All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 2

All Star Comics Archives #2

by Gardner Francis Fox

A collection of the adventures of the Justice Society of America, which at various times includes Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Green Lantern, Dr. Midnite, Wildcat, and Hawkman.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"

Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase

Reviews

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of All-Star Comics sees some membership changes. As the Flash and then Green Lantern got their own solo title, they became honorary members like Superman and Batman, replaced by Starman, Dr Mid-Nite, and Johnny Thunder as a full time member.

The set-up is the same as in the previous volume. Getting together to solve a threat, the team disperses into solo adventures, then meeting together at the end to bust up the bad guys. We see a lot of fifth columnists in these stories, written before Pearl Harbor, and the FBI director makes an appearance as well (in shadow).

Each issue also has a prose story feature Hap Harrigan, but they're forgettable.

Notably, this collects All-Star Comics #8, which is the first appearance of Wonder Woman. The tale is not part of the JSA adventure but more like an insert in the magazine. It gives us WW's basic origin, including Steve Trevor and the introductions of bullets and bracelets.

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of tales featuring the Justice Society follows a now established pattern. The group gathers, splits up for separate missions, and reunites at the end. After only eight issues I must admit it doesn't feel any less forced (I peeked ahead; they do this until issue 38!).

That's not to say the stories aren't somewhat entertaining; they are, although some of the artists were better than others (the Starman pages by Jack Burnley are wonderful). I did enjoy seeing two of my favorites, Dr. Mid-Nite and Starman, join the group.

The star attraction, though, is a nine-page back-up feature at the end of issue 8. It wasn't heralded on the cover, but the writing and art are better than anything else in the book. It was no surprise with such quality that its feature character, Wonder Woman, would go on to outlast the Justice Society in terms of continuous publication!

[The other John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second collection of Justice Society adventures features the JSA trying to raise money to help war orphans, solving a mysterious outbreak of insanity, travelling to South America to thwart Axis agents and travelling to the 25th Century to secure a formula to protect America from enemy bombers. Oh, yeah, it also reprints the first Wonder Woman story. It's all presented in it's crude, 1940s comical glory--a pleasant diversion from the troubles of today.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Justice Society Of America was the first superhero team in comics. In an age where there are ten Avengers teams the superhero team may seem tired and old, but back in the days leading up to World War II this was a groundbreaking concept. The JSA undergoes a few membership changes during this book, with Green Lantern stepping down after #7 and Dr. Mid-Nite (with his owl sidekick, Hooty) stepping in. The roster of the team is as follows: Green Lantern (#7 only), The Spectre, The Atom, Dr. Fate, Hawkman, The Sandman, Hour Man, Johnny Thunder, Dr. Mid-Nite (#8-on), and Starman (#8-on).

I found Johnny Thunder to be an annoying character. He is an idiot who has control over a Thunderbolt, basically a genie that can do anything and is seemingly impervious to harm. He has to summon the Thunderbolt by saying the magical Badhnisian phrase “Cei U” (pronounced say you), which he always does by accident. He can never figure out how to summon the Thunderbolt, often getting into worse trouble until he accidentally summons him. The Thunderbolt seems to like to take the piss out of him, needling him in ways like not answering the magical Badhnisian phrase when Johnny was in Cuba because he didn't say the magic phrase it in Spanish. None of which makes sense since it is a Badhnisian phrase and not an English phrase to begin with, but there you have it.

The stories are all set up in the same format. The Justice Society meets up, encounters a problem, and then they all split up to tackle this multifaceted problem, meeting up at the end. There is little to no actual teamwork in terms of battles. The artwork is done in what the kids call “comic jam” format, where each character is handled by a different artist, usually the one who created the character.

I bought this book because I love Golden Age comics with the original Sandman and The Spectre. Even though they are handled by the same creative teams as their solo adventures the stories here are inferior. When it comes to comics one has to have what is commonly referred to as a suspension of disbelief. If you think these comics through too much there will be holes, and that goes for all fantasy created in any era. My suspension of disbelief ran into a wall when The Spectre, who battled entities on the spirit plane in his own strip, was raising money for war orphans. That issue was out several months before the United States entered World War II. The Sandman changes his costume over the course of this book with no explanation given. His new costume looks closer to the wretched Joe Simon/Jack Kirby version of the Sandman. His original costume was rooted in the 1930s pulps.

I especially enjoyed #10, where the team had to journey 500 years into the future (2442) in order to retrieve the formula to prevent bombing. Lots of interesting ideas in that story. It is funny how outdated many of the science fiction ideas of 500 years in the future are 75 years after publication. While there were times that this was a clunky read it was by and large very enjoyable. There are a handful of politically incorrect thingshere, but one shouldn't find offense in such things if you read this in proper historical context and as an example of the history of the medium.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This presents four issues of the Justice Society of America's Golden Age run, along with Wonder Woman's origin from All-Star Comics 8, and the Hop Harrigan text pages (unmemorable, like most text-page adventures) All Star #7 has the JSA finding ways to raise $1 million for European war orphans; it's fun. The battle against Dr. Elba in #8 is routine crime thriller (it would have worked if it was Batman or the Shadow) and #9 is a dull tour of Latin America. #10 is a first-rate story in which the JSA travels 500 years into the future to obtain the advanced scientific knowledge of how to build a bomb-proof forcefield. Not the best of the Golden Age, but enjoyable

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before there was the Justice League of America, there was the Justice Society of America. These are not really team stories but solo stories with a common them bookended by meetings of the JSA. They are fun stories from a simpler time.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you like any of the stories here you're either a time traveling kid from the 40s or you were a kid reading these back then and you like remembering what it was to read silly stories.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book begins with a rousing introduction from Jerry Bails, which really sets the stage for the book.

The Justice Society were the original large-scale Superhero team. This second volume collects All Star Comics Issues 7-10 with 4 adventures from the Justice Society. The society featured a team plus several honorary members. At the start of this book, the honorary members are Batman, Superman, and the Golden Age Flash.

Issue 7 was the first and only issue during the Green Lantern era as Chairman of the Society. The society sets out raise $1 million for humanitarian war relief. Usually, they don't accept rewards, but they've got the spirit of World War 2 and set out to help others in a fun and moving adventure. Grade: A-

Issue 8 begins the Hawkman era as Chairman as the Golden Age Green Lantern joins the honorary member list. The plot centers around several criminals going insane. With Green Lantern inactive and Hourman taking a leave of absence, that opens spots for Starman and Dr. Midnite who are introduced in this issue. Overall, this was an okay story with unsatisfactory ending. However, it's made better because All Star Comics #8 throws in the first Wonder Woman story at no additional cost. Grade: B+

Issue 9 features the JSA going after fifth columnists spread throughout Central America. and J. Edgar Hoover being made an honorary JSA member. I'm usually all in for World War 2 propaganda efforts, this one suffered. There was really no unified meeting or big goals the team was going for leading to an average series of solo stories. Grade: C

Issue 10 has the Justice Society Teaming up with scientists who are working on a system of bombing defense. No one has the exact way to do it, but one of them has invented a time machine and the JSA proposed to go forward in time to get the components. Yes, it's a time paradox, but I have to love the optimism about the future even in the midst of war. A hopeful and fun story. Grade: A-

The big plus in this issue besides Wonder Woman is Captain Midnite who could have been a basis for Daredevil. While the Golden Age Atom is a weak character, my least favorite character here is Johnny Thunder who remains the, "One of these things is not like the other" member of the JSA as his magic thunderbolt genie is the only ace he has. It's a good ace but functions as a deus ex machina for the clueless JSA member.

But even with Johnny Thunder, the book was still pretty fun reading.

[Rich Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

While another landmark reprint volume, with some fantastic artwork by Jack Burnley, Bernard Bailey, Cliff Young, and others, these four issues of All Star Comics aren't necessarily the greatest stories every - a couple are so convoluted that they're hard to follow. They're also the first without any of DC's then-Big Four (Superman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern) playing any major roles in the stories (except for one with Green Lantern).

The reproduction on a couple of them seem to be a tad lacking (unlike the tales in the other volumes of the series that I've perused). Still, it's about $10,000 of classic Golden Age comics for a very low price (in my case, about $15). Issue #8 did include the back-up story featuring Wonder Woman, which was a great read.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of the original Justice Society comics of the 40's. The plots are light and formulaic, but the art is nice, it's a great bit of comic history, it's a fun read full of self contained stories about some of my favorite characters.

Not a hint of grim and gritty here. Just pure comics.

If you are overly sensitive about PC matters, I'll warn you this was WW2, so not the most flattering portrayal of the Germans and Japanese.