The Kids Are All Right - All-Star Comics 59

All-Star Comics #59 (March/April 1976)
"Brainwave Blows Up!"
Gerry Conway/Paul Levitz-Ric Estrada/Wally Wood

Doug: It's high time we returned to this series, as for many of us its appearance signaled an entry point to the JSA and DC's legacy heroes. For the first year or two of the All-Star revival I was hooked; this magazine was on my "to buy" list, when I could find it. We've only been here once before, in my review of the inaugural issue (that introduced Power Girl to Earth-2 continuity, and four years ago!); however, we had a great response to a query about the Justice Society of America near the end of June. That made me think that this book has some traction with our readers -- so here we are!

Doug: Before sitting down to pen today's post, I felt it prudent to read my thoughts on All-Star Comics #58 (linked above). In that review I voiced my general prejudice against 1970s comics from the Distinguished Competition, saying that it was written for a 10-year old, "like a Bronze Age DC". And while I reached the conclusion that it's existence as such ended up being OK by me, I must report that I was again awash in that sentiment as I read today's fare, four years later. Truly, the entire time I was reading this comic I attempted to remember how I might have encountered the plot and pay-off as a 9 1/2 year old near the New Year of 1976. But enough of me -- let's give you some information so that you might formulate your own opinions.

100-Word Review: BrainWave fantasizes about destroying the JSA, as a rumpled old man stands by his side, convinced the two of them can rule the world. Elsewhere, Flash, Wildcat, and Power Girl leave the JSA HQ to follow her lead to BrainWave. But continuing the previous issue’s disasters, three teams of JSAers confront volcanoes, earthquakes, and gas leaks. In each case a member of the Super Squad (the young newcomers) saves the day. In the end, BrainWave and his ally, Degaton, are defeated in space, averting a plot to pull the Earth from its gravitational orbit. Power Girl wins it for the JSA!

There's no need to flesh that out -- it's really the basic plot of the story. But, for some nitty gritty, let's head to our spectrum of praise:

The Good: I'll lead this section by continuing a positive comment from the previous issue's review and that's the inks of Wally Wood. Ric Estrada is certainly competent, but WOW if Wood doesn't polish the pencils in this ish. At times you, like me, might find the figures to be a little stiff. But Wood's lush inks really add some pop to the panels. I'd also mention that the coloring in this trade (Justice Society, volume 1) is wonderful. The paper is basically newsprint, although of a higher quality than what we read from in the Bronze Age. But the colors are really vibrant.

I liked the three youngsters who are invading the space of the "old guard" JSAers. As I've remarked many times, when I was a kid I related to kid characters. Bucky & Toro, the Teen Titans, the Legion, etc. -- all of those (and others) were among my favorites. So that Power Girl, the Star-Spangled Kid, and the almost-adult Robin were shaking things up (soon to be joined by a young 20-something Huntress) was fine by me.

The Bad: Unfortunately, my praises of this story seem short. It was not a horrible book, not a waste of my time. But I can't say that my life has been enhanced by having completed the reading. Maybe my feelings are actually a praise after all... if one gets out of something what they had assumed ahead of time to be a particular level of satisfaction, then that should be a success, right? 

I find Wildcat to be annoying. I have always found characters who are written as possessing below-average intelligence to be troubling. Oh, it's not that I have a profound issue with my brothers and sisters who might be in that boat. Rather, it's the stereotypical "voice" such characters are given. Wildcat has it. Sometimes Ben Grimm has it (particularly in cartoons and motion pictures). Wolverine's voice in the 1990s X-Men cartoon trended that way. For whatever reason, that "punch drunk palooka" personality grates on me (and yes -- I know that Wildcat's alter ego, Ted Grant, is a boxer). Maybe it's just me.

I did not own this book as a child. In fact, preparing for this post was the first time I'd read it. But whereas I could get by the whole BrainWave thing in the first issue, the introduction of Degaton (who I know of) would have gone right by me as a kid. Now, I read this and am like, "Oh, wow! That must have been cool for those who were into the JSA!" But as a 9- or 10-year old 40 years ago there would have been zero payoff with the Degaton reveal. Zero. So while Gerry Conway might have felt he'd done us all a good service, I was not the intended audience then for such a gift.

Lastly, and maybe I'm just showing my ignorance, but I thought when BrainWave transformed from his new body to his usual appearance he looked an awful lot like the Captain Marvel villain Sivana.

The Ugly: I've not much to say here, other than the scene depicted on the cover of this magazine is literally one panel on the inside. Here -- see above? Not sure how great that is from a marketing standpoint, but then at least it happened. How many times were we flat-out deceived by comics covers through the years?

In closing, I would highly recommend the Justice Society trades (volumes 1 and 2), as well as the Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter tpb. While every story contained within the covers of these books isn't of the home run variety, there are certainly plenty of smiles to be had. Nostalgia is a powerful things, and you'll have an abundance of it if you get your mitts on these books.

Introducing, the Supergirl of Earth-2! All-Star Comics 58

All-Star Comics #58 (January-February 1976)
"All Star Super Squad"
Gerry Conway-Ric Estrada/Wally Wood

Doug:  Now here's a series that was near and dear to Little Dougie's heart back as the calendar turned to America's bicentennial.  I am pretty sure I was in on the ground floor of the Justice Society revival and (distribution be damned!) followed it as regularly as I could through those first couple of years.  I had been exposed to the JSA during the annual JLA/JSA team-ups, so recognized immediately the characters you see defeated on the cover above.  That this story included Robin was only an extra bonus.  You may recall that while Marvel had for years credited their creators right on the splash page, All-Star Comics #58 was released during one of the periods when DC was not doing that; hence I had no idea that Gerry Conway scribed this.  Let's get into it and see how the man who had scripted the demise of Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin and introduced many a monster over at the House of Ideas would do with some of DC's classic heroes.  I'll be using the Justice Society, volume 1 trade paperback for scanning purposes.

Doug:  We begin with a meeting of the Justice Society -- it's an all-boys club at this time, featuring Golden Age heavy-hitters Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wildcat.  The fellas are looking at their monitors, and the news isn't good.  According to data fed their computer, the world is going to end.  As a 10-year old, I was probably thinking, "All right!  This is going to be cool!"  As a 46-year old, I was thinking, "Hmmph...  Sounds like a Bronze Age DC Comic!"  So what is Conway going to do?  This sure wasn't starting out like any Fantastic Four, Avengers, or X-Men comic I'd have also been reading.  Hawkman is the chairman at this time, and he's in the know -- he tells his colleagues that there are three major cities that are going to be decimated, and the resulting chaos in the biosphere will do in the remainder of the planet.  So he gives the order that always is given in a JSA or JLA book -- divide and conquer!  The teams will be:  Hawkman and Dr. Mid-Nite to Seattle, Flash and Wildcat to Peking (now Beijing, of course), and Dr. Fate and Green Lantern to Cape Town.  I don't know about you, but I'm thinking ol' Carter Hall didn't do such a swell job of dividing the power boys up equally.  Anyway...

Doug:  We jump ahead of the good guys to Washington state, and find the Star-Spangled Kid flying around, using Starman's cosmic rod.  Ted Knight (love that!  Ted Baxter, yeah!) was on the shelf with a broken leg, and so had given the youngster his weapon of choice.  The Kid was just checking it out when he spied a bank robbery.  He foiled it without breaking a sweat, but then went into a depression.  We the readers are then brought up to speed on the Kid's backstory as a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and how he's a man out-of-time -- he yearns to return to the 1950's rather than live in his future, the 1970's.  But his melancholy mood is suddenly interrupted by an earthquake!  The Kid springs into action, saving people and rising up to survey the situation.  As this is breaking, Dr. Mid-Nite and Hawkman arrive, but Mid-Nite talks Hawkman into holding back -- Mid-Nite has confidential information that the Kid is suffering from a lack of confidence -- so why not let him handle the earthquake?  Is this what heroes do -- put innocents in harm's way, deliberately, for some chump's self-esteem?!

Doug:  We get a scene shift to an orbiting satellite where we find Brain Wave working some gears and levers.  He's railing on like a Grade-A wingnut about being locked away and fantasizing about true beauty -- keep it up, mister.  He gloats that he fed the attack information into the JSA computers and has a reason why he chose the three cities that he did.  Uh, OK -- we'll find out later.

Doug:  Scene shift again to Cape Town, where United Nations envoy Dick Grayson is at a social function after having closed some sort of diplomatic deal.  Suddenly explosions rock the city and countryside, and we see Robin spring into action.  At the same time, Fate and Green Lantern arrive.  The JSAers notice that there is noxious gas that has been released, and as GL is about to be overcome Fate creates a thunderstorm to dissipate the fumes; GL then creates a giant cork to put in the fissure of the Earth's crust.  The heroes notice the fallen Robin and swoop down to help him.  Strangely, our young adventurer is questioned as to why he'd be in Cape Town exactly when the disaster struck -- Fate says it's an odd coincidence.  But before the conversation (read: blame game) can go any further GL's cork blows (literally!) and everyone has to spring back into action.

Doug:  Cut again to Peking, where Flash has run, with Wildcat drafting along behind.  A volcano has materialized and erupted in the heart of the city, and Chinese citizens flee in panic.  I have to say, at this point in the story the editors at DC really let some stereotypes fly -- the facial features of the Chinese are exaggerated, and their skin if of course a yellow hue.  Additionally, the only citizens to interact with the heroes in this story are the Chinese, and it is in the form of an uprising/fisticuffs.  At any rate, the Flash uses his super-speed to create enough friction to dig a trench that will catch the lava.  But as they remark that it's only a temporary fix, a red and white form streaks into the disaster area and somehow (anyone who wants to explain the physics of this is welcome to try) lifts the molten lava as if it were a solid sheet and stuffs it into the opening atop the mount -- I'm thinking that would create more pressure...  Flying down to ground level, she (!) tells Flash and Wildcat that they know of her cousin -- Superman!  She says her name is Power Girl, and that her cousin had wished her to remain hidden a bit longer.  At that point the Red Army attacked.

Doug:  Power Girl does her best Gorgon impression, stomping the ground hard to create a shockwave that scatters the troops.  Wildcat of course prefers his fists, and deals his own brand of crowd control.  After the soldiers have withdrawn, Power Girl begins to speak rather cryptically.  She tells the Flash that she knows about the 3-city disaster plan and even who is behind it.  Skeptical, Flash asks her how she would know -- not who it is, mind you -- how does she know?  This gives Conway an opportunity to draw up a little characterization that will become familiar over the next several issues -- Power Girl's snobbishness/snottiness and Wildcat's stubbornness at accepting her into the fold.  Power Girl asks the JSAers if they know that in all three cities it's younger heroes who are saving the day -- herself, the Kid, and Robin.  This is a definite conflict-creator, as in her next breath she christens these youngsters the Super Squad -- a new arm of the Justice Society?

 

Doug:  In the end, Power Girl tells her now-traveling companions that it will be Brain Wave that they must face.  But she never does reveal how she knows.  Funny thing I remember about Power Girl, and I'm sorry that I cannot for the life of me recall where I heard this -- it may have been from one of you, our regular commenters (if it is, please take the credit).  Someone once said that they always wondered why a character named "Power Girl" would have a "Y" on her chest for a logo!  And isn't that the enduring image of this Bronze Age heroine?  Right from the start, artists Ric Estrada and Wally Wood "endowed" Kara with certain, um, prowess.  And how about the rest of the story?  You know, I was initially planning to rip Conway's script and dialogue, denigrating what I often refer to as "the Bronze Age DC" feel of it all.  But, after a month (wait until you see Monday's BAB Frightfest, kids) of Marvel monsters, it was actually nice to see this play out as an all-ages sort of story.  The good guys were good (even if a bit cardboard and at times played for fools), there was some menacing set-up for the next issue, the art was decent -- Wood's inks helped along Estrada's pencils, and the young characters came off as the real heroes -- something this lil' fella really yearned for in 1976 (loved me some Secret Society of Super-Villains, too, as Kid Flash was a fave character, as well as most of the Legion).  Even though the DCs of this era only ran 18 pages instead of the Marvel-length of 20, this was still a nice almost-20-minute diversion.