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A classic tale of the Justice League versus one of its more fearsome foes!
The Story: "The Planet That Came To A Standstill" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, and Murphy Anderson.
Out story opens with honorary JLA member Snapper Carr relaying an adventure that starts in deep space:
While Kanjar Ro hatches another plan to defeat the JLA, Adam Strange and Alanna are enjoying themselves on Rann. Soon, though, they find themselves in another scrape, against some invaders atop giant birds!
One of them rings some sort of small crystal, which forces Adam and Alanna hurtling into space, where they are soon caught by the planet's orbit. Thanks to Adam's ingenuity, though, they manage to escape and fall over one of Rann's highest peaks, softening their fall.
Adam and Alanna re-engage the invaders, and pretend to be held captive so they can find out who is behind them--namely, Kanjar Ro! Thanks to Ro's experiments, he is now more powerful than ever, and tests his powers on some JLA duplicates:
Adam and Alanna escape, and Adam comes up with another plan, but one that involves him making a trip back to Earth. Adam grabs Ro's "Slave Ship of Space" and takes it to Earth, leaving it there before the Zeta Beam takes him back to Rann.
The Flash finds the ship, and calls in his JLA pals:
Adam and Alanna spy Kanjar Ro leaving his lab, so Adam grabs Ro's gong and strikes it so hard he paralyzes everyone on Rann, including Ro! Then another Zeta Beam brings Adam back to Earth, leaving his body back to normal (got all that?):
Kanjar Ro manages to defeat each of the JLAers, but is stopped by Adam Strange, who strikes Ro with the gong's mallet. Why does this stop him? Because Strange figured out that its made of metal from his home planet, Dhor, and that it would affect him the way Kryptonite does Superman. Flash is so impressed he thinks to himself "Terrific! I'm going to propose Adam Strange for membership in the Justice League at our next meeting!"
Later, Adam introduces the JLA to Alanna:
...The End!
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter
Notable Moments: This story takes place between JLA #s 3 and 4, making it the last appearance of the original seven, in terms of publishing history.
This is a very fun story, but complicated as heck! A bunch of characters, with Adam Strange bouncing back and forth between Rann and Earth like a ping-pong ball. There's so much plot in this issue that if they did this story nowadays, it would take up six issues and be given its own trade paperback.
It was suggested at the time that JLA Satellite.com cover this issue, since its pretty much a direct sequel to issue #3, but I was just starting out and didn't feel the need to take even a momentary diversion into another title (plus I didn't have a copy of the book!). But now that I've decided to bring back this blog every so often, I thought why not start almost at the very beginning of the JLA's career!
The original Justice League of America returns!
The Story: "Enter Justice League Prime" by Cary Bates, Gordon Purcell, Jose Marzan Jr., and Andy Smith.
In Creedvue Mental Hospital, two doctors are talking to a patient. This patient insists he is an interplanetary traveler, regularly visiting the planet Rann. Getting frustrated, the patient demands to talk to the Justice League of America.
One of the doctors is familiar with the Justice League, but not in the form the patient is:
Of course, the patient is Adam Strange--how did he end up here?
Six hours earlier, aboard the JLA Satellite, 22,300 miles above Earth, six members of the Justice League pick up a Zeta Beam headed their way. They figure its their old friend Adam Strange, and it is--locked in hand-to-hand combat with their mutual foe Kanjar Ro!
Suddenly the Zeta Beam splits into two, causing the JLA to go into action. Flash determines one of the beams went to Earth-Prime, "our" Earth, where superheroes only exist in comic books (and TV shows, and multi-million-dollar film franchises). The JLA splits up into two teams:
On Earth-Prime, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and Zatanna attempt to rescue Adam Strange, except now Strange doesn't remember them either!
Turns out Strange has been receiving electro-shock therapy, which has screwed up his short-term memory. To help recover it, they turn to this world's foremost Adam Strange authority: DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz!
Meanwhile, on Earth-One, Green Lantern and Hawkman track down Kanjar Ro, who is more powerful than they remember:
Back on Earth-Prime, Schwartz jogs Strange's memory by showing him his comic book adventures as told in issues of Mystery in Space. This sets him straight, and they make their way back to the JLA Satellite.
As Kanjar Ro is making quick work of Hawkman, the other JLAers arrive, while Green Lantern and Zatanna execute another part of their plan--deflecting the Zeta Beam energy from hitting Earth, thereby depriving Kanjar Ro of his enhanced powers. With a well-placed punch by Adam Strange, Ro is defeated.
Wonder Woman decides this was a moment worth preserving. With the help of a camera inside her robot plane, the JLA snaps a picture and sends it to the person who will appreciate it the most:
...the end!
Roll Call: Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Zatanna.
Notable Moments: When I ended the JLA Satellite blog back in August 2008, I truly never had any intention of bringing it back, even for a day. I liked ending with the conclusion to the original JLA book, I thought it gave the blog a nice, clean end.
But when DC announced their line of DC Retroactive one-shots, I immediately thought maybe, just maybe, it would be worth dusting off this old blog and giving it another spin--after all, this wasn't just a book starring the original JLA, it was being written by one of the classic JLA writers, Cary Bates! So here we are.
Overall, I have to say I was a tad disappointed with this issue's story--its mostly about Adam Strange, not the JLA. Add the fact that only a handful of members appear (don't even get me started on who I missed the most...), and how it becomes, IMO, a bit too in-jokey when they end up hanging with Julius Schwartz.
The plot is fine, very classic JLA, but there's almost no tension or menace. Also, there are little in-jokes to later stories, which to me broke the spell of this adventure's (heck, the whole DC Retroactive line) conceit that its set in the past--we're referencing Identity Crisis, wink wink. Which makes this a missed opporunity: as any die-hard JLA fan knows, Cary Bates could write a Justice League story with the best of 'em.
It's also too bad the whole JLA couldn't have appeared here--if you're going to bother doing this book, why feature just a handful of members and give Adam Strange so much to do? Even with all that said, it was great to see the classic JLA one more time!
Judging by Zatanna's costume and Green Arrow's presence, this story takes place somewhere between Justice League of America #s 161 and 180.
This issue also features a reprint of Justice League of America #123, also by Cary Bates, and also "stars" Julius Schwartz.
One final thing--yes, JLASatellite.com will be back once more to recap DC Retroactive: 1980s Justice League of America!
Nobody drew a more brutal hit or punch than Neal Adams--Hawkman especially looks like he's getting it right in the kisser!
The Story: "The Cosmic Conspiracy Against Adam Strange!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Some of the other JLAers show up at the satellite and wonder where their fellow members are.
Turns out they are there, too, but in ghostly forms. Suddenly Adam Strange appears, and tells them that it was because of Kanjar Ro(him again?) that the JLAers are gone.
Turns out he rigged Adam Strange's Zeta-Energy so that the JLAers absorbed it from him, which keeps them in their currenty phantom-like form.
When a JLA satellite "transductor unit" is about to overheat and explode, Flash on instinct goes into action, the explosion somehow knocking him back into his regular form. Adam surmises "Perhaps seeing a teammate's life in jeopardy nullified the Zeta-Effect!"
The JLA head to the 73rd Century with Adam, where they are attacked by a military force. Between this battle and Adam Strange, the "phantom" JLAers are returned to normal. All seems well until Adam figures out that the 73rd Century Green Lantern is actually Kanjar Ro in disguise! As is usual with Ro, he's easily knocked out.
Second Story: "The Ice Age Cometh" by Steve Englehart, Dillin, and McLaughlin
The JLA arrives in Ecuador, where the country is victim to a sudden mysterious ice age!
While the JLA is saving lives, they're not doing anything to stop the brutal freeze, until they hear about three super-villains--Captain Cold, The Icicle, and (don't laugh) Minister Blizzard--are on a crime spree! Flash doesn't want the team to stop what they're doing, when Wonder Woman chastises him for not realizing the two events must be related.
The JLAers stop the villains, but that doesn't seem to change anything. Then Hawkman realizes that its his old foe, The Shadow Thief, who is behind the plot. They confront him, and he almost gets away, until The Phantom Stranger shows up to stop him.
Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the ice age has stopped. Is it because of the villains being stopped, or is it...a miracle?
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man
Notable Moments: This was a form-busting issue, in that we have two separate stories. This was the first of the JLA "Giants" featuring extended page counts and extra page of letters.
"Ice Age" is the first JLA story by Steve Englehart, who would begin a year-long run on the book.
Update: As Earth-2 Chris mentioned in the comments, this is the first appearance of the classic, long-running "DC Bullet" logo. Can't believe I missed that! Bad Rob!
An unusually non-dramatic cover for a superhero comic, but still nice. But why the heck is Batman Adam Strange's best man?
The Story: "The Hero Who Jinxed the Justice League!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Adam Strange shows up to tell the remaining JLA the bad news.
Unfortunately, before this mess can be handled, the JLA gets a distress signal to handle a strange cloud of energy that it knocking out power all over eastern seaboard.
As they get there, the cloud seems to have some sort of intelligence, as it attacks the JLA by creating cloud-like duplicates of them. Meanwhile, Adam Strange can only watch from the satellite, because he would die instantly.
You see, to be able to stay on Rann, Alanna's father Sardath has been bathing Adam in a particular kind of radiation, which keeps him on Rann but would kill him on Earth!
As Adam is mulling what to do, Kanjar Ro shows up in the satellite, basically just to taunt his old foe. Adam times it right, and grabs Ro's power wand just in time to get transported back to Rann. It's here that he uses Ro's weapon to track down some unusual energy patterns, and he finds traces of the JLA in a cave. One wave of the wand, and--presto! The JLAers and Alanna are alive again!
The JLA returns to Earth, helps the others defeat Ro's cloud creature, and Black Canary backhands Ro, knocking him out. Doomsday he ain't.
The issue ends with the JLA(plus Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman) attending the Rann wedding of Adam Strange and Alanna.
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado
Notable Moments: I like how Kanjar Ro may be brilliant, but he's a lousy hand-to-hand combatant. One slap from an Earthwoman knocks him on his ass.
I really love the coloring for this cover(drawn by Ernie Chua)--you don't see a lot of this greenish-blue in comics, so it immediately gives you that alien world feel, perfect for a story starring Adam Strange and Kanjar Ro!
The Story: "The Parallel Perils of Adam Strange!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The JLA are in New Guinea wrapping up a case, when Flash shows them something odd--a cave painting of their old friend Adam Strange.
Suddenly the JLAers themselves are hit by Zeta Beams, and transported to Rann, just like Adam Strange. They are attacked by a giant, floating ray gun, which blasts Green Lantern.
Luckily Adam Strange shows up, helps the JLA disarm the weapon. But all is not well on Rann, since Adam tells his friends that his beloved Alanna is...dead!
Adam tells them that earlier, Alanna was blasted to atoms by a strange solar heat ray, similar to something Adam fought once before, just like the ray gun. That gets Ralph nose twitching...
Turns out its their old foe Kanjar Ro who beamed the JLA to Rann, to get revenge on both them and Adam. They are attacked by a giant robot, which blasts the JLAers into dust!
Kanjar Ro hopes that Adam Strange will do exactly what he does...go to Earth to get help from the rest of the Justice League! To be continued!
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, Elongated Man
Notable Moments: The letters page features a missive from someone named Dan Jurgens...?
Adam Strange always made for a great guest-star, and after a long absence from the book it's cool to see him again, even if he does inadvertently get half the JLA killed. Oops, my bad!
One of my favorite covers. Even though they're under a bad-guy's control, I always like the Heroes Running At The Reader covers.
The story: "Decoy Missions of the Justice League!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. Kanjar Ro and his pointy face is back, in some crazy scheme involving his aural form, and trapping the JLA's aural forms, which traps their real bodies...luckily, always-a-bridesmaid Adam Strange guest-stars and helps the JLA defeat Ro.
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, The Atom
Notable Moments: Even though I understood why Adam Strange never joined, I always enjoyed his guest-appearances in the JLA.
The letters page features missives from Roy Thomas(him again!) and one Dave Cockrum, who suggests a new character named "Nightcrawler" joins the JLA. No, I made that up.
Can the JLA defeat a villain who can become the entire JLA?
The story: "The Triumph of the Tornado Tyrant!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. A strange creature known as the Tornado Tyrant is convinced it can defeat the Justice League since it has been studying them and even duplicating their abilities by creating anti-matter versions of the JLA. But of course the JLA figures out a way to outsmart the creature!
Roll Call: Superman, Batman Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, The Atom
Notable Moments: Features cameos by Adam Strange, Kanjar Ro, and Dr.Light, as the Tornado Tyrant watches the JLA from afar in their battles. A fun touch.
This issue is also memorable to me because a sequel of sorts was done twenty years later in JLA #s 192 and 193 by Gerry Conway and George Perez. It adds so much to this story with that knowledge in the back of your head.
One thing you notice looking at these early issues--the covers by Murphy Anderson featured amazingly iconic battles. A life-and-death chess match, a doorway to another dimension, and now a slaveship in outer space! Before Infantino, Adams, and Cardy came along and really ramped up the excitement quotient for DC's covers, these early JLAs must have just jumped off the spinner racks.
The story: "The Slave Ship of Space!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. An alien named Kanjar Ro uses his powers to force the JLA into helping him defeat his enemies, the respective rulers of neighboring powers.
He manages to freeze Batman and Snapper Carr in place and subdue Superman with a Kryptonite gas(!), drafting the rest of the JLA to help him.
Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter
Notable Moments: Kanjar Ro is considerate enough to provide a regular water supply for Aquaman(man, that magic wand thingy he has can do anything), and the Sea King repays him by being the one who grabs it out of Ro's hand once the JLA finds a way to defeat him.
At one point, Batman thinks to himself, "I wish Superman were here--he'd be able to rescue us!" One of Batman's less, er, confident moments.
Jerry Bails gets another letter printed, and no less than four readers suggest Superman and Wonder Woman get married!
