Saturday, July 12, 2008
Crisis on Multiple Earths: Volume 3
by Mike Friedrich, Len Wein and Dick Dillin
Volume Three reprints the JLA/JSA team-ups from 1971 through 1974, including the three team, three part team up that began in the 100th issue of Justice League of America. When reading these stories, I get a feeling that the writers and editors were saying to themselves, "How can we retell the basic story this year?" In 1971, Mr. Friedrich played with limiting the line up to characters who had counterparts on the other Earth. That particular team up seemed to focus on the theme of relationships. 1972's team up was the aforementioned three-parter sending the JLA and JSA on a quest to find the time lost Seven Soldiers of Victory. A year later, our heroes stumbled upon Earth-X where the Nazis won World War II. They help Earth-X's resident heroes, the Freedom Fighters, in a rematch. (These were comics I had actually owned back in the day. It was a pleasant surprise to turn a page and discover that Dick Dillin's image of Batman climbing the Eiffel Tower had been burned into my brain. Great stuff.) By 1974, the creative teams wisely tried a different tack and told a smaller tale focusing on the Sandman and his erstwhile partner, Sandy.
It's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Volume Three reprints the JLA/JSA team-ups from 1971 through 1974, including the three team, three part team up that began in the 100th issue of Justice League of America. When reading these stories, I get a feeling that the writers and editors were saying to themselves, "How can we retell the basic story this year?" In 1971, Mr. Friedrich played with limiting the line up to characters who had counterparts on the other Earth. That particular team up seemed to focus on the theme of relationships. 1972's team up was the aforementioned three-parter sending the JLA and JSA on a quest to find the time lost Seven Soldiers of Victory. A year later, our heroes stumbled upon Earth-X where the Nazis won World War II. They help Earth-X's resident heroes, the Freedom Fighters, in a rematch. (These were comics I had actually owned back in the day. It was a pleasant surprise to turn a page and discover that Dick Dillin's image of Batman climbing the Eiffel Tower had been burned into my brain. Great stuff.) By 1974, the creative teams wisely tried a different tack and told a smaller tale focusing on the Sandman and his erstwhile partner, Sandy.
It's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CrisisonMultipleEarths, DCComics, OnMyShelf
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Crisis on Multiple Earths
by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky
I didn't really become a big fan of the Justice Society of America until the 80s, but my first encounter with the group was way back in my childhood. For my generation, the JSA were annual guest stars in the old Justice League of America comics. I recall having read a number of stories where my stalwart super-heroes made a visit to Earth-2 to foil some dastardly plot. Unfortunately, I either never owned those particular comics, or my mom made me toss them when they got too ratty. So when I really got into the JSA, I was forced to prowl the comic shops, looking for those back issues that weren't too expensive. And wouldn't you know it, after I had bought a handful of issues, but before I had purchased them all, DC Comics put out a trade paperback containing all of the JLA/JSA team-ups of yore. I don't know if I saved money or wasted it, but I ended up buying this, the first volume of the reprints. The book reprints the annual team-ups from 1963 through 1966. The 1963 tale features the two teams working together to thwart a gathering of villains from both Earths. In 1964, Mr. Fox introduced Earth-3, the parallel world where all the good guys are bad. 1965's entry revisits the theme on a smaller scale, where only one of the venerable heroes has an evil twin. And then in 1966... well, that one was rather odd. As he proved back in the 40s, not everything Mr. Fox writes is golden. Still, it's a collection worth checking out, even if your not the fan-boy that I am.
LibraryThing link
I didn't really become a big fan of the Justice Society of America until the 80s, but my first encounter with the group was way back in my childhood. For my generation, the JSA were annual guest stars in the old Justice League of America comics. I recall having read a number of stories where my stalwart super-heroes made a visit to Earth-2 to foil some dastardly plot. Unfortunately, I either never owned those particular comics, or my mom made me toss them when they got too ratty. So when I really got into the JSA, I was forced to prowl the comic shops, looking for those back issues that weren't too expensive. And wouldn't you know it, after I had bought a handful of issues, but before I had purchased them all, DC Comics put out a trade paperback containing all of the JLA/JSA team-ups of yore. I don't know if I saved money or wasted it, but I ended up buying this, the first volume of the reprints. The book reprints the annual team-ups from 1963 through 1966. The 1963 tale features the two teams working together to thwart a gathering of villains from both Earths. In 1964, Mr. Fox introduced Earth-3, the parallel world where all the good guys are bad. 1965's entry revisits the theme on a smaller scale, where only one of the venerable heroes has an evil twin. And then in 1966... well, that one was rather odd. As he proved back in the 40s, not everything Mr. Fox writes is golden. Still, it's a collection worth checking out, even if your not the fan-boy that I am.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, CrisisonMultipleEarths, DCComics
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