Remembering Artist Bernie Wrightson

Remembering artist Bernie Wrightson on his birthday (October 27, 1948 - March 18, 2017), with a spectacular cover he did...for DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #4 (1971).

While the Weird Mystery Tales inside the book didn't have anything to do with Bernie (the original Swamp Thing tale, read about it here, just came out before this), Bernie did provide art for some segues between the stories, as well as a special story (and the back cover was the front, without the trade dress).

Macabre Mystery/Eerie Adventure

Monsters/Science Fiction

Childhood Haunt/Back Cover

In case you need to know, the reprinted stories in this Spectacular are from: 

My Greatest Adventure #8 (March-April, 1956), Sensation Mystery #116 (July-August, 1953), My Greatest Adventure #14 (March-April, 1957), House Of Secrets #2 (January-February, 1957), My Greatest Adventure #12 (November-December, 1956), Sensation Mystery #110 (July-August, 1952) with Johnny Peril, Phantom Stranger #1 (August-September, 1952) with Phantom Stranger, My Greatest Adventure #20 (March-April, 1958), My Greatest Adventure #15 (May-June, 1957), Tales Of The Unexpected #15 (July, 1957), Tales Of The Unexpected #24 (April, 1958) and House Of Mystery #49 (April, 1956).

 

 

Shazam Super Spectacular 1

In what would have been DC 100 Page Super Spectacular #23 from editor E. Nelson Bridwell, Shazam! #8 (December, 1973) hit newsstands like a bolt out of the blue.....


....containing what was an incredible collection of the adventures of Captain Marvel and the rest of the Marvel Family from their golden years of Fawcett Comics.


Here's what was in the issue, under an original cover by Cap's co-creator, C.C. Beck.

A Twice Told Tale

Sivana has a plan in Captain Marvel Adventures #80 (January, 1948) by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, that is, to go back in time to prevent Billy Batson from ever becoming Captain Marvel.  So, he invents time travel pills, and takes one just as Captain Marvel comes into his current lab....only Sivana forgot one thing, that, if he was changing time, he'd not know why he was going into the past.  Forgetting that, Billy's meeting with the wizard Shazam went as it usually did, with the lad becoming Captain Marvel!

Introduces Mary Marvel

This time around, Otto Binder and Marc Swayze give the story from Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (December 11, 1942) where Billy finds his unknown twin sister, Mary, and from nurse Sarah Primm, learns that she had been switched out for another family's dead daughter.  Meeting Mary Bromfield at the Mental Marvel Quiz Show, the young rich girl does well, and ends up kidnapped for ransom.  Billy and Freddy get captured and gagged, but Mary tries saying "Shazam" and gets a heroic identity of her own (as later revealed, as the old Wizard had planned). 

The Mighty Marvels Join Forces

Cap, Mary and Jr. form a Marvel Family, but they meet a distant relative in Marvel Family #1 (December, 1945) by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck, in a previous recipient of Shazam's power, Black Adam.  Teth-Adam had been granted the power as Mighty Adam in the days of ancient Egypt, but used it to take control, and was banished to the farthest star by Shazam.  Now called Black Adam, this evil Marvel returned, but was stopped by the quick mind of Uncle Marvel!

The Vest Pocket Levitator

A mischievous gremlin empowers the items of a street vendor in  Captain Marvel, Jr. #14 (December, 1943) by artist Mac Raboy, causing trouble for Captain Marvel Jr..  Jonas Weatherby gets the ability to fly with an egg-beater (!!!), and uses it to rob a bank.  But, Freddy Freeman's alter ego tracks the man down, and convinces him the error of his ways, that you can't steal from others to enrich yourself.

The Dog-Nappers

Poor Mrs. Upcreek comes to Shazam Inc. to find someone to get her missing dog, Brutus, in Mary Marvel #17 (October, 1947) by Otto Binder and Jack Binder.  Mary and Uncle Dudley quickly get on the case, stopping a group of dog-nappers via Uncle Marvel's usual misfires (and Mary Marvel's timely interventions), but....have no luck finding Brutus....until Uncle Marvel gets a biting pain reporting back to Mrs. Upcreek!

The Adventure In Time

Billy Batson finds an impossible adventure for Captain Marvel in Captain Marvel Adventures #71 (April, 1947) by Otto Binder, C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza....that of having to be in four parts of the Earth at the same time.  Thankfully, the Lt. Marvels are around, and Fat Marvel, Hill Marvel and Tall Marvel can take three of the assignments as Billy takes the fourth as Captain Marvel. Of course, that just means Sivana has to figure out a way to cause problems at the same time as well...

The Talking Tiger

An old hermit talks to a tiger, and he talks back in Captain Marvel Adventures #79 (December, 1947) by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck.  The tiger leaves the hermit behind to try out civilization, but runs across Captain Marvel, who thinks he's a wild animal on the loose.  Still, the tiger persists, and eventually gets clothes and a chance to talk to Cap, who then finds the tiger a job so he can be a productive member of civilization.

The Return Of Mr. Tawny

The tiger gets a name, that of Mr. Tawny in Captain Marvel Adventures #82 (March, 1948) by Otto Binder and C.C. Beck.  Better still, Billy befriends the tiger, and learns of his origin (just in time, as the boy who saved the tiger's life in Africa, and got him to the old hermit who gave him the formula to talk; Tom Todd, was framed for murder, just as Mr. Tawny was years ago).  Captain Marvel and Mr. Tawny had to work extra hard to find the real killer.

A super collection of Captain Marvel Golden Age Fawcett goodness (with history of Shazam and his Marvel Family, Tawky Tawny, Black Adam and more)....enough to start what would be a nice run of reprints in Shazam!, though the others would also feature new stories as well!

JLA JSA Super Spectacular

Probably one of the greatest covers of its time, Neal Adams drew the combined Justice League of America and Justice Society of America (as well as Robin, Vigilante and Johnny Quick) on the cover of DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #6 (1971)....and what an issue it was.

This issue reprinted some interesting stories, and here they are....featuring quite a few people on that cover.

Justice League of America #21 

First up is the "Crisis On Earth-One" from Justice League of America #21 (August, 1963) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, and historic cover by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson.  Important for so many reasons....the first meeting of the JLA (charter members Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter, plus Green Arrow and Atom) with the JSA (a representative team of Flash, Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, Hourman, Hawkman, Atom and Black Canary....a slightly different line-up from when Barry Allen Flash saved them from Vandal Savage).  It also featured the Crime Champions, villains from two worlds, from Earth-1: Felix Faust, Chronos and Dr. Alchemy, and the Wizard, the Fiddler and the Icicle from Earth-2).  This issue also was where the names of Earth-1 and Earth-2 came from...but so much happening, that it had to continue in the next issue...

Justice League of America #22

...that being Justice League of America #22 (September, 1963) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, with a cover by Murphy Anderson, and the second half of the story, with the "Crisis On Earth-Two".  To be fair, the reprint took out the summary first page, annoying, but as the two issues are together.  The teams of heroes had to work together to get out of their interdimensional prison where their foes put them, but, the heroes pulled it together, and even had time to make a joke about how they'll have to sum all this up for missing honorary JLAer, Snapper Carr!

These two team-ups were so popular, that the JLA/JSA team-ups became a regular thing for the next 19 summers, with an ever rotating cast of JSAers!

More Fun Comics #55

The two team-ups weren't the only issues reprinted in this Super Spectacular.  A tale where "The Spectre Meets Zor" from More Fun Comics #55 (May, 1940) by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily (with a Spectre cover by Bernard Baily) was next, where the ghostly guardian had to defend his girlfriend, Clarice Winston, from the supernatural menace of Zor!


The Spectre had many of his Golden Age tales reprinted, but this was one soon after his origin, so his full powers as a deadman had not been revealed as of yet, but readers were starting to realize how much power Jim Corrigan's alter ego had.

Adventure Comics #190

Next up is a fun tale of Johnny Quick, an at-the-time unaffiliated speeder from Adventure Comics #190 (July, 1953) where he had to be a "Stand-In For 100 Convicts", with the story by Don Cameron and Hy Mankin (though Superboy, not Johnny, was the cover star).  Johnny had to save 99 convicts who were thought to have escaped, but didn't.

Johnny Quick was all over More Fun Comics and Adventure Comics, with many reprints, and later, had been a member of the All-Star Squadron, thanks to some retroactive continuity from Roy Thomas in the 1980s.

Action Comics #146

Next up was a story of the Vigilante and his young sidekick, Stuff, where they faced the Fiddler (not the Crime Champion/Injustice Society member) from the story of "The Galleon In The Desert" from Action Comics #146 (July, 1950) by Joe Samachson and Dan Barry (with a non-Vigilante cover from the issue).  Vigilante and Stuff had to stop this villain from plundering a ship lost in the desert....

The Vigilante (a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory) also had a few of his Golden Age solo tales reprinted, as did the members of his team.

Wildcat Story

The Wildcat story in this issue was something odd.  It was an unpublished Golden Age story, found by the industrious interns at DC Comics at the time, saved from destruction, and published as a treat to all fans of the Golden Age. 

This tale, where "Crime Wore A Costume" featured Wildcat facing off against his foe, the Golden Age Huntress, who had faced Wildcat many times in Sensation Comics, as well as joining the Injustice Society of the World.


If you are looking for tales of the Wildcat and where they were reprinted from the Golden Age, look here!

Brave and the Bold #36

Last, but not least, a story from the JLA member who wasn't on the team when the JLA and JSA first met, Hawkman, and the tale of the "Strange Spells Of The Sorcerer" from Brave and the Bold #36 (June-July, 1961) by Gardner Fox and Joe Kubert (who also did the cover of the issue, which featured the other story of the issue, Hawkman's first battle with the Shadow-Thief).

In this tale, Hawkman and Hawkgirl faced Konrad Kaslak, an amateur sorcerer who was quite capable enough to cause some mystical menaces for the Thanagarian Hawkman and Hawkgirl to face with their scientific prowess, all the while with the pair having to deal with Mavis Trent, and her intentions of breaking up the married super-hero couple, or at least their Earth identities of Carter and Shiera Hall, who worked at the Midway City Museum.

Along with a back cover that supplied a key to the heroes on the cover (but readers here know them all, right?), it provided a checklist of character debuts, all the heroes who had their own features from Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin and the Teen Titans, the Doom Patrol, Deadman, Eclipso, Metamorpho and the Metal Men, even Forgotten Heroes like Animal Man and Dolphin, to the most modern characters of Orion, Mr. Miracle and the Thorn!

Best of all, this whole issue was reprinted as the DC 100-Page Super Spectacular No. 6 Replica Edition in May, 2004...

...so you, too, can thrill to these exciting stories without having to break the bank!

Superboy Super Spectacular With Friends

Superboy was a star of more than one DC Super Spectacular...here's a look at his first, 100 Page Super-Spectacular #DC-15 (March, 1973), edited by E. Nelson Bridwell, with a cover by Nick Cardy, featuring Superboy and a few of the friends he would make along the way.


Here's a look at the stories contained in this issue.. 

Adventure Comics #273

First up, Superboy has to deal with "The Boy Who Was Stronger Than Superboy" from Adventure Comics #273 (June, 1960) by Jerry Siegel and George Papp, with a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.



This story has Superboy facing off against Ted Grahame, a boy from Smallville that Superboy rescued from a climbing accident, who develops super powers stronger than Superboy's, but whose parents are taken hostage by criminals....resulting in Superboy having to help save them, and take away the risk for Ted (his super powers) for the lad's own good.

Detective Comics #65

The second story reprinted is the second story of the Boy Commandos from Detective Comics #65 (July, 1942) with "Nostradamus Predicts" by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who also got to draw the cover (with Jerry Robinson) of the first of the Boy Commandos cover appearances (and this time, with Detective stars, Batman and Robin).

The Boy Commandos were a group of orphans (Andre Chavard, Alfy Twidgett, Jan Haasen and Brooklyn) who worked with Rip Carter (a member of the U.S. Army stationed in Great Britain) who worked together to fight the Nazi menace.  In this story, the boys were sent to school to continue their education, but found a Nazi hidden there, working as a gardner named Bathingham.

Superboy #57

Back to a Superboy story, with "The Boy Of The Year Contest" from Superboy #57 (June, 1957) (which you'd think Superboy would win, as the cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye evidences being a one man baseball team) by Otto Binder and John Sikela.

The story reprinted here has Superboy being disqualified from being in the Boy of the Year contest (because the Boy of Steel cannot supply a home address, without giving away his secret identity).  So, four other boys are up for the award, but are beset by accidents, which people feel Superboy is causing.  Clark Kent defends his alter ego, ends up being nominated, and while Superboy finds the real culprit, Clark Kent wins the award!

Adventure Comics #270

Time for another second appearance, this time that of Aqualad in the Aquaman feature from Adventure Comics #270 (March, 1960) by Robert Bernstein and Ramona Fradon, with "The Menace Of Aqualad".

Wait a minute?  Aqualad a menace?  That's what a fortune teller told Aquaman, and over the next few days, Aqualad acts odd, imperiling Aquaman.  Aquaman finally confronts his young friend about his odd behavior, which Aqualad explains as he was preparing a cave for the two of them to live in, and wanted it to be a surprise for Aquaman's birthday.

Hawk and Dove #3

It's a pair of brotherly super-heroes as Hawk and Dove (brothers Hank and Don Hall, teenagers who got super powers from a supernatural source) feature in one of the stories from Hawk and Dove #3 (December-January, 1968/1969) with "Twice Burned" by Steve Skeates, Gil Kane and Sal Trapani.


Hawk and Dove have to hunt down criminals who beat John Kieves (Don Hall/Dove's friend Linda's father), with Hawk taking the more aggressive approach, and Dove trying to reason with Linda's brother, Mark, to stop him from taking vengeance in his own hands.  Dove does stop him, but only by resorting to violence (which he claims to abhor).

Superboy #63

Back to Superboy and his legal troubles, with "The Trial Of Superboy" from Superboy #63 (March, 1958) by Jerry Coleman and Creig Fessel, under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye (where Lana Lang tortures poor Clark Kent).

Superboy is being sued by a man who claims his house was destroyed by a piece of the rocket the brought Superboy to Earth from Krypton hitting his dwelling and wrecking it.  They get Superboy to reenact the original flight of his rocket, and pieces do fall off, hitting a glass factory where the house had been.  But, an astronomer comes out with proof that a comet effected the trajectory, getting Superboy freed from charges (and, later, it was discovered the glass factory was really producing secret government weapons).

Adventure Comics #81

Next up, a look at "A Drama In Dreams", which is a Sandman and Sandy tale from Adventure Comics #81 (December, 1942) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (showcasing those yellow outfits, with it being Sandman's newer costume, as he had abandoned the gas mask a while ago....).


Sandy the Golden Boy finds his mentor, Sandman, has been replaced by an imposter, and has to go on a hunt for Wes Dodds, finding him by following the fake.  But, Sandy gets captured as well, and he and Wes work together to get free, with Wes taking over being Sandman from the phony, allowing him to defeat the criminals.
 

House of Mystery #164

Dial up the excitement with this adventure of Robby Reed and his H-Dial from House of Mystery #164 (January, 1967) by Dave Wood and Jim Mooney, as the hero of multiple identities takes on "Dr. Cyclops - The Villain With The Doomsday Stare".


Robby ends up fighting new villain, Dr. Cyclops, and his super-spectacles, as the villain runs amuck in Zenith City.  Dialing an identity, Robby becomes Zip Tide to face his foe, but has to save innocent bystanders instead.  Finding the villain a second time, Robby becomes Super Nova, but fails, and re-dials to become Robby Robot, where he is finally able to end his battle with Dr. Cyclops.

Superboy #130

Last but not least is a tale of Superbaby (Superboy as a baby) from Superboy #130 (June, 1966) by Otto Binder and George Papp (under a Curt Swan and George Klein cover).


Superbaby, missing his canine, Krypto (that Jor-El had sent into space), goes looking for another pet in Smallville, causing chaos at the farm, a zoo and then heading out to space, where a shape-changing creature attacks the lad, who luckily defeats it, and returns to Earth, puppyless.


(Don't worry, Clark Kent eventually finds Krypto when he's Superboy!).

A hundred pages of fun, excitement, danger and thrills...

...just one of many (Superboy would later get another Super Spectacular full of reprints, and would have an issue of his own title feature many other stories as well....that much more to look forward to!

....as well as looking back, at this beautiful back cover for this issue, by Nick Cardy.

Giant Superboy 100 Page Super Spectacular

Technically, it is the 100 Page Super-Spectacular #DC-21 of October, 1973, with a cover by Nick Cardy, featuring Superboy as the larger than life lead, with friends like the Teen Titans, Kid Eternity, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes as features of the issue.
 
Here's a look at the special stories contained within the pages of this volume....

Superboy #94

First up is the story of "The Superboy Revenge Squad" from Superboy #94 (January, 1962), which originally had a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, and original story by Robert Bernstein and George Papp.

Aliens planned on finding Superboy's home planet, so they can destroy it.  So, to protect Ma and Pa Kent (and all of Earth), Superboy hypnotized himself to forget his Superboy identity for 24 hours, living as just Clark Kent (so the aliens couldn't home in on him).  But, what of all the problems Superboy usually dealt with?  Well, Clark's friend, Pete Ross (who had secretly found out Clark's Kryptonian identity, but Clark doesn't know Pete knows), takes action, tricking Clark to accidentally use his powers to save people (but Clark then thinks Pete is Superboy while under the influence!).  The ploy worked, the aliens left, and Superboy's memories returned, none the wiser that of the help Pete performed!

Action Comics #313

Next up is the Supergirl back up story from Action Comics #313 (June, 1964), with "Lena Thorul, Jungle Princess", by Leo Dorfman and Jim Mooney (though the cover is for the lead story of the issue, which is by Curt Swan and George Klein).

Lena Thorul was trying to join the FBI, with the government agency sending her to interview Lex Luthor (unknown to them and her, her brother).  With her ESP powers, she finally finds out the truth, which sends the girl into amnesia-like state, eventually wandering to Africa, where she uses her mental powers to work with animals, then returns to the USA when her memories start to come back.  Lex breaks out of jail to invent a formula to remove bad memories, exposes Lena to it so she can forget he is her brother, then is returned to jail by Supergirl.

Adventure Comics #117

Time for an early tale of the young Superman, Superboy, from Adventure Comics #117 (June, 1947) called "The Miracle Plane" by Bill Finger, John Sikela and George Roussos, under a cover by Jack Burnley and George Roussos.


Superboy helps an inventor, who is also the father of Clark Kent's classmate, Gene Dekker, who has invented a VTOL aircraft (which Gene makes a model of and enters in a class contest).  Superboy stops thieves who try to steal the model, with Gene then winning the contest, and Superboy builds a full-size model of the plan, that also works, delighting both the boy and his dad!

Kid Eternity #9

Next up is a lively story from Kid Eternity #9 (Spring, 1948) by William Woolfolk and Al Bryant, featuring Kid Eternity, hero called to heaven too soon and his pal, Mr. Keeper (who originally made the mistake, and now oversees him to help his heroic efforts).

Kid Eternity uses his powers to temporarily revive the dead to help a dying newspaper reporter make a story against local criminal, the Beagle, so that Joe Hodges has a chance to have his name remembered for cleaning up crime in his hometown.  The Kid calls on Mercury (how odd, as the god shouldn't be dead), reporter Richard Harding Davis, and even Cyrano de Bergerac to stop the Beagle (though the Beagle kills Hodges to stop the story, but the Kid revives him, allowing him to finish his last story).

Adventure Comics #332

It's an epic adventure from Adventure Comics #332 (May, 1965) from Edmond Hamilton, John Forte and George Klein, all under a cover by Curt Swan and George Klein, where Superboy and his 30th Century friends, the Legion of Super-Heroes, face off against "The Super-Moby Dick Of Space".

Lightning Lad answers an emergency call from a freighter being attacked by a space creature, and response to save lives as a Legionnaire would, but the beast is able to reflect the boy's lightning powers back at him (poisoning the lighting before it goes  back to Lightning Lad, infecting his arm).  Lightning Lad awakes to find Dr. Lanphier saved his live, but had to amputate his arm.  This causes Lightning Lad to want to hunt down the monster to kill it.  Superboy, Ultra Boy (who got his powers being swallowed by a space creature), Colossal Boy, Saturn Girl, Sun Boy and Brainiac 5 all try to capture the creature, but fail, until Lightning Lad hits it with beams from the robotic arm the doctor gave him.  The creature reduces in size, and Lightning Lad explains Lanphier had enlarged the creature, and gave Lightning Lad the way to defeat him (and the madness Lightning Lad had passed, though the boy hoped to have a real arm again some day....). 

Brave and the Bold #54

Technically called the first appearance of the Teen Titans, Brave and the Bold #54 (June-July, 1964) features Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad in their first meeting, facing off against "The Thousand-and-one Dooms Of Mr. Twister" in a story by Bob Haney, Bruno Premiani and Sheldon Moldoff (with a cover by Bruno Premiani).

The sidekicks of Batman, Flash and Aquaman gathered together to help the kids of Hatton Corners, who are at odds with their parents, as Mr. Twister has kidnapped all the kids, and uses his mystic stick to control the weather, but the super-kids work together to stop the menacing man, with Robin delivering the villain's end, and the children are freed to reunite with their parents.

Superboy #50

Last but not least is "The Super Giant Of Smallville" from Superboy #50 (July, 1956) by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, which was originally under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.

Superboy saves Professor Tinker, an odd scientist living near Smallville, who wants to test his Titanic Tonic formula on the Boy of Steel.  It doesn't work, but Superboy uses optical illusions and a giant puppet to fool the professor into thinking it did.  The supposed giant-sized Superboy still tries to rescue people as the professor tries to make a cure, but ends up causing more damage due to his "enlarged size".  Eventually, the professor comes up with an "antidote", and Superboy hides his giant tools, but was really using his giant self to show the professor that some of his inventions could be dangerous, and to concentrate on safer endeavors (would that other professors Superboy knows would follow his example!).

The back cover of the issue features a cover gallery of four of the stories above (the Adventure Comics, Kid Eternity and the Brave and the Bold), as well as a letters' page, which featured letters on a previous Superboy Super Spectacular (and, of course, Superboy also had an 80-Page Giant in the past, both of which will be looked at in the future!).

Justice League 100 Page Super Spectacular

Time for a little gathering of heroes, and a special collection of stories of the Justice League in some of their most pitched battles against some of their greatest villains....


....all for 50 cents back in June of 1973, under a cover by Nick Cardy, was the 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-17!


Here's the special issues contained with this book....

Justice League of America #23

The JLA become "Drones Of The Queen Bee" in Justice League of America #23 (November, 1963) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

This story introduces the Queen Bee, Zazzala of Korll, as she directs her Bee-Men against the members of the JLA (whom she hypnotizes into doing her will, and doubles down with the threat of a doomsday device that will destroy the Earth if they don't do as she says...which is to find an immortality serum in three vials that must be collected and combined to work).  Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Flash and Green Lantern and Green Arrow are the 3 teams that retrieve the vials (and defeat threats along the way)....but they find a way to thwart the Queen Bee from getting the serum (and save the Earth, and get free).  The team goes back to their cave headquarters, where they meet Superman, Batman, Aquaman and Atom, and hear of Atom's battle against Dr. Light (which was related in Atom #8 of August-September, 1963)  

All-Star Comics #37

The Justice Society of America (the predecessors of the JLA) first meet their evil counterpart team, "The Injustice Society Of The World" in All-Star Comics #37 (October-November, 1947) by writer Gardner Fox, and artists Irwin Hasin, Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, John Belfi and Alex Toth.

Here, as the villains gather, Hawkman is captured by Vandal Savage, Flash caught by the Thinker, Brain Wave apparently kills Green Lantern, Atom tracks the villains down (but is captured by the whole ISW team), Dr. Mid-Nite is taken by Per Degaton....and both teams gather (with the JSA, minus Green Lantern) are on trial by "prosecutor" Wizard, with the Thinker as the judge....at least until the trial starts, where Green Lantern reveals he took Thinker's place, and the JSA capture the ISW, finding them guilty!  

Adventure Comics #65

One of the JSAers not in the above story was Sandman, so he gets a reprint of one of his original stories in this issue, from Adventure Comics #65 (August, 1941) by artist Paul Norris, with "The Sandman At Sea".




Sandman (in his original gas mask costume), stops a scientist from being kidnapped by foreign agents on a yacht...


...with a little help from the U.S. Military and Dian Belmont.

Justice League of America #43

Last, but not least, is the story from Justice League of America #43 (March, 1966) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, where the JLA get clubbed by the Royal Flush Gang for the first time with "The Card Crimes Of The Royal Flush Gang".

The Justice League members are vexed by the Royal Flush Gang, with the Jack of Clubs making Hawkman fight with his wife (currently non-member, Hawkgirl), Flash gets vision problems thanks to the King of Clubs, and the Queen of Clubs robs Wonder Woman of half of her powers.  The villains do this with the help of stellaration energy discovered by old JLA foe, Professor Amos Fortune (who appeared earlier in Justice League of America #6 and #14)....and who takes the guise of the Ace of Clubs to take on Superman and Batman.  The League looks to be in trouble, until the Royal Flush Gang is defeated by a Joker in the deck....not THE Joker, but honorary JLAer Snapper Carr, who trains the stellaration energy on himself...and defeats the Gang with it.  How ironic this would be is revealed later on (in Justice League of America #77).

All in all, a great collection of JLA stories (as well as a few more)...

...coming out at a time after the Justice League had many issues of reprints within their own title as well!