Part Two of the battle with the Secret Society of Super-Villains!The Story: "The League That Defeated Itself" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, we open with the members of the SSOSV, in the JLA's bodies, lounging about in the JLA Satellite.
Meanwhile, the true JLAers are trapped in a giant "stasis cube". After several failed attempts to escape, Superman (now in the Wizard's body), figures out that Green Lantern (now in Prof. Zoom's body) can use his super-speed powers to attack the cube repeatedly in one spot, which weakens it enough for it to crack open, freeing them. They find that the villains have gone, and their friend Red Tornado unconscious.
Also meanwhile, a man named Mr. Sloane arrives on a small island, heading into a small, nondescript building. Inside is some sort of stasis cube (another one!), who he says is his "client." To be continued!
Back at the satellite, the JLAers try to find the bad guys, so they send Green Lantern/Prof. Zoom to Bay Federal Prison to talk to a former SSOSV member, Hijack, where Lantern oh-so-subtly asks him where the current SSOSV headquarters is. He finds out, and Hijack is left bewildered as to what just happened.
The JLAers break their way, but are stopped by...a green arrow?!?
Turns out the "JLA members" expected this, so they called in some of the other members to get the drop on them. And even though they just apprehended some super-villains, Green Arrow is a tad suspicious over all this:
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna
Notable Moments: Three-parters were still fairly unusual at this point, so it really gives you a sense of how big this threat is by running into three issues.
This story takes place entirely over just a few hours, all at night, which gives it--to me--an extra level of creepiness. There's something so wrong about bad guys taking over good guy's bodies. Especially since The Floronic Man (called The Plant Master here) took over Wonder Woman's body. I will say no more.
You've done a great job organizing and updating this site. I've added you to my blogroll at http://defendersfan.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteDeep down, the Defenders and the JLA have more in common than one might think.
james-
ReplyDeletethanks, james! i dig your defenders site and i added it to my aquaman shrine blog (where i have a "other comic characters" blog roll).
i always liked the defenders, glad they have a site finally!
Okay, let's get into some serious criticism here: no one, not even Star Sapphire herself, notices that "she" is not captured?? Seriously? There's only five of 'em, for crying out loud, it's not like it's the Legion of Super-Villains! Terrible, terrible story. Blech.
ReplyDeletePS
ReplyDeleteRob, I thought you said Superman and The Wizard switched bodies? At the end, you say The Wizard took over Zatanna's body. I'm confused. Superman is The Wizard but The Wizard is Zatanna? I thought it was a straight swap...?
whoops, goofed there--thanks for the catch, russell. here's how it broke down:
ReplyDeleteWizard became Superman
Floronic Man became Wonder Woman
Star Sapphire became Zatanna
Blockbuster became Batman
Prof Zoom became Green Lantern
...so you still had one guy in a woman's body.
i dunno, i think if i found myself inside wonder woman's body, a crime spree would be at the bottom of my To Do list.