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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 6, 2015 5:44:25 GMT -5
DC Special Series #10 (Secret Origins of Super-Heroes Special 1978)
1978 ( released January 30, 1978) $.60
Cover Art: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, signed
“This Immortal Destiny (The Secret Origin of Doctor Fate)” 8 pages
E. Nelson Bridwell (Editor), Paul Levitz (Writer), Joe Staton (Penciller), Mike Nasser (Inker), Shelly Leferman (Letterer), Adrienne Roy (Colorist)
FC: Doctor Fate
SC: Nabu the Wise (in flashback; true nature as a Lord of Ordeer revealed), Inza Nelson, Sven Nelson (in flashback)
Synopsis
While writing in her diary, Inza Nelson reminisces about her husband's past and how he came to assume the mantle of Doctor Fate.
Continuity
This story is essentially a retelling of the “Doctor Fate” origin story in More Fun Comics #67 (May 1941) but with several important differences:
● In the original, Kent Nelson was offered the chance to study magic as recompense for his father's death; here, Nabu gives him no choice.
● In the original, Nabu was an alien from the planet “Cilia;” here, he is an exiled Lord of Order.
● In the original, Nabu returned to Cilia after passing the mantle of Earth's mystic guardian to Doctor Fate; here, his spirit inhabits Fate's golden helmet.
The changes to Doctor Fate's origin recorded in 1st Issue Special #9 (as outlined in the first Continuity note for that issue) are also incorporated into this version.
Although it is not stated explicitly, the events of Doctor Fate's origin seem to be restored to their proper chronological setting (beginning circa 1920) from the more contemporary setting used in 1st Issue Special #9.
Inza Nelson probably appears here between her appearances in the “Justice Society of America” stories in All-Star Comics #66 and 70 but this cannot be confirmed. Doctor Fate appears only in flashback in this story.
The Good Guys
This is the first story to explicitly state that Kent and Inza Nelson are kept young by Fate's magic.
This is the first time that Nabu is explicitly identified as a Lord of Order rather than as one of Order's agents. It is not clear if Nabu was a human sorcerer possessed by the Lord of Order or the Lord of Order itself wearing a fabricated human shell.
The Bad Guys
The villains seen in flashback battling Nabu are not identified (except as agents of Chaos) and make no futher appearances in Earth-Two continuity.
“The Canary is a Bird of Prey (The Untold Origin of Black Canary)” 12 pages
E. Nelson Bridwell (Editor), Gerry Conway (Writer), Mike Vosburg (Penciller), Terry Austin (Inker), Shelly Leferman (Letterer), Mario Sen (Colorist)
FC: Black Canary
GS: Green Arrow [of Earth-One]
SC: The Atom (as Al Pratt), Doctor Mid-Nite (as Charles McNider), The Flash (as Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (as Alan Scott), Hawkman (as Carter Hall), Larry Lance, Wonder Woman (as Diana Prince), all in flashback
Intro: Lieutenant Richard Drake, in flashback
Synopsis
Green Arrow asks Black Canary if she has any regrets about sacrificing a normal life for her super-heroic career, prompting her to think back to her early childhood. Even at that tender age, Dinah Drake dreamt of following in her widowed father's footsteps as a Gotham City police officer. Lt. Richard Drake encouraged his daughter's dreams, teaching her everything he knew about criminal investigation and training her in the martial arts. By the time she was an adult, Dinah had accompanied Drake on many cases against the wishes of his superiors and the advice of his partner, Larry Lance. Even after saving the men's lives during a gambling raid gone bad, Dinah’s application to the police academy was rejected because “the few available policewomen's positions were already filled.” A heartbroken Richard Drake died shortly after. Inspired by the example of the Justice Society of America, Dinah decided to honor her father's memory by using his training to fight crime as the Black Canary. Not even Larry Lance suspected at first that his late partner's daughter, who took up her mother's profession of floristry after the rejection, was really the glamorous blonde mystery woman. The Canary's crimefighting credentials earned her membership in the JSA. Her teammates were in attendance when Dinah and Larry, now a private detective, wed. Years later, Larry Lance would be murdered by the mad alien named Aquarius and the Black Canary would emigrate to Earth-One to assuage her grief. Returning to the here and now, Dinah tells the Battling Bowman that her only regrets are for “the loved ones I've lost, not for myself. I've done what I set out to do with my life… and what woman could ask for more?”
Continuity
This is the first telling of the origin of the Black Canary. Much of it occurs before the character's first appearance in the “Johnny Thunder” story in Flash Comics #86 (August 1947).
Because her fellow JSA members appear only in their civilian identities in the flashback's wedding scene, it is not clear if Dinah Drake and Larry Lance marry before or after the events of the “Justice Society of America” story in All-Star Comics #57 (February-March 1951), the team's last recorded Golden Age adventure.
The Good Guys
The Drake family has been in law enforcement for centuries, even serving in “the original London police-- --the Bow Street Runners, organized by John Fielding, back in the 1750's.”
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 7, 2015 7:10:35 GMT -5
Steel, The Indestructible Man #2
April 1978 (January 30, 1978) $.35
Cover Art: Don Heck (Penciller), Al Milgrom (Inker)
“The Monster Who Mined Miracles” (17 pages)
Al Milgrom (Editor), Gerry Conway (Writer), Don Heck (Penciller), Vinnie Colletta (Inker), Ben Oda (Letterer), Adrienne Roy (Colorist)
FC: Steel, the Indestructible Man
SC: Dr. Gilbert Giles, Gloria Giles
Villains: Baron Tödlich (called Baron Töten in this story), Bruno
Intro: Congressman Jack Kulhammer of Georgia
Intro: Kathy Kulhammer
Intro: Major Hannibal Morton
Intro: Edward Runyon
Intro: The Mineral Master (Dr. Moag, first name unknown)
Synopsis
Newspaper accounts of the new mystery man called Steel raise suspicions in Doctor Giles, who fears that “this madman” may actually be Hank Heywood.
In Washington, DC, the distinguished geologist and physicist Dr. Moag demonstrates his new transmutation machine for Baron Töten. The Prussian industrialist professes admiration for the scientist's involvement with “America First” and other isolationist groups but cautions him that if his invention “truly can alter minerals from one form to another, it will be a powerful tool of peace-- --or, in the hands of military madmen, an even more deadly weapon of war!” The transmuter creates what Moag calls “an ‘omega’ force” around inanimate objects, making them “susceptible to outside influence--even verbal commands!” Töten attempts to seize the machine for his Nazi masters. Dr. Moag, exposed to the omega field, is transformed into a blue-skinned giant “like a thing of molten rock…!” Now endowed with the ability to transmute and even animate matter, the maddened scientist renames himself the Mineral Master. “I will protect my land from war,” he vows, “and those who oppose me-- will die!”
The next day, Steel is in the capital, demonstrating his power for a select group of military men and opinion makers, including Congressman Jack Kulhammer, his daughter Kathy and her fiancee, “newspaper magnate” Edward Runyon. Dismissed as a mere novelty act, the disappointed Indestructible Man is caught off guard when Mineral Master attacks. Though his powers protect him from the monster's savage assault, Steel cannot prevent his escape.
Seizing a Manhattan radio station the following morning, Mineral Master broadcasts his warped isolationist manifesto. Hearing the broadcast, Hank Heywood slips away from his military duties to confront the raving super-villain as Steel. Their battle tears up the streets of New York City until the Indestructible Man deduces that Mineral Master draws his power from contact with the earth. Tireless thanks to his mechanical muscles, Steel holds his foe above his head for more than twelve hours until the last of Moag's power is drained away. As the police take the villain into custody, Hank muses that he may be forced to choose between his relationship with Gloria and his career as Steel.
Continuity
It is not clear how much time has passed between the events of Steel, The Indestructible Man #1 and the story in this issue. A caption states that it is still the autumn of 1939 but enough time has passed for Steel to have been involved in several undocumented cases.
The Good Guys
Pfc. Hank Heywood has been assigned as a clerk under Major Hannibal Morton in the Quartermaster Corps since the previous issue. The military, unaware of Heywood's physical transformation, considers him unfit for combat because of his earlier injuries.
The Bad Guys
Baron Tödlich is called Baron Töten beginning with this issue.
Fashion Watch
Steel's wristbands are colored blue instead of white on the cover of this issue.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jul 7, 2015 16:05:38 GMT -5
Here's the cover, because I missed seeing the covers.  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 8, 2015 7:23:54 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #242
April 1978 (January 30, 1978) $.35
Cover Art: Rich Buckler (Penciller), Vince Colletta (Inker), signed
“Tomorrow's Gods and Demons” 17 pages
Larry Hama (Editor), Jack C. Harris (Writer), Jose Delbo (Penciller), Joe Giella (Inker), Milt Snapinn (Letterer), Adrienne Roy (Colorist)
FC: Wonder Woman
GS: Doctor Fate, The Spectre
SC: General J. Blankenship, Pvt. Etta Candy, Hippolyta, Maj. Steve Trevor (also appears as The Ultimate Man)
Intro: The Cerberons (behind the scenes)
Synopsis
It is August 14, 1945, V-J Day. Among the revelers crowding the streets of New York are Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, each secretly worried that the war's end means their own separation. Meeting General Blankenship and Etta Candy, they learn the general is retiring and Etta returning to college. Without warning, Steve is enveloped in a blinding beam of light emitted by a city-sized flying saucer. The Amazing Amazon attempts to free him and is knocked unconscious for her efforts.
Realizing that such a ship must be extraterrestrial in origin, Wonder Woman flies to Paradise Island for help in tracking it. Queen Hippolyte, her hopes of having her daughter come home revived by the Allies' victory, tells Diana that Trevor is in no danger. In the magic sphere, the Amazons see Steve transformed into the Ultimate Man, a highly evolved albino glowing with cosmic energy, and returned to Earth. Refusing to believe her mother' reassurances, she hurries back to America.
Confronting Ultimate Man, Wonder Woman learns of the Cerebrons, an alien race that has chosen not to wait for humanity to evolve naturally out of its aggressive instincts for fear our destructive ways will infect the universe in the interim. It is their intention to transform all mankind into duplicates of the Ultimate Man, all sharing the same undifferentiated collective mind. Diana argues that such a loss of individuality is as great a threat to mankind as Hitler's tyranny ever was and pleads with Steve to remember the ideals he once fought to defend. Her pleas fall on deaf ears, as the futuristic being begins transforming passersby into Ultimate Men.
On Paradise Island, Hippolyte receives a message from Doctor Fate and the Spectre warning the Amazon monarch that the Cerberons' interference goes against the natural order and that Wonder Woman must be allowed to defy them. The queen concedes at last that it is her daughter's destiny to remain in Man's World as one of its mightiest champions.
Unable to do more than contain the rapidly proliferating Ultimate Men, Wonder Woman nonetheless draws the aliens' attention to herself. Once more she condemns the Cerberons for interfering in mankind's future which “no one – not even the gods – can truly know!” The wisdom of her argument wins the day. The Ultimate Men, including Steve Trevor, are returned to normal.
A week later, in Blankenship's Pentagon office, the staff look forward to their new postwar lives unaware that elsewhere the Angle Man, arch-foe of the Earth-One Wonder Woman, plots new mischief.
Behind the Scenes
The cover caption advertising “Wonder Woman's close encounter with ‘Tomorrow's Gods and Demons’ ” is a reference to the hit Steven Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, released shortly before publication of this issue. The term itself was coined by UFO expert J. Allen Hynek.
Continuity
The story in this issue and the next, the final two installments of the Earth-Two Wonder Woman's Bronze Age solo series, are set in August of 1945. The plotlines established in Wonder Woman #233-241 ― Colonel Belushi's vendetta against WW, the true identity of Armageddon, Etta's engagement to Pierre Marchand ― are left unresolved.
Doctor Fate tells Hippolyte that he and the Spectre are exploring “regions even unsuspected by your people [the Amazons]” at the time of this story. According to established continuity, Spectre was trapped in Jim Corrigan's body by Azmodus in 1945 though it is unclear when in that year this occurred. Even if this story takes place after that event, perhaps he is still able to visit other worlds despite not being able to materialize in the Earth-Two dimension.
The Good Guys
Etta Candy resigns from the service and enrolls in Holliday College in this issue. Her Golden Age catchphrase “Woo woo!” is explained away as a sorority call.
The Bad Guys
The Cerberons make no actual physical appearance in this story.
Fashion Watch
Doctor Fate is depicted wearing his full helmet in this issue. Fate was wearing his half-helmet by 1945.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 9, 2015 7:18:10 GMT -5
Freedom Fighters #14
May-June 1978 (February 6, 1978) $.35
Cover Art: Rich Buckler (Penciller) and Jack Abel (Inker)
“Sideshows of Doom!” 17 pages
Jack C. Harris (Editor), Bob Rozakis (Writer); Dick Ayers (Penciller), Jack Abel (Inker); John Workman (Letterer), Mario Sen (Colorist)
FC: The Black Condor, Doll Man (also uses the alias The Great Dane), Firebrand, The Human Bomb (also uses the alias The Amazing Roy), Phantom Lady, The Ray (also uses the alias Hungry Happy), Uncle Sam, teamed as the Freedom Fighters
GS: Batgirl, Batwoman [of Earth-One]
Intro: Morcans
Synopsis
The Freedom Fighters, visiting Kathy Kane's traveling circus in their civilian identities, go into action when the roller coaster is sabotaged. While the FF rescue the passengers, Kathy and Barbara Gordon capture the saboteur — a hideous little green-skinned being with no mouth — as Batwoman and Batgirl. The FF make tracks when the local gendarmes arrive.
The next day, the out-of-costume super-team pose as a small-time carnival troupe. They audition for Kathy and sign up with her show.
The Human Bomb, the Ray and Phantom Lady take a midnight ride on the repaired coaster as, in the shadows of the ticket booth, another mouthless greenie throws a switch. A few minutes later, the trio — their eyes vacant — try to force the other Freedom Fighters onto the ride. A struggle ensues, during which PL and the boys are exposed as unliving duplicates. While Doll Man and Black Condor search for their missing teammates, Firebrand and a suspicious Uncle Sam confront Kathy and Barbara.
Continuity
It is not clear how much time has passed between issues. Although the Freedom Fighters behave as though only a short time has passed, it is possible that they have spent many months on the road, perhaps enough to coincide with this issue's February release date. This would explain Doll Man's anxiety over being separated from Martha Roberts.
Batgirl and Batwoman reference their encounter with the Huntress in The Batman Family #17. It is not clear how much time has passed since those events but,.since the circus is still playing Provincetown, Massachusetts, it has probably been no more than a few days.
Doll Man notes in this issue that Firebrand has “spent the last twelve years living alone in the woods,” pinpointing the year of the latter's emigration from Earth-X to Earth-One as 1966, two years before the Nazis' final victory in that reality.
Fashion Watch
Firebrand wears pink buccaneer-style boots
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 10, 2015 7:33:22 GMT -5
Showcase #100
May 1978 (February 13, 1978) $.60
Cover Art: Joe Staton (Penciller), Dick Giordano (Inker), signed
“There Shall Come a Gathering” 34 pages
Joe Orlando (Editor), Paul Kupperberg and Paul Levitz (Writers), Joe Staton (Art); Ben Oda (Lettering), Adrienne Roy (Coloring)
FC: Rocky Davis, Prof Haley, Ace Morgan, June Robbins, Red Ryan, teamed as the Challengers of the Unknown
FC: Awkwardman, The Blimp, Dumb Bunny, Merryman, The White Feather, teamed as The Inferior Five
FC: Aquaman, The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern, teamed as the Justice League of America
FC: Gold, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Platinum, Tin, teamed as the Metal Men
FC: Biff Bailey, Dane Dorrance, Judy Walton, Nicky Walton, teamed as the Sea Devils
FC: Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin, Wonder Girl, teamed as the Teen Titans
FC: Adam Strange, Angel and the Ape, Anthro, Bat Lash, Binky, The Creeper, Dolphin, Enemy Ace, Firehair, Fireman Farrell, Jason Grant, The Hawk and The Dove, King Faraday, Johnny Thunder, Jonny Double, Lois Lane, Manhunter 2070, Nightmaster, The Phantom Stranger, Rip Hunter, Sgt. Rock, Space Ranger, The Spectre, Tommy Tomorrow, Windy and Willy
SC: Bonnie Baxter, Corky Baxter, Cryll, Ne-Ahn, Jeff Smith, Sugar and Spike
Synopsis
A disruption in the fabric of time leads to people from all time periods materializing in the present. The greatest heroes of Earth-One assemble aboard the Justice League satellite to deal with the menace. Seized in a “stasis field,” the Earth is sent hurtling through space. With Superman and Supergirl off-planet and Green Lantern unable to penetrate the field to reach the Guardians of the Universe for help, the less powerful heroes must meet this crisis themselves.
While some heroes return to Earth to quell panic and fight the natural disasters erupting all across the globe, Rip Hunter and his crew try to enter the time stream. GL, Atom, the Flash and Adam Strange search space for the source of the stasis ray. They trace it to an enormous spaceship manned by giant robots.
The Challengers of the Unknown modify the Galaxy Broadcasting transmitter, turning it into an interstellar emergency beacon with which Lois Lane broadcasts an appeal to the missing Superman. Nada. Detecting the source of the force field jamming their signals, the Challs fly west with Lois and the Creeper in tow.
Flash and the others falter before the robots' attack. A time-displaced Space Ranger and his partner Cryll come to their aid. Together, they slip past the ship's defenses and find its control center. Nothing they do seems capable of stopping their planet's faster-than-light journey through space.
The Gotham City office of private investigators Angel O’Day and Sam Simeon shelters a number of well-known characters lost in time. Paralleling the Challengers' actions, Tommy Tomorrow uses the sensors in his rocket to trace the force field to its point of origin, with Angel and Bat Lash along for the ride.
Back on the alien ship, the Phantom Stranger materializes and suggests that “where science fails, magic may serve!” With the others' help, he summons the Spectre. The Ghostly Guardian tries to use his great powers to impede the Earth's flight but the task proves too great for even his cosmic might.
The Challengers discover a mountain-sized cube made of extraterrestrial material hidden among the American Rockies. They locate an entrance but can open it only long enough for Lois to get in. A few moments later, Tommy's spacecraft lands atop the cube. His group can also infiltrate just one of their number, the ditzy Angel. She and Lois slowly penetrate to the heart of the complex, its deadly radiation weakening them every step of the way.
Phantom Stranger joins his will and that of his fellow heroes to the Spectre's, strengthening him enough to break the stasis field's hold on Earth-One and return it to its proper orbit. The Stranger then appears in the alien cube and guides a dying Angel to the key circuitry. The field's destruction causes the malevolent alien behind it all to hurtle into space, reabsorbing all the spent radiation in the process and leaving Lois and Angel exhausted but cured of their radiation sickness. The displaced denizens of past and future return to their own times and all is right with the world once more.
Behind the Scenes
Although the text feature in this issue asserts that former Showcase stars Jason Grant (of “Jason's Quest,” Jonny Double, Manhunter 2070 and Nightmaster make appearances, they cannot be recognized in the cited panels.
Cosmology
Although clearly intended as an Earth-One story, the appearance of the Inferior Five, Binky and others suggests that it may instead be set on Earth-12, the parallel universe in which DC's humor comics (excluding such “funny animal titles” as The Fox and the Crow) take place. Because Earth-12 was not identified as a distinct reality until The Oz-Wonderland War #3 (March 1986) very late in the Bronze Age, some continuity theorists do not accept that all comics retroactively assigned to that universe actually belong there. Since the story has only an apocryphal connection to Earth-Two continuity, this guide leaves it to others to resolve the debate.
This is the first story to explicity identify the Spectre as an Earth-One-based character, although it is not clear if this is the original Earth-Two version relocated to Earth-One or a separate Earth-One version of the character. References to Spectre as a “spirit from another realm,” later described as a “nether-realm,” do not preclude either possibility. See the second Cosmology note for Adventure Comics #431 for more information.
Although Doctor Fate and Hourman starred in Showcase #55-56 and Power Girl in #97-99, they do not appear in this issue, presumably because they are Earth-Two characters.
Continuity
Because the events of this issue have no connection to Earth-Two continuity, no effort has been made to place it into the timeline suggested in the first Continuity note for All-Star Comics #58. It is presented here as JSA apocrypha.
The Good Guys
The Johnny Thunder seen in this issue is the Earth-One Western hero, not the Justice Society member or his evil Earth-One doppelgänger.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 11, 2015 6:48:17 GMT -5
All-Star Comics #72
May-June 1978 (February 20, 1978) $.35
Cover Art: Joe Staton (Penciller), Dick Giordano (Inker), signed
“A Thorn By Any Other Name” 17 pages
Joe Orlando (Editor), Paul Levitz (Writer), Joe Staton (Penciller), Dick Giordano (Inker), Ben Oda (Lettering), Adrienne Roy (Coloring)
FC: The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Huntress, Power Girl, Wildcat, teamed as the Justice Society of America
SC: Shiera Hall
Villains: The Huntress [1], The Sportsmaster
Reintro: The Thorn (Rose Canton) and her costumed henchmen (all unnamed)
Intro: Keystone City Police Chief Farber (first name unknown)
Intro: Judge Anders (dies in this story)
Symopsis
The Justice Society are in Keystone City answering a plea for help from its chief of police. The Thorn, an old enemy of the Flash, has been killing police officers as part of her plan to take over Keystone. Conferring with Chief Farber, the team receives word that the villainess is attacking the courthouse. Her target: the judge who sent her to prison.
In Egypt, Carter Hall is donning his new Hawkman costume when he and Shiera are confronted by the sinister shadow that swallowed Dr. Fate in the previous issue.
The JSA prevent Judge Anders' kidnapping but fail to stop Thorn from poisoning him with one of her thorn darts. Wildcat is also poisoned. The heroes rush them to a hospital, allowing Thorn and her gang to escape. Anders dies. Wildcat lives on in a coma, saved by an earlier, undetected brain injury. The same injury, unfortunately, prevents the doctors from helping him. Realizing this injury must be the result of exposure to the Icicle’s freeze ray, Green Lantern dispatches the Huntress back to JSA HQ to fetch Icicle's gun. As other JSAers plan to track down Thorn and obtain a sample of her poison for the hospital staff to analyze, their quarry eavesdrops as nurse Rose Canton.
Huntress finds the brownstone's security compromised, the entire building converted into a gauntlet of deathtraps.
Thorn and her flunkies, joined by the Sportsmaster, attack the JSA before they can even leave the waiting room. The battle ends inconclusively: the villains escape but not before the good guys snatch one of the poisoned thorns. If Huntress returns with the freeze ray soon, Wildcat has a fighting chance. If not…
But the newest JSA member has problems of her own as she is confronted by Sportsmaster's furious wife, who snarls “I'm the real Huntress – and before I kill you, you'll admit it!”
Continuity
It is not clear how much time has elapsed since the conclusion of All-Star Comics #71. That the shadow was already creeping up on Carter and Shiera Hall at the end of the previous issue (and it wouldn't be much of a menace if it moved at a snail's pace) suggests that very little time has passed, perhaps just enough for the Star-Spangled Kid to resign from active duty and the Huntress to be elected to membership. However, internal evidence in later issues (see the first Continuity note for All-Star Comics #74) points to a longer interval. Since the latter argument creates a large enough break in continuity to accommodate the events of the “Huntress” story in The Batman Family #17, the “Golden Age Green Lantern” stories in Green Lantern #108-110, Justice League of America #159-60 (and the flashback in #166) and Secret Society of Super-Villains #15, this guide will for the sake of convenience accept that timeline despite the lack of conclusive proof.
Meeting Minutes
The Huntress joins the Justice Society in this issue, becoming the twenty-second official JSA member and the last to join during the Bronze Age.
The Good Guys
Wildcat's slurred speech is revealed to be a side effect of the brain injury he received during the JSA's last encounter with the Injustice Society.
The Bad Guys
The Thorn was last seen in the “Flash” story in Flash Comics #96 (June 1948). She should not be confused with the Earth-One heroine of the same name first seen in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105 (October 1970).
The Thorn has gained control of both personalities of her dual identity since her last Golden Age appearance. She can now transform from the blonde, blue-eyed Rose to the redheaded, green-eyed Thorn (and vice-versa) at will.
Fashion Watch
This is the first appearance of Hawkman in this new costume designed by Joe Staton.
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zilch
Full Member
Posts: 244 
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Post by zilch on Jul 11, 2015 17:53:09 GMT -5
... and also seen in two pages of a never printed story in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #111. (Guest starring Green Lantern in a rare crossover!!!)
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 12, 2015 7:36:31 GMT -5
DC Special Series #11 (The Flash Spectacular 1978)
1978 ( released February 20, 1978) $1.00
Cover Art: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, signed
“Beyond the Super-Speed Barrier!” 64 pages
Julius Schwartz (Editor), Cary Bates (Writer), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Penciller, pages 6-16), Irv Novick (Penciller, pages 1-5, 17-37, 63-64), Alex Saviuk (Penciller, pages 50-62), Kurt Schaffenberger (Penciller, pages 38-49), Murphy Anderson (Inker, pages 38-49), Joe Giella (Inker, pages 1-5, 17-37, 50-64), Wally Wood (Inker, pages 6-16), Ben Oda and Milt Snappin (Letterers), Carl Gafford (Colorist)
FC: The Flash [of Earth-One]
GS: The Flash, Kid Flash
SC: Iris Allen, Aqualad (as Garth), Mal Duncan, The Elongated Man (as Ralph Dibny), Joan Garrick, The Harlequin [of Earth-One] (as Duela Dent), Robin [of Earth-One] (as Dick Grayson), Speedy [of Earth-One] (as Roy Harper), Solovar, Superman [of Earth-One] (as Clark Kent), Marian West, Robert West, Wonder Girl (as Donna Troy)
SC: Gorillas of Gorilla City
Villains: Grodd, The Turtle [of Earth-One]
Reintro: Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers)
Reintro: Theodore “Tubby” Watts
Intro: Jroyy (dies in this story)
Synopsis
Hidden within the jungles of Equatorial Africa on Earth-One lies Gorilla City, scientifically-advanced home of a race of intelligent apes. There, simian justice is exacted against its most notorious citizen: Grodd, arch-enemy of the Flash. For his many crimes against humanity and his fellow apes, the renegade primate pays the supreme penalty.
In the small town of Blue Valley, high school senior Wally (Kid Flash) West picnics with a girlfriend. His dog accidentally triggers the release mechanism on Wally's ring, ejecting his costume. While he is pursuing the playful pup, Wally's date steals his motorcycle. Handling the bike expertly despite never having ridden before, she impossibly accelerates to supersonic speed and beyond. Kid Flash overtakes her but she emits an electrical bolt that siphons off some of his super-speed. By the time he catches back up to her, both girl and bike have been burned to ashes by air friction. The force of the subsequent explosion sends KF hurtling through an “eerie super-speed barrier” unlike any he has encountered in his heroic career. Returning to Earth, the speedster finds girl and cycle alike unharmed. Realizing the entire incident was an illusion perpetrated by parties unknown for unknown reasons, Wally wearily heads home. Watching all this from the shadow of the neighboring woods, a gorilla armed with a futuristic weapon smiles in smug satisfaction.
Summoned to Gorilla City by King Solovar, the Flash learns of Grodd's execution via molecular dispersion. Solovar opposed the death penalty but was outvoted by the other members of the High Council, led by the ambitious politician Jroyy. Relieved that his simian foe will no longer menace mankind, the Crimson Comet returns to America and resumes his workday as forensic scientist Barry Allen.
In another laboratory not far away, the Turtle experiences a setback in his attempt to create a “slow laser.” When the slothful super-villain turns his back for a moment, the gorilla last seen in Blue Valley materializes just long enough to fire his ray gun at the device. Turtle finds his invention now fully functional. Investigating an attempted robbery of the First Central Bank, the Flash is ambushed by the Turtle. One blast of the slow laser causes the Scarlet Speedster to see the entire world moving at super-speed, effectively rendering him blind. Only by duplicating the “high-frequency flux” of the laser does the Monarch of Motion reverse its effects. His vision restored, Flash puts the kibosh on the Turtle's crime wave. Later, he and his wife Iris wonder about the hitherto unknown super-speed barrier he passed through during the battle.
On Earth-Two, Jay Garrick hosts a press tour of Keystone Research Laboratories, the first since publicly revealing his other identity of the Flash. Among the attendees are news executive Johnny Chambers (a.k.a. the super-swift super-hero Johnny Quick) and the mysterious gorilla. One of the lab's experiments goes awry, sending a potentially deadly globule of water streaking across the city. Switching to his Flash costume, Jay is delighted to find Johnny Quick joining him in action… until Quick deliberately and gleefully compounds the problem by splitting one menace into three. Flash is able to cope with the triple threat but is puzzled by JQ's bizarre behavior. His confusion is nothing compared to Johnny's. He learns from his assistant, Tubby Watts, that he unconsciously added a new variable to the “speed formula” he recites to trigger his speed powers (as a result of his unnoticed exposure to the beam of the ape's ray gun earlier). Seeking answers, Chambers drives to the Garrick home and reveals his secret identity. The gorilla follows him there and once more fires his ray at Johnny at the instant he says his formula. No longer in his right mind, Quick kidnaps Joan Garrick to force her husband into super-speed combat. As the two speedsters' battle, their velocity increases until they too crash through the barrier encountered by Barry and Wally. Though this has the salutary effect of restoring Johnny's benevolent personality, the heroes are left with a mystery as to why and how JQ was turned temporarily evil.
Later that same evening, Barry and Wally feel compelled to change into their costumes and rendezvous in an isolated spot. Jay, brought to Earth-One by a similar compulsion, joins them. Confronted by the gun-wielding gorilla responsible for the day's odd events, the Flash trio no sooner attack than the primate falls dead at their feet. At the same moment, Kid Flash is possessed by the spirit of Grodd. The dead ape is Jroyy, the Gorilla City politician, who has been Grodd's mental slave since before the simian super-villain's ‘execution.’ As he jumps from one host body to another, the disembodied super-gorilla gloats of his plan to use the three heroes' super-speed to break through the dimensional barrier into the limbo in which his atoms had been scattered. As each of them momentarily entered that limbo while dealing with Grodd's staged crises, they were coated in the villainous ape's atoms. By bringing them together to this spot, Grodd is able to mentally reassemble his body. Worse, as a side effect of the temporary “molecular mergers,” he too now has super-speed. The battle is fierce but the outcome seems a foregone conclusion: with super-speed added to his simian strength and telekinetic powers, Grodd appears invincible. Only by “merging their atoms together for a split-instant-- --to deliver a triple-power speed blow” can the three Flashes overpower their foe. Grodd is returned to Gorilla City where he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Behind the Scenes
The art chores in this issue are shared by Irv Novick and Joe Giella (Prologue, the Flash in solo action, Epilogue); Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Wally Wood (Kid Flash pages), Kurt Schaffenberger and Murphy Anderson (Earth-Two Flash pages) and Alex Saviuk and Giella (three Flashes versus Grodd pages).
Continuity
It is not clear where this issue falls in Earth-Two continuity. A magazine dated February 20, 1978, is seen in this issue cover-featuring the revelation of the Earth-Two Flash's civilian identity but it is not clear how soon after the event it was published. Although there were hints of such a revelation as early as the “Flash of Earth-Two” story in The Flash #201, the first explicit mention of it is in the “Power Girl” story in Showcase #98, cover dated March 1978. The events of this issue probably take place between The Flash #147, the last comic in which Flash has clearly not yet publicly revealed his Jay Garrick identity, and the “Justice Society of America” story in All-Star Comics #60, the first issue of the story arc to which Showcase #98 is connected, but this cannot be confirmed.
According to this story, the Flash and Johnny Quick have never met before.
The Good Guys
Johnny Quick and Tubby Watts were last seen in Johnny's solo series in Adventure Comics #207 (December 1954).
Johnny Quick should not be confused with the Earth-Three villain of the same name introduced in Justice League of America #29.
Johnny Quick (as Johnny Chambers) has become an executive with Sees-All Tells-All Video (formerly Sees-All Tells-All News) since his last Golden Age appearance.
Johnny Quick reveals his true identity to Jay and Joan Garrick in this issue.
Fashion Watch
As seen in this story, Jay Garrick keeps a closetful of duplicate costumes and helmets in his home. This would explain why his chest emblems and boots vary from story to story.
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zilch
Full Member
Posts: 244
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Post by zilch on Jul 12, 2015 16:39:39 GMT -5
Wally's high school graduation, shown in this story, probably occurs in May or June.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 12, 2015 17:03:30 GMT -5
Here's the cover to the Flash Spectacular 1978.
I have never been much of a Flash fan. But my brother collected it in the 1970s and I read quite a few of them and I always thought he had a great rogues gallery. (One of the great things about the Secret Society of Super-Villains was all the Flash villains!) And I've come to appreciate the Silver Age Flash, especially the Infantino art!
But I did buy the Flash Spectacular 1978 when it came out! Jay Garrick Flash is pretty awesome. And I thought Johnny Quick was pretty cool! (I might have seen him before, in a reprint.) And Grodd! Grodd is one of the greatest villains ever! I love those early Flash stories where Grodd looks like he's four feet tall! SO CUTE!
I think the main reason I bought this was the art! Irv Novick, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Murphy Anderson, Kurt Schaffenberger, Wally Wood, Joe Giella. WOW!
I still have this. I've probably read this more than any other Flash comic. (With the possible exception of Grodd's first appearance. I've read that a bunch of times. It's so weird. The biggest hit in Central City's theater district is a play about a gorilla. I read that one a lot because I keep thinking I dreamed it.) |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 13, 2015 6:40:03 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #243
May 1978 (February 27, 1978) $.35
Cover Art: Jose Delbo (Penciller), Vince Colletta (Inker)
“The Five-Sided Square” 17 pages
Larry Hama (Editor), Jack C. Harris (Writer), Jose Delbo (Penciller), Frank Chiaramonte (Inker), Clem Robins (Lettering), “D. R. Martin” (Colorist)
FC: Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman [of Earth-One]
GS: Dr. Mid-Nite, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Spectre, Johnny Thunder, Wildcat, teamed with Wonder Woman as the Justice Society of America
SC: Pvt. Etta Candy, Maj. Steve Trevor
Villain: Angle Man
Synopsis
Steve Trevor and Etta Candy's night at the movies ends in chaos with the mid-screen materialization of the Angle Man. The Earth-One super-villain has used his space-warping “angler” to escape prison in 1978 by traveling into the past. Unaware he has also traversed the dimensional barriers, he is puzzled by posters of Wonder Woman in an era before the Amazon he knows existed. The lady in question is attending a JSA meeting when word of a disturbance in Washington reaches her. Declining any help from her teammates, she jets off to see what is happening.
It doesn't take Wonder Woman long to track the villain to the Lincoln Memorial. Though his angler causes her plane to crash, she is unhurt and soon has Angle Man in her magic lasso. The overconfident villain attempts to ‘angle’ back to the future but to his horror can only teleport himself a few yards. To make matters worse for the beleaguered escapee, an unforeseen side effect of his device transports the Earth-One Wonder Woman from the Justice League satellite to join him in Earth-Two's past. In the subsequent confusion, Angle Man escapes.
Once again, the younger Amazon explains to her counterpart about the multiple Earths and tells her of their previous meeting in Wonder Woman #228-29, a meeting the Earth-Two Amazon has forgotten thanks to her mother's erasure of her knowledge of the future. Elsewhere, an increasingly desperate Angle Man ― who has no idea how the angler, an invention of the evil Darkseid, works ― continues trying to teleport home. The Wonder Women soon pick up his trail. After finally capturing the villain, the Earth-One Diana is able to figure out enough of the angler's workings to teleport herself and her captive back to their native dimension. Before she goes, she uses her lasso to erase all memory of her from the minds of Steve, Etta and Wonder Woman.
Trevor attempts a proposal but the Amazing Amazon isn't having any, thank you, explaining that “Wonder Woman's mission to fight the evils of Man's World must go on,” and softening this rejection by adding, “whatever my mission, you both will be with me… always-- !”
Behind the Scenes
This story is simultaneously the last episode of the Earth-Two Wonder Woman's series and the first new episode of the Earth-One version's.
Continuity
This story takes place a few days after the story in the previous issue, probably still in August of 1945 though this cannot be confirmed.
Meeting Minutes
A footnote in this issue states that the JSA appear just after the conclusion of the “Justice Society of America” story in All-Star Comics #27 (Winter 1945), although that book's cover date does not coincide with this story's August 1945 setting (see previous note). This explains the absence of the Atom and the presence of Wildcat on the roster. The Spectre's presence at the meeting is anomalous, however, as he did not participate in that All-Star adventure.
Fashion Watch
Hawkman is depicted wearing his Earth-One counterpart's helmet in this story.
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Post by foxley on Jul 13, 2015 8:08:02 GMT -5
So was any mention made of the Earth-Two Angle Man made in this story? He was (if memory serves me) a fairly ordinary crook whose gimmick was that he always 'had an angle', such as taping Wonder Woman's voice off the radio and broadcasting it amplified to override her commands to her invisible plane.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 13, 2015 8:28:04 GMT -5
There's some question of there ever having been an Earth-Two Angle Man. By the time "Angie" first appeared in Wonder Woman #70 (November 1954), editor/writer Robert Kanigher had made enough changes to her backstory, supporting cast (Etta Candy and the Holliday Girls were long gone) and villains (the Duke of Deception, for instance, no longer resembled the character introduced in #2) that the Amazon of '54 was implicitly no longer the Golden Age version created by Marston and Peter. Moreover, because "Golden Age" and "Earth-Two" are not synonymous, as demonstrated by my entries here, you can really only say with certainty that Earth-Two had counterparts of those '40s villains actually depicted in the '70s TV-inspired issues. I personally assign those first few Angle Man stories to Earth-1.5, my theoretical transitional reality, but your mileage may vary.
Cei-U!
I summon Wonder Woman's continuity: the indexer's nightmare!
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 13, 2015 9:47:13 GMT -5
The really weird thing about mid-1950s Wonder Woman is that Marston is long gone but the art is still Harry G. Peter.
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