I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say I don't think Batman is telling the truth.The Story: "Earth--The Monster-Maker!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. As was shown at the end of last issue, Batman shows up in the JLA satellite with a dead...er, near-dead Flash in his arms!
We then cut to a spaceship hurtling through space. Inside it are some gentle-looking beings, panicking because a third of their party, A-Rym, and his pet, Teppy, have been sucked through the hold out into airless space. Before they can be rescued, they disappear into separate dimensions!
We follow each of them to where they landed, and they experience severe mental and emotional distress at being separated. So much so they cause destruction wherever they go!
A-Rym has appeared on Earth-2, and the JSA attempts to apprehend him, and Hawkman dispenses in a little condescension towards former teen hero Robin:
Maybe it's the costume?
Anyway, meanwhile on Earth-1, the JLA is investigating an emergency call, and on the way they spot their Robin doing the same thing! Once again, it's Hawkman that belittles the Teen Wonder: "Well, as long as Batman isn't here, you might help out a little.."
Green Lantern's power ring receives a distress call from Earth-2, and the two teams compare notes, breaking into smaller teams to investigate. One team--consisting of both Robins, both Hawkman, and the E-1 Green Lantern, find A-Rym, sitting on a log sobbing. They try to communicate, but the E-1 Robin gets too close and A-Rym, feeling threatened, attacks!
Meanwhile, the same thing happens with Teppy, but with different results--they find a way to trap Teppy, harmlessly, until they can figure out what to do.
We go back to A-Rym, who is met in the swamp by a new friend...Solomon Grundy! A-Rym immediately accepts Gruny as his new "pet"--of course, this pet goes nuts when the JLA and JSA show up, and the issue ends just as it looks as though Green Lantern is about to be smashed by Grundy, using an unconscious Superman as the weapon! To be continued!
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman
Notable Moments: I love Dick Dillin's work; always have, but during the sequence with Grundy, he can't quite seem to get a grip on just how big Grundy is. Sometime's he's Hulk-sized, other times he's as big as King Kong.
This is the first issue of JLA representing DC and Marvel's escalating price wars, where each company increased the page counts and cover price to match. This issue also features a Knights of the Galaxy story, "The Day The World Melted", by Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino, and Joe Giella, plus an Hourman tale, "The Hour Hourman Died" by Gardner Fox, Dillin, and Sid Greene.
Man, I HATE this story. It's probably the worst JLA-JSA team-up until Mr. Terrific died a few years later. Okay, I like the idea of Atom-Atom, Flash-Flash, GL-GL etc team-ups, but that is so NOT the focus of the story!!! First of all, no JSAers appear on the cover, which is the height of exaggeration. If The Flash is dead, why is he in the roll call on the left, and Batman isn't???? Secondly, Robin of Earth 2 is a full-fledged member of the JSA, but he is listed on the cover as Special Guest Star(?) AND Hawkman(men?) weren't *that* big of a jerk. I thought Friedrich was really stretching things with a story about the generation gap. Plus, the aliens look stupid. Dillin didn't do aliens well, IMHO. (sigh) And the idea that a boy and his dog could cause all this chaos....whatever. The sooner this is over the better.
ReplyDeleteHmm, obviously you there are some differing opinions about this story. All I know is that any story with a grown-up, non-angsty Robin is alright by me.
ReplyDelete>>The sooner this is over the better.<<
ReplyDeletewhoo, burnin' up my inbox!
tomorrow is an ad for issue #92, and then sunday is #92, so Russell maybe you should just come back on monday. i don't want to ruin your weekend. :)
Wow, that adult Robin costume is uber lame. Go home and change, young man!
ReplyDeleteActually, the one thing I liked about this issue is Robin's costume. I thought it was a cool mix of Robin's old costume and Batman's. Next issue will have the debut of the red-yellow-green Neal Adams costume that Earth-2 Robin ending up wearing that I didn't like half as much.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've never been a big fan of that costume. I love what they were TRYING to do, but I just don't think it works very well. I've always preferred the Neal Adams one, but it was a bit TOO yellow. I like the modern version:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:RobinNewEarth2.JPG
But my favorite is the Red Robin one. I think that makes for a very nice mix of the looks of the Dynamic Duo.
Did someone mention Earth 2 Robin?
ReplyDeleteI like this story for the use of the Robins, but Friedrich definitely shoehorned the generation gap angle into this story. E2 Robin was at least as old as the JLAers, and knew the JSAers longer, and was a member. Why WOULD they treat him like this?
Gotta agree too that Dillin's aliens weren't too convincing.
I recently read this story to my son, and man Friedrich was verbose in his narration. I think JLA really hit it's stride with Len Wein up next.
Still, next issue gives us E2 Robin's COOL costume! I've grown to love/hate the Batmanesque one, but man is it pretty hideous!
Chris
A couple comments.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first Earth-Two story, and at five years old I completely understood the parallel Earth concept - so I never understood how there were grown-up writers and editors at DC in 1984 who were so confused they had to have Crisis to 'straighten things out.' Hello? I got it when I was five!
Also I gotta give some love for the Earth-Two Robin's costume. I always liked it, a little bit Batman and a little bit Robin, and I always thought the scalloped collar rocked. And honestly, other than the cover of JLoA #55, this is really the first good look we get of it, because for the most part it seemed Mike Sekowsky didn't have a good handle on what it really was about in the interiors of that first appearance.
I've always loved the grey/yellow Batman-esque Earth-2 Robin costume and i agree that the Sekowsky interior versions weren't as compelling. With all the crap that you can buy in this world, i'm hurt and troubled that said crap does not include an Earth-2 Robin action figure in the Batman grey/yellow costume. The scalloped collar does indeed rock! This story was kind of dumb, but still fun. Good art, fun sub-teams.
ReplyDeleteand Batman is crying on the cover again! :p
ReplyDelete(btw, first comment on your blogs, Rob! :D )
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ReplyDeletecan any one tell me the worth of this i got a copy of it. no 91 aug 302** type can any one tell me the worth?
ReplyDeletecan any one tell me the worth of this i got a copy of it. no 91 aug 302** type can any one tell me the worth?
ReplyDelete