All-Star Squadron #1
Now that's a cover to launch a series! It really sets up a bit of a mystery and makes you want to know what's going on and who will be picked.
Seen here on the cover: Dr Midnite, Hawkman and Atom looking over the photos; (from top to bottom) Wildcat, Shining Knight, Green Arrow, Johnny Quick and what is probably Phantom Lady (though she should have green boots); Batman & Robin and Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy; Vigilante, Robotman, Dr Fate, Sandman, Superman, Flash, Captain Triumph; Plastic Man, Liberty Belle, Tarantula (early costume); Crimson Avenger, Johnny Thunder & Thunderbolt, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman. No Red Tornado? I'm crushed; Ma Hunkel deserved better!
Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer, Rich buckler-pencils, Jeremiah Ordway-inks, John Costanza-letters, Carl Gafford-colors, Len Wein-editor
Well, which is it, Jerimiah or Jeremiah? Come on Len, wake up!
Synopsis: Hawkman has flown from Washington to New York and drops into the JSA meeting rooms (they only rent a single floor) and runs into Plastic Man, who was sent over by the FBI to find the JSA. After introductions, they head over to Wesley Dodds' place to look for others, while Hawkman tries to hide JSA identities. Plas turns on the radio and we get a recap of the preview issue.
They head out and are attacked by King Bee and his men, who seem hypnotized and disappear when punched. King Bee disappears in an explosion and Hawkman catches the brunt of it and passes out, while Plas makes like a parachute and drops them safely, though none too gently, as they are knocked out.
Shining Knight is riding Winged Victory over the Hawaiian Islands, when he comes across an active volcano and Danette reilly's camp. She gets the drop on him, calling him Prince Valiant (more truth that) and he lets her know who he is and she has heard of the Law's Legionnaires. WV is antsy and SK smashes the side of the volcano with his sword, to reveal a passage underneath. He and Danette head inside and run into Solomon Grundy and Professor Zodiak. Grundy says Nighty Knight and then pimp-slaps Danette into unconsciousness. They awake to the sight of Wotan. Then, they meet the real boss, Per Degaton, would-be conqueror from the future...
Meanwhile Ens Rod reilly, USN, is in Oahu, headed to a meeting. he's out of uniform, because an ensign's "choker whites" do not have sleeve braids (especially not the four of a captain), they do not wear anchors on the collar, and he is missing shoulder boards. His old pal , Slugger is there to meet him and they speed to get to their ship, when the attack begins. Faster than you can say, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" Slugger is killed and Reilly takes a machine gun burst in the chest, as he tries to get to his ship, the USS Arizona.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Atom and Dr Midnite are at the Washington Redskins-Philadelphia Eagles game, where quarterback "Slammin" Sammy Baugh is leading his team to a 20-14 victory, when Midnite notices senior military personnel being paged, one by one. They go to investigate and run into Ed Simmons, a friend of Midnites and an FBI agent. They are patched into J Edgar Hoover, who gets a phone report from a man in Hawaii about the attack. They rush off to the White House, but are interrupted by the trenchcoat figure from the preview, who turns out to be Robotman. He carries the JSAers, since his robotic legs can move faster. They are spotted near the White House by Johnny Chambers, who runs smack into Libby Lawrence. They try to follow the heroes into the White House and are turned away by guards. Then Hawkman lands and both Johnny and Libby disappear. Johnny utters a mathematical formula, as he strips off his coat and shirt, while Libby does something similar in other bushes. Then, Johnny Quick meets Liberty Belle (though she had to switch from a dress, hat and heels to jodhpurs, riding boots, gloves, blouse and mask, in the same amount of time that Johnny took). The guards don't know the chick in the riding gear and Johnny swoops her past and runs into the JSAers. JQ and Atom exchange words, until Plas vouches for the new pair and they all head in. they are briefed about the attack on pearl harbor, by FDR himself and asked to go protect the West Coast from possible Japanese attack. Liberty Belle makes a call to Philadelphia to have the real Liberty bell rung, to charge her powers (it's a bit of mystic mumbo-jumbo, in her origin) and off they go...
Outside San Francisco, a submerged ship launches aircraft! They spring up from the water to reveal Japanese planes, about to attack San Francisco, under Per Degaton's orders.
Thoughts: Excellent follow up to the preview, which catches you up if you missed it. It also introduces us to the costumed Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, as well as Shining Knight and Robotman. Is Rod reilly dead or alive? What of Danette and Shining Knight? How are these planes launching from underwater?
Buckler and Ordway continue to make it look great, though no one did any research for the silhouette of a destroyer or a battleship. The Pearl Harbor panels could have used moodier coloring. There is a nice panel progression as Slugger is hit, while the pair run for the Arizona.
Period clothes are so-so; Buckler and Ordway at least give a sense of 40s fashions, even if they are light on detail. Roy gives us no explanation as to wht Dr Midnite and Atom are at the football game, in costume. Also, the weather seems awfully nice for December, in Washington DC.
Great set of characters being brought together and the mystery continues to unfold and Roy makes us want to check back, in a month.
Per Degaton was an enemy of the JSA, but would not meet them until 1947. he was an assistant to a group of scientists, experimenting with time travel. he sabotages their experiments and then creates his own time machine and attempts to alter past events to conquer the world. The name is a play off of "per megaton" relating to the power of the Atomic Bomb. He's basically a wannabe Hitler and Napoleon, yet somehow he is controlling the other villains.
Shining Knight was inspired by Hal Foster's Prince Valiant and was a member of the Law's Legionnaires, aka the 7 Soldiers of Victory. Roy wanted to bring in some of those guys and SKseemed the most intriguing (especially since Green Arrow was kind of off the table).
Liberty Belle's debut is pushed forward a couple of months and Johnny Quick is seen in his glory. Though never as popular as the Flash, Johnny's adventures had better art, from mort Meskin, though Meskin illustrated his speed with multiple Johnny bodies racing around. Johnny's use in this series will make him a bigger deal in DC history, leading to the creation of his and Liberty Belle's daughter, Jesse Quick, whose even made it to tv.
Robotman is the original and Roy makes a reference to Karel Capek's RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), a stage play which featured mechanical men and popularized the term "robot" for them . The word is derived from
robota, a Czech term for forced labor. In the play, the robots are actually bio-engineered, which would lead to the inspiration for the Human Torch; and, later, the "androids" of Phillip K Dick (called replicants, in the fim version of Blade Runner).
Roy brings up Plastic Man's history as a special agent of the FBI, which was part of his early stories, after his criminal career. Plas was one of the first crooks to turn babyface and become a hero, after he is double-crossed during a robbery and left for dead in a vat of chemicals. They turn his skin rubbery, which he discovers while convalescing at a monastery. The monks help turn him to good and Plastic Man is born.
So, the players are here; but, we have to wait and see what they will do to stem an un-recorded attack on the West Coast, by the Japanese.
Historical Notes: The attack on Pearl Harbor began just before 8:00 am, Hawaiian time, as servicemen were preparing to attend religious services, standing watch/guard duty, or carrying out other early morning tasks. Japanese aircraft came in two waves, from the 6 carriers in Adm Nogumo's fleet. They were spotted by a radar station, which had no direct line of communication to authorities. Many, at first, thought they were a flight of bombers scheduled to arrive at Hickam Field. Their attacks were devastating, targeting Army aircraft at Hickam and parallel airfields and the ships at Pearl Harbor. The architect of the attack was Adm Isoroku Yamamoto, though his plan called for the attack to occur 30 minutes after the Japanese Embassy declared that negotiations were broken and a state of war existed. The attack came before the Japanese Ambassador elivered the formal declaration of war.
Battleship Row was especially hard hit, with 5 ships being sunk, including the USS Arizona, which was hit by bombs and exploded, killing 1177 men. After the attacks ended, the casualty list was drawn up. 2008 sailors were dead, 710 wounded; 218 soldiers & airmen dead, 364 wounded; 109 Marines killed, 69 wounded; 68 civilians killed, 35 wounded. Over 2000 dead and another 1000 wounded. The loss was devastating. The Battleships were the pride of the fleet and were a traditional symbol of naval power. However, this was the age of the aircraft carrier and they were the real targets. However, they were at sea and escaped the attacks. This would be a key element to fighting back against Japanese advances in the Pacific and holding until territory could be retaken. Yamamoto had spent time in the US as a military attache and had seen its industrial might and warned the Japanese military rulers that they would be waking a sleeping giant. A third wave was urged, but never sent, sparing vital repair facilities, which would allow some of the damaged ships to be salvaged and re-enter the war.
The football game is real, as is the score. Sammy Baugh was quarterback for the Redskins and later became a movie serial and western motion picture actor, including starring in the exciting Republic serial, King of the Texas Rangers, along with future Cisco Kid, Duncan Renaldo. he played with Washington from 1937 to 1952, then later became a coach at both the collegiate and professional levels.
There was great anxiety about a potential Japanese attack on the West Coast. They did not have the naval might to cross the ocean, in force, to do so; but, the attack on Pearl harbor had shaken the nation. The anxiety wasn't totally unfounded. After Pearl Harbor, seven Japanese subs operated off the West Coast, sinking two merchant ships and damaging 6 more. In February, one of the subs fired it's deck gun off Santa Barbara. The shelling targeted aviation fuel storage tanks, but caused minimal damage. Hysteria had people fleeing inland and there were wild claims of signal lights from the shore to the sub. The next night, the Battle of Los Angeles occured, as erroneous sightings of enemy aircraft led to anti-aircraft batteries firing. These incidents would inspire the Stephen Spielberg comedy, 1941.
Rod Reilly is rather badly handled, as a Naval ensign. He visits Danette wearing his Service Dress Whites, aka "choker whites," (because of the high collar, which tended to be snug and a pain in the tuchus to hook, before a velcro model was introduced, in my day). That uniform was for formal occasions, not regular operations. He would have been wearing working khakis, unless he was en route to church services (which he wasn't). Buckler draws sleeve rank braids on the whites, which don't exist. They are only on the Service Dress Blues. The Whites have shoulder board insignia, as did the Service Dress Khaki jacket, which was still worn in that era (gone before my era, but reintroduced a few years after I left). Even if the braiding had been correct for the uniform, Rod is an ensign, which is a single braid. Four braids, as depicted, is a captain. (1 ensign, 1 1/2 LtJG, 2 LT, 2 !/2 LCDR, 3 CDR, 4 Cpt, then thicker ones for admirals). Jim Lee would make a similar mistake with his Deathblow characters, depicting him in choker whites with shoulder boards and sleeve braids (and eye glasses, while a Navy SEAL, which isn't allowed). Sam Glanzman wouldn't make that mistake!
The use of Hoover is not out of possibility. The FBI was in charge of counter-intelligence, though it coveted a wider intelligence role. However, the Pacific was the playground of Naval Intelligence, which would be inspiration for the popular newspaper strip Don Winslow of the Navy, which was adapted into radio and two movie serials.
