Showing posts with label Justice Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justice Society. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

The Time Batman And Superman Crashed A Justice Society Meeting!

Back in the Golden Age, DC had this silly rule about not having Superman and Batman be active participants in the Justice Society.

Well, I suppose there were reasons. The "Big Two" each already had 3 books apiece, and to some extent their presence could be seen as overshadowing the "lesser" heroes.

So they were made "honorary" members, and never had more than glorified cameos.

But as sales declined in the post-WWII years, how could DC resist goosing their numbers with stuff like this?

But how could they do this, without arbitrarily violating their arbitrary rules?

Would you believe...an injury and an illness?!?

Let's take that in reverse order, shall we?

Johnny Thunder had...a cold?!? Dude, this is the Justice Society Of America, not a book club!!

And a personal ad? Really?

But what do you know...


...it worked!!

So...did Johnny take that ad in the Daily Planet? Or does Superman read the personal columns in all newspapers?

But what about replacing the Atom?!? (And BTW, bonus hilarity for the Atom, famously a short guy, getting hurt playing basketball...)

Why not get...Bruce Wayne?!?

NOTE: That means that, at this point, Bruce Wayne and Al Pratt know each other's identities! Or maybe Pratt just "knows," likes everyone in Gotham, that Bruce "knows" Batman?




You know, Bruce, you could have done like Kal-El, and just shown up in your heroic identity. Why did you need the grandstanding shenanigans?

I imagine Earth-1 Bruce pulled this stunt at all the early JLA meetings...

Oh, and by the way...

...even in 1947, Batman is kind of full of himself.

From All-Star Comics #36 (1947)

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

It's Hard To Find Good Help!

Thanks to Doctor Fate, Scooby Doo and the gang have been sent to the 1940s to help the Justice Society stop a bunch of Nazi saboteurs hired by Vandal Savage, because GODDAMN I LOVE COMIC BOOKS!!

Look, here's some of the bad guys!

Well, they're really no match for the team of Daphne and Wildcat!

If you've read enough Golden Age comics, you know this was a real problem for Axis agents!! Just another reason the bad guys lost: poor accent control!!

BONUS: You know how on all the JLA/JSA team-ups, we got those "everybody splits into teams" stories, and each chapter heading was the logos of the heroes involved?

Well, here you go!





You're welcome.

From Scooby Doo Team-Up #77-78 (20018)

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

The Amazing Technology Of The Far Future!!

The Justice Society has traveled to the far-flung future of 2442 to get some technology to protect the USA from being bombed.

But that's just the beginning of the astonishing and almost magical wonders of science they will encounter.

For example:

Televisabrary!!!


Yes, by the year 2442, mankind will have invented...Siri.

But wait, there's more!



In the year 2442, mankind will have invented...room service!!

But at least by the 25th century, we will have solved the housing crisis in San Francisco!


By the year 2442, mankind will have invented...tree houses.

Ah, but wait...


By 2442, mankind will have invented...microfiche?? Home movies?

OK, but what about the penal system?!?



By the year 2442, mankind will have invented...reform school!!

Not only that, but...

By the year 2442, mankind will have developed...bus stations!

And...

By the year 2442, mankind will have developed...television news!! Radioed all over the globe!!

Sadly, by the year 2442...



...people will still suck.

From All-Star Comics #10 (1942)

Monday, July 2, 2018

Manic Monday--For The Birds!!

Hawkman needs to contact the other members of the Justice Society, pronto!

Thanks for the expository info, Dr, Mid-Nite!!

But wait, Hawkman's plan can't possibly work, can it?

Wait--Hawkman taught all of the JSA "the language of his great bird friends"??!? You mean the whole Justice Society speaks bird?!?

Now I want a story with Johnny Thunder trying to talk to pigeons when his Thunderbolt is missing, but he didn't pay enough attention enough attention during Carter Hall's lessons, and keeps asking them for the wrong thing. Hilarity ensues.

This is why I'm not allowed to write comics...

From All-Star Comics #10 (1942)

Sunday, May 20, 2018

DC--Use Them Or Lose Them!

As you no doubt ignored last week, I opined about Marvel wasting all of the Malibu and Crossgen characters that they owned but refused to do anything with.

Well, this week it's DC's turn.

Except the intellectual properties DC refuses to do anything with are their very own.

DC controls the vastest, deepest, and honestly most interesting collections of heroes ever assembled. Yet to get them to publish anything besides Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman seems a Sisyphean task.

It's now almost two years since Rebirth, and after all of the the shirt-rending (by the people in charge) about how someone (other than themselves) had forgotten all about legacy and DC's deep history, there's still no Legion Of Super-Heroes book. There's still no Justice Society book.

Heroes who have been mainstays of DC for nearly 80 years, and 60 years, languish in limbo. Hell, we just passed the 60th anniversary of the Legion's first appearance without a single commemoration from DC!

Yes, we were sorta kinda promised that these guys would be brought back by the storytelling magic of Rebirth. But it's all been a terrible, terrible tease.

In the two years after Rebirth, we've had, what, 3 panels in various comics suggesting that Saturn Girl is hiding in Arkham? We've had, what, 2 pages of apparently-senile Johnny Thunder rambling about not finding the lightning? That's it, over two years.

Now, if you believe the rumors (unconfirmed, but undenied), than DC wanted to sign a big-name writer, who wanted to do the Legion. But then they were told (allegedly) that no one could touch the Legion, or the JSA, until Geoff Johns was done with Doomsday Clock, the ludicrous and pointless DC/Watchmen crossover. And, as of this writing, there are still 8 bi-monthly issues of Doomsday Clock left to publish, well, we're not going to see Legion or JSA any time soon.
It's the height of stupidity, whatever the reason. The DC TV shows can bring in the JSA and the Legion...but the comics can't? Seriously, that's one of the more ridiculous situations in comics. It's even more ridiculous than Marvel's refusal to print a Fantastic Four comic because of some fit of pique.

DC's not in danger of losing the trademarks, as Marvel is with Malibu/Crossgen, because they continue to publish trades/omnibuses. That would seem to indicate some sort of public demand, right? But no comics, no new stories for the fans.

Meanwhile...

...don't get me started on DC's continued neglect of the Marvel Family...

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

April Madness Round II--A Mild Upset!

Welcome to Round 2 of The Seven Justice Soldiers of The Victory League Society, our meaningless exercise is random fighting!!

This bout features...

(That's Earth-2 Wonder Woman...)

vs.

(That's Earth-1 Atom, just to be clear).

This would be a pretty tight bout, as you'd expect from the 4th and 5th seeds. And in a bit of a surprise, I see Dr. Fate's group eking out a victory.

Dr. Fate could likely nullify Diana's mystic strength, at least temporarily, allowing Atom to use her lasso to bind Dr. Mid-Nite as he shrinks small enough to slip between the particles of darkness of his blackout bomb (Hey, I can use DC Science, too!!). Meanwhile, Hawkman's ancient weaponry wouldn't do too much against a body that can wrap around any impact. By that point he'd be the last man standing, and no way could he stand against all three of them.

So our winner is...

Think I'm wrong? Get your own blog!!

Dr. Fate's team will face Superman's later this week. Tune in tomorrow four our other first round bouts!!

April Madness Round I--No Surprises!

Welcome to the first round of The Seven Justice Soldiers of The Victory League Society, our insane little tournament that exists for no reason whatsoever!!

Our first round features:
vs.

That's Earth-2 Green Lantern, Earth-2 Robin/Batman in the most godawful costume ever, and Mr. Terrific.

It's no surprise, or at least it shouldn't be, that Kal-El's team is the top seed--any team that has a Kryptonian and a guy who turn turn his body into any shape and virtually any element is going to be pretty tough.

The other team? In the biggest pre-Crisis gathering of heroes ever, our creators couldn't even find a spot for these guys--they showed up late, and didn't even take part in any of the quests. Sad!!

In my completely arbitrary (and totally unappealable) view on how this fight would go, it's not too much of a contest. Alan Scott could perhaps give Superman a moment of trouble, as some tellings have his ring being magical in nature. But a quick spritz of sleep gas from Sandman would break his concentration, and Superman would smack him with a tree. Meanwhile, between bouts of laughter at Robin/Batman's costume, Metamorpho would make pretty quick work of the Man Wonder, leaving Mr. Terrific to cry about "FAIR PLAY" as he gets pummeled.

Our winner:

Can anyone stop the Superman group?

Tune in later today for another match!!