pps The sequences in the Brooklyn Naval Yard show women performing welding duties. With the war and male enlistment in the armed forces, many women found new employment opportunities in traditionally male jobs and proved more than the equal of male counterparts. They became symbolized by the famous Rosie the Riveter, the subject of a 1942 song by Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb, made famous by Kay Kyser and several singers. The song inspired the famous Norman Rockwell cover, for the Saturday Evening Post...



and the J Howard Miller motivational poster...



By war's end, veterans were returning and took back over the jobs that women had carried out. There is much debate how much influence these wartime jobs had on the future of women in the workplace. Whether direct or indirect influence, it was a significant step in proving that women could compete equally with men in professional fields and did much to ultimately lead to women entering the workplace full time. Like most societal changes though, it was a gradual evolution, rather than an overnight change.

Some years later, James Robinson, in the JSA mini-series that spawned the revived JSA comic, featured Ma Hunkel as a war worker, reuniting her with Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, as they faced down one of the Stalker's minions.

Ironically, this issue also features a letter from Sheldon Mayer, creator of Ma Hunkel, in response to copies of issues 19 and 20 that Roy sent him for comment. he had only vague memories of writing that first All-Star story, after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Here's a version of the song, from 1943...

Scanning through the thread, I didn't see it mentioned that issue #21 marks the beginning of Thomas and Ordway getting their names on the cover. We had discussed in another thread how this was used to sell prestige books like Swamp Thing, but it wasn't limited to that setting.

All-Star Squadron Annual #2



In the words of Ruby Rod (The Fifth Element)....Super Green!

Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer/editor, Jerry Ordway-artist, Cody Weis-letters, Gene D'Angelo-colors.

Synopsis: Cyclotron is arguing with Ultra-Humanite to drop his/her demands, while Amazing Man stand by and Deathbolt heckles Cyclotron. The rest of the future Secret Society members arrives and the Old School villains and the New School villains do not play well together. Amazing Man tells them off and Deathbolt starts to say something about AM being a credit to his race, but chokes it back. Ultra restores order with the Power Stone, threatening to return the Society members to Limbo. Then an alarm trips and the All-Stars are headed their way. They meet and fight...



Brainwave Jr runs into pop and he tells the kid he is grounded! Jr says "You're not the boss of me!" and storms off, while the All-Starr fall to the All-Heels.

Ultra packs every one up and leaves in an autogyro. Brainwave helps Ultra banish the All-Stars to limbo. However, we see Brainwave wake up and see a bright flash and the All-Stars return; that is the ones who disappeared during the attacks, with the Infinitors. They discover the dead bodies of Greenies, killed by Deathbolt and Vulcan. Theyalso find a note from Amazing Man, who points them to Washington DC.

The Infinitors show up and make nice...



In NYC, Ultra has taken over an operating room to have his/her brain put in Robotman's body. Amazing Man finally picks a side and a fight...



Ultra coerces Cyclotron in to stopping AM, after he lays out Deathbolt (he touches rubber tubing and transforms into a non-conductive form, impervious to Deathbolt's electrical chaarges). Cyclotron blasts AM, who reverts to human form. Robotman tells Chuck Grayson to go through with things, to save lives. Firebrand berates Cyclotron, who finally shows why he is cooperating: his baby daughter...



In Washington, Monocle and Ragdoll attack the Supreme Court and run into Scarab, Tarantula and Liberty Belle. The villains seek an injunction, but Tarantula cites Plessey vs My Right Hook and takes them out, while Liberty Belle and Scarab file amicus curiae on their asses.



Meanwhile, Vice President Henry Wallace addresses a special Joint Session of Congress, when the Mist and Psycho Pirate attack. Green Lantern, jade and Obsidian introduce a bill to whoop their hides, real good and it passes both houses of Congress in record time and is sent for the president to sign, though the Lantern Family (GL doesn't know it yet, but it has slipped out) takes a preactive measure to coincide with the legislation.



Brainwave and Vulcan attack FDR and Harry Hopkins, at the White House; but, Brainwave is actually Junior and Batman, Steel and Nuklon burst in. They battle and take down Vulcan, with more than a nerve pinch.

In NYC, surgery is interrupted by Fury, Northwind and Atom. Atom goes after Cyclotron and ends up weak and irradiated. I smell retcon.



Deathbolt tries to zap Fury, but, she slams him back into the device holding Superman and Firebrand and short-circuits him and it, though she is kissing canvas....er, tile. Firebrand notices her flame returning and wakes Superman and they attack Ultra. Ultra chases a weakened Superman and flings him off a roof, but GL and Jade catch him. The gang is all here and coming for Ultra...



Cyclotron whisks him/her away and the All-Stars are forced to deal with residual radiation, as they escape...



Infinity Inc blinks back to their time and the missing All-Stars turn up. Firebrand shows them Terry Curtis' daughter and pledges to use her fortune to help her and raise her...



Thoughts: Big end to the Ultra-Humanite epic; though, quite frankly, the All-Stars end up being subordinate to debuting Infinity, Inc. I was a fan of Infinity, Inc; but, they kind of end up as interlopers and I think this would have been better without them, or as a parallel story, rather than an interconnected one.

A lot of this was done as a retcon to show how Ultra goes from Delores Winters to the white ape body; but more about how Atom went from short dude with a good haymaker to a superhuman powerhouse and changed his costume. The radiation will change him to super-powered and his later costume reflected Terry Curtis, aka Cyclotron. He will also help Danette Reilly raise Terry Curtis daughter, Terri, who will grow up to be the mother of Nuklon. Atom will be Terri's godfather and Nuklon's mentor, as he is born with elements of Terry Curtis' nuclear powers. Then, Nuklon will cut his hair in a mohawk and Atom will disown him. Or should have, dern kids and their atupid hairdos. Pull up your pants, while you're at it! Turn off that auto-tune noise, get off you danged phones and get off my lawn!

Where was I?

Infinity, Inc will eventually reveal that Northwind was the godson of Hawkman (born to an avian race from a Hawkman story), Fury is the daughter of the GA Wonder Woman, until she isn't and is the daughter of the GA Fury. Scarab is the son of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, until he dies and is reborn, as Sandman, but isn't, but is, and becomes Dr Fate. Brainwave Jr is the son of Brainwave and Merry, the Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks...



sister of Sylvester Pemberton, aka Star Spangled Kid. Jade and Obsidian are the children of Green Lantern Alan Scott and the original Thorn (the GA Rose & Thorn), while everyone was led to the conclusion that Harlequin was their mother. Suckers. Obsidian, who was depicted as heterosexual under Thomas, but is eventually revealed to be gay and is involved with the son of the Kate Spencer Manhunter. Jade becomes the pin-up for a lot of green-hued nudie sketches, at conventions. I'm sure there are some Jade/She-Hulk drawings, too.

Historical Notes: Just the basics. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was Harlan Fiske Stone, who looked nothing like Ordway's drawing....



He served as Chief Justice from 1941-1946. He was Attorney General, under Calvin Coolidge and was nominated to the Supreme Court by Coolidge and served under Chief Justice William Howard Taft, former President of the United States. Stone proved to be part of the liberal bloc of the Court, which upheld the constitutionality of many New Deal programs and reforms and was nominated to the Chief Justice position by FDR, when Chief Justice Evans Hughes retired. His court ruled int he constitutionality of a military tribunal presiding over the trial of German saboteurs, the International Shoe vs Washington which held that corporations can be subject to state courts, if they have "minimum contacts" within that state. It also upheld the constitutionality of the internment of Japanese Americans, despite it being racially motivated, as similar internment of Italian and German Americans were miniscule, in comparison.

Harry Hopkins has been covered. Henry Wallace...



..was Vice President of the United States, from 1941-1945. He had served in the administration as Secretary of Agriculture, which dramatically transformed agriculture in this country, introducing many reforms and programs that are highly protected parts of US Ag policy today, designed to prop up the badly hurting sector, during the Depression, and to stabilize crop prices during future economic downturns, to lessen the impact on farmers and the Nation's economy. He was a staunch ally of FDR and was nominated to be his running mate in the 1940 election, after VP John Nance Gardner, a conservative Texan, who broke with FDR on many matters and had run in opposition in 1932 and in 1940, severed their relationship. Wallace had been part of the Republican Party, at one time, but was well respected on both sides. Wallace was put in charge of the Board of Economic Warfare and the Supply Priorities and Allocation Board, which, essentially, charted out FDR's wartime policy. Wallace was the rare VP who was actually the Number 2 Man in the administration, in authority. Walalce became controversial within the Democratic Party, as he spoke out against events that led to the Detroit Race Riots of 1943 and attacked segregation, in the South. he had made favorable statements about the Soviet Union and had battled to promote FDR's domestic agenda, which was blocked by Congress, which had included many innovations related to health care and housing, which were never realized. Wallace became a sticking point at the 1944 Democratic National Convention and it came down to votes in support of Wallace and those in support of Harry Truman. Truman won and became FDR's final VP and ascended to the Presidency upon FDR's death.

Wallace became Secretary of Commerce, under Truman, but broke with him and ran as a Third Party progressive candidate, in 1948, but was dogged by the FBI and HUAC, as well as attacks by the heads of the AFL and CIO labor unions. They formed the Progressive Party, which bled away some of the liberal wing of the DP. Meanwhile, Southern Democrats broke with Truman and backed Strom Thurmond for President. This was part of the reason why it appeared that Thomas Dewey was a shoe-in for the presidency, which led to the greatest moment of a newspaper with egg on its headline, when Truman won...

All-Star Squadron #28



This is what happens when you play in the street!

Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer/editor, Richard Howell-pencils, Gerald Forton-inks, Cody Weiss-letters, Gene D'Angelo-colors

Gerald Forton was a noted Belgian artist, whose work appeared in the comics magazines Tintin, Spirou and Vailant, on such strips as Kim Devil, Bob Morane, and Alain Cardin (all realistic adventure series). He came to the US in the 80s and worked as a storyboard and background character artist on several cartoon series of the era, such as He-Man, She-Ra, Captain Planet, Real Ghostbusters, Bravestar, and the Prince Valiant cartoon series. He also drew the syndicated He-Man newspaper strip. My guess would be that Rich Howell was the connection, as he worked in animation. Forton would also ink for Jonah Hex, Arak, Jon Sable, Nexus and some books for Eclipse.

Synopsis: When we last left the JSA, at a New York hospital, visiting Atom, Kulkan appeared out of a rift in space, looming over the hospital. Everyone reacts in surprise and horror, though Sandman still has the wherewithall to crack a joke...



"Lee dimensional rip nails; when you need to conquer, they'll stay on!"

After some yacking, the JSA fly up to meet him, as visions of Kulkan are seen elsewhere, in the besieged Soviet Union, Singapore and at Corregidor, in the Philippines. Wonder Woman leaves her invisible plane in the control of a blind Dr Mid-Nite (makes sense, I guess) and leads the attack, which Kulkan dispenses with a flick of his fingers...



Atom is whining about not being in the battle (he still has his mask pulled over the top of his head, which no doctor was going to allow; but...comics) when he is interrupted and partially healed by Chandu wannabe Sargon the Sorcerer.



The Mandrake-Lite dude heads off on a magic carpet to lend a hand. He meets up with the gang and tells them he just needs to touch Kulkan (Fran and Ollie) ring of power. Kulkan (Fran and Ollie retreats. They fight and Sargon succeeds and Kulkan (Fran and Ollie) is sent back to his dimension. Sargon is weakened, so they take him to the hospital, where Atom is recovered and suited up. Sargon warns that Spectre, under Kulkan (Fran and Ollie)'s influence, is still a threat. Sargon gives his origin and explains the link between the ruby on his turban and Kulkan (Fran and Ollie)'s ring.



Then, the Spectre turns up and everyone starts hating each other and it turns into a Charlottesville disaster and the JSA swing into action. Sargon is able to locate Dr Fate and rescue him. He crosses dimensions to face Kulkan (Fran and Ollie). He loses, loses the Helmet of Nabu and gets dumped out again. Then, Kulkan (Fran and Ollie) puts on the helmet and it is brown trouser time...



However, the joke is on Kulkan (I'll stop now), as his third eye is trapped by the helmet, turning his power on himself and freeing the Spectre. He reunites the weakened Kent Nelson with Inza and they get all kissy



Kent gets the half-helmet back and the JSA head home, as we are told that how he gets the full Helmet of Nabu back, in the Silver Age, is a tale for the future and that, because I apparently asked for it, the 7 Soldiers of Victory will appear in next issue.

I don't recall asking for that. I'm pretty sure I wanted to see them get back to the Black Dragon Society, like they claimed they were. I also wanted Ordster back; but, like the Rolling Stones said, you can't always get what you want.....

unless you are multi-millionaire rock stars, in which case you can ingest every drug known to man and still be going strong.

Thoughts: Okay, that little diversion is wrapped up and nicely enough. The Helmet of Nabu prison was a nice touch and nicely rendered. Sargon's sorcery and Kulkan's magic are combined elements in Atom's future super powers, mixing with the radiation he absorbed, so he doesn't die of cancer.

Sargon is yet another in the long line of Mandrake and Chandu impersonators that deluged newspaper strips and comic books. Have to also remember that stage magicians were a major part of the vaudeville circuit, which was mostly dead, by this point, though no one had yet turned off the machine.

So, next time, we get the 7 Soldiers of Victory, whose member ship will fluctuate, depending on the necessary retcon. The official version is Green Arrow & Speedy, Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, Shining Knight, Vigilante and the Crimson Avenger. Post-Crisis, Wing and Stuff, the sidekicks of The Crimson Avenger and Vigilante (respectively) get added to replace GA and Speedy, who now first appear in the Silver Age. I was kind of weird that Speedy and Stripesy were included, but not Wing and Stuff, as official members. Wing even had a costume! Then again, Doiby Dickles and Steve Trevor didn't get JSA membership.

Historical Notes: Roy name drops magician Harry Blackstone, when Sargon appears. Harry VBlackstone Sr (born Harry Boulton, in Chicago) was one of the leading stage magicians of the first half of the 20th Century, following in the steps of Howard Thurston and Harry Kellar.



He built on the illusions of his predecessors by making them more open, adding doubt about the trickery. He would do the Kellar Levitation of a reclining woman; but, without covering her in a sheet, making it harder to hide apparatus. He also did an illusion where his assistant stepped into a box surrounded by tubular incandescent lightbulbs, which then pierced the box, accompanied by the woman's scream. Audiences could see the woman impaled by the light tubes, then would emerge unharmed. His version for sawing a woman in half involved a circular saw and the assistant was clamped onto a table that was pulled into the saw. Blackstone demonstrated the saw by cutting logs with it. The saw would seemingly enter flesh and the assistant would scream, then arise unharmed.

Blackstone spoke very little while performing, keeping his audience focused on his tricks and illusions.



Blackstone starred in a radio series and was featured in a series of comic books, from Street & Smith, which were scripted by Walter Gibson, the creator and primary writer of The Shadow. Gibson also ghost wrote Blackstone's magic books, as he was also an accomplished magician and member of the Magic Castle.

His son Harry Blackstone Jr followed in his footsteps, working a different style than his father, but repeating some of his illusions. He became a staple of variety shows, in the 70s



Roy again mentions the Siege of Singapore, which we covered last time. he also mentions Corregidor and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

General of the Army Douglas A. MacArthur (Hail Caesar!) was born in 1880, the son of Gen Arthur MacArthur (a junior, which meant two generations of joke name), who won the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, during the Civil War. MacArthur attended West Point and finished top of his class, graduating in 1903. He distinguished himself in the Vera Cruz expedition, into Mexico and was nominated for a Medal of Honor for actions during a self-directed operation to secure locomotives to pull railcars to keep the army supplied, after occupying Vera Cruz. MacArthur and his small band faced three different mounted attacks and fought them off or outrun, with MacArthur shooting 5 of the attackers and receiving bullet holes in his clothes, but no actual wounds. Because he acted without orders, it was decided (by a Medal of Honor winner) that the award should not be granted. This would set a template for how MacArthur often carried out his duties, acting on his own initiative, rather than following orders. His daring often produced results, though later actions of this nature led to heavy casualties. He would also act in open defiance of orders.

MacArthur was promoted and was a colonel when the US entered WW1, serving as Chief of Staff to the commander of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division. MacArthur further distinguished himself during the war and was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, making him the first son of a Medal of Honor recipient to also win the award.



In between wars, MacArthur rose to the rank of Major General, the youngest to do so, and eventually became Army Chief of Staff, in 1930. He began mounting a public relations campaign that pushed for his beliefs that the US needed a strongman-type leader to fight communism and to foster his image for such a role. Many referred to his staff as his court, as if he was a king. He was in charge of troops that forced out the Bonus Army, a gathering of veterans demanding payment of bonuses promised from WW1, which were not yet due but badly needed, in light of the Great Depression. They set up camps outside Washington and rallied and prepared to march. originally, MacArthur set up tents and soup kitchens for them, claiming he feared communist infiltration of the group, though intelligence suggested only 3 of the 26 key leaders were communists or socialists. He personally led troops, ignoring advice from Dwight Eisenhower, which cleared Washington of the veterans, without firing a shot, advancing with fixed bayonets against a hail of bricks. MacArthur was pilloried in the press for attacking veterans of the previous war, but gained favor with the Right Wing of the Republican Party, who saw him as a potential opponent for Roosevelt.

In 1935, the Philippines were granted semi-autonomy, and new president (some would say puppet) manuel Quezon asked for MacArthur to help supervise the formation of the Philippine Army. Mac Arthur served in the dual role of Field Marshall of the Philipine Army and Military Advisor to the Commonwealth of the Philippines, an actual US military post. He would retire in 1937, remaining as a civilian advisor to Quezon. The Army was ill-equipped and slow to develop, and US forces on the island were similarly badly equipped.

In July of 1941, FDR federalized the Philippine Army, bringing it under direct control of the War Department and recalled MacArthur to active duty. He was promoted to Lieutenant General and made Commander of the US Army Forces in the Far East. The saber rattling of the Japanese had Washington concerned about Japanese intentions for the Philippines and set out to beef up their defenses. The plan for the defense of the islands lay with an eventual retreat to Bataan, on Luzon, the main island, and await a relief force which would land to bolster their numbers. MacArthur altered the plan to defend all of Luzon and use B-17 bombers to attack Japanese ships attempting to land troops on the island. 8,500 additional troops were sent in, plus tons of new equipment and weapons. Naval Intelligence provided a cypher team and Purple Decoder, which allowed MacArthur to read Japanese diplomatic signals.

On December 8, 1941, at 0330 hours, MacArthur was informed of the attack on pearl Harbor. Gen Marshall ordered MacArthur to execute war plan Rainbow 5, which MacArthur did not. The commander of the Air Forces of the Far East requested on 3 occasions permission to launch an air attack on Japanese bases on Formosa (modern Taiwan) and was denied by Richard Sutherland, MacArthurs Chief of Staff (who replaced Eisenhower). He finally spoke to MacArthur directly and got permission, though MacArthur later denied the conversation. at 12:30 hours, naval aircraft of the Japanese 11th Airfleet launched a surprise attack on Clark Airfield and nearby Ilba Airfield. They succeeded in destroying 18 of the 35 B-17s, 53 out of 107 P-40s, 3 P-35s and 25 additional aircraft. The surviving aircraft were destroyed in a war of attrition over the next 5 days.

MacArthur attempted to carry out his plan to hold Luzon against Japanese invasion; but, his forces were stretched too thin and collapsed against the Japanese coordinated attacks. Their rapid advance led MacArthur to reconsider his confidence in Filipino troops and he ordered the retreat to Bataan. MacArthur and his staff (and President Quezon) retreated to the island fortress of Corregidor, while the bulk of the forces were deployed on Bataan. MacArthur remained in the underground tunnels on Corregidor, during the fierce fighting. Morale was low, feeling they were being abandoned by Roosevelt and MacArthur, referring to MacArthur as "Dugout Doug." Still, many clinged to the hope that MacArthur could pull something out of his hat.

The Japanese had assigned the invasion to their best unit, the 48th Division, from Formosa, which was specially trained in amphibious operations. They had the air support of the Imperial Navy's Third Fleet. Total Army and Navy aviation strength was over 500 planes. As with Pearl Harbor, radar located the attacking planes well in advance, but confusion of communications delayed any response until the attack was under way. Air patrols had been mounted earlier, but planes were being reserved and the pilots were being fed. Pursuit squadron P-40s were taxing on the runway, when the Japanese hit the field, destroying most on the ground.



After the attack, unlike Pearl Harbor, there was no official investigation into the failure to identify and defend against the attack. Maj Gen Lewis Brereton, commanding the Air Forces and Brig Gen Richard Sutherland, Mac's Chief of Staff, blamed each other and MacArthur denied all knowledge of requests to attack Fromosa.

B-17 attacks succeeded in damaging 2 landing ships and some support vessels in the last coordinated air attack mounted. After attacks on naval forces on Dec 10, the Asiatic Fleet was withdrawn, under orders from Washington and sent to Australia to help defend it. The defenders at Bataan were now cut off and had to fight with dwindling numbers. In the confusion of the withdrawl, much of their supplies and equipment were left behind. Still, they mounted a stuff defense and the Japanese went into siege mode, while waiting for reinforcements and refitting.

With the attrition of the defense, Washington ordered MacArthur to turn over command to Maj Gen Wainwright and travel to Australia to assume command from there. MacArthur, his wife and son and Chinese nanny, Brig Gen Sutherland, his staff and President Quezon and family traveled on March 12, via PT boat, to an airfield on Mindanao, where they were flown by B-17 to Australia, where he delivered his famous promise to return. The War Department requested he amend his proposed speech to We shall return," but, he ignored the "suggestion."

On March 28, a new wave of attacks began and the end neared. On April 3, the Japanese achieved a breakthrough and diseased and exhausted troops were unable to counter-attack. On April 8, the US forces were overrun and on April 10, the Bataan forces surrendered. Corregidor held out until the beginning of May, when the Japanese launched their final assault. Maj Gen Wainwright surrendered the remaining US forces on May 8.



Captured troops, starved, exhausted and diseased, were forcibly marched over 60 miles to rail transport. In what became known as the Bataan Death March, several thousand Filipinos and over 500 American prisoners died from abuse, disease and outright murder. They were then held in prison camps and "Hell Ships," where dysentery, disease and abuse thinned their numbers. Some survived nearly 3 years of brutal imprisonment, before being liberated in 1945.




Jonathan Wainwright was known as a fighting general and held the respect of his men, even after the surrender, as he suffered as badly as his men. He was transported to several prisons until he was ultimately liberated by the Red Army, in Manchuko, China. He had been nominated for the Medal of Honor, for the defense of Corregidor; but that was blocked by MacArthur, who was angry over the surrender. Wainwright was vilified insome Army quarters, but was publicly lauded as a hero who fought until he had nothing left and only surrendered to save the rest of his men. He was awarded the Medal of Honor after his liberation and witnessed the surrender of the Japanese, on board the USS Missouri, in Tokyo Bay and personally received the surrender of the Japanese commander in the Philippines. Despite being backstabbed by MacArthur (my words) he still held a loyalty to him and was ready to give a nomination speech, if MacArthur had been prepared to run for office, in 1948, as expected.

No one remains untouched by what they witnessed and did in combat. PTSD is just a fancy medical term for internal scars that all combat veterans carry; some just carry deeper wounds than others.

I wonder if All Star Squadron tackled psychological issues in their series ?

All-Star Squadron #29



Now that's a cover!

I pity the dumb Nazi who is staring down the barrel of that charge. Sir Justin is about to go medieval on some ubermensch!

Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer/editor/1st soldier, Jerry Ordway (Yay!)-penciler/2nd soldier, Rick Magyar-inker/3rd soldier, Cody Weiss-letterer/4th soldier, Gene D'Angelo-colorist/5th soldier. Stripesy and Speedy-6th & 7th soldiers. Paul Levitz, Dick Giordano, Jenette Kahn-REMFs (ask a veteran)

Synopsis: Sir Justin, the Shining Knight, is busy over England, F-ing up some Heinkels...



Tally Ho!

After Douglas Bader and the rest of the boys get in their licks, Sir Justin returns to feed Winged Victory, when Winston Churchill gives him a two-fingered salute (Same to you, buddy!) and a cable about the First Annual All-Star Squadron Meeting and Pancake Breakfast. Sir Justin is torn between loyalty to his home and to the team he helped form. He relates a story to Winnie about his former comrades, the Law's Legionnaires, aka The 7 Soldiers of Victory (+1), as they fight Dr Doome and his time machine plot. No, that isn't a typo.

Said physician (or PhD) is at a Long Island lighthouse, where his time beam gets to 88 mph and pulls through time the 5 worst tyrants of history: Nero, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and Alexander the Great (though they had to analyze which one the guy actually was...)





Doome (Roy swears that was the name in Leading Comics #3) introduces himself and tells of his plan to project themselves into a weaker future and conquer it. They star by attacking Green Arrow & Speedy...



Speedy is taken out and the conquerors take a load of cash, for some reason. They also take his radio, which, later, allows GA and the other SSoV to listen in on their plans. The coquerors split up, so that the SSoV can, conveniently, also split to chase them. They head off to the battle cry of "What do we want? Victory! What'll we settle for? Victory!"

Okay, so it's not exactly Avengers Assemble or even Okay Axis, Here We Come. This is the C-Team, you know.

Shining Knight fights Genghis Khan in Alaska and nearly gets shot at by Sarah Palin's grandpa (Chyeah, right!)



Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy run into Napoleon, after he has been nabbed by the guards of Arkham Asylum (Ordster added that)...



Green Arrow and Speedy face Alexander the Great in the Everglades....



A young(er) Walt Disney takes note and sees if the land is for sale.

Vigilante fights Mr A. T. Hun at Mt Rushmore, then sends a postcard to Mr & Mrs Norman Hun.



Crimson Avenger and Wing (he's Asian, so he doesn't count as a soldier, apparently) face Nero at sea, while Roy tells us he played a lyre, if anything, rather than a fiddle.

They gang goes after Doome and get past his moving spiked walls (a cliffhanger in the serial The Green Archer) and then chase him into the time beam chamber, all the way to Troy. Doome cozies up to Agamemnon and sicks the Greeks on the SSoV; but, Odysseus isn't having it, after seeing brave Sir Justin fight (what's Stripesy; chopped liver?)



Doome heads back to the future (catchy title) and the soldiers chase. he tries to block them, but they get through and he tries to hold them off with his scepter, but has to hotfoot it again and jumps into the machine, just before it blows (and it does). The LL decide to to become inspirations for future heroes to fight Doome and change their name to the catchier Seven Soldiers of Victory (+1).

Sir Justin finishes his tale, Churchill wakes up and pretends he was listening and Sir Justin says he is staying in England and makes some big speech...



Thoughts: We are getting into a dangerous pattern here, as Roy basically concocts a fill-in issue out of the story of a Golden Age tale, with the end result being pretty much a comic book version of a tv clip show. So far, for the most part, the flashbacks to old stories are to give background to a current plot. This is pure repeat. Roy will continue to do stuff like this, to the point that some Infinity Inc issues barely feature the kids doing anything but hearing old stories, which didn't help sales of the book.

Given that not much of that material had been reprinted, at that point, this wasn't too much of a wasted issue and Da Ordster makes it look purty, while tipping his hat to Mort Meskin (one of the really good GA artists). So, we will forgive Roy's indulgence.

Historical Notes: Not a ton to chew on, here. We have our 5 conquerors:

Alexander the Great (356 BC-323 BC)-inherited the kingdom of Macedon from his father Phillip and extended his rule across Northeast Africa and Central Asia, to India, until his relatively young death. As a bou he was taught by Aristotle, though a tale of him accompanying Aristotle and Epicurus to the Underworld, to rescue Persephone, is considered to be suspect...



Legend has it that he solved the riddle of the Gordian Knot by cutting through it, as Adrian Veidt liked to drone on. Played by Richard Burton at cinemas and William Shatner, on tv.

Emperor Nero of Rome (AD 37-68), ruled the Roman Empire from AD 54-68, after succeeding the Emperor Claudius (known as I, to his friends), after he succeeded Nero's uncle, Caligula (who was strangled in his bath, not stabbed in the Colosseum, thank you very much Ridley Scott!). Ruled when the Great Fire of Rome swept through the city, leading to the myth that he fiddled while Rome burned. Stories of him and a loud centurian being attacked by lions is considered apocryphal.



Attila the Hun (406-453 AD)-son of Mr and Mrs Norman Hun, wanted for looting, pillaging and sacking a major city, plus 9000 other charges led the Huns across central Asia and Eastern Europe, but failed to take Rome. Supposedly died of a nosebleed, which I can almost buy, after my last one (dried nasal passages and a heavy blowing of the nose can get messy). May or may not have had a close resemblance to Jack Palance...



Genghis Khan (1155 or 1162-1227 AD)-ruler of the Mongol Empire, expanding it across central Asia and China into Eastern Europe. One bad mo-fo who made hard men wet themselves. Liked to call people "pilgrim."



Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)-Bony was a warrior, aye-aye-aye.....rose from a lieutenant of artillery to a brigadier general by the age of 24. Was somewhat allied with Robspierre, but survived the fall of the Thermidorian Reaction and led French armies in Italy and Egypt, and became ruler of France in 1804. At odds with Britain and coalition allies, in different forms, throughout much of his reign, leading to his abdication in 1814, after the French were pushed out of Spain and back to Paris, with the Coalition at the gates. The Bourbons were put back into power; but corruption soon undermined them and Louis buggered off (sounding like Orson Welles) and Napoleon came back to power in 1815, ruling for 100 days, before meeting his Waterloo, somewhere in Belgium. Resembled either Albert Dieudonne, Herbert Lom, Rod Steiger, Ian Holm or Christian Clavier. Per research done by Maj. Anthony Nelson USAF, the hand in his vest thing was due to itchy wool uniforms.

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So, after nearly 3 years of this title, Roy is only covered 2 months of history. So, apart from any specific historical elements from the stories, I will give a general progression of World War 2, from Feb 1942 until we reach the end of this comic, which is still set in 1942. Hopefully, that will at least get us to Normandy. Good thing Roy wasn't in charge of the war; February 1942 was not a good month for the Allies.