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Showcase Presents: Justice League of America #1
Showcase Presents: Justice League of America, Vol. 1
Follows the adventures of the Justice League of America as they battle numerous villains, including Despero, Kanjar Ro, Dr. Destiny, Amos Fortune, and Felix Faust.
544 pages, Paperback
First published December 7, 2005
5 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Gardner Francis Fox
1,192 books90 followersGardner 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 16, 2022
I have a thing for old comics.
The Silver Age of DC is absolutely bonkers, and this is a perfect encapsulation of just how insane it all is. These comics trace the origins of the Justice League and their good friend and immensely important pal... Snapper Carr. *snap snap* So, yes, it is wonderful seeing Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and Martian Manhunter in action. It's entertaining as hell seeing how they excuse the absence of Batman and Superman most of the time. Green Arrow and the Atom joining is fun - but the real joy? The REAL power?
That's my new favorite person in the history of comics, Snapper Carr.
Let me explain.
Snapper Carr is just this random kid in this town in the middle of nowhere who snaps his fingers when he's excited, talks like a hipster, and has a cool hot rod. That is literally all he is. Some teen. The Justice League kind of... adopts him? because he helps them defeat the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror due to having just fertilized and cut the front lawn. You read that right. Don't question it.
Snapper proceeds to save the Justice League a ton of times. He proceeds to be there talking ridiculously and snapping his fingers and making Wonder Woman look like she's disassociating. It is magical and wonderful and the best thing I've ever read.
*snap snap*
This book is COOLSVILLE.
The Silver Age of DC is absolutely bonkers, and this is a perfect encapsulation of just how insane it all is. These comics trace the origins of the Justice League and their good friend and immensely important pal... Snapper Carr. *snap snap* So, yes, it is wonderful seeing Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and Martian Manhunter in action. It's entertaining as hell seeing how they excuse the absence of Batman and Superman most of the time. Green Arrow and the Atom joining is fun - but the real joy? The REAL power?
That's my new favorite person in the history of comics, Snapper Carr.
Let me explain.
Snapper Carr is just this random kid in this town in the middle of nowhere who snaps his fingers when he's excited, talks like a hipster, and has a cool hot rod. That is literally all he is. Some teen. The Justice League kind of... adopts him? because he helps them defeat the giant alien starfish Starro the Conqueror due to having just fertilized and cut the front lawn. You read that right. Don't question it.
Snapper proceeds to save the Justice League a ton of times. He proceeds to be there talking ridiculously and snapping his fingers and making Wonder Woman look like she's disassociating. It is magical and wonderful and the best thing I've ever read.
*snap snap*
This book is COOLSVILLE.
July 23, 2021
There are over 500 pages of comics in this hefty black and white reprint volume so you get quantity at least. Whether or not you get quality is a matter of taste. You certainly get a lot of superheroes and a lot of aliens. The superheroes include Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and Green Arrow. The aliens are a varied bunch. The Justice League of America is a patriotic name but the JLA fights all over the world. In fact, they fight all over the galaxy and in other dimensions too.
The first story is from Brave and the Bold #28 March 1960 and has the Justice League of America fighting Starro, an alien who looks like a starfish. In the second story, they fight the Weapons Master, an evil chap from the future, with weapons. In the third story, they fight Amazo, an android who can steal their powers. In the fourth story, which is the first in their own magazine, they fight Despero, a three-eyed evil alien genius from another dimension. In the fifth, aided by Merlin, they fight Simon Magus.
In the sixth exciting yarn Kanjar Ro, an alien from a far distant planet, makes them battle his rival alien leaders. These are Hyathis who is Panala of planet Alstair. In a footnote, Gardner Fox tells us that Panala is equivalent to an Earth queen. The second is Kromm, Gromar of the planet Mosteel. In a footnote, Gardner Fox tells us that Gromar is equivalent to an Earth king. The third is Sayyar, Jeffan of the planet Llar. In a footnote, Gardner Fox tells us that Jeffan is equivalent to an Earth king. I heard a story that when Walt Simonson started out in comics he went first to DC for work but asked them please, please not to give him a script by Gardner Fox. He couldn't stand the footnotes saying a Squart on the planet Krummy is equivalent to one human mile. Unfortunately, they gave him a Fox script and he ran away. This story may not be true and I must say I disagree with Walt anyway. Gardner Fox didn't write the sort of stuff we're used to nowadays but the stories are endlessly inventive, if sometimes ludicrous, and clearly the work of a very clever man.
Fox was a polymath and his stories often contain useful information. Here, for example, Martian Manhunter converts hematite - chemical formula Fe2 O3 to lodestone - chemical formula Fe3 O4 - with his Martian knowledge of transmutation. So the caption says. The physical process seems to consist of sticking his hands into the ground. The useful footnote tells the schoolboy that Fe2 O3 means two atoms of iron in combination with three atoms of oxygen. I bet Stan Lee didn't know that. The Martian Manhunter is weakened by flame which makes you wonder how Martian civilisation ever got off the ground. If they couldn't make iron how did they get as far as transmutation?
In 'The Fantastic Fingers of Felix Faust' the JLA fight a sorcerer and the infamous Necronomicon is mentioned, as is H.P. Lovecraft. Not surprising as Gardner Fox was an early pulp writer and well acquainted with the works therein. Felix summons up three demons who used to rule the Earth until they were imprisoned millennia ago by the Timeless Ones. Gardner Fox was doing cosmic long before Galactus came along but somehow it's so low key it doesn't have any impact. It strikes me as similar to Science-Fiction before John W. Campbell came along. Writers like E.E.'Doc' Smith dreamed up wonders galore but nobody in the stories seemed to be astounded. Campbell insisted the characters react as real human beings would.
There are twenty stories in all, many of twenty-four pages or more. Early sixties DC often had two ten-page tales per issue but cramming all these heroes in necessitated more space. In general, they are split into chapters and the JLA splits into groups to go off and fight the different foes. It works quite well. I didn't like Mike Sekowsky's art in the first issue but it grew on me as I progressed. Either I got used to it or it got better. To be fair the realities of comic production back then meant quality was not always possible. Sekowsky's art tells the story clearly and that's the main thing.
Characterisation in 1960 DC land is virtually nil and the heroes are pretty interchangeable as far as personality goes. The stories are clever tricks and emotion does not come into it much. Stan Lee started putting emotional motivation into stories, having the Thing storm off in a bad mood and so forth. He also started the tradition of endless teenage-style lovelorn yearning of male for female hero. DC Superheroes are not passionate and the men don't even seem to notice that Wonder Woman is a girl. Later, of course, superheroes did notice that their female colleagues were super in other ways and even dated. Later still they raped them. This is progress. These stories, fortunately, are suitable for children. They are good, sweet, innocent yarns from a bygone age and enormous fun if not taken seriously. If you do take them seriously you will hurt yourself because real people can't fly.
The first story is from Brave and the Bold #28 March 1960 and has the Justice League of America fighting Starro, an alien who looks like a starfish. In the second story, they fight the Weapons Master, an evil chap from the future, with weapons. In the third story, they fight Amazo, an android who can steal their powers. In the fourth story, which is the first in their own magazine, they fight Despero, a three-eyed evil alien genius from another dimension. In the fifth, aided by Merlin, they fight Simon Magus.
In the sixth exciting yarn Kanjar Ro, an alien from a far distant planet, makes them battle his rival alien leaders. These are Hyathis who is Panala of planet Alstair. In a footnote, Gardner Fox tells us that Panala is equivalent to an Earth queen. The second is Kromm, Gromar of the planet Mosteel. In a footnote, Gardner Fox tells us that Gromar is equivalent to an Earth king. The third is Sayyar, Jeffan of the planet Llar. In a footnote, Gardner Fox tells us that Jeffan is equivalent to an Earth king. I heard a story that when Walt Simonson started out in comics he went first to DC for work but asked them please, please not to give him a script by Gardner Fox. He couldn't stand the footnotes saying a Squart on the planet Krummy is equivalent to one human mile. Unfortunately, they gave him a Fox script and he ran away. This story may not be true and I must say I disagree with Walt anyway. Gardner Fox didn't write the sort of stuff we're used to nowadays but the stories are endlessly inventive, if sometimes ludicrous, and clearly the work of a very clever man.
Fox was a polymath and his stories often contain useful information. Here, for example, Martian Manhunter converts hematite - chemical formula Fe2 O3 to lodestone - chemical formula Fe3 O4 - with his Martian knowledge of transmutation. So the caption says. The physical process seems to consist of sticking his hands into the ground. The useful footnote tells the schoolboy that Fe2 O3 means two atoms of iron in combination with three atoms of oxygen. I bet Stan Lee didn't know that. The Martian Manhunter is weakened by flame which makes you wonder how Martian civilisation ever got off the ground. If they couldn't make iron how did they get as far as transmutation?
In 'The Fantastic Fingers of Felix Faust' the JLA fight a sorcerer and the infamous Necronomicon is mentioned, as is H.P. Lovecraft. Not surprising as Gardner Fox was an early pulp writer and well acquainted with the works therein. Felix summons up three demons who used to rule the Earth until they were imprisoned millennia ago by the Timeless Ones. Gardner Fox was doing cosmic long before Galactus came along but somehow it's so low key it doesn't have any impact. It strikes me as similar to Science-Fiction before John W. Campbell came along. Writers like E.E.'Doc' Smith dreamed up wonders galore but nobody in the stories seemed to be astounded. Campbell insisted the characters react as real human beings would.
There are twenty stories in all, many of twenty-four pages or more. Early sixties DC often had two ten-page tales per issue but cramming all these heroes in necessitated more space. In general, they are split into chapters and the JLA splits into groups to go off and fight the different foes. It works quite well. I didn't like Mike Sekowsky's art in the first issue but it grew on me as I progressed. Either I got used to it or it got better. To be fair the realities of comic production back then meant quality was not always possible. Sekowsky's art tells the story clearly and that's the main thing.
Characterisation in 1960 DC land is virtually nil and the heroes are pretty interchangeable as far as personality goes. The stories are clever tricks and emotion does not come into it much. Stan Lee started putting emotional motivation into stories, having the Thing storm off in a bad mood and so forth. He also started the tradition of endless teenage-style lovelorn yearning of male for female hero. DC Superheroes are not passionate and the men don't even seem to notice that Wonder Woman is a girl. Later, of course, superheroes did notice that their female colleagues were super in other ways and even dated. Later still they raped them. This is progress. These stories, fortunately, are suitable for children. They are good, sweet, innocent yarns from a bygone age and enormous fun if not taken seriously. If you do take them seriously you will hurt yourself because real people can't fly.
April 30, 2025
It starts with The Brave and the Bold #28 - "Starro the Conqueror".
My friend Peter… the Puffer Fish - - is calling me and — Great Neptune! What an incredible tale it is though-beaming at me!
"As I told you before, Steve Trevor, I can’t marry you until my services are no longer needed to battle crime and injustice."
It’s volplaning groundward, no longer able to fly!
Racing after the second of Starro’s cohorts comes Wonder Woman in her Robot Plane and J’onn J’onzz, the Martial Manhunter, who flies by a negation of gravity…."
Deftly, Wonder Woman uses her bracelets, made of Amazonium, the hardest metal known… to ward off the deadly atomic beams!
"Challenge of the Weapons Master!" is about another guy who travels from 10,000 years in the future (11,960) to kick some JLA ass.
"Few people realize that the Panama Canal runs northwest and southeast rather than due east and west!"
"Sounds like kookie talk to me!"
And that’s Batman talking!
"The Case of the Stolen Super-Powers!" has the JLA members powers blinking out for moments allowing a criminal to escape. It seems that he is stealing their powers - even their device-based powers!
They consistently refer to Wonder Woman’s invisible plane as her ‘Robot Plane’. This was a first for me. Was an explanation for it ever given? Google is no help here.
Of course, the JLA figures (once again) that it can best tackle this problem by splitting up and getting as far away from each other as possible.
"Jose Mendoza, I’ve come from the United States to protect you!"
"Gracias, Lady — but I’m not in any need of protection!"
Apparently the thief is "Amazo", the robot who can duplicate all of the JLA’s powers. I think this is his first appearance! Now how he can duplicate Green Lantern’s ring is a bit of a puzzler. Suffering Sappho! (I just don’t think I can get away with that in conversation).
Once again, Amazo kicking the snot out of the Justice League.
"From my chemical analysis of what makes animals live so long I’ve concocted this ‘Immortality’ elixir!"
"The World of No Return!" introduces Despero! The 3-eyed terror!
"The green-haired girl and man… must be alien beings from another world!"
"This lake of tar is like the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles… where thousands of Earth’s early life-forms were trapped!" Is this early product placement?
"We’ll travel across the gulf of space between planets in about a minute, Wonder Woman! So you’d better take a deep breath because — Here we go!
"You’re a real ‘Bad Dad’ Despero! I’m gonna queer your game! — Snapper Carr
"Secret of the Sinister Sorcerers! is where The Justice League must find the doorway to Magic-Land!
Even this early Superman states that magic robs him of his super-powers.
With a twist of his mightily thewed body he rockets out of the typhoon’s grip…
"I hope this teaches you never to meddle in anything you don’t understand Snapper!"
The Slave Ship of Space has our heroes rowing like… well slaves in a boat in space.
So at this time while Wonder Woman couldn’t fly she could apparently ride the wind currents… . When she lands, she constructs a glider and then… rides the wind currents…
There’s no way I can pull off "Suffering Sappho!".
So this story sees Green Lantern creating a permanent atmosphere on an asteroid along with a force field surrounding it. There, Superman imprisons three ‘criminals’ solely on the word of Kanja Ro, who imprisoned him and the rest of the JLA!
"Doom of the Star Diamond!" elects membership to Green Arrow. And apparently they keep their records on scrolls!?!
"Get him inside her with a Snatch-Beam!" An early version of a Tractor Beam.
"Only one thing to do — SMASH IT WITH OUR HANDS!"
Okay, Wonder Woman twirls her lasso so fast it slips through the dimensional barrier and is guided by Wonder Woman’s thoughts. How many times did they use that trick!!??
Superman apparently has ‘Super-Vision’ which allows him to see invisible objects! And honestly turning himself into a ‘living drill’ seems to be cheating!
"Since the rays can’t get through lead I’ll make a huge egg in which to carry you!"
And Martian Manhunter has X-Ray vision!
"When Gravity Goes Wild!" has the line uttered by Green Lantern: "Have you come to flaunt your treachery in our faces?"
It’s really sad that in these early JLA stories Martian Manhunter looks like nothing so much as a green Telly Savalas.
In this story we see the fearful menace of "Professor Menace" and "King Clock"! But don’t worry, Green Arrow is using is Arrow Plane!
"So powerfully had I thrown it, the Magic Lasso by sheer friction forced itself deeper into the icy ceiling!"
I’m calling BS on that right now.
It’s also pretty lame that something yellow opposes them every issue so that Green Lantern is useless!
"Too bad those lightnings are yellow, Green Lantern— or you could use your power ring against them!"
Of course, something is usually on fire to thwart Martian Manhunter as well.
"I whipped out three fish-hook arrows — which I use for fishing when on vacation - and fired down on you…"
"The wills of the Justice League have been deadened by the combination Graviton-Will-Deadener Ray!"
"The Wheel of Misfortune!" features Professor Fortune. Non-Participating Members: Superman and Batman.
The interior art on this story is especially good. Even Wonder Woman’s granny panties look good! But it’s uncredited.
Constant bad luck foil members of the Justice League and Professor Fortune seems nearby every time.
Green Arrows’ bad luck completely blows a save on a guy that jumped out of a burning building. Street pizza! Bad luck for both of them!
Green Lanterns bad luck causes a truck and its passengers to fall into a ravine ‘far below’!
Martian Manhunter’s bad luck (why isn’t his name ‘Green’ anything?) cause a meteor to crash down on his crime scene. A FLAMING meteor!
After a long scientific study of Luck by Professor Fortune.
"Then, at last, I pin-pointed the Luck factor as unsuspected twin glands in the human body!"
The JLA’s motivations finally revealed:
"How wonderful! To think you’d find the time to answer my letter in person!"
"Now, Hazel, tell us more about this treasure…"
Suddenly I feel the urge to light a cigarette… all part of my good luck, obviously…
"I have to no luck glands, either good or bad, because I am a Martian!
"The Cosmic Funhouse" visits a fun-house on the outskirts of Happy Harbor. A town that will feature prominently in Teen Titans lore.
"Snapper! Ohh— Save me!"
"Hurry, JLA — Quicksville!"
Wait, first Wonder Woman is flying her Robot Plane on Earth and somehow she then gets to a planet orbiting Fomalhaut?!
Forced to obey the mental orders of the holder of the golden lasso, the JLA duo is quickly imprisoned within energy-sapping spirals of glowing crimson, beside the captured Flash and Green Lantern…
So the golden lantern doesn’t just make you tell the truth, it makes you obey any mental commands?
Uh, I can’t even describe how crazy the aliens plans are.
"Then we hit upon the idea of teleporting a cosmic fun-house to Earth…"
"I suggest, Superman, that you take Batman and J’onn J’onzz into the year 11,960 — where your mission will be to capture Xotar!"
All’s well that ends well and we see several JLA members on dates. Notable is Batman dating Kathy Kane and Oliver King dating Bonnie King (who the hell is she?!) and John (J’onn J’onzz) Jones dating Diana Meade (again, who the hell is she??!).
"For Sale - The Justice League!" So a mind-controlling flashlight falls into the lap of a crook. See what I mean?
So of course, he mind-controls the Justice League to steal stuff.
I’m pretty sure no one ever used the term ‘Quicksville’.
Moving her metal bracelets together with lightning-like speed, Wonder Woman strikes a shower of sparks — igniting the highly inflammable sawdust….
"From Gangdom’s past contacts with the Justice League , we learned about their weaknesses! We’ve prepared traps for them from which they can’t possibly escape!"
And once again, Snapper Carr saves the day. :/
"The Origin of the Justice League!" starts with all of the JLA being turned into trees.
"Oh, well, no sense jamming the brain cells!"
"While we don’t have a permanent chairman — when it comes to cleaning time, we all agree Wonder Woman is boss so — back to work everyone!" 🤦🏽♂️
"The fantastic fingers of Felix Faust!" is not a title that spells excitement (no pun intended).
Apparently a billion years ago demons ruled the Earth until they were imprisoned by the beneficent Timeless Ones. They figure they’ll be freed eventually.
"In an infinite amount of time, everything that can happen—will happen…!"
Um…really? So he casts a spell with the demons help to command the Justice League, but he has to make sure he includes Snapper Carr so he rhymes Snapper Carr with "Dactylar" in his spell. 🙄
And thus the JLA are now finger puppets.
In the next story there are a bunch of attacks from the ‘Lord of Time’, who has come completely out of left field and when the JLA tries to fight his armed forces from multiple time periods are captured by Felix Faust because of the most BS reasons.
Martian Manhunter uses his ‘Martian Vision’ to close the ‘time gap’. Superman is defeated because a mongol wears a cat-skin. Wonder Woman is defeated because a hand grenade’s name is derived from ‘Grenada’ which means pomegranate. Martian Manhunter is defeated because a cloud is shaped like a deaths head. Green Lantern is defeated because battleships apparently have an inner wall of yellow metal and his ring’s battering ram looks like a sheep and Aquaman is defeated because his hammerhead shark is like a mallet!!?!?!?
Snapper is defeated because he came with opera classes that had ivory casings!
Green Arrow is defeated because his Explosi-arrow has goose feathers!
First, why doesn’t Superman get dizzy when he does the ‘human drill’ thing?
Second, why does the JLA (except for Wonder Woman) all look like they have ‘dad-bods’?
Third, why the heck are they bringing along Snapper Car?!?@!
"One Hour to Doomsday" starts with the three demons putting the JLA in jars.
The Time Lord escapes the JLA by traveling to the year 3786. Since the month, day or time was not specified the JLA can catch him since he only had an hour head start. So apparently he jumped to January 1st, 3786!
"My Martian Vision is highly sensitive to unusual vibrations!"
I’ve never seen this before. When the JLA was turned to mist and put in bottles, Wonder Woman escapes and uses Green Lantern’s power ring to let them out.
Rath will think I’ve become invisible because I’m twirling so fast! Actually I’m merely ducking behind this big boulder!
Snapper Carr is the ‘Scrappy Doo’ of the Justice League.
For some reason we have a ‘Mystery in Space’ story inserted in her. This is a ‘Book-Length’ novel starring Adam Strange…
"The Planet That Came to a Standstill" featuring a super-guest appearance by the Justice League of America.
Here they reveal that Snapper Carr is still a high-school student. So killing him would be no great loss.
And apparently to overcome a prison made by Green Lantern you simply have to have enough willpower to escape it!
"That means you’re not under the control of the tinkle bell!"
Recent experiments with a centrifuge by navy researchers at Johnsville, Pennsylvania, have shown that the human body can withstand the force of 25Gs — but theorize it can "take" much greater pressures!
Why the heck would you drag Snapper Carr along to answer an emergency JLA signal from Africa!!?
"Editor’s Note: Justice League readers with sharp memories will recall that Flash proposed Adam Strange for membership in the JLA story "Doom of the Star Diamond! "
I know it seems like a lot but this was incredibly helpful and something they don’t do anymore.
"Man, this is disasterville!" SNAP!
Kill him. Kill him now.
OHHH! He knows fire my weakness!"
Come on, bro. Everyone knows fire is your weakness. It comes up every issue.
By the way, this issue tells us that if you have a willpower stronger than Green Lantern, you can prevent him from using his ring! I wonder if this has ever come up again!?
"The Last Case of the Justice League!"
Back off, you boast toastie!"
Dr. Light uses his special disco ball to send the JLA members to separate worlds which will ‘seal their doom’. Of course, he could have just used lasers on them.
My computer mouse is doing that apparently common behavior where it randomly clicks on things. No fixes found so far. So I guess it’ll be an all reading day today.
So of course, Superman and Batman have switched costumes on a hunch and Superman’s telescopic vision which has somehow allowed him to figure out that the rest of the JLA has been sent to different worlds. Somehow he can actually see all the other worlds and somehow even fly there.
What’s even weirder is that no one recognizes Superman in a Batman costume without his cowl on. Superman’s never worn a mask. You think they’d recognize his face!?
It explains why the writer is uncredited. I would be ashamed as well.
This is brutal. "Even the Peacekeeper Companion" is a better read than this.
"Scientists are teaching Dolphins to talk — so I went them one better and taught one of my finny friends to imitate my voice!"
"The Riddle of the Robot Justice League!" has all of the JLA magically disappearing!
"As you may know, there are many universes in existence, separated by vibratory layers which prevent them from ever meeting!" Well, duh!
"We’ll do our best — and if that isn’t good enough — we’ll do even better!" Let’s not send Flash out to speak for us again.
Scientific experiments by Dr. Burr at Yale University have proven that all living things are surrounded by an electro-dynamic field [electrical aura] of their own making! That can short-circuit a robot?!? I call Bull on Burr!
Okay, I’ll give it to them that they were all able to be ‘coached’ by Aquaman while he sat in a kiddy pool, but that’s pretty humiliating for the King of the Sea!
"I’ll Power-Ring a television screen for you Aquaman— so you can watch our progress!"
Wonder Woman’s lasso can create a ’counter-rhythm’ to the Flash’s ultra-speed vibrations?!!? Now I know why they didn’t reprint the letters page!
And yet another ‘Scooby’ joke with Snapper Carr at the end!
"The Menace of the ‘Atom’ Bomb! refers to the shrinking hero Atom who is apparently going to be put into a bowling ball and thrown at the JLA.
For reasons that make no sense whatsoever, Mister Memory gives a bunch of super-villains a device that will make the members of the JLA forget everything about themselves. So they will try to beat their individual nemesis and when that fails they’re use the De-Memorizer and then deliver the victim to Mister Memory.
"Come on down, Wonder Woman! I’m waiting to be captured by you!
Doctor Davis a villain of Green Arrow’s shoots lightning at a cable hoping it will race along the cable and knock Green Arrow out. Instead of say, shooting the lightning directly at Green Arrow?!
"I’m beginning to remember! The shock of being wrenched into this ultra-microscopic world has jarred my memory back to normal!"
So with his memory restored the Atom punches Mister Memory and he falls on a lamp, which falls on the Atom, knocking him out.
I am reminded of a line from the movie "Galaxy Quest". Whoever wrote this episode should die!
And according to this story, you don’t even having to be wearing Green Lanterns ring for your willpower to use it!?!
We also find out that Martian Vision can see "Frequency Pulsations" and follow them back to their source. Though the source is actually the device giving off the signal - not where the signal is being picked up at.
"The Challenge of the Untouchable Aliens"
Would you really yell ‘Help! Save Us!’ If you were Air Force personnel falling out of a Sky Fortress?
How does the Flash’s uniform get back into his ring?
"I have no single arrow to stop a falling missile! I must improvise — turn two arrows into one!"
Batman also tries to Judo kick a stone giant.
"Spell it out for us, cats! Everyone here is from eagersville!"
"The Cavern of the Deadly Spheres" shows that Batman carries silver iodide tablets in his utility belt. The tablets that when put into the clouds will make it rain. Just in case he needs that.
We also learn that Martian Manhunter has ‘Frigi-breath’!
I sense a pattern in these stories. The Justice League is broken into groups of three and each group experiences the exact same phenomenon.
"The Maestro is a clever villain who’s discovered a certain type of music that makes anyone listening to it— dance! "
"Awww, cheer up, Atom! Look at me! I don’t help out on all the JLA cases either!"
Turns out this whole adventure has just been a story read by Snapper Carr!!
But they’ve figured out how to beat the story-puzzle. Have Superman go to a nearby lead mine and then paint his entire body (except his head) with lead to shield him from Kryptonite. Because his face is somehow immune.
Whew! Am I glad that slog is over. Usually I LOVE the Silver Age goofiness but this was absolute hell to read though. Nothing was cute, or clever or interesting and the art was abysmal throughout.
The first Starro stories were fun to read, but after that was bad all the way through. Bad art, bad dialogue completely characterless plotting. Just one dumb thing after another that had more plot holes than the bible.
The sad thing is that I also have volume 2!!
I give this 1 star and recommend it to NO ONE!
My friend Peter… the Puffer Fish - - is calling me and — Great Neptune! What an incredible tale it is though-beaming at me!
"As I told you before, Steve Trevor, I can’t marry you until my services are no longer needed to battle crime and injustice."
It’s volplaning groundward, no longer able to fly!
Racing after the second of Starro’s cohorts comes Wonder Woman in her Robot Plane and J’onn J’onzz, the Martial Manhunter, who flies by a negation of gravity…."
Deftly, Wonder Woman uses her bracelets, made of Amazonium, the hardest metal known… to ward off the deadly atomic beams!
"Challenge of the Weapons Master!" is about another guy who travels from 10,000 years in the future (11,960) to kick some JLA ass.
"Few people realize that the Panama Canal runs northwest and southeast rather than due east and west!"
"Sounds like kookie talk to me!"
And that’s Batman talking!
"The Case of the Stolen Super-Powers!" has the JLA members powers blinking out for moments allowing a criminal to escape. It seems that he is stealing their powers - even their device-based powers!
They consistently refer to Wonder Woman’s invisible plane as her ‘Robot Plane’. This was a first for me. Was an explanation for it ever given? Google is no help here.
Of course, the JLA figures (once again) that it can best tackle this problem by splitting up and getting as far away from each other as possible.
"Jose Mendoza, I’ve come from the United States to protect you!"
"Gracias, Lady — but I’m not in any need of protection!"
Apparently the thief is "Amazo", the robot who can duplicate all of the JLA’s powers. I think this is his first appearance! Now how he can duplicate Green Lantern’s ring is a bit of a puzzler. Suffering Sappho! (I just don’t think I can get away with that in conversation).
Once again, Amazo kicking the snot out of the Justice League.
"From my chemical analysis of what makes animals live so long I’ve concocted this ‘Immortality’ elixir!"
"The World of No Return!" introduces Despero! The 3-eyed terror!
"The green-haired girl and man… must be alien beings from another world!"
"This lake of tar is like the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles… where thousands of Earth’s early life-forms were trapped!" Is this early product placement?
"We’ll travel across the gulf of space between planets in about a minute, Wonder Woman! So you’d better take a deep breath because — Here we go!
"You’re a real ‘Bad Dad’ Despero! I’m gonna queer your game! — Snapper Carr
"Secret of the Sinister Sorcerers! is where The Justice League must find the doorway to Magic-Land!
Even this early Superman states that magic robs him of his super-powers.
With a twist of his mightily thewed body he rockets out of the typhoon’s grip…
"I hope this teaches you never to meddle in anything you don’t understand Snapper!"
The Slave Ship of Space has our heroes rowing like… well slaves in a boat in space.
So at this time while Wonder Woman couldn’t fly she could apparently ride the wind currents… . When she lands, she constructs a glider and then… rides the wind currents…
There’s no way I can pull off "Suffering Sappho!".
So this story sees Green Lantern creating a permanent atmosphere on an asteroid along with a force field surrounding it. There, Superman imprisons three ‘criminals’ solely on the word of Kanja Ro, who imprisoned him and the rest of the JLA!
"Doom of the Star Diamond!" elects membership to Green Arrow. And apparently they keep their records on scrolls!?!
"Get him inside her with a Snatch-Beam!" An early version of a Tractor Beam.
"Only one thing to do — SMASH IT WITH OUR HANDS!"
Okay, Wonder Woman twirls her lasso so fast it slips through the dimensional barrier and is guided by Wonder Woman’s thoughts. How many times did they use that trick!!??
Superman apparently has ‘Super-Vision’ which allows him to see invisible objects! And honestly turning himself into a ‘living drill’ seems to be cheating!
"Since the rays can’t get through lead I’ll make a huge egg in which to carry you!"
And Martian Manhunter has X-Ray vision!
"When Gravity Goes Wild!" has the line uttered by Green Lantern: "Have you come to flaunt your treachery in our faces?"
It’s really sad that in these early JLA stories Martian Manhunter looks like nothing so much as a green Telly Savalas.
In this story we see the fearful menace of "Professor Menace" and "King Clock"! But don’t worry, Green Arrow is using is Arrow Plane!
"So powerfully had I thrown it, the Magic Lasso by sheer friction forced itself deeper into the icy ceiling!"
I’m calling BS on that right now.
It’s also pretty lame that something yellow opposes them every issue so that Green Lantern is useless!
"Too bad those lightnings are yellow, Green Lantern— or you could use your power ring against them!"
Of course, something is usually on fire to thwart Martian Manhunter as well.
"I whipped out three fish-hook arrows — which I use for fishing when on vacation - and fired down on you…"
"The wills of the Justice League have been deadened by the combination Graviton-Will-Deadener Ray!"
"The Wheel of Misfortune!" features Professor Fortune. Non-Participating Members: Superman and Batman.
The interior art on this story is especially good. Even Wonder Woman’s granny panties look good! But it’s uncredited.
Constant bad luck foil members of the Justice League and Professor Fortune seems nearby every time.
Green Arrows’ bad luck completely blows a save on a guy that jumped out of a burning building. Street pizza! Bad luck for both of them!
Green Lanterns bad luck causes a truck and its passengers to fall into a ravine ‘far below’!
Martian Manhunter’s bad luck (why isn’t his name ‘Green’ anything?) cause a meteor to crash down on his crime scene. A FLAMING meteor!
After a long scientific study of Luck by Professor Fortune.
"Then, at last, I pin-pointed the Luck factor as unsuspected twin glands in the human body!"
The JLA’s motivations finally revealed:
"How wonderful! To think you’d find the time to answer my letter in person!"
"Now, Hazel, tell us more about this treasure…"
Suddenly I feel the urge to light a cigarette… all part of my good luck, obviously…
"I have to no luck glands, either good or bad, because I am a Martian!
"The Cosmic Funhouse" visits a fun-house on the outskirts of Happy Harbor. A town that will feature prominently in Teen Titans lore.
"Snapper! Ohh— Save me!"
"Hurry, JLA — Quicksville!"
Wait, first Wonder Woman is flying her Robot Plane on Earth and somehow she then gets to a planet orbiting Fomalhaut?!
Forced to obey the mental orders of the holder of the golden lasso, the JLA duo is quickly imprisoned within energy-sapping spirals of glowing crimson, beside the captured Flash and Green Lantern…
So the golden lantern doesn’t just make you tell the truth, it makes you obey any mental commands?
Uh, I can’t even describe how crazy the aliens plans are.
"Then we hit upon the idea of teleporting a cosmic fun-house to Earth…"
"I suggest, Superman, that you take Batman and J’onn J’onzz into the year 11,960 — where your mission will be to capture Xotar!"
All’s well that ends well and we see several JLA members on dates. Notable is Batman dating Kathy Kane and Oliver King dating Bonnie King (who the hell is she?!) and John (J’onn J’onzz) Jones dating Diana Meade (again, who the hell is she??!).
"For Sale - The Justice League!" So a mind-controlling flashlight falls into the lap of a crook. See what I mean?
So of course, he mind-controls the Justice League to steal stuff.
I’m pretty sure no one ever used the term ‘Quicksville’.
Moving her metal bracelets together with lightning-like speed, Wonder Woman strikes a shower of sparks — igniting the highly inflammable sawdust….
"From Gangdom’s past contacts with the Justice League , we learned about their weaknesses! We’ve prepared traps for them from which they can’t possibly escape!"
And once again, Snapper Carr saves the day. :/
"The Origin of the Justice League!" starts with all of the JLA being turned into trees.
"Oh, well, no sense jamming the brain cells!"
"While we don’t have a permanent chairman — when it comes to cleaning time, we all agree Wonder Woman is boss so — back to work everyone!" 🤦🏽♂️
"The fantastic fingers of Felix Faust!" is not a title that spells excitement (no pun intended).
Apparently a billion years ago demons ruled the Earth until they were imprisoned by the beneficent Timeless Ones. They figure they’ll be freed eventually.
"In an infinite amount of time, everything that can happen—will happen…!"
Um…really? So he casts a spell with the demons help to command the Justice League, but he has to make sure he includes Snapper Carr so he rhymes Snapper Carr with "Dactylar" in his spell. 🙄
And thus the JLA are now finger puppets.
In the next story there are a bunch of attacks from the ‘Lord of Time’, who has come completely out of left field and when the JLA tries to fight his armed forces from multiple time periods are captured by Felix Faust because of the most BS reasons.
Martian Manhunter uses his ‘Martian Vision’ to close the ‘time gap’. Superman is defeated because a mongol wears a cat-skin. Wonder Woman is defeated because a hand grenade’s name is derived from ‘Grenada’ which means pomegranate. Martian Manhunter is defeated because a cloud is shaped like a deaths head. Green Lantern is defeated because battleships apparently have an inner wall of yellow metal and his ring’s battering ram looks like a sheep and Aquaman is defeated because his hammerhead shark is like a mallet!!?!?!?
Snapper is defeated because he came with opera classes that had ivory casings!
Green Arrow is defeated because his Explosi-arrow has goose feathers!
First, why doesn’t Superman get dizzy when he does the ‘human drill’ thing?
Second, why does the JLA (except for Wonder Woman) all look like they have ‘dad-bods’?
Third, why the heck are they bringing along Snapper Car?!?@!
"One Hour to Doomsday" starts with the three demons putting the JLA in jars.
The Time Lord escapes the JLA by traveling to the year 3786. Since the month, day or time was not specified the JLA can catch him since he only had an hour head start. So apparently he jumped to January 1st, 3786!
"My Martian Vision is highly sensitive to unusual vibrations!"
I’ve never seen this before. When the JLA was turned to mist and put in bottles, Wonder Woman escapes and uses Green Lantern’s power ring to let them out.
Rath will think I’ve become invisible because I’m twirling so fast! Actually I’m merely ducking behind this big boulder!
Snapper Carr is the ‘Scrappy Doo’ of the Justice League.
For some reason we have a ‘Mystery in Space’ story inserted in her. This is a ‘Book-Length’ novel starring Adam Strange…
"The Planet That Came to a Standstill" featuring a super-guest appearance by the Justice League of America.
Here they reveal that Snapper Carr is still a high-school student. So killing him would be no great loss.
And apparently to overcome a prison made by Green Lantern you simply have to have enough willpower to escape it!
"That means you’re not under the control of the tinkle bell!"
Recent experiments with a centrifuge by navy researchers at Johnsville, Pennsylvania, have shown that the human body can withstand the force of 25Gs — but theorize it can "take" much greater pressures!
Why the heck would you drag Snapper Carr along to answer an emergency JLA signal from Africa!!?
"Editor’s Note: Justice League readers with sharp memories will recall that Flash proposed Adam Strange for membership in the JLA story "Doom of the Star Diamond! "
I know it seems like a lot but this was incredibly helpful and something they don’t do anymore.
"Man, this is disasterville!" SNAP!
Kill him. Kill him now.
OHHH! He knows fire my weakness!"
Come on, bro. Everyone knows fire is your weakness. It comes up every issue.
By the way, this issue tells us that if you have a willpower stronger than Green Lantern, you can prevent him from using his ring! I wonder if this has ever come up again!?
"The Last Case of the Justice League!"
Back off, you boast toastie!"
Dr. Light uses his special disco ball to send the JLA members to separate worlds which will ‘seal their doom’. Of course, he could have just used lasers on them.
My computer mouse is doing that apparently common behavior where it randomly clicks on things. No fixes found so far. So I guess it’ll be an all reading day today.
So of course, Superman and Batman have switched costumes on a hunch and Superman’s telescopic vision which has somehow allowed him to figure out that the rest of the JLA has been sent to different worlds. Somehow he can actually see all the other worlds and somehow even fly there.
What’s even weirder is that no one recognizes Superman in a Batman costume without his cowl on. Superman’s never worn a mask. You think they’d recognize his face!?
It explains why the writer is uncredited. I would be ashamed as well.
This is brutal. "Even the Peacekeeper Companion" is a better read than this.
"Scientists are teaching Dolphins to talk — so I went them one better and taught one of my finny friends to imitate my voice!"
"The Riddle of the Robot Justice League!" has all of the JLA magically disappearing!
"As you may know, there are many universes in existence, separated by vibratory layers which prevent them from ever meeting!" Well, duh!
"We’ll do our best — and if that isn’t good enough — we’ll do even better!" Let’s not send Flash out to speak for us again.
Scientific experiments by Dr. Burr at Yale University have proven that all living things are surrounded by an electro-dynamic field [electrical aura] of their own making! That can short-circuit a robot?!? I call Bull on Burr!
Okay, I’ll give it to them that they were all able to be ‘coached’ by Aquaman while he sat in a kiddy pool, but that’s pretty humiliating for the King of the Sea!
"I’ll Power-Ring a television screen for you Aquaman— so you can watch our progress!"
Wonder Woman’s lasso can create a ’counter-rhythm’ to the Flash’s ultra-speed vibrations?!!? Now I know why they didn’t reprint the letters page!
And yet another ‘Scooby’ joke with Snapper Carr at the end!
"The Menace of the ‘Atom’ Bomb! refers to the shrinking hero Atom who is apparently going to be put into a bowling ball and thrown at the JLA.
For reasons that make no sense whatsoever, Mister Memory gives a bunch of super-villains a device that will make the members of the JLA forget everything about themselves. So they will try to beat their individual nemesis and when that fails they’re use the De-Memorizer and then deliver the victim to Mister Memory.
"Come on down, Wonder Woman! I’m waiting to be captured by you!
Doctor Davis a villain of Green Arrow’s shoots lightning at a cable hoping it will race along the cable and knock Green Arrow out. Instead of say, shooting the lightning directly at Green Arrow?!
"I’m beginning to remember! The shock of being wrenched into this ultra-microscopic world has jarred my memory back to normal!"
So with his memory restored the Atom punches Mister Memory and he falls on a lamp, which falls on the Atom, knocking him out.
I am reminded of a line from the movie "Galaxy Quest". Whoever wrote this episode should die!
And according to this story, you don’t even having to be wearing Green Lanterns ring for your willpower to use it!?!
We also find out that Martian Vision can see "Frequency Pulsations" and follow them back to their source. Though the source is actually the device giving off the signal - not where the signal is being picked up at.
"The Challenge of the Untouchable Aliens"
Would you really yell ‘Help! Save Us!’ If you were Air Force personnel falling out of a Sky Fortress?
How does the Flash’s uniform get back into his ring?
"I have no single arrow to stop a falling missile! I must improvise — turn two arrows into one!"
Batman also tries to Judo kick a stone giant.
"Spell it out for us, cats! Everyone here is from eagersville!"
"The Cavern of the Deadly Spheres" shows that Batman carries silver iodide tablets in his utility belt. The tablets that when put into the clouds will make it rain. Just in case he needs that.
We also learn that Martian Manhunter has ‘Frigi-breath’!
I sense a pattern in these stories. The Justice League is broken into groups of three and each group experiences the exact same phenomenon.
"The Maestro is a clever villain who’s discovered a certain type of music that makes anyone listening to it— dance! "
"Awww, cheer up, Atom! Look at me! I don’t help out on all the JLA cases either!"
Turns out this whole adventure has just been a story read by Snapper Carr!!
But they’ve figured out how to beat the story-puzzle. Have Superman go to a nearby lead mine and then paint his entire body (except his head) with lead to shield him from Kryptonite. Because his face is somehow immune.
Whew! Am I glad that slog is over. Usually I LOVE the Silver Age goofiness but this was absolute hell to read though. Nothing was cute, or clever or interesting and the art was abysmal throughout.
The first Starro stories were fun to read, but after that was bad all the way through. Bad art, bad dialogue completely characterless plotting. Just one dumb thing after another that had more plot holes than the bible.
The sad thing is that I also have volume 2!!
I give this 1 star and recommend it to NO ONE!
April 5, 2020
Un salto nel passato del fumetto DC. Leggendo queste storie viene spontaneo confrontarle con quelle dei Fantastici 4 di Lee e Kirby che esordirono qualche mese dopo il bimestrale della Justice League.
Purtroppo per gli autori di questo volume, Fox scompare al confronto di Stan Lee e Sekowsky è un disegnatore abbastanza scarso confrontato anche a gente come Don Heck e Dyck Ayers.
L'unica storia ben disegnata, senza figure estremamente legnose e con sfondi buoni, è quella di Carmine Infantino, tratta però dalla collana di Adam Strange (Mystery in Space).
A livello di storie la narrazione è sempre quella, estremamente ripetitiva, di dividere il gruppo in squadre. Batman e Superman sono quasi sempre non coinvolti con qualche scusa, gli avversari sempre dimenticabili, a parte forse Kanjar Ro, e le storie non raggiungono la sufficienza che dopo molti numeri, con la'rrivo di Felix Faust e dei Tre Demoni, dove finalmente c'è un poco di brio.
Solo perché sono buono e perché queste storie furono quelle che spinsero l'editore della Marvel a pubblicare i Fantastici 4 posso dare la seconda stella.
Purtroppo per gli autori di questo volume, Fox scompare al confronto di Stan Lee e Sekowsky è un disegnatore abbastanza scarso confrontato anche a gente come Don Heck e Dyck Ayers.
L'unica storia ben disegnata, senza figure estremamente legnose e con sfondi buoni, è quella di Carmine Infantino, tratta però dalla collana di Adam Strange (Mystery in Space).
A livello di storie la narrazione è sempre quella, estremamente ripetitiva, di dividere il gruppo in squadre. Batman e Superman sono quasi sempre non coinvolti con qualche scusa, gli avversari sempre dimenticabili, a parte forse Kanjar Ro, e le storie non raggiungono la sufficienza che dopo molti numeri, con la'rrivo di Felix Faust e dei Tre Demoni, dove finalmente c'è un poco di brio.
Solo perché sono buono e perché queste storie furono quelle che spinsero l'editore della Marvel a pubblicare i Fantastici 4 posso dare la seconda stella.
December 9, 2013
The Justice League of America was the first of several silver age superhero teams. It would be the basis for the popular Super Friends cartoon series in the 1970s. This book collects there 1960 tryout in Brave and the Bold Issues 28-30, their first sixteen adventure in their own book in Justice League of America 1-16 as well as a team up with Adam Strange in Mystery in Space #75.
The team begins with Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, the Martin Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman. While DC’s two most popular characters, Batman and Superman aren’t honorary members as they were during the golden age with the Justice Society of America, they are absent from several adventures including the first one. Green Arrow would join the team in Justice League of America #4 and the Atom would sign on in Issue 14.
Batman and Superman missed out the first JLA adventure published in the Brave and the Bold #28 as the others take on Starro, a gigantic alien starfish. The character is a more serious threat than he looks, and the story is fun even if the ending is a little silly. Average teenager Snapper Carr is invited to join the JLA as an honorary member. Snapper contributes a little to the plot but mostly adds appropriate 1960s youth slang.
Batman and Superman are presents for B&B #29 that features a man from 10,000 years in the future who believes he’s destined to beat the Justice League. This is one of the best stories in the book. B&B #30 introduces Amazo, a great recurring villain who steals the heroes powers.
JLA #1 introduces Despero. JLA #2 sends the league into the world of magic and need the help of Merlin to get back. Issue 3 introduces Kanjar Ro who arrives in a silly space galley complete with rows and requires the Justice League to defeat his enemies or the whole world will remain frozen.
Issue 4 is actually a somewhat complex story about an alien good guy who has to pretend to be a villain to get the JLA to defeat some dangers so he can return to his home world. Issue 5 has Green Arrow on trial for helping some villains escape, but there’s more to this story than meets the eye. JLA #6 places our heroes against a man who has discovered luck is a scientific formula he can change.
Issue 7 has evil aliens running a funhouse. Issue 8 features a criminal that can control the Justice League and offers their services for sale rather than killing them. Snapper Carr actually proves his worth in this story. Issue 9 attempts to create an actual origin story for the Justice League fighting the meteor people in what’s really an okay flashback. Issues 10 and 11 are the only multi-part stories. In Issue 10, Felix Faust casts a spell making the Justice League his temporary slaves, so he can take over the world. He fails at that but manages to release some demons who the JLA has to fight in Issue 11.
The Mystery in Space story is more about Adam Strange with the Justice League guest starring as Strange tries to get their help to save the Planet Rann. It’s not really a Justice League but is really fun. JLA #12 introduces Dr. Light who is a strong villain with his various light based tricks and presents a real challenge to our.
Another of my favorites in here is JLA #13 which has the league battling robot duplicates of themselves on an alien world. Aquman doesn’t compete because there’s no water on this planet. So instead he serves as a coach/cheerleader which does suggest that Aquaman has value to the team even when not in the water.
JLA #14 begins with the JLA voting to make the Atom a member of their team, but once the ballots are counted, the entire team can’t remember who he is. Neither can the Atom who is testifying in a court case and both he and everyone else forgets who he is and what he’s doing there. It’s an interesting tale as the JLA faces Mister Memory. My big problem with this one is that Mister Memory is that was an existing villain with an entirely different villain identity. Given how much these “theme” villains put into their identities, you can’t just change them to something different and I’m not even sure why they reused this forgettable looking villain.
JLA #15 has the League trying to stop rock monsters from destroying several cities but it’s not just a random monster. JLA #16 has the League facing the Maesto who has a plan that lowers the curtain on the Justice League. This story has a nice fun twist.
Overall, this was a fun book, even if it was a bit silly at time. DC stories of the era were strongly plot based as well as focused on getting the League a chance to show off their powers. The plots are decent and the villains are good for the most part even though there aren’t a ton of heavy hitters in this line up.
If the book’s plot are good exciting sci-fi fun, the book suffers from characters who have no seeming personality in the book. At one point, Green Lantern used his power wing to switch costumes between the characters with Batman disguised as Wonder Woman and you couldn’t tell.
Wonder Woman wasn’t totally respected in this book. JLA members has a loose structure where any hero could say, “Me, Aquaman, and the Flash will go to Atlantic City.” Wonder Woman never makes such a pronouncement, instead she’s always ordered. The only time she commands is when the Justice League is cleaning up its headquarters. Nice!
Batman is also under utilized in this book. As the JLA served to show off superpowers which Batman didn’t have this was bound to happen, plus they didn’t give him much in the way of “cool batgear” to show off.
If I had one big complaint is that with the early JLA, the sum is less than its parts. Having read Showcase volumes about Superman, the Atom, the Flash, and Martian Manhunter from the same era, all of them were more fun in their own stories, and their own individual stories were typically better than the Justice League stories.
All that said, the Justice League was fun and it succeeded at reintroducing the superhero team concept to the 1960s
The team begins with Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, the Martin Manhunter, Superman, and Wonder Woman. While DC’s two most popular characters, Batman and Superman aren’t honorary members as they were during the golden age with the Justice Society of America, they are absent from several adventures including the first one. Green Arrow would join the team in Justice League of America #4 and the Atom would sign on in Issue 14.
Batman and Superman missed out the first JLA adventure published in the Brave and the Bold #28 as the others take on Starro, a gigantic alien starfish. The character is a more serious threat than he looks, and the story is fun even if the ending is a little silly. Average teenager Snapper Carr is invited to join the JLA as an honorary member. Snapper contributes a little to the plot but mostly adds appropriate 1960s youth slang.
Batman and Superman are presents for B&B #29 that features a man from 10,000 years in the future who believes he’s destined to beat the Justice League. This is one of the best stories in the book. B&B #30 introduces Amazo, a great recurring villain who steals the heroes powers.
JLA #1 introduces Despero. JLA #2 sends the league into the world of magic and need the help of Merlin to get back. Issue 3 introduces Kanjar Ro who arrives in a silly space galley complete with rows and requires the Justice League to defeat his enemies or the whole world will remain frozen.
Issue 4 is actually a somewhat complex story about an alien good guy who has to pretend to be a villain to get the JLA to defeat some dangers so he can return to his home world. Issue 5 has Green Arrow on trial for helping some villains escape, but there’s more to this story than meets the eye. JLA #6 places our heroes against a man who has discovered luck is a scientific formula he can change.
Issue 7 has evil aliens running a funhouse. Issue 8 features a criminal that can control the Justice League and offers their services for sale rather than killing them. Snapper Carr actually proves his worth in this story. Issue 9 attempts to create an actual origin story for the Justice League fighting the meteor people in what’s really an okay flashback. Issues 10 and 11 are the only multi-part stories. In Issue 10, Felix Faust casts a spell making the Justice League his temporary slaves, so he can take over the world. He fails at that but manages to release some demons who the JLA has to fight in Issue 11.
The Mystery in Space story is more about Adam Strange with the Justice League guest starring as Strange tries to get their help to save the Planet Rann. It’s not really a Justice League but is really fun. JLA #12 introduces Dr. Light who is a strong villain with his various light based tricks and presents a real challenge to our.
Another of my favorites in here is JLA #13 which has the league battling robot duplicates of themselves on an alien world. Aquman doesn’t compete because there’s no water on this planet. So instead he serves as a coach/cheerleader which does suggest that Aquaman has value to the team even when not in the water.
JLA #14 begins with the JLA voting to make the Atom a member of their team, but once the ballots are counted, the entire team can’t remember who he is. Neither can the Atom who is testifying in a court case and both he and everyone else forgets who he is and what he’s doing there. It’s an interesting tale as the JLA faces Mister Memory. My big problem with this one is that Mister Memory is that was an existing villain with an entirely different villain identity. Given how much these “theme” villains put into their identities, you can’t just change them to something different and I’m not even sure why they reused this forgettable looking villain.
JLA #15 has the League trying to stop rock monsters from destroying several cities but it’s not just a random monster. JLA #16 has the League facing the Maesto who has a plan that lowers the curtain on the Justice League. This story has a nice fun twist.
Overall, this was a fun book, even if it was a bit silly at time. DC stories of the era were strongly plot based as well as focused on getting the League a chance to show off their powers. The plots are decent and the villains are good for the most part even though there aren’t a ton of heavy hitters in this line up.
If the book’s plot are good exciting sci-fi fun, the book suffers from characters who have no seeming personality in the book. At one point, Green Lantern used his power wing to switch costumes between the characters with Batman disguised as Wonder Woman and you couldn’t tell.
Wonder Woman wasn’t totally respected in this book. JLA members has a loose structure where any hero could say, “Me, Aquaman, and the Flash will go to Atlantic City.” Wonder Woman never makes such a pronouncement, instead she’s always ordered. The only time she commands is when the Justice League is cleaning up its headquarters. Nice!
Batman is also under utilized in this book. As the JLA served to show off superpowers which Batman didn’t have this was bound to happen, plus they didn’t give him much in the way of “cool batgear” to show off.
If I had one big complaint is that with the early JLA, the sum is less than its parts. Having read Showcase volumes about Superman, the Atom, the Flash, and Martian Manhunter from the same era, all of them were more fun in their own stories, and their own individual stories were typically better than the Justice League stories.
All that said, the Justice League was fun and it succeeded at reintroducing the superhero team concept to the 1960s
May 17, 2020
These stories, as formulaic as they are, set a lot of the background of what is the DC universe. The art by Mike Siekowski is excellent and it gets better as the stories go. By the end they start getting a little looser but wow does Snapper Carr not age well. I'm literally rolled my eyes at his dialogue. Groan inducing but it is part of that early 60snSilver Age charm.
December 31, 2018
This is an awesome collection of the first Justice League Of America !!
September 29, 2013
I'm a little conflicted here. I started reading this at the same time as the Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 1, and the comics in this a just a little bit older than FF. As I've said in other reviews, I'm not as familiar with DC characters (except for the Green Arrow and some occasional forays into the DCU in the mid '00s), so I am not used to the Silver Age DC style. The art throughout is typical of the early '60s, and the stories and characters have the simplicity that was a hallmark of the era. They are all fun little more-or-less self-contained stories that could be read by anyone of just about any age (though anyone over 13 or so may be too cynical to appreciate what was being done here)
I'll get into a few reasons it isn't fair that I am reading this alongside Fantastic Four. See, Fantastic Four was Marvel's response to this kind of team book. In the Justice League stories all the characters are flat. Each character may have one or two personality traits that get shown in the stories, but honestly I don't remember them. I do know that Aquaman needs to be in liquid every hour or that Green Lantern's power is useless against yellow because those are the sorts of things that came up every issue. That's a hallmark of the era when people would be able to pick up a comic from the news stand and be able to start (and not really be confused) with any issue. All of the characters (except Snapper Carr) have basically the same voice and blank-slate personality. Contrast that with Fantastic Four (even in the first several issues) where Thing was tough and down-to-earth, Mr. Fantastic is brainy and emotionally distant, the Human Torch is headstrong but also a prankster, and Sue is the emotional core of the team.
Also, the characters always get along and never question a plan or disagree unless there is a specific plot point where they have to act suspiciously. Contrast that with Fantastic Four where the characters fought, argued, picked on one another, and quit the team, but also loved, stood up for each other, and always managed to rejoin. I realize that they were starting to target slightly older kids and adults while DC was content with the younger demographic.
Overall, I feel like I am being harsh to the Justice League. I had a good amount of fun reading these stories, but I had to pace myself or they would get repetitive. I will probably get the urge to pick this back up and read a few stories again, if only because I like some of what came from these stories.
I'll get into a few reasons it isn't fair that I am reading this alongside Fantastic Four. See, Fantastic Four was Marvel's response to this kind of team book. In the Justice League stories all the characters are flat. Each character may have one or two personality traits that get shown in the stories, but honestly I don't remember them. I do know that Aquaman needs to be in liquid every hour or that Green Lantern's power is useless against yellow because those are the sorts of things that came up every issue. That's a hallmark of the era when people would be able to pick up a comic from the news stand and be able to start (and not really be confused) with any issue. All of the characters (except Snapper Carr) have basically the same voice and blank-slate personality. Contrast that with Fantastic Four (even in the first several issues) where Thing was tough and down-to-earth, Mr. Fantastic is brainy and emotionally distant, the Human Torch is headstrong but also a prankster, and Sue is the emotional core of the team.
Also, the characters always get along and never question a plan or disagree unless there is a specific plot point where they have to act suspiciously. Contrast that with Fantastic Four where the characters fought, argued, picked on one another, and quit the team, but also loved, stood up for each other, and always managed to rejoin. I realize that they were starting to target slightly older kids and adults while DC was content with the younger demographic.
Overall, I feel like I am being harsh to the Justice League. I had a good amount of fun reading these stories, but I had to pace myself or they would get repetitive. I will probably get the urge to pick this back up and read a few stories again, if only because I like some of what came from these stories.
December 3, 2016
This was my first taste of Silver Age comics, I having only previously read as far back as the Bronze Age story "Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore!" It's definitely a change from modern comics, what with all the heroes speaking with perfect grammar and long-winded exposition accompanying every other panel.
But reading this made me remember that in the old days, comics were written for kids, plain and simple. I imagine how your average ten-year-old boy might get a kick out of seeing all these colorful heroes and villains cavort about on the pulpy magazine pages. I actually caught myself laughing at some of the cornball dialogue and over-the-top visuals.
But as I slogged through this phone book-thick digest, I realized that if a kid is going to read something, this is a pretty good thing to have them read. Us jaded adults might find it a tad dull, but a kid is going to see well-mannered heroes fighting wacky crooks while learning how to read in a fun way.
They'll pick up all sorts of unique vocabulary words, such as "experimental" and "gladiator." It will also turn on those little tykes' imaginations, getting them to think outside-the-box and develop creativity. Plus, it will be just darn fun.
So if you're thinking of a fun Christmas present for your kids, consider a bona fide comic book classic. Maybe they'll even let you borrow it! If they watch any of the animated TV shows, such as "Young Justice", they'll get a good idea of where it all came from.
But reading this made me remember that in the old days, comics were written for kids, plain and simple. I imagine how your average ten-year-old boy might get a kick out of seeing all these colorful heroes and villains cavort about on the pulpy magazine pages. I actually caught myself laughing at some of the cornball dialogue and over-the-top visuals.
But as I slogged through this phone book-thick digest, I realized that if a kid is going to read something, this is a pretty good thing to have them read. Us jaded adults might find it a tad dull, but a kid is going to see well-mannered heroes fighting wacky crooks while learning how to read in a fun way.
They'll pick up all sorts of unique vocabulary words, such as "experimental" and "gladiator." It will also turn on those little tykes' imaginations, getting them to think outside-the-box and develop creativity. Plus, it will be just darn fun.
So if you're thinking of a fun Christmas present for your kids, consider a bona fide comic book classic. Maybe they'll even let you borrow it! If they watch any of the animated TV shows, such as "Young Justice", they'll get a good idea of where it all came from.
March 11, 2013
Kein Wunder!
Kein Wunder, dass Marvel in dieser Zeitperiode mit DC den Boden aufgewischt hat. Diese Stories als "formelhaft" und "repetitiv" zu bezeichnen ist ja noch ein Kompliment. Alle Geschichten laufen so ab:
1. Die Gefahr tritt auf und wird erkannt
2. Die JLA teilt sich in 2er- oder in besonders kreativen Fällen in 3er-Gruppen auf (besonders gefällt mir dann der Satz: "Oh, Aquaman, we've never teamed up together, so let's fight DANGER XYZ together!")
3. Sie besiegen durch Zusammenwerfen der Superkräfte den Bösen
4. Alles ist toll!
Auch hier gibt es die typischen SilverAge-Probleme: Praktisch jeder Gegner von Superman hat Kryptonit in der Hinterhand, fast alle Gegner von Green Lantern sind gelb, in jeder Geschichte taucht Feuer passend zum Martian Manhunter auf.
Extrem ermüdend. Diese Geschichten wurden für Kinder geschrieben, und zwar für Kinder der 50er Jahre. Heutzutage fast unlesbar. den zweiten Stern gibts nur für manche Highlights und die irren Ideen, die die Autoren ohne jede Scham und Angst vor Gelächter eingebaut haben.
Kein Wunder, dass Marvel in dieser Zeitperiode mit DC den Boden aufgewischt hat. Diese Stories als "formelhaft" und "repetitiv" zu bezeichnen ist ja noch ein Kompliment. Alle Geschichten laufen so ab:
1. Die Gefahr tritt auf und wird erkannt
2. Die JLA teilt sich in 2er- oder in besonders kreativen Fällen in 3er-Gruppen auf (besonders gefällt mir dann der Satz: "Oh, Aquaman, we've never teamed up together, so let's fight DANGER XYZ together!")
3. Sie besiegen durch Zusammenwerfen der Superkräfte den Bösen
4. Alles ist toll!
Auch hier gibt es die typischen SilverAge-Probleme: Praktisch jeder Gegner von Superman hat Kryptonit in der Hinterhand, fast alle Gegner von Green Lantern sind gelb, in jeder Geschichte taucht Feuer passend zum Martian Manhunter auf.
Extrem ermüdend. Diese Geschichten wurden für Kinder geschrieben, und zwar für Kinder der 50er Jahre. Heutzutage fast unlesbar. den zweiten Stern gibts nur für manche Highlights und die irren Ideen, die die Autoren ohne jede Scham und Angst vor Gelächter eingebaut haben.
August 29, 2009
Much, much better than the Wonder Woman Vol 1.
Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and the Flash (with Green Arrow and the Atom later) team up to fight injustice.
These stories are often almost clever. In these early stories Aquaman is considered more useful to the team than Batman. Batman is often written out of the story or disregarded by the villain as he has no powers of note.
Almost every member has a peculiar weakness that, of course, every villain is aware of. But by working together as a team they overcome the devious enemies. The giant yellow diamond with tiny flames and kryptonite in it was my favorite absurd trap.
The "honorary member" Snapper Carr is crazy with is hip speak and snapping but mostly harmless.
Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and the Flash (with Green Arrow and the Atom later) team up to fight injustice.
These stories are often almost clever. In these early stories Aquaman is considered more useful to the team than Batman. Batman is often written out of the story or disregarded by the villain as he has no powers of note.
Almost every member has a peculiar weakness that, of course, every villain is aware of. But by working together as a team they overcome the devious enemies. The giant yellow diamond with tiny flames and kryptonite in it was my favorite absurd trap.
The "honorary member" Snapper Carr is crazy with is hip speak and snapping but mostly harmless.
February 10, 2011
The beginning adventures of the Justice League. This volume has the League battling all sorts of strange and absurd villains. In my favorite story, the science and magic dimensions are switched, as often happens, and the Justice League has to team up with Merlin in order to save the day. The Justice League should really consider having higher standards when letting people join the League. I’m speaking of Snapper Carr of course. Why would you let a teenager with no powers have a Justice League communicator and keys to the secret hide out? Snapper Carr is the worst, the only thing he is capable of is snapping his fingers and making moronic comments. I look forward to the day when he is smashed by a robot or dies in some other horrible manner. Everything else about the book is great.
February 22, 2015
The most ridiculous 1960s comics I've read. The JLA are constantly being harrassed by villains inside their supposedly 'secret' base, and forever getting mind-controlled by gases, rays, radiation, and other silly things. Every character sounds the same, with dialogue interchangeable between Wonder-Woman, Green Lantern, Superman et al so there are no distinct personalities within the team - apart from the incredibly dated teen speak that comes out of Snapper Carr, very much the Scrappy Doo of the JLA world. The stories in this volume were fun, but no one near as satisfying as Marvel's 1960s efforts.
December 1, 2007
As much as I love the JLA, this stuff really shows its age. The storytelling, the use of the comics medium, the character development, all very depressing even compared to the Marvel stuff of this era, which is much more readable.
June 7, 2009
I loved it!
May 9, 2011
On average there were more crappy stories than in The Avengers, but there were a couple of stories that were better than anything The Avengers had.
Still, I wish I had never read either of these.
Still, I wish I had never read either of these.
November 27, 2014
Some good moments but it's strange to see how far behind Marvel DC was at this time period.
July 27, 2011
Nice to see how it all started, even if the stories are a wee bit dated. Oh, and Snapper Carr is very annoying.
March 11, 2014
Whilst the stories often descend into cliche and lack character this is a strong collection from the Silver Age.
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