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| Smiling Superheroes by Joe Staton |
It wasn't some master plan or something, but when I found out that
America Versus The Justice Society of America was just now available in trade paperback, I immediately was hit with an urge to dig out those vintage Bronze Age Justice Society of America yarns by Gerry Conway, Paul Levitz,
Wally Wood,
Joe Staton,
Bob Layton and other great talents. The JSofA are among my favorite characters in comics, a group of fallible humans (mostly) who suffer the pangs of age, regret and even death. The stories featuring the Justice Society as realized on the long-lost Earth-2 are vivid reminders of what subtle commentaries on life even brash superhero comic books can be.
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| Heroes, Hitler, and a Heroine Restrained - Comic Book Perfection! |
So over the course of the next month expect to see my overwrought reviews of sundry Justice Society adventures from the 70's, the 80's, and even the 90's along with other things of course. DC has tried to kill of the JSofA not once, but twice with a deliberate intent to erase these outstanding Golden Age heroes from their elaborate and rich history and always they return to show a new generation what vivid and compelling characters they can be.
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| Everett E. Hibbard |
In the Favorite Covers section I will be showcasing my favorites among the many memorable and flamboyant covers done for the original
All-Star Comics run from the Golden Age; many of these have gotten the homage treatment over the decades.
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| Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson |
All of the JSofA posts will be gathered under the "All-Star Comics" heading and grouped together under the "Crisis On Multiple Earths" category. It was under the latter that some years ago I took a look at DC's delightful Earth-1 and Earth-2 Justice League summer crossover extravaganzas. If you haven't sampled those I heartily recommend them.
I love old Earth-2 and the heroes who lived there once upon a time. It's great to visit. Come along.
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The Best of Amazing Heroes features a different, previously-unpublished, version of the Amazing Heroes #3 cover (also by Staton) as the title page for the article about the JSA.
ReplyDeleteCaveat: it's only in B/W. ;-(
I think I've seen that image, but I'll definitely scout it up. Thanks for the tip.
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I remember buying that issue of Amazing Heroes by mail order- in a year or two, you could buy the mag in Glasgow or Edinburgh comic shops every month.
ReplyDeleteI am very fond of Staton's JSA. Lately, the Horror Channel has been screening Wonder Woman and The Wild, Wild West daily, I think Robert Conrad would have been a fine Atom to Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman.
Robert Conrad as the Atom! I never would've thought of that and it's absolutely perfect!
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