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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 22, 2014 13:46:17 GMT -5
I share your low opinion of this run of Ernie Chua covers, although I think you were being generous giving a C+ to #126. I remember being very bothered by the Adam Strange wedding cover (#121) because of the distorted look of the figures, elongated as if the page were tilted away from the reader, but #125 was just as bad, with the JLAers jammed in at angles just awkward enough to make me feel unsteady. And all those blank backgrounds--was that some misguided editorial mandate or was Ernie too overworked (he did a *lot* of covers around then--by my count, 8 covers this month and a full issue of Claw the Unconquered!) to worry about them? Across the line, those minimal backgrounds gave the DC books a very bland look, so it's no wonder I avoided studying much of this cover art.
Looking with more intent today at the cover to #126, I'm struck by how static this "explosive" scene feels. I think it's because when I try to "read" the action into this shot, my subconscious mind perceives that all these JLAers are erupting from a single spot, and since that doesn't square with my interpretation of the current scene, the image resolves into a set of paperdolls arranged in a boring, symmetrical pattern around a lightning bolt. And that 'Electrifying! "The Evil Connection!"' is somehow one of the tackiest, cheapest looking blurbs I've seen on a DC cover. The quotation marks, the crappy lettering, the half-hearted electrification effects on the letter...it's just kind of pathetic.
It's depressing to think that his cover art will continue for another 11 issues before DC decides to upgrade the JLA cover art (and what an upgrade it will be!)
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 22, 2014 14:21:57 GMT -5
I share your low opinion of this run of Ernie Chua covers, although I think you were being generous giving a C+ to #126. I, on the other hand, discovered when I was doing the "Favorite Single Issue" Classic Christmas a few years back, that I bought a TON of comics based on Ernie Chan/Chua covers. They may not have set the world on fire, but they parted me from my hard earned shekels at a time when characters and covers were what generally got me to buy books. So they clearly did there job. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 22, 2014 16:44:38 GMT -5
I share your low opinion of this run of Ernie Chua covers, although I think you were being generous giving a C+ to #126. I remember being very bothered by the Adam Strange wedding cover (#121) because of the distorted look of the figures, elongated as if the page were tilted away from the reader, but #125 was just as bad, with the JLAers jammed in at angles just awkward enough to make me feel unsteady. And all those blank backgrounds--was that some misguided editorial mandate or was Ernie too overworked (he did a *lot* of covers around then--by my count, 8 covers this month and a full issue of Claw the Unconquered!) to worry about them? Across the line, those minimal backgrounds gave the DC books a very bland look, so it's no wonder I avoided studying much of this cover art. Looking with more intent today at the cover to #126, I'm struck by how static this "explosive" scene feels. I think it's because when I try to "read" the action into this shot, my subconscious mind perceives that all these JLAers are erupting from a single spot, and since that doesn't square with my interpretation of the current scene, the image resolves into a set of paperdolls arranged in a boring, symmetrical pattern around a lightning bolt. And that 'Electrifying! "The Evil Connection!"' is somehow one of the tackiest, cheapest looking blurbs I've seen on a DC cover. The quotation marks, the crappy lettering, the half-hearted electrification effects on the letter...it's just kind of pathetic. It's depressing to think that his cover art will continue for another 11 issues before DC decides to upgrade the JLA cover art (and what an upgrade it will be!) Exactly what you said, MW! |
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 22, 2014 22:47:24 GMT -5
 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #127 On Sale November 4, 1975 Written by Gerry Conway Penciled by Dick Dillin Inked by Frank McLaughlin Edited by Julius Schwartz Cover by Ernie Chua ROLL CALL: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man and Red Tornado Hostess ad is Captain Marvel in "The Cup Cake Caper" drawn by Curt Swan and it is in the middle of the comic with the JLA Mailroom. and now... "THE COMMAND IS CHAOS!" Superman, Red Tornado, Flash and Green Arrow are at the United Nations Building when four villains crash through a window. Three dressed in your standard superbeing outfits with a starburst on the chest and one that looks a lot like Shaxper (or at least his current avatar). The one that looks like Shaxper is called the Anarchist and he's here to kidnap some of the delegates. His flunkies have force fields, but the Anarchist uses his amazing powers to animate Superman's belt into choking him, Flash is held upside down by his boots and Red Tornado is flung out of control. On the verge of defeat to the flunkies, Green Arrow managed to use a suction cup arrow to remove Flash's boots. He helps Superman get the belt off and Superman flies Red Tornado into space to stop his whirlwind. Flash and Green Arrow are too late to stop the Anarchist from disappearing with his flunkies and several UN dignitaries. While the JLA are yelled at by a bunch of UN delegates, our scene switches to Southern California where a certain Hal Jordan has been sleepwalking again. He tries charging his ring and it wakes him up. This is the sixth time this has happened Hal has tried charging his ring due to some sort of "mental command" and he's finally going to make it stop. Someone trying to mentally control a man with the most powerful weapon in the galaxy five times is annoying, but six? You've gone to far mister! He consults with the magic ring, but it has no answers, so he flies east as the mental command seems more powerful in that direction. Meanwhile, Clark Kent, Steve Lombard (nursing a broken leg)and his friend Kitty are at a rally for Simon Ellis. He is a faith healer and Steve is there to get his leg fixed. Simon Ellis touches the cast and the leg is magically cured. Clark even uses his X-Ray vision to confirm it. While the crowd goes wild, Clark spills mustard on his suit and leaves the arena. Superman calls in the JLA as he thinks Simon Ellis is tied to the Anarchist. Batman, Green Lantern, Black Canary and Elongated Man respond to the alert. They follow the car of Simon Ellis when a yellow beam hits Green Lantern and he drops the others JLAers. He tries to pick them up, but the ray boomerangs on him. Suddenly, Batman, Black Canary, Elongated Man and the car carrying Simon Ellis vanish just as the Anarchist did at the UN. Green Lantern now decides it's time to tell Superman about his power ring problem. He believes that Simon Ellis is commanding him to recharge the ring and using the power to commit his crimes. He tries to get rid of the Green energy by blasting our yellow sun, but he still won't run out of power before the 24 hour charge is up. They arrive at the JLA Satellite and try some other methods. Flash, Hawkman, Green Arrow and Red Tornado arrive just as it is time to recharge again. Green Lantern is being commanded to recharge once again and the only solution he can think of is for Superman to knock him out. Superman obliges and the ring flies off to get John Stewart. No, sorry, Hal just lies there, no John. Bummer. Superman tells Hawkman to use his PersonaTracker to find the Anarchist using a piece of cloth Green Arrow tore off of him. This leads the team to the gates of a mansion on Long Island. Inside they find Anarchist, his flunkies, the UN delegates and three JLA members that are just sitting there tied up. Without Green Lantern's power the team easily dispatches the flunkies while Superman goes after the Anarchist. Superman tells us that the Anarchist was causing chaos to take over the world as a religious messiah and dictator. His power is fading as he tries to fly off and Superman knocks him out for Green Lantern. Back in the satellite, Green Lantern wakes up with the rest of the team there. Superman tells him that it's ok to recharge the ring as the Anarchist "has been made inoperative." What did they do to him? It's never said if it was the Phantom Zone, a mind wipe or Aquaman's keeping him in a giant clam. Green Lantern recites his oath with the entire team in a green glow, a very nice picture. The End! JLA Mailroom: The readers liked the first part of the Maggin/ Bates JLA/JSA story. The entire column featured letters from female readers. One was Dinah Lance, who couldn't believe anyone could talk like Green Arrow. Another reader wrote to Elliot S! Maggin telling him that she and a friend thought he was good looking. STORY: C Conway had to have written this over his lunch hour. Having only eighteen pages is not helping matters at all. ART: B+ COVER: C+ Once again we have an interesting cover idea with a mediocre execution of the idea. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: C- Steve Lombard showed up. Up next... The Twelve Labors Are Over! Wonder Woman is back!!!! The TV pilot for the Wonder Woman tv show would debut 3 days after this issue came out. The regular series would begin in the spring of 1976. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 23, 2014 10:29:12 GMT -5
Wow, I really can't get over the sloppiness of these covers. When once DC would have talents like Ira Schnapp doing elegant cover lettering and Carmine Infantino carefully crafting an appealing, engaging design, here they have...well...a clumsy "The World's Greatest Heroes" blurb that looks like it was lettered without guidelines, inconsistent word balloon shapes with insufficient white space crammed into the gaps between art and logo, amateurish violation of tangents (is Superman hanging on to the monitor screen?), unconvincing action staging and misuse of speed lines (Maybe it's just me, but my brain interprets those as suggesting--how do I phrase this?--as if Hal were moving toward us while maintaining the same relative pose. That is, you can trace the speed line from his left toe to see where his left toe was when Superman punched him, and you can trace the speed line from his right wrist to see where his right wrist was when Superman punched him, and you conclude that he was still lying in roughly the same position when Superman punched him! Those converging speed lines suggest translation without rotation, so there's no feel that the figure is tumbling backward under the force of the blow, but rather that Hal is scooting towards us in a prone position. Heck, I'll bet Ernie only added that shadow because without it, Hal looked like he was sliding along the floor!). And all that blank yellow space...yuck.
And yet, I'm still not sure whether DC was just having Ernie dash out two covers a week without much oversight, or whether, during this period, there was an editorial consensus that covers should focus on full, uncropped figures in medium-distance shots, with de-emphasized backgrounds. If that was his directive, I think it was aesthetically misguided, but evidently, they sold comics to some of us, like Slam. I'm pretty sure that any of these I bought were bought in spite of the covers, not because of them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 23, 2014 10:50:06 GMT -5
<img src="http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081227181322/marvel_dc/images/0/03/JLA_v.1_127.jpg" alt=""><br><br><br>JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #127<br><br>On Sale November 4, 1975<br><br>Written by Gerry Conway<br>Penciled by Dick Dillin<br>Inked by Frank McLaughlin<br>Edited by Julius Schwartz<br>Cover by Ernie Chua<br><br>ROLL CALL: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man and Red Tornado<br><br>Hostess ad is Captain Marvel in "The Cup Cake Caper" drawn by Curt Swan and it is in the middle of the comic with the JLA Mailroom. One of the first comics I ever purchased. |
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 24, 2014 22:05:37 GMT -5
 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #128 On sale December 4, 1975 Written by Martin Pasko Penciled by Dick Dillin Inked by Frank McLaughlin Edited by Julius Schwartz Cover by Ernie Chua (Google this image and you can see how he recolored it at his own website) ROLL CALL: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man and AT LONG LAST Wonder Woman The Hostess ad is once again Captain Marvel in "The Cup Cake Caper" and it also back in the middle of the comic with the JLA Mailroom. and now..." DEATH-VISIONS OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE!" In our opening splash page Superman holds out the certificate to welcome back Wonder Woman into the JLA. Then he rips it in half and tells her she failed and that she should "resign again or we'll throw you out!" Superman then threatens to shove her into the teleporter. Wonder Woman cries a few tears and many of the JLA members seem to have fainted from the force of Superman ripping up that certificate. Wonder Woman says the team needs her and if it wasn't for her there would be no JLA to resign from. We rewind it back five hours as Wonder Woman arrives on the JLA Satellite for her first meeting in a while. However, the rest of the team is packing up the equipment and Superman announces that they are disbanding the Justice League. The team mentions that they don't want to risk their lives anymore and Green Arrow laments the lack of Health Insurance and Retirement Benefits. Wonder Woman asks how they came to these conclusions and we see the various members run into situations where they see a vision of their death. After this they decide they really don't want to take the risks and be heroes anymore. Elongated Man spells out "I Give Up" with one of his fingers and Green Arrow sends up a white flag arrow. Superman shocks Lex Luthor by quitting and Batman quits in front of a few dope dealing thugs. Ad for Superman vs Spider-Man (drool) Ad for Justice For All Includes Children (drawn by Neal Adams, more drool) While Wonder Woman ponders why she hasn't been effected, the scene switches to Oa. The Guardians are watching a ship land on Earth containing a being named Nekron. Green Lantern is in the nearby Grand Canyon and is reciting his oath before rushing off to the JLA meeting he is late for...AGAIN. Just before he finishes the oath he is attacked by Nekron's ship. Nekron is a fear parasite and the Guardians seem real confident that Green Lantern will bring him pain and get him out of the galaxy. A VERY ugly alien gets out of the space ship. It's Nekron and he's going to make Green Lantern face his own death like the rest of the JLA. Green Lantern is able to shrug off the fear gas and Nekron decides to drop a pile of boulders on top of him. He makes sure to change them to gold boulders with another ray and Green Lantern is buried under a very expensive pile of rubble. Hal's ring flies off to find John Stewart so he can help save the day! No it does not! GRRRR! It flies up to the JLA Satellite and tells the JLA about the emergency. Wonder Woman forces the rest of them to go to the Grand Canyon with the ring flying them there as she uses her invisible jet. Nekron knocks some people off an observation deck and feeds on their fear as they fall to their deaths. Nekron is shocked by the appearance of the JLA and their courage is causing him great pain. Batman is about to blast him with the ring, when it runs out of power! He knocks Wonder Woman into a cliff and grabs Superman and flings him at the rest of the JLA. We now return to the present and Superman apologizes to Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman notes Nekron knows a lot about the JLA. Nekron appears on the monitor and announces that he has sent a comet toward Midway City. Only Hawkman is allowed to stop it and if he does, he dies! Hawkman gets on the phone and tells Hawkgirl to pack up and get out of town. His last words, "Too bad about Midway...I'm going to miss it!" to be continued! JLA Mailroom: Mixed reaction from the readers on the conclusion of the JLA/ JSA/ Bates/ Maggin story. Mark Gruenwald really didn't like it. STORY: B- This is another one that needed to be revisited by the JLI team. ART: B+ Nekron is one seriously ugly alien. COVER: B- It's dramatic, has a nice JLA symbol and he drew more legs this time. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: B Wonder Woman rejoins the JLA. This Nekron is not the one from the Green Lantern comics of the 1980s that has been used by DC recent years. up next.... a JLA member dies! Pretty sure it's not Hawkman. |
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 24, 2014 23:47:18 GMT -5
 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #129 On sale January 6, 1976 Written by Martin Pasko Penciled by Dick Dillin Inked by Frank McLaughlin Edited by Julius Schwartz Cover by Ernie Chua ROLL CALL: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Red Tornado and Elongated Man Our Hostess ad this time out is a repeat of Captain Marvel in "Minerva Menace" but it is back on the inside front cover. JLA Mailroom has returned to the back of the comic. The price of the comic has risen to 30 cents this month. This is my single least favorite price rise in comics to this very day. The circulation statement for 1976 has it jumping back up to 193,000 copies a month. That is a sixteen percent rise over 1975. Justice League of America would never reach that sales level again. and now..." THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING!" After a short recap of events Wonder Woman tosses her magic lasso around Hawkman and orders him to try to save Midway City. They put on gas masks and go out the airlock to try to stop the "solar prominence" before it hits the city. Wonder Woman tries to lasso it. But, as Nekron stated, she can't stop it. Wonder Woman isn't going to force Hawkman to sacrifice his life, so they decide to teleport down and evacuate the citizens. Flash, Aquaman and Red Tornado have arrived and Flash is ready to resign after his recent battle with Captain Cold. Batman realizes that Red tornado should be immune to the fear gas, but he has vanished. One of the Guardians appears (because Green Lantern still doesn't have his comic back and the little man has bills to pay) and tells the JLA that Hal is lying in the Grand Canyon under a pile of gold. Since the ring is out of power, John Stewart can't help out. If Homey D. Clown were doing this review, he'd be telling us that "This is another conspiracy perpetrated by The Man to keep a brother down!" They are all then distracted by the monitor as "Hawkman" is using his whirlwind powers to bring water into the air to stop the solar flame. It works and, as stated by Nekron, "Hawkman" is killed and blown to bits. It is really Red Tornado. The rest of the team feels even more cowardly than they did before. The Guardian tells the JLA information about Nekron and they learn that he has studied them from afar. However, in the time it took to get to Earth, Wonder Woman has rejoined the team and he is unprepared for her. Flash and Superman go to the Grand Canyon to rescue Green Lantern. They find him and that giant red thing that's on the cover. Superman battles it and gives the ring to Flash as he searches every inch of the area for Green Lantern's invisible power battery. Flash finds it within the fumes of Green Lantern's car exhaust. It's been running for a while I guess. Flash tries to slap Green Lantern awake. The sound effects are "whapety, whapety, whapety, whap!" The giant red thing has Superman in his grasp and his blasting him with kryptonite while Flash tries to get a groggy Green Lantern to recite his oath. The ring finally activates and drops a giant green axe into the red thing's head. They beam back up to the satellite. Meanwhile, in Paris, Wonder Woman has tied up the JLA in coils of her magic lasso as they try to stop Nekron. He blasts the Eiffel Tower and the top half, and the people on it, start falling to the ground. As he feeds on the fear Batman jumps on him and hurts Nekron with the courage he is showing. As the other members of the team catch people, Wonder Woman uses the free end of her magic lasso to stop the tower from falling over. She is a wonder! Green Arrow shoots off Nekron's belt of weapons and a well thrown batarang puts them into the JLA's possession. Nekron is upset and talking in the third person. He attacks the JLA and Elongated Man says they should retreat. One problem, Wonder Woman is still holding up the Eiffel Tower. Back up in the satellite, Atom is using the charged power ring to amplify Aquaman's telepathy. He uses it to make Superman feel more death fear than Nekron ever could. Flash then takes the power ring and teleports to Paris. He is too afraid to use the ring until Wonder Woman snare him in the magic lasso as well. He hits Nekron with a giant green boot and Black Canary teleports the alien to the JLA satellite. He finds Superman there and is attracted to his fear. It's too much for him though and his mind is fried. He shrinks down to his original size and Atom picks him up with the eye of a needle. Aquaman explains that he "overdosed like a narcotic addict." (six year old me had to look that up) They decide to keep him in suspended animation on the satellite where he can't do any harm. On the last panel, the team sees Red Tornado's outfit floating by the satellite. They decide to let it stay in orbit as a memorial, even though half of them could probably put him back together. I'm sure he'll be back, and blown up again, before we know it. THE END! JLA Mailroom (now with Wonder Woman and without Red Tornado): Jo Duffy liked the two dimensional Two-Face from Conway's #125. STORY: C+ I think I would have preferred the team overloading him with courage instead of fear. ART: B+ COVER: C I like the Eiffel Tower, the angle of the shot, Flash, Batman, Hawkman floating by and really dislike the rest. 1976 me: What is that??? 2014 me: Really? What is that??? HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: C+ Red Tornado dies... AGAIN up next.... it's JLA Casebook time! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2014 23:54:00 GMT -5
JLA #123, 126 and 129 represented the entirety of JLA issues I picked up off the stands pre-Crisis. I had one other issue that was Whitman variant and came in a polybag 3 pack (158) maybe), so I am another that these covers everyone is down on worked to get me to part with my money off the newstands, as 95% of what I bought was Marvel at that age.
-M
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 25, 2014 0:06:39 GMT -5
JLA #123, 126 and 129 represented the entirety of JLA issues I picked up off the stands pre-Crisis. I had one other issue that was Whitman variant and came in a polybag 3 pack (158) maybe), so I am another that these covers everyone is down on worked to get me to part with my money off the newstands, as 95% of what I bought was Marvel at that age. -M They worked on me too and a vast supermajority of my purchases were DC. My favorite Chua JLA covers are still to come. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2014 14:55:26 GMT -5
Justice League of America #125 - Was written by Gerry Conway entitled "The Men Who Sold Destruction!" and featured a well positioned Two Face on it's cover was the most unusual and shocking story ever and I just can't believe what I was seeing here and I was utterly speechless about it. Somewhat creative and has some flaws that I just can't put a finger on it.
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 29, 2014 22:34:39 GMT -5
 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #130 On Sale February 5, 1976 Written by Martin Pasko Penciled by Dick Dillin Inked by Frank McLaughlin Edited by Julius Schwartz Cover by Ernie Chua ROLL CALL: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Atom, Green Arrow, Hawkman and Black Canary Our Hostess ad is still Captain Marvel in "Minerva Menace!" and now... "SKYJACK AT 22,300 MILES!" It's a JLA Casebook story and this one takes place right after the JLA abandoned their old mountain HQ to upgrade to the JLA Satellite. Naturally, hijinks ensued. Flash is meeting up with Hawkman on top of the STAR Labs building in New York City. Hawkman informs Flash that, due to the unwitting betrayal of Snapper Carr, the Joker gained access to their old HQ and that they had a new one in a satellite 22,300 miles above the Earth. Hawkman informs Flash that the now visible cylinder is a Thanagarian Teleporter Unit and it is the only way to get up to the satellite. As he begins a lecture on physics that Flash will find interesting the scene switches to a lab a few floors below. They have just opened a moon rock and are preparing to leave for the day. A life form escapes the rock, transforms into a grey creature and strangles the scientist. it climbs up the building where Hawkman is giving his lecture. Hawkman states that every member's retinal scan and brain patterns must match the data in the JLA computer for the teleporter to work. Hawkman and Superman put the giant computer together, which would now fit on a postage stamp, and then they were joined by Green Lantern to build the satellite around it. He's not shown, but I assume Batman used his Bat credit card to buy a couple of things. And then he set up a couple of protocols to...nope... wrong timeline. Hawkman and Flash are teleporting up to do some tests when the grey creature enters the teleporter. Everyone screams. Meanwhile, 22,300 miles up, Superman is giving everyone instructions about the tests. Green Arrow hears the teleporter activate and looks over to where Flash and Hawkman should be when he's knocked out by two fists flying across the room. Three creatures exit the tube. The first has a Flash head, Hawkman's body and wings and the creature's legs. The second has Hakwman's head, the creature's body and Flash's legs. The last one has the creature's head, Flash's body and Hawkman's legs. The creature headed has a tentacle that it uses to take out both Superman and Green Lantern. The other two mop up the rest and they all vibrate to the deck below. As everyone wakes up and tries to figure out what just happened and who those horrors were, the Atom comes up with a theory. The alien caused a problem in the teleporter and scrambled up the three humanoids. Since others had beamed up together and the alien never should have been beamed up at all, that means there is still a flaw in the system somewhere. Thankfully, they didn't install a holodeck in this place. Superman finds two of them down in the computer room messing with the computer. The other needs to be found elsewhere. The team splits up and we're off! Aquaman, Green Arrow and Black Canary head to the computer room where the one with the alien head is doing some reprogramming, while the one with the Hawkman head is using Flash's body to read a lot of books really fast. Green Arrow misses the alien headed one that uses it's tentacle to hit Aquaman and take over his mind. He smacks Green Arrow so hard he knocks his new beard clean off his head. In the next room, Black Canary tries out her new at the time Canary Cry and takes out the Hawkman headed one. Unfortunately, the other creature pushes a wall of books on her. Superman and Atom find the Flash headed one on the outer rim. This one uses its creature feet to knock Superman for a loop. Atom tries a 180 pound punch and it does absolutely nothing except get him pulled out into space with the creature. Aquaman wakes up and, while under the mental control of the creature, has read the alien's thoughts. Green Lantern arrives after a fruitless search and stopping to make a sandwich. Aquaman sees Atom floating outside and tells Green Lantern. He flies out, scoops up Atom and chucks him back inside. Meanwhile, Superman arrives after "playing patty-cake with a heap of scrap iron." He sees the three creatures on the bottom of the satellite and figures out that they are putting an interstellar drive on it. They are going to skyjack it! One creature grabs Superman while another defeats Green Lantern and takes over his mind. Back on board, the rest of the team gets into space suits. Atom is saved by mouth to mouth from Black Canary using a straw. Aquaman tells everyone that the creature is called a Dharlu and that it is trying to get to "the beginning place." It probably should have made that left hand turn at Albuquerque and not ended up in a rock on the moon. Aquaman also tells Green Arrow he's sorry. The creatures come back in and the satellite starts to move into space. A mind-controlled Green Lantern attacks the team until Green Arrow takes him out with a sulfur gas arrow. It's about to take control of Superman, but the Atom takes the tentacle attack instead. Superman blows the gas out of the room and the three creatures recoil like Shaxper from a Todd McFarlane drawing from the cold air. Superman comes up with a plan and the team starts to freeze the creatures and back them up into a teleporter. The teleporter is activated and all that is left in the room is a frozen mess of an alien. On another deck, Flash and Hawkman fall out of the teleporter alive and in one piece each. However, the satellite is still flying out of the solar system and now the life support is going wonky and Superman's lost his powers. The Dharlu has recreated red sun conditions in the satellite like its home planet. The team has also failed to notice that the Dharlu has escaped the ice and made its way into the computer. From there it takes out Green Lantern once again, immobilizing him. Superman figures out that the Dharlu is in the computer system and her voice is heard describing that she is heading home and the "tomorrow beings shall know the beginning place." Superman asks the computer how to stop the Dharlu from reproducing and just like in Star Trek the computer can't handle the request and explodes. With the red sun now gone Superman freezes the computer and he and Green Lantern get the satellite back to where it belongs. Later, the team finds out from Superman that the Dharlu was trying to get home to reproduce. The computer flaws were corrected by the Dharlu and, in order to keep the computer functioning perfectly, the alien is being kept in a refrigerated section of the computer. Yes, they are keeping an alien mother on the satellite, trapped against its will, so they don't have to fix the computer. And you thought the Identity Crisis mindwipes were the worst secret kept by the JLA. Somehow having yet another alien around blows Green Arrow's mind. The End! JLA Mailroom: Everyone liked the conclusion of the Two-Face story from #126. STORY: B I really loved this one as a kid. ART: A- COVER: D+ Ernie put this one together with colorforms didn't he? Black background with white speed lines? The combo creature in the middle looks good though. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: C The Dharlu will show up again in this thread. |
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Post by Action Ace on Oct 6, 2014 19:32:53 GMT -5
 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #131 On Sale March 2, 1976 Written by Gerry Conway Penciled by Dick Dillin Inked by Frank McLaughlin Edited by Julius Schwartz Cover by Ernie Chua ROLL CALL: Superman, Flash, Aquaman, Atom, Hawkman and Elongated Man Our Hostess ad this month is the Joker in "The Cornered Clown" one of my favorites. Also this month we have an ad for Colorforms ($3.45) and the Superman and Batman From the 30's to the 70's book for $13.45 each. Justice for All Includes Children also has an ad and Superman explains the DC Salutes the Bicentennial gimmick. Send in the tops of 25 DC Comics covers and you get a free Superman belt buckle. I think DC has found its cover gimmick for September 2015! and now (finally).... "THE BEASTS WHO THOUGHT LIKE MEN!" Our story opens in Central City as Superman and Flash are cleaning up the last mob that has been infected by some sort of "money plague" that has spread across America in the last week. Anyone handling currency went insane. These days you have to watch Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" to get the same effect. A Professor Dunkirk at STAR Labs comes up with a solution. All money will be transferred to special Ultima-Cards that have the persons photo, thumbprint and a special sonic code. He explains, "On payroll day a man would receive a direct deposit into his credit account." The Treasury Secretary goes for this madness and, within a week, everyone in the country has one of these cards to buy things right down to a kid buying a comic for thirty cents. We return to the present at a zoo in Ivy Town where the Atom and Elongated Man are out enjoying the day. Suddenly, a bunch of animals escape their cages. Atom and Elongated Man try to stop them, but the rest of the zoo visitors just stand there. Before lunch is served, our heroes get the animals back into a cage. The Atom is wondering how the animals got smart enough to escape their cages and the people too stupid to try to flee. Meanwhile, Aquaman is swimming toward home when he sees a giant squid attacking a submarine. He tries using his aquatic telepathy, but the squid bounces it right back at him. Aquaman calls in a school of electric rays that shock the squid away. Aquaman tries to check in with the crew of the sub, but an insane pack of sailors come out and beat him up. Everyone meets up in the JLA satellite with Hawkman and Atom informs everyone that there have been dozens of zoo breakouts in the last ten hours. Aquaman arrives pouting about being beaten up and they all suspect that all of this is related. The Pentagon calls in to tell the JLA that people are becoming stupid beasts and, even worse, a giant swarm of bees is approaching New York City!    The bees take down the air force jets sent after them and Flash sees their old enemy Queen Bee among them. Superman gets a swarm trapped in his cape, but another one makes its way into his ear. The super loud buzzing is driving him crazy and he flies off. Hawkman and Aquaman are just as flabbergasted as I am when they are attacked by flying people. It turns out they are mannequins being operated by swarms of bees. Hawkman gets to Queen Bee and takes her wand away and meets up with Flash. Queen Bee explains that the animals are getting smarter and the people are getting dumber due to the sonics in the new credit cards. She explains that as an alien with no credit card shes immune to this, but she also claims to be under the control of the bees. Aquaman and Hawkman have fallen to the sonics from the swarms and Superman has skipped down, so it's up to Flash. He tries spinning to produce a counter sonic, but he fails. Atom and Elongated Man arrive at he office of Professor Dunkirk and he invites them in to see his computer. Dunkirk's thought bubble claims they'll never come out alive. to be continued! JLA Mailroom: Mixed reviews for Conway's #127 against the Anarchist. STORY: C+ Some good parts, but this one is all over the map already and it's going to get worse. ART: B+ COVER: C Once again, good idea with mediocre execution HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE: C- Queen Bee returns |
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Post by Action Ace on Oct 6, 2014 20:34:52 GMT -5
 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #132 On sale April 4, 1976 Written by Gerry Conway Penciled by Dick Dillin Inked by Frank McLaughlin Edited by Julius Schwartz Cover by Ernie Chua ROLL CALL: Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Black Canary SPECIAL GUEST STAR: Supergirl Our Hostess ad is still Joker in "The Cornered Clown." and now..."THE BEASTS THAT FOUGHT LIKE MEN!" The rest of the JLA has arrived back from a mission in space to find New York City covered in bees. Green Lantern is attacked by bee filled mannequins and notes his power ring is about to run out again. He'll have more time to recharge when he gets his own comic back next month. This Batman isn't afraid of bees and jumps out of the invisible jet to wrangle a fling bee mannequin. Wonder Woman can get some under control with her magic lasso and Black Canary notes that they aren't trying to sting them since the bees know that would mean their deaths. Green Lantern finally sucks them all into a giant vacuum cleaner and deposits them over the ocean. The team flies up to the satellite, because they read issue #130 and don't trust the teleporters any more than Dr. McCoy does. Green Lantern arrives first and is ambushed by his old enemy Sonar! He takes out the rest of the team as they enter as well. It's time for a villain monologue as he informs us that he was Professor Dunkirk, reviews the events of last issue and tells us that he's taken care of Atom and Elongated Man as well. It looks like we're out of JLA members when Supergirl bursts in and punches Sonar. She fixes the hole in the satellite, but when she turns around Sonar beams out. The rest of the team is up quickly too and they explain they were playing possum to learn Sonar's plans. Supergirl explains she is looking for Superman for suggestion about the zoo crisis and he's nowhere to be found. The rest of the team can't find the cast from last issue either, so it's up to these six. The men chase Sonar after Green Lantern recharges his ring, while the women are in pursuit of Queen Bee. The men find Sonar in Washington DC. Green Arrow and Batman drop on him, but his sonics prevent any physical attacks. They make their way to the ground when the animals from the DC Zoo launch their attack. Green Arrow and Green Lantern are knocked out by sonar, but Batman watches as the beast start to attack Sonar himself! Batman saves Sonar and the animals, now complete with human stupidity, start to attack each other. The women find Queen Bee and a giant swarm in Chicago. Supergirl smacks around bee mannequins while Wonder Woman tries to nab the Queen, who still claims to be under the control of the bees. Black Canary starts using here Canary Cry and it reverses the sonics that make the bees smart and people dumb. When the cry reaches Queen Bee she is also knocked out. Back up in the satellite we learn that Queen Bee was actually responsible for the beast intelligence switch using the sonics of Sonar's cards. Green Lantern beams the criminals off to jail and the entire team is there, happy to have saved the day. Everyone but Superman that is. Supergirl asks the JLA to help her find Superman because anyone that can defeat him is a threat to the whole world. The End! JLA Mailroom: Readers enjoyed issue #128, but there were a lot of complaints about how long it took for Green Lantern to charge his ring. Julie Schwartz declares it is twelve seconds, about the same amount of time it takes to recite the oath. STORY: C+ I liked how Black Canary's sonic cry saved the day. These two villains really need to learn how to work together. ART: B+ COVER: C+ My problem is that this scene never happened. I wanted to see the giraffe take out Green Lantern with a spear. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: C- up next... where is Superman? |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 6, 2014 23:14:19 GMT -5
WOW! That looks like one of the greatest covers of the Bronze Age!!
Machine-gun wielding gorillas aren't all the uncommon, but they got a mace-swinging elephant and a spear-carrying giraffe! And you say Sonar and Queen Bee are the villains?
Count me in! Especially for Queen Bee! She is a nut! Love her to death!
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