The biggest JLA/JSA cross-over ever begins here!The Story: "Crisis on Earth-Prime!" by Gerry Conway, Don Heck, and Romeo Tanghal. The JLA and the JSA prepare meet at the JLA satellite for their annual get together. Think something will go wrong?
The JLA's transmatter machine lights up, but its not the JSA that steps out...it's the Crime Syndicate of Earth-3!
Startled, the CS make quick work of the JLAers, and then steal one of their spacecraft, heading for Earth-1.
Meanwhile, we find the JSA trapped in the same prison bubble in another dimension that the heroes left the Crime Syndicate in, waaay back in JLA #s 29 and 30.
Luckily, the combined powers of Green Lantern and Dr. Fate free them, and GL uses his ring to find the "hole" in reality that they believe the baddies left through. They follow that path, and make their way to Earth-1, or so they think:
Back at the satellite, the JLAers wake up, and head to Earth-2 to try and find the JSA. But when they get there, they see they've arrived on Earth-2, all right, but this Earth-2 is different than the one they know...its a fascist world, filled with statues of its leader...Per Degaton!
The JLA sees that the JSA's headquarters was destroyed in 1942, so they decide to head back to that time, to figure out what happened.
Once they arrive, they are greeted by superheroes, but not the JSA--it's the All-Star Squadron! To be continued!
Roll Call: Superman, Aquaman, Hawkman, Zatanna, Firestorm
Notable Moments: The biggest JLA/JSA team-up ever, spanning over five issues and two books. It was even more unusual, because you got to see the All-Star Squadron's "side" of the story in fourteenth issue of their book:
...which ended basically on the other side of the door to the JSA's headquarters, at the exact same moment this issue ended, leading into tomorrow's JLA.The cover design, with all the heads reacting to the center image, is quite striking. Kudos to whoever designed it!
Aquaman, for whatever reason, rarely participated in the yearly JLA/JSA team-ups (he only appeared in two in the last decade), so its nice he was in on the biggest one they ever did!
I liked this story in theory, but in execution it left a lot to be desired. The entire All Star Squadron chapter you mention here consists of ONE page (ONE!!!) where the Squadron members walk in on the JSA. And the JLA are NO WHERE to be found. That's a team-up? Otherwise it was a normal issue of All Star Squadron. I remember being very disappointed when I first read it. (Of course, its next issue was much much better. I LOVED seeing how Jerry Ordway drew the JLA.) Basically, the story didn't need five issues. I think the middle two were the ones with the meat of the story. Plus I never liked Per Degaton anyway, and Roy Thomas had a terrible tendency to over-write everything...! But I did like the heroes chosen. Now if it had been Hawkwoman instead of Hawkman that would have been awesome!!!!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this crossover. I don't think the second run of JSA in All Star actually crossed over (though it did lead into the Mr Terrific death storyline in Adventure), so I thought DC missed the boat on having the books show us the crossover from both sides. (but then again, it seemed like back then that DC didn't like the JSA anyway...)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Crime Syndicate (I happed to have been able to pick up their first appearances a few years back and was quite happy with it) and thought they presented a good challenge to the JLA. (also under used IMHO) And the team work used to save the JLA members falling through the atmosphere was good as well.
Seriously though, Rob's made me think. Why didn't someone in the JLA or JSA say "look every time we get together something bad happens. Let's at least try and move it to Earth 2 or better yet, just hit the beach!" :)
This was another favorite story of mine as a kid. It was great to finally see Aquaman in a JLA/JSA crossover. He was always my favorite growing up. And teaming with Starman when they did the usual 'break into teams' thing made that even better, as he's my favorite JSA member.
ReplyDeleteSo many childhood memories here. I was already subscribing to All-Star Squadron as well as JLA, so this crossover was an extra thrill for me. My first encounters with the Crime Syndicate (an EVIL JLA?!? Wow!!) and Per Degaton, as well as the very first place I ever learned about the Cuban Missle Crisis (I was 10 when these issues came out).
ReplyDeleteI took JLA #207 to summer camp with me and read it constantly.
This one and the previous year's team-up involving the Secret Society are my favorite JLA/JSA stories -- sprawling epic adventures with stakes so high the heroes of two universes need to team up.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there is one thing indirectly involving this story that's bugged me over the years. At the same time, in Action Comics Superman had been split in half by a villain named Lord Satanis. In that storyline, Superman met the Omega Men and ended up introducing them to the New Teen Titans right when Blackfire captured Starfire. In New Teen Titans #23, the same issue where Superman tells Robin his powers had been halved, there's a footnote explaining that the satellite is empty because of the events in JLA #207. Then where did the Superman in JLA come from? Earth-CE? (for Continuity Error) Or am I the only person that thinks of things like these?
Never cared for Earth-2
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