Justice League of America #57 Ad - Nov. 1967

Tomorrow, one of the most unusual Justice League cases ever--"Man, Thy Name is--Brother!"

Justice League of America #56 - Sept. 1967

How could you not buy a comic with a cover like this? By the way--all the JSAers except Hawkman are about to receive a historic butt-whipping.

The Story: "The Negative-Crisis on Earths One-Two!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Picking up where we left off last issue, some of the heroes get infected by the same radiation that's in the spheres and turn them evil!

Hourman tries to punch out Superman; luckily Superman doesn't pick up Rex Tyler and throw him into the sun. Of course, eventually the radiation wears off and everybody comes to their senses!

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

Notable Moments: Gardner Fox used Johnny Thunder's T-Bolt as a guy who could do anything at any time; even as a kid I never understood why he was stuck with Johnny Thunder, who was always written as a goofy idiot.

Justice League of America #55 - Aug. 1967

Behold--the single ugliest superhero costume of all time!

The Story: "The Super-Crisis That Struck Earth-Two!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Ordinary citizens who absorb mysterious spheres end up with super powers that they use for evil!

The JSA is unable to stop them, so Johnny Thunder(who's like Snapper Carr but with super powers) unwittingly commands his T-Bolt who corral some Justice Leaguers to help out. Strangely, the same exact thing is happening on Earth-One!

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

Notable Moments: The JLA are barely in this issue; they only show up at the very end, and even then it's only a few of 'em.

While the move to have the now-adult Earth-Two Robin join the JSA is good, who the hell designed that suit? It's comically, tragically bad.

And for the first time in a dozen issues, Batman is not ridiculously overly cover-featured. The TV series craze had died down, so all other DC titles could go back to looking like they might feature other characters. Weird, though, Batman isn't even in this issue--you'd think teaming him with the newly-adult Robin might've afforded some fun story moments.

Justice League of America #54 - June 1967

The Royal Flush Gang is back!

The Story: "History-Making Costumes of the Royal-Flush Gang!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Hal Jordan lays dying, and the clues to who do it lead to crooks dressed as historical figures like Queen Elizabeth and Alexander the Great! Turns out it's actually the Royal Flush Gang, so you've got people wearing costumes inside other costumes.

Roll Call: Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Atom

Notable Moments: Flash visits Hal Jordan in the hospital, and immediately lays his hand on the power ring so it can telepathically tell him what happened to his friend. They don't really explain that, which I thought was a nice, subtle touch of characterization--Barry and Hal are close friends, so Barry knows how the ring works.

Justice League of America #53 - May 1967

Guest-starring Hawkgirl!

The Story: "The Secret Behind the Stolen Super-Weapons!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. The accessories of Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow suddenly disappear! Is it the handywork of the mysterious Treasure-Thief, or the even more terrifying Johnny Marbles?

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Johnny Marbles and his cronies are your basic small-time crooks, perfectly rendered by Sekowsky.

Hawkgirl is the one who ultimately solves the case, and the story ends with a sweet panel showing Carter and Shayera as the loving couple they are:

"If I could find a girl like you, Hawkgirl, I'd get married myself!", Green Arrow says. Did he believe that when he said it, or was he just trying to fit in with his fellow, more straight-laced JLAers?

Justice League of America #52 - March 1967

Is this an issue of World's Finest?

The Story: "Missing in Action--5 Justice Leaguers!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Several different menaces attack the JLA at the same time, so that they are missing in action when they are called to action to fight the Lord of Time(JLA #50).

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: The story is told entirely in flashback by Snapper Carr. It happens concurrently with the events of JLA #50, a fairly unusual touch for the time.

All the JLAers appear in the final panel, ready to head off to Eddie Brent's medal ceremony, from the last page to #50.

Justice League of America #51 - Feb. 1967

The concluding chapter of Zatanna's search for her father, Zatara!

The Story: "Z--As in Zatanna--and Zero Hour!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. After enlisting the help of Hawkman, Green Lantern, the Atom, and the Elongated Man in their individual strips, Zatanna's search for her father ends here, with her coming to the entire(well, some of it) JLA for help.

Roll Call: Batman, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Sekowksky and Greene's Zatanna is wonderfully sexy; about as sexy as 1967 DC comic could get away with. She's just adorable, so it's probably a good thing Green Arrow didn't appear in this issue.

The Elongated Man guest-stars, so this issue looks a little like a much one, just ten years early. After all, you've got two future members guest-starring in the same issue!

Zatara is resuced at the end, and while of course things were a little more innocent back then(in comics, at least) this final panel always seemed a little creepy to me:

It's not so much the dialogue, it's the addtion of the hand stroking the cheek, and the fact that Zatanna is one of the hottest babes in the JLA, who are all crammed in the background watching a little hesitantly.

Justice League of America #50 - Dec. 1966

That is one goofy-looking Lord of Time! It looks like Batman could swing right into his mouth if he's not careful.

The Story: "The Lord of Time Attacks the 20th Century!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Vietnam vet(!) Eddie Brent becomes a pawn of the Lord of Time, and has him use futuristic weapons to take on the JLA. Luckily the JLA figures out the Lord of Time is duping Brent.

Roll Call: Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow

Notable Moments: Hey, Gardner Fox remembered Aquaman is in fact a member of the JLA!

This issue guest-stars Robin for no real good reason, maybe with the Vietnam angle they thought they needed a younger POV, and Snapper Carr, being a total a-hole, didn't count.

The story opens in the jungles of Vietnam: "'Somewhere in the central highlands of Viet Nam, an automatic rifle chatters in flaming fury...' 'This is as far as you get, V-Cs!' Vatta-Vatta!" I'm sure actual Vietnam vets talked like that.

At the end of the story, the JLA literally gangs up on the Lord of Time, in a panel I found a tad distubring to look at:

...not only is it a little unfair, but the combination of the JLAers looks of glee with Lord of Time's look of pure misery makes me feel like this isn't one of their most heroic moments. The Lord of Time was such a pansy you could've just had Green Arrow take him out.

The story does have a nice ending, though--Eddie Brent is cleared of all charges, and receives a medal from an off-panel President Lyndon Johnson. It's a genuinely well-intentioned moment, marred only slightly by the fact that there are gaudily-costumed superheroes(including Superman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantrern, The Atom, and Hawkman) in the background.

Justice League of America #49 - Nov. 1966

Ok, Batman's in the book! We get it!

The Story: "Threat of the True-Or-False Sorcerer!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. Felix Faust creates a duplicate of himself which could spend the end of the universe! Luckily, Snapper Carr is here to figure it all out.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern

Notable Moments: Aquaman? Who's Aquaman?

It's Goofy Demon Central this issue, with a plethora of funny-looking alien creatures(including a leprechaun!) courtesy the team of Faust/Sekowsky.

Justice League of America #49 Ad - Nov. 1966

Sure, all those characters could be in the book, but odds are you'll be getting Superman, Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern!

Justice League of America #48 - Dec. 1966

So Batman runs faster than the Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman? Interesting...

Another 80-page Giant all-reprint issue. You'd almost feel ripped off if they hadn't released this plus a regular issue...

The stories: "Challenge of the Weapons Master!"(B&B #29), "Secret of the Sinister Sorcerers!"(JLA #2), and "Slave Ship of Space!"(JLA #3) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter

Notable Moments: This issue affords founding member The Martian Manhunter a lack of respect usually afforded only Aquaman. Not only were his appearances becoming more and more scarce, but on the cover he's given blue gloves, something he's never had.

You'd think that Sekowsky, who penciled the cover, Murphy Anderson, who inked it, and whoever colored it, would've caught it at some point.

Justice League of America #48 Ad - Nov. 1966

This is another one of those ads promoting an earlier issue of the title the ad appeared in! No wonder DC needed the Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Designed by Ira Schnapp, so it's awesome. I like how it looks like this comic is as thick as a phone book!

Justice League of America #47 - Sept. 1966

Explain to me the phsyics of this cover, well-designed as though it may be.

The Story: "The Bridge Between Earths!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. It turns out all this Earth-One/Earth-Two hugger mugger is because of an experimental space-warping machine(!) that Ray Palmer's assistant has been working on! Dammit, if Ray didn't have to spend so much time at home with that nag Jean Loring, he'd have been on top of this!

The JLA and the JSA team-up to help defeat the (really cool looking)Anti-Matter Man who was using the effects of the machine to further his nefarious plan.

Roll Call: Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Atom

Notable Moments: As stated above, I love this cover--the design, the colors, all top-notch and exciting.

The Atom plays a huge role in this story, so Damian ought to be happy.

Justice League of America #46 - Aug. 1966

One of my all-time favorite covers, even if it is a fairly obvious attempt to ride that Batman TV show "Pop Art" wave.

The Story: "Crisis Between Earth-One and Earth-Two!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Sid Greene. People from Earth-One and Earth-Two are suddenly being transferred between Earths; The Spectre determines the evil Anti-Matter Man is behind it all, and if he continues he'll destroy both Earths!

Roll Call: Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Another JLA/JSA team-up, this time featuring the least amount of JLAers possible without DC being accused of bait-and-switch. One less JLAer and you'd have Brave and the Bold.

The Spectre battles the Anti-Matter Man, and they're fight is awesomely literal. I simply love this panel of the Spectre's legs being pushed up into his body! It's the kind of thing that makes you want to, I don't know, turn some crooks into blocks of wood and run them through buzz-saws.

Both the Blockbuster and Solomon Grundy appear in this issue, which is almost one big dumb guy too many.

Sid Greene takes over the inking with this issue, and I always liked his smooth style, reigning Sekowsky in a little, making for a very attractive-looking book.

Justice League of America #45 - June 1966

Given the Shaggy Man's size, and that Batman looks so stiff, this cover always looked like The Shaggy Man was playing with Batman and Flash action figures to me. Is it just me?

The Story: "The Super-Struggle Against The Shaggy Man!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, Frank Giacoia, and Joe Giella.

When the JLA determine that the Shaggy Man is unbeatable(c'mon, unbeatable? Really?) they trap him underground with a rock creature(and a duplicate Shaggy Man--don't ask) so they will battle one another forever. Um, good, humane plan, Justice Leaguers!

Roll Call: Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Debut of the Shaggy Man, one of the JLA's goofiest, yet long-lasting, bad guys.

Justice League of America #44 - May 1966

One of the strangest JLA covers ever, courtesy Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson.

The Story: "The Plague That Struck the Justice League!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Frank Giacoia. Some of the JLA start growing in size, and they just happen to be the same ones who fought the Unimaginable two issues back. When the mysterious Bendorion shows up to cure them, Batman smells a rat!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: For the first time ever, Bernard Sachs doesn't ink Sekowksy's pencils; instead we get Frank Giacoia, who adds(to my eye) a pleasant smoothness to Sekowsky's rougher-style pencils.

This is right about the time the Batman TV show debuted, so for the next dozen or so issues, this comic would start to look like Batman and His Justice League(it's not that obvious here, but just wait a few issues). If Batman was so dang popular, why not just give him another solo book? Damn those expensive first-class mailing permits!

Also, story credits start appearing for the first time. Did DC finally have to give in after Marvel made such a big deal about its writers and artists?

This story features one of the more unintentionally funny splash pages, the kind of thing that probably got Frederic Wertham aroused with anger:
When the bad guy mentions the people the JLAers have touched are now in danger, all of them worry about their wives, except for Batman, who worries: "Robin--what have I done to you?"

...Now, of course, that makes total sense and Fox was not trying to be funny. Of course he's come into physical contact with Robin. But after all the other heroes immediately think of their wives or girlfriends, it just reads really funny.

Justice League of America #43 - March 1966

The debut of the Royal Flush Gang!

The Story: "The Card Crimes of the Royal Flush Gang!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. The JLA fights a team of bad guys, the stellar-powered Royal Flush Gang.

The RFG uses their powers to affect the JLAers moods, so that they become despondent over their losses and start to give up. Luckily Snapper Carr is there to give them a pep talk, and he helps them defeat the Royal Flush Gang. Wonder Woman makes him a jester's costume so he can go with them to fight the RFG, making him more of a horse's ass than he was already.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Hawkgirl guest stars again, Snapper gets a large role, and the Royal Flush Gang debuts. A pretty big issue.

...but all that pales in comparison to the really big deal with this issue--the debut of DC's Go-Go checks! Yeah, dig it, baby! It's a happening!

Also, we get for the first time a new JLA logo, which I admit is pretty spiffy. The old one is almost mythic in its iconic-ness, so I'm glad they went back to it, but I thought this one was pretty cool, too.

Justice League of America #42 - Feb. 1966

One of the most famous JLA issues ever!

The Story: "Metamorpho Says No!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. The JLA decides to induct new hero Metamorpho into the League("Yay, another Ramona Fradon hero!" Aquaman is overheard to say), but he and the League are attacked by the Unimaginable, a formless creature who demands to be a inducted as a member instead.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, and new member Meta...oops! Spoke too soon!

Notable Moments: This was a pretty surprising development--the JLA was the Knights of the Round Table of the DCU, so it seemed, er, unimaginable that someone would say no, especially when Hawkgirl nagged Hawkman every day, asking when she was going to get to join.

But say no Metamorpho did, and even though he looks good working with the JLA(there aren't too many orange and purple superheroes), he doesn't join. No other hero would turn down membership until a decade and a half later, when Black Lightning would have the same answer(hmm, Batman must have been making notes for possible members of a new team he wanted to start up...)

Justice League of America #41 - Dec. 1965

The debut of the Key--one of the JLA's most deadly, yet goofy-looking, foes!

The Story: "The Key-Master of the World!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. The Key slips the JLA a mickey which messes with their heads and renders them unable to detect his henchmen who are committing a series of robberies. Luckily, guest-star Hawkgirl uncovers the plan and helps the JLA defeat him.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Like I said above, the debut of the Key, one of the JLA's long-running foes. The character design is Out There, but his creepy face makes you sorta forget the weird head gear.

Hawkgirl guest stars in this issue, another of her many appearances in the book. I haven't counted(though I guess I should; that's the kind of obsessive detail blogs are for), but I think she guest-starred more than any other superhero--yet her induction into the League took another twelve years, for some reason.

Justice League of America #40 - Nov. 1965

Watch where you're going, Superman! Think first, fly and punch later!

The Story: "Indestructible Creatures of Nightmare Island!" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs. Ambitious--but woefully misguided--philosopher Andrew Helm creates a machine which will affect the conscience of every person on Earth to insure World Peace.

Of course, it all goes wrong, and it creates chaos instead! The JLA, also of course, gets involved.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Features historical cameos by Moses, Christ, Confucius, Mohammed, and Buddha, who were briefly considered to get their own Showcase tryout.

Some classic DC villains show up, like Captain Cold, The Shark, Mirror Master, and the Penguin. And the letters page informs us that Hawkman "has all earthly knowledge implanted in his brain." Good to know!