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sebeth · 4 months

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All-Star Squadron #1 (Revised 12/30/23)

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

“The World On Fire!” by Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler. Published in 1981. This must have been early in Jerry Ordway’s career as he’s listed as “Jeremiah Ordway” in the credits.

The opening caption states: “On the world we know as Earth-One, the planet’s mightiest heroes have banded together since 1960, as the far-famed Justice League of America. In 1940, in a parallel dimension we call Earth-Two, the precursors of those heroes became the legendary Justice Society of America, even as total war raged in Europe, Asia, and Africa, That was nearly two years ago.”

We open with a scene of Hawkman flying, noting it took him well over an hour to fly from Washington to Manhattan.

Hawkman debuted in 1940.

Hawkman enters the JSA meeting room only to be ambushed by Plastic Man?

“Good Gravy!” I love the old-school expressions of surprise. Less realistic but more charming than cuss words.

Hawkman says he recognizes the “outfit – and that stretched out shape – from the newsreels several weeks back”.

Plastic Man debuted at Quality Comics in August 1941. Assuming Plastic Man kept a low profile after he debuted, its quite possible that Hawkman wouldn’t have heard of Plas until the fall of 1942. DC didn’t purchase Quality Comics until 1956 and later began integrating the characters into the DC Universe.

Plastic Man reveals that he’s here on the direct orders of President Franklin Roosevelt. Plastic Man realizes that Wesley Dodds, the owner of the penthouse, must be a member of the Justice Society. Hawkman tries to play it off but Plastic Man isn’t buying it.

Plastic Man is impressed that Dodds can afford “one of those new-fangled television sets”.

Hawkman and Plastic Man listen to the radio and discover that the rest of the Justice Society have been captured by various villains:

1) Solomon Grundy captured the Flash, Green Lantern, and “non-member” Wonder Woman in Los Angeles.

2) Professor Zodiak captured Batman, Robin, and Superman in Gotham City.

3) Wotan captured Dr. Fate and the Spectre in Salem, Massachusetts.

4) Johnny Thunder, Starman, and Sandman disappeared aboard a flying Spanish galleon in New York City.

Plastic Man points out that one of those individuals had to be Wesley Dodds. Hawkman’s deflection abilities clearly need improvement.

Hawkman reveals that he, along with Dr. Mid-Nite and the Atom battled the Monster a few hours ago at the Lincoln Memorial. The Monster gasps out “Degaton” and vanishes.

An editor’s note reveals the flashbacks are from “the prevue issue – see letters page for details”. I miss editor’s notes.

Hawkman and Plastic Man head to Washington, DC. The duo is attacked by a men dressed like insects. The insect men vanish before they can be questioned.

Mr. Hopkins, a member of the FBI, is urgently awaiting contact from the JSA. If no contact is made, “Sunday, December 7, 1941” is liable to go down as the most tragic day in America’s history!” Cue foreshadowing.

We change locations to the Hawaiian Islands as the Shining Knight is taking Winged Victory, his Pegasus, for a ride.

The Shining Knight debuted in 1941.

Shining Knight is reflecting on his origin and his teammates in the Law’s Legionnaires. The team consists of Vigilante, Crimson Avenger, Star-Spangled Kid, Green Arrow, and the Shining Knight. Justin notes that he is from the time of King Arthur (his liege-lord) but was “cast adrift, in a prison of ice, within which we slumbered for a thousand years..aye, and half as long again.”

Justin and Steve Rogers can be frozen-in-ice buddies!

The Law’s Legionnaires aka the Seven Soldiers of Victory formed in 1941.

Sir Justin encounters a red-haired damsel on the beach: geologist Danette Reily. If you are familiar with the pre-Crisis Earrth-2 characters, you know who Danette is. If not, you’ll find out soon. Danette is studying a local volcano. She also mentions that her brother, an Ensign in the Navy, had to head back to Pearl Harbor. Cue more foreshadowing. The duo enters a cavern and encounter Professor Zodiak and Solomon Grundy. Justin notes “’twas a battle with such an ogre as you which caused my passage into this modern world”. Grundy doesn’t take being called an ogre well. Solomon quickly defeats Danette and the Shining Knight. The duo re-gain consciousness only to discover that they are prisoners of Grundy, Zodiak, Wotan, the Sky Pirate, and Per Degaton.

Per Degaton notes that two of their number – the Monster and King Bee – are no longer with them. Per Degaton states that he has travelled back in time – from 1947 – to conquer the world itself!

Per Degaton debuted in 1947 and is a persistent foe of the Justice Society to the present day.

Solomon Grundy debuted in 1944 as a foe of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern. He frequently battles the Justice Leage and Batman.

Wotan debuted in 1940. Best known as a nemesis of Doctor Fate.

Professor Zodiak debuted in 1948. He battled the World’s Finest.

The Sky Pirate debuted in 1947 and fought the Green Lantern.

King Bee debuted in 1943 and battled several members of the Justice Society.

The Monster debuted in 1944 and fought several members of the Justice Society.

Per Degaton, Solomon Grundy, and Wotan are fairly well-known characters but Roy Thomas’ use of the obscure Professor Zodiak, the Monster, the Sky Pirate, and King Bee shows his love of the Golden Age of comics.

Degaton informs the Shining Knight that he is a time-traveler from the year 1947.

Rod Reilly, Danette’s brother, is at Wheeler Field. Rod reveals that he is Firebrand – a fact unknown to his military superiors. Rod has been picked up by his sidekick/chauffer Slugger Dunn.

Rod and Slugger debuted in 1941. Danette debuted in this very issue.

The attack on Pearl Harbor begins. Rod Reilly and Slugger are wounded/killed from the gunfire of a Japanese plane. The time is noted to be 7:35 am.

We head back to Washington DC where the Atom and Dr. Mid-Nite – in full costume – are watching a football game. Ed Simmons of the FBI approaches the duo and informs them of the ongoing attack on Pearl Harbor. Robotman meets up with the duo and they head to the White House. Doctor Mid-Nite notes that he “read a police report on you, just a couple of weeks ago – how you came out of nowhere, to catch the murderers of Dr. Robert Crane”.

Doctor Midnight debuted in 1941, the Atom in 1940, and Robotman in 1942.

Johnny Chambers, a cameraman for Sees-All-Tells-All News, bumps into Libby Lawrence, a famous radio war correspondent. They also head to the White House.

We get a quick recap of Libby’s background – she has spent most of World War II in Europe. She had to flee Poland when the Nazis attacked but her father was killed in Warsaw by a falling bomb. She had to flee Holland and France when those countries fell to the Germans. She was at Dunkirk and only escaped by swimming the channel over to England.

Plastic Man and Hawkman arrive at the White House.

Johnny and Libby split up and change into their respective heroic identities: Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle. They also storm the White House.

Johnny Quick and Tubby Watts debuted in 1941. Liberty Belle debuted in late 1942/early 1943.

Johnny & Liberty are quite aware of the other’s secret identity – not that they choose to reveal it.

The Justice Society members try to pull rank but are shot down by the newcomers. As Johnny Quick states: “Much as I admire you JSA boys, especially the Flash, if the White House needs heroes with fancy powers, I’m as much an American as any of you!”

The heroes are ushered into a meeting with FDR. FDR explains that his original plan was to get the JSA to Hawaii before the attack. Obviously, that’s a no-go at this point. The new plan is to mobilize every one of the nation’s costumed heroes into an All-Star Squadron. Responsible only to FDR himself.

FDR assigns Plastic Man to be the liaison to the FBI. Plastic Man was an FBI agent early in his comic book career. FDR refers to the heroes as “mystery men” and not as “super-heroes”.

FDR wants the group to fly to California to protect the mainland if necessary. Liberty puts in a quick call to Philadelphia to have the Liberty Bell rung – it gives her a power boost. Thomas Revere, a member of Liberty Belle’s supporting cast, answers the call and rings the bell. Thomas debuted with Liberty Belle and is a descendant of Paul Revere.

Per Degaton, his cronies, Danette, and Sir Justin arrive in San Francisco.

Per Degagon brags that he has conquered time, and he will now conquer the planet.

Next: “The battle for San Francisco!”

A great first issue. I’m always amazed by how much the older era comics crammed into a single, normal-sized issue. In one issue, we had the capture of the Justice Society, the death(?) of the original Firebrand, the revelation of the bad guy, the formation of the new group, and glimpses into the origins of Liberty Belle and Shining Knight. We also saw the start of the Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle romance. This would take at least 4 issues in modern comics.

Roy Thomas has a lot of love for the characters of this era, and it shows. He not only has the heroes but they’re supporting cast and some rather obscure villains. I would recommend tracking down the 1980’s Secret Origin series if you would like to learn more about these characters. Roy Thomas would write the origin stories for the Golden Age characters – they were interesting and entertaining even if you had never heard of the characters before.

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