The biggest JLA/JSA cross-over ever concludes!The Story: "Let Old Acquaintances Be Forgot..." by Gerry Conway and Don Heck. Picking up from last issue, the JLA, the JSA, and the All-Star Squadron reconnoiter at the White House, having broken up into several smaller teams to find the nuclear missiles stolen by the Crime Syndicate under Per Degaton's instructions.
In Switzerland, Steel, Firestorm, and Power Girl defeat Johnny Quick and destroy the missile. At the same time, Green Lantern, Firebrand, and Zatanna go back in time and head for Cuba, to try and stop Per Degaton from triggering World War III.
Meanwhile, the remaining heroes find Degaton's headquarters, defeat his army of armed henchmen, while the Huntress makes short work of Owlman. I mean, the guy's name is Owlman.
The Crime Syndicate show up in 1962-era Cuba to steal the Russian's missiles, but the heroes are there to stop them, thereby righting history. Immediately, all the heroes begin to fade away, back to their original times.
The All-Star Squadron has some hazy memories, Per Degaton is back working as a lowly lab assistant, dreaming of world power, and the Crime Syndicate is back in their inter-dimensional prison.
We then cut back to the moment the JSA was supposed to beam across to the satellite, and this time they do, and marvel that, for once, nothing bad happened:
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna, Firestorm
Notable Moments: ...I probably did this story a disservice, condensing it down so much. A lot happens in these five issues. Nowadays this plot would run for two years.
Another awesome cover by George Perez, nicely summing up all that has come before. You have to admit, Per Degaton got a lot accomplished, more than most supervillains ever dream of. It took three sets of heroes to beat him, and he doesn't even have any superpowers!
Four of the five issues of this story came out when I was on vacation in the Poconos, a favorite spot when I was a kid. With two of the month-old issues still on sale at newsstands in August 1982, I got to read 4/5ths of the story in two weeks, which was very exciting.
Here's a question I have often wondered for the last umpteen years:
ReplyDeleteAs they were fading away, Huntress was asking something. I think her question started, "What about..."
And it never got completed. Anyone know what she was trying to ask? I've thought about it for quite a long time and have never come up with an answer.
Thoughts??
Huntress was talking to Power Girl. She was about to say, "What about that weird old-guy head that floats around and talks to him sometimes? Doesn't that creep you out?"
ReplyDeleteEarth-2 Randy, it was either:
ReplyDelete"Superman...what about...Degaton?" or, "Superman...what about this Conway guy, leaving such an obvious 'trick' question unanswered, just so people will take advantage of 21st century technology to discuss its ramifications? And I thought Degaton was sneaky!"
Conway, using that Gardner Fox 'mental power to read minds of characters from parallel Earths', managed to rewrite the question...and history...before Superman had a chance to yell 'STOP IT!' a second time!
Way to completely ignore your ridiculous new origin, Dinah. Good call.
ReplyDeleteOh jeez, has that not happened yet? Then we still have that monstrosity to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteThis one, though -- this one was fun. I remember avidly waiting for the next installment to come out back in the day.
I never liked this cover. I thought the looks of "shock" (?) on the heroes' faces were overdone. Zatanna and Aquaman in particular look ridiculous IMO; straight out of the Speed Racer School of Overacting.
ReplyDeleteIt was the old "unanswered question" bit. I doubt Conway had a question. That being said, I thought right away (back then) that it was "What about Earth Prime?" From what I remember/know about the Huntress, this was probably her first adventure with time correcting it's self. Check that, her second, I would include her father's death and the fight against Fredric Vaux (who I always wondered if he was the Earth 2 version of Felix Faust).
ReplyDeleteGreat story, I agree with Rob though, it would be at least 2 years, more with the slight reveal.
All I have to say is this:
ReplyDeleteAwwwwww yeeeeeeaaaaah, Ronnie Raymond!
I just had a nasty thought. If Firestorm (not Ronnie) and PG got...overly friendly...would it be considered a 3-way? The mind boggles.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the detour into such lewd thoughts.
Chris
wow, i never thought of that.
ReplyDeleteit would either horrify Martin Stein, turn him on, and/or perhaps lead to some kind of Firestorm fanfic.
Now, see that just opens up all kinds of thoughts. Some of which I had way back then. Just what all can Martin Stein's head see? How far can he go away from Firestorm? Maybe that's why he seemed distracted sometimes? Wonder Woman was taking a shower in the satellite while Firestorm took over Monitor Duty? hmm...
ReplyDeleteMaybe Martin didn't get the raw end of the original Firestorm deal. :)
By the way, that was me with the dirty thought.
ReplyDeleteChris ;-)
Ugh! This is getting creepier than I thought. Take a look back to issue 208 page 5. Firestorm starts chatting-up Firebrand (using the similarity of their names to break the ice), and Martin jumps in. "Down, boy. Take some advice from your shared persona," he says, "you're in over your head." Advice on dating from your shared persona? That's creepy with a capital CREEP.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe Martin just doesn't like redheads? Go figure.
BTW, on that same page, Superman says he knows of seven parallel Earths. I can think of six that were known at this time: 1, 2, 3, X, S, and Prime. Which one did I forget?
Superman had encountered the funny-animal Earth-C of Captain Carrot earlier that same year.
ReplyDeleteHe'd also have been familiar with the earth of Captain Marvel clone Captain Thunder and the earth of the Lawless League back in JLA #37, but those were one-story alternate earths that were quickly forgotten, so he's unlikely to be talking about them.
(And there are more where those came from, like the one Batman went to a couple years earlier and saved that earth's version of his parents.)
PG:"Firestorm...ever have the feeling someone's watching us?"
ReplyDeleteRR:"Aw, C'MON, Professor!"
MS:"Ronald, I assure you, my interest is purely scientific!"
PG: "Ewww! And they said hitting on my cousin's counterpart was disgusting!"
My guesses for Superman's 7th world are..
ReplyDeleteEarth 154 (Super sons)
Earth A (from JLA #37)
Crossover Earth (where adventures with Marvel characters took place)
Thanks buttler and butch r for your ideas about the 7th world. I know there were other "one-shot" worlds. I remember a story titled "Superman, You're Dead...Dead...Dead!" where Superman's doppelganger died three times. But he was forcibly taken to the future of that Earth, and may not have known how to return. I assumed Supes was talking about seven Earths that the JLA & JSA knew how to get to. But you know what they say about "assume"...
ReplyDeleteI see from re-reading #209 that Huntress was talking to Superman, so my earlier suggestion was incorrect. I don't have a clue what she was about to say.