Justice Society Presents – Crisis! #1

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #s 21-22

It’s the debut of CRISIS! Shag and Rob begin this new podcast by taking a look at the classic “Crisis on Earth-One” and “Crisis on Earth-Two”, the very first JLA/JSA team-up from JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #s 21-22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowksy!

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65 responses to “Justice Society Presents – Crisis! #1

  1. Love the concept of the show, consider me subscribed! I too always got a kick of the “explanation” panel for the two earths and the classic, full-page pin-up style Joe Staton almost gives me ASRM every time I see it.
    I second pretty much everything you say about Fox and Sekowsky, the latter who I used to hate with full intensity until recently for his carefree approach to human anatomy. His work on the Diana Prince Wonder Woman a few years after this is so much better, although probably thanks to some stelar inkers.
    With that said, his work on the villains, specially on that panel you mention with them crouching on the table, shows a subtler and richer work. It feels as if he really didn’t care about the super-heroes (specially the male ones) and would rather draw regular (or evil) people. “Those barrel chested fools, I will draw them all fat and with skinny legs”.
    Keep ’em coming!

  2. So very glad to hear this feed starting! Can’t wait for more of this, more Starman chronicles, and all the rest. 🙂

    Interestingly, the image you posted of the cover for #22 shows that misdrawn Atom colored as Dr. Fate…and it works! I’m thinking maybe it was drawn as Fate but then colored incorrectly rather than drawn wrong. Just a guess.

    Keep up the excellent work!

    1. I had to go back and double check, and yes,my hard copy (Archive, like Shag’s) had Al with the wrong cowl,by the digital image shared here is Dr Fate colored.
      Shag, where did it come from? DC universe?

      1. Wow. I didn’t even catch that. Yes, I was reading the hardcopy Archive during recording. But the image gallery came from DC UNIVERSE INFINITE. So someone clearly corrected the colors.

  3. Golden age Hawkman first wore the cloth mask in Flash Comics #98 August 1948. I believe the second cover had a miscolored Doctor Fate with Green Arrow rather than Al Pratt Atom, to match the pairings in the story. The Crime Champions’ cool retro headquarters in Limbo will be reused when the Justice Society and Justice League team up with the Squadron of Justice of Earth-S. The theme of trapping villains or heroes in inter dimensional Limbo will repeat from this story in the Crime Syndicate and Secret Society tales later on. Also it seems there is a twenty year lag between the two earths, as for example either the Hourmen, as is Showcase 56 in 1965, right after this first JLA JSA meeting, Rex meets his wife Wendi Tyler (Earth-Two version of Super Friends’ Wendy Tyler according to that book’s letter column!) and they have son Rick who by the mid eighties is already 20. But over on Earth-One between the mid 60s and mid 80’, Robin has only aged maybe 5 years or so!

  4. A fantastic first episode, gents, but then again I’m a mark for the JSA. I have spent a lot of time on that real estate and I’m glad y’all started this.

    I have to agree with Shag (note to Shag, per the court order I only have to agree with you three more times, so consider yourself served on that notice) about the dialogue of the heroes complaining about the fact that there isn’t any crime to bust. I know it’s very much of its time and these are more innocent stories, but did Green Lantern really just hope that some innocent bank teller gets a gun or some other weapon pointed in his or her face just because he’s bored. You have a job, Alan! Go putter around the broadcast studio and stop wishing for civilians to have to go to therapy because the Fiddler stuck up their place of work.

    While I enjoy the first few JLA/JSA team-ups, they are the roughest to read. This is a me thing, though. The early JLA stories are plot driven, so they don’t land with me as much as the later ones. That said, this one is historic and fun to read. I just can’t binge them, so to speak.

  5. The very first issue of Justice League of America that I purchased off a spinner rack was a JLA / JSA crossover. It was the 1st part of a two parter where they fought the Injustice Society and Cary Bates. That issue made me a lifelong fan of both teams. Really looking forward to listening to this and all future episodes of this new podcast.

  6. Great first episode guys. This is such a fun idea for a podcast. I started collecting in the late 70s and remember learning about Earth 2 from the annual JLA/JSA team-ups. You guys mentioned how Dr. Fate’s gloves are missing. Do you think maybe he loaned his gloves to the Earth 2 Aquaman? Anyway this was a fun listen and I’m truly looking forward to future episodes.

  7. This is going to be fun.
    Feature name on nominations:
    Mvp: All-Star
    Worst: Menaces to Society
    No idea about the moments, maybe favorite panels on Earth-Prime and Earth-3?

    1. Great suggestions!

      Running with your mention of Earth-Prime, I feel like “Views from Earth-Prime” could maybe be worked in there? Listener feedback maybe?

  8. Awesome first episode! Immediately bumped to the top of my podcast list (which is woefully behind with no commute). A few thoughts
    – loved the variety idea / jumping around. There is only so much Fox/Sekowsky I can take.
    – Sandman Mystery Theatre! Starman Chronicles! (which I did not know existed to my shame – I am doing a reread of that book right now and will be seeking this show out immediately!)
    – the best discussion that I think could be an ongoing topic is the “need” for the Crisis. This is a tough one. I started reading in the 70s and am always offended when I hear Marv Wolfman talk about how complicated the multiple earth concept is – look at our TV shows and movies now! I was a kid and never had a problem. And some great stories came out of this idea (To Kill A Legend anyone???). But Crisis was great and momentous and when it was coming out I could not read it fast enough – it was big! I agree with Shag that some of the best comics came out post-Crisis. With no crisis we get no Starman, no Geoff Johns JSA, etc. So the reality is I have given up trying to decide what I like best, since I like them all!
    – I reread these issues last night before listening today, and laughed out loud when I heard you talk about Chronos’s goofy mask! I had the exact same thought! I can imagine a young Kevin Maguire (or even an old Jack Kirby) reading this story and saying “my Mr. Miracle is not going to look like that!”
    – with regard to early JLA in general, when my kids were little we started at Archives vol 1 and read ALL the JLA stories up to volume 10 or so, one story every night. Let me tell you, some of them are hard to get through but when you are reading it to kids they are enraptured! So they must have done something right.
    – Non-obvious suggestions for future episodes: Batman / Wildcat issues of B&B (does Earth-B count?), a Golden Age issue or two of All-Star Comics (which can be found in Archives or on DC Universe), the Starman/Black Canary issues of B&B (and maybe how they connect to 90s Starman), Spectre by Ostrander (criminally overlooked), and for a modern twist the Earth 2 graphic novel that re-introduced the Crime Syndicate.
    Thanks again to both Rob and Shag for this great episode, idea and new podcast – I must have been inspired since this was by far my longest comment ever!

    1. ‘ With no crisis we get no Starman, no Geoff Johns JSA, etc.’

      Is that so, though, Paul? OK, the odd Starman connection, such as Will Payton, would have to go, but Jack was an Earth 2 legacy character. Similarly, the JSA would have had to have a non-Dinah Black Canary but surely it would have been able to exist as an Earth 2-set book?

      1. I get that argument Martin but I still don’t think we get Jack. If there were still multiple earths at that time, all the “legacy” stuff would have been on Earth 2. Would they really have set an ongoing modern day series on earth 2? Jay G would not have been a supporting character in the Flash, which with Johns and Waid was where most of the legacy stuff came from. For an Earth-1 Starman I think we would have had Will Payton and that’s it. Jack doesn’t work without Ted, and while they might have tried a JSA series from time to time I don’t think they would have set a new young hero on Earth 2. Maybe I am wrong but…

  9. I love these stories–my first JLA/JSA crossover was the murder of Mr. Terrific. I was 9, and the coolness of the parallel Earths/counterpart heroes really was thrilling.
    As to this first crossover not featuring Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Thunder, or Wonder Woman–it seems that Julius Schwartz was thinking after the revivals of Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, and Hawkman, that Dr. Fate and Hourman might be the best of the others to try–even if it wasn’t until 1965 that they were featured in Showcase team-ups. And not only was a division between Earth-1 and Earth-2 Supermen not clear at first, Mort Weisinger in letter columns in Superman adamantly insisted there was only one Superman, who began his career in 1938.

  10. Ah! The inaugural episode of the show I’ve been eagerly anticipating. I like the idea that this will be a hodgepodge of JSA-centric topics from a variety of perspectives and covering any and every era of the JSA. It’s like a Golden Age potluck dinner where each lid you remove reveals one delicious JSA treat after another.

    And even though in an actual potluck dinner, Shagg would be that one guy who brings potato chips, he once again makes a wonderful co-host and moderator for this first episode of what promises to be a JSA smorgasbord. I always appreciate the insight you bring to whatever show you’re on, my friend. For this episode specifically, your comment about the cleverness of the Crime Champions’ plan stood out to me. Cleverness from a group of Silver Age villains?!?! The hell you say! But, you are right in that it is a rather ingenious plan.

    As for Rob, your observations about the art made me seriously rethink my take on Mike Sekowsky. While I’ve always respected the groundwork he laid in being the first Justice League artist, I’ve never really considered him a “good” artist. But, your comments about his work on these issues, particularly the J’Onn J’Onzz panel, made me reconsider my view of his work. I’m now going to re-examine Sekowsky’s work in those early JLA issues with a less dismissive eye. Thanks!

    Btw, I really love Jeff R’s suggestions for what to call the best and worst of each story you cover. Great ideas!

    1. What’s wrong with Potato Chips at a pot luck?!? Everyone loves potato chips. Not my fault you were dumb enough to spend 3 hours baking a casserole the kids will turn their noses up to.

  11. Great first show, guys.

    I do agree that the team-ups get much, much better as they go along. Some of these early plots seem wonky.

    I have a feeling, maybe wrong, that although Barry and Jay talk about publication years in Flash of Two Worlds, the revived JSA weren’t tied that strongly to World War II until their origin in the 1970s and then the All-Star Squadron. For a lot of these team ups, they seem just a decade or so older than the JLA heroes. As if the sliding time scale started for them when they met Barry Allen. I know Roy Thomas introduced the smart idea that the JLA/JSA encounters did happen in the publication year on Earth-Two and the JSAers noticed something was wonky with time on Earth-One. [It gets mentioned the JSA are testifying about their team-ups in America vs the Justice Society.)

    I like the All-Star suggestion for MVP. Maybe Anti-Social for the least effective member?

    I’d love to see a special episode looking at the alternate history of Earth-Two. I recall that some of the players on HUAC were different. (I just wondered if broadcaster Alan Scott joined many members of the Hollywood Ten from our world to write episodes of the 1950s TV series the Adventures of Robin Hood — a show written by blacklisted writers such as Ring Lardner Jr — I think Rob might be familiar with one of Lardner’s post-blacklist films, something about a mobile army hospital in Korea.) On Earth-Two, Quebec had separated from Canada. Apartheid in South Africa ended decades earlier. A whole alternate history episode about Earth-Two would be fun.

    Also, if you’re looking for off-beat Earth-One/Earth-Two team-ups, in back-up stories from the New Adventures of Superboy issues 15 and 16, the Earth-One Superboy travels in time and crosses dimensions to meet and train the teenaged Clark Kent of Earth-Two. In a sense, it makes the Earth-One Superman the inspiration for all the Earth-Two heroes too. (Also, some Mr. and Mrs. Superman stories from Superman Family would be fun. I enjoyed those back in the day, even the storyline where Johnny Thunder turned up having lost control of his Thunderbolt due to his chronic stupidity.)

    I look forward to seeing the Merry Men pop up when you cover the JLA 100-102 team-up.

    Thanks for finding your joy and following your bliss to Earth-Two. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Shagg come up north with an Alpha Flight podcast too.

    1. I second the motion for that 2-part backup in the New Adventures of Superboy, and the Mr and Mrs Superman strip (one story has an Alan Scott cameo; another has Clark and Lois attend Bruce and Selina’s wedding–with a Dick Grayson cameo).

  12. Love this idea! One of the first JLA issues I ever got was JLA #114, which reprinted the Crime Syndicate JLA-JSA team-up. So I was hooked nearly right out of the gate!
    I was going to chime in that the mis-colored hero on the cover of JLA #22 is actually Dr. Fate, but Sean beat me to it. To my eye, it is clearly Dr. Fate colored as if he was the E-2 Atom.

    I agree that these two stories are classics, although they are not the best JLA-JSA team-up. They start the ball rolling very well. BTW, if you want to start an argument, ask everyone to list up their Five Best JLA-JSA Team-Ups and see what kind of responses you get!) And I would love to see what kind of fan reaction DC got to this team-up. I mean, obviously, the team-ups became an annual thing, so the fans must have loved this, but what kind of actual fan reaction was there? Requests to see different characters? Love for the Multiple Earth concept? It’s interesting to consider…

    I second Jeff R’s suggestions for your features’ names: All-Star and Menace to Society are great names for your features!

    Earth-2 Hawkman and the Atom both showed off their new uniforms at the same JSA meeting in All Star Comics #42, Aug-Sept 1948.

    I’m surprised you didn’t mention Ian Kurkill in your discussion of Hourman. That story was where Hourman officially got a leave of absence from the JSA because he was battling an addiction to Miraclo. And by the way, I always thought the pronunciation was a take-off of Scott’s Miracle Grow grass seed, so I pronounced it Mira-Cloh.

    Hourman has always been one of my favorites. I have to admit, I kinda liked the JSAers who didn’t have doppelgangers in the JLA….so my favorites were Sandman, Dr. Fate, Starman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Hourman. Not Johnny Thunder, original Mr. Terrific, or Wildcat, though. Dullsville!

    One last thing about the Justice Society….when I was in high school, just before the Crisis hit, I wanted to be the next teen-age comic book writer ala Jim Shooter and Gerry Conway. So I put together a HUGE JSA treatment to “sell” to DC. Well, one of my JSA characters was a legacy version of Hourman. He had the same uniform, but my guy had been Rex Tyler’s lab assistant who took over the identity when Rex got too old. My idea was that because the pills made the hero, the new Hourman didn’t have to have any particular family relation (powers inherited or anything like that). My hook was that this Hourman was an African-American, which made (to me) an even better visual of a Black man in yellow, black, and red. Then Infinity Inc and the Crisis happened and my 50 plus issue ideas never went anywhere. (And why I never warmed to Infinity Inc….I always thought I could have done it better, haha!)

    1. > And I would love to see what kind of fan reaction DC got to this team-up.

      Good point. I wonder what the letter’s page a few issues later had to say about these two issues.

  13. Oh, the existence of this show—and this specific episode—makes me so very happy. I agree with your general sentiment about this story: It’s not the greatest JLA/JSA team-up ever, it might not even be a very good one, but it has its moments (always loved that wall-in-the-ocean image), and what it represents is nothing less than awesome on every level. And while Sekowsky didn’t always impress, when he was on, he was quite impressive; check out the shadows in Felix Faust’s face on that page where the Crime Champions are just chilling. (BTW, there was no Who’s Who listing for the CCs, which I consider a major oversight.)

    I appreciate the spotlight on Hourman: It seems like he stands out for a lot of people when they first discover the Golden Age characters. My first JLA/JSA team-up was—prepare yourselves—the batshit-bonkers Thomas/Patton two-parter in 1983, revising Black Canary’s origin to make her the most confusing and/or disturbing character in mainstream-comics history. Hourman jumped out to me in that story: His costume was just dynamite, and his power set fascinated me…partly because I misinterpreted it: When he declares he’s taking a pill to give him an hour of super-strength, I assumed it meant he had different pills to give him different powers, a utility belt of super-abilities. I imagined one pill made him strong, one pill make him grow giant-sized, one pill gave him Matter-Eater Lad’s powers. If only!

    And Rob, I’ve had a similar thought about that climactic battle in this story would make for a great poster or similar. As I sit here drinking tea from your Bigfoot mug, I’ll make you a deal: Put it on a mug and I’ll guarantee you at least one sale.

    Thanks for this, gentlemen.

  14. Joy!
    Shag
    And…

    … Rob are doing a JSA centric podcast!
    I LOVE the JSA, and judging from the amount of comments already here, so do a lot of people. It would seem the only folks that don’t have a love and respect for these heroes is DC Comics!!!
    In the late 70s and early 80s Earth-2 was the most exciting and unpredictable place in the DC Multiverse. Heroes could and DID actually die!
    I’m glad this show will jump around so I hopefully won’t have to wait too long to listen to episodes about Infinity Inc!
    Thanks guys! I’m very excited about this new umbrella podcast!

  15. Great episode! I never quite took to the JSA outside of the WW2 era, but your passion for the subject is audio is audio candy.

    Looking forward to more.

  16. Two of my favorite podcasters talking about my favorite thing in comics- yes I’m a “big crossover” fan and an “Allen Scott the first and best” Green Lantern fan- but I don’t mean those. Those loves come from loving the summer crossover of the JLA/JSA. Justice League of America 147-148 is where I decided to become a collector, not having Perez art inside inside 208 caused my first “boycott” of DC. From 8 until 18 this team up was always my favorite thing, even the issues I “boycotted” were great (I have the trade). This is going to be a fun show.

  17. Late to the game! Love this show and the concepts.
    As a child of the Bronze Age JLA, I definitely loved the annual crossovers. Pretty sure I learned about Darkseid from one of them! So looking forward to this one. So love this Crisis subset.

    As a young adult of the Vertigo era, I love love love the Sandman Mystery Theater book so can’t wait to hear that show.

    And the catch all of any team-up, any JSA, etc makes me very happy. Hope someone covers the Supergirl/Power Girl dynamic and multiple crossovers.

    Thanks for another great show to listen to!

  18. Late to the party, so Firestorm probably nervously drank all the soda while macking on Power Girl, but a very fun debut, gentlemen. I first got to read this in “The Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told”, and I loved it. Yes, the Gardner Fox stories are formulaic and incredibly plot-driven…but nearly every DC comic of the time was the same, so you can’t really hold that against him. His stories were generally more imaginative, making him a no doubt less-chemically enhanced Grant Morrison of his day, in many ways. Sekowsky’s art always takes some getting used to, but there is no question he deftly handled the huge cast of characters, despite me not being a big fan of his style.

    As for the members, the JSA as revived in the Vandal Savage story in The Flash’s comic were the roster of the last version of the team, except Fox went back one click, and subbed Johnny Thunder for Black Canary. This line-up here is rather interesting, but I’m not sure anyone at DC had even considered if an Earth-Two Superman or Batman existed yet. Heck, Earth-Two Batman first appears in an imaginary story in Detective Comics #347 (Jan. 1966), and Superman doesn’t show up until JLA #73 (Aug. 1969)! The existence of an Earth-Two Wonder Woman may have floated the idea of an Earth-Two World’s Finest duo, but Diana was always a more integral part of the JSA than the two famous “honorary members”.

    As for your segments, how about “Rotating Chairperson” or “Watchtower Files”. Oh wait, I think I’ve heard that somewhere before. I kid, I kid! Why not name the best hero the “Super Friend” and for the worst, stick with “The Johnny Thunder Participation Award”.

    I met Hourman before JLA #195, but like Rob, that was the issue that sold me on him. Obviously others saw the potential, given his prominent usage in Thomas’ All-Star Squadron, Robinson’s The Golden Age, and Starman, and even Cooke’s New Frontier (well, it was brief, but he was important). I love how his costume was translated into live-action on Stargirl. That get-up shouldn’t work…but it does!

    Again great show guys. I look forward to the Earth-Two Aquaman bloodbath. I think a movie bracket style debate show is in order. Give Shag some of his own medicine!!!

    Chris

  19. Hey guys!
    Great first episode!
    I became a fan of the JSA through the greatest golden age stories ever told collection. I also was an old-time radio fan and World War II era characters were a favorite of mine. (Although I’ll admit, I was never a fan of the Multiple Earths concept.)

    1. So, A.S. for the best and A.S.S. for the worst? Sure, why not? I can’t see that being confusing at all. ;-D

      (I always felt bad for the All Star Squadron to not be able to use their acronym like the way the JSA and JLA could.)

    1. “The Yellow Glove Controversy” — And suddenly I picture a Bob Haney Brave and the Bold story where the cursed yellow gloves are passed from hero to hero. (Then again, all my bizarre thoughts seem suitable for a Bob Haney story.)

  20. Oh, cool, that team I like from the CW’s “Stargirl” has their own podcast feed now! Seriously, though, thanks for making a new show about DC’s founding team, and for starting off with the stories that introduced most of modern fandom, myself included, to the JSA. A late-blooming DC dabbler, I first encountered this two-part tale in the black-and-white “Showcase Presents Justice League of America Vol. 2,” a bit bewildered that the tradition of the annual JLA-JSA team-ups started that early in the League’s life. I didn’t know much about the Society at that time, but the general story beats reminded me of one of my favorite episodes from the “Justice League” cartoon, “Legends,” a bit of a classic in itself these days. What a delight to encounter a comic tale just as whimsical and filled with nostalgia for a period I’d never lived during as that TV triumph, maybe even more so since the DCAU League never did encounter the Justice Guild again (at least on TV; did they ever turn up in a “JLA Adventures” issue?), but I knew I was guaranteed at least a few more quality crossovers (and a Quality Comics crossover?) before the Crisis came a-calling. I might seek out that “Multiple Earths Vol. 1” you guys plugged in the episode description just so I can follow along and finally look at these tales in full-blown color. (And looking at the content list for that book, wow, clearly there was a lot of demand for this particular team-up concept early on. At what point was it decided to make it just a once-a-year thing, and who made that call? I assume Julie Schwartz?)

    1. The annual meeting was instituted straight away, Benjamin – #22 and #22 were cover-dated August and September 1963, the next team-up came in #29 and #30, August and September 1964 – the book was published eight times a year.

      1. Wow, that quick? Cool. And that was the first Earth-Three story, which would itself become a massive source of impressive lore. Makes me wonder what would’ve happened had the Crime Champions been able to get to Earth-Three as they were trying to at the end of this episode’s tale. Given the switch in morality commonly associated with the setting, I assume the Champs would’ve still been facing some stiff opposition from the Syndicate, or maybe they could make a deal with them and split the profits from their already successful robberies?

    2. Incidentally, my suggestions for the end-of-show award names:
      Champion of Justice-best hero
      Every Villain Is Lemons-best villain
      Key to the City-best hero moment
      Golden Getaway Car-best villain moment
      Gardner Fox Memorial Poison Pen-most convoluted plot detail
      Julius Schwartz Memorial Beaker of Truth-most neato science tidbit
      And on the subject of Chronos’s mask, I wasn’t exactly creeped out by it. If anything, it reminded me at various times of Mr. Wrestling II, old-school WWF villain the Spoiler, and any number of characters from “Nacho Libre.” Granted, that type of mask can look a bit unsettling to me depending on the light source, but I was strangely okay with the look of Chronos throughout this tale.

  21. Congratulations on a world-beating new podcast. Double world beating, actually. I loved this first episode. I first read this team-up in the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes 100 Super-Spectacular* and it knocked my socks off – so many heroes and villains and so, so much story.

    Well done to Sean on solving the Mystery of the Miscoloured Mighty Mite… but did no one notice Dr Fate’s wrongly toned collar on part one? Who am I kidding, Shag will have noticed and I missed the mention!

    I also love legacy Shagg but I don’t think we needed to have the earths united to have it – we already had it when the teams crossed over annually.

    You’re right, lads, the JLA-ers and JSA-ers sticking to their own villains gave them the advantage of familiarity but yes, it wasn’t the most exciting prospect

    I like that the JLA used Merlin’s crystal ball – who says the Silver Age didn’t have continuity? From the lettercols it seemed there WERE kids who had been with the book from the start, so they might be expected to remember the prop from an earlier issue.

    That Dave Gibbons cover for the new collection looks lovely – the Alex Ross one on the original that I have is far too shiny and busy… I hope they keep the introduction by Mark Waid.

    I’m also for an Infinity Inc show, you could call it Infinity Think (did the heroes have a villain team named Infinity Fink?).

    I’m excited at the prospect of a Sandman Mystery Theatre podcast – let me guess, Sandman History Theatre?

    * Don’t you think the Super-Spectaculars would make a nice subject for a new podcast?

  22. For someone so dismissive of Aquaman’s gloves, Shag sure was stuck on Dr Fate’s missing hand ware.

    Can’t have it both ways Shag. Either gloves matter or they don’t.

  23. As soon as I heard the promo on the JLI podcast, I immediately searched out the new feed and added it. I *love* all things JSA. Before I sold off my collection, one of my prized possessions was All-Star Comics #58, with the Super Squad and Power Girl.

    My personal origin story with the JSA is when my mom brought up a huge box of comics from a garage sale, in 1983. And in there was JLA 207-209, and ASS 14-15, “Crisis on Earth-Prime.” 11 year old me drank that up, and loved every moment of it.

    I was completely fascinated, and immediately understood the concept of multiple Earths. 11 year old me probably fell in love with Power Girl in those issues (much like Ronnie did), which might explain my love of PG to this day as well.

    Really looking forward to more of this series, as well as the rest of the anthology podcasts!

  24. Well, that was delightful. I’ve been oddly drawn to the JSA ever since stumbling across All-Star Squadron #20 as a kid, which was a mind-blowing (and somewhat harrowing!) read. And then there was the Perez JLA crossover, the Parobeck series, the James Robinson/Geoff Johns run, and The Golden Age… something enduring and fascinating about those old-timey characters, even if I do find older comics pretty tough to get through at times. I have Crisis On Multiple Earths vol. 2 sitting unread on my shelf, so I look forward to cracking that open if and when you get to it.

    Hourman! Without doubt my absolute favourite JSA member? How could he not be, what with having cool but relatively underwhelming powers (which I always enjoy) and one of the single greatest superhero costumes of all time? Such a great, simple, elegant design. Easily in my top five. Maybe top three.

    Shagg did a great job of covering his more notable appearances, but left out a couple of my personal favourites. First, his guest appearance in Justice League Task Force #10–12, where the Mission Impossible-style team take on super-Nazis. Rex comes out of retirement to help, but his time runs out and he has to go into action alone, powerless and a bit long in the tooth – and still kicks all the butt.

    Second, there’s the short story ‘An Hour with Hourman’ in the creator-focused anthology title Solo (2004), written and drawn by Mike Allred, which automatically means it’s absolutely wonderful.

    That’s all for now. Looking forward to the next episode!

  25. Gents, Thank you and congratulations for starting this up. This will certainly fill the gap left behind when the Tales of the JSA wrapped up a few years ago. That podcast ended well before it maxed it’s potential.

    The two things that I am looking forward to are:

    -JLA 219-200!! The kidnapping and torture of Black Canary’s Daughter including Thunderbolt goodness! Say, you indeed!!

    -The full and complete recap of Crisis on Infinite Earths, including all the pre-crisis Monitor appearances, the cross-overs, including the Omega Men and Legion of Super-Heroes cross-overs, and the aftermath of COIE including History of the DC Universe!

    You guys are very ambitious to take this on.

    1
  26. You guys asked so many audience questions that I couldn’t keep up, and I’m not scanning through 50 other comments to deuce it out.

    I definitely like the idea of having a floating JSA show that comes at the concept from different hosts/angles. I do not think the JSA lends itself to an indexing show, because I don’t think there are a lot of extended runs that are, you know, tolerable. Thank goodness the first appearance was already covered on Treasurycast, and All Praises To Allah that you didn’t choose to cover it twice. Things that I love include super-heroes that are vanguards, in a period setting, form a legacy, and are obscure. The JSA checks all of those boxes, but the particulars of the characters and group stories are of less interest to me. That’s why I was okay with most of them being killed off in Crisis and then Zero Hour, and why I kinda like Infinity Inc. and the ’90s JSA title, but only the highlight reel. Generally, I prefer my JSA stories to be in memoriam, or for a Crimson Avenger, para-memorial. Tell me a story about Black Canary and Starman having an extra-marital affair in the 1960s, but not so much Jay Garrick leading a charge against Gog in modern times.

    As for the JLA-JSA team-ups, a third novelty element plays best with me. I only own the fourth volume (outta six?) of the Crisis On Multiple Earths trades because I wanted to read the Fawcett story, and it was cheaper than the back issues. I like Mike Sekowsky on things that aren’t the JLA and not written by Gardner Fox. He’s especially good at ramshackle sixties grit– like a low budget period film. Sekowsky fits better at Tower, or on oddball Showcase features, but he’s definitely an underappreciated talent. I think the only Fox writing I halfway liked was on Red Wolf, of all things. Plot-heavy stories that ignore the basics of how anything works require more of a Morrisonian weirdness and less of a not-so-Zany-Haney laissez-faire. As a result, I much prefer the later team-ups, and more so the Gerry Conway ones.

    The entire run of the back-up in Detective Comics was called “John Jones,” which converted to “J’onn J’onzz” with the move to House of Mystery. The “Manhunter from Mars” part was a subtitle, until Mike Nasser designed the “Manhunter from Mars” logo for the Adventure Comics strip in the late ’70s. There wasn’t a true “Martian Manhunter” logo until around the time of the Super Powers Collection in the mid ’80s. Within the context of the Silver Age strip, the hero was usually just called “Manhunter.” Fans I’ve talked to from that time often say “John Johns,” rather than “Jones” or “Manhunter,” so the usage in this story was in keeping with the norms of the time. I personally wince when people say “Johns,” because the pronunciation should be the same as “John Jones” since it’s right there man. Still, I’ll never get tired of saying things like “that time I sat down with Howard Chaykin to have a chat, he said John Johns too.”

    1. Frank, I agree with you so much more often than I expect to, and that includes most of what you’ve written here.
      “only the highlight reel” – exactly right
      “para-memorial” – outstanding

      Also, thanks for dropping more Martian Manhunter knowledge. I was Jonesing for it.

  27. Really enjoyed the first episode!

    I had read this a couple years ago, but definitely found more to like this time around. Maybe I’ve gotten more used to 60s comics in the meantime?

    I did wonder about a few story points, though. How come GL was able to use his ring when Wonder Woman rescued him with her yellow lasso? Also, why didn’t the Wizard pretend he was Felix Faust? That makes so much more sense.

    I love Hourman, so choosing him for the first spotlight was icing on the cake. His costume is just so great. And I agree with Shag that the 90s Hourman series was great.

    Looking forward to future shows under this feed. I hadn’t known about “The Starman Chronicles,” so I have some work to do there to catch up. Guess I might have to read Starman again too…how will I ever manage?

    1. Hi Justin! Just in case you are interested, The Starman Chronicles ran in the following episodes of Super Mates, hosted by myself and my wife Cindy:
      Episodes #27, 32, 42, 49, 55, 68, 73, 79. We’ve covered the series through Starman #27. When the series continues on the Justice Society Presents feed, we’ll do a (somewhat) brief recap of what has occurred, and go over these episode numbers again, before jumping into issue #28.

      Chris

      1. Chris thanks for identifying those episodes! I admit I have not been a diligent follower of Super Mates so I was not aware of the Starman Chronicles either. I have recently started a reread of the series by coincidence so I have just downloaded those episodes to my phone! It will take me a while to get through them with no commute but I am really looking forward to it!

      2. Thank you so much for posting those episodes, Chris. I do have #27 downloaded to my phone and just need to get started on my reread so I can listen. I have been going through your and Cindy’s JLU episodes too.

  28. Regarding what to call your “Worst of the Month” nominations, given Rob’s consistent derision of a certain JLA mascot, there’s truly only one option, and I’m surprised you didn’t say it yourselves:

    “The Snapper”

    1. That works for a JLA member, but I vote for the aforementioned Menace to Society or the Thunderstruck Award for a JSA member having an off day.

  29. My favorite team by my favorite podcast network.

    Thank you thank you thank you for this podcast. I’ve been waiting for a new JSA podcast, since Tales of the JSA went on hiatus. This podcast is another FW Podcast Classic.

    I met the JSA in the comics my dad would bring me from the magazine stand. Each summer I would get at least one issues the team up (of course how could dad know). These issues cemented the JSA as my favorite team, because they where different.

    MVP maybe Top Team-up Trophy.

    Hopefully, soon someone will soon get into the Golden Age, which I know can be tough. And also the modern JSA tales (1999 and beyond). But I look forward to all the shows on this feed,

  30. Thanks for another great podcast celebrating stories I never knew but somehow cherish. I loved the deep dive into DC history. The Fiddler! The mother *#~king Fiddler! Weird what’ll make one smile.
    Great job on the Hourman spotlight. That mask has bugged me for years, glad to know I’m not alone.

  31. So there I was… thinking I had JLI overdose – oh look I see there’s a JSA theme podcast. A perfect pallet cleanser! And… it’s Shag again? With Rob? Well that’s my day ruined….

    Only kidding. This was a great show and shockingly despite being a JLA / JSA and all round (too round at the moment need to get fitter) DC fan. I had never actually read this crossover – So guess I need to go read all my JLoA issues now to catch up as well – but this was an excellent listen and I learned a huge amount!

    I’ll be listening to these as well as the JLI podcast as well now… like I have time…..

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