Justice League of America #236 - March 1985

Part 4 of the introduction of the new Justice League!

The Story: "Rebirth: Part Four--Gypsy Genius" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Rick Magyar. Picking up from last issue, the JLA finds itself in the clutches of a new team of super-baddies called The Cadre!

The Cadre is run by a giant, masked man named The Overmaster, who speaks of himself as "I/We." He considers himself a god.

Overmaster does seem to have almost god-like powers, as he shoots blasts of energy out of his hands, scattering the JLA. After they get to safety, he then unleashes his Cadre after them.

First up is Black Mass, a guy who can change his internal mass and control gravity. Next is Shrike, an evil pixie-like harpy with a sonic scream. Both of them attack the JLA simultaneously.

Meanwhile, back in Detroit, Dale Gunn is met by Gypsy, who is waiting for him back the JLA's HQ. She tells Gunn she thinks the JLA are in trouble.

She's right, of course, and we see the JLA barely holding its own against The Cadre. Crowbar tells them that all he has to do to retain the powers Overmaster gave him is to kill the JLA, which he tries to do. But luckily Aquaman is now getting his bearings:

...I love this sequence. After so many issues of being a hard ass, Aquaman gets to be cool.

Anyway, Shatterfist destroys the oncoming crowbar, and smashes the ground, creating a giant crevice, which the JLA escapes into. Aquaman wonders, as he and his team has to run, if he has made a giant mistake.

While Dale Gunn and Gypsy try to find where the JLA went, we see they make an amazing discovery in the bowels of the mountaintop hideaway of the Overmaster: that the entire HQ is made of up high-tech machinery!

They follow a tunnel, and make an even more amazing discovery:

While Manhunter tries to read the creature's mind, they are found by Overmaster and the Cadre, who attack them again.

Aquaman and Manhunter hatch a plan, and J'onn takes off towards the creature. To buy him some time, Aquaman leads his team on a forward charge--after all, they are the Justice League!:

Manhunter discovers a glowing jewel above the creature, which seems to be the source of the telepathic presence both he and Aquaman sensed. Overmaster doesn't like this, and tries to stop Manhunter. But he is distracted by an attack from...Gypsy!

Manhunter then takes on Overmaster directly, and tells Gypsy to touch the jewel. Finally deciding to risk her life for something other than herself, she does, which shoots off a blinding light, taking all The Cadre with it.

Dale Gunn then arrives, and tells the JLA he has brought a new shuttlecraft.

On the flight home, Aquaman and Manhunter tell the rest of the team what they figured out that--that this Overmaster was really just a parasite, feeding off the energy of this sleeping creature, who has been on Earth for millions of years and been involved with various species' birth or extinction.

They then watch as the mountaintop rumbles and shatters, and a giant spaceship, carrying the sleeping creature, blasts off into space.

Roll Call: Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Steel, Vibe, Gypsy

Notable Moments: Probably the best issue of the new JLA's run, since after this the team gets involved in either wrapping up loose ends (like what happened to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash) or getting carried away by story lines that were occurring outside of the regular JLA book (the Crisis, the upcoming Aquaman mini-series). In a lot of ways, this new JLA got hobbled before it ever really began.

The covers to issues 233-236 were released as a poster around this time. If you combined all of them, they made one large image:

...they don't quite line up right (there's overlap which interferes with the disembodied heads), but at least DC was trying to give the new JLA a little promotion.

That said, it occurs to me as write this, I don't think I ever saw one ad for the regular JLA comic at this time...

Justice League of America Annual #2 - 1984

The biggest change to ever happen to the Justice League of America! New faces, new motivations, new leaders!

The Story: "The End of the Justice League!" by Gerry Conway, Chuck Patton, and Dave Hunt. Following what transpired in the Earth/Mars war in JLA #s 228-230, the members of the League who were present take a space shuttle to go back and see what--if anything--is left of their beloved satellite headquarters.

The various members of the team fan out and start assessing the damage. Black Canary wonders if it can be rebuilt, and Firestorm jokes "rebuild what?"

But Aquaman isn't in such a goofy mood. He takes one look at what has happened, and mutters to himself that this is the end of the Justice League:

(click to JLAify!)

Hawkgirl wonders if she heard Aquaman right. Hawkman, worriedly, says that she did.

After they return to Earth, Green Arrow suggests they start rebuilding immediately. Aquaman walks away, suggesting that even if it could be rebuilt, the team itself may not be able to be repaired. He says for everyone to meet him at the U.N. in one week.

He heads home, happy to finally see his wife, Mera. Unfortunately, she has left, leaving him a message saying that clearly his duty to the League is the most important thing in his life. She suggests he not try to find her...

One week later, at the U.N., Aquaman calls for a special audience, and makes a startling announcement:

...in just five pages, the JLA we all knew is gone.

The announcement is heard all over the world, like by an older man who seems to have massive wealth, and by fashion model Mari McCabe, who abruptly quits her job upon hearing what has happened.

At a high-rise apartment in New York, the JLA--such as it is--is deciding what to do next. They are met by a mysterious stranger, who seems to have fantastic powers!

She is revealed to be the super-heroine The Vixen, who says she is there to join up. Another new hero makes his introductions, as well, a man named Steel:

Steel comes with a new HQ, in Detroit. Its a fully-functioning base, complete with living quarters, a pool, training rooms, etc.

They are met an armed guard, who attacks them for breaking into this place. Steel busts the guy's head, and we learn that inside the suit is Dale Gunn, an old friend of Steel's grandfather, and sort of a surrogate father to the young man. Both Zatanna and Vixen like what they see.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to a young man, a street kid/grafitti artist named Paco, who goes by the name "Vibe." When he runs afoul of some gang members, he displays amazing powers that can be directed at people and shake them uncontrollably.

This little show is seen by Steel and Vixen, and Steel tries to talk Aquaman into letting the kid join. Aquaman says no, pissing off Steel in the process, but he reconsiders when Vibe walks up to their front door and Aquaman gets a first-hand lesson in what this kid can do.

The kid is full of himself, that's for sure:

On the way to meet Vibe's family, he and Steel meet another seemingly super-powered person, a young street thief that the people in the neighborhood call "Gypsy."

While Steel meets Vibe's family (and is immediately smitten by his sister, Rosita), Zatanna introduces herself to Dale Gunn, in about a forward a manner as possible:

While these two flirt, Gypsy breaks in to the HQ, setting off the security alarms!

The JLA all run to the sound, with Martian Manhunter using his shape-shifting powers to nab Gypsy. When they ask who she is, she gives them a long, implausible story. When pressed for the truth, she disappears.

Aquaman is worried none of this is going like he planned, but his doubts are interrupted by a neighborhood welcoming committee, who are throwing a block party to welcome their new neighbors:

Of course, to be continued!

Roll Call: Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Steel, Vibe

Notable Moments: Well, what to say? This turn of events absolutely floored me when I read it, way back in 1984. While I was *thrilled* that Aquaman was taking such a large role in the JLA, I was very unsure of these new characters.

And while I was happy to see action-hogs Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern depart, it was the removal of my other favorites, like Green Arrow and the Hawks that made me scratch my head.

I was even more confused by this passage in the annual's text page by editor Alan Gold:

...in retrospect, of course Gold was just trying to make sure comic fans didn't storm the DC offices like the mob in Frankenstein, but it left me confused. Were "The Big Ones" gone from the book, or not? And if not, what chance did these new characters have? Questions, questions!

Before we move on to JLA Detroit's (as it came to be known) first appearance in JLA proper, we'll take a moment tomorrow to try and answer some of the questions about this strange turn of events in the history of the World's Greatest Superheroes, when the JLA Satellite talks to the man himself, Gerry Conway! Be here!

Justice League of America #179 - June 1980

Another new member for the Justice League!

The Story: "The Siren Song of the Satin Satan!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open in a discotheque, where an exotic beauty known as the Satin Satan seems to be able to command men to do whatever she wants...

Meanwhile, there's a celebration happening at the JLA satellite, where the august group of heroes has just inducted a new member...Firestorm, the Nuclear Man!

It blasts Superman with Kryptonite eyes, and hits Batman with a lightning bolt-type ray, leaving the rest of the JLA to take it on!

After the initial exuberance, the JLA gets down to the nitty-gritty, teaching Firestorm all the details he must master to be a member of the team. Firestorm's younger side--teenager Ronnie Raymond--is bored to tears, but is snapped out of his fog by Black Canary. Green Arrow notices, and doesn't like that one bit.

Red Tornado notices Arrow's unhappiness, recalling his disappointment over Black Lightning turning the JLA down (in #173), and recalls the evolution of the team:

...nice page, but where's Hawkgirl? Who built Reddy's android brain, Texas Instruments?

Anyway, after the initial training session is over, the team beams down to Earth, going their own ways. Superman reminds Firestorm he is now part of a group of friends, and just to call if he needs them. After you've been inducted into the Justice League of America, what do you do for an encore?

Firestorm changes back into his two identities, Ronnie and Prof. Martin Stein. Ronny goes out with his friends to a dance club, where a mutual friend tells them what happened earlier, with the mysterious woman.

Ronnie leaves his friends, changes back to Firestorm, and investigates. Once inside another club people saw Satin go into, he finds her, but she is able to control his actions!

She plants one on Firestorm, and as he turns to stone(!), he has just enough energy left to hit his JLA signal device. To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, and new member Firestorm!

Notable Moments: This is depending on your point of view of course, but to me Firestorm is the last new member of the "classic" JLA. There would be more members to come of course, but by then the JLA would be a very, very different book of characters.

Firestorm was a creation of Gerry Conway, and the character was a month or two away from having a back-up series in The Flash. (He would get his own book again in a year or two, The Fury of Firestorm, that would become one of DC's biggest sellers)

You could argue Conway was showing clear favoritism towards his own creation, putting this new hero in the League ahead of other, more established heroes. But I liked Firestorm on the team--his relative youth and experience was a nice counterpoint to the rest of the JLA, and having the same writer write Firestorm's solo book and JLA offered the opportunity to do character development within JLA, something Conway rarely got to do, but was obviously something he wanted to explore, and eventually got to do, big-time.

Justice League of America #174 - Jan. 1980

Interesting, having a super-villain warning the super-heroes to save themselves. Well, The Regulator was new at this...

The Story: "A Plague of Monsters" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, we see The Regulator and his rat army taking over S.T.A.R. Labs.

He punches out a scientist, telling him he is exacting revenge against the people who had him committed to a mental hospital, who he believes were jealous of his genius!

Back at the JLA satellite, Green Arrow is telling the other JLAers what happened and just why they aren't inducting Black Lightning. He gets so worked up he gets convinced that the others didn't really want him to join!

Arrow then storms off, off to find Lightning and ask him again, with Elongated Man and Zatanna tagging along.

While at the Metropolis Police HQ, they get an emergency call at S.T.A.R. Labs, and when the three JLAers and the police arrive, they are met by a horde of giant vermin! Ewww!

Some other JLAers arrive to help, as does Black Lightning, and they learn who this Regulator nutjob is. Soon, his hordes of vermin start filling the streets, and the JLA attempts to fight them off.

Meanwhile, Lightning makes a move towards The Regulator, atop a smokestack. In the ensuing battle, The Regulator is careless, and he slips, falling to his death inside the smokestack.

The JLA round up all the creatures, put them into a container of Zatanna's crafting, and Wonder Woman sends it hurtling into space(!), "to the outer reaches of the solar system."

Green Arrow tries one more time to talk Black Lightning into joining, but he remains steadfast to being a loner.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Elongated Man, Zatanna

Notable Moments: I know the universe is a big place, but over the years superheroes have thrown so much crazy crap "to the outer reaches of the solar system" that it must look like a junkyard out there.

Also, it was kinda cruel, what the JLA did to the Regulator's creatures. Its not their fault, exactly, because they would normally be regular-sized rats and insects had the Regulator not messed with them.

Putting them all in a box, with no food or light, hurtling through space for however long, means that, in short work, that box will become a real chamber of horrors, as the creatures start killing and eating each other to survive.

Sorry to end this on such a downer.

Justice League of America #173 - Dec. 1979

I dunno, I think Black Lightning is being a little tough on that Cavalier-type guy. He looks kinda cool to me.

The Story: "Testing of A Hero" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open on a rooftop in Metropolis, with several members of the JLA following the exploits of a new hero, Black Lightning!

Lightning makes quick work of some bank robbers, and as he carts them off, Green Arrow stresses that Black Lightning is JLA material.

When he mentions that Lightning is "cool, smart, brave...and black!", The Flash objects suggesting that Green Arrow was saying they admit a "token black." Uh-oh!

This leads to Barry and Ollie squaring off, with The Flash taking a particularly hard stand on Green Arrow's political leanings:

Superman calls an end to the nonsense, and moves forward with the plan to test Lightning's mettle.

Meanwhile, a costumed baddie named The Regulator, who seems to be able to control--eww--rats, swears vengeance on society and all those who have wronged him!

Back at Metropolis Police HQ, Lightning laughs at the suggestion that there might be an "anti-vigilante" law passed soon, since of course that would affect Superman, too. He heads out, but is soon attacked by two bizarre beings, one an energy being, the other a type of she-ape!

Lightning defeats them both, and calls the cops to pick them up. He leaves before he sees what they do, that something is happening to these weirdos...Meanwhile, the Regulator's army of rats start to attack S.T.A.R. Labs.

Lightning is attacked again, by another strange being, a sort of invisible man. No sooner does he defeat this foe then he is attacked by yet another costumed stranger, this one dressed like your typical swashbuckler. He almost ends up killing this guy, before he calms down, and the swashbuckler reveals himself to be...Green Arrow!

Suddenly all the JLA show up, telling him they were testing him, and he passed with flying colors. Welcome to the Justice League, Black Lightning!:

Oh...um...er...well...gee...

Meanwhile, we see that S.T.A.R. Labs has been taken over by The Regulator. To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Black Lightning would've made a fine addition to the JLA, at the same time Conway gives us a plausible reason as to why he doesn't.

The menacing roles the JLAers assume are hilarious, and their super-silly names (Primak, The Trans-Visible Man) seem like a very subtle dig on Conway's part on how the JLAers see themselves.

The little moment Black Lightning has with the police inspector about not worrying about any law that would also affect Superman is nice, and used again by Alan Moore during his brilliant Swamp Thing run. It's a moment that relies upon the readers familiarity with just how beloved Superman is in this universe.

Justice League of America #161 - Dec. 1978

Zatanna joins the Justice League...or does she?

The Story: "The Reverse-Spells of Zatanna's Magic!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The JLA has a meeting where they decide to add Zatanna to the team!

Zatanna--bearing a new costume--shows up to tell the astonished heroes she doesn't want to join! They ask Zee if something is wrong, but she says no. She doesn't want anyone's help or interference--especially not Green Lantern's! Hmm...

The team, stunned, breaks up and heads home ("What about Adam Strange?" Flash is heard muttering), but The Atom, on Monitor Duty, thinks something is fishy.

Just as Atom calls Batman to ask him for help, Green Lantern materializes in the satellite and zaps Atom unconscious! Of course, this is not the Green Lantern. This faux-GL does some research to find out more about this power ring he has, but is frustrated to find out he can't locate the power battery to charge it.

He mentions something about casting spells, and needing to neutralize the rest of the JLA, "just like I did to my old foe, Zatanna."

Meanwhile, we find Zatanna fighting a horde of demons in an alternate dimension. She is knocked out by one of them on the steps of a castle. We get to peer into the castle, where we find Green Lantern, stiff as a statue covered in cobwebs!

Batman does some investigating, and after talking to Zee's father Zatara, and figures out Zatanna's odd behavior was a ruse, and she was leaving some sort of clue for the JLAers to figure out.

The Atom wakes up, tells them what happened, and they follow the Fake Lantern's flight-path...to the mysterious city of Angkor Wat. Once there, Red Tornado is zapped by the evil Green Lantern. He then blasts the others.

Zatanna is helped out by a cavalry of soliders from different eras she called up with a spell. Once her gag is removed, she casts a spell freeing the real Lantern.

We then see that the evil GL is really The Warlock of Ys, who apparently cast a slow-burning spell that had him switching bodies with Lantern. He then put a spell on Zatanna, preventing her from directly warning anyone of Ys' plan, or even to use her backward spells. But he didn't realize Zee had freed Lantern, and they easily knock him out with a big green fist.

Epilogue: The case solved, the JLA asks again if Zatanna wants to join the JLA...which of course she does!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, and new member Zatanna!

Notable Moments: The Warlock of Ys apparently set this spell when he first met GL, in Green Lantern #42. Since this was before DC started fudging with the chronological dates of the characters, that means that Ys' spell took twelve years to fully kick in. Now that's patience.

Zatanna was a fine addition to the JLA. The added female quotient was good, and her powers nicely balanced out the rest of the team, as did her relative youth. She would "jump ahead" a lot of older members, in that she would participate in a lot of future JLA stories, many more than some of the others.

I was lucky enough to meet both Rich Buckler and Frank McLaughlin at the New York Comic Con a few weeks ago, so I took the opportunity to get them to John Hancock this cover, one of my all-time favorites from the book:

Justice League of America #146 - Sept. 1977

You can't keep a good Construct down!

The Story: "Inner Mission!" by Steve Englehart, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, the Red Tornado has miraculously returned, but with no memory of what happened to him since he seemingly died(in JLA #129).

Superman is suspicious, and asks Reddy some questions only he would know. When that trips him up, he suddenly attacks the JLA, with a voice not his own, but one they recognize as...The Construct!

As the JLA decides to go after the real Construct, Hawkman moves to have eternal guest-star Hawkgirl made an official member! Superman puts up an argument, but the Phantom Stranger advises to table the discussion for the moment, in a rare moment where the Stranger acknowledges he is, in fact, a JLA member.

Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow meet up with Aquaman and Atom, where they take on a weapon under the control of the Construct. Aquaman smashes it(yay!), and the Atom tells them to head to Manhattan, where Ray has tracked the Construct's broadcasting beam.

They meet up with the other JLAers at the Construct's headquarters--a basement hideaway beneath, er, the World Trade Center. Its here they find the Construct's robot army, but the big man himself is gone. It's here that Red Tornado shows up, claiming to be the real deal. The JLAers are of course skeptical, but Hawkgirl peers into Reddy's "soul" and claims she knows for sure this is the actual Red Tornado!

They finally find the Construct, but when he attempts to flood Reddy with power to overwhelm him, the presence of Tornado's soul flips the power back at the Construct, destroying him. And Wonder Woman took the precaution to ensure a Construct cannot reform.

And even though the last time they talked about it they couldn't come to a decision, Black Canary predicts the JLA is about to have an election:

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Red Tornado, and new member Hawkgirl!

Notable Moments: I have no idea what happened to the bottom corner of the cover. I know I didn't buy it like that.

Hawkgirl's addition--duplicate powers rule or not--was long overdue, and I'm glad Englehart added her to the team.

I also like how the Construct kept coming back, though not in issues all in a row. He could give the Joker a run for his money for sheer persistence!

Justice League of America #106 - Aug. 1973

Another new member joins, this time The Red Tornado!

The Story: "Wolf in The Fold!" by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. The JLA is grilling Red Tornado, asking him how he survived his suicide mission at the end of JLA #102.

Reddy doesn't remember much, except that he was not destroyed by the explosion, as everyone thought. He landed somewhere in the mountains, where he was found by a blind, hermetic sculptor, who nursed Reddy back to health(sort of) and even made him a human-looking face!

As Reddy prepared to leave, he found that he was on Earth-1, not his homeworld of Earth-2. He tried to go home, but found that he no longer had the ability to pierce the dimensional barrier, stranding him on Earth-1.

He wanted to ask the JLA for help, but decided to do it in secret because he felt the JLA didn't care for him. They feel bad about this, and Superman suggests membership in the JLA! Green Arrow objects, but the rest of them quickly approve Superman's motion--Red Tornado is the newest member of the JLA!

We then learn that the Red Tornado is, as the title suggests, a wolf in the fold. T.O.Morrow, consulting his super-smart master computer(with over 30K of RAM!), is told that in 28 days, the cosmic balance will shift, and either he or the JLA will cease to exist, and the best way to defeat the JLA is to destroy them from within via a new member!

Morrow sends some of his henchmen to draw Tornado out, hopefully making him activate his signa device, which is implanted with a deadly nerve gas, destroying the JLA. The JLA gets involved without that happening, but they grow suspicious that both Reddy and Morrow resurface at the same time. Reddy is offended at this, and it's here where we have the classic sequence of Reddy trying to fit into regular society, using his newfound face and trying to get a job:

Reddy, now known as John Smith, falls in love with the beautiful, kind-hearted Kathy. One day a few weeks later, Morrow attacks again, again bringing the JLA in.

Morrow is delighted when he sees The Elongated Man press Tornado's signal device(after Morrow's henchmen have stolen the other members' ones), and watches the JLA writhe in pain, seemingly to death. But he's then a little surprised when the JLA, alive and well, are at his doorstep!

Turns out Morrow was watching a hologram provided by Green Lantern, while they figured out what exactly was Morrow's plan. They knock him out, and take him to jail. Unfortunately, as they are doing this, Morrow's 28 days are up, and he vanishes into nothingness.

The JLA explains and apologizes to Reddy, saying they used him to see what Morrow's master plan was. He accepts their apology, and heads back down to Earth to see "...if an android is vulnerable to...love!"

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, and new member The Red Tornado!

Notable Moments: New things were afoot during Len Wein's run. Not since Denny O'Neil did the JLA undergo so many changes--two new members in just two issues!

Red Tornado always seemed like a shaky addition to the team to me, but he did provide a nice contrast in personality to the rest of the team. And since there was a Golden Age Tornado, Reddy does fit the whole "Silver Age-version of an older hero in the JLA" meme that kicked the team off in the first place.

Morrow disappearing into nothingness creeped me out as a kid. Still sorta does, even though he came back later.


Tomorrow(no pun intended):

Justice League of America #105 - May 1973

The JLA inducts a new member...The Elongated Man!

The Story: "Specter in the Shadows! by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. We open with Ralph Dibny, The Elongated Man, and his wife Sue taking in some culture at an art museum. Suddenly a gaggle of weird, dough-like creatures spring up and stat stealing the paintings!

The Elongated Man (and Sue, bless he heart) try and stop them, but they are overpowered. Ralph then decides to call in help with this JLA signal device! But I thought only members had those! What's going on?

We flash back one week, and see Green Lantern inviting Ralph and Sue to the JLA Satellite, where they tell him they are inviting him to join! He of course says...yes!

We cut back to present time, where EM is explaining what he saw. The JLA splits up into teams(of course) after they receive several distress signals involving the self-same dougy guys!

The Flash, The Atom, and Green Arrow head to a coal mine, where they defeat the doughy guys, but...why were they trying to steal coal? And who is that mysterious stranger, watching the JLA from the inky shadows?

Superman and Black Canary are less successful, as they try to stop the baddies from stealing...tires? They stop the theft, but the doughy guys escape.

Green Lantern gets stuck with the new guy, and Ralph plunges into the ocean while trying to stop one of the bad guys. Lantern tries to rescue him, but Ralph is gone! Hal is despondent--"Who would've thought the Elongated Man's first case with the Justice League would also be his last?" And hey, there's that mysterious guy again!

The JLA reconvenes at the satellite, depressed over Ralph's seeming demise. The distress signal goes off again, and they find the doughy guys guarding a gian beehive type structure. As they fight, one of the doughy guys saves Black Canary, revealing himself to actually be...The Elongated Man!

After the JLA defeats them, Ralph explains he got the idea to go "undercover" on the spot, and learned that the beehive is poised to explode! The JLA can't break their way in, but just as the place is about to blow, a giant wind picks it up, and sends it into space, where it explodes harmlessly. What the?!?

Turns out the last-minute save is from the mysterious stranger, who turns out to be...The Red Tornado!

Roll Call: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, and new member The Elongated Man!

Notable Moments: The first new member in thirty issues, The Elongated Man was a solid addition to the team, in terms of powers and personality. Ralph certainly had a decent history in the DCU, and I liked him in the book, even if, as a kid, I always wondered why it wasn't Plastic Man.

This issue features the classic "new member" scroll splash page, my favorite bit of tradition in these types of stories:

Justice League of America #103 - Dec. 1972

Guest-starring...The Phantom Stranger!

The Story: "A Stranger Walks Among Us! by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. The JLA meets at the satellite, wondering which of them called the meeting. Turns out it was...The Phantom Stranger, who manages to appear in the satellite taking the team by surprise!

None of the JLAers know him, but Batman(having met him in the pages of The Brave and the Bold) vouches for him. The Stranger then explains he senses an evil force brewing in the town of Rutland, Vermont. And the force is being summoned by an old foe of the JLA...Felix Faust!

As the team decides to head to Rutland, we cut to four people on their way there, named Steve, Len, Glynis, and Gerry, who are headed their for the costume parade(seen previously in the classic Batman #237, "The Night of the Reaper"). The parade's organizer, Tom Fagan, meets the JLA and Batman tells him why they're there. Tom then manages to talk the JLA into being part of the parade, on a custom-made power-ring float!

As the parade goes on, suddenly everyone in the crowd is frozen stiff! The team splits up to investigate, and Hawkman and Flash are attacked by three zombified paraders, dressed like Supergirl, Adam Strange, and, er, Commando America!

The demons are inhabiting these people, which give them powers and they actually manage to defeat Barry and Carter! Meanwhile, Batman is taking on another possessed partier, this time dressed in a familiar red-and-blue outfit with a spider on his chest. Green Lantern meanwhile is fighting a Norse Thundergod. They, too, succumb to some mysterious force.

Superman and Green Arrow take on ersatz versions of Captain Marvel and the Golden Age Flash, and end up the same way. Oddly, the Phantom Stranger shows up at the end of all these battles, but does not help the JLA out! What's going on here??

As the JLA recovers, the Phantom Stranger returns and they ask him what is indeed going on. Turns out the only way Faust's spell of possession could be defeated was to use a personal item from each of them as a sort of sacrifice--but those items could not be freely given, hence the Stranger waiting for the JLAers to be rendered unconscious.

The Stranger exhausts Faust's powers, the JLA fight the demons, and our four familiar partiers wake up from their stupor.

The JLA is thankful to the Stranger for helping them defeat Faust and quickly decide to ask him to join. But...:

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman

Notable Moments: As a kid, I was very concerned with the JLA's roll call, and it bugged me to no end that the Phantom Stranger was a sort of quasi-official member. They did vote him in, but he didn't accept, but he didn't say no, so...grrrr! I need closure on this!

Len Wein was obviously having a blast with this issue, writing himself and his friends into the story, to say nothing of the "cameos" by Spider-Man, Captain America, and Thor. Much like Neal Adams from a few issues ago, doesn't this mean Len deserved a Who's Who listing?

Speaking of Neal Adams, there's this one panel from the book that sure looks like Neal Adams, rather than Dick Dillin, to me. I wonder, did somebody spill some coffee on Dillin's original page and Neal was around to pinch hit?

After a long run, Joe Giella is gone as inker, replaced by Dick Giordano, one of the finest artists in the business(who did part of last issue, as well). While Giella tended to simplify Dillin's pencils to the point of almost coloring-book proportions, Giordano added a nice strong line to them, making for a really attractive package.

"The Case of the Marvelous Membership Mash-Up"

Wow--you guys are awesome!

I've had a lot of fun with this blog, and seeing the enthusiasm the original JLA still generates in people is a real joy to see. I had no idea what kind of response I'd get to the New Frontier contest, but I'm happy to say I got nothing but well thought-out suggestions, so let's get right to 'em!:

Adama, he of the Green Arrow blog Dispatches From The Arrowcave, suggested Captain Comet: "Yes, I would love to have seen Captain Comet in the Justice League. I think he would have brought a space adventure/cosmic fun aspect to the League. I mean sure, the League went out into space, but were any of them actually an authority on galactic politics? I think not!"

My friend Richard, aka RAB of the Estoreal blog, sent me a long piece, first considering some other characters, like Ultra, Sargon, Supergirl, and Robotman, before stating why they should be eliminated. (He cleverly points out that Steve Englehart's "secret origin" issue of JLA, #144, is, in many ways, a thematic ancestor to New Frontier) He, too, settles on the good captain, saying "Clearly the best choice is...Captain Comet.

Gerry Conway retconned the Captain as having been away in space for twenty years in Secret Society of Super-Villains, of course, and he went on to interact with the JLA in other books but never actually joined forces with the entire team in the pages of their own comic. He's been revived a couple of times since then, but he was never better than when he briefly skirted greatness with the JLA."

My pal and frequent contributor to the Rob Kelly Family of Blogs, Vince Bartilucci, sent in an exhaustively detailed piece--almost an essay--that takes in every conceivable angle in an attempt to answer this question. He considers characters' histories, how they would fit within the JLA framework, and even how they would look as rendered by Dick Dillin!

He, too, considers Captain Comet, as well as members of the Teen Titans, Captain Marvel, Mera(trying to bribe the judge will not work, Vince!), the Human Target, Batgirl, the Creeper, before blowing my mind with his ultimate pick...Shade, the Changing Man!

Shade, the Changing Man?? Yes, says Vince: "Shade's feature distorting force field (courtesy of his M-Vest) is a great power not exhibited by any other Justice Leaguer. And he doesn't require any special environment or conditions to shine. When the story focuses on another Leaguer he can still contribute.

Shade’s 'fugitive from another dimension' origin can supply the raw material for both little character bits and full-blown adventures. He might even keep his fugitive status a secret from his fellow Leaguers. What happens when his people come for him? How do his JLA comrades react to the news that he's a wanted man in some other dimension? Conflict, anyone?

Visually, Shade's powers are dynamite. I'm sure Dillin would have done a great job of depicting the Changing Man’s fearsome visage--there would be no mistaking Rac for any other Leaguer in a crowded fight scene. You think Batman is scary, huh? Check out this freak! And his standard 'unchanged' costume is both super-heroey and distinct at the same time.

Finally, Shade, The Changing Man was created by Steve Ditko. Pedigree must count for something!"

Wow, Vince--now that's thinking outside the box.

New commenter Butch had an equally unique suggestion: Vartox! Says Butch: "Imagine facing a group with Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Vartox.

Vartox would also allow for any existing members of the League to be phased out or de-emphasized as the writer would want (so if Superman is busy in his monthly book, here's Vartox to pick up the slack). I think Vartox would be great friends with J'onn and I could see Vartox and the other members with the JLA who have experience with aliens/alien culture (Hawkman, Hal Jordan) getting along well. And while I don't know where exactly he would fit in the argument, imagine him taking Green Arrow's side in his arguments with Hawkman.

Frequent Hey Kids! contributor George Rears makes a case for Plastic Man, even alongside The Elongated Man: First of all, it would have generated exposure to the character, and established him as an Earth-1 fixture (which the company wavered on throughout the 70s). It would also have helped lighten the load during the thematically heavy Denny O'Neil run.

Later on, the creative team turned Elongated Man into Plastic Man when he joined the League anyway: using him for laughs--and only using him as a detective when Batman was on another mission. Having Plastic Man in the League would have allowed the Elongated Man to stay true to himself--an excellent supporting character who was capable of carrying his own feature due to his own unique quirkiness as a married, publicly known adventurer.

Luke, of the comic blog El Jacone's Comic Book Bunker, had a more recent and unusual suggestion: "A hero who should have been inducted into the hallowed halls of the Justice League but hasn't is none other than the legendary hero Skyrocket!

Who?

Skyrocket's real name is Celia Forrestal, and she was a Navy pilot who's skills were unmatched. When it became clear that she was never going to gain advancement in the service, she (with the help of a battlesuit-harness developed by her parents) became a superhero, using the Argo Harness's ability to absorb and redirect any form of energy to battle evil.

Now, why does Skyrocket deserve to be in the Justice League? First off, her background in the Armed Forces means that she knows how to work in a team environment, but he skills as a pilot means that she excels as an individual as well.

Her powers make her a formidable foe as well. The Argo Harness, in addition to granting her the power of flight, also can absorb just about any type of energy thrown at it--a useful defensive power. Once absorbed, Skyrocket can redirect the energy as an attack, or absorb it to restore the Harness's power cells.

But that is not the only reason why I think she would make a great addition to the team. The Justice League started out primarily as a Boy's Club--you had Wonder Woman, true, but that was it. Later, there were a smattering of other female members, or members of color, such as Black Canary, or Doctor Light, but as a whole, diversity has not historically been one of the League's strong suits. Skyrocket, besides representing a powerful ally for her fellow Leaguers, also would represent the notions of inclusion and diversity for the greatest collection of heroes the universe has ever known. And at the same time, she's not a character who was created to be representative of the race--she's not a token character in any sense."


All of these are great suggestions, and all of them are great examples of how much the DC Universe means to people, even as we go from young enthusiastic readers to aging, crabby fanboys. All the entries were well thought out, and in a lot of ways all of them are justifiable.

After weighing the options, I'm going to go with the choice that, at first read, seemed the most ridiculous: Shade the Changing Man.

At the time, Shade was an irredeemably weird character, but his later addition to the DCU proper showed that, under other writers, he fit in with other heroes just fine. His uniform and powers would've been a great contrast to the rest of the JLA, and at the time of his creation--1977--the JLA was starting to evolve, and would soon start to add younger(either in chronological age or in publishing debut) members like Zatanna and Firestorm.

It was a tough call, since all the submissions make sense in their own way. But the more I thought about Vince's suggestion of Shade, the more I couldn't get it out of my head, and the more I wanted to actually have seen it happen in the book. So congratulations, Vince! Send me your address and the WB will be shipping you a copy of Justice League: The New Frontier.

I hope everybody had fun coming up with their ideas, and enjoyed the contest--thanks for all your effort and being a reader of the blog! (And for my money, I would've loved to have seen a Justice League with Captain Comet and Plastic Man!)


Before we go, I think now is the best time to let the inimitable Fred Hembeck weigh in on the issue, which he did in his own unique way back in 1979 in the first issue of his series Fantaco series Hembeck:

Hmm...no one did suggest Brother Power!

Justice League of America #75 - Nov. 1969

History is made, with a new member joining! Oh, and awesome, iconic cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

The Story: "In Each Man There Is A Demon!" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Green Arrow opens the story as narrator, telling us that he recently has been framed by a business named, and in doing so losing his vast fortune!

Meanwhile, back at the Secret Sanctuary, the JLA is debating whether to admit Black Canary into the team. Canary grows frustrated at the all-male team's patronizing attitude towards her, and suddenly lets loose with a sonic scream, a power she never possessed before!

We return to Oliver Queen, who is subjecting himself to experiments with a Dr.Oyal, which allows a subject to peer into their subconcious! A malevolent Green Arrow springs from Ollie, knocking Oyal out and heading for JLA HQ!

When the JLAers(who figure that exposure to Aquarius' radiation caused Canary's new power) get attacked by the evil GA, evil duplicates are created of them, as well, all from the mystic residue left in each of them by Aquarius! Only Superman remains unaffected, because, as he assumes, he didn't absorb any of Aquarius' radiation. The JLAers feel despondent, not believing they can defeat themselves.

Superman gives them a super pep-talk by fighting a Superman robot, and defeating it, telling them it was an evil inner duplicate of him, too. This inspires them and they head off to fight their duplicates.

Green Arrow faces down his inner bad self by admitting that evil resides in all people, and it is the best part of them that keeps the evil side under control. This drains the evil dupes' energy, and they return to their hosts.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, and new member Black Canary!

Notable Moments: There's no official approval of Black Canary into the team--by the end of the story, she's simply a member, recording the tale into the JLA archives with Green Arrow.

The letters page only runs three letters, one by Alan Brennert and one by Martin Pasko--a pretty damn good eventual-writers-to-fan ratio.

While the addition of Black Canary makes total sense, dramatically and otherwise, I do feel like it was a small step down, Iconic Hero-wise. Black Canary never had her own book, only her own strip in Flash Comics, and even that had ended over fifteen years earlier.

Starting with Canary, the JLA would accept heroes whose only home was the JLA, and one could make the argument it weakened the initial Knights of the Round Table concept that the team started out with.

Justice League of America #67 - Dec. 1968

Rarely does the phrase "all-reprint issue" get one excited, but when a package is put together as cool as this, it doesn't matter that you've read these stories before!

It was a great idea for an 80 Page Giant, to run all the new member-issues all together, and Neal Adams' cover is about as good as you can get.

The stories: "Doom of the Star Diamond!"(JLA #4), "Menace of the 'Atom' Bomb!"(JLA #14), and "Riddle of the Runaway Room!"(JLA #31) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Hey, who's that weird green guy next to Aquaman? Oh! It's founding member the Martian Manhunter! Kind of like skipping high school all year then showing up for yearbook photos.

As I said above, the cover by Neal Adams is a classic--fun and celebratory; it makes it really feel like the JLA is a family, and that being asked to join that family was a Big Deal. In fact, the cover was so well received it's been homaged by no less than Gil Kane and Jerry Ordway...

Justice League of America #42 - Feb. 1966

One of the most famous JLA issues ever!

The Story: "Metamorpho Says No!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. The JLA decides to induct new hero Metamorpho into the League("Yay, another Ramona Fradon hero!" Aquaman is overheard to say), but he and the League are attacked by the Unimaginable, a formless creature who demands to be a inducted as a member instead.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, and new member Meta...oops! Spoke too soon!

Notable Moments: This was a pretty surprising development--the JLA was the Knights of the Round Table of the DCU, so it seemed, er, unimaginable that someone would say no, especially when Hawkgirl nagged Hawkman every day, asking when she was going to get to join.

But say no Metamorpho did, and even though he looks good working with the JLA(there aren't too many orange and purple superheroes), he doesn't join. No other hero would turn down membership until a decade and a half later, when Black Lightning would have the same answer(hmm, Batman must have been making notes for possible members of a new team he wanted to start up...)

Justice League of America #31 - Nov. 1964

Hawkman joins the JLA!

The story: "Riddle of the Runaway Room!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. Two-bit crook Joe Parry finds a device that came from outer space which pretty much creates anything one asks of it. He tries to commit crimes with it which gets the JLA involved. Luckily new member Hawkman saves the day!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Atom, and new member Hawkman!

Notable Moments: The JLA has already decided to induct Hawkman by the time the issue opens, so we are spared Flash's tiresome proposal of Adam Strange as the new member.

There's a charming-in-its-out-of-date-ness scene where the Atom has to carefully explain to Hawkgirl why Hawkman is being invited to join, but not her. She cheerfully says its ok because, since Hawkman is the leader of their team, it counts as a honor for both of them. Now go home and bake some cookies, Shayera! You know what they say--tie a woman to the bed with just enough room to get to the Absorbascon.

I would argue that with this issue, the JLA really was the cream of the crop of the DCU--each member had his own book(s) or strip, and each of them were iconic in their own way. The membership at this point would stay consistent for the next forty issues or so.

Nothing against future members Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, and Firestorm, but I think by the time the JLA got to them, the JLA itself was legendary in the DCU, and by adding a new member, the team bestowed prestige upon the newly-chosen hero, not the other way around.