Posted by darren in Comics
As the Justice League remains helpless on Earth-Three the JSA begin to plot how they will repel the Crime Syndicate’s invasion of Earth-Two, when the Earth-Three villains transport into the JSA headquarters via the globe Doctor Fate used to view where the JLA are being held captive.
Remembering the JLA’s warning to the JSA that they should not let the Crime Synidcate touch them and say their magic word of “Volthoom!” the JSAers are forced to find ways to defeat the villains in unique ways.
Johnny Quick uses his speed on Hawkman to get the winged wonder to get back down to Earth. As Hawkman resists, he decides to instead fly full force and knock Johnny Quick out with a massive punch. Unable to say the word, Hawkman believes he has won this battle.
Doctor Fate defeats Power Ring with the animals of the zodiac while Dr. Mid-Nite uses his blackout bombs and a bit of brain power to finish his battle with Owlman.
Black Canary is able to use one of her “freeze pellets” in her cameo (yeah cuz its really got room for a whole bunch of crime fighting equipment up in there), and put that down Superwoman’s throat, causing her vocal cords to “freeze up” so Superwoman cannot say “Volthoom!” Black More >
Posted by darren in Comics
It is that time again when the Justice League of America title is home to another earth-shattering Crisis tale.
This time the tale introduces another Earth and another group of analogues to our mainstay characters.
Earth-One
Earth-Two
Earth-Three
Superman
Superman
Ultraman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Superwoman
Batman
Batman
Owlman
Flash
Flash
Johnny Quick
Green Lantern
Green Lantern
Power Ring
Before we get into the meet of the story, let us make sure we understand a few things.
Analogues are those characters that are duplicates of another character in another Earth or Dimension. They share enough traits that they may seem identical or similar to another character.
Superman of Earth-1 and Earth-2 are both depowered by Kryptonite while Ultraman of Earth-3 is powered up when he is exposed to Kryptonite.
Wonder Woman of Earth-1 and Earth-2 are both wielders of amazing amazonian strength, so is Superwoman, but her name has changed. In addition Superwoman carries a lasso with powers completely different than Wonder Woman’s.
Batman of Earth-1 and Earth-2 are both very similar, as is Owlman. The main difference is the symbol that each chose in order to don their costumed persona, instead of a bat flying through a window, it was an owl.
Flash of Earth-1 and Earth-2 have similar powers but dissimilar costumes. Johnny Quick of Earth-3 has a costume similar More >
It’s an ordinary day for the JLA and the JSA in 1982 as each group preps to enjoy their annual get together which is typically set for Thanksgiving. When you know nothing has gone wrong yet, that other shoe is about to fall.
The other shoe is time travel. So far we’ve dealt with stories that are fairly lineal with only the Legion of Super-Heroes going to Smallville to pick up Superboy and go to the 30th Century and back. Consider those your training wheel for time travel that I am now forced to take off the bike to see if you can keep your bike out of the ditch.
As our heroes (Aquaman, Firestorm, Hawkman, Superman, and Zatanna) await their guests the Justice Society of America, the Justice Society on Earth-Two (Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, Huntress, Power Girl, and Starman) enter the Transmatter Cube which transports people from one Earth to another. Unfortunately deviltry is afoot! Instead of the JSA, the Crime Syndicate appears and makes quick work of the JLA. The Crime Syndicate then leave the JLA’s satellite for Earth-One to start to take over this planet, and they do not seem to fond of a gentleman named Per Degaton.
The JSA members meanwhile have materialized in 1982, but not More >
So we have been over who and how the All-Star Squadron formed and what their focus is in WWII on Earth-Two. With all that covered we are going to briefly go over the main five All-Stars.
Libby Lawrence is a journalist and a patriot. Naturally athletic and of course not suitable for battling the forces overseas, Libby takes it upon herself to be inspired by the Liberty Bell and quite possibly the bomber The Liberty Belle and becomes a bombastic woman of mystery.
Whenever the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia was struck her belt buckle which was made out of the missing piece of the Liberty Bell would give her an increase in strength, speed, and stamina. Eventually, Libby would gain some sonic powers thanks to a Nazi villain and the actual Liberty Belle. Libby is the first female super-hero to hold the chairmanship of an organization historically, but since her position was awarded in the 1980s, its hard to say that this decision was not in part influenced by the Women’s Liberation movement.
(Those pants are called Jodhpurs, handy for trivia nights at your local bar.)
Johnny Quick is Johnny Chambers who works as a newsreel photographer. You must be saying, “Well, I sure hope he met Libby at More >
Okay, we’ve eased into the idea of alternate earths correct?
Previously there was Earth-One, the earth where all our characters exist and…
Earth-Prime, the earth where all of us gentle readers live in a non-super powered world.
Well HANG ON FOLKS! We’re about to blow that idea up to the ceiling.
Just take a look at this cover.
Here are the keys I would like to point out:
- The 20th Annual team-up of the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America.
- Guest starring the All-Star Squadron
- And who are those quasi familiar villains coming out of that cube?
All good questions… now, just park it for a second.
The Justice Society is the precursor of the Justice League. Originally published back in the 1940s primarily for kids and to be shipped overseas for the boys far from home. The Justice Society fought all sorts of Nazi saboteurs and their own super-criminals.
In the 40s most heroes veered on the “pulp” style of masked mystery men. The only main DC characters published at the time who did not appear in the JSA were those with their own adventures like Superman and Batman as those characters were “too busy” in their own books.
After the world had vanquished the Axis threat, superheroes waned in popularity More >
