Justice League of America #148 - Nov. 1977

And with this issue, my JLA run was complete! (see below for further explanation)

The Story: "Crisis in Triplicate!" by Paul Levitz, Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The Demons Three (Abnegezar, Rath, and Ghast) newly freed from their magical prisons, quickly realize that they have, well, conflicting ideas on how to rule.

They plan to fight it out, as good villains, do, but realize that if they did their vast powers would destroy the universe, so they need to think small, by turning to the various heroes and forcing them to fight each other by proxy.

It turns into a real donnybrook, with various JLAers, JSAers, and the Legion all beating each other up.

Many twists and turns later, the heroes shake off their enforced fighting, and turn the tables and manage to defeat Abnegazar and Rath, leaving only Ghast. Dr. Fate manages to absorb some of the defeated demons' energy, giving him the power to trap Ghast where the magical objects last existed--inside the JLA satellite!

The modern day heroes say bye to the Legion, with Lantern planting a post-hypnotic suggestion in the JLA and JSA so they won't have any memory of their possible futures. I don't think non-powered heroes like Green Arrow need to worry about being alive in the 30th century, but what the hey...

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary

Notable Moments: I had spent most of my teenaged years completing my run of the JLA comic. I had no intention of doing so when I started, but as I grew up(hah!), I came to realize that it wasn't impossible.

So over time, as I made fairly decent money for a teenager(working at a Roy Rogers restaurant on the turnpike, making about $8.00/hr--in 1985 money--because I was one of the few who could be relied upon to actually show up for my shifts), I spent that money on--no, not girls, not saving up for a car--but comics. One can take issue with my decision making abilities at the time, but lacking a time machine...

Anyway, I managed to find all the early issues, even the really hard to find ones like #1 and #9. But for some reason, this issue--#148--evaded me. I would buy every back issue I could find at my local comic shops, cons, but I could never find this one!

Finally, desperate to finish off my collection, I started buying comics via ads in The Comic Buyer's Guide (remember that?), and even then it took a while. Finally, some seller in Arizona was selling this a copy, and after a few nervous weeks, it arrived. A complete run of Justice League of America was mine.

Justice League of America #147 - Oct. 1977

More heroes than you can shake a stick at!

The Story: "Crisis in the 30th Century!" by Paul Levitz, Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The JLA and JSA are hanging out for their usual get together when a giant hand materializes in space, grabbing several heroes and then disappearing! I hate when that happens!

Turns out the hand belongs to Mordru, evil wizard of the 30th century! The heroes try and defeat him, but to no avail.

Mordru then explains that he was in pursuit of the magical artifacts bell, jar, and wheel, but accidentally grabbed the heroes instead. Mordru--not the most detail-oriented bad guy in the DCU.

Mordru tells the captive heroes (including some members of the Legion) that he will kill Green Arrow and Black Canary unless they round up the artifacts for him!

The teams of heroes succeed, but they tell Mordru they won't get the last of the items--the red jar--unless he frees their friends. He agrees to this, but when he summons the Demons Three inside the objects--Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast--they turn the tables on Mordru, zap him with their superior magic, and plan to destroy the magical items which will keep them from being imprisoned ever again!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary

Notable Moments: DC still felt compelled to explain the whole Earth-1/Earth-2 thing to readers:

...though that hand deeply disturbs me.

Even though this team-up occurred in the middle of Steve Englehart's run, he did not write the annual JLA/JSA team-up. Turns out Levitz and Pasko really wanted to write it, and, having a bit more "seniority" at DC, got the gig.

Justice League of America #137 - Dec. 1976

Man, those are some beefy superheroes about to square off there! Superman's musculature in particular makes my head hurt.

The Story: "Crisis in Tomorrow!" by E.Nelson Bridwell, Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Concluding the story from the last two issues, we open here with the two Flashes, the two Green Lanterns, Ibis, and Mercury taking on the giant Earth-S baddie Mr. Atom!

As they take him on, gravity itself starts going haywire, sending people into the skies. The Lanterns track down the source of energy doing this, which leads them to a spaceship under the command of Brainiac!

They defeat Brainiac and Mr. Atom, meanwhile Superman, going after King Kull, gets possessed by Kull's chunk of red kryptonite, which turns him mad. Uh-oh!

Johnny Thunder, who went out to round up Billy and Mary Batson and Freddy Freeman, calls in his T-Bolt to help transform the kids into the Marvel Family(since Shazam is under the control of Kull and can't do it himself), who then attack Kull and free the other Gods Kull was controlling.

The Lanterns, trying to control Superman, are failing, so Captain Marvel takes on the job, and eggs Superman on to paste him one! Superman heads towards Marvel like a rocket when, at the last moment, Billy says his magic word, which hits them both(shades of Kingdom Come!), returning Superman to normal.

They apprehend Kull, and return to their individual Earths. Wow, I'm exhausted.

Roll Call: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman

Notable Moments: The cover is a bit of a cheat, since the fight never occurs, but I guess it's ok. It's really a cheat to have the individual heroes rooting for one hero over the other, which never happens at all. (I notice Flash and Green Lantern are not taking sides; I guess they're the super-delegates of the JLA)

I cannot imagine the effort Dick Dillin must have had to put into this story. And to make matters worse, the letters page advertises that issue of Strange Sports Stories, on sale at the same time, that featured like a million characters and was also drawn by Dillin. Ye gods!

Justice League of America #136 - Nov. 1976

A nice contrast to last issue's over-crowded cover, though the heroes shown don't represent three worlds.

The Story: "Crisis on Earth-S!" by E.Nelson Bridwell, Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, this time we have Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Bulletman, and Bulletgirl on Earth-S trying to save a town full of people from an erupting volcano.

WHIZ's own Billy Batson is broadcasting about the weird goings-on, including a steel building that has somehow come alive and walking on its own, while the Joker is robbing a jewelry store(this is the old, Earth-2 Joker, and he's still just robbing jewelry stores?), but he is stopped by Batman, Robin, Mr. Scarlet, and Pinky.

Then The Shade shows up, but he's defeated by the Hawks, part of him being turned to wood. Then Kull's plans for Earth-S are scuttled, so he moves on to Plan C, which is to destroy Earth-1. To be continued!

Roll Call: Hawkman--no other JLAers appear in this story

Notable Moments: I admit it...I have absolutely no idea what's going on by this point. Why do I get the feeling Grant Morrison read this comic as a kid?
Many artists, when having to draw Billy Batson and/or Captain Marvel, frequently try to subsume their own art style and go the C.C. Beck route, some more successful than others.

Dick Dillin gives it the old college try here, but Billy does sort of look like a different species than everyone else in the story.

Justice League of America #135 - Oct. 1976

That is one crowded cover!

The Story: "Crisis in Eternity!" by E.Nelson Bridwell, Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Members of the JLA, JSA, and heroes from Earth-S are rounded up by someone who looks a lot like the Greek god Mercury(!) to stop a plot hatched by the evil King Kull.

Superman and the Earth-2 Wonder Woman head to Earth-2 where they take on Ibac, Blockbuster, and...The Penguin? Oh, the horror!

As they take on the Blockbuster, Ibac and the Penguin build a device--ordered to by Kull--that creates a cloud that floats over the island of Atlantis and tries to sink it back into the sea!

Luckily Superman uses his super-breath to freeze the cloud into a block of ice, which he the hurtles into space. Unfortunately, though an earthquake hits, dropping it back into the sea from whence it came.

Kull is mad his plot has been foiled, but promises even greater doom for Earths 1 and S. To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Hawkgirl guest-stars again, as does a bunch of Fawcett heroes, like Bulletgirl, Bulletman, Ibis, Mr.Scarlet, Pinky(!), and Spy Smasher. Was Dick Dillin getting too far ahead on his deadlines?

I read this issue twice through in preparation for this post, and still couldn't figure out all that is going on. There's so many characters, so many locales that at some point I gave up and went right to the Answer Man column.

Justice League of America #130 - May 1976

One question and one comment regarding this cover: First, you don't see a lot of scratchboard on comics covers, so points for that.

Second--just where are Green Arrow and Aquaman's legs, exactly? Bad Chua!

The Story: An Untold Tale from the JLA Casebook: "Skyjack at 22,300 Miles!" by Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Set during the events of JLA #s 78 and 79, we have Hawkman explaining to Flash how JLAers are supposed to arrive at their new satellite HQ, via rooftop teleportation tubes.

At the same time, inside the building Flash and Hawkman are meeting on, S.T.A.R. Labs, your typical comic book scientist is working on something that goes horribly wrong, and a moon rock is cracked open, spilling a weird purple creature out of it, which attacks the scientist and jumps out the window.

As the two JLAers beam themselves up, the creature converts itself into a gas-like shape and sneaks into the tube, as well. Flash and Hawkman notice this, but its too late to stop it!

When they arrive, they have been morphed into three hybrid creatures, one with Flash's head, Hawkman's body, and the creature's legs, the others having all the opposite attributes! They attack the bewildered JLAers and quickly knock them out.

But instead of escaping, the creatures use the JLA library to do some sort of research, and then they start trying to pull the satellite out of its orbit and put it on a new trajectory.

Turns out the creature--named a Dharlu--was a mother, and it was following its instinct to return "home" to give birth. The JLA of course stops it, but it has a peculiarly weird ending, where the JLA traps the Dharlu inside the JLA computer, freezing it into a sort of suspended animation, where it will stay forever!

Roll Call: Superman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary

Notable Moments: It seems kinda cruel to keep this creature trapped in a sort of living death inside your computer. I mean, jeez.

According to the Statement of Ownership, Justice League of America was at this time selling about 173,000 copies per month, out of 412,000 printed! Wow, that's a pretty poor "sell-through" for what I always thought was one of DC's heavy-hitters.

The book had just been "promoted" to monthly status, for the first time in its fifteen year history, so obviously DC was ok with these numbers.

Justice League of America #129 - April 1976

This cover gives me vertigo. Well done, Mr. Chua!

The Story: "The Earth Dies Screaming!" by Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, the fearful Hawkman decides not to try and save his formerly-beloved Midway City.

Wonder Woman, the only JLAer not affected by Nekron-inspired fear, finds a way to override it, by using her magic lasso!

The only problem is, the bolt of energy that will destroy Midway is designed to only be stopped by Hawkman, which means Wonder Woman would have to force him to give up his life, which she can't bring herself to do!

Soon after, Flash, Aquaman, and Red Tornado arrive, Flash having also seen a vision of his death at the hands of Captain Cold. Black Canary then notices that while Hawkman is down in Midway trying to evacuate the people, he also seems to be in space heading towards Nekron's energy bolt! What?!?

Turns out that Red Tornado has dressed himself as Hawkman, to fool Nekron! The burst hits Tornado, exploding him to bits! He sacrificed himself to save the city.

While Wonder Woman uses her lasso to convince some of the JLA to fight Nekron on Earth, the Atom comes up with an ingenious plan to defeat him for good.

He has uses Greeb Lantern's ring to amplify Aquaman's telepathic power to boost the fear of death into Superman to a greater extent than even Nekron could accomplish.

So when, down on Earth, the JLA transports Nekron to the JLA satellite, he instinctively attacks Superman, who is cowering in a corner.

Unfortunately for Nekron, when he tries to absorb Superman's fear, its too much for him to handle, which stuns himself and reduces him down to his original, insect-like size. Nice job, Atom and Aquaman!

While the JLA is happy they defeated Nekron, they are saddened over the loss of their friend The Red Tornado...

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado

Notable Moments: Red Tornado explodes a lot.

I loved Martin Pasko thinking outside the box here, taking Aquaman's inherent abilities and amplifying them to something not seen before with the character. Also, having Wonder Woman be the catalyst for defeating Nekron was a great way to bring her back into the JLA.

The JLA Mail Room header is changed again, to reflect the change in membership, and was drawn by Dick Dillin and inked by my old Kubert School instructor Tex Blaisdell:

Justice League of America #128 - March 1976

Wonder Woman returns to the JLA! Great Hera, about time!

The Story: "Death-Visions of the Justice League!" by Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Wonder Woman shows up to the JLA satellite for her first meeting back as a member(having been reinstated in Wonder Woman #222).

But...she finds the JLA packing up its stuff, since they have decided to disband the JLA! Great Hera, what's going on here?!

Turns out all the various members of the JLA had separate visions of their violent deaths at the hands of bad guys, which has robbed them of their courage to be heroes! Only Wonder Woman is unaffected.

Meanwhile, Green Lantern is on another planet, fighting a weird creature named Nekron, who feeds off the fear of others. Hmm...

Nekron knocks out Lantern, and heads for Earth. Wonder Woman manages to talk the JLA into helping her go after Nekron. But Nekron manages to defeat them, and gets away.

As the JLA is back at the satellite, figuring out its Nekron who is "getting in their heads", he appears on TV to announce that a giant ball of fire is headed towards Midway City, and only Hawkman can stop it!

Hawkman isn't about to risk his life, so he calls Shayera and tells her to get out of Dodge, metaphorically. Wonder Woman is shocked to hear him say "Too bad about Midway--I'm going to miss it." To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man

Notable Moments: Clearly, Wonder Woman belonged in the Justice League--going through all these issues one by one, it was surprising to see just how long she'd been gone--fifty-nine issues!

The cover by Ernie Chan isn't bad, though this is one goofy-looking Atom:

They pulled out the old JLA Hereby Elects...(or, in this case, Reinstates) scroll for Wonder Woman's return, but done a little differently this time:

Justice League of America #122 - Sept. 1975

One of my all-time favorite issues, because, of course, it is the rarest of JLA stories--it centers on Aquaman, even if it seems like he's dead inside(don't believe it).

The Story: "The Great Identity Crisis!" by Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We are told that this is an "Untold Tale From the JLA Casebook" that opens with the JLA kicking the butt of some giant ice creature. Just another day in the DCU.

Since they are near Superman's Fortress, they take the creature there for safekeeping. After the JLA departs, we see the creature changes shape, easily escaping the cage.

This mystery man then picks up some Amnesium from Superman's armory and shoots a ray gun through it, wiping out the memory of the JLAers civilian identities. He remarks that it won't work on Superman, and Aquaman doesn't have a secret ID, but he has other plans for them.

He then fires at them again, scrambling their memories, so they falsely remember who they are(Green Arrow thinks he's Ray Palmer, etc.). Superman and Aquaman notice the guys are acting funny, so they decide to trail them.

While in the deep, dark ocean depths, Aquaman comes across a Lantern Fish, but we see that the fish is a decoy, a trap of the villainous...Dr. Light! The fish explodes, and Aquaman is presumed dead.

Meanwhile, the various JLAers(Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Batman, Atom) fall prey to deathtraps that, were they who they think they are, could've escaped!

Dr.Light, holed up in the Fortress, starts putting his master plan in place(involving mirage doubles and other fun), the JLAers show up, having escaped the deathtraps! Light is confused, but at least he killed Aquaman, right? Wrong!:

Wow! Aquaman is the guy driving this story and figuring everything out!

Anyway, it turns out tha Aquaman, under his rarely-used civilian identity of Arthur Curry(and looking quite Plaid Stallion-y in the process):

...found Oliver Queen and Ray Palmer and helped them out of their jams. Superman rounded up Batman, then Flash, who then saved Green Lantern, and now they're all here!

Dr. Light activates his mirages, as well as wrapping Supes in some kryptonite rings. Aquaman uses Superman's cape to round up some of the mirages, and then to save Flash(who is being trailed by some anti-matter mirages and will kill him if he stops running away from them) by having Barry vibrate through the cape, which traps the evil duplicates, causing them all to explode.

They then gang up, disarm Dr.Light, and save Superman. Supes then crushes the Amnesium, and they all make a promise to exchange their secret IDs with each other so nothing like this can happen again!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom

Notable Moments: Martin Pasko, I owe you a drink.

Obviously, as a kid, I simply loved this issue(and I'm not the only one), since not only does Aquaman get a lot to do, but he comes up with a way out of Dr.Light's plan, and its his idea how to save each of the JLAers individually. And, other than the one brief scene involving the lantern fish, none of it takes place in the water, underscoring a belief I've always had about the character--you don't need to write water-centric stories to make Aquaman an effective, impressive hero.

Judging by Green Arrow's duds, this story takes place after JLA #75, which wasn't all that long ago. The story is unusual for the fact that the JLA satellite is never shown.

The nifty cover is by Mike Grell, who had drawn the cover to JLA #117 and had also drawn Aquaman's solo back-up series in the Spectre issues of Adventure Comics right around this time. As a graphic artist, that pattern Grell uses on the site of Aquaman's tombstone haunts my dreams.