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Post by zaku on Mar 8, 2019 2:46:58 GMT -5
JLA #145 “The Carnival of Souls!” (August 1977)This issue also begins a brief B-plot about Hawkgirl pushing for membership even though she has the same powers as her husband. These arbitrary rules exist more to keep the stories interesting than for any justifiable in-story reason. If there were twenty Supermen, would the JLA really turn them all away? But they don’t even need one Hawkman, not really, besides looking cool and feathery, so they need some excuse to say “no” to a second one. Exactly. That is something that always annoyed me about the Legion of Super-Heroes, even though it's my favorite DC hero. Really? You mean Infectious Lass has a better chance of getting membership than somebody with Superboy's powers? Crazy. Yep! And I ever found the concept of "rules" for these groups ridiculous. Who wrote them? And, above all, who is enforcing them? If two members disagree on the interpretation of a particular rule, who have the last word? In the real world, law enforcement agencies have a series of internal regulations and if there are problems in interpreting them, one can always turn to higher authority. Who the heck is the higher authority in the case of a group of demigods? And not forget, these people are practically doing a pro-bono job. "I'm sorry guys, I'm donating my free-time here while probably there is some super-villain that is ravaging my city, and I have to follow some lunatic rule? Bye guys!" And let's not forget when Aquaman disbanded the JLA, invoking the rule that any original member of the group can do that. What the heck is the rationale behind that? "So we all agree? One of us and only one of us will be able to dissolve the JLA whenever he wants and without any control or further approval. Even in the middle of a crisis." What. The. Heck?
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Post by rberman on Mar 8, 2019 6:05:42 GMT -5
Exactly. That is something that always annoyed me about the Legion of Super-Heroes, even though it's my favorite DC hero. Really? You mean Infectious Lass has a better chance of getting membership than somebody with Superboy's powers? Crazy. Yep! And I ever found the concept of "rules" for these groups ridiculous. Who wrote them? And, above all, who is enforcing them? If two members disagree on the interpretation of a particular rule, who have the last word? In the real world, law enforcement agencies have a series of internal regulations and if there are problems in interpreting them, one can always turn to higher authority. Who the heck is the higher authority in the case of a group of demigods? The economics of the Legion were never well explained. There does seem to be money in their world, since R.J. Brande has most of it. We're led to believe the Legionnaires are on retainer from him, though we never find out how the married couples support themselves after leaving, how the Substitute Legion pays its expenses, etc. Mark Waid takes a stab at explaining some of these matters during his "Teenage Revolution" run.
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Post by zaku on Mar 8, 2019 6:56:10 GMT -5
Yep! And I ever found the concept of "rules" for these groups ridiculous. Who wrote them? And, above all, who is enforcing them? If two members disagree on the interpretation of a particular rule, who have the last word? In the real world, law enforcement agencies have a series of internal regulations and if there are problems in interpreting them, one can always turn to higher authority. Who the heck is the higher authority in the case of a group of demigods? The economics of the Legion were never well explained. There does seem to be money in their world, since R.J. Brande has most of it. We're led to believe the Legionnaires are on retainer from him, though we never find out how the married couples support themselves after leaving, how the Substitute Legion pays its expenses, etc. Mark Waid takes a stab at explaining some of these matters during his "Teenage Revolution" run. And in the case of the JLA? I mean, I suppose habitable artificial satellites aren't cheap...
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Post by Icctrombone on Mar 8, 2019 7:11:10 GMT -5
The economics of the Legion were never well explained. There does seem to be money in their world, since R.J. Brande has most of it. We're led to believe the Legionnaires are on retainer from him, though we never find out how the married couples support themselves after leaving, how the Substitute Legion pays its expenses, etc. Mark Waid takes a stab at explaining some of these matters during his "Teenage Revolution" run. And in the case of the JLA? I mean, I suppose habitable artificial satellites aren't cheap... Like AOC says, " we'll just pay for it"!.
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Post by rberman on Mar 8, 2019 8:18:07 GMT -5
The economics of the Legion were never well explained. There does seem to be money in their world, since R.J. Brande has most of it. We're led to believe the Legionnaires are on retainer from him, though we never find out how the married couples support themselves after leaving, how the Substitute Legion pays its expenses, etc. Mark Waid takes a stab at explaining some of these matters during his "Teenage Revolution" run. And in the case of the JLA? I mean, I suppose habitable artificial satellites aren't cheap... The satellite was built with advanced Thanagarian technology. This must include self-maintenance. However, issue #104 showed that the heroes themselves are tasked with dusting the interior and shining the exterior:
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 8, 2019 8:57:33 GMT -5
The economics of the Legion were never well explained. There does seem to be money in their world, since R.J. Brande has most of it. We're led to believe the Legionnaires are on retainer from him, though we never find out how the married couples support themselves after leaving, how the Substitute Legion pays its expenses, etc. Mark Waid takes a stab at explaining some of these matters during his "Teenage Revolution" run. And in the case of the JLA? I mean, I suppose habitable artificial satellites aren't cheap... Maybe Superman squeezed some coal into diamonds?
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Post by zaku on Mar 8, 2019 9:35:41 GMT -5
And in the case of the JLA? I mean, I suppose habitable artificial satellites aren't cheap... The satellite was built with advanced Thanagarian technology. This must include self-maintenance. However, issue #104 showed that the heroes themselves are tasked with dusting the interior and shining the exterior: And how many people DIED that could be saved while he was scrubbing the satellite?!?! He is selfish and irresponsible!!! Smbc did a quite fun strip on this...
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Post by rberman on Mar 8, 2019 9:49:21 GMT -5
The satellite was built with advanced Thanagarian technology. This must include self-maintenance. However, issue #104 showed that the heroes themselves are tasked with dusting the interior and shining the exterior: And how many people DIED that could be saved while he was scrubbing the satellite?!?! He is selfish and irresponsible!!! Smbc did a quite fun strip on this... Funny strip, and it deals with a topic that actual comic books have approached from time to time. What if superheroes tried to tackle the actual ills of the world beyond villains in costumes? Golden Age heroes fought not only Nazi saboteurs and gangsters but also swindlers and other shady businessmen. O'Neil's Green Lantern/Green Arrow famously toured the social ills of America. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing saw many of them as well but couldn't do much about them. Watchmen and Squadron Supreme in the 80s showed heroes trying to grapple with the woes of the world. Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross showed how superheroes would make regular citizens meaningless. In more recent years, Paul Dini and Alex Ross collaborated on a series of treasury sized publications ( Batman: War on Crime, etc.) in which JLA members faced problems like famine, African revolutions, and the like. JMS made this a focus of later issues of Rising Stars as well. Mark Millar gave a go at it in Jupiter's Legacy. Grant Morrison tackled it with the vapid superteens of Multiversity: The Just, and in a different way in Seaguy. Even a recent issue of Squirrel Girl dramatized the problem of a society in which superheroes solve all problems.
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Post by zaku on Mar 8, 2019 15:32:11 GMT -5
And how many people DIED that could be saved while he was scrubbing the satellite?!?! He is selfish and irresponsible!!! Smbc did a quite fun strip on this... Funny strip, and it deals with a topic that actual comic books have approached from time to time. What if superheroes tried to tackle the actual ills of the world beyond villains in costumes? Well, usually these stories end in two ways: if they are set in the main continuity of DC or Marvel, the heroes fail miserably, we get some moral lesson about the mankind has to solve its problems by itself and the status quo is restored (and in this way their world is not so dissimilar by ours). In the other cases (Watchmen, New Universe etc) the world is irremediably changed by its heroes and become very different by ours. It's fun how the authors love to put more realism in their stories, but they have to draw a line somewhere because they can't risk to be too much realistic...
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Post by rberman on Sept 6, 2019 10:51:43 GMT -5
JLA #147 “Crisis in the 30th Century!” (October 1977)Creative Team: Written by Paul Levitz and Martin Pasko; Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin Chapter 1: “Terror of the Time Plunderer!” It’s time for the annual JLA/JSA crossover! The hand of Mordru reaches across the centuries and yanks the JLA and JSA a thousand years into the future. Mordru is disappointed to see that he’s nabbed the heroes instead of the Demons Three trophies from the 20th century JLA satellite. He holds Green Arrow and Black Canary hostage and sends the other heroes across the galaxy to retrieve the three relics in their current (30th century) locations. He's already captured some LSH members and sent them on this same mission, but being nincompoop teens, they have failed to either finish the job or even return. Chapter 2: “Crisis on a Cosmic Quest!” On the planet Antares-II, Star Boy and Wildfire are rescued by Superman-1, Hawkman-2, and Doctor Fate. It’s not too hard to seize the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath from some primitive savages. Makes me wonder how Sun Boy and Wildfire were captured by Stone Age tribesmen in the first place. Chapter 3: “For What the Bell Tolls” Some aliens on planet Vaxon are using the Green Bell of Uthool to scare space dragons away from their planet. They don’t want to give the bell to Braniac 5 and Princess Projectra. Batman-1 and both Green Lanterns show up and build a “scarecrow” of the dragon’s natural predator so that the Vaxonians don’t need the bell any more. They wish the heroes "Godspeed" which sounds kind of weird from an alien. Chapter 4: “The Final Errand!” Catchy chapter title, huh! Power Girl and Flash-2 are off to retrieve the Red Jar of Calythos. First Flash vibrates them to an alternate dimension where female aliens are brooding various large spheres, one of which contains the jar. Power Girl can’t defeat the alien brooding the jar but is able to distract it with another egg to brood so that the jar can be retrieved. Mordru assembles the three artifacts and summons the Demons Three, who destroy (apparently, but probably not really) all the heroes except the hostages Ollie and Dinah. Then the Demons turn on Mordru in a cliffhanger ending. My Two Cents: I was going to pick up these 1970s JLA issue reviews when Volume 3 of the omnibus was published. But that was supposed to have come out in May, and now it has disappeared entirely from Amazon’s pre-order choices. I guess Volume 2 didn’t sell well enough. Too bad for that. Anyway, this issue is a typical JSA crossover with a meeting followed by splitting into squads. The 32 pages are padded out with quite a bit of exposition about Earth-2, Mordru, the Demons Three, and the three relics. I have never really enjoyed Mordru as a heavy. His powers are arbitrarily strong, and he lacks a personality hook. Ollie and Dinah have a clumsy argument when she refers to herself as a JSA-er. I’m with Ollie this time. She’s been on Earth-1 for a long time now. A randy Power Girl is eager for some alone time with Superman, which gets a chortle from the other heroes. Dick Dillin does not appear to be up to the task of rendering some of the LSH, notably Wildfire.
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 6, 2019 14:17:13 GMT -5
JLA #147 “Crisis in the 30th Century!” (October 1977)Creative Team: Written by Paul Levitz and Martin Pasko; Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin I've said this before, but some may not like this kind of plot in JLA, but high/big sci-fi concepts were a part of the JLA concept from the start; aside from the Legion of Superheroes, there were no other superhero groups more fit for broad sci-fi plotting than the JLA. How so? Who is to say they do not worship God--or their own version of Him. That, or in dealing with humans, they part with something they know is native to the human species. Probably the best part of the issue. Mordru was used more effectively in other titles (LSH-related, of course). Here, he seems out of place, as if he was just dropped into a plot (plot--not the means by which he uses the protagonists) that could have suited another villain. ...and Superman acts as if being with Power Girl would be the last thing on his mind... Yes, that's very, very rough and failed to capture the essence of the character as illustrated by Cockrum, Grell, et al.
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Post by rberman on Sept 6, 2019 20:33:06 GMT -5
I've said this before, but some may not like this kind of plot in JLA, but high/big sci-fi concepts were a part of the JLA concept from the start; aside from the Legion of Superheroes, there were no other superhero groups more fit for broad sci-fi plotting than the JLA. At DC at least. Fantastic Four were made for it.
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Post by rberman on Oct 6, 2019 19:40:47 GMT -5
JLA #148 “Crisis in Triplicate!” (November 1977)Creative Team: Written by Martin Pasko “with an assist from Paul Levitz”; Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin The Story: The Demons Three argue about what to do now that they’ve won. Abnegazar wants peace on Earth; Rath wants piles of money; Ghast wants to destroy the world. Each demon chooses a hero team to be his champions: the Legion, Justice Society, and Justice League, respectively. This leads to a massive fight that goes on for many pages in the form of a zillion brief conflicts between various combinations of heroes. (The JSA and JLA were not so destroyed as they seemed last issue.) The details would be tedious to summarize, but the three teams fight here and there, with the JLA only semi-mesmerized by Ghast. Since their boss is the one who wants to destroy the world, the JLA deliberately lose battles to forestall disaster. Finally, Abnegazar and Rath get frustrated by the apparent heroic stalemate. The two demons fight and destroy each other, and their combined energies are absorbed by nearby Doctor Fate. Doctor Fate uses this power to construct the JLA satellite with the three demonic relics (bell, jar, and wheel) inside it. This imprisons Ghast within. The JLA and JSA then return home. Lettercol: Everyone loved loved loved the cameos from classic characters in JLA #144. Two pages worth of adulatory letters. My Two Cents: Right up to the last couple of pages, this was a boring slugfest. “Mind controlled heroes fight each other” makes for a good pin-up but rarely a good story; it’s much better for characters to have legitimate grievances they are trying to settle. Pasko knows it, too. Anyway, the ending at least gets credit for going bonkers on two fronts. First is the notion that Ghast, like Dharlu, is now embedded within the JLA satellite. Is this meant to be the origin story of the satellite? I thought it was made by Superman using Thanagarian tech. We’ll see whether Pasko or other writers follow up on this. My money is on “no.” Next issue, people are hanging out on the satellite like it's no big deal. Second: You might think the JLA would want to know that Ghast is embedded in their satellite. Nope! Green Lantern erases their memories of this entire story. Even Superman’s memory. Even his own. I don’t understand the in-story or meta-textual reason for this turn of events. They didn't learn anything about "their own personal futures." This is surely the kind of story that Identity Crisis was homaging and didn’t anticipate receiving a different reaction from modern audiences. The Demons Three are arbitrarily strong yet lack the ability to fly. Does anyone buy that? Mordru’s body is said to have been placed in “Doom Crater” during an “as-yet-untold Legion adventure.” As far as I know, that story has never been told. The Mordru element gets dropped from the story halfway through; last we see, his astral body is lying on the ground somewhere near the Doom Crater which contains his physical body. Levitz ignores every bit of this when Mordru next appears as the secret instigator of the Earthwar in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #241-245 (late 1978). P.S. Isn't the Legion art better than the JLA art? Black Canary gets a simultaneous kiss from Batman and Superman when she has a good idea. Ooook… Note that the word balloon has three tails. The third one points to off-panel Green Arrow, who was not close enough to smooch his girl, or stop the other two from doing so. Pasko’s potty-mouth Green Arrow is here in full force. Wash your mouth out with some soap, mister!
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Post by rberman on Oct 7, 2019 7:59:15 GMT -5
JLA #149 “The Face of the Star-Tsar!” (December 1977)Creative Team: The cutesy credits take a cue from Marvel’s style sheet. The Story: Steve Englehart is back! So is his pet character, The Privateer. He’s battling Doctor Light but needs help. Fortunately, he’s a genius inventor who has constructed his own JLA signaling device. What a guy! Batman is less appreciative, though. After Doctor Light successfully evades the searching JLA, Privateer recaps his origin as the new Manhunter, as seen in JLA #140, 141, and 143. Lengthy flashbacks are used frequently to pad out the page count in these extra-long JLA issues. A new villain, Star-Tsar, introduces himself to Doctor Light, talks smack, and runs off. Doctor Light looks for opportunities to mess with the plans of this new rival. The JLA run into Snapper Carr on the street. Flash immediately assumes that Snapper’s presence is evidence that he’s in cahoots with Star-Tsar. That doesn’t go over well. When the JLA find the villain lair in Central Park, only Privateer is manly enough to lay a glove on Doctor Light. Doctor Light uses a freaky “Spectriminator” to split the heroes into color coded sections. Happily, Green Lantern's power ring is in the green section of his body, so he still retains his powers. He uses the ring to re-assemble himself and his teammates, but they are still trapped inside a sphere. It's amazing how many villains have the ability to imprison Superman when the story requires it. Star-Tsar shows up to free the heroes and then vanish. Who is that masked man? Soon Doctor Light is captured, and Star-Tsar’s identity is revealed as… Snapper Carr! Lettercol: Ed Via finds the Count Crystal story both Faustian and Lovecraftian. I guess that’s good? My Two Cents: I missed Englehart’s zippy dialogue on the last couple of issues. Now he’s back, and he’s got some ‘splaining to do next issue as to how Snapper Carr became a super-villain with a gang of his own. My initial guess is that he’s a dupe. We’ll see! Flash clenches his buttocks and races around Manhattan, searching for Doctor Light’s lair.
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Post by rberman on Oct 8, 2019 7:13:32 GMT -5
JLA #150 “The Key or Not The Key” (January 1978)Creative Team: Written by Steve Englehart. Art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The Story: Snapper Carr refuses to explain how/why he is the Star-Tsar. His team of goons arrives with blaster rifles that fell all the heroes, even Superman. All members of the JLA assemble – er, gather – to follow Snapper’s trail. Even Phantom Stranger shows up, then decides this crisis is not worthy of his attention, so he leaves. Some guys! Following the trail, the heroes are attacked by giant flying keys. Once again Privateer gets the glory of defeating the foe. The Key captures half of the JLA in an inter-dimensional prison so he can give exposition about how his doomsday device in JLA #110 (his last appearance) ended up being the means of curing his cancer. The other half of the JLA visits Snapper’s family. His sister Janet tells them of how Snapper could never shake the reputation of his now-hated connection to the JLA. Snapper shows up as Star-Tsar, shoots at the heroes for a while with a ray gun, and then escapes on a jet cycle. The heroes chase him to an underwater lair where they are zapped by a second Star-Tsar who then demands a ransom President from Jimmy Carter, lest he use “the energy of the stars” to destroy urban areas. \ Now a prisoner of The Key, Snapper gives exposition about how he joined the Key intending to become a super-villain but then had second thoughts after his encounter with the JLA at the beginning of this issue. The heroes escape their interdimensional prison when Elongated Man makes himself into a cosmic treadmill on which The Flash can run really fast. Just go with it, OK? The Key is revealed to have a shriveled, doll-sized body now. He uses “Synthozoid bodies” to appear normal size. I wonder whether The Vision has something to say about that. Red Tornado analyzes the story thus far and realizes that the other Star-Tsar is none other than The Privateer, who tries to escape and, failing that, gives a lengthy confessional exposition before he’s hauled off to jail. He was a crook along along. My Two Cents: It’s a decent enough story, redeeming Snapper Carr for future appearances. Englehart's basic plot here is "Over several issues, a traitor infiltrates the ranks of the JLA." It's a good story concept that hadn't been done before. It would be used a couple of years later by Marv Wolfman in New Teen Titans.I also realized immediately that I’ve read this issue before. Either it was one of the later issues in my cousin’s stash, or else I bought it used myself because it was #150. Englehart does a great on these, with meaty plots and interesting characterizations. Alas, this is his last issue. I find this panel of the heroes trudging up stairs unintentionally funny. They don't seem to be in an hurry to escape the lair or catch The Key; they're just trudging along.
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