatened by someone who wants the hard-water formuila that created The Flash. (It's Addams, of course, who wants super-speed.) Addams has been busy on a tropical isle, turning horses into centaurs with his glandular formula, which can do anything, apparently. (And Addams plans to conquer the world with centaurs, somehow.) Addams also wants to keep The Flash busy, so he sends centaurs to a charity hospital in his amphibious airplane (what, you don't have an amphibious airplane?), where they parachute down (you didn't know centaurs are expert skydivers?) and plan to kill everyone (you didn't know horses secretly hate us and want to kill us, and only lack the hands to do so?). A clever nurse gets the world out on radio, and Flash shoes all the cenatuars, which somehow hobbles them. (I am no horse enthusiast. For all I know, horses really are hobbled for a little while after getting shoed. But even so, it seems a rather roundabout way to stop the centaurs.) 

Flash knows Ken Gormley, a guy with a seaplane, because -- as noted -- Jay Garrick is friends with everyone the plot requires him to be. Gormley bails (not literally) when he sees Flash's menagerie, but Flash flies them to a tropical island. (Add "pilot" to the list of things Jay Garrick knows, as well as all the people he knows.) Flash flies out to sea, and as far as I can tell, stumbles on Addams' island by sheer luck. Flash frees Joan and returns the centaurs (who will soon turn back into horses), but Addams escapes with Manning in the seaplane.

New Origin
This story references Flash's origin, and rewrites a lot of it. In the original, it was Professor Hughes who was Garrick's mentor at Midwestern University, while here it's Dr. Manning at Western University. (To be fair, the university changed names in Flash Comics #2.) In the original, student Jay Garrick was helping Professor Hughes with an experiment when he was overcome with hard-water fumes. Hughes discoverd Jay's unconscious form, and he was taken to a hospital, where his name was clearly known. Here, Joan says "Dr. Manning was the chemistry teacher at the university when the hard-water gas was discovered by The Flash!" Manning says to Jay, "You recall the experiment with hard-water experiment you were working on, Jay? The vial broke, remember, and someone inhaled a lot of the gas! It made him very fast -- I think he calls himself The Flash, now!" I guess Fox is realizing he needs to take this secret-identity business a bit more seriously.

Obviously, this version of the origin didn't stand the test of time.The original has been in play since whenever I first read it in the Silver Age, and probably earlier. And currently, Professor Hughes has been revealed to have exposed Jay Garrick to hard-water fumes deliberately (Jay Garrick: The Flash). Manning has apparently been relegated to the Limbo Land of Lost Origins.

The Flash
"How to Develop Your Speed Like the Flash!"
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (1 page)

The Flash
“Chapter III: House-Guests of Death!”
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (13 pages)

Addams has built a mansion hours away from the airport in Gopher, Arizona, where he forces Manning to work night and day to re-create the hard-water formula. Then he invites, "for a few days of fun," Joan Garrick and Joan Willams (invitation signed by Dr. French), and Dr. French and Jeb Young (signed by Jay Garrick) and Rutherford Rockford, the richest man in the world, and his daughter Gloria (signed by French). Also arriving are Stanton Carver (no idea) and Dr. Hart, who flunked Addams out of medical school.

Stanton, Rockford and Young all appear to be murdered, with their bodies turning into gas. (Spoiler: They are not dead.) Hart runs into the desert in a panic. Jay turns into The Flash to investigate.  Addams dresses one of his thugs as Flash, and has him kidnap Gloria, so they won't trust the real Flash. Manning discovers the opposite of the hard-water gas, one of that will slow people down. Addams uses it on Flash, and captures him. All the captives save Flash are placed in glass coffins, still alive. Flash is put in a metal room that is being heated.

Fun Fact: The false Flash refers to Addams as "master." Who talks like that? 

The Flash
“Chapter IV: The Flash vs. the Flash!”
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (13 pages)

Addams plans to impersonate Rockford and use his wealth to advance his schemes. The false Flash returns a fake Gloria corpse to the rest of the guests, one that will turn into gas like the others. Meanwhile, Flash awakens in the hot room, and has his speed back, as he has sweated out the gas. He finds the glass coffins, the other fake bodies (Addams had fake bodies of all his guests) and Dr. Manning. He plays jokes on Addams with the fake bodies. Meanwhile, Addams is going to crush his remaining guests with the old "the walls are moving in" trick. Hart wanders back as Flash defeats the henchmen and allows Manning to use his now-discovered hard-water formula on Addams. Flash tells Manning to whip up an antidote for the people in the glass coffins, and rescues everybody. Addams, who has had trouble mastering his speed, sees that his plans have failed and blows himself up.

Some Observations
In the last Golden Age issue of Flash Comics, DC finally got around to the old saw of the hero's doppelganger. His name was Edward Clariss, and he called himself Rival. This story would have made a fine origin for Rival, and he could have been introduced that much sooner. And Addams had proven himself pretty formidable. Oh, well. I haven't read that Rival story since it was first reprinted, but maybe there's some wiggle room to allow us to believe Manning lived through this issue, and changed his name to Edward Clariss.

As a matter of plot, though, Flash shouldn't have taken the risk of allowing Addams to achieve super-speed. And now Manning knows the formula, which also seems like a bad idea. But I'm sure it will be dropped after this issue, never to be spoken of again.

Flash escapes the hot room with "a tiny screwdriver that he caries with him everywhere." It's a bit deus ex machina for Fox to tell us about it now, when Flash needs it. Nor does he tell us where Flash keeps the tiny screwdriver, and I'm hoping it's in his hat. Overall, though, I think it's a pretty good idea for superheroes to carry some basic tools, a small flashlight, a radio and other useful items with them at all times. Not a utility belt, because Batman would sue. But what else were all those pouches in the '90s for?

For a guy who wanted Rockford's money, Addams seemed to be doing pretty well already. He had his glandular formula, a lab in the city (with a submarine bay), a custom-built hacienda in Arizona with movable walls and secret tunnels, his own tropical island, an amphibious plane, a submarine, a gas that makes fake corpses (and himself) explode, the wherewithal to create identical dummies of all his guests, a whole gang of henchmen and a suspended-animation drug. But I guess there's rich, and there's RICH, and he was only the former. Probably couldn't afford a yacht to service his bigger yacht, like Jeff Bezos.

The rescued group discover the reason Jay was missing is that he had gotten lost in Gopher and never made it to the hacienca. Except in earlier chapters, he was at the hacienda with the others. Oops. But at least Fox is now paying attention to the secret-identity trope, which he hadn't early in Flash's career. There's a reason it exists.

Mr. Hart running into the desert at the beginning of chapter 3, and running back at the end of chapter 4, seems to serve no plot or entertainment purpose that I can see. Even his dummy served no purpose (whereas Joan's did). 

The Flash

"The Flash Presents His Hall of Speed Records"
By Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard (1 page)

[The Baron]

The false Flash refers to Addams as "master." Who talks like that? 

Villains' stooges in comics and Z horror movies.

 

But what else were all those pouches in the '90s for?

Trail mix.

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

The false Flash refers to Addams as "master." Who talks like that? 

Alfred Pennyworth?

[Philip Portelli]

Addams should have been given a supervillain name! 
And science and radiation are already magical.

[Captain Comics]

I'm having fun, by and large, but the two books that cause me the most trepidation are All-Flash and Green Lantern. I love both characters, but 68 pages of each at a sitting is a bit much. It would have been so much cooler, as suggested here earlier, if each issue of All-Flash had one Green Lantern story, and each issue of Green Lantern had one Flash story -- like Human Torch and Sub-Mariner over at Marvel. 

[Philip Portelli]

Or anyone else who could have used the exposure like Hawkman, Doctor Mid-Nite or even Black Pirate or Hop Harrigan!