Justice League of America #184 - Nov. 1980

Part 2 of the JLA/JSA/New Gods team-up!

The Story: "Apokolips Now!" by Gerry Conway, George Perez, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, our heroes are none too happy to see that the villainous Darkseid, rumored to be dead, seems to have been brought back to life by the Injustice Gang!

Three heroes, Power Girl, Firestorm, and Orion, try and take on the Injustice Gang, consisting of the, er, less than terrifying combo of The Shade, The Fiddler, and The Icicle.

They manage to subdue two of them, until The Fiddler lays some bad tunes on them:

...that's a beauty of a page, and an early indication of the genius comic book storytelling George Perez was capable of.

Anyway, we cut to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda, who have discovered an organized, armed resistance against Darkseid's minion, the creepily-masculine Granny Goodness. Disturbingly though, this band of armed fighters are little more than children.

They use a mutant telepath child named Playto to learn how Darkseid ended up in cahoots with the Injustice Gang (he was less than polite in asking for their help), and then they search for Granny.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, and Oberon rescue Highfather, who tells them he knows what Darkseid's ultimate plan.

Also meanwhile(!), the perfect combo of Batman, Huntress, and Mr. Miracle break into another part of Granny's stronghold, where they learn what the ultimate plan is...transporting Apokolips to Earth-2, and destroying the universe in the process! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Firestorm

Notable Moments: The JLA Mail Room page makes the official announcement of Dick Dillin's passing:

The page is filled with tributes by those who knew and worked with the man, like Jack Harris, Paul Levitz, Len Wein, Bob Rozakis, and his nephew, Steven Leary, who tells stories of watching his "Uncle Richard" draw these amazing stories.

Justice League of America #183 - Oct. 1980

The annual JLA/JSA team-up...this time on New Genesis!

The Story: "Crisis on New Genesis" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The annual JLA/JSA meeting is hijacked--again--when the heroes from both Earth-1 and Earth-2 find themselves transported to...New Genesis!

Superman explains to his bewildered pals where they are, since he has been here before. His use of the phrase "New Gods" irks the Earth-2 Wonder Woman, and as they squabble, they notice one of their party is suddenly missing...Firestorm!

Turns out the young hero got bored and went exploring, where he runs into the, er, less-than-even-tempered Orion, who blasts him with a bolt of energy.

The JLA and JSA find Firestorm and go after his attacker, and then they are met by the people that brought them here...Metron, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda, and Oberon of The New Gods!

Metron uses the Mother Box to calm Orion down, and they explain that New Genesis has been enslaved by the evil hordes of Apokolips, with assistance from...The Injustice Society of Earth-2!

The heroes infiltrate the royal palace, where they see the Injustice Gang surrounding some sort of giant cannon, which is pumping energy into someone in the distant sky...Darkseid! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Firestorm

Notable Moments: A team-up of gargantuan scale, featuring three sets of heroes on a whole other world.

As nice as the team-up is, this issue is most memorable as the final issue--after fourteen years straight--of JLA with Dick Dillin as penciler.

Dillin's run on the book is simply astounding, and to me only gets more impressive with age, since it seems nowadays if artists stay on a book for six months its a miracle. To say nothing of just how tough it must have been to draw all these heroes every month, along with teams of villains, aliens, bizarre weapons, etc.

This was Dick Dillin's last JLA splash page, and it's a doozy. Click on it to take it all in:

Rest in peace, Mr. Dillin.

Justice League of America #182 - Sept. 1980

The return of Felix Faust!

The Story: "Reprise" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. This issue opens with Green Arrow, having just resigned from the Justice League, aimlessly wandering the crime-ridden streets of Star City.

As he breaks up a car theft, he doesn't notice a mysterious, shadowy figure nearby--who we can see is the JLA's old villain, Felix Faust!

But no time for love Dr. Jones, since Arrow is then suddenly whisked away by a transporter beam, up to the JLA satellite, where some of the members who only now have heard what happened are demanding an explanation.

Arrow ain't having any of it, refusing to justify his actions further. Unfortunately for him, the JLA has already changed his membership status to "inactive", meaning he cannot beam down to Earth. Stuck there, he takes a seat, seeing who will break first.

Meanwhile, we follow Faust, who has found the secret journal of Nostromus at the Star City library (ha! and fundamentalists think Harry Potter promotes witchcraft!), and as he opens it he is blasted by some sort of energy beam.

Back at the satellite, Black Canary is trying to talk some sense into Green Arrow, when a ghostly vision of Faust appears, warning the JLA that the legendary warlock Nostromus is using Faust's body as a way to return to the land of the living to wreak havoc on the world!

The JLA follows Faust's signal to a small village outside Zurich, where they take on Nostromus' demon forms, to no avail. Luckily, the Nostromus-controlled body of Faust is stopped in mid-resurrection, thanks to a well-timed arrow which skewers the book, destroying it, and the warlock's chance of returning.

The JLA all congratulate Green Arrow for his fine work, and Superman welcomes him back to the JLA. But:

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Wow, is Ollie a major league a-hole on that last page. It doesn't even really make sense, since being in the League doesn't mean you live at JLA HQ full-time (although Aquaman obviously liked the sound of that idea), so why does Green Arrow act like he has to break up with Dinah? And...have you seen those fishnets, Ollie? Are you nuts?

There's also a back-up tale, a solo Elongated Man story titled "The Sun Queen Snatch!", a cute little mystery by my pal Paul Kupperberg, with art by Rodin Rodriguez and Vince Colletta.

It involves the Dibnys and the Halls taking a vacation cruise together, and Ralph stumbles onto an attempted kidnapping, foiling the plot in the time it takes Carter Hall to suit up as Hawkman, in a goofy last panel that makes me laugh every time I see it:

I just love how silly Hawkman looks, popping into the last panel like that, while Ralph relaxes with as stiff drink. Well played, Mssrs. Kupperberg and Rodriguez.

I'm assuming DC needed their regular books' artists to get up to speed with the longer page count (since DCs were now 50 cents), so they slotted in this back-up for this month only. Too bad, since I thought this was a lot of fun, and it might've been interesting to see other back-ups featuring JLAers who didn't have their own books.

Justice League of America #181 - Aug. 1980

Green Arrow leaves the Justice League!

The Story: "The Stellar Crimes of the Star-Tasr!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. The story opens with Green Arrow, alone, relating this case into a tape recorder.

The story opens with Black Canary and Green Arrow transporting down to Star City, and they are discussing his increasingly uncomfortable presence in the JLA. He feels out of place and not doing the kind of work he really wants to do.

Suddenly they hear an explosion a few miles away, so Arrow fires a rocket arrow which carries them both to the scene of the melee.

Meanwhile, Arrow's presence in the team is also the subject of discussion at the JLA satellite. They all mention they've noticed a change in his demeanor, and it's Aquaman who seems to have the least sympathy for the Emerald Archer:

...ouch.

Anyway, this talk is interrupted by a distress signal, and the JLA heads own to Star City, just in time to see Arrow caring for a nearly-dead Black Canary, having been attacked by...the Star-Tsar!

At the hospital, Snapper Carr shows up, but Green Arrow nearly belts him before he can explain. Turns out Snapper's old costume was stolen from the Metropolis Police Department (way to go, MPD), so obviously someone else has assumed the role.

The JLA splits up, and both Superman and Green Arrow find the Star-Tsar simultaneously, at a concert at the Star City Stadium. But Arrow's stealth plan is ruined when the entire JLA busts in, in the middle of the Tsar's attempted kidnapping of the singer.

While the concert crowd nearly riots from panic, Arrow shoots some sort of smog arrow over him, blocking the light from the stars that gives him his powers.

Arrow then wraps up his report, finally realizing what all this had led to, his resignation from the Justice League of America:

Roll Call: Superman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Hawkgirl

Notable Moments: A big, momentus issue--the League's oldest "new" member leaves. As a kid, I was blown away by this turn of events.

Looking back on it now, you can see that the Green Arrow had become a bit of a jerk over these past dozen issues or so--something he ramps up to "11" next issue--so Gerry Conway was definitely stacking the deck.


Tomorrow:

Justice League of America #180 - July 1980

Firestorm's first case with the Justice League may be his last!

The Story: "A Beautiful Evil" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, the JLA, having received a distress call from Firestorm, arrives at the Satin Satan's apartment, only to find a fire demon waiting for them!

They defeat it, and then they find Ronnie Raymond's friend held prisoner in a small room. The JLA finds out from them what has happened, and they go on a search for Satin and Firestorm.

They don't turn up anything, but Zatanna learns from the demon they captured that the two of them might be in...Hell!

The JLA then heads to the discotheque where all this started, Zatanna following the mystical trail of the Satin Satan. Here they find her and her prisoners, including Firestorm, inside a giant, magically-created globe.

She frees Firestorm, and the JLA fights her demonic minions until they are defeated. They then turn their attention to Satin, and it is revealed she has been possessed by Sataroth, daughter of Satanni(?), who wanted to use Satin to round up a few cheap souls. Zatanna casts Sataroth out, and casts another spell to keep her out forever.

Green Arrow muses whatever happened to the simple bad guys they used to fight, and Firestorm tells him its a new day, and answer that Reddy notices doesn't sit well:

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Zatanna, Firestorm

Notable Moments: This issue has an odd ending, with Conway letting the reader wonder if Satin's story of possession is true. He never followed it up in JLA, maybe he did in Firestorm's solo feature?

Justice League of America #179 - June 1980

Another new member for the Justice League!

The Story: "The Siren Song of the Satin Satan!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open in a discotheque, where an exotic beauty known as the Satin Satan seems to be able to command men to do whatever she wants...

Meanwhile, there's a celebration happening at the JLA satellite, where the august group of heroes has just inducted a new member...Firestorm, the Nuclear Man!

It blasts Superman with Kryptonite eyes, and hits Batman with a lightning bolt-type ray, leaving the rest of the JLA to take it on!

After the initial exuberance, the JLA gets down to the nitty-gritty, teaching Firestorm all the details he must master to be a member of the team. Firestorm's younger side--teenager Ronnie Raymond--is bored to tears, but is snapped out of his fog by Black Canary. Green Arrow notices, and doesn't like that one bit.

Red Tornado notices Arrow's unhappiness, recalling his disappointment over Black Lightning turning the JLA down (in #173), and recalls the evolution of the team:

...nice page, but where's Hawkgirl? Who built Reddy's android brain, Texas Instruments?

Anyway, after the initial training session is over, the team beams down to Earth, going their own ways. Superman reminds Firestorm he is now part of a group of friends, and just to call if he needs them. After you've been inducted into the Justice League of America, what do you do for an encore?

Firestorm changes back into his two identities, Ronnie and Prof. Martin Stein. Ronny goes out with his friends to a dance club, where a mutual friend tells them what happened earlier, with the mysterious woman.

Ronnie leaves his friends, changes back to Firestorm, and investigates. Once inside another club people saw Satin go into, he finds her, but she is able to control his actions!

She plants one on Firestorm, and as he turns to stone(!), he has just enough energy left to hit his JLA signal device. To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, and new member Firestorm!

Notable Moments: This is depending on your point of view of course, but to me Firestorm is the last new member of the "classic" JLA. There would be more members to come of course, but by then the JLA would be a very, very different book of characters.

Firestorm was a creation of Gerry Conway, and the character was a month or two away from having a back-up series in The Flash. (He would get his own book again in a year or two, The Fury of Firestorm, that would become one of DC's biggest sellers)

You could argue Conway was showing clear favoritism towards his own creation, putting this new hero in the League ahead of other, more established heroes. But I liked Firestorm on the team--his relative youth and experience was a nice counterpoint to the rest of the JLA, and having the same writer write Firestorm's solo book and JLA offered the opportunity to do character development within JLA, something Conway rarely got to do, but was obviously something he wanted to explore, and eventually got to do, big-time.

Justice League of America #178 - May 1980

Man, does this cover look familiar...

The Story: "The Chess-Master of Mars!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, the JLA members, having experienced weird phenomena involving ordinary crooks turning into chess piece-like statues, meet up at the JLA satellite.

As they talk, another chess piece--the bishop--beams into the JLA satellite via the transporter!

It blasts Superman with Kryptonite eyes, and hits Batman with a lightning bolt-type ray, leaving the rest of the JLA to take it on!

The fight appears to be a standstill, until Zatanna casts a spell to encase Aquaman and Black Canary in an impenetrable protective shield. Aquaman then lands a blow, cracking the being in half, which allows Black Canary to use her Sonic Cry to finish it off.

The Atom examines the wreckage, and tells his teammates that this thing could've easily defeated them all--it let them win! This tips off Zatanna, who begins to investigate her theory.

Turns out that bishop was under the control of the Martian Manhunter, who is imprisoned by Despero. Despero wonders if Manhunter isn't throwing the game?

We learn that Manhunter is in an impossible situation--if he loses the game, he and his people on Mars II will die, but if he wins, that means he has killed his JLA friends!

Manhunter next calls up a knight, but suddenly none of Despero's "players"--the JLA--can be found! And, as Manhunter points out, by the rules of the game, Despero loses because he cannot field his players!

Despero, not a sore loser, tries to play other JLAers not yet participating, but then suddenly the Atom appears, knocking Despero to the ground. Then all the JLAers show up, via a spell by Zatanna, and they fight Despero's killer chess pieces. Superman hurls the Atom with super-strength into them, exploding them from the inside.

What Zatanna figured out what that Manhunter had his bishop destroy the JLA membership file, as a clue for them to discover. Everyone is happy to see their old friend again, except for one...

To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Zatanna's spells got the JLA out of a lot of jams.

Aquaman gets another nice moment, where his sheer strength is highlighted, when he cracks the bishop piece almost in two with one punch. Damn straight.

This issue's cover, by Jim Starlin, is a nice tribute to the very first issue of the book:

...nowadays it seems like half the covers on comics are "tributes" to some previous cover, but this was pretty rare at this time. And, tribute or no, its well done and works all on its own.

Justice League of America #177 - Apr. 1980

After the nifty, uber-exciting cover by Rich Buckler, is a story of the return of the JLA's oldest and most deadly foes!

The Story: "The Graveyard Gambit!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. This issue begins in a way very few issues of the book ever did--with Aquaman!

After many, many months of not being in on the fun, we have a perfect setting for the King of the Seven Seas: open with a group of fisherman who are gloating over their catch, a school of dolphins.

This does less than please the Aquatic Avenger, and I really enjoy the fury with which Gerry Conway has Aquaman express himself:

...even though he is enraged, his instructs his dolphin friends to save the fisherman that have fallen unconscious into the water. While there, he sees something bizarre--the fisherman begin to glow and change shape, and turn into giant, statue-looking beings!

Meanwhile, the same exact thing happens to the Atom, and then again with Green Arrow and Black Canary, and Superman and Batman. In the last case, the strange beings don't even look remotely human, instead taking the form of...castles?

They all share their info with Zatanna, who is on Monitor Duty. She calls an emergency JLA meeting.

Meanwhile, we see who is behind this strange plot, as well as an old friend...

To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Atom, Black Canary, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Nice to see Aquaman back after being absent from so many issues (how many times have I written that over the course of this blog?), and gets such a nice shot at the action.

This issue features another JLA subscription ad, tying the book in with three of its members' solo titles:

Those Neal Adams heads never get old!

As of this issue, classic JLA writer Len Wein returns to the book, this time as Editor (having replaced Ross Andru, who replaced the legendary Julie Schwartz). Under Wein's tenure, the book would see (IMO) some of its finest moments...as we'll see!

Justice League of America #176 - March 1980

Part Two featuring the evil Dr. Destiny!

The Story: "The Dream Factories of Doctor Destiny!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, the JLA tracks down their old foe, Dr. Destiny, to an abandoned movie studio.

Once the JLA gets there, they encounter a horde of nightmarish creatures, but soon realize they are just illusions created by Destiny, keeping them from finding him.

They head inside, where Zatanna casts a spell, revealing Destiny's presence. Superman destroys Destiny's "Dream Machine", but he informs them that they sealed their own doom:

...I love Destiny's Mr.Burns-esque "I wash my hands of the whole thing" response.

Turns out he set off something called The Omega Program ahead of time, which now can't be stopped because the JLA destoyed his machine.

Green Lantern's ring determines the only way to stop it is to shut down Destiny's three satellite machines, located in different spots on the globe, at the same time. So the JLA splits up and searches for them.

Superman and Hawkgirl find one in Denmark, Zatanna and Red Tornado do the same in India, and Wonder Woman and Green Lantern head to Philadelphia. They each face their own private nightmares via Destiny's machines, but overcome them to stop the Omega Program.

Roll Call: Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Wonder Woman and Lantern were in Philadelphia around the end of 1979? I was living right across the river at the time, I don't remember reading that in the papers.

Hawkgirl got a chance to shine here, sans her husband, and she acquits herself well. Considering how many times she got gipped in the book (missing from a lot of JLA group shots, etc.), I'd say this was owed to her.

Justice League of America #175 - Feb. 1980

The return of the villainous Dr. Destiny!

The Story: "But Can An Android Dream?" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open with a bunch of JLAers begging someone not to resign from the JLA. But its no use...Red Tornado is leaving the JLA!

He tells his friends that he finds himself to be the least reliable member of the JLA, and he can risk his friends' lives no more. So matter how much they try to talk him out of it, he feels he has no choice to leave.

He beams himself back to Earth, landing in Central Park. Here he transforms himself back into his civilian identity of John Smith, where the male half of a couple on a picnic can't believe his eyes when he sees Reddy. The girl he's making out with thinks she's the cause of his hallucinations, so she takes it upon herself to ramp the picnic up a notch:

...now that's a fun date!

Anyway, Reddy goes to visit his orphan charge, Traya. Meanwhile, Dr. Destiny is safely tucked away in Arkham Asylum...or is he?

Turns out the Dr. Destiny the guards see is in fact a hallucination, and its actually his Arkham psychiatrist in there, but the guards think its Destiny in there. He is, of course, planning a scheme that involves a machine he's created that turns people's dreams into living nightmares.

Meanwhile, we find Red Tornado, as John Smith, revealing to his love Kathy Sutton that he is, in fact, the android The Red Tornado! Traya tells Kathy she loves him, flesh or no, and after a few moments, Kathy says she loves him, too.

They then attend Halloween Parade, where suddenly people are attacked by giant, nightmarish(!) monsters! He tries to stop them but is fought off by a dream-like duplicate of himself!

But Reddy finds the machine that these visions seem to be coming from, and destroys it, just as some of the JLA arrive to help. Red Tornado, now filled with confidence and love and support, is ready to come back to the JLA.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna

Notable Moments: The opening splash page is filled with the JLA begging an as-yet-unknown person not to leave the team. Each member gets to say something, except for Batman, who remains stone-faced. Batman doesn't have time for this crap.

Red Tornado gets a nice chance to shine here, and Kathy deciding she loves this "man" is genuinely touching.

Even though the story seems to end here, it is in fact continued, as we'll see tomorrow:

Justice League of America #174 - Jan. 1980

Interesting, having a super-villain warning the super-heroes to save themselves. Well, The Regulator was new at this...

The Story: "A Plague of Monsters" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, we see The Regulator and his rat army taking over S.T.A.R. Labs.

He punches out a scientist, telling him he is exacting revenge against the people who had him committed to a mental hospital, who he believes were jealous of his genius!

Back at the JLA satellite, Green Arrow is telling the other JLAers what happened and just why they aren't inducting Black Lightning. He gets so worked up he gets convinced that the others didn't really want him to join!

Arrow then storms off, off to find Lightning and ask him again, with Elongated Man and Zatanna tagging along.

While at the Metropolis Police HQ, they get an emergency call at S.T.A.R. Labs, and when the three JLAers and the police arrive, they are met by a horde of giant vermin! Ewww!

Some other JLAers arrive to help, as does Black Lightning, and they learn who this Regulator nutjob is. Soon, his hordes of vermin start filling the streets, and the JLA attempts to fight them off.

Meanwhile, Lightning makes a move towards The Regulator, atop a smokestack. In the ensuing battle, The Regulator is careless, and he slips, falling to his death inside the smokestack.

The JLA round up all the creatures, put them into a container of Zatanna's crafting, and Wonder Woman sends it hurtling into space(!), "to the outer reaches of the solar system."

Green Arrow tries one more time to talk Black Lightning into joining, but he remains steadfast to being a loner.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Elongated Man, Zatanna

Notable Moments: I know the universe is a big place, but over the years superheroes have thrown so much crazy crap "to the outer reaches of the solar system" that it must look like a junkyard out there.

Also, it was kinda cruel, what the JLA did to the Regulator's creatures. Its not their fault, exactly, because they would normally be regular-sized rats and insects had the Regulator not messed with them.

Putting them all in a box, with no food or light, hurtling through space for however long, means that, in short work, that box will become a real chamber of horrors, as the creatures start killing and eating each other to survive.

Sorry to end this on such a downer.

Justice League of America #173 - Dec. 1979

I dunno, I think Black Lightning is being a little tough on that Cavalier-type guy. He looks kinda cool to me.

The Story: "Testing of A Hero" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open on a rooftop in Metropolis, with several members of the JLA following the exploits of a new hero, Black Lightning!

Lightning makes quick work of some bank robbers, and as he carts them off, Green Arrow stresses that Black Lightning is JLA material.

When he mentions that Lightning is "cool, smart, brave...and black!", The Flash objects suggesting that Green Arrow was saying they admit a "token black." Uh-oh!

This leads to Barry and Ollie squaring off, with The Flash taking a particularly hard stand on Green Arrow's political leanings:

Superman calls an end to the nonsense, and moves forward with the plan to test Lightning's mettle.

Meanwhile, a costumed baddie named The Regulator, who seems to be able to control--eww--rats, swears vengeance on society and all those who have wronged him!

Back at Metropolis Police HQ, Lightning laughs at the suggestion that there might be an "anti-vigilante" law passed soon, since of course that would affect Superman, too. He heads out, but is soon attacked by two bizarre beings, one an energy being, the other a type of she-ape!

Lightning defeats them both, and calls the cops to pick them up. He leaves before he sees what they do, that something is happening to these weirdos...Meanwhile, the Regulator's army of rats start to attack S.T.A.R. Labs.

Lightning is attacked again, by another strange being, a sort of invisible man. No sooner does he defeat this foe then he is attacked by yet another costumed stranger, this one dressed like your typical swashbuckler. He almost ends up killing this guy, before he calms down, and the swashbuckler reveals himself to be...Green Arrow!

Suddenly all the JLA show up, telling him they were testing him, and he passed with flying colors. Welcome to the Justice League, Black Lightning!:

Oh...um...er...well...gee...

Meanwhile, we see that S.T.A.R. Labs has been taken over by The Regulator. To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Black Lightning would've made a fine addition to the JLA, at the same time Conway gives us a plausible reason as to why he doesn't.

The menacing roles the JLAers assume are hilarious, and their super-silly names (Primak, The Trans-Visible Man) seem like a very subtle dig on Conway's part on how the JLAers see themselves.

The little moment Black Lightning has with the police inspector about not worrying about any law that would also affect Superman is nice, and used again by Alan Moore during his brilliant Swamp Thing run. It's a moment that relies upon the readers familiarity with just how beloved Superman is in this universe.

Justice League of America #172 - Nov. 1979

Hey, what's Wonder Woman doing there? And since the murderer is standing behind Batman right now, who the heck is he pointing at?

The Story: "I Accuse..." by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, tensions are running high on the satellite following the murder of Mr. Terrific.

Superman asks that Dr. Fate and the Lanterns create a force shield around the satellite so powerful that not even he can break it, to make sure the murderer doesn't escape.

The two teams start an investigation, starting off with Huntress suggesting maybe Mr. Terrific was going senile, a suggestion Green Lantern doesn't take too well to.

Batman, who of course is leading the investigation, asks Flash a few questions:

...I love this sequence, mainly because Batman doesn't explain what he's getting at to the Flash. That seems very Batman to me.

While the Huntress is working the JLA computer, it suddenly explodes, leaving her with terrible burns. Luckily, Dr. Fate uses his amazing abilities to heal her, and with great effort she tells Batman that their suspect is, in fact, who they think it is. She then drifts into sleep.

Batman then reveals what happened--there's only a handful of heroes who could warp the satellite's hull, and who leaves a "seismic trail" that could be tracked by the machine the Spirit King recently stole...and that is Jay Garrick, The Flash!

It turns out that not too long ago, the Flash beat King so badly that he was chosen for a special revenge, to be used an instrument of murder! The Spirit King then uses The Flash's body to escape via the transporter tube, escaping the heroes.

And before the JSA departs to track him down, they take a moment to reflect that the main element of the Spirit King's plan--to turn the heroes against each other--failed, because the heroes refused to believe the worst about one another.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Zatanna

Notable Moments: I always though the Spirit King was in fact an old DC villain, turns out Gerry Conway just made him up! He didn't even rate a listing in Who's Who a few years later, even though he took out a long-running DC hero.

There is a bit of a cheat here, where King reveals that he didn't use the Flash's body to strangle Mr. Terrific--which would've been a creepy, unsettling touch--but instead became corporeal just long enough to do the deed himself. Like I did a few issues ago, I call shenanigans.

This issue features a spiffy ad for, well, itself:

...I like the varied bits of stock art you've got here. A bunch of Neal Adams heads, Power Girl from the cover of All-Star Comics #58, Green Lantern from the back cover of the JLA treasury comic, a real smorgasbord.

Justice League of America #171 - Oct. 1979

The JLA and the JSA's annual team-up this time involves a murder...committed by one of them!

The Story: "The Murderer Among Us: Crisis Above Earth-One!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Zatanna is chairing the monthly JLA meeting, which happens to coincide with the annual get together with the JSA.

The JSAers this time around include Hawkman, Green Lantern, Power Girl, Huntress, Mr. Terrific, Flash, and Dr. Fate. No points as to which one of these heroes doesn't make it to the end of the issue.

Anyway, the two teams of heroes are participating in chit-chat, and Zatanna mentions to Hawkman and Power Girl that she still feels a bit nervous about working with a team, because she wanted to prove she could make it on her own. Hawkman reassures Zee:

...Carter Hall, ladies man.

Anyway, over in another group, Mr. Terrific is telling a story about running into one of his old foes, The Spirit King, who was in the middle of some nefarious scheme when he was discovered by Mr. Terrific, but...:

...After a few awkward moments, Superman notices some of the heroes suddenly aren't around. Hmm...

But before he can look into it, a huge explosion rips open the satellite! While Dr. Fate and the Lanterns help build a patch for the hull, Superman discovers a casualty on a piece of wreckage...Mr. Terrific.

The Flash discovers another piece of wreckage, but with strange markings on it. Zatanna takes it and tries to use her powers to determine what happened to it, when she is hit by some burst of energy from it, which sends her into shock!

The Flashes search the satellite, and no one else is aboard. Red Tornado checks the records and sees that no one else has beamed off or on the satellite in the last hour. Which means...one of them is a murderer! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Red Tornado, Zatanna

Notable Moments: This is one of those stories that I think works depending on when you read it. I think if I had read a comic like this now, when an old-time hero is brought out of retirement just to be killed off, I wouldn't like it.

But since I this comic came out pretty much right when I was first reading comics, I accepted it, and it was a shocking turn of events. Major changes are more easily accepted if they happened long before you came around.

That said, I like the murder mystery concept, and I still think the story works fairly well. Let's see how it wraps up tomorrow.

Justice League of America #170 - Sept. 1979

The entire JLA turns out to save a burning world--" The entire JLA, huh?

The Story: "While A World Lies Burning" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Picking up from last issue, the Earth is experiencing massive fires all over, due to the increased oxygen that started occurring last issue.

While Batman remains in the JLA satellite trying to figure out what's causing all this, the trial of the five JLAers continues.

During the trial, Ultraa leaps from his chair and starts attacking his lawyer, and the JLA try to stop him. After fighting most of them all, Ultraa's lawyer assumes his true shape, the pink globby collection of tissue, which explains it rigged this whole trial as a distraction from its real plan to destroy Earth!

Back at the satellite, Batman, after calling out the other available members of the League (plus Supergirl), decides to take on the problem head on. He dons a spacesuit, grabs a small spaceflier, and heads to a "rogue" asteroid that has been orbiting Earth for a short while.

Once there, Batman discovers its not an asteroid, but a small spaceship! He gets inside...

Meanwhile, on Earth, the JLA destroys the propulsion machine that was sucking all the Hydrogen out of Earth's atmosphere, and Ultraa is knocked out during the battle. They then get a communication from Batman that he redirected the "asteroid" and sent it hurtling out of the solar system, restoring Earth's natural balance.

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

Notable Moments: Despite what the cover says, the "entire JLA" does not participate in this issue--Atom and Hawkman are mentioned to be on a mission in deep space, and Hawkgirl and Zatanna are not mentioned at all. And yet Aquaman, not shown on the cover, does appear, albeit briefly.

This issue features a nifty subscription ad for the book:

...I could mention here that Aquaman is once again not included, but I won't.

Justice League of America #169 - Aug. 1979

The JLA fights...the citizens of Earth! Plus some weird, gross putty guy. Oh, and Ultraa.

The Story: "The Doomsday Decision" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. We open with several members of the JLA...on trial!

When they ask who brought lawsuit and charges against them, they are shown it was...Ultraa! Ultraa's attorney, Mr. Sloane, accuses the JLA of holding his client imprisoned, illegally.

The Court takes the JLA into custody until the trial can start, and while they do the humiliating "perp walk", it starts a riot between supporters and non-supporters of the JLA.

The JLA uses their powers to stop the rioting, but then they peacefully surrender to the police. Ultraa, watching this from the sides, wonders if he has done something wrong, judged these people too harshly. But his attorney talks him out of his doubt...

Meanwhile, Batman is on Monitor Duty, who has discovered a disturbance in the Earth's atmosphere. He could use some help, but he remembers that "all" the JLA is busy:

...I know this is a minor thing, but this panel always bugged me. Where are Zatanna and Hawkgirl? Did no one update the JLA computers?

Meanwhile, riots begin to break out all over the world, for no good reason. This is all part of the plan by a group of globby creatures named the Over-Complex, who have assumed the form of Ultraa's attorney, Mr. Sloane!

The JLAers, from their prison cell,notice that the ocean level is dropping at an alarming rate, so Superman heads out to investigate. Green Lantern uses his ring to create a fake Superman as not to alert the guards.

While investigating, Supes is zapped by the Over-Complex, and to make matters worse, Batman now sees that the Earth's percentage of Oxygen is growing in direct proportion to the ocean's disappearance!

Meanwhile, Ultraa notices this strange creature, and follows it to see it turn into...his lawyer! Ultraa decides to follow Sloane in secret, but he doesn't notice that this creature already knows that Ultraa knows! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Red Tornado

Notable Moments: Wow, a lot happens in this issue! And this isn't even a double-sized issue or anything.

Ultraa is a bit of a sap in this issue, so maybe it was good he didn't join the JLA--he seems easily swayed.

Justice League of America #168 - July 1979

One of my favorite covers (by Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano) leads off part three of the battle with the Secret Society of Super-Villains!

The Story: "The Last Great Switcheroo" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, we see that the newly arrives JLAers (Green Arrow, Black Canary, Flash, Hawkman, and Elongated Man) are looking at their fellow JLAers a little askance.

This gets kicked into overdrive when "Green Lantern" encases the "bad guys" into a diamond-shaped prison, which "Superman" then hurtles into the sun!

Superman manages to convince them that the diamond will remain in orbit around the solar system until the prisoners can be rehabilitated, but Green Arrow knows something is wrong.

Interlude: back from last issue, we the mytserious Mr. Sloane as he frees the prisoner inside the stasis cube--and it's Ultraa!

Back at the satellite, we see Red Tornado, now fully recuperated, ready to attack the Star Sapphire, who has just beamed aboard! But before he can, Sapphire mentions her mother--Sindella--which lets Tornado realize what's been going on!

Meanwhile, at a museum for Aztec treasures, the JLA is standing guard. The true JLAers wonder why they're here, and the faux-JLAers tell them they are expecting a super-villain attack. They split up into groups, but when Black Canary is paired off with Green Lantern, he can't help himself:

This is all Canary needed, and she screams out across the museum "They're imposters!"

The real JLAers easily defeat the faux ones, since they are still inexperienced at using their new powers. They take the SSOSV back to the satellite, where Zatanna presides over the soul re-switching, having rescued the trapped JLAers earlier.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna

Notable Moments: I love that the main reason this plan falls apart is because Prof. Zoom is such a horndog. That's priceless.

Justice League of America #167 - June 1979

Part Two of the battle with the Secret Society of Super-Villains!

The Story: "The League That Defeated Itself" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, we open with the members of the SSOSV, in the JLA's bodies, lounging about in the JLA Satellite.

Meanwhile, the true JLAers are trapped in a giant "stasis cube". After several failed attempts to escape, Superman (now in the Wizard's body), figures out that Green Lantern (now in Prof. Zoom's body) can use his super-speed powers to attack the cube repeatedly in one spot, which weakens it enough for it to crack open, freeing them. They find that the villains have gone, and their friend Red Tornado unconscious.

Also meanwhile, a man named Mr. Sloane arrives on a small island, heading into a small, nondescript building. Inside is some sort of stasis cube (another one!), who he says is his "client." To be continued!

Back at the satellite, the JLAers try to find the bad guys, so they send Green Lantern/Prof. Zoom to Bay Federal Prison to talk to a former SSOSV member, Hijack, where Lantern oh-so-subtly asks him where the current SSOSV headquarters is. He finds out, and Hijack is left bewildered as to what just happened.

The JLAers break their way, but are stopped by...a green arrow?!?

Turns out the "JLA members" expected this, so they called in some of the other members to get the drop on them. And even though they just apprehended some super-villains, Green Arrow is a tad suspicious over all this:

The bad guys are secure in their plan, not noticing that one of them---Zatanna/Star Sapphire--is missing! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Zatanna

Notable Moments: Three-parters were still fairly unusual at this point, so it really gives you a sense of how big this threat is by running into three issues.

This story takes place entirely over just a few hours, all at night, which gives it--to me--an extra level of creepiness. There's something so wrong about bad guys taking over good guy's bodies. Especially since The Floronic Man (called The Plant Master here) took over Wonder Woman's body. I will say no more.

Justice League of America #166 - May 1979

The JLA takes on a team of super-foes!

The Story: "The Long Way Home" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, a funeral celebration is taking place for Zatanna's mother Sindella.

This features a nice moment, where Batman relates to Wonder Woman that he feels any sort of "celebration" of death is wrong. Diana tries to reassure him, but its left unresolved. The JLA members then prepare to come home.

Meanwhile, Red Tornado, on Monitor Duty, is surprised by some unwanted visitors--members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains! He is quickly knocked out by Professor Zoom, followed by Blockbuster, the Wizard, Star Sapphire, and the Floronic Man.

The Wizard shows the other baddies their goal--to find and possess a mysterious artifact, a Griffin Statue, which has magical powers. They use the JLA's computer to find where it is.

The JLA members then arrive, see what has happened, and follow the SSOSV's trail, which was exactly what the bad guys intended! The JLA encounters them, and are defeated!

Then The Wizard uses the statue to switch souls with the JLA:

Oh boy, this is trouble! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Zatanna

Notable Moments: As a kid, I always like the Secret Society concept--villains seemed so much more formidable and scary to me when they teamed-up.

This storyline has become retroactively famous and sought-out, after the Villains United storyline that ran across the DCU a few years ago.

Justice League of America #165 - April 1979

A great cover by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (is there any other kind?)

The Story: "A Mother of Magic!" by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin. Continued from last issue, a group of magicians, led by a man named The Highlord, claims that Zatanna's mother Sindella will die in a few hours.

When she does, Zatanna will take her place as the Highlord's slave in this dimension!

As you can imagine, the JLA doesn't take too well to this, and they engage in a battle against the Highlord and his magical minions.

But with their most powerful member, Superman, being vulnerable to magic, the fight is stacked against them, and they are quickly picked off one by one.

At one point only Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl are left, but when Hawkgirl is a victim of a sneak attack, it enrages the Amazing Amazon:

Meanwhile, we find Red Tornado tending to a recuperating Green Arrow(who was hurt fighting Allegro), and Reddy does some research to find evidence to suggest that at some point humanity split into two separate species, Homo Sapien, and Homo Magus!

Reddy and Green Arrow follow the JLA to this other dimension, where they let the others know that Homo Magus have an ingrained attraction for Homo Sapiens, which explains why the hordes the JLA has been fighting are not real people! Sindella uses her remaining life energies to help the JLA defeat the hordes, but it drains her energies so much that she dies in the attempt.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna

Notable Moments: There's a lot of magical gobbledy-gook in this issue, forgive me if my synopsis doesn't quite make a lot of sense. Though the whole "ingrained attraction" earns some laughs, as a comely wench drapes herself all over Green Arrow, much to Black Canary's annoyance.

When I was a kid, I went to a mall with my Dad and they were having one of those "sidewalk sales", and one of the dealers was selling boxes and boxes of comics. My Dad told me I could get two or three books, so I feverishly went through nearly all of them to find what I thought would be the best ones.

I remember pulling this book out of the box, and the cover looked sooo cool, it almost made the final cut. This was before I discovered comics stores, so any issue of JLA(or any comic, for that matter) I missed on the newsstand seemed like a rare artifact on par with the Lost Ark.

The issue didn't hold up once I did read it, but what could?

Anyway, tomorrow: