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Post by rberman on Jan 13, 2019 16:49:27 GMT -5
JLA #95 “The Private War of Johnny Dune!” (December 1971)Creative Team: Mike Friedrich wrote it. Art is Dillin and Giella. The Story: A three page sequence depicts black gang leader and budding musician Johnny Dune getting wounded and medaled in Viet Nam, then returning to an unwelcoming home. Dune’s attempt to work within the political system to improve the plight of the poor is thwarted by corrupt party bosses. Now he’s a top-notch guitarist playing at the county fair, using his mutant power of voice command to incite the youth to express their frustrations through violence. Green Arrow and The Atom, running a stunt archery show for kids at the same fair, get overwhelmed by the riot. Batman and Black Canary come to help but are soon captured as well. Eventually the heroes get free, and as the riot spirals out of control, Johnny Dune realizes that he’s gone too far. He uses his power to summon the raging teens to attack him instead of anyone else. After he gets out of the hospital, he swears to pursue his goals inside the system, but he cautions that others may not be so patient. The rest of the JLA figure out that at the end of the last issue, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and The Flash were somehow transported to the planet Rann, where a catastrophe is about to strike. Superman dutifully sets off for Rann. How long does it take to fly there, anyway? Alpha Centauri is a couple of light-years away. Continuity References: The JLA’s encounter with Adam Strange in ”Planet that Came to a Standstill” in Mystery in Space #75. Covers that lie: Superman and Green Arrow are not among Johnny Dune’s thralls. Green Lantern is on Rann, and Superman is going there. Reprints: “Dr Fate” from More Fun Comics #67 (1941) tells his origin. “How He Began” from All-American Comics #25 (1941) recounts the origin of Dr. Mid-Nite. My Two Cents: After several lousy issues, Friedrich does better this time, broaching three topics of then-contemporary interest. First is the plight of returned veterans, already soul-sick from warfare and now maladjusted in a society that no longer fits them. This was a topic of concern even for a “good war” like World War II, as depicted in William Wyler’s 1946 film “The Best Years of Our Lives,” which won seven Oscars. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Vietnam was of course a far more contentious war, and numerous films and songs dramatized the home lives of its veterans, including the original Rambo “First Blood” story (1982 film, but 1972 book) and Huey Lewis’ unusually dark song “Walking on a Thin Line.” Second, Friedrich looks at the tools of change. Does the political system work, or has it become an institution that only feeds itself? Johnny Dune is stymied in his attempts to break into the boys’ club (old, white) of the politicians who could improve his neighborhood. The Democratic Party isn’t named, but it’s probably what he has in view, since for decades Democrats have been the party of the city, whereas Republicans have been the party of the countryside. Third, how to respond? The 1960s saw a new wave of black activists, of whom Malcolm X was representative, who saw Martin Luther King’s passive resistance tactics as inadequate and proposed more aggressive strategies. Johnny Dune becomes a cautionary figure who goes too far, regretting the violence he incites, and forswearing such tactics for the future. He is the voice of the moderate liberal, reticent to burn it all down to build something new. As an aside, isn’t Johnny looking a bit like Luke Cage, with his white headband and flared yellow collar with blousy sleeves? Or perhaps vice versa, since Cage first appeared in 1972. I would have loved some dialogue between Johnny and Ollie about all this. Indeed, Ollie is uncharacteristically quiet during this story, declining to engage in discussion about social matters when The Atom gives him an opportunity. Friedrich continues his second person narration technique.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 13, 2019 22:47:23 GMT -5
Billy Joel's "Allentown" and Springsteen's "Born in the USA were also songs that heavily featured the war.
Too bad Friedrich didn't try to explore even more explosive Vietnam-related subjects, such as the racism which saw African-Americans disproportionately wounded, subjected to disciplinary actions (non-judicial punishment and court martial), higher rates of "Other Than Honorable" discharges (for said disciplinary actions, usually involving questionable and outright racist charges), and being recommended for fewer medals and often lower status medals (like say a Bronze or Silver Star,rather than a Distinguished Service cross or Medal of Honor). These were also major topics coming out of Vietnam, though it would take a veteran or someone well tuned into the veteran community to be aware of such things. There were a lot of Vietnam vets who had what were known as "bad papers," "Other Than Honorable" discharges for minor offenses (not from a court martial but non-judicial punishment, instead). Such things could prevent you from applying for civil service jobs and even regular private sector jobs. I remember a tv episode of some late 70s/early 80s drama being devoted to this. As a result of this and lobbying efforts on behalf of Vietnam-era vets, employers can no longer request information about the type of discharge you received, only that you were discharged and time of service (unless it involves a government security-related position, requiring security clearance). The military now issues "Administrative Discharges," for things other than criminal charges (failing drug tests, inability to meet weight standards, offenses handled under non-judicial punishment, etc). This would have been an interesting barrier for the character, both in gaining employment and running for political office.
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Post by rberman on Jan 14, 2019 6:42:44 GMT -5
JLA #96-98 “Starbreaker” (February-May 1972)Creative Team: Mike Friedrich wrote it. Art is Dillin and Giella. Issue #97 incorporated reprint material by Fox, Sekowsky, and Sachs showing the origin of the JLA. Issue #96 “The Coming of—Starbreaker!”: On Rann, Superman, Hawkman, Green Lantern, and The Flash defeat giant mechanical, fire-breathing ants controlled by Starbreaker, a space vampire who throws planets into stars and then absorbs the energy given off. He’s made two energy duplicates of himself to oversee the harvesting of Rann, so the heroes split up into teams to defeat him. Green Lantern and Flash tackle one successfully using a ruse that GL’s ring is out of juice. Hawkman defeats a giant robo-ant with a clever use of his anti-gravity belt, and then he and Superman pummel the Starbreaker-duplicate. Starbreaker swears revenge for the defeat of his duplicates; he will follow the heroes back to Earth and eat their planet! We’ve been told that the real Starbreaker is way tougher than his images were. Issue #97 “The Day the Earth Screams!”: Starbreaker eats another inhabited planet to recharge after last issue’s debacle; then he starts tearing buildings apart on Earth to attract the JLA. Yep, real Starbreaker was way tougher; he wipes the floor with them, and they flee back to the satellite to watch old videos of a conflict which they won. (This really happens.) They watch a movie of JLA #9 about the time they used teamwork to defeat a series of elemental-based alien monsters, then formed a permanent league… for justice! Finished watching this fun flashback video, the League are discussing how to harness the powers of friendship and teamwork, when Sargon the Sorcerer appears in their midst… Issue #98 “No More Tomorrows!”: After The Atom leads the charge in a brief Misunderstanding Fight, Sargon sends JLA members on quests to retrieve two additional shards of his mystical Ruby of Life. In jungles of the banana republic of Sierra Verde, Aquaman and Black Canary tangle with a squad of rebels with whom the nation’s President has come to negotiate a cease-fire. Somehow this earns them the President’s gratitude, and he gives them a family heirloom, a ring with a red jewel which just happens to be the gem shard they were looking for. What luck! I confess that after reading this chapter three times, I am still not sure exactly what happened, but it did contain one amusing scene in which Black Canary’s wig comes off, and she pretends to be the President’s butt-kicking wife, as well as a scene in which Aquaman somehow commands “walking catfish” to fall from the sky. In Germany, Batman and Hawkman protect action movie actor “Brick” Ford from “that freakin’ commie arms-runner.” Watch the language, Brick! Kids are reading! He too has a keepsake ring which he tosses to Hawkman in appreciation for bodyguard services rendered. Re-uniting the three rings, Sargon charges up the JLA with the power of love (I swear I am not making this up.) which gives them the mojo to overcome Starbreaker’s fear-based power. Starbreaker splits himself in three again (since that worked so well in issue #96!) and transports various JLA members to the distant past, the present, and the future. He’s defeated in each setting: by a Black Canary sleeper hold, a basic Bat-punch, and a silver arrow through the heart, respectively. The latter is surprisingly graphic for the era. Green Lantern transports the unconscious Starbreaker to Oa for “due justice,” and we learn that Starbreaker’s ill-considered split into three happened because The Atom was inside his brain, fiddling around somehow. Ew! Continuity References: Green Lantern mentions his “search for America,” but there’s no footnote. We are naturally encouraged to “Follow Adam Strange’s own exciting adventures in each issue of Strange Adventures!” Reprints in issue #96: “The Origin of ‘Tick-Tock’ Tyler – The Hourman” from Adventure Comics #48 (1940) is just what it claims. The Wildcat story “The Monkey’s Circle” is from Sensation Comics (home of Wonder Woman at the time) #84 (1948) Reprints in issue #97: This one was a 52 pager but only contains one 37 page JLA story. What were the other 15 pages of content? Reprints in issue #98: “The Woman Who Wanted the World” is a Sargon story from Sensational Comics #70 (1947). “The Three Comets!” is a Starman story from Adventure Comics #92 (1944). My Two Cents: This is straight-up action with no preaching beyond “love conquers fear,” which is conveyed in the most literal terms possible, with love depicted as a force field which protects the heroes from the villain’s force beams. It would have been nice to see actual love somehow figuring into the story, but whatever. I can hear the pitch meeting now: “I know the Comics Code forbids vampires. But what if he’s a cosmic vampire… in space?” It also gave me a wave of nostalgia because, of all the stories I’ve reviewed in this thread, this one is the first one that I’ve actually read before, back in the early 80s, sitting in my aunt’s attic with my cousin’s collection of early 70s DC Comics. It’s amazing how individual panels stick in the mind after 35 years. (45 years for those of you who read these issues straight from the spinner rack.) I appreciate Friedrich’s efforts to come up with stories that aren’t just about brute force. GL’s "ring out of juice" trick on Starbreaker was reasonably clever. Superman has a clever solution to the giant ants instead of just punching them to death. It doesn’t really make scientific sense, but for dramatic purposes it works. GL has an awkward moment wondering whether he can successfully team with the Flash. It doesn’t really make sense for the characters, and I wonder whether Friedrich was channeling some personal moment about a newly married friend. This may also be the only time that GL talks about "jiving" someone. Starbreaker tears off Hawkman’s wings, then Superman’s heat vision causes those wings to explode. You’d think that would be the end of those wings, but nope; Superman gathers the loose feathers, and two panels later, Hawkman is flying away with his wings restored. Hawkman quotes Shakespeare: What did “stoned” mean when JLA #9 came out? Aquaman caused fish to vibrate at a frequency that could break glass, shattering the glassy alien. Wait, Aquaman himself had been turned to glass as well at that point, yet he was unharmed by the same vibrations. Eh, details! Sargon had been a Golden Age hero, but then he was a villain in The Flash #186 (1969) and #207 (1971) when under the influence of an evil shard of the magic Ruby of Life, so it was fair game to wonder whether he would be good or bad in this story. Friedrich is reclaiming him for the side of the white hats. I really like this Central City building of the 30th century. How come the architecture is not so colorful in the days of the Legion of Super-Heroes, just a few decades later? I guess styles change. On the other hand, this is the worst Supergirl image ever to see print. At least, I hope so. It appears to have been swiped from elsewhere and photostatted up in size, judging by the line weights.
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Post by badwolf on Jan 14, 2019 10:48:18 GMT -5
What did “stoned” mean when JLA #9 came out? I really like this Central City building of the 30th century. How come the architecture is not so colorful in the days of the Legion of Super-Heroes, just a few decades later? I guess styles change. Clearly the people who built it were stoned.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 14, 2019 11:01:47 GMT -5
I bought those three off the stands and thought it was a great JLA story at the time. This was the first Time I remember a villain that was a major threat to them. I really enjoyed them teaming up with Sargon.Too bad they never did anything more with Starbreaker, He could have been the Galactus of the DC universe.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 14, 2019 13:23:37 GMT -5
The Comics Code was updated in 1971, lifting the prohibition on vampires, werewolves and ghouls, provided they were in the literary tradition of Frankenstein and Dracula. This is when you see a shift into more horror material, including the introduction of new horror features and horror elements being used in other stories. Tomb of Dracula began in 1972 and others would follow.
Stoned was also a term used with alcohol, meaning drunk.
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Post by rberman on Jan 14, 2019 15:50:26 GMT -5
So how often in the 1970s or earlier did Green Arrow actually shoot somebody with a real arrow that penetrated their body? Not just a boxing glove arrow or shock arrow or net arrow etc.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 14, 2019 16:04:45 GMT -5
So how often in the 1970s or earlier did Green Arrow actually shoot somebody with a real arrow that penetrated their body? Not just a boxing glove arrow or shock arrow or net arrow etc. In the back-up story in Flash 217(Sept 1972), GA's arm is badly hurt in a scrap with a local thug, and he accidentally kills a sniper who's there as the thug's back-up when his bad arm fails him. His shot misses the rifle, which he'd planned to knock out of the sniper's hands. This precipitates further soul-searching by GA in a monastery. It's the first time he's missed his target, to my knowledge, let alone killed someone. My memory's hazier after that, but I think he eventually became the Punisher with bow and arrow by the time of Grell's Longbow Hunters series.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 14, 2019 16:25:29 GMT -5
Yes, that Bat-Robin costume was pretty awful, but the earth-2 Robin's later costume is one of my all-time favorites. So, the costume in the front is cool, the one in the background is awful.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jan 14, 2019 16:36:25 GMT -5
I bought those three off the stands and thought it was a great JLA story at the time. This was the first Time I remember a villain that was a major threat to them. I really enjoyed them teaming up with Sargon.Too bad they never did anything more with Starbreaker, He could have been the Galactus of the DC universe. According to GCD, Starbreaker returned in Justice League America #62-65 by Dan Jurgens (1992), and Adam Strange v2 #4 & 6-8 by Andy Diggle and Pascal Ferry (2005).
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Post by Prince Hal on Jan 14, 2019 16:49:48 GMT -5
The various headshots often change from issue to issue, and the quality really varies. On #94, for instance, Black Canary looks like she needs a good shampooing give her hair some life. (She looks great on the cover of #98, though.) I never liked Batman with his ears poking outwards. But the weirdest one here is Aquaman. He looks like he wandered in from a DC romance comic. On # 97... Green Lantern looks like he's auditioning for a 90s boy-band. Batman looks menacing, though. On #88, GL looks for all the world like Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger, and to me, the (I think) Murphy Anderson GA always makes him look much older than he should be.
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Post by MDG on Jan 14, 2019 16:55:53 GMT -5
On #88, GL looks for all the world like Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger, and to me, the (I think) Murphy Anderson GA always makes him look much older than he should be. Is that vignette the only appearance of GL with pupils under his mask?
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jan 14, 2019 16:56:01 GMT -5
Reprints in issue #97: This one was a 52 pager but only contains one 37 page JLA story. What were the other 15 pages of content? Probably just a couple of pages of letters and the usual assortment of ads. 52 pages was 16 more than a standard comic book, and 37 pages of content was 15 or 16 pages more than a standard issue would have included. Doom Patrol #20 by Grant Morrison also included a scene where it was raining fish.
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Post by tarkintino on Jan 14, 2019 17:16:30 GMT -5
JLA #91-92 “JLA/JSA: Youth vs Experience” (August-September 1971)Creative Team: Mike Friedrich wrote it. Art is Dillin and Giella. JLA #91 “Earth-the Monster Maker!”: A worn out plot device. Yep! That's earth's greatest defenders at work! ...about the only good thing about this issue. ..and in-story, did it ever dawn on Robin-2 that working alone might give him the feeling of independence and as a result, truly make his fellow heroes see him as a fully self-sufficient adult? Yeah, it was a lazy, terrible design. The creative team just should have borrowed and/or modified the Silver Age Nightwing's costume (sans any deep explanation), and come up with Robin-2 being independent, but the "night" motif is respect for his former mentor, instead of that awful, not-even-good-enough-for-Halloween slapped together mess. No, he's not supposed to be 20 feet tall. Most artists have him in the 6-8 foot range, but for details, here's his stats from DC's great Who's Who guide-- Grundy appearing to be a giant was just Dillin was being...Dillin with such glaring inaccuracies. At last, a new direction for the JLA title...short-lived as it will be.... JLA #94 “Where Strikes Demonfang?” (November 1971)Creative Team: Mike Friedrich wrote it. Art is Dillin and Giella, except for four glorious pages by Neal Adams. A few odd things going on, but an interesting conflict. ...and a welcome one, drawing in significant plots from Batman, making the JLAs world not seem so all over the place with unrelated events. I respect the decision. Well...because Dillin's work always looks impoverished, whether Adams' work appears next to it or not. *shrugs shoulders* Probably the latter in the form of the title needing to tighten up continuity with its member solo books; one cannot have major events troubling a lone hero in his own title, then show up in the team book seemingly free (and undisturbed) to punch his JLA timecard. JLA #95 “The Private War of Johnny Dune!” (December 1971)Creative Team: Mike Friedrich wrote it. Art is Dillin and Giella. Astoundingly heavy handed and naïve on Friedrich's part, and for the so-called superheroes of this tale, they are made to be too easily overwhelmed all to elevate Dune to "Very Special Episode" status, never to be seen again in this form. The issue was standing on too many soapboxes with only two feet. A straight narrative about the plight of coming home from one war to fight the neverending one at home would have been the preferred course, instead of Friedrich attempting to dip his creative toes into the minds and emotions of people he clearly did not know that well. Its as though his view of black activism came from the hardly thorough early 70s TV evening news, instead of practical experiences with populations in those cities. Eh? That "countryside" perception is a fairly recent idea, since Democrats--along the way, including party leaders such as FDR--had spent more than half of the 20th century as the party of the Old South, and business, with even older sociopolitical ideologies until the slow shift toward embracing cultures and politics that were not in line with its ideas that lingered since the Civil War. On the other side, Republicans spent the same amount of time embracing/building on Blue Blood industrialism/elitism until the advent of the Civil Rights movement--which they largely rejected, and as a result, opened the door for longtime and like-minded Democrats to party-hop to play their part in the Southern Strategy used by Goldwater in 1964 (unsuccessfully) and Nixon in 1968 (obviously, a success). This is the reason that despite Lyndon Johnson pushing landmark Civil Rights legislation, many black political activist groups felt as wary of their "friends" in the Democratic party as they did toward the hardline Goldwater/Reagan Republicans of the 1960s, as they knew the party's apparent shift under LBJ (and his predecessor to a lesser degree) was not the result of longtime support or a reflection of party core values. To me, his cover representation always looked like a bad cross between Stevie Wonder (head) and Jimi Hendrix (the body and clothing). That did not make sense or respected then-recent GA character continuity. JLA #96-98 “Starbreaker” (February-May 1972)Creative Team: Mike Friedrich wrote it. Art is Dillin and Giella. Issue #97 incorporated reprint material by Fox, Sekowsky, and Sachs showing the origin of the JLA. Issue #96 “The Coming of—Starbreaker!”: Sooo...he's a mash-up of Star Trek's "The Doomsday Machine" (the "Planet Killer" using its energy beam to break up planets and consume the rubble for fuel) and Marvel's Galactus.... Standard sci-fi Big Bad Comes to End All Life on Earth and/or Earth. Honestly, this was more filler story (and distracting in that its villain reason-to-be painfully derivative) than anything interesting.
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Post by tarkintino on Jan 14, 2019 17:24:13 GMT -5
The Comics Code was updated in 1971, lifting the prohibition on vampires, werewolves and ghouls, provided they were in the literary tradition of Frankenstein and Dracula. This is when you see a shift into more horror material, including the introduction of new horror features and horror elements being used in other stories. Tomb of Dracula began in 1972 and others would follow. Stoned was also a term used with alcohol, meaning drunk. Apparently, Gold Key did not care about Comics Code approval, since they had been publishing their adaptation of the gothic horror soap-opera Dark Shadows (with its star being a vampire) since 1968. The Big Two should have considered going that route long before the 1970s.
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