Christmas Countdown: Justice League of America #74

A few days ago, I came across the cover to the above comic book on Rip Jaggers Dojo. Upon seeing this it took me back to the late 1960's (perhaps 1970) when my brother had this comic. I normally don’t chase down comics or buy them online but, on this occasion, I made an exception and managed to purchase a very nice reading copy. The Christmas connection? well it’s an early festive purchase to myself. Below are some pages to go along with the stunning Neal Adams cover above:

This issue continues from issue 73 where a living star called Aquarius uses his power (and Starman’s power rod) to attempt to erase the entire Justice Society of America from existence. Of course, this paves the way for a classic JLA / JSA fight. As is the norm with these types of storIes there are various team ups with members of the JLA fighting the JSA when Aquarius uses his powers to pit members of both teams against each other. The main event in this fun tale is that Larry Lance, Black Canary's husband is killed saving his wife’s life. This snaps the JSA out of Aquarius' control and eventually the 2 Green Lanterns defeat Aquarius. Black Canary realising that she has nothing to live for on Earth 2 now that her husband is dead, asks to join the JLA on Earth 1. The rest is of course comic book history.

I was surprised that this issue was a landmark JLA edition which reintroduced Black Canary into the Earth One Universe, perhaps that is why this issue was a favourite of my brothers as he would probably have swopped this for a couple of other US comics. Whatever the reason I’m glad I managed to pick this one up. Although I wasn’t a massive fan of US comics as a 9 year old, only a few years later I would be searching out newsagents for any American comics that I could find, and at this time the JLA was my favourite title. Perhaps this very issue started that intertest in the JLA for me.

Bring on the Back-Ups - The Origin of Terra-Man - Dick Dillin & Neal Adams

As far as I was aware the above issue of Superman issue 249 cover dated March 1972 (cover by Neal Adams) featured the very first appearance of Terra-Man, a then new adversary for the Man of Steel. However, it always struck me as strange that the first story in this comic entitled “The Challenge of Terra -Man" written by Cary Bates with art by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, superseded Terra-Man’s actual origin story. That story took place after Terra-Man’s first encounter with Superman in the tale “The Origin of Terra-Man". Although this wasn’t the greatest origin tale or character this story has always stuck in my memory as it featured the art of two of my favourite comic artists, Dick Dillon and the legendary Neal Adams. Enjoy the pictures below:

Above: The splash page to the first Terra-Man tale "The Challenge of Terra -Man" by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

Favourite comics: Justice League of America issues 100

Published in June 1972 (with a cover date of August) the above issue of Justice League of America (cover by Nick Cardy) was my first and the tenth JLA/JSA “crossover” which as luck would have it also coincided with the 100th anniversary issue of the JLA. The story “The Unknown Soldiers of Victory” written by Len Wein and drawn by Dick Dillin and Joe Giella was the first part of a 3 part story arc that would take place over issues 100-102. JLA issue 100 has remained one of my all time favourite US comics since the day I first purchased it in my local newsagents after school on a rainy afternoon in November 1972. After all these years I can still remember the excitement of seeing that cover on the spinner rack sporing the banner "33 heroes" many of them being characters I had never seen before. I was in fanboy heaven!

The story itself revolves around the 100th meeting of the JLA where the members are holding a special gathering. However no sooner does the meeting start than they are summoned to Earth 2 by the Justice Society of America to assist them in battling a giant hand that is about to crush their planet. Struggling to win the batttle Dr Fate contacts Oracle, a cosmic entity who informs them that the only way to defeat the giant hand is for them to find the Seven Soldiers of Victory as only they can defeat the menace. As the Seven Soldiers of Victory have been disbursed over various time periodsof Earth’s pasts the Oracle transports the JLA/JSA in teams of three to find the members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.

This was a pretty special issue packed with golden age heroes many of whom I had never heard of before but I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them illustrated by (then) modern artists.

The story would continue in issues 101 and 102 which to this day I have still not managed to read. One day I will track down those 2 issues and find out how it all ends. I do know that the Red Tornado plays a major role having read JLA issue 106.

Covers from DC Wiki