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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 17, 2014 10:08:36 GMT -5
No, I don't think most of them were intentional at all, but simply a case of artists hurrying to make their deadlines (though, as we'll see going forward, sometimes a penciller favors one version of a costume over another).
Cei-U!
I summon the heroic haberdashery!
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 18, 2014 7:28:54 GMT -5
The Flash #151
March 1965 (January 21, 1965) $.12
Cover Art: Carmine Infantino (Penciller), Murphy Anderson (Inker)
“Invader from the Dark Dimension” 25 pages
Julius Schwartz (Editor), Gardner Fox (Writer), Carmine Infantino (Penciller), Joe Giella (Inker), no lettering or coloring credits.
FC: The Flash [of Earth-One]
GS: The Flash
SC: Joan Garrick, Iris West
Villain: The Shade
Synopsis
While strolling through Central City's jewelry district, Barry Allen and Iris West discover the “one ring in all the world” that Iris has been seeking as her engagement ring. Before they can complete their purchase, the ring is absorbed by an impenetrable black substance that appears out of nowhere and grows until it engulfs the entire store. While Iris phones the story in to her newspaper, Barry takes advantage of her distraction to become The Flash. The Crimson Comet soon discovers that the blackness is immune to his bag of super-speed tricks. He can only watch in frustration as the shadow fades to nothing, taking the jewelry store's inventory ― including Iris' ring ― with it. Police reports tell of shadow creatures looting all around the city. These creatures ― shaped vaguely like an enormous anteater, mosquito and bear ― prove equally resistant to Flash's powers. Noticing that his molecules vibrate sympathetically whenever he touches the shadow beasts, Flash retreats to his police laboratory. Analysis of the vibration proves it similar in type to that emitted by the strange cane of the Earth-Two villain known only as The Shade.
The Flash travels to Earth-Two to confer with Jay Garrick, his Justice Society counterpart. Jay tells Barry about his recent encounter with The Shade, who has been spending money profligately, as if he had been on a crime spree of which there was no record. Realizing he has been spending money stolen from Earth-One, the Flashes pay The Shade a visit, with Barry using his powers to make himself invisible as a fail-safe. Trapping Jay under “black light,” Shade freely admits his crimes. It was by watching Jay that he learned how to travel between Earths and, in so doing, discovered the “Dark Dimension” whose substance he shapes into the creatures Barry fought. When Barry attempts to overcome the smirking criminal, he finds he cannot penetrate Shade's aura nor prevent the villain from fading away. Deducing that the shadow constructs are designed to absorb only objects of value, the Earth-One Flash coats himself with gold leaf and plants himself at The Shade's next target. Once inside the Dark Dimension, Barry disarms his foe, freeing Jay. His crime spree at an end and his loot confiscated, the Duke of Darkness is taken to Earth-One to answer for his crimes.
Cosmology
This is the first appearance of the Dark Dimension, a universe of absolute darkness.
The Flash of Earth-One enters the Earth-Two dimension from the Central City Community Center the first time he travels interdimensionally, but neither his point of arrival nor his subsequent points of departure are depicted.
The Shade does not travel directly between the Earths but uses the Dark Dimension as a “shortcut” between them.
Apparently, the American legal systems on Earth-One and Earth-Two have incorporated provisions for the extradition of extradimensional criminals or else The Shade, once he had escaped to Earth-Two where he had committed no crime, could not legally be captured and returned to Earth-One for prosecution. This is only logical, given the public disclosure on both Earths of the other's existence (cf. The Flash #129).
By the kind of coincidence peculiar to Earths-One and -Two, Iris West's one-of-a-kind engagement ring is identical to Joan Garrick's one-of-a-kind wedding ring.
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 19, 2014 6:36:47 GMT -5
Showcase #55
March-April 1965 (January 28, 1965) $.12
Cover Art: Murphy Anderson
“Solomon Grundy Goes on a Rampage” 26 pages
Julius Schwartz (Editor), Gardner Fox (Writer), Murphy Anderson (Art), no lettering or coloring credits
FC: Dr. Fate, Hourman
GS: Green Lantern
Reintro: Inza Cramer Nelson
Reintro: Solomon Grundy
Synopsis
A meteor falls to earth. Within it is Solomon Grundy, the monstrous unliving foe of Green Lantern exiled to outer space eighteen years earlier. Freed by the impact from the bubble of emerald energy in which he had been imprisoned, Grundy shambles cross country, instinctively drawn to Slaughter Swamp, where he was spawned. Grundy's arrival triggers a mystic alarm in the windowless, doorless tower in which live Doctor Fate and his wife, Inza. Meanwhile, more mundane alarm systems go off at the Tyler Chemical Company, which now owns Slaughter Swamp and uses it as a toxic waste dump. Company president Rex Tyler changes to his other identity of Hourman to investigate. Engaging Grundy in combat, Hourman finds his chemically enhanced strength cannot cope with the swamp creature's brutal power. Doctor Fate arrives on his own investigation. Grundy has developed a high tolerance to magic, thanks to decades of exposure to Green Lantern's supernatural energy, and is therefore immune to the effects of Fate's usual repertoire of spells. Harnessing his own body's occult energy, Fate paralyzes the monster with mystic lightning. Hourman, recovering his senses following Grundy's attack, misinterprets Fate's actions and, believing his teammate in danger, leaps to his rescue. The spell of paralysis is broken, and Grundy uses Doctor Fate as a club against Hourman, knocking both men unconscious.
Obsessed with thoughts of revenge on Green Lantern, Solomon Grundy enters Gotham City, where he breaks into a bank vault to attract the Emerald Crusader's attention. As an apparent side effect of exposure to Fate's magic, the swamp monster is accompanied by dozens of wooden objects drawn to him and subject to his commands. That same magic renders Grundy immune to Green Lantern's emerald energy, as GL learns to his sorrow moments later. Powerless against wood, the Lantern is battered unconscious by Grundy's inanimate ‘henchmen.’ Before Grundy can make off with his captive, Fate arrives and disposes of the mystically animated wood. Right behind him comes Hourman. But when the Man of the Hour takes a Miraclo pill, he and Fate inexplicably turn on one another. Grundy looks on with satisfaction as the teammates knock each other cold. On his way back to Slaughter Swamp, the marshland monster encounters his old gang from two decades ago. After learning how Grundy was drawn by a passing comet from the dead world on which he was imprisoned and thus eventually returned to Earth, they persuade him to help them commit a robbery “for old times' sake.” This accomplished, Grundy returns to his plan to immerse Green Lantern in the waters of the swamp, making his arch-foe into an unliving creature like himself.
Not far away, Fate and Hourman recover consciousness. The heroes deduce that the radioactivity emitted by Grundy's body somehow causes Fate's magic and Hourman's powers to affect each other adversely. Armed with this knowledge, they set out to rescue the Lantern and stop Grundy. En route, Hourman spots Grundy's gang lingering at the scene of their crime. He remains behind to round them up as Fate continues the pursuit of Grundy. Reaching Slaughter Swamp, Fate distracts Grundy with an illusion of Green Lantern while he searches the swamp for the real GL. Finding his teammate transformed into a monster, the master sorcerer uses his occult powers to restore Green Lantern to normal. Hourman arrives in time to help immobilize Grundy long enough for Fate and the Lantern to combine their powers, create an impenetrable force bubble around the swamp creature, and place him in Earth orbit, where he will be a menace to no one.
Behind the Scenes
This is the first Silver Age story to take place entirely on Earth-Two.
Cosmology
The cities out of which Doctor Fate and Hourman operate are established in this issue as Salem, Massachusetts, and Gotham City, respectively.
The Good Guys
Kent Nelson and Inza Cramer marry sometime between Inza's last appearance in the “Doctor Fate” story in More Fun Comics #90 (April 1943) and this story.
A caption in this issue notes that Doctor Fate's costume was given to him by Nabu the Wise. This is the first mention of Nabu in Earth-Two continuity.
Green Lantern (as Alan Scott) has risen to the presidency of the Gotham Broadcasting Company since his last Golden Age appearance.
Hourman (as Rex Tyler) has founded and become president of the Tyler Chemical Company since his last Golden Age appearance.
Hourman is shown taking Miraclo in pill form in this story instead of using black light to activate the Miraclo permeating his cellular structure as he did toward the end of his solo series in Adventure Comics. No mention is made of nor explanation given for this discrepancy, though presumably it has something to do with the improvements to Miraclo mentioned in Justice League of America #22.
Hourman reveals in this story that he must wait an hour after the effects of Miraclo wear off before he can use it again.
This is the first appearance of the secret vault beneath Tyler Chemical that serves as Hourman's headquarters.
The Bad Guys
Solomon Grundy was introduced in the “Green Lantern” story in All-American Comics #61 (October 1944) and was last seen in the GL story in Comic Cavalcade #33 (December 1947-January 1948).
The concept that immersion in the waters of Slaughter Swamp will transform a human being into an unliving creature like Solomon Grundy is never referred to again.
The radioactivity permeating Grundy's body apparently dissipates following this story, as its adverse affects on the powers of Doctor Fate and Hourman are never seen again.
Fashion Watch
Doctor Fate resumes wearing the gauntlets he wore during the later episodes of his Golden Age series in this issue. His cape's collar is colored yellow instead of blue.
Green Lantern's cape and mask revert to their usual dark violet-blue coloring in this issue.
Green Lantern resumes wearing the boots — the ones coming to a point below the knee and with two yellow stripes forming a chevron pattern — last seen in Justice League of America #21.
Hourman's costume is slightly redesigned in this issue. The boots go from solid black with two thin red stripes around the calves to black with three broad red stripes around the calves and a red rectangle across the arch of the foot just below the ankle, the striped trim is restored to his cape, and he wears his original, wider belt with its distinctive filigree and more elaborately detailed buckle.
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 19, 2014 22:06:45 GMT -5
What I've always found interesting is the various ups and downs of how popular and how often these characters were used over the decades. One hero might have been used a lot in the Golden age, rarely appeared in the Silver and Bronze Ages only to find new popularity in the 1990s. Another might have had rarely appeared in the Golden Age, but got popular in the 1970s and beyond.
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 20, 2014 6:28:22 GMT -5
Showcase #56
May-June 1965 (March 25, 1965) $.12
Cover Art: Murphy Anderson
“Perils of the Psycho-Pirate!” 25 pages
Julius Schwartz (Editor), Gardner Fox (Writer), Murphy Anderson (Art), no lettering or coloring credits
FC: Doctor Fate, Hourman
SC: Inza Nelson
Reintro: The Psycho-Pirate (Charley Halstead), in flashback, death depicted in this story
Reintro: Wotan, Mayoor, Mango the Mighty, a Fishman of Nyarl-Amen, and other Golden Age foes of Dr. Fate, all as illusions
Intro: The second Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden)
Intro: Wendi Harris
Synopsis
In a remote area of Asia Minor, archaeologists Kent and Inza Nelson uncover the legendary Masks of Medusa, reputed to give their possessor power over the emotions of others. Not long after, the find is celebrated at a reception held at the Gotham City headquarters of the Tyler Chemical Company, corporate underwriter of the Nelson expedition. At the event, the Nelsons are introduced to actress Wendi Harris, fiancée of Rex Tyler. Wendi is fascinated by the Medusa Masks. So is a man who releases an “irradiated gas” from his cigarette lighter next to the mask representing Greed. Wendi, suddenly overcome with greed, snatches the masks from their display and races outside. Those looking on are overcome with laughter, caused by the man with the lighter activating the Mask of Mirth. Once the spell lapses, Tyler and the Nelsons bolt outside, where they find a confused and embarrassed Wendi. She explains that, overwhelmed by pity, she handed the masks to a beggar. Realizing something extraordinary has occurred, Kent and Rex decide to investigate as Doctor Fate and Hourman.
Later, Roger Hayden ― the man with the lighter ― gloats over the Medusa Masks at his seacoast hideaway. Hayden is the former cellmate of Charley Halstead, an old Justice Society enemy known as the Psycho-Pirate, who taught Hayden all his lore concerning human emotions before his death. Now Hayden uses that lore to internalize the masks' powers and become the new Psycho-Pirate. The next day, the Psycho-Pirate uses his new power to rob a bank. This alerts Doctor Fate, who has been prevented until now from locating the Medusa Masks by an occult property of the relics themselves. Flying to Gotham, he interrupts the robbery and takes down the Pirate's gang. Hayden causes Fate to see and battle illusions of his old foes and escapes in the confusion. Some time later, Hourman follows clues left behind at the crime scene and discovers Hayden's gang looting an open-air art museum. Again, a super-hero proves no match for the powers of the Psycho-Pirate. Under a spell of friendliness, Hourman actually helps load the loot in the criminals' van!
Joined by Fate soon after, an infuriated Hourman accompanies the mage as he tracks the Pirate to his lair. When the heroes defeat Hayden's henchmen despite their opponent's spell of fear, the Psycho-Pirate exposes them directly to the effects of the Medusa Masks. Staggered by a dozen emotions at once, the teammates turn against each other. Hourman collapses from the strain, and Fate appears on the verge of collapse when he unexpectedly turns and knocks the Psycho-Pirate cold. Fate then uses his occult powers to create a magic mask on Hayden's face which, while allowing the criminal to live normally, blocks his super-powers. Fate, deducing that the Pirate's powers affect the hypothalamus and septal region of the human brain, used his magic to shield himself from that effect. The next day, Rex Tyler reveals his Hourman identity to Wendi Harris.
Behind the Scenes
Unless specified otherwise, all future references to the Psycho-Pirate in this guide will concern the Roger Hayden version introduced here.
Cosmology
Reference to a foreign car called a “Mercedes-Bentley” implies that the automotive giants Mercedes-Benz and Bentley merged sometime prior to 1965 on Earth-Two.
The Good Guys
Doctor Fate (as Kent Nelson) has returned to his original profession of archaeology since his last Golden Age appearance.
Doctor Fate explains in this story that his magical powers require his “emotional forces” to operate.
The Bad Guys
The original Psycho-Pirate, Charley Halstead, was introduced in the “Justice Society of America” story in All-Star Comics #23 (Winter 1945) and was last seen in the JSA story in All-Star #32 (December 1946-January 1947). It is not clear how long ago Halstead's death, as depicted in flashback to this story, occurred. Since Roger Hayden looks the same age in both flashback and main narrative, it is presumably a recent occurance but this cannot be confirmed.
Though there are only twelve Medusa Masks, the Psycho-Pirate displays power over fifteen distinct emotions in this story: greed, mirth, pity, suspicion, disdain, fury, curiosity, pride, frustration, despair, amity, fear, jealousy, mockery and hate. He also uses his powers to cause hallucinations and generate specific phobias. Neither ability is seen again after this issue.
The Psycho-Pirate supplies his henchmen with “counter-emotional” capsules to immunize them from his super-powers.
Details concerning the last appearances of Wotan and the other Doctor Fate foes seen only as illusions in this issue will be listed when (or if) the characters make their first physical appearances in continuity.
Fashion Watch
Hourman's boots have only two stripes (and the rectangle across the arch) in this issue.
Points to Ponder
It seems certain that Fate and Hourman are either unaware of the existence of the Psycho-Pirate's counter-emotional formula or do not recover the formula or a sample for analysis after defeating him. Had they, the Justice Society would certainly have had much less trouble in future encounters with the villain.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Sept 20, 2014 11:37:31 GMT -5
Good stuff. Loving this thread!
Any theories on why the two above team-up comics ended up in Showcase instead of Brave and the Bold, while two (solo) Metamorpho stories landed in the latter? Since I care deeply about team-up books this has always bothered me.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Sept 20, 2014 17:35:20 GMT -5
I always wondered why, at this point, DC didn't try a full-fledged JSA Showcase title instead of the team-up attempt or the soon-to-appear Spectre book. A Justice Society title should have been a slam dunk
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 20, 2014 20:39:27 GMT -5
As I understand it, the thinking was that readers were more interested in those JSAers with no Justice League counterpart than in the team itself. There was also a fear, hard as it is to believe knowing what we know, that a Justice Society title would undercut the JLA book, one of their bestselling titles at the time.
Cei-U!
Go figure!
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 20, 2014 22:32:32 GMT -5
Good stuff. Loving this thread! Any theories on why the two above team-up comics ended up in Showcase instead of Brave and the Bold, while two (solo) Metamorpho stories landed in the latter? Since I care deeply about team-up books this has always bothered me. Me, too. Not sure about the Earth-2 books. Thought at first that putting them in both titles might have meant a few straight months of Golden Age heroes, but checking the sale dates shot that down. As for Metamorpho, I wonder if he was slated for Showcase, but because of some contractual obligation with Hasbro, DC had to put out the two G.I.Joe (reprint) issues at the same time and Metamorpho was shifted over to B and B? |
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 21, 2014 6:23:46 GMT -5
Strange Adventures #177
June 1965 (April 22, 1965) $.12
Cover Art: Bernard Baily
“I Lived a Hundred Lives!” 8 pages
Credits: Jack Schiff (Editor), scripting credit unknown, Jack Sparling (Art), no lettering or coloring credits
FC and Intro: Immortal Man (as Mark, last name unknown; dies in this story; see Behind the Scenes below)
Cameo: Hannibal, in flashback
Synopsis
Since his childhood, a drifter named Mark has displayed knowledge and skills impossible given his age and personal history. Seeking an answer to this mystery, he returns to the orphanage on whose doorstep he was left as an infant and from which he had run away years before. The director gives him the jeweled amulet found with him and held for safekeeping. Gazing into its depths later that night, Mark sees images of himself in past lives — as a prehistoric man and as soldiers of both Carthage and Rome — always displaying extraordinary superpowers, always with the amulet about his throat. The memories of these forgotten past lives are restored as Mark realizes that “I've lived before-- dozens, hundreds of times! I possess all this ancient knowledge because I lived in other eras… and I possess incredible powers…” He awakes the next morning to calamitous news: a local reservoir has been struck by lightning and there's a huge flood wave on its way. Mark literally flies into action, using his superhuman strength to tear a steel bridge loose from its moorings and use it as a breakwater. The water is diverted long enough to allow an orderly evacuation. Flying back to town, he sees fleeing students threatened when a boiler in their school explodes. He keeps the toppling façade from crushing the children. Before he can escape, there is a second, larger explosion. Police later find Mark's corpse amid the rubble, the diary in which he recorded his fantastic secret still in his coat pocket. “Kind of tough to believe, huh, Joe?” says an officer. “His fantastic performance today … saved a lot of lives,” his partner replies. “[W]ho are we to question him now?”
Behind the Scenes
The feature character is not referred to as Immortal Man anywhere in this issue, either editorially or within the story proper.
Continuity
Although no indication is given within the series itself regarding which universe these stories are set in, Immortal Man was explicitly tied to Earth-One in Action Comics #552-53. According to that story, however, his origin is intertwined with that of the Earth-Two villain Vandal Savage. Because this paradox was never resolved, the “Immortal Man” stories are presented here as Earth-Two apocrypha.
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 21, 2014 15:51:53 GMT -5
I always wondered why, at this point, DC didn't try a full-fledged JSA Showcase title instead of the team-up attempt or the soon-to-appear Spectre book. A Justice Society title should have been a slam dunk Fortunately, for those of us who started reading in comics in 1975, we got cake AND cookies. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2014 15:54:39 GMT -5
I always wondered why, at this point, DC didn't try a full-fledged JSA Showcase title instead of the team-up attempt or the soon-to-appear Spectre book. A Justice Society title should have been a slam dunk Fortunately, for those of us who started reading in comics in 1975, we got cake AND cookies. No you got Hostess snacks and liked it! -M |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 21, 2014 15:56:54 GMT -5
Fortunately, for those of us who started reading in comics in 1975, we got cake AND cookies. No you got Hostess snacks and liked it! -M Not if Wendigo or Abomination or Legal Eagle got there first! |
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Post by Action Ace on Sept 21, 2014 15:58:55 GMT -5
Fortunately, for those of us who started reading in comics in 1975, we got cake AND cookies. No you got Hostess snacks and liked it! -M In the interest of full disclosure, I hated everything Hostess except for the mini powdered donuts. |
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Post by benday-dot on Sept 21, 2014 18:09:32 GMT -5
Is it true that Johnny Thunder's t-bolt comes from the "fifth dimension", the same place that Mr. Mxyzptlk, Superman's impish foe, hails from?
I ask because, while recently reading DC's very good and offbeat 2001 tpb collection "Bizarro Comics" one of the stories takes place on Mr. Mxyzptlk's home world in the fifth dimension and several pink thunderbolt humanoids, such as serve Johnny Thunder, can be seen out and about. I know the stories in this book are a bunch of indy takes on the DCU and can't be considered canonical, but this was the first I heard of a connection between Mr. Mxyzptlk and Johnny Thunder's t-bolt. Has this connection been established anywhere else?
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