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Post by tarkintino on Jan 20, 2019 12:59:28 GMT -5
JLA #107-108 “The Freedom Fighters” (October-December 1973)Creative Team:Len Wein writing, Dick Dillin penciling, Dick Giordano inking So far, this was a good start, and an intriguing way of merging the Freedom Fighters with the DC universe. Not calling it "Earth Swastika" was a wise choice, as it sounds hokey. Its as on-the-nose as calling a planet "Planet KKK". As for "Earth X", this would be referred to as the second "Earth X" after the one introduced in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #93 (June, 1966). As observed about Wein's handling of the Seven Soldiers, the Freedom Fighters were thrust into the DC canon with purpose, taking advantage of who they were, are and gives a reason why we should care about them in a JLA adventure, and the DC universe beyond (as we will see in the years to come), with as much panache Roy Thomas with The Invaders at Marvel. For Golden Age fans, this was yet another great time to see that the heroes of days gone by were not only remembered, but brought back in a better creative position than ever before.
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Post by Farrar on Jan 20, 2019 17:01:36 GMT -5
...Regarding the switch to bimonthly publication, I assumed then that the sales had dropped. This lasted for 12 issues, from February 1973 till December 1974. Not only was it odd to see the JLA, which I'd always seen as a DC flagship, reduced to bimonthly status, but it meant that the annual JLA-JSA team-ups came at you fast and furious. I am guessing that the reduction of its publication frequency may in part also have been due to the early 1970s paper shortage in the US. Btw, in the Silver Age and since the Justice League of America comic's inception, the JLA comic had never had a monthly publication schedule. It started out as bi-monthly (as many new DC comics did back then) but then it settled into an 8 times a year schedule. Occasionally there were 9 issues when the Giant issue (reprints) was included in the parent comic's numbering. In the Silver Age, many of DC's comics had an 8 or 9 issue a year schedule. As far as I know only DC's "big three"--Detective, Action, and Adventure--were published monthly throughout the Silver Age. But in late 1972-early 1973 Adventure and Detective's frequencies would change to bi-monthly too, at least for a time. As a kid during the Silver Age I loved to read a given comic book's indicia; I can't explain why but the notion that comics weren't printed every month or that there was a special, "semi-annual" month (the Giant issue) really fascinated me. It wasn't just JLA that was bi-monthly; Detective Comics was also bimonthly, in this time frame. Less than bimonthly even for a spell; 104-106 were released on a quarterly basis. Just curious, why do you say that JLA issues #104-#106 were released quarterly? As has been mentioned, they bimonthly, that is, a new issue was on sale every other month: #104 on sale in December 1972 #105 on sale in February 1973 #106 on sale in April 1973
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Post by rberman on Jan 20, 2019 17:19:01 GMT -5
...Regarding the switch to bimonthly publication, I assumed then that the sales had dropped. This lasted for 12 issues, from February 1973 till December 1974. Not only was it odd to see the JLA, which I'd always seen as a DC flagship, reduced to bimonthly status, but it meant that the annual JLA-JSA team-ups came at you fast and furious. I am guessing that the reduction of its publication frequency may in part also have been due to the early 1970s paper shortage in the US. Btw, in the Silver Age and since the Justice League of America comic's inception, the JLA comic had never had a monthly publication schedule. It started out as bi-monthly (as many new DC comics did back then) but then it settled into an 8 times a year schedule. Occasionally there were 9 issues when the Giant issue (reprints) was included in the parent comic's numbering. In the Silver Age, many of DC's comics had an 8 or 9 issue a year schedule. As far as I know only DC's "big three"--Detective, Action, and Adventure--were published monthly throughout the Silver Age. But in late 1972-early 1973 Adventure and Detective's frequencies would change to bi-monthly too, at least for a time. As a kid during the Silver Age I loved to read a given comic book's indicia; I can't explain why but the notion that comics weren't printed every month or that there was a special, "semi-annual" month (the Giant issue) really fascinated me. Less than bimonthly even for a spell; 104-106 were released on a quarterly basis. Just curious, why do you say that JLA issues #104-#106 were released quarterly? As has been mentioned, they bimonthly, that is, a new issue was on sale every other month: #104 on sale in December 1972 #105 on sale in February 1973 #106 on sale in April 1973 The cover dates are February, May, and August, respectively. I guess they were hoping that vendors would keep these giant-sized issues on the newsstand for months and months without sending them back?
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Post by Farrar on Jan 20, 2019 17:35:45 GMT -5
The cover dates are February, May, and August, respectively. I guess they were hoping that vendors would keep these giant-sized issues on the newsstand for months and months without sending them back? Ah okay, I see what you mean now by "quarterly"; it's about the cover dates. Thanks! Yes, the cover or "pull" date was intended to let the dealers know when to pull (remove) the issue from the stands. Btw I don't think these issues were "giant-sized" though; the page count was only 32 or so, down from the 48 in the previous year. So, to update my previous list, here are the issues now with their quarterly cover dates: #104 on sale in December 1972 cover date is Feb. 1973#105 on sale in February 1973 April/May bi-monthly issue, with a cover date of May 1973#106 on sale in April 1973 July/Aug 1973 bi-monthly issue, with a cover date of Aug 1973Not sure why they labeled #106 July-Aug. instead of June-July, though I guess it's because the August cover date would keep it on the stands longer (as noted above). At any rate, a new JLA issue was on sale every other month at this stage.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2019 20:34:34 GMT -5
As observed about Wein's handling of the Seven Soldiers, the Freedom Fighters were thrust into the DC canon with purpose, taking advantage of who they were, are and gives a reason why we should care about them in a JLA adventure, and the DC universe beyond (as we will see in the years to come), with as much panache Roy Thomas with The Invaders at Marvel. For Golden Age fans, this was yet another great time to see that the heroes of days gone by were not only remembered, but brought back in a better creative position than ever before. Well said! It would be another 2-3 years until we saw a Golden Age resurgence at DC & Marvel with The Invaders, the return of All Star Comics with the JSA and a Freedom Fighters series. For a fan like me who enjoyed the JLA/JSA crossovers and who devoured any reprints of the Golden Age I could find... this was an awesome time!
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 20, 2019 23:03:09 GMT -5
The Freedom Fighters crossover is still a favorite, even if the story is a bit weak. The concept of an Earth, ruled by the Nazis, was really intriguing and made up for the cliched sub-team adventures. I really wish this had been done as an epic, to give it more scope; but, early 70s DC was not the place for that. Kind of surprised no one really revisited that, even as an Elseworlds kind of thing. Freedom Fighters always suffered from being a cool set of characters that weren't used to potential for many of their DC stories. Their own series was more miss than hit and later attempts left me very cold. Roy used them well in All-Star Squadron, but not much else of note was done. Would have loved to have seen James Robinson play around with that.
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Post by rberman on Jan 20, 2019 23:29:11 GMT -5
The Freedom Fighters crossover is still a favorite, even if the story is a bit weak. The concept of an Earth, ruled by the Nazis, was really intriguing and made up for the cliched sub-team adventures. I really wish this had been done as an epic, to give it more scope; but, early 70s DC was not the place for that. Kind of surprised no one really revisited that, even as an Elseworlds kind of thing. Freedom Fighters always suffered from being a cool set of characters that weren't used to potential for many of their DC stories. Their own series was more miss than hit and later attempts left me very cold. Roy used them well in All-Star Squadron, but not much else of note was done. Would have loved to have seen James Robinson play around with that. Morrison revisits it... I will probably get there next month.
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Post by zaku on Jan 21, 2019 1:32:25 GMT -5
The Freedom Fighters crossover is still a favorite, even if the story is a bit weak. The concept of an Earth, ruled by the Nazis, was really intriguing and made up for the cliched sub-team adventures. I really wish this had been done as an epic, to give it more scope; but, early 70s DC was not the place for that. Kind of surprised no one really revisited that, even as an Elseworlds kind of thing. Like the latest Freedom Fighters' series?
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Post by zaku on Jan 21, 2019 4:38:16 GMT -5
According to the DC Wiki the concept of a Earth where Nazis won the WWII has ben explored in - The original Pre-Crisis Earth-X (First appearance in Justice League of America #107)
- Post Infinite Crisis Earth-10 (First appearance in 52 #52)
- Post Flashpoint Earth 10 (First appearance in The Multiversity Guidebook#1)
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Post by rberman on Jan 21, 2019 10:15:15 GMT -5
JLA #109 “The Doom of the Divided Man” (February 1974)Creative Team: Len Wein writing, Dick Dillin penciling, Dick Giordano inking The Story: An injured Red Tornado beams onto the JLA satellite, accompanied by Doctor Bruce Gordon, who has a Jeckyll-and-Hyde relationship with the supervillain Eclipso. While bombarding himself with experimental gamma rays (they’re not called that, but they might as well be), he released not one, not two, but three copies of Eclipso from his body, no longer constrained to wait until the next solar eclipse to manifest. Batman figures out that the two extra Eclipsos are jeopardizing the whole planet by their existence. Time to split into squads! (six pages) The Atom, Aquaman, and Black Canary tackle an Eclipso base at the bottom of the ocean. It’s loaded with his goons; is raising an army one of his super powers? Anyway, a timely flying fish attack separates Eclipso from the black diamond that gives him power, and soon enough he is all wet. (four pages) Batman and the Flash find another army of Eclipso goons at a waste processor in Death Valley, and this Eclipso has a force field as well. The Flash defeats it by hitting it constantly from all sides, which is actually a likely solution. (four pages) Hawkman lends Green Arrow and Elongated Man anti-grav belts so that they can participate in a battle against airborne goons. Green Arrow calls this Eclipso a big chicken for hiding behind a force field. Buk buk buk buk! Eclipso obligingly drops his force field to prove his valor, and of course a boxing-glove arrow immediately hits him right in the kisser. (three pages) Taken back to the satellite for custody, the three Eclipsos merge into one giant Eclipso, and their three black diamonds merge into one as well. But Batman has booby trapped the black diamonds to give off an intense burst of light which banishes Eclipso back into Doctor Gordon. Continuity References: Eclipso’s origin in House of Secrets #61 gets a footnote. Also, “Batman and Eclipso previously clashed in Brave and Bold #64!” My Two Cents: OK, so Eclipso seems like a pretty obvious Hulk rip-off. I’m not overly familiar with the parameters of the Gordon/Eclipso transformation. Does any blockage of the sun by the moon count as an eclipse? Including night-time? What if he’s indoors? He does have a cool look though, with the eclipse motif carried through not only on his chest insignia but also on his face. I seem to remember a comic book in which Eclipso dumped Metamorpho in acid or something. The JLA’s three squads had to face the villain in water, earth (desert) and air, so I was all set for the finale to somehow involve fire, but it didn’t turn out that way. At the beginning of the issue, Hawkman announces that his assignment to study Earth police work (chortle) has been terminated; he’s being recalled the Thanagar. Considering that this was the mystery posed on the cover, I’m surprised that they solved it on page 1 and then kept him around until the end. Why not just have him get the message at the end of the issue, keeping us in suspense? Wouldn’t Eclipso have made a cool cover? I guess the villain du jour hadn’t been decided when Nick Cardy had to draw the cover. Green Arrow is super-sad to see Hawkman go. Did they have some particular history to explain this? Or was it just Wein saying that Arrow acts all cocksure, but underneath he’s a softie? Wein fits in a brief environmental message in the form of G-Lab, a giant pollution-processor whose existence implies that pollution is a problem.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 21, 2019 10:59:21 GMT -5
Eclipso is hardly a Hulk rip-off. It's a riff on Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, same as the Hulk. It was triggered by an eclipse, which was part of the origin. He was wounded by a sorcerer, while studying an eclipse, in the jungle. The character appeared in House of Secrets, with some truly excellent art, by Lee Elias.
At the time, Eclipso would have been an interesting new villain to throw at the group. Nearly 15 years later, he will be the center of a major crossover and be used to mow down a bunch of C and D-list heroes (though a few of them got better).
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 21, 2019 11:15:24 GMT -5
JLA #109 “The Doom of the Divided Man” (February 1974)Green Arrow is super-sad to see Hawkman go. Did they have some particular history to explain this? Or was it just Wein saying that Arrow acts all cocksure, but underneath he’s a softie? Denny O'Neil had contrived a dislike between the two characters that went on insufferably during this period. The ostensible rationale was that GA as the now-woke people's crusader would have a natural antipathy toward Hawkman because he was a cop. This despite any evidence ever that Hawkman was some sort of Dirty Harry with wings. Hawkman, by all accounts previously a rational scientific type, apparently had been a crypto-Fascist all along and just needed GA to out him. More over-the-top, inept "characterization" just attached to a character out of nowhere.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 21, 2019 14:43:01 GMT -5
JLA #109 “The Doom of the Divided Man” (February 1974)Green Arrow is super-sad to see Hawkman go. Did they have some particular history to explain this? Or was it just Wein saying that Arrow acts all cocksure, but underneath he’s a softie? Denny O'Neil had contrived a dislike between the two characters that went on insufferably during this period. The ostensible rationale was that GA as the now-woke people's crusader would have a natural antipathy toward Hawkman because he was a cop. This despite any evidence ever that Hawkman was some sort of Dirty Harry with wings. Hawkman, by all accounts previously a rational scientific type, apparently had been a crypto-Fascist all along and just needed GA to out him. More over-the-top, inept "characterization" just attached to a character out of nowhere. I took it as an attempt to copy the Captain America-Hawkeye dynamic over in the Avengers, where the loudmouth Hawkeye gave the stoic Cap a hard time, almost for no reason, but they eventually became fast friends.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 21, 2019 15:41:15 GMT -5
Denny O'Neil had contrived a dislike between the two characters that went on insufferably during this period. The ostensible rationale was that GA as the now-woke people's crusader would have a natural antipathy toward Hawkman because he was a cop. This despite any evidence ever that Hawkman was some sort of Dirty Harry with wings. Hawkman, by all accounts previously a rational scientific type, apparently had been a crypto-Fascist all along and just needed GA to out him. More over-the-top, inept "characterization" just attached to a character out of nowhere. I took it as an attempt to copy the Captain America-Hawkeye dynamic over in the Avengers, where the loudmouth Hawkeye gave the stoic Cap a hard time, almost for no reason, but they eventually became fast friends. Possibly. But at least there was a precedent for that. Not that Hawkman had ever been given much of a personality beyond the usual Silver Age DC noble but colorless, button-down collar kind of guy, e.g. Ray Palmer, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan...
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Post by rberman on Jan 22, 2019 7:52:45 GMT -5
JLA #110 “The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus” (April 1974)Creative Team: Len Wein writing, Dick Dillin penciling, Dick Giordano inking, “with special thanks to Green Lantern fan, Duffy Vohland.” The Story: A bomb kills “Santa Simpson,” and the JLA have only hours to find the right lock for a mysterious key, or else another bomb will detonate. The clues lead to a tenement in St. Louis, where Superman is taken out of the action by “a miniature sun” which is somehow both red (thus sapping Superman’s power) and also yellow (thus immune to Green Lantern’s ring). One by one, mastermind The Key picks off the other JLAers with a series of threats from poisoned gas to giant Christmas tree ornaments to deadly nutcrackers. But after they’re all apparently killed, surprise! The Phantom Stranger actually protected them from dying, and they confront The Key in a group. He activates his bomb’s countdown and flees the scene. The JLA evacuate the tenements rapidly, and after the Key’s explosion levels them, Green Lantern uses his ring to instantly build them good as new. Finally at the end of the story, the JLA give Red Tornado his familiar costume with the yellow stripes. A definite improvement! Too bad about Santa Simpson dying, though, and those orphans who never got presents. Continuity References: “The keynote criminal last appeared in JLA #63.” Reprints: Woah, the price has jumped to fifty cents for this “100 Page Super Spectacular!” What does half a buck buy? “The Plight of a Nation” is a Broome/Infantino/Peddy/Toth JSA story from All-Star Comics #40 (1948). “Z—As in Zatanna—and Zero Hour!” is JLA #51 come ‘round again, with the rescue of Zatara from a magical realm. Three stories at 22 pages would still only be 66 pages. I guess the other 34 pages were ads? Shameless Plug: “Here Come TV’s Super-Friends!” becomes the series’ new tag line starting here. My Two Cents: The Key’s murderous spree is motivated by his recent terminal diagnosis, the victim of poisoning by his own psychoactive chemicals. “An old JLA foe gets news of his eminent demise and plots the JLA’s deaths, but they were only pretending to be dead” was the plot of the T.O. Morrow story in #105-106. “Phantom Stranger engineers the apparent deaths of the JLA, but he’s really saving their lives” was the plot of #103. Seems pretty recent to be repeating such specific elements of the story. Barry Allen is visiting his in-laws a thousand years in the future. I obviously have not read enough Flash comics to know where (or more accurately when) Iris was from; this blindsided me. Hal Jordan slips on soap and knocks himself unconscious against the tub. Rather than awaken him, his ring abandons him, flying across town to drag John Stewart into the sky as the backup Green Lantern. The sequence is awkward, but its heart is in the right place to bring a smidgen of diversity (tokenism?) to the lily-white JLA. John has to convince the JLA he is a legit Lantern, so I guess he never meet them before. Apparently this is only John’s second time to wear the ring, following Green Lantern #87 (1971). If Green Lantern’s ring really can construct perfect condominiums for the poor in an instant, Hal Jordan has a lot of explaining to do. Maybe he really does like the purple people better. The St. Louis arch was a somewhat recent sight in 1974, having opened in 1965, but it had been in the works since 1933. And you thought Marvel/DC team-ups took a long time to come to fruition! This is the second time Wein has set one of his adventures in a real city, following the New York City romance of Red Tornado a few issues back. Green Arrow is super-surly this issue, mocking his team-mates at every turn. Even Superman loses his cool with him at one point. Black Canary’s sonic scream is mentioned for the first time since that bizarre telepathy “S.P.” episode. She appears to have her power under control now.
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