Well here we are, Justice League of America #100.  One hundred years issues prior to the day when I would pick up JLA #200 in a local market and start my comic book reading hobby that has become a rather significant part of my life today.

This book is the beginning of an expansion of the JLA/JSA team-up stories that include a third team which will be the theme moving forward for the next few stories we talk about leading up to the big Crisis story coming soon, so let’s get to it and meet our first group of guest stars, the Seven Soldiers of Victory.

We open our story as an alarm is going off at the JLA’s satellite, but no one is there to answer the phone.  The JLA has decided to hold an anniversary party at their original cave headquarters and as Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Hawkman, and Aquaman are walking through musing about the old headquarters the phone rings in the abandoned headquarters and out pops the Atom.

The scene shifts rapidly to the remaining Justice Leaguers as Flash and his ally Elongated Man are wrapping up the Casino Gang.  We see Martian Manhunter back on Mars rebuilding his home planet after a devastating war.  Metamorpho flies away from the Stagg compound to be with his friends in the JLA while the recently duped Snapper Carr is unable to face the Leaguers following his unwitting betrayal.  Adam Strange is on Rann and will be unable to join the JLA due to his Zeta beam radiation as Zatanna pops into the JLA headquarters to join the festivities.  One by one the JLA show up with Batman and Diana Prince joining the group.

You’ll notice I said DIANA PRINCE there, not Wonder Woman…

Wonder Woman gets a new direction around this time and has since quit the Justice League prior to Black Canary’s entrance to the League as of JLA #75.  Here, we see her billed as Diana Prince, not Wonder Woman and this change will be the catalyst for a lot of things coming down the pike very soon and we will deal with this change more in depth in a few postings.

When all the JLA and their allies have gathered they all get transported from Earth-One to Earth-Two by the mystic workings of Dr. Fate.

The assembled JSA members are Doctor Fate, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hourman, Johnny Thunder, Red Tornado, Sandman, Starman, Wonder Woman, and Wildcat.

The JSA explains that a gigantic hand is prepped to crush Earth-2 in it’s grip if the world does not surrender itself to it.  The hand belongs to a villain called Iron Hand.  In order to defeat the Iron Hand, the JSA attempted twice to defeat it being repelled both times.  Dr. Fate then consulted his mystic crystal and it showed him a gravestone talking about the “Unknown Soldier of Victory who died so that his world would live.”

Dr. Fate was unable to divine the meaning behind the headstone but with the added might of Zatanna and Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt the three mystics work in tandem to achieve a greater working (this is something that will also become a recurring scenario much later in the Crisis stories).

The Oracle appears, apparently a cosmic creature that assists the heroes by telling them the tale of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.

The Seven Soldiers originated on Earth-2, but after fighting their last villain, the Nebula Man, were believed lost.

The Oracle reveals that the 7 Soldiers are lost in time in other dimensions and are no longer acting as themselves but as other entities and it is now the duty of the JLA and JSA to bring the 7 Soldiers back into this dimension to save Earth-2.

The teams are quickly picked in Justice League tradition the larger team breaks into smaller teams to solve the problem quicker.  Diana Prince elects to stay behind to coordinate the effort at the JSA headquarters.

Team One:  Atom, Doctor Fate, and Elongated Man

This team is taken to an existence where the Crimson Avenger has been transformed into the King of the Aztecs.  While the heroes cautiously watch from a safe distance they sneak in and attempt to free the Crimson Avenger to find the Crimson Avenger is capable of zapping the heroes unconscious.

Doctor Fate and Elongated Man awaken to find themselves chained up, the Atom has managed to avoid this fate and once they are relatively alone with the Crimson Avenger the heroes free themselves with Atom and Dr. Fate taking on the Crimson Avenger and Elongated Man taking on the guards.

Elongated Man’s mystery sniffing nose keeps focusing on a glowing meteor that once Dr. Fate destroys the rock Crimson Avenger loses these new powers and comes to his senses and allies are joined.

In a small headquarters the Iron Hand, a villain of the Seven Soldiers of Victory waits as time ticks down to his deadline to take over the world.

Next Up:  The Hand That Shook The World