Justice League of America #139 - Feb. 1977

Nobody drew a more brutal hit or punch than Neal Adams--Hawkman especially looks like he's getting it right in the kisser!

The Story: "The Cosmic Conspiracy Against Adam Strange!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Some of the other JLAers show up at the satellite and wonder where their fellow members are.

Turns out they are there, too, but in ghostly forms. Suddenly Adam Strange appears, and tells them that it was because of Kanjar Ro(him again?) that the JLAers are gone.

Turns out he rigged Adam Strange's Zeta-Energy so that the JLAers absorbed it from him, which keeps them in their currenty phantom-like form.

When a JLA satellite "transductor unit" is about to overheat and explode, Flash on instinct goes into action, the explosion somehow knocking him back into his regular form. Adam surmises "Perhaps seeing a teammate's life in jeopardy nullified the Zeta-Effect!"

The JLA head to the 73rd Century with Adam, where they are attacked by a military force. Between this battle and Adam Strange, the "phantom" JLAers are returned to normal. All seems well until Adam figures out that the 73rd Century Green Lantern is actually Kanjar Ro in disguise! As is usual with Ro, he's easily knocked out.

Second Story: "The Ice Age Cometh" by Steve Englehart, Dillin, and McLaughlin

The JLA arrives in Ecuador, where the country is victim to a sudden mysterious ice age!

While the JLA is saving lives, they're not doing anything to stop the brutal freeze, until they hear about three super-villains--Captain Cold, The Icicle, and (don't laugh) Minister Blizzard--are on a crime spree! Flash doesn't want the team to stop what they're doing, when Wonder Woman chastises him for not realizing the two events must be related.

The JLAers stop the villains, but that doesn't seem to change anything. Then Hawkman realizes that its his old foe, The Shadow Thief, who is behind the plot. They confront him, and he almost gets away, until The Phantom Stranger shows up to stop him.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the ice age has stopped. Is it because of the villains being stopped, or is it...a miracle?

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man

Notable Moments: This was a form-busting issue, in that we have two separate stories. This was the first of the JLA "Giants" featuring extended page counts and extra page of letters.

"Ice Age" is the first JLA story by Steve Englehart, who would begin a year-long run on the book.

Update: As Earth-2 Chris mentioned in the comments, this is the first appearance of the classic, long-running "DC Bullet" logo. Can't believe I missed that! Bad Rob!

Justice League of America #138 - Jan. 1977

Adam Strange is back, and he's apparently mad he never got asked to join the JLA!

The Story: "Adam Strange--Puppet of Time!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open the story with Adam Strange's bride Alanna making a recording of the events that have just transpired.

She starts her story when she shows up at the JLA satellite to tell the JLA that Adam is in danger and needs help!

Turns out that the Zeta Beam has been grabbing Adam and shuffling him through time. Just before he disappeared for the last time he told Alanna the real menace is in...the 73rd Century!

The JLA head into the future, where they are attacked by Adam Strange! Before they have a chance to figure out what's going on, he blasts Superman and takes off.

As the JLA tries to figure this out, they are met by Green Lantern...of the 73rd Century! Turns out that all the Zeta Beam radiation from the time-hopping has warped Adam's mind, making him fight everyone who comes near him.

They run into Adam again, but Batman figures out a way to calm Adam down, seemingly solving the problem. Unfortunately, Alanna lets us know that she and Adam have inadvertently consigned the JLAers to a living hell! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash

Notable Moments: Its kind of funny that none of the JLA bothers to ask where or if Hal Jordan is still around in the 73rd Century. They just accept this new GL, and move on.

One of the things a little different about Adam Strange and Alanna in terms of them being an adult couple in the DCU were the hints that, unlike the more G-rated Allens and Dibnys, Adam and Alanna were really hot for each other:

...you just generally didn't see Iris Allen or Sue Dibny in bed much. Now we now why Adam Strange never misses a Zeta Beam.

One of Neal Adam's best JLA covers, I think--as exciting as you could ask for in a comic book cover.

A small change to the logo, the only time it was tried I think--red, white, and blue stripes placed within one of the words itself.

Justice League of America #124 - Nov. 1975

Can the JLA and the JSA defeat...Cary Bates?!?

The Story: "Avenging Ghosts of the Justice Society!" by Cary Bates, Elliot S! Maggin, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The bad guys, revealed to have actually been the JSA, appear to be dead!

Meanwhile, Cary Bates goes on a reign of terror, robbing banks and whatnot, all under the control of the Wizard. Unnoticed, a strange green wisp watches what is transpiring...

The Wizard discovers that Elliott S! Maggin is on Earth-2 as well, and tells Bates to kidnap him and use him as bait to trap the JLA. He does so, and the JLA and the Injustice Society square off.

The JLA start to see the ghosts of the dead JSAers, and get defeated the the bad guys, until the mysterious mist reveals itself to be...The Spectre!

The Spectre resurrects the JSAers, who help rescue the JLA, who then turn on the Injustice Society, easily beating them. The spell on Bates wears off, and Johnny Thunder's T-Bolt sends them home.

We end the issue where we started this whole story--Bates and Maggin trying--and failling--to pitch story ideas to Julie Schwartz. As he tells them of their newest tale "Nobody's gonna believe a story like that!"

Roll Call: Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary

Notable Moments: The Spectre, thought dead since JLA #83, does not reveal himself to his friends, none of the heroes ever know how they died and came back to life. I guess you learn not to question stuff like that when you're a superhero.

Justice League of America #123 - Oct. 1975

The JLA and the JSA face off against one of their oddest adversaries ever!

The Story: "Where On Earth Am I?" by Cary Bates, Elliot S! Maggin, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open on Earth-Prime("our" Earth), where we find JLA editor Julius Schwartz berating his young writers--Bates and Maggin--for not being able to come up with a plot for this month's issue!

While Julie goes to lunch, the boys break out Julie's Cosmic Treadmill(as seen in The Flash #179), and Bates accidentally finds himself transported to Earth-2! While there, something mysterious happens to Bates, where he finds himself with amazing powers, and becomes tempted to use them for evil!

Meanwhile, Maggin tries to follow him, but ends up on Earth-1, where he is rescued by Aquaman from drowning, who takes him to the JLA satellite, where he gives them his story.

They of course don't believe him, but Maggin has developed powers too, which he uses to prove to the JLA he's not making up this crazy story, by teleknetically removing the masks and knowing the secret I.D.s of several JLAers!

On Earth-2, Bates gets worse, and uses his powers to trap and defeat the JSA. We then find out that this is because the evil supervillian, The Wizard, cast a spell on Bates turning him evil!

The JLA come to Earth-2, and are met by the Wizard and his Injustice Society(Sportsmaster, Huntress, The Gambler, The Shade, and The Icicle). Luckily, the JLA defeats them, but finds that these bad guys are actually...the JSA! What's going on here? Only the evil Cary Bates knows for sure. To be continued!

Roll Call: Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary

Notable Moments: Another lark of an issue, similar to #89 where writer Mike Friedrich was the protagonist. What was it about the JLA that made their writers want to incorporate themselves into the stories?

On the JLA Mail Room page comes this interesting suggestion for a new member:

...and you thought Shade the Changing Man was thinking outside the box!

Justice League of America #121 - Aug. 1975

An unusually non-dramatic cover for a superhero comic, but still nice. But why the heck is Batman Adam Strange's best man?

The Story: "The Hero Who Jinxed the Justice League!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Adam Strange shows up to tell the remaining JLA the bad news.

Unfortunately, before this mess can be handled, the JLA gets a distress signal to handle a strange cloud of energy that it knocking out power all over eastern seaboard.

As they get there, the cloud seems to have some sort of intelligence, as it attacks the JLA by creating cloud-like duplicates of them. Meanwhile, Adam Strange can only watch from the satellite, because he would die instantly.

You see, to be able to stay on Rann, Alanna's father Sardath has been bathing Adam in a particular kind of radiation, which keeps him on Rann but would kill him on Earth!

As Adam is mulling what to do, Kanjar Ro shows up in the satellite, basically just to taunt his old foe. Adam times it right, and grabs Ro's power wand just in time to get transported back to Rann. It's here that he uses Ro's weapon to track down some unusual energy patterns, and he finds traces of the JLA in a cave. One wave of the wand, and--presto! The JLAers and Alanna are alive again!

The JLA returns to Earth, helps the others defeat Ro's cloud creature, and Black Canary backhands Ro, knocking him out. Doomsday he ain't.

The issue ends with the JLA(plus Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman) attending the Rann wedding of Adam Strange and Alanna.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado

Notable Moments: I like how Kanjar Ro may be brilliant, but he's a lousy hand-to-hand combatant. One slap from an Earthwoman knocks him on his ass.

Justice League of America #120 - July 1975

I really love the coloring for this cover(drawn by Ernie Chua)--you don't see a lot of this greenish-blue in comics, so it immediately gives you that alien world feel, perfect for a story starring Adam Strange and Kanjar Ro!

The Story: "The Parallel Perils of Adam Strange!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The JLA are in New Guinea wrapping up a case, when Flash shows them something odd--a cave painting of their old friend Adam Strange.

Suddenly the JLAers themselves are hit by Zeta Beams, and transported to Rann, just like Adam Strange. They are attacked by a giant, floating ray gun, which blasts Green Lantern.

Luckily Adam Strange shows up, helps the JLA disarm the weapon. But all is not well on Rann, since Adam tells his friends that his beloved Alanna is...dead!

Adam tells them that earlier, Alanna was blasted to atoms by a strange solar heat ray, similar to something Adam fought once before, just like the ray gun. That gets Ralph nose twitching...

Turns out its their old foe Kanjar Ro who beamed the JLA to Rann, to get revenge on both them and Adam. They are attacked by a giant robot, which blasts the JLAers into dust!

Kanjar Ro hopes that Adam Strange will do exactly what he does...go to Earth to get help from the rest of the Justice League! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, Elongated Man

Notable Moments: The letters page features a missive from someone named Dan Jurgens...?

Adam Strange always made for a great guest-star, and after a long absence from the book it's cool to see him again, even if he does inadvertently get half the JLA killed. Oops, my bad!

Justice League of America #116 - March 1975

The JLA turns into Just a Lotta Animals this issue!

The Story: "The Kid Who Won Hawkman's Wings!" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. Green Arrow is going through the JLA mailbag when he discovers a letter from one Charley Parker(Bird?) addressed to Hawkman.

Arrow decides to visit Parker in Midway City, when he sees some crooks get apprehended by a guy that looks an awful lot like...Hawkman!

He follows this ersatz Hawkman, and saves his life when a giant flying ball of water surrounds him, courtesy of the Matter Master!

Green Arrow then calls in the JLA to help out, and "Hawkman" explains he is Charley Parker, who calls himself The Golden Eagle. Turns out that Matter Master thinks Charley is Hawkman, and that's why he's been gunning for him.

The JLA discovers MM's "Mentachem Rod" which is being activated by remote control. When they go after it, MM turns them into animal/human hybrids, and then creates another group of animals to whom the JLA is prey!

The JLA manages to defeat the attacking animals, and they notice that Golden Eagl has been kidnapped. Matter Master then gets to see for himself that this isn't Hawkman, and starts transforming this pretender into stone. Luckily the JLA follow the signal, defeat Matter Master, and save Golden Eagle.

As Golden Eagle laments he wishes the real Hawkman had come along with the JLA, the Winged Wonder himself appears! To be continued!

Roll Call: Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Elongated Man

Notable Moments: Cary Bates takes his first--but not last--crack at writing the JLA. He manages to make the Matter Master seem like a decent adversary, despite his absolutely goofy appearance, even by supervillain standards.

This issue, the last of the 100-Page Super-Spectaculars, also features a JLA super-villain quiz, a JLA crossword, "Mastermind of Menaces" starring Starman and Black Canary from Brave and the Bold #61, "Challenge of the Untouchable Aliens" from JLA #15, and a Johnny Peril story from Comic Calvacade #19.

I guess this format didn't do that well, which is funny, because now DC sort of does them all the time as one-shots.