Justice June: It's A Free For All!

Justice League of America #148 (Nov 1977)"Crisis in Triplicate!"
Script: Martin Pasko (with an assist by Paul Levitz)
Art: Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin

Karen: First things first: is that a cool cover or what? Everybody just wailing on everybody else really caught my eye back in the day -it still does! This is the conclusion to our JLA/JSA/Legion extravaganza. So grab your popcorn -and shut off your brain -this is a true summer blockbuster!

Doug: I just love covers with colors that provide great contrast -- white, yellow, and black backgrounds really make a cover pop, and this one's a great example. Rich Buckler does a really solid job here -- while I like Dick Dillin's interiors, it would have been nice to have seen Buckler on this full-length slugfest.
Karen: We get a recap from the still captive Green Arrow, who's about to suffocate inside a giant hourglass hung around Mordru's neck. The Legion shows up to put the three demons away, but they're no match for the demons' magic. So far, the Legion have made a pretty poor showing! One of the demons, Abnegazar, decides he likes the world of the the 30th century; he finds its peacefulness appealing. His fellows scoff at him though. Rath wants to enslave humanity and accumulate riches, while Ghast basically just wants to wipe out humans and devastate Earth. They turn on each other but discover that their magic cancels each others out. So of course, they decide to use the Legion, JLA, and JSA as their champions.

Doug: In regard to the Legion, didn't you think their role in this tale was reduced to their physical powers only? Mentally, strategically, whatever -- they're just not a factor. For having the smartest guy in the story on their team in Brainiac-5, they don't accomplish much in terms of driving this plot. I've been reading out of the Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 4 tpb. The book reprints JLA/JSA team-ups with the Fawcett heroes of Earth-S as well as this tale with the Legion. As we'd long before seen the Earth-3 super-baddies, our story here seems a link in a long chain of opportunities to spice up the annual JLA/JSA get-togethers.

Karen: There's a constant downplaying of the Legion's capabilities because of their youth, which is really annoying. So what are our teams? From the Legion, Lightning Lad, Shadow Lass, Chameleon Boy, Wildfire and Princess Projectra are chosen by Abnegazar. They agree to help him, since he wants to keep things as they are. Ghast gets JLAers Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, while Rath settles on the JSA and five heroes: Power Girl, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Flash, and Hawkman. Ghast and Rath also have to mind control their pawns, seeing as how they want to do some nasty stuff. Suddenly it's a free-for-all!

Doug: The three different worldviews taken by the demons were interesting. I thought it was odd that Abnegazar saw progress and general goodness in the world and wanted to hold that status quo; that doesn't seem very demon-like to me! And free-for-all? I'm sorry, but I thought this story really degenerated into one big battle after another, with really nothing decided. Last week I mentioned the Avengers/Defenders War -- I thought Marvel made that a lot more interesting. Similarly, Busiek and Perez also made the JLA/Avengers mini-series interesting. This one began to drag for me -- maybe a regular-length story might have helped to tie things up quicker.
Karen: Hey, I just noticed something odd: although this is supposed to be taking place at Legion headquarters, the shots with the big windows showing the stars outside make me think it is the JLA satellite! What do you think? A mix-up on someone's part?
Doug: Yeah, space or some sort of limbo. Good catch, because it certainly doesn't evoke the Legion HQ in my eyes, either.

Karen:In the middle of the fight, Ghast realizes he only has three warriors while his pals each have five -sharp guy, that Ghast. He then sends Green Lantern to recover Arrow and Canary, who are still stuck in that hourglass around Mordru's neck. The demons had caused another group of Legionnaires to take Mordru's 'spirit-self' back to his body. But when GL frees his two team-mates, the Legion attacks him. But once again, they are quickly thwarted by the JLA. Boy, this still gets me steamed! The same goes for the next scene, which features Superman easily taking out Wildfire. The Legion was just treated like crap in this story.

Doug: In this scene Green Arrow utters the phrase "Freakin'-A". Man, that took me back to those junior high days of the late '70's!! That was a great example of contemporary lingo in comic book dialogue! And as a Legion fan who was very passionate at the time this story was published, I felt like they were dismissed as the Teen Titans would have been. It seemed that age automatically equaled value, and the Legion had nothing to contribute. Don't trust anyone over 30, they probably said to themselves...

Karen: With the Legion out of the way, two of the demons send some of the JLA and JSA off to some generator, and there's a lab deep in the Earth's core...whatever! The important thing is we got more heroes fighting heroes! It also seems that Power Girl is not under the influence of the demons, and the JLA members are also more resistant to their control. Power Girl and the Hal Jordan theorize that this is due to them being younger and having more stamina. Ouch! I guess the Legion aren't the only ones who get mistreated in this tale. Anyway, our two unbrainwashed heroes make it look like they are fighting, but it's all an act. Legionnaires Wildfire and Projectra arrive, and they manage to take down everyone, preventing the generator from being destroyed.

Doug: I cracked up at the cross-section diagram of the Earth with that tunnel running through it. Not too accessible to scientists around the world when there's only one entrance and one exit on the whole planet! Guess if you don't live near the equator, you don't go in there! RE: the younger/more stamina argument: what the heck was Marty Pasko trying to say? Is it obvious that DC was still writing for the average 12-year old (I was 11 when this was published, so they definitely hit a home run with me!), and college-aged kids might have seen this as a bit silly?

Karen: Next up, Superman, Batman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow, who have overheard the conversation between Green Lantern and Power Girl, discuss throwing a fight with the Legion. Of course Green Arrow remarks, "Where's the heroism of lettin' a bunch of punk kids beat up on us?" That's right, the Legion don't get no respect! Canary comes up with an idea that seems utterly ridiculous -basically that if the JSA and Legion were stalemated, the demons would have to fight each other. Now, considering they took champions before, couldn't they just do it again? But let's not think about that, because there's more fighting to do!

Doug: As we went through this, the depowering of the Legion was troublesome. Like I've been saying, Batman was allowed to be the genius we think he is, but Brainiac-5 was not. Did you notice, too, that the combination of Legionnaires lent itself to their defeat? Seriously -- Shadow Lass and Princess Projectra make up 40% of their team. Once Ultra Boy was pulled out, and with no Mon-el, this Legion group was not all that formidable. I should have mentioned Imra, too -- she could have been a player, but only had one "star moment". Funny that Paul Levitz got an "assist" on the writing credits -- he might have spoken up louder for his "boys (and girls)". I guess I understand that the title of the book is Justice League of America and they're going to come out smelling like roses in the end, but they just seemed like gods in comparison to the other two teams. As to the JSA, the creative team was also dissing the company's founders.
Karen: Ghast orders the JLA to destroy an ice city, which will melt the polar ice cap and cause a new ice age. But the Legionnaires show up and the JLAers pretty much play possum. Then the JSA arrives and, as Black Canary predicted, they are equally matched. This causes Rath and Abnegazar to go after each other. The heroes charge after them, there's an explosion, apparently wiping out the two demons, and Dr. Fate is imbued with tremendous magical energy. We get another shot of all the heroes attacking Ghast, and then Dr. Fate weaves a spell that gathers metal fragments from across the cosmos, which hurl towards Ghast. It turns out they are pieces of -the JLA satellite, which we were earlier told had blown up some time after the 20th century. The satellite comes together and imprisons Ghast.

Doug: How about that clairvoyance on the part of Superman and Batman, 2000 years in the future, to know that the satellite, of which they had no knowledge of how or when it was destroyed, was floating around out there somewhere in the cosmos? Light bulb went on for both of them at the same time. Again, the Legion is so based on the history of the 20th Century heroes that you don't think Invisible Kid or Brainiac-5 -- or shoot, Superboy himself -- would have ever looked into this issue? It's pretty contrived. I'm not saying it's not a good solution to the story, but just the way it came about was sort of dumb. Here was a chance for the youngsters to shine, and the writers whiffed.

Karen: All of our super-teams then get together and fences are mended, before everyone goes back to their proper time and place. You know, I did enjoy this, even though it was a very weak story. Actually, it was just one continuous slug fest. I guess I'm a Marvel snob but I just found this thing to be a huge mess. Too many things happen that conveniently move the story along. But really, who cares, it's got about 15 super-heroes in it! It was a nice little trip back to a time when I was much more easily satisfied with my comics!

Doug: Yeah, I'm with you on all counts, and I need to apologize for my curmudgeonliness. It was a nostalgic read, and all of the heroes made for a colorful adventure. But I thought the first chapter had far more pay-off then did the conclusion. I know writing these crossovers can be a pain-in-the-butt, because you just know all of the fans (like us) are going to be looking for "their guy's" moment in the sun. Tough to please everyone. I think, too, that this story fits into the heritage of DC's Silver Age -- we remarked last week about the look of the demons, all of the magic, etc. Not staples of Marvel's Bronze Age, to be sure -- but it does feel like a DC story, and that's OK for what it is. I'd even go on record here to recommend the fine "Crisis" series of reprint tpbs, of which there are seven or eight volumes. One cannot appreciate the continuity and wonder of the DC multiverse without visiting (or revisiting) these once-a-year gems. Good superhero fun, even if it is a bit silly at times. But then, grown adults running around in colorful spandex is a bit silly in itself, isn't it?

Justice June: Three-way Mayhem!

Justice League of America #147 (October 1977)
"Crisis in the 30th Century!"
Writers: Paul Levitz and Martin Pasko
Artists: Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin

Karen: Ah, one of the joys of summer as a youth: the annual JLA/JSA cross-over! Every year, DC would feature these two super-teams joining forces for two or three issues. It was a kid's dream come true -a dozen or so colorfully clad super-heroes, all in one book! But on a few occasions, it got even better, as a third team of do-gooders became involved. Such is the case with the tale we're going to review, as the Legion of Super-Heroes joins the party. To top it all off, this issue was giant-sized! All I need now is a Slurpee and some Hostess cupcakes, and I'd be right back in what my 12 year old self thought was heaven!

Doug: This is one of the comics from my kid-dom that I can recall exactly where I purchased it -- and in fact, I was able to buy both this issue and the conclusion in JLA #148 at the same time. I was a regular reader (as the distribution system would allow) of the Justice Society in All-Star Comics as well as Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. For whatever reason, I did not follow the Justice League, but knew full well who everyone was and the basic gist of what was going on. Hey, quick comment on the splash page: talk about a memory flooding back to me. As I sat down to read this the shot of Saturn Girl's backside, with her panties just a bit too low, made me feel like a snickering little adolescent again.
Karen: Our story begins with members of the JSA talking to the Earth-One Flash aboard the JLA's satellite. We get two quick panels that explain the concept of parallel worlds, and then we're off. And you know what? As a kid, that was all I needed! It made perfect sense to me. I wasn't at all confused by it, and I'd venture to say that most readers weren't either.

Doug: I certainly don't understand the physics of it all, but if one could accept time travel and the fact that in the Marvel Universe Counter-Earth occupied the same orbit as the Earth, but was on the exact opposite side of the sun, then the DC Multiverse didn't pose a problem for me, either.

Karen: The different heroes are shown interacting with each other; some get along, some don't so much. It's a bit disturbing to see Power Girl hanging all over the Earth One Superman -he seems pretty uncomfortable with it too! Kissin' Krytponian Cousins? Ewww!

Doug: Yeah, her line about Earth-1 having a "much nicer brand of Superman" lead me to believe that she'd been checking out her Earth's Clark. Uh uh.
Karen: Suddenly a giant hand appears and tries to grab Power Girl. Both teams attack and Dr. Fate deduces that the hand is the product of magic. Before they can stop it, the hand scoops up ten of them: from the JLA, it gets Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Green Lantern. From the JSA, Dr. Fate, Hawkman, Power Girl, Flash, and Green Lantern are captured. They are all transported across time and space, to one thousand years in the future, where they face long-time Legion villain Mordru!

Doug: Mordru has always been more creepy than scary to me. He's just weird.
Karen: Yeah, and what about his funky hat? It turns out that Mordru wasn't trying to get the heroes at all, but some of the mystical artifacts stored in their headquarters. Looks like he's running out of mystical juice to keep going (kind of reminds me of Galactus and his problems). The heroes break loose and tackle Mordru, but are soon recaptured. He has also captured members of the Legion. Mordru cuts loose with a monologue that would make any super-villain proud.

Doug: Hey, I know this was a giant-sized issue, but wow! Were there ever a lot of words! This seemed more novel than graphic at times, didn't it?

Karen: It may have been wordy, but at least I felt like I got my money's worth! Mordru explains how he needs three artifacts -a bell, a jar, and a wheel - to free three demons. He says that he first went to the Legion and forced them to help him by holding five of their team-mates prisoner. However, the Legion has not returned with his artifacts, so he tried reaching into the past to recover them, and that's how the JLA/JSA wound up in the future. He takes Green Arrow and the Canary as hostages and sends the rest of them off to get his artifacts.

Doug: This divide-and-conquer motif was formulaic throughout these "crisis" team-ups. We saw it, too, during the Avengers/Defenders War.
Karen: I suppose it just makes it more manageable for the writer -and the artist too. The captive Black Canary gets Mordru to talk some more, as he explains the significance of the objects. The three demons, Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast are imprisoned but can be released by using the artifacts. Mordru says that some time in the past (records are sketchy) the JLA satellite blew up and the objects went hurling through space. But he knows where they wound up.

Doug: It's funny how in the mid-'80's, it was this series of team-ups, the Earth-1/2/3 business, etc. that led to the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Yet Mordru's admission that he didn't know what happened seemed to me to be an effort to stay away from pigeon-holing the destruction of the JLA satellite and putting a burden on future writers and editors. As Mordru had previously been to our century (Adventure Comics #'s 369-370, June-July 1968), I guess I'm not buying that this particular event was "lost to history".

Karen: We cut to Antares-II, where Legionnaires Sun Boy and Wildfire have been caught by some very silly-looking aliens. Turns out the two teens could easily escape, but not without killing their silly captors (really? That's the only way?) so they are playing along with them. Luckily, Superman, Hawkman, and Dr. Fate show up and free them. The older heroes easily obtain the silver wheel, making the two Legionnaires feel like chumps. It doesn't help that Superman says, "It took a pair of older and wiser heads to figure out how to snare the wheel!"

Doug: Really, all of the aliens in this story hearkened back to the DC sci-fi stories of the 1950's. Visually, these segments of the story looked pretty dumb. And chumps? Great choice of words. I thought Wildfire was right to be upset at the way they were treated. Superman basically acted in a manner such that "don't trust anyone over 30" seemed to be a true statement! I liked the shot Wildfire got in about knowing some mistakes that Superboy had made...

Karen: Next up is the planet Vaxon, where Batman, and the two Green Lanterns arrive, looking for the bell. They fight off some space dragons and run into Brainiac 5 and Princess Projectra, who are trying to persuade the natives to give up the bell. But the bell keeps the space dragons from attacking them, so they're more than a little reluctant to part with it. Brainiac 5 and Batman talk a bit about deductions, and then old Bats takes Brainy to school, once again making the Legionnaires look like idiots. Batman says they need a scarecrow, and the GLs go about carving the uninhabited parts of Vaxon to look like the dragon's most feared predator -a gigantic beast that eats dragons! Of course, the natives give Batman the bell out of gratitude.

Doug: I rather like the abrasive, jerk-like Brainiac of late, as opposed to this milksop. I just couldn't believe that Batman's solution was a better option. Of course, I suppose the fact that his accomplices were wielding the two most-powerful weapons in the universe may have had something to do with it. Also, I would think that carving up the surface of even an uninhabited part of a planet would cause undue and unlimited geological harm.

Karen: The last team is Flash and Power Girl, and they're off to another dimension. Seems the Legionnaires put the Jar in a vault there to keep it safe. The two heroes encounter some frog-like creatures there, and there's some stuff about mothers and eggs but honestly it didn't make a lot of sense -at least to me. Maybe my partner thought better of it. Anyway, they wind up getting the jar with little fuss.

Doug: As your partner, no -- I did not think better of it. Did you think it was funny what Jay Garrick said about no one in the 30th Century possessing the power to open a vibrational portal? XS hadn't been introduced yet, and the whole convoluted notion of the Speed Force had yet to be retconned. But still.

Karen: I guess he didn't know about the Tornado Twins either! Well, Mordru has taken all the other heroes captive again, but Power Girl and Flash have something up their sleeves -she remains in limbo with the jar while Flash cuts a deal -the release of all the hostages for the jar. Mordru angrily agrees. Of course, he double crosses them and keeps Arrow and Canary trapped. He then conjures up the three demons, and sends the JLA/JSA back to their own time. However, the demons turn on Mordru (duh!) and knock him out, declaring that once they destroy the artifacts, they will (dum dum dum!!!) take over the world!!

Doug: Those demons were a bit less than threatening-looking, weren't they? But they did put a beatdown on Mordru, yes. Hey, closing comment from me -- I thought it was dumb that some of the JSAers referred to themselves as being from "Earth-2"; why would the older guys defer to the folks from our Earth?

Karen: You know, that never made sense to me either. It seems like the older guys' world should be called Earth 1. But apparently it's the team that has its own book that gets the privilege of being Earth 1!

Karen: OK, sure this was a hokey story, but you know what? I had fun. It was a blast to see all these characters together, and the art was pretty solid if not outstanding. It's been so long since I read this series that I can't recall what happens next -and I'm kind of glad! I'm looking forward to reading the next issue. Will the older heroes still condescend to the Legion? Will Power Girl keep hitting on Superman? Stay tuned!