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 #103 - Dec. 1972

Guest-starring...The Phantom Stranger!

The Story: "A Stranger Walks Among Us! by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano. The JLA meets at the satellite, wondering which of them called the meeting. Turns out it was...The Phantom Stranger, who manages to appear in the satellite taking the team by surprise!

None of the JLAers know him, but Batman(having met him in the pages of The Brave and the Bold) vouches for him. The Stranger then explains he senses an evil force brewing in the town of Rutland, Vermont. And the force is being summoned by an old foe of the JLA...Felix Faust!

As the team decides to head to Rutland, we cut to four people on their way there, named Steve, Len, Glynis, and Gerry, who are headed their for the costume parade(seen previously in the classic Batman #237, "The Night of the Reaper"). The parade's organizer, Tom Fagan, meets the JLA and Batman tells him why they're there. Tom then manages to talk the JLA into being part of the parade, on a custom-made power-ring float!

As the parade goes on, suddenly everyone in the crowd is frozen stiff! The team splits up to investigate, and Hawkman and Flash are attacked by three zombified paraders, dressed like Supergirl, Adam Strange, and, er, Commando America!

The demons are inhabiting these people, which give them powers and they actually manage to defeat Barry and Carter! Meanwhile, Batman is taking on another possessed partier, this time dressed in a familiar red-and-blue outfit with a spider on his chest. Green Lantern meanwhile is fighting a Norse Thundergod. They, too, succumb to some mysterious force.

Superman and Green Arrow take on ersatz versions of Captain Marvel and the Golden Age Flash, and end up the same way. Oddly, the Phantom Stranger shows up at the end of all these battles, but does not help the JLA out! What's going on here??

As the JLA recovers, the Phantom Stranger returns and they ask him what is indeed going on. Turns out the only way Faust's spell of possession could be defeated was to use a personal item from each of them as a sort of sacrifice--but those items could not be freely given, hence the Stranger waiting for the JLAers to be rendered unconscious.

The Stranger exhausts Faust's powers, the JLA fight the demons, and our four familiar partiers wake up from their stupor.

The JLA is thankful to the Stranger for helping them defeat Faust and quickly decide to ask him to join. But...:

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman

Notable Moments: As a kid, I was very concerned with the JLA's roll call, and it bugged me to no end that the Phantom Stranger was a sort of quasi-official member. They did vote him in, but he didn't accept, but he didn't say no, so...grrrr! I need closure on this!

Len Wein was obviously having a blast with this issue, writing himself and his friends into the story, to say nothing of the "cameos" by Spider-Man, Captain America, and Thor. Much like Neal Adams from a few issues ago, doesn't this mean Len deserved a Who's Who listing?

Speaking of Neal Adams, there's this one panel from the book that sure looks like Neal Adams, rather than Dick Dillin, to me. I wonder, did somebody spill some coffee on Dillin's original page and Neal was around to pinch hit?

After a long run, Joe Giella is gone as inker, replaced by Dick Giordano, one of the finest artists in the business(who did part of last issue, as well). While Giella tended to simplify Dillin's pencils to the point of almost coloring-book proportions, Giordano added a nice strong line to them, making for a really attractive package.

Justice League of America #98 - May 1972

One of my favorite Neal Adams' covers--spooky and weird.

The Story: "No More Tomorrows!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Sargon the Sorcerer shows up in the JLA Satellite, and informs them(after he holds off an attack by them, classic Marvel misunderstanding style) that the Starbreaker can defeat any physical attack by them, they need the assistance of magic!

He says they need two other magical talismans to go along with his Ruby of Life, and dispatches the JLA to retrieve them. Aquaman and Black Canary are sent to Sierra Verde, where they obtain the mystic ruby--but only due to the use of their very specific powers. Almost as if Sargon knew...

The same thing happens with Batman and Hawkman, and they all reconnoiter at the satellite, where Sargon enlists them all in a seance. He tells them "Within these mystic gems surgers the only force mankind can use to overcome its death-fears--love-power!" And this guy's a master sorcerer?

Anyway, he links up the power from GL's ring, the Hawks' futuristic weaponry, and the "myriad of alien power-banks " in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, featuring cameos by Hawkgirl and Supergirl. Hawkgirl is ok, but who the heck drew that Supergirl panel?:

Anyway, the JLA, with the addition of these magical energies, defeat Starbreaker(with the specific help of the Atom) and bring him back to the satellite. It's here that Sargon strips the cosmic vampire of all his destructive power, and the Guardians of Oa take possession of the unconscious Starbreaker.

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

Notable Moments: This was a real Sargon-centric(and when has that phrase ever been used before?) issue--not only does he guest-star and basically save the JLA's bacon, but this issue reprints a solo Sargon story from Sensation Comics #70. There's also a Starman story from Adventure Comics.

I'm not sure how Thanagarian futuristic weaponry helps with magic, but I supposed Sargon knows his business.
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Shameless Plug Department: Frequent commenter and regular contributor to the Rob Kelly Family of Blogs Vincent Bartilucci has a great story about this very issue of JLA over at Hey Kids! Comics!, go check it out!

Justice League of America #97 - March 1972

Hey, who's that on the bottom right of the cover?

The Story: "The Day The Earth Screams!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Starbreaker arrives on Earth, and Superman, Flash, and Green Lantern go after him, to no avail.

Starbreaker then uses his powers to start dragging the entire Earth towards the sun, to steal its energy for himself. Meanwhile, the JLA licks its wounds back at the satellite, despairing that they can't beat the Starbreaker("We led with our aces..and were trumped!" Batman mutters, uncharacteristically).

Hawkman is disgusted at all this negative talk, and attempts to rally the troops by telling them they need to "examine our origin, the spirit that first united the Justice League." The JLA then decides to go their library to watch a tape telling the story of how the JLA came together:

Sure, I could see why that would...wait--what?!?

We then enter a weird section of the book, where new origin story material drawn by Dillin and Giella is mixed with a reprint from JLA #9, with art by Sekowsky and Sachs, of course.

It does the trick, and the JLA is reinspired not to give up, with Batman saying he's come up with a possible solution to defeat Starbreaker. But just then someone unexpected arrives--Sargon the Sorcerer! To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: The cover is supposedly by Neal Adams and Murphy Anderson, though I don't see much Adams there.

I can only assume that Dick Dillin needed a small break from the massive amount of pages DC was demanding from him every month, so they had to shoehorn this reprint in the book. Friedrich tries his best to make it as unobtrusive as possible, but it reads really odd, to have a bad guy dragging all of Earth towards the sun, and the JLA decides to take in a movie--about themselves.

Justice League of America #96 - Feb. 1972

The JLA versus the Cosmic Vampire!

The Story: "The Coming of Starbreaker!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Superman arrives at alien planet, as missing JLAers Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman are getting attacked by giant insects. It's always something...

Turns out these insects are robots, which frees Superman to use lethal force on them, wrapping up the fight by page six. GL then explains that the beam transporting them to JLA HQ was intercepted by the Zeta Beam, where they found the planet Rann under attack by a a baddie named Starbreaker!

Turns out Starbreaker uses these robot insects to move these planets into the sun(!) releasing their energy, which he collects and uses to make him more powerful, hence the "cosmic vampire" moniker.

The Starbreaker has split himself into multiple beings, and the JLAers split up. Green Lantern and Flash defeat their Starbreaker, and Superman and Hawkman do the same for theirs. They all meet up on Rann, where Adam Strange is their to meet them.

Then the Zeta Beam wears off, transporting Flash, GL, and Hawkman home. Strangely, though, the Starbreakers disappear too! We follow them "home", as well, where the original Starbreaker dissolves his duplicates, and swears revenge on the Justice League...and on Earth!

Roll Call: Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman

Notable Moments: This issue also features two Golden Age tales, an Hourman one from Adventure Comics #48, and a Wildcat one from Sensation Comics #84, drawn by Bernie Krigstein! Wow!

I like Starbreaker as a villian--he's a classic, mustache-twirling bad guy, and after so many issues of the JLA facing more social, earth-bound threats, it's nice to see them doing what they do best--beating up bad guys bent on world domination.

Justice League of America #94 - Nov. 1971

Guest-starring Deadman!

The Story: "Where Strikes Demonfang?" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. As we left them at the end of issue #92, we see Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Batman in the crosshairs of an assassin's rifle!

Luckily for them, the sun reflects off the rifle, alerting the three JLAers to his presence, and they are able to get out of the way in time and apprehend theri would-be assassin. They try to find out who sent him and why, but he won't answer.

We cut to the mysterious League of Assassins, where we see the master archer Merlyn being given to succeed where the previous attempt failed. While Merlyn is tracking Green Arrow--the seeming target--he comes across Superman and the Atom, and manages to subdue them(!) with his his trick arrows(!!).

Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Batman then discover the first assassin has been murdered--by this Merlyn character. The three of them start to track Merlyn, and find their way to a creepy haunted house-type place. They spring some sort of alarm, and various death-traps are sprung, trapping Green Arrow!

Meanwhile, Batman wants to know who Aquaman "really" is--because earlier he off-handedly mentioned Nanda Parbat, a location only two people in the outside world know about! Turns out that Aquaman has been taken over by Deadman, who needed to contact the Justice League when he discovered the League of Assassin's plan to bump off Green Arrow.

Superman and the Atom show up, help free Green Arrow, and fight Merlyn, who manages to escape. Deadman informs Bats that Ra's Al Ghul is gunning for Batman, as well, where it is suggested this story will continue in Batman and Detective Comics.

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

Notable Moments: This issue features four pages of art by Neal Adams--which makes sense, given Deadman's guest-spot, but they fall on pages 1, 5, 20, and 22--huh? Did someone at the DC offices spill coffee on Dillin's originals and they called Neal in at the last minute?

In any case, Neal wanted to knock the reader's socks off right off the bat, so we're treated to this superb portrait splash page:

And this page, also by Neal, features two of the three DC characters I'd argue Neal is most known for, Batman and Deadman, with his superb Aquaman thrown in:

This is also features two Golden Age reprints, the first appearances of The Sandman(from Adventure Comics #40) and Starman (Adventure Comics #61).

This issue is cover-dated November 1971, which means it was on sale in August, 1971--the month I was born. Hmm...I just happened to be born the month my eventual all-time favorite comic features an uber-rare Aquaman-centric cover? Coincidence...or destiny?

Justice League of America #92 - Sept. 1971

It looks pretty bad for the JLA and the JSA here!

The Story: "Solomon Grundy--The One and Only" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. When last we left the, Solmon Grundy was about to break Green Lantern' back, and using Superman's invulnerable body to do it!

Luckily Supes wakes up, boxes Grundy's ears, which of course makes everyone's favorite Cajun Zombie even madder. A-Rym--absolutely terrified over the continuing separation from his pet, Teppy--somehow feels that "the Green one" can unite them, so he attacks Grundy!

The two teams try to subdue Grundy, but he fights them off(wow, when did Grundy get this powerful?), and A-Rym runs off.

Meanwhile, the two Robins are comparing notes back at the Earth-2 Batcave, and the elder Robin gives the younger a new costume, since his was torn up fighting A-Rym:

So Neal Adams is in the DCU? Shouldn't he have gotten a listing in Who's Who?

Meanwhile, Black Canary is back at the JLA satellite, tending to the wounded and still unconscious Flash. Some of the other heroes reconnect there, as well.

Also meanwhile, the heroes find a way to trap Teppy, harmlessly, until they can figure out what to do. They receive a signal from the Robins who have found A-Rym, and the two Hawkmen head there, with the Lanterns off to stop a now loose, rambling, and very angry Solomon Grundy.

The Earth-1 Robin, after a brief fight, sees that A-Rym is near death, and not a real threat. They round up Teppy and put them together, and they see that instantly both of them revive and are no longer any problem! The spaceship featuring the other two joyriding aliens come by, pick up their friends, and take off. Just another day for the Justice League of America!

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

Notable Moments: The issue ends with a teaser for the next, where we see Batman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow in the crosshairs of an armed assassin!

This issue also features a solo Flash story, the appropriate "The One-Man Justice League" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, and Joe Giella, and "Space-Enemy Number One", by John Broome and Infantino, from Mystery in Space #29.

Justice League of America #91 - Aug. 1971

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say I don't think Batman is telling the truth.

The Story: "Earth--The Monster-Maker!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. As was shown at the end of last issue, Batman shows up in the JLA satellite with a dead...er, near-dead Flash in his arms!

We then cut to a spaceship hurtling through space. Inside it are some gentle-looking beings, panicking because a third of their party, A-Rym, and his pet, Teppy, have been sucked through the hold out into airless space. Before they can be rescued, they disappear into separate dimensions!

We follow each of them to where they landed, and they experience severe mental and emotional distress at being separated. So much so they cause destruction wherever they go!

A-Rym has appeared on Earth-2, and the JSA attempts to apprehend him, and Hawkman dispenses in a little condescension towards former teen hero Robin:

Maybe it's the costume?

Anyway, meanwhile on Earth-1, the JLA is investigating an emergency call, and on the way they spot their Robin doing the same thing! Once again, it's Hawkman that belittles the Teen Wonder: "Well, as long as Batman isn't here, you might help out a little.."

Green Lantern's power ring receives a distress call from Earth-2, and the two teams compare notes, breaking into smaller teams to investigate. One team--consisting of both Robins, both Hawkman, and the E-1 Green Lantern, find A-Rym, sitting on a log sobbing. They try to communicate, but the E-1 Robin gets too close and A-Rym, feeling threatened, attacks!

Meanwhile, the same thing happens with Teppy, but with different results--they find a way to trap Teppy, harmlessly, until they can figure out what to do.

We go back to A-Rym, who is met in the swamp by a new friend...Solomon Grundy! A-Rym immediately accepts Gruny as his new "pet"--of course, this pet goes nuts when the JLA and JSA show up, and the issue ends just as it looks as though Green Lantern is about to be smashed by Grundy, using an unconscious Superman as the weapon! To be continued!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: I love Dick Dillin's work; always have, but during the sequence with Grundy, he can't quite seem to get a grip on just how big Grundy is. Sometime's he's Hulk-sized, other times he's as big as King Kong.

This is the first issue of JLA representing DC and Marvel's escalating price wars, where each company increased the page counts and cover price to match. This issue also features a Knights of the Galaxy story, "The Day The World Melted", by Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino, and Joe Giella, plus an Hourman tale, "The Hour Hourman Died" by Gardner Fox, Dillin, and Sid Greene.

Justice League of America #89 - May 1971

But what if I wanna be Aquaman?

The Story: "The Most Dangerous Dreams of All!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Aquaman is chairman of the monthly JLA meeting, where he suggests there should be more water-based adventures.

No, I'm kidding--actually, after the meeting, where they note the absence of Arrow and Canary, the JLA transports down to Earth. It's here that writer Mike Friedrich appears(!) telling us of the story we're about to read...

Black Canary is hit on by the smooth talking Hollywood writer Harlequin Ellis, and as they have a cup of coffee, Green Arrow shows up and threatens to put a boxing glove arrow where the sun don't shine. Ellis laughs this off and splits, telling Canary where she can meet him if she "wants to dump this crude bozo."

We follow Ellis back to his office(though it looks like a house, it has his secretary and some other guy, so I'm not sure), and we find that Ellis' feelings for Dinah are so deep, that the very barrier between the real and the unreal begins to break down!

Here we start bopping around the time stream, with the various JLAers appearing all over the place, fighting a giant cyclops, Aquaman dying(!), and Superman blaming himself. What the holy heck is going on here??

Superman then turns into Ellis, and Arrow and Canary find themselves transported back to the coffee shop where they were last. Ellis heads back out, Batman fights a Minotaur, then Batman turns out to be Ellis as well, Black Canary then finds Ellis, they go to a concert together, and Canary lets him down easy.

Mike Friedrich reappears at the end of the book to explain what we just read:

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

Notable Moments: This issue can be read along with Pink Floyd's The Wall.

Justice League of America #88 - March 1971

One of my favorite JLA covers by Neal Adams--I especially like the color contrast between the heroes and the regular people. Plus we have Mera!

The Story: "The Last Survivors of Earth!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. A spaceship heads towards Earth filled with people who call themselves...you guessed it, the last survivors of earth!

We cut to Carter and Shayera Hall, and Hal Jordan on some sort of expedition. Shayera discovers a mysterious stone tablet, and she tries to decipher it, a bolt of energy comes from the sky and knocks her out!

Hal signals the JLA, and, for once, all of the members(plus Mera) show up. Aquaman explains weird things like this have been reported all over the world, all of them having to do with the legends of a pacific continent that sank beneath the waves. The JLA splits up to investigate, but soon after GL is felled by the same mysterious energy that knocked out Shierra!

Meanwhile, Green Arrow is noticing that Batman and Black Canary seem oddly distracted, and he doesn't like it! He tries to pull Dinah off with him, but she blows him off and has a talk with Batman. This where they discuss "the kiss" (JLA #84), and Black Canary says Bats is...ugh..."like a brother" to her. Batman sucks it up, and walks off, but the caption informs us "The seed of bitterness is planted in the Batman this day!" So we have Dinah to thank for all the grim n' gritty Batman stories to date.

It turns out in the three spots around the world, it is "ordinary" citizens that inadvertantly eliminate the problem by destroying the three tokens left there by the beings in the spaceship--a medallion, a stone tablet, and...well, I'm not exactly sure what happens at the end here. The ship tries to grab an ordinary beach bum, he somehow throws a wrench into the ship's controls...I dunno, I read it like three times and I couldn't quite figure out what happened!

All I know is, each of the JLA thinks the others eliminated the threat, until they compare notes and admit they don't know what happened, either! Aquaman says they'll write this case up as...unexplained!

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

Notable Moments: Mera doesn't really play any part in this story...she shows up at the beginning and at the very end. Still nice to see her.

This story feels like a companion piece to JLA #57's "Man...Thy Name is Brother!" in that it contrasts the superheroic goings-on with the just-as-important action taken by regular humans, and ones of diverse ethnicities at that.

Justice League of America #87 - Feb. 1971

Another knockout cover by Neal Adams---he was on a real roll here. How could you not plunk down the fifteen cents it took to get this? (I love how evil Batman took the time out to paint a bat on the back of his chair)

The Story: "Batman--King of the World!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. We open with an unconcious Batman and a wounded Hawkman saying to an unseen enemy that he will never give up! He gets blasted by someone, but not before he hits his JLA transmitter.

We then see the bad guy is some giant robot, who awaits the other JLA members to destroy them! Uh-oh!

We cut to Superman en route to the JLA satellite, where the fishnet-bedeckd Zatanna is surprisingly waiting for him! As Superman talks with her, he finds himself strangely...calm: "Just by being near her, I feel so comfortable...at ease..." And Lois is always worried about Lana!

Anyway, this is when Superman receives Hawkman's signal, and the JLA(plus Zatanna) arrive at the source, only to find this robot, alongside a seemingly-fine Batman and Hawkman! Batman tells some story about Carter Hall finding the robot underground(I always just found bottlecaps) but Superman senses that Batman's heart rate is way above normal. Hmm...

Bats tells the JLA they can split, but the refuse, and then Batman wigs out and orders the robot to kill the JLA!

The robot has many powers and defenses, and manages to take out Superman, Flash, Atom, Green Lantern, and Zatanna! He then offers them up to King Batman, who has gone completely bonkers, wearing a crown and carrying a scepter. While Batman cackles madly, the robot walks off taking about transmitting information to..."The Corporation"!

Turns out, though, Green Lantern and Atom were playing possum, deciding to try and find out who built this thing. He transports the Atom across the galaxy(!) to the world where it came from. He then sends for the the rest of the JLA(Superman and Hawkman taking Batman off to come down off his high), and they find a ravaged world, filled by three strangely familiar superhero-types: Jack B.Quick, Blue Jay, Silver Sorceress, and Wandjina.

We learn that the Corporation on another planet was in dire competition with another evil-type group, so much so that it led to atomic war! The robots were built to help collect raw materials from other worlds, and it was left to these four heroes to fight it off! When they come across the JLA, they of course assume they are bad guys, just like they would in a Marvel comic. Hmm, again...

When they do, we're met with a little fanciful note from the editors, explaining how we can understand these guys' language:

The battle is standstill, until a stray piece of debris hits Blue Jay, nearly killing him. This prompts Zatanna to stop fighting and save him, which makes the other three realize these strangely-dressed people maybe aren't so bad. They stop fighting, and take off to continue the war with the Corporation.

But the JLA stays behind, and thanks Zatanna for saving them.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments:Why Zatanna wasn't inducted to the JLA after this issue is a total mystery to me--the story almost revolves around her, and even Green Lantern asks(after showing up midway through, having been away on the Hard Traveling Heroes thing) if the reason Zatanna is there is because she is now a member.

Obviously, this was part of that unofficial JLA/Avengers crossover going on in both books at the time, with the Avengers meeting the Squadron Supreme and he were have versions of Thor, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Yellowjacket.

These heroes had a lot less longevity than the Squad did, and I think never appeared again, at least before they were brought back in the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League book.

Justice League of America #86 - Dec. 1970

An absolutely superb cover by Neal Adams, one of his best, and that's saying something. And...wait--who's that guy in the orange shirt next to Batman? Could it be...?

The Story: "Earth's Final Hour!" by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. The story opens with...yes, Aquaman!--Aquaman discovering that all the plankton on the ocean floor is being stripped away.

As he tries to discover why this is happening, a mysterious figure hits a button on a machine causing a rock slide, crushing Aquaman, but note before hitting his JLA transmitter.

We then flash back to the story of our bad guy, named Theo Zappa(!), whose inventions made him a billionaire industrialist(I wonder if Bruce knows him). His ultimate goal, though, is to run the world, of course! He is met an by an alien named Panja Darr who asks him for help, since his world has destroyed all of its plankton due to pollution, and asks Zappa to build an invention to take it from Earth and give it to them. Zappa agrees, but secretly decides to play both ends against the middle.

Anyway, we go back to the JLA, who are responding to Aquaman's signal. He explains to them that without plankton for sustenance, all the fish in the world will go mad, then beach themselves and die, leading to a chain of events that could destroy the world! Arthur is a real glass half-empty kind of guy.

The teams of Superman and Aquaman, and Hawkman and Flash, are stymied by Zappa's machines, but when Batman and Atom investigate Zappa's lab, they run into the alien who started all this in the first place. He has discovered Zappa's true plan(to "hold" the plankton hostage, blackmailing both worlds) and asks our two heroes for help.

The Atom decides its his skills as a scientist that are needed, and reverts back to being Ray Palmer to examine the machine that Zappa is going to use for his plan. They need a power source for it, and Darr tells them they have some on their planet, so they teleport to it, where Zappa has already declared himself the boss! Luckily, even with some cockamamie ray gun, he's no match for them, and Atom knocks him out.

It's now up to the JLA--Superman specifically--to talk to the people of this world and tell them what has happened, and that they have to save their own planet from their own short-sightedness, not simply poach from another world. Superman offers them temporary help, but also they must come up with their own plan to save their world...just like Earth does!

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Of course, it's great to have Aquaman back. In Michael Eury's super-fun JLA Companion book(Volume One), he asks Friedrich why Aquaman was back, after being out entirely during O'Neil's run. No big mystery, Friedrich just figured, hey, he's a member, why not use him? This AquaFan thanks you, Mike!

This issue has an unusual ending, what with with Superman's sober speech about pollution rather than having him whip up some Super-Solution. Denny O'Neil is listed as "Script Consultant" and at the end Neal Adams is thanked for his special help with this story.

Justice League of America #82 - Aug. 1970

That is the skinniest Superman I've ever seen!

The Story: "Peril of the Paired Planets" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Both Superman and Batman are felled by some mysterious affliction! Hawkman calls Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary off leave for help, but the answer to their problems lies on...Earth-2!

Meanwhile, on Earth-2, Red Tornado runs into a spaceship(how do Reddy's powers work in airless space, again?), whose alien passengers knock him out with a laser. They talk of a plan to build a new planet, and to do that, you need energy--energy from two planets, so they rewire Reddy and send him into the void between Earth-1 and Earth-2 and use him as a sort of magnet, drawing the two worlds together, ever closer...

Then on Earth-2, Superman and Dr.Mid-Nite have the same thing happen to them that happened to the Earth-1 Superman and Batman, and when the Jay Garrick Flash falls, so does the Barry Allen one!

Thanks to Red Tornado, people start to see the other-Earth duplicates of themselves all over, causing panic! As the JSA tries to figure out what to do, our three hard-traveling heroes return to the satellite to help. Atom deduces there's some sort of mysterious connection between the two Earths, causing all this trouble.

Black Canary assumes its her, and comes to the conclusion that to solve all this...she must cease to exist! To be continued!

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

Notable Moments: Ok, I understand Aquaman was off on his quest for Mera, but this is ridiculous. When Superman and Batman are knocked out, Hawkman makes a point to say how low-power the JLA is, so he calls GL, GA, and Canary off leave. At no point does he mention Aquaman. What the heck was going on here?

Justice League of America #81 - June 1970

DC did a lot of these "locked up in a psycho ward" covers around this time. Maybe this was on the list of things that always sold comics--gorillas, the color purple, then straight-jackets. Especially when drawn by Neal Adams!

The Story: "Plague of the Galactic Jest-Master" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella(listed as "wordmaster" and "picturemasters", respectively). We open on the giddly Jest-Master, and his plan to topple Thanagar!

Also on the way to Thanagar is Hawkman and the Atom, along with Jean Loring(tied up!), who has become mad. On the way they are stopped by some Thangarian police offers and attacked!

Turns out the Jest-Master has been infecting various people near Thanagar, and this eventually happens to Hawkman, and then Batman and Flash when the JLA come to help! It's the Atom that finally defeats the Jest-Master by confusing him with this size-changing abilities(there's a lot more to it than that, trust me).

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary

Notable Moments: Nothing like this scene actually happens in the book. Still, makes for a really good cover, doesn't it?

Green Lantern and Green Arrow are on official leave as of this issue, as they start off on their "Hard-Travelin' Heroes" bit from Green Lantern/Green Arrow.

I bought this issue--and many from around this time--at a new comics store I found a few towns away. I was just this side of too young to have a driver's license, but once I got one I made many a trip to it, and gobbled up every affordable back issue of the book I could find. I ended up almost completing the run of the book thanks to this store--yay!
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Update! A request was made to show the aforementioned "Jest-Master", so here you go!

...He doesn't quite live up to the name.

Justice League of America #79 - March 1970

A grabber of a cover by Neal Adams!

The Story: "Come Slowly Death, Come Slyly!" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella. Continued from last issue, Green Arrow arrives just in time to save the acid-headed Batman, Black Canary, Atom, and Vigilante.

Meanwhile, Superman and Green Lantern, on a environmentally decimated far-off planet named Monsan, find a lone, dying survivor. He explains that the planet's former leader, named Chokh, ended up destroying the planet and plans to use pollution to destroy other worlds.

As their leaving, Green Lantern plans to blow the entire planet up because its a lifeless rock, but Superman stops him, saying the Monsan should remain as an example, a warning, of what not to do.

Of course, it's this Chokh guy that's behind all this, and the JLA(and the Vigilante) find their way to him. The rip off his hood, and he begins to choke on all the fresh air!

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

Notable Moments: This issue features one of those Statement of Ownership things, so as of 1970, Justice League of America was selling an average of 253,000 copies a month, a little more than 50% "sell-through", which surprises me a little--that's not that great a number, and I always thought JLA was one DC's better sellers.

The Mail Room header is changed again, this time in a really goofy way:

DC realized Green Arrow's look was out of date, so someone grabbed a marker and added a few whiskers to Ollie's face, but left the short-sleeves and solid-green tunic alone. Whoopsie!

Plus Snapper is still on there. Some wounds don't heal.

Justice League of America #74 - Sept. 1969

Few people could convey the sheer violence from a punch as well as Neal Adams. You can feel Superman (whichever one it is) really taking one on the chin.

The Story: "Where Death Fears To Tread!" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Sid Greene. Continued from last issue, the JLA arrive in outer space to help rescue the JSA and fight Aquarius, who thought he had gotten rid of the living things on Earth!

He uses his powers to take control of the minds of the JSAers, and force them to fight the JLA!

Superman fights Superman, The Atom fights Dr.Fate--and defeats him--and Green Arrow fights Black Canary, trapping her in a sticky substance(no jokes!) from one of his arrows(I mean it!). Unfortunately, he is then knocked out by Larry Lance, and when Aquarius forms himself into a ball of energy, it mindlessly heads towards the trapped Black Canary!

Canary's husband Larry notices this, and valiantly jumps in the way of it, saving his wife but dying in the attempt. The two teams take time out from fighting Aquarius to have a funeral for Larry.

Now I don't mean to be picky, but first of all, can't this wait? Also, what's the one of the two non-earthlings reading from what is presumably the Bible? I can't imagine either Kal(or Katar) are Christian, so it seems odd that he's the one officiating.

And, also, would Batman of all people really be moved to tears over the death of a guy he's probably never met before? I mean, come on, this is Batman.

Anyway, after the funeral, they go back after Aquarius, with the two Green Lanterns teaming-up, trapping Aquarius into a negative-matter universe and he explodes when anti-matter meteors hit his positive-matter body. This might seem a little nasty--killing the bad guy--but he did mock the JLA and JSA while they were buring Larry, which is a real bad-guy no-no.

Black Canary finds the memories of Earth-2 too painful, so she asks the JLA if she can come live with them on Earth-One.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Once again, Aquaman is the only member of the JLA not in this issue!

I don't mean to goof on the death of Larry Lance too much--in fact, because O'Neil gave his death scene so much space in the story, you do feel something when it happens. O'Neil makes you feel more from the death of this minor supporting character than a lot of comics have killing off a major hero.

Justice League of America #70 - March 1969

Guest-starring the Creeper, with a cool Neal Adams cover!

The Story: "Versus the Creeper!" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Sid Greene. The issue opens with a homemade superhero, Mind-Grabber Kid, attempting to stop some crime taking place using some sort of paralysis ray, which stops the criminals.

Unfortunately, no one notices this act of superhero-dom because on TV, the JLA is being filmed performing their amazing feats for charity! M-G Kid walks away, envious of them...

Meanwhile, busybody Batman is trying to talk the JLA into looking into this new "hero", the Creeper, who he doesn't know whether is a good guy or bad guy! Hey guys, howabout finding a replacement for Wonder Woman?

Anyway, a group of alien invaders(and this is only page five!) find themselves in communication with M-G Kid, where he tells them the planet is being menaced by a group of evil dictators, the Justice League!

The aliens find the JLA helping out the Creeper fighting off some non-costumed bad guys, which they assume to mean that M-G Kid was right! The aliens then attack and defeat Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, and Superman(wow!!). M-G Kid sees the error of his ways when these non-costumed crooks are about to murder the unconcious JLAers, and uses his ray helmet to revive Superman, who stops them.

M-G Kid apologizes to the aliens and the JLA. During the JLA and aliens' chat, The Creeper wanders off, the JLA having decided he is in fact a good guy. M-G Kid walks home, realizing he was wrong to be jealous.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom

Notable Moments: The issue ends with M-G Kid, and DC asks us "Want to see more of Mind-Grabber Kid? Let us know...because we sort of like him!"

DC was apparently alone in this assessment, since as far as I know M-G Kid never appeared again. Maybe some issue of JLA Classified someday...

Justice League of America #67 - Dec. 1968

Rarely does the phrase "all-reprint issue" get one excited, but when a package is put together as cool as this, it doesn't matter that you've read these stories before!

It was a great idea for an 80 Page Giant, to run all the new member-issues all together, and Neal Adams' cover is about as good as you can get.

The stories: "Doom of the Star Diamond!"(JLA #4), "Menace of the 'Atom' Bomb!"(JLA #14), and "Riddle of the Runaway Room!"(JLA #31) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Bernard Sachs.

Roll Call: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman

Notable Moments: Hey, who's that weird green guy next to Aquaman? Oh! It's founding member the Martian Manhunter! Kind of like skipping high school all year then showing up for yearbook photos.

As I said above, the cover by Neal Adams is a classic--fun and celebratory; it makes it really feel like the JLA is a family, and that being asked to join that family was a Big Deal. In fact, the cover was so well received it's been homaged by no less than Gil Kane and Jerry Ordway...

Justice League of America #67 Ad - Dec. 1968

Now this is more like it!

When you have a cover as dynamic as this, just get the heck out of the way and let the book sell itself. Because of Neal Adams, somebody in DC's advertising department got to go to lunch a little early that day.