The Kids Are All Right - All-Star Comics 59

All-Star Comics #59 (March/April 1976)
"Brainwave Blows Up!"
Gerry Conway/Paul Levitz-Ric Estrada/Wally Wood

Doug: It's high time we returned to this series, as for many of us its appearance signaled an entry point to the JSA and DC's legacy heroes. For the first year or two of the All-Star revival I was hooked; this magazine was on my "to buy" list, when I could find it. We've only been here once before, in my review of the inaugural issue (that introduced Power Girl to Earth-2 continuity, and four years ago!); however, we had a great response to a query about the Justice Society of America near the end of June. That made me think that this book has some traction with our readers -- so here we are!

Doug: Before sitting down to pen today's post, I felt it prudent to read my thoughts on All-Star Comics #58 (linked above). In that review I voiced my general prejudice against 1970s comics from the Distinguished Competition, saying that it was written for a 10-year old, "like a Bronze Age DC". And while I reached the conclusion that it's existence as such ended up being OK by me, I must report that I was again awash in that sentiment as I read today's fare, four years later. Truly, the entire time I was reading this comic I attempted to remember how I might have encountered the plot and pay-off as a 9 1/2 year old near the New Year of 1976. But enough of me -- let's give you some information so that you might formulate your own opinions.

100-Word Review: BrainWave fantasizes about destroying the JSA, as a rumpled old man stands by his side, convinced the two of them can rule the world. Elsewhere, Flash, Wildcat, and Power Girl leave the JSA HQ to follow her lead to BrainWave. But continuing the previous issue’s disasters, three teams of JSAers confront volcanoes, earthquakes, and gas leaks. In each case a member of the Super Squad (the young newcomers) saves the day. In the end, BrainWave and his ally, Degaton, are defeated in space, averting a plot to pull the Earth from its gravitational orbit. Power Girl wins it for the JSA!

There's no need to flesh that out -- it's really the basic plot of the story. But, for some nitty gritty, let's head to our spectrum of praise:

The Good: I'll lead this section by continuing a positive comment from the previous issue's review and that's the inks of Wally Wood. Ric Estrada is certainly competent, but WOW if Wood doesn't polish the pencils in this ish. At times you, like me, might find the figures to be a little stiff. But Wood's lush inks really add some pop to the panels. I'd also mention that the coloring in this trade (Justice Society, volume 1) is wonderful. The paper is basically newsprint, although of a higher quality than what we read from in the Bronze Age. But the colors are really vibrant.

I liked the three youngsters who are invading the space of the "old guard" JSAers. As I've remarked many times, when I was a kid I related to kid characters. Bucky & Toro, the Teen Titans, the Legion, etc. -- all of those (and others) were among my favorites. So that Power Girl, the Star-Spangled Kid, and the almost-adult Robin were shaking things up (soon to be joined by a young 20-something Huntress) was fine by me.

The Bad: Unfortunately, my praises of this story seem short. It was not a horrible book, not a waste of my time. But I can't say that my life has been enhanced by having completed the reading. Maybe my feelings are actually a praise after all... if one gets out of something what they had assumed ahead of time to be a particular level of satisfaction, then that should be a success, right? 

I find Wildcat to be annoying. I have always found characters who are written as possessing below-average intelligence to be troubling. Oh, it's not that I have a profound issue with my brothers and sisters who might be in that boat. Rather, it's the stereotypical "voice" such characters are given. Wildcat has it. Sometimes Ben Grimm has it (particularly in cartoons and motion pictures). Wolverine's voice in the 1990s X-Men cartoon trended that way. For whatever reason, that "punch drunk palooka" personality grates on me (and yes -- I know that Wildcat's alter ego, Ted Grant, is a boxer). Maybe it's just me.

I did not own this book as a child. In fact, preparing for this post was the first time I'd read it. But whereas I could get by the whole BrainWave thing in the first issue, the introduction of Degaton (who I know of) would have gone right by me as a kid. Now, I read this and am like, "Oh, wow! That must have been cool for those who were into the JSA!" But as a 9- or 10-year old 40 years ago there would have been zero payoff with the Degaton reveal. Zero. So while Gerry Conway might have felt he'd done us all a good service, I was not the intended audience then for such a gift.

Lastly, and maybe I'm just showing my ignorance, but I thought when BrainWave transformed from his new body to his usual appearance he looked an awful lot like the Captain Marvel villain Sivana.

The Ugly: I've not much to say here, other than the scene depicted on the cover of this magazine is literally one panel on the inside. Here -- see above? Not sure how great that is from a marketing standpoint, but then at least it happened. How many times were we flat-out deceived by comics covers through the years?

In closing, I would highly recommend the Justice Society trades (volumes 1 and 2), as well as the Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter tpb. While every story contained within the covers of these books isn't of the home run variety, there are certainly plenty of smiles to be had. Nostalgia is a powerful things, and you'll have an abundance of it if you get your mitts on these books.

Introducing, the Supergirl of Earth-2! All-Star Comics 58

All-Star Comics #58 (January-February 1976)
"All Star Super Squad"
Gerry Conway-Ric Estrada/Wally Wood

Doug:  Now here's a series that was near and dear to Little Dougie's heart back as the calendar turned to America's bicentennial.  I am pretty sure I was in on the ground floor of the Justice Society revival and (distribution be damned!) followed it as regularly as I could through those first couple of years.  I had been exposed to the JSA during the annual JLA/JSA team-ups, so recognized immediately the characters you see defeated on the cover above.  That this story included Robin was only an extra bonus.  You may recall that while Marvel had for years credited their creators right on the splash page, All-Star Comics #58 was released during one of the periods when DC was not doing that; hence I had no idea that Gerry Conway scribed this.  Let's get into it and see how the man who had scripted the demise of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin and introduced many a monster over at the House of Ideas would do with some of DC's classic heroes.  I'll be using the Justice Society, volume 1 trade paperback for scanning purposes.

Doug:  We begin with a meeting of the Justice Society -- it's an all-boys club at this time, featuring Golden Age heavy-hitters Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wildcat.  The fellas are looking at their monitors, and the news isn't good.  According to data fed their computer, the world is going to end.  As a 10-year old, I was probably thinking, "All right!  This is going to be cool!"  As a 46-year old, I was thinking, "Hmmph...  Sounds like a Bronze Age DC Comic!"  So what is Conway going to do?  This sure wasn't starting out like any Fantastic Four, Avengers, or X-Men comic I'd have also been reading.  Hawkman is the chairman at this time, and he's in the know -- he tells his colleagues that there are three major cities that are going to be decimated, and the resulting chaos in the biosphere will do in the remainder of the planet.  So he gives the order that always is given in a JSA or JLA book -- divide and conquer!  The teams will be:  Hawkman and Dr. Mid-Nite to Seattle, Flash and Wildcat to Peking (now Beijing, of course), and Dr. Fate and Green Lantern to Cape Town.  I don't know about you, but I'm thinking ol' Carter Hall didn't do such a swell job of dividing the power boys up equally.  Anyway...

Doug:  We jump ahead of the good guys to Washington state, and find the Star-Spangled Kid flying around, using Starman's cosmic rod.  Ted Knight (love that!  Ted Baxter, yeah!) was on the shelf with a broken leg, and so had given the youngster his weapon of choice.  The Kid was just checking it out when he spied a bank robbery.  He foiled it without breaking a sweat, but then went into a depression.  We the readers are then brought up to speed on the Kid's backstory as a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and how he's a man out-of-time -- he yearns to return to the 1950's rather than live in his future, the 1970's.  But his melancholy mood is suddenly interrupted by an earthquake!  The Kid springs into action, saving people and rising up to survey the situation.  As this is breaking, Dr. Mid-Nite and Hawkman arrive, but Mid-Nite talks Hawkman into holding back -- Mid-Nite has confidential information that the Kid is suffering from a lack of confidence -- so why not let him handle the earthquake?  Is this what heroes do -- put innocents in harm's way, deliberately, for some chump's self-esteem?!

Doug:  We get a scene shift to an orbiting satellite where we find Brain Wave working some gears and levers.  He's railing on like a Grade-A wingnut about being locked away and fantasizing about true beauty -- keep it up, mister.  He gloats that he fed the attack information into the JSA computers and has a reason why he chose the three cities that he did.  Uh, OK -- we'll find out later.

Doug:  Scene shift again to Cape Town, where United Nations envoy Dick Grayson is at a social function after having closed some sort of diplomatic deal.  Suddenly explosions rock the city and countryside, and we see Robin spring into action.  At the same time, Fate and Green Lantern arrive.  The JSAers notice that there is noxious gas that has been released, and as GL is about to be overcome Fate creates a thunderstorm to dissipate the fumes; GL then creates a giant cork to put in the fissure of the Earth's crust.  The heroes notice the fallen Robin and swoop down to help him.  Strangely, our young adventurer is questioned as to why he'd be in Cape Town exactly when the disaster struck -- Fate says it's an odd coincidence.  But before the conversation (read: blame game) can go any further GL's cork blows (literally!) and everyone has to spring back into action.

Doug:  Cut again to Peking, where Flash has run, with Wildcat drafting along behind.  A volcano has materialized and erupted in the heart of the city, and Chinese citizens flee in panic.  I have to say, at this point in the story the editors at DC really let some stereotypes fly -- the facial features of the Chinese are exaggerated, and their skin if of course a yellow hue.  Additionally, the only citizens to interact with the heroes in this story are the Chinese, and it is in the form of an uprising/fisticuffs.  At any rate, the Flash uses his super-speed to create enough friction to dig a trench that will catch the lava.  But as they remark that it's only a temporary fix, a red and white form streaks into the disaster area and somehow (anyone who wants to explain the physics of this is welcome to try) lifts the molten lava as if it were a solid sheet and stuffs it into the opening atop the mount -- I'm thinking that would create more pressure...  Flying down to ground level, she (!) tells Flash and Wildcat that they know of her cousin -- Superman!  She says her name is Power Girl, and that her cousin had wished her to remain hidden a bit longer.  At that point the Red Army attacked.

Doug:  Power Girl does her best Gorgon impression, stomping the ground hard to create a shockwave that scatters the troops.  Wildcat of course prefers his fists, and deals his own brand of crowd control.  After the soldiers have withdrawn, Power Girl begins to speak rather cryptically.  She tells the Flash that she knows about the 3-city disaster plan and even who is behind it.  Skeptical, Flash asks her how she would know -- not who it is, mind you -- how does she know?  This gives Conway an opportunity to draw up a little characterization that will become familiar over the next several issues -- Power Girl's snobbishness/snottiness and Wildcat's stubbornness at accepting her into the fold.  Power Girl asks the JSAers if they know that in all three cities it's younger heroes who are saving the day -- herself, the Kid, and Robin.  This is a definite conflict-creator, as in her next breath she christens these youngsters the Super Squad -- a new arm of the Justice Society?

 

Doug:  In the end, Power Girl tells her now-traveling companions that it will be Brain Wave that they must face.  But she never does reveal how she knows.  Funny thing I remember about Power Girl, and I'm sorry that I cannot for the life of me recall where I heard this -- it may have been from one of you, our regular commenters (if it is, please take the credit).  Someone once said that they always wondered why a character named "Power Girl" would have a "Y" on her chest for a logo!  And isn't that the enduring image of this Bronze Age heroine?  Right from the start, artists Ric Estrada and Wally Wood "endowed" Kara with certain, um, prowess.  And how about the rest of the story?  You know, I was initially planning to rip Conway's script and dialogue, denigrating what I often refer to as "the Bronze Age DC" feel of it all.  But, after a month (wait until you see Monday's BAB Frightfest, kids) of Marvel monsters, it was actually nice to see this play out as an all-ages sort of story.  The good guys were good (even if a bit cardboard and at times played for fools), there was some menacing set-up for the next issue, the art was decent -- Wood's inks helped along Estrada's pencils, and the young characters came off as the real heroes -- something this lil' fella really yearned for in 1976 (loved me some Secret Society of Super-Villains, too, as Kid Flash was a fave character, as well as most of the Legion).  Even though the DCs of this era only ran 18 pages instead of the Marvel-length of 20, this was still a nice almost-20-minute diversion.

Marvel Firsts: Girrrrrrrrrl Power!

The Cat #1 (November 1972)
"Beware the Claws of the Cat!"
Linda Fite/Roy Thomas-Marie Severin/Wally Wood

Doug: How exactly should one do comics about female lead characters "right"? This has been a question for years, from the times of Phantom Lady and her "headlights" covers on through Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and into the Bronze Age with leads like Ms. Marvel and our subject du jour -- the Cat. I'm sure a viable female character can be created that is strong and noble yet beautiful -- even eye-catching -- yet tempered with a bit of political correctness. We shall see if that formula is afoot in this tale.

Karen: It is kind of perplexing and disappointing that Marvel has yet to create a heroine that can maintain a book for any appreciable amount of time. DC isn't much better though. Even Wonder Woman has had a troubled publishing history. I don't want to get into a discussion of the reasons for this in this review but it could be a topic for future discussion -if we haven't covered it already!

Doug: I'm using The Superhero Women (part of the Origins of Marvel Comics series from back in our misspent youths!) as my resource; since Stan Lee created everything in the Marvel Universe himself, I'll use his own words to describe what "he" was going for in creating the Cat:

"Towards the end of 1972, I was really determined to feature as many females as possible in our Marvel roster of headliners. One of the new projects I was enthusiastic about was the creation of a costumed character called The Cat. In fact, to add a bit more color to the title, we incorporated a little phrase up in the masthead -- "Beware The Claws of The Cat!"... Wanting to really do it right, I asked Marvelous Marie Severin to pencil our premiere Cat strip, and Liltin' Linda Fite to write the script. Since we had the considerable talents of two such fabulous females available to us, it seemed only fitting that they write and illustrate our newest superhero series -- which would feature a gorgeously garbed girl. And write and draw it they did."

Doug: So this seems like a formula for success. Toss in Wally Wood on the inks and Roy Thomas as editor and co-plotter and this looks like it's going to be a winner. But there's just something about it that doesn't click. We pick up the action right in the middle of, well... action. The Cat is on the prowl in Chicago on a rain-slicked night. She's trying to scale a wall that's getting more and more slippery. She finds the window she's after, at the penthouse level, and tries to break it (never mind that she says she's going to be as quiet as her namesake). Suddenly the window caves in and a big ugly makes a grab for our girl. But she makes short work of him, right before two thugs enter the fray. A little fisticuffing later and it looks like this issue's going to end soon. But then some gas enters the room and it's good night, kitty!

Karen: "... this looks like it's going to be a winner. But there's just something about it that doesn't click." You ain't kidding. This book was so utterly devoid of value it took me three separate reading sessions to get through it. I blame the story primarily, but I'm also not as fond of the artwork as you are. There's so much idiocy on this story that the stuff with the window is only the tip of the iceberg.

Doug: As the Cat slumbers, her mind drifts back a few years, to when she was Greer Grant, a co-ed at the University of Chicago (for those of you not in the know, you have to have at least a 32 on the ol' ACT to go there, and it's very expensive!). One day she spilled her change all over the sidewalk, right in front of a rookie cop -- who just happened to be pretty dashing. A dating relationship ensued, and soon the happy young couple was married. Then we go all Silver Age female -- drop-out of college, no job, husband won't let her do anything. Total domination. To top it all off, her husband gets shot while trying to apprehend some robbers. Greer's now all alone, and told that without that degree, she's basically secretary material and nothing else.

Karen: You know, although it is as you say "Silver Age female" this didn't get to me too much. It actually is fairly reflective of what many women were going through at the time. I've heard from plenty of women from that generation about how they dropped out of college when they got married. Worse, some only went to college to find a husband. So this part of the story bothers me less than what's to come.
Doug: A chance encounter with an old professor (physics? How come everything from this point on deals with biology?) finds Greer working as a lab assistant for Dr. Tumulo. Dr. Tumulo has been working on a way to bring out the optimal traits -- physical, mental, emotional, and intangible (women's intuition?) in females. It seems she's fallen in with a corrupt financier, a physical fitness fanatic named Mal Donalbain. Donalbain seems bent on creating a sort of master race of women to serve him in -- wait for it -- a series of health clubs that will tolerate no weaklings. That's it. No world domination, not even the riches fit for a king. Just some health clubs with some super-bad hot chicks keeping everyone in line.

Karen: Maybe Dr. Tumolo was like the Professor on Gilligan's Island -an expert in every field of science! Donalbain looks an awful lot like Norman Osborn to me. But sort of a mincing idiotic Norman Osborn. His master plan is so pathetically laughable -to "be the spiritual and physical master of a nation of perfect physical specimens" -that you might think this story was a Mad magazine parody of a comic book! Seriously, starting out with a villain like this as her foe, is it any wonder the Cat disappeared quickly?
Doug: The Professor! I love it! Well, in regard to this short-lived series, the Cat fought this doofus Donalbain, the Owl, Commander Kraken, and the Man-Bull. Two Daredevil baddies and a Subby minor-leaguer. So they couldn't even see fit to create a female antagonist, such as Wonder Woman had the Cheetah. Please see my earlier reviews of Claws of the Cat #'s 3-4; my thoughts weren't exactly in the "glowing" category...Doug: Donalbain has developed a mind-dampening device that he will use to subjugate his women. He has a big circus-looking goon with the mind-deal around his neck. Donalbain sics him on the Cat, but she's able to get away. We then get another lengthy flashback that tells us the origin of the Cat costume (I felt too sexist if I'd have said "Cat suit", but it's certainly what it is). We see the first meeting of Donalbain and Dr. Tumulo, and meet the first girl to be The Cat. She's an airhead well-suited to Donalbain's desires. Her name is Shirlee Bryant (Shirlee?). Greer doesn't care for her and doesn't trust Donalbain. She talks Dr. Tumulo into conducting dual experiments, on Shirlee as well as on herself. Dr. Tumulo, also smelling a rat, agrees. Greer trains hard, much harder than Shirlee. Greer's mind and body do reach optimal levels, and it is she who becomes the success of Dr. Tumulo's research.

Karen: Zabo the giant -what the heck is he doing there? Why is he running around in swim trunks? I'm not sure what the point was of having Donalbain have a phobia of being touched? It seemed like a gimmick for the sake of a gimmick. And why does he wear jodhpurs and carry a riding crop all the time? Stuff like this just annoys me. I know they wanted to get across the idea that Donalbain is a smug, rich jerk, but this is nonsensical, and lazy. There's some pretty weak scripting here too -"Donalbain and his touchless wonders" - it sounds like Linda Fite is going for the Marvel (Stan Lee) style but is clueless as to how to do it.

Doug: It's as if the creators didn't even want to try to do a serious take on a female lead. It's almost as if they are writing/drawing some sort of in-joke.
Doug: After much conversation, Dr. Tumulo and Greer decide that it would be best if Donalbain and his financing were removed from the project. Gathering her notes, Dr. Tumulo heads to Donalbain's residence to confront him. But while there (we have no idea how she gained entrance to his penthouse), she discovers that he's built a laboratory in duplicate to her own! And as she steals inside, she is witness to Shirlee in a Cat costume, and with the mind-dampening collar on. Donalbain gives her orders to test her powers, but while under his influence her body doesn't react naturally and she dies in a fall. Donalbain scoffs, and declares that he'll just get another subject. Dr. Tumulo turns to leave, spies a closet full of Cat costumes, grabs one as evidence, and bolts.

Karen: So let me get this straight: this rich guy who can't stand to be touched wants to create a band of obedient and powerful women to be his slaves? Really? He wants powerful women? Wouldn't it make more sense for a guy like this (who due to his phobia is also likely impotent) to just want to order around women who are weaker than him? And why the costume? Some sort of fetish, I suppose. Honestly, I shouldn't even waste time thinking about it.
Doug: Now feeling terrible, Dr. Tumulo agonizes over going to the police. Greer convinces her that it's the right thing to do and leaves to get some things -- she's going to stay with Dr. Tumulo until this is seen through. But as she departs, some goons arrive. Get this -- wanting it to look like an accident, they pull out some dynamite. Seriously. Well, of course the house goes up, the good doctor is dead, but the Cat suit is fine -- see, they'd put it in the safe. So, you can see where this is heading. We've come full-circle in this story, to where we began. Recall that the Cat had evaded the biggest ugly. Back in the lab, she's out to destroy Donalbain's means of duplicating the Cat powers in other young women. One last tussle with our musclebound henchman and he's done. Donalbain pulls a gun, Greer avoids it and plunges the room into darkness. And then she goes all Batman on him, real scary-like. Did we mention that Donalbain's got a phobia against being touched? Well Greer knows it, plays it up, and Donalbain ends up putting a bullet through his head. End of story.

Karen: Yeah, dynamite always looks like an accident. Did Roy even look at this book before it hit the stands? This is a terrible comic. No two ways around it. I don't think the constant jumping from flashback to present helped it either. I was never a big fan of the Hellcat but she's miles above this dreck.
Doug:I felt that the art in this story was pretty good; I would criticize some of the faces when shown at a 3/4 turn -- but then that's a touch angle sometimes even for masters like John Buscema. Wally Wood's inks were really smooth, and the women were usually beautiful facially. I do have a comment on their figures, however, and I guess this is an even more glaring observation given that half of the creative team was female -- all of the ladies in the book seem to morph cup sizes at will. Seriously -- I don't think they had push-ups and/or underwires back in the early '70's (shoot, weren't many women burning their bras?), but all the going big/going small was a bit distracting. The plot? If I were Roy, I'd have stricken that from my name on the splash page. Or, was it all his idea?