Showing posts with label Sportsmaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sportsmaster. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Request For Injustice Society Collections

One of the most persistent foes of the Justice Society of America has been the Injustice Society of the World.  Premiered in All-Star Comics #37 (October-November, 1947) by writer Robert Kanigher and artists Irwin Hasen, Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, John Belfi and Alex Toth, this group of villains has unleashed havoc across the world, as well as having grown in size (here by George Perez)....

...and while the group's Golden Age appearances have been reprinted a few times, many individual members are far from having their appearances visible since their first printings.

That needs change....and, here's a way to do that in three tradepaperback volumes!


ISW Volume 1

The first volume should include:

Wizard (William Asmodeus Zard)
All-Star Comics #34 (April-May 1947):  "The Wiles Of The Wizard"

Brainwave (Henry King Sr)
All-Star Comics #15 (February-March 1943):
"The Man Who Created Images"

Gambler (Steven Sharpe)
Green Lantern #12 (Summer 1944):  "The Gambler"
Green Lantern #20 (June-July 1946):
"The Gambler Comes Back"
Green Lantern #27 (August-September 1947):
"The Gambler Bets His Life"

Per Degaton
All-Star Comics #35 (June-July 1947):  "The Day That Dropped Out Of Time"


Thinker (Clifford DeVoe)
All-Flash #12 (Fall 1943): 
"Tumble Inn To Trouble"
All-Flash #14 (Spring 1944): 
"The Man Who Unleashed The Past"



Vandal Savage
Green Lantern #10 (Winter 1943):
"The Man Who Wanted The World"

...and the team appearance from All-Star Comics #37, "The Injustice Society of The World", for a wonderful collection of 319 pages (with appropriate covers, with sadly, the Thinker not appearing on any, and the Gambler only making one of his cover), with many All-Star Comics issues, and a few Golden Age Flash and Green Lantern tales.


Still, this does collect all of Per Degaton and Vandal Savage's Golden Age appeaerances, and at least the first two appearances of every charter ISW member except for Brain Wave.


Leaves some Brain Wave, Thinker and Gambler stories uncollected, but....read on!



ISW Volume 2


The second volume should include:

Icicle (Joar Makent)
All-American Comics #90 (October 1947):
"The Icicle"
All-American Comics #92 (December 1947):
"The Icicle Goes South"

Fiddler (Isaac Bowin)
All-Flash #32 (December 1947-January 1948):  "Duet Of Danger"
Flash Comics #93 (March 1948):
"Violin Of Villainy"
Comic Cavalcade #28 (August-September 1948):
"The Flash Concerto"



Sportsmaster (Crusher Crock)
All-American Comics #85 (May 1947):
"The Rise And Fall Of Crusher Crock"
Green Lantern #28 (October-November 1947):
"The Tricks Of The Sportsmaster"
All-American Comics #98 (June 1948):
"The End Of Sports"



Huntress (Paula Brooks)
Sensation Comics #68 (August 1947):
"Wildcat -- Former Crime Fighter"
Sensation Comics #69 (September 1947):
"Follow The Leader"
Sensation Comics #71 (November 1947):
"The Count That Never Ended"
Sensation Comics #73 (January 1948):
"Murder Masquerade"
Sensation Comics #75 (March 1948):
"The Snare That Backfired"
Sensation Comics #76 (April 1948):
"The Wildcat Ride"
DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #6 (1971):
"Crime Wore A Costume"

Harlequin (Molly Mayne)
All-American Comics #89 (September 1947):
"The Harlequin"
All-American Comics #91 (November 1947):
"The Wedding Of The Harlequin"
Green Lantern #29 (December 1947 - January 1948):
"The Challenge Of The Harlequin" and "The Harlequin Haunts Green Lantern"




All-American Comics  #93 (January 1948): 
"The Double-Crossing Decoy"
All-American Comics #94 (February 1948):
"Partners In Peril"
All-American Comics #95 (March 1948):
"The Unmasking Of The Harlequin"
Green Lantern #31 (March-April 1948):
"The Terror Of The Talismans"
Green Lantern #32 (May-June 1948): 
"The Case Of The Conscience Fund"


....and, with the Wizard's gathering of these villains from All-Star Comics #41 (June-July, 1948), this gives all the Golden Age appearances of these villains from the various Flash comics, Green Lantern comics and even Wildcat appearances (though he never made the covers of Sensation Comics).



Except for some of Harlequin's appearances, all of these characters Golden Age tales are here (about half of all of these stories hadn't been reprinted), with this being the largest volume, at 330 pages.





ISW Volume 3

The third volume should include Golden Age tales of the Bronze Age additions:

Shade (Richard Swift)
Flash Comics #33 (September 1942):
"The Man Who Commanded The Night"

Solomon Grundy (Cyrus Gold)
All-American Comics #61 (October 1944):
"Fighters Never Quit"
Comic Cavalcade #13 (Winter 1945):
"And Then There Was One"
All-Star Comics #33 (February-March 1947):
"The Revenge Of Solomon Grundy"
Comic Cavalcade #24 (December 1947-January 1948): "The Case Of The Withered Flower"


Missing stores of other ISW members from the Golden Age:
Brain Wave (Henry King Sr)
All-Star Comics #17 (June-July 1943):
"Brain Wave Goes Berserk"
All-Star Comics #30 (August-September 1946)"
"The Dreams Of Madness

Gambler (Steven Sharpe)
Green Lantern #30 (February-March 1948):
"The Fatal Chance"
Green Lantern #35 (November-December 1948):
"Perfect Crimes For Sale"
Thinker (Clifford DeVoe)
Flash Comics #65 (June-July 1945):
"Adventure Of The Thinking Cap"
All-Flash #27 (February-March 1947):
"The Thinker Cooks With Gas"
Comic Cavalcade #22 (August-September 1947):
"Beware The Ice Age"
Comic Cavalcade #23 (October-November 1947):
"The Sleeping City"
All-Flash #32 (December 1947-January 1948):
"Crime, Incorporated"
Flash #214 (April 1972):
"The Tale Of Three Tokens"

Harlequin (Molly Mayne)
Green Lantern Vol. 1 #33/3 (July-August 1948): "The Harlequin's Leap Year"
Green Lantern Vol. 1 #34 (September-October 1948): "Harlequin's Secret Revealed"

Other villains, who joined even later or were related to the ISW:

Rag Doll (Peter Merkel)
Flash Comics #36 (December 1942):
"Tale Of The Treasure Hunt"




The Mist (Kyle)
Adventure Comics #67 (October 1941):
"The Menace Of The Invisible Raiders"




The Shade joined during a JLA/JSA adventure, Solomon Grundy during the 1970s run with Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl, Rag Doll VERY much later, in JSA All-Stars, and the Mist, because his second appearance was in the Wanted collection, and this gives more than Flash and Green Lantern (and JSA stories) with a Starman story, giving 328 pages (and hope that a collection with Hawkman's Gentleman Ghost and Monocle and a few others can materialize somewhere).


A fanciful wish from someone who knows the Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman and Starman stories reprinted from the Golden Age, and would like to see more, with Wizard, Brain Wave, Per Degaton, Vandal Savage, Gambler, Thinker, Icicle, Sportsmaster, Huntress, Fiddler, Harlequinn and the rest serving as a nice conduit to a forgotten era!



Wednesday, April 27, 2016

JSA Opposite: Injustice Society Additions Part 1

The Injustice Society of the World was the evil opposite of the Justice Society of America, made up of members of the individual heroes Rogues' Galleries.  The first team faced the JSA back in All-Star Comics #37 (October-November, 1947) with the Wizard escaping....


...and returning with some new villains to start a new ISW in All-Star Comics #41 (June-July, 1948) in "The Case Of The Patriotic Crimes" by writer John Broome and artists including Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Arthur Peddy and Irwin Hasen, and inkers Frank Giacoia and Bernard Sachs.

Here's a few of the new foes....

Icicle

Joar Mahkent first appeared as a foreign physicist with a new freezing weapon, to make trouble for the Golden Age Green Lantern in All-American Comics #90 (October, 1947), in the story "The Icicle" by Robert Kanigher, Irwin Hasen and John Belfi (thought to have perished, but later revealed to be saved by Johnny Sorrow).  The Icicle quickly returned trying to make things cold for a South American dictator in All-American Comics #92 (December, 1947) to face Green Lantern again, in "The Icicle Goes South" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Toth.  Then, Icicle joined up with the ISW.....which influenced much of the rest of his career.

The Icicle first returned after joining the Injustice Society in Justice League of America #21 and #22 (August and September, 1963), as a member of the Crime Champions (which included the Wizard and Fiddler from Earth-2, and new villains of Chronos, Felix Faust and Dr. Alchemy, all to take on the Justice League and Justice Society, in the beginnings of annual team-up of the two heroic teams, as they'd face a Crisis every year for some time....).  Icicle next returned in Justice League of America #123 and #124 (October and November, 1975), as the Injustice Society was using Earth-Prime writers Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin in a plot to cause Crisis for the JLA and JSA.

The Icicle then worked with the ISW at home on Earth-2, in All-Star Comics #63 to #66 (in 1976 and 1977), as a plan to finish off the JSA (which almost worked).  Icicle switched over to Earth-1, working with Wonder Woman foe Minister Blizzard, Flash Rogue Captain Cold (and, secretly, Hawkman's foe, the Shadow-Thief) in Justice League of America #139 (February, 1977).  Icicle worked with fellow ISWers of the Shade and the Fiddler to help the gods of Apokolips revive Darkseid in Justice League of America #183 to #185 (October to December, 1980), then rejoined the Crime Champions at the direction of the Johnny Thunder of Earth-1 in Justice League of America #219 and #220 (October and November, 1983), before getting involved in the Crisis on Infinite Earths (issues #9 and #10), and perishing in Krona's lab in Crisis On Infinite Earths #10 (January, 1986).

This didn't keep a good villain down, as his spirit menaced Hawk and the second Dove and the Titans West in the Hawk and Dove Annual #1 of 1990 (along with a few other villains condemned to hell, which might have been enough to keep him away from the Black Lantern Corps during Blackest Night), as well as a flashback to soon after joining the ISW, facing Starman and planning retirement (and for his son) in Starman #46 (September, 1988) and facing the Star-Spangled Kid before the Crisis on Infinite Earths in a flashback in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (July, 1999).

Even better, Icicle had a legacy, his son, Cameron, who had ice-generating powers (likely thanks to his dad's exposure to his own ice gun), and the second Icicle was a part of the Wizard's Injustice, Unlimited as of Infinity, Inc. #34 (January, 1987) and later, a member of an updated Injustice Society of the World.

There was also the case of the ghost of the Icicle in Flash #56 and #57 (November and December, 1991), facing off against Flash (Wally West), but didn't hear much about that part of the Mahkent legacy after those issues...

...and while there was a villain involved, there also rose a hero!

Sportsmaster

Crusher Crock was a sportish brute, who first faced the Golden Age Green Lantern in All-American Comics #85 (May, 1947) in "The Rise and Fall of Crusher Crock" by John Broome, Irwin Hasen and John Belfi, after being barred from all sports due to misconduct.  Crusher wanted revenge, and to prove himself better than anyone in any game at the time, but failed after sparring with the Green Lantern (though using wooden sports equipment like bats and hockey sticks caused quite a bit of trouble for GL, as his weakness was wood).  Crusher Crock returned with the moniker of the Sportsmaster in Green Lantern #28 (October-November, 1947) with "The Tricks Of The Sportsmaster" by John Broome, Irwin Hasen and Alex Toth, and then again with "The End Of Sports" in All-American Comics #98 (June, 1948) by Robert Kanigher and Alex Toth (where he sabotaged a hockey game in Gotham City), after which, Sportsmaster joined the Injustice Society, which would forever alter his life.

After the JSA disbanded, Sportsmaster was captured by Argent,  a secret government organization, (detailed in Secret Origins #14 of May, 1987, revealing how Crusher was stopped in the early 1950s)..

....or was he stopped by Mr. and Mrs. Superman, with help from the Golden Age Green Lantern and Harlequin in Superman Family #206 (March-April, 1981)? 



Either way, Crusher took a little sporting hiatus....


...but he came back, this time with his new wife in tow, the Huntress (more on her later on down), looking for revenge on Wildcat (but also facing Starman and Black Canary) in Brave and the Bold #62 (October-November, 1965).



The husband and wife villains returned in Justice League of America #123 and #124 (October and November, 1975) with the rest of the ISW.



The couple might have stayed on Earth-1, as they faced Batgirl and Robin in Batman Family #7 (September-October, 1976)...

....and a group of DC heroes in DC Super-Stars #10 (December, 1976, with Sportsmaster leading the villains, and Huntress leading the heroes in a game of baseball!).
 
The heroes won out in both cases...and it either convinced the villains to return to Earth-2 (or we just never heard of their Earth-1 counterparts again). 

Sportsmaster was there to attack the JSA again as a part of the Injustice Society in All-Star Comics #72 and #73 in 1978, but was quickly defeated...

...(Flash foe, the Thorn, and the Huntress were also attacking at that time, each for their own reasons).  Thankfully for the JSA, the villains didn't fair well no matter how hard they tried!

Sportsmaster came back one last time with Huntress, as they worked with the evil opposites of Infinity, Inc., the Injustice, Unlimited (made up of children and proteges of ISW members), and Huntress and Sportsmaster had a representative there as well (more on Tigress....soon!), as told in Infinity, Inc. #35 and #36 (February and March, 1987).


Sportsmaster had perished at some point (an alternate Earth version died in The Golden Age Elseworlds mini-series),  and the Council (a group of nefarious businessmen) who had cloned Paul Kirk (the Manhunter of the Golden Age) then had used clones of Sportsmaster to vex the JSA in JSA Secret Files #1 (August, 1999, which also introduced Kendra as Hawkgirl) and #2 (September, 2001), and in JSA Annual #1 (2000), keeping the Sportsmaster's villainy alive in the 21st Century.





Huntress

Paula Brooks was her name, but it took a long time before anyone hunted that fact down.  The Huntress began her career hunting Wildcat, starting in Sensation Comics #68 (August, 1947) in "Wildcat -- Former Crime Fighter" with art by Mort Meskin.  The hunt continued in Sensation Comics #69 (September, 1947) and "Follow The Leader" with Huntress robbing the U.S. Mail (also drawn by Mort, with no identified writer), kidnapping Wildcat's friend, Stretch Skinner in Sensation Comics #71 (November, 1947) in "The Count That Never Ended", this time by Robert Kanigher and Gil Kane, kidnapping Ted Grant to get to Wildcat in "Murder Masquerade" in Sensation Comics #73 (January, 1948), with art by Gil Kane (a problem, as Ted is Wildcat), using a phony Wildcat in a crime in Sensation Comics #75 (March, 1948) in "The Snare That Backfired" with art by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs, going on a rollercoaster ride in "The Wildcat Ride" in Sensation Comics #76 (April, 1948), with art also by Peddy and Sachs...

....before joining up with the ISW (and never making a cover, as the book was dominated by Wonder Woman!).

An unpublished Golden Age story appeared in the DC 100-page Super-Spectacular #6 of 1971, with Wildcat facing Huntress one last time alone, when "Crime Wore A Costume" by Robert Kanigher and Jon C. Kozlak (and the book also reprinted the first JLA/JSA Crisis as well!).

Huntress returned, now married to the Sportsmaster, and looking for revenge on Wildcat (but also facing Starman and Black Canary) in Brave and the Bold #62 (October-November, 1965). 


The husband and wife villains returned in Justice League of America #123 and #124 (October and November, 1975) with the rest of the ISW, and may or may not have faced Robin and Batgirl in Batman Family #7 (September-October, 1976) and played baseball in DC Super-Stars #10 (December, 1976).

The pair returned again, with All-Star Comics #72 and #73 in 1978, along with the Golden Age Flash's foe, the Thorn, with the Huntress facing the new heroine who had taken that name (more on her, here....).  The female hero won (which made the villainess quite angry, but as later revealed, she had switched names anyway....).

The heroine formerly known as Huntress appeared helping villains, during the Crisis On Infinite Earths #9 and #10 in the 1980s, and returned as well to be helped by Injustice, Unlimited in Infinity, Inc. #35 and #36 (February and March, 1986), as among the team's members were former ISW members, the Wizard, the Fiddler and the Shade, and the son of Icicle, the daughter of the Gambler, and the Tigress, who was Artemis Crock, the daughter of the Sportsmaster and the Huntress!

Soon after this, in stories set in the 1940s, the Huntress' past was revealed, as she was Paula Brooks, a young woman who became fascinated with big game hunter, Paul Kirk, trailed him to learn more about his life (including his identity as the mystery man, the Manhunter), and Paula joined the Young All-Stars as the Tigress to be "a hunter of men".  This worked for a while, until the Tigress was killed by Gudra, the Valkyrie, and while Paula came back, she had a darker personality then (see Young All-Stars comics from the late 1980s, issues #6 to #26 to see how this all played out as Roy Thomas filled in character back story with his retroactive continuity).  The Tigress was even involved in a secret JSA case, fighting the Stalker with Hawkman and Wildcat alongside the Manhunter in Thrilling Comics #1 (May, 1999) and with the whole JSA plus a few in All-Star Comics #2 (Late May, 1999), and it was soon after this that she appeared as the Huntress fighting Wildcat in Sensation Comics.

Back in the present, with a full history behind her, Paula Brooks even came out to support her daughter, the Tigress, when she competed in the Olympics as a member of the Zandian team, along with other super-villains, like Green Arrow's foe, Merlyn, in Young Justice #25 (November, 2000), and the new Tigress has continued along with the Injustice Society of the World with her boyfriend, the new Icicle, as that team has popped up, as well as facing the new Hawkgirl, Kendra, for a time...proving, like a good hero, it's hard to keep a good villain down....and more ISW member facts are coming soon, with info on the Fiddler, the Harlequin, the Shade, Solomon Grundy and more!