Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "justice-society"

All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 3 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 11-14 of All Star Comics containing the Adventures of the Justice Society of America. The book begins (as all great Golden Age archive books do) with an introduction by Roy Thomas who sets the tone for the time. The four bi-monthly adventures were the first to be written following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the books reflect that as the Justice Society joins the war effort though in a different way from other heroes.

Beyond the general World War II storyline, another big item here is the introduction of Wonder Woman to the Justice Society. This happens in Issue 11 when all of the JSAers go to war. The Spectre (who is a ghost) decides to stay at home and Wonder Woman makes a guest appearance. She's appointed Secretary in the next issue (Issue 12) and actually takes part in the action in Issue 13.

Making Wonder Woman the JSA Secretary is seen as pure sexism. Reading it in context, it actually was a way to work the character into the book. There were eight members of the JSA and each had a six page adventure on their own set apart from the Justice Society meeting. To add another member to the JSA would mess with the format, so Wonder Woman couldn't be added to the regular roster without getting rid of someone else and the stories she does participate in have other JSAers absent. While I could think of some characters I'd be happy with swapping for Wonder Woman (Johnny Thunder and the Atom come to mind), apparently the writers weren't ready. Also, under the odd rules of the JSA once a character had their own comic, they were relegated to honorary member status which would have happened to Wonder Woman after Issue 13, but she stayed around with the Secretary gig. The introduction by Thomas indicates they were concerned how kids would feel about her being on the team and in a house ad they hinted at this somewhat awkwardly by suggesting that members of the Justice Society weren't too sure about letting Wonder Woman in and solicited feedback from readers. Overall though, I don't think it's quite the travesty that's been suggested.

As to the stories themselves, in issue 11, the Justice Society all enlist (save for the Spectre) and go overseas and win a ton of battles. In issue 12, the JSA now operating as the Justice Battalion (since they were too good of soldiers to serve in the regular military), they went on a series of missions against the Black Dragon Society. In Issue 14, Hitler has a mad scientist blast the JSA on rockets into space after draining all the oxygen from the room where the JSA are meeting in until they pass out. And the reason they didn't just wait until they died was...it was (something). Anyway, each planet in the JSA universe has intelligent life and each JSAer has a mission there and returns with a technology to help the war. In Issue 14, Hawkman develops food pellets to help the starving patriots in suffering European countries, as they bring food pellets that turn into turkey dinners.

The stories are well-intentioned and patriotic and there are some fun moments, but overall these stories feel a lot less connected than previous tales in the prior two Archive volumes. More importantly, I found the approach of some of these books to uncomfortable. While Timely (Golden Age Marvel) characters fought the war, they did so a single battle at a time-in a way that was relatively realistic but not something that would bring automatic victory to the allies, Superman protected the homefront and had a few forays into some moments but stayed at home and deferred to and honored the troops who actually went.

The Justice Society on the other hand tells Fantasy stories which are really hard to consider in the way history actually went, as Thomas pointed out in the intro. The message of All Star Comics #11 suggested the JSA was more awesome than the real soldiers who suffered defeats after defeat through most of early 1942. Issue 13 had the JSA bringing equipment from space that would have won the war in an instant. Issue 14 had the JSA bringing food overseas when the in reality, the patriots so often starved, and worst. This led to a feel that almost mocked the reality of what was really going on. It was doing the same thing as before the war but with a real enemy, it just doesn't quite feel right.

The book also includes some Hop Harrigan text stories, one of which is written from the perspective of a capture Japanese soldier and is therefore told in pigeon English leading to a tale in which Hop mentally tortures a suicidal captured Japanese prisoner. *sigh*

Overall, this is still the JSA, but I hope future volumes improve as this is a cut below the best comics of the era.




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All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 5 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 19-23 of All Star Comics and features five issues with the Justice Society of America. Issues 19 and 20 are fairly standard but well-done fare as the JSA goes after a series of crimes to music and another where a sinister villain seems to be to blame and he's haunted the man who asks for their help.

After the JSA got better by getting shorter. War Time shortages required that the roster be trimmed from eight to six and the result seems to be better more focused stories, starting with Issue 21's, "The Man Who Relived His Life," it's a touching fantasy about tho he JSA going back in time to help fix the mistakes of an old man who is dying as a result of his help to finding a cure for a disease after a life of selfishness. It's a beautiful and thoughtful tale.

Issue 22 finds them going further through time and place to fight prejudice with a story that features the sort of positive message of tolerance and understanding that was often proclaimed during the war. The story is a noble attempt to build understanding. Issue 23 features the introduction of Psycho-Pirate, a villain who preys on the team's emotion. He would become a long-standing character in the DC universe. This is a chance to see him in his first story, though he's clearly not at his best.

The text stories included in the book are all Hop Harragan tales featuring that great flying ace and like the rest of the book the quality shows a marked improvement y bad about the book over previous volumes. Of course, the one thing that's really bad about is that Wonder Woman is kept out of action as the Secretary while Johnny Thunder at the Golden Age are key operatives.

Still beyond that, this is an enjoyable fifth volume.



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All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 7 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Golden Age Justice Society team of Hawkman, the Flash, Green Lanter, Doctor Midntite, the Atom, Johnny Thunder, and Wonder Woman as Secretary return for five post-War adventures in Issues 29-33

Issue 29: The Man Who Knew Much: Landor, a man bored with a Utopian future returns to the 1940s only to discover it takes money to live so he sets out to commit some daring crimes to capture the attention of the Justice Society. Really fun. Grade: B+

Issue 30: Dreams of Madness: An old JSA villain Brainwave tricks the JSA into going under so that he can use their dreams to drive the mad. Can anyone save the JSA? This is the best story for Johnny Thunder I've ever read. A very fun ending. Grade: B+

Issue 31: The Workship of Willie Wonder: A toymaker is turned evil by a mini-red evil alien sun creature and designs stuff for criminal. A bit meh for me on this one. Grade: C

Issue 32: The Return of Psycho Pirate: Psycho Pirate returns in a story that serves to teach kids the dangers of letting various emotions get out of control. Not sure the writer understands humility, but anyway not a bad story. Grade: B

Issue 33: The Revenge of Solomon Grundy: JSA Headquarters has been trashed, Green Lantern's disappeared and his old enemy Solomon Grundy is on the loose. It's easily one of the best JSA tales I've ever read. Very tense ending. Grade: A

Overall, this is a strong volume. The worst story is only mediocre. I actually found myself enjoying the Johnny Thunder chapters, and everything else is as good or better than previous volumes. One big bonus of this book is Roy Thomas' loving introduction. His passion and enthusiasm for the series shows and is quite contagious. A very solid read.



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All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 8 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 34-38 of All Star Comics. There are several big changes that occurr. First, Johnny Thunder is benched, so no adventure is saved by him saying, "Say you."

Issue 34 sees the Introduction of the Wizard, a villain who believes the Justice Society must be pretending to be heroes for some reason but really trying to make money on the side. Issue 35 features the villain Per Degaton in time travel tale that was a bit advanced for the Golden Age and also a bit confusing. Issue 36 is a tale of men corrupted by drowning in a body of water that turns them evil. Superman and Batman appear in this one and actually take part in a JSA golden age adventure for the first and only time.

Issue 37 sees the introduction of the Injustice Society and our heroes face a grim battle. Disappointment in this one is that Johnny Thunder are captured off-panel. Issue 38 sees a big shake-up as all the male JSAers are apparently killed in the first pages and Wonder Woman has to revive them with the help of Black Canary (who makes her first JSA appearance.) and we get a long adventure without individual chapters which is a first for All Star Comics.

The book features an enthusiastic introduction from comics legend Roy Thomas. Whether you agree with Thomas that this was the JSA at its best, this is certainly one of the best volumes and showed that even though the golden age was nearing an end, this book wasn't running out of steam at all. My complaints are mostly minor. This book is a classic must-read if you're a fan of Golden Age comics.



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