Images for JSA IN THE 90s discussing JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #4 (Nov 1992)! Click each image to enlarge! Leave your comments over on the podcast post by clicking here!
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #4 cover by Mike Parobeck & Mike Machlan
Interiors by Len Strazewski, Mike Parobeck, and Mike Machlan
Wally West on the scene, and love how you can’t identify which scarlet speedster on the first page…
Wildcat and The Atom taunt Ultra-Humanite! Note Wildcat’s comments about Delores Winters…
The origin of Ultra-Humanite and the JSA in their heyday! And we’re pretty sure in that first panel that Delores Winters’ purple outfit was a colorist decision, and that should be flesh tone color…
Giant white ape alert!
Dr. Mid-Nite is a boss!
Dr. Mid-Nite taking care of business with a smile on his face…
Our first official introduction to Jesse Chambers! Love how they disguise her identity until she says the speed formula!
Fantastic last page, and Wally West is exactly correct! And man, EVERY ONE is hot for Delores Winters!!!?!!?!!
During this episode, Shag mentioned that he was ahead of his time — back in 1990, two years before the debut of Jesse Quick — Shag created his own Johnny Quick legacy character for the Mayfair Games’ DC Heroes RPG! The game’s second edition box set included several character write-up cards, and below is the custom card Shag created 35 years ago for Johnny Quick II! Artwork by lil’ 18 year old Shag, and the character info was printed using a (such a blast from the past) Commodore 64 with an Okidata dot-matrix printer.
Shag redesigned the Johnny Quick II costume for the ’90s, replacing the original yellow with black, and the original red with maroon. He outfitted JQII with short cuffed gloves instead of traditional superhero gloves, pirate-like lace-up boots, and a looser-fitting collared pirate shirt. The Johnny Quick insignia was moved to the left breast.
The concept of Shag’s Johnny Quick II revolved around a new hero claiming to be the son of the original Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, even adopting the secret identity of Johnny Chambers, Jr. He possessed super-speed similar to the original Johnny Quick, requiring the use of the speed formula, and had the unique ability of sonic projection, which sounds like a bell ringing.
The question on everyone’s mind was: Is he truly the son of the legendary super couple? Every time Johnny Quick II was asked about his origin, his story changed, suggesting heβs hiding something. Additionally, his sonic projection powers resemble the sound of the Liberty Bell ringing, however, the original Liberty Belle had super strength, not sonic projection. So, the mystery remained: Was he really the son of those famous All-Star Squadron members, or someone else entirely?
Additionally, in a nod to the term “Speed Junkie” (and to provide more points during character creation), Shag added a twist to JQII by giving him an addiction to using his own speed powers. So ’90s!!
Shag used the character in their 1990 role-playing sessions, but sadly did not get to play him very much. In the end, Jesse Quick is probably the better legacy hero, but Shag sure had fun coming up with this character!
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