Giant Justice League of America The Seventh

With Justice League of America #93 (October-November, 1971), readers reach the seventh and last of the giant all reprint issues of the Justice League of America (this one Giant #G-89, with 64 pages). 

While Ross Andru and Dick Giordano did a good job on the cover (mostly recreating the original covers, but making sure Batman and Superman were a little more visible), still, it was a last gasp, with a giant that wasn't so giant after all.


But, let's take a look at the two reprints contained within....

...after all, they were exciting events in the history of the Justice League of America!

Justice League of America 13

Murphy Anderson gave readers the original cover to Justice League of America #13 (August, 1962), for the story of "The Riddle Of The Robot Justice League" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.  What a story it was!

The individual Justice Leaguers are transported from their normal lives (surprising friends like Jimmy Olsen, Tom Kalmaku and Speedy), and end up on the planet Erislane, where they will be forced to fight to save the universe.  The scientists of the universe of Skarn would steal the life-force of another universe as theirs died out, after they had robot duplicates of that universe's heroes fight against their counterparts.  As Skarn had no water, no duplicate Aquaman was made, so he ended up as coach to the other JLAers, which, ended up saving the day...proving Aquaman's importance to the JLA (as one day, he might lead a group himself, with fellow teammates like Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Vixen, Vibe, Steel and Gypsy!).

This was also the last issue before the JLA added Atom as a member (as seen in the 4th JLA Giant)...and he proved to be the "big man" of the second story in this issue!

Justice League of America 18

The second reprint in this issue is from Justice League of America #18 (March, 1963), with an original cover by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson, with newest member, the Atom, dominating the cover (though all we see are his feet), as the team takes a "Journey Into The Micro-World" as told by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs.

It was a JLA meeting like any other, until the JLA team (except honorary member Snapper Carr) started to shrink out of existence....ending up in the subatomic world of Starzl, where the inhabitants were being killed by radiation given off by their three android protectors of land, sea and air; Terrane, Ocana and Etheran.  The team had problems defeating their invincible foes, at least until they realized why, and summoned Snapper, without telling him of the menace he faced, which allowed him to defeat them (letting Snapper, not Atom, be the "big man" of this issue, no matter the cover).

While this was the last of the giant reprints, where there were only reprints in the issue, the Justice League of America would have 100 page giants that contained new material as well as reprints, and there would be Super Spectaculars to reprint Justice League of America issues as well (and later, Treasuries, Digests, Archives, Omnibusi, Tradepaperbacks and more, all following the tradition stared by one little Secret Origins issue from 1961!).

Giant Justice League of America The Sixth

Still not quite the Giant of yesteryear, the sixth Justice League of America Giant (Justice League of America #85 of November-December, 1970 also referred to as Giant #G-77) was a magical issue....

...with a cover drawn by Murphy Anderson, and having two Justice League reprints inside with the first two part story of the JLA, as well as a special extra little bonus as well!

Justice League of America 10

The first tale featured "The Fantastic Fingers Of Felix Faust", introducing this magical foe of the JLA from the tale from Justice League of America #10 (March, 1962) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, under an original cover by Murphy Anderson.

This issue also introduced the Lord of Time, as well as the Three Demons (Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast), whom Felix Faust wanted to release and bind, using three items (the Red Jar of Calythos, the Green Bell of Uthool and the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath).  Faust pulls the team away from their battle with the Lord of Time (and his forces that he pulled from the past and future) to retrieve the three items, and face the mystical guardians of those items. 

Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow get the Red Jar; Flash, Martian Manhunter and Batman retrieve the Green Bell and Green Lantern, Aquaman and Snapper Carr obtain the Silver Wheel, with Faust having the JLA under a spell....but, thanks to Aquaman's command of fish, these fish intervene, breaking Felix Faust's concentration (ending his spell), which allows the League of capture him (but, Faust did set in motion events which would play out one hundred years later).

Justice League of America 11

The League returns to their battle with the Lord of Time in 3786 A.D. (using a time bubble built by Superman) , defeating him in the future (as seen originally in Justice League of America #11 (May, 1962) by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs), but are unable to return to their home time, due to the appearance of the three demons in 2062, who capture the heroes, turn them to mist and seal them in bottles!

The heroes do get free, thanks to Green Lantern having used his power ring to give Wonder Woman a delayed command, so she could free herself, then the others.  The Three Demons were busy, trying to restore Earth to how it was when they were free....with no humanity, no moon and rearranged continents. 

To prevent the demons from casting spells that target individual Leaguers, Green Lantern disguises his teammates as other members to face their foes....

...with Abenegazar being beating by Wonder Woman as Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern looking like Batman, and Flash disguised as Green Arrow.  Rath is stopped by Green Arrow as Flash, Superman as Aquaman and Batman as Wonder Woman, with Ghast beaten by Aquaman looking like Superman and Martian Manhunter as Green Lantern.

After defeating the demons and returning to their normal selves, the JLA store the Jar, Bell and Wheel at their Secret Sanctuary.

Knights Of The Galaxy

An extra reprint is included in this Giant, featuring the Knights of the Galaxy from Mystery In Space #8 (June-July, 1952), in the "Lives Of A Rocket Lancer" by Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, which was the last of 8 tales featuring this group of future heroes who based themselves on the Knights of the Round Table (a little too much in this tale, as Lyle and the rest of the Knights think they are King Arthur and his Knights, leading lovely lady Ora as the only one who can help them stop space pirates, as she is the only one who can use their future technology!).

Giant Justice League of America The Fifth

Giants were getting to be a little less so, with the fifth Justice League of America Giant, Justice League of America #76 (November-December, 1969, also listed as Giant #G-65) clocking in at about 64 pages....

...still, it did have that incredible Murphy Anderson cover, as well as two tales of the Justice League of America, as well as a couple of extras that made this a real special issue.

Justice League of America 7

The first of the reprints was from Justice League of America #7 (October-November, 1961), where the original JLA members (plus Green Arrow) entered "The Cosmic Fun-House" in a story by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs, under an original cover by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson.

This time around, aliens from the planet Angellax had taken over a fun house (coincidentally the one Snapper Carr had taken his girlfriend, Midge, to), transporting the couple to an alien world (which they were rescued from by the JLA).  Still, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Green Arrow went to check it out in their alter egos, whom the aliens then duplicate (and the duplicates send Superman, Batman and Martian Manhunter into the far future seeking Xotar to keep them busy).  Then, the aliens (also in disguise) lure Aquaman to the park.  The captured JLAers escape, but are distorted by the attempt (like a fun house mirror), and have to work harder to defeat their foes, return to normal and call Superman, Batman and the Martian Manhunter back from the future. 

Once all that is accomplished, the heroes come back to the park in their alter egos, with their appropriate paramours (Lois Lane, Kathy Kane, Steve Trevor, Diane Meade, Iris West, Carol Ferris and Bonnie King, with poor Aquaman left out at the time), to enjoy the rides!

Justice League of America 12

The second reprint was from Justice League of America #12 (June, 1962) featuring "The Last Case Of The Justice League" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs (and cover by Murphy Anderson).  Laying on a bit thick with that title (especially considering a few issues came out after the original story....but, read on.....).

This issue starts with a new villain, Doctor Light, confronting a late to a meeting Snapper Carr, alone in the JLA HQ....as the villain asks Snapper to record his history of the last case of the Justice League.  Arthur Light was a scientist who figured out how to manipulate light, and using that and other methods, first captured Aquaman, then using his signaling device, attracted the other JLAers, sending them to other worlds that would negate the Leaguers powers.  But, Superman and Batman, the last to arrive, figured out that something bad was afoot, and used their tried and true method of switching identities, which allowed Superman to leave Batman's planet trap, and eventually rescue all his teammates (with a little help to get the Batman dressed as Superman).  The team find Snapper at the Secret Sanctuary, then go off chasing Dr. Light at three different locations....capturing him, and finding out all three were light duplicates designed to distract the JLA, except one JLAer had planned a distraction of his own, which allowed the team to defeat the Doctor.

Pin-Ups

There were two special pin-ups in this issue, harking back to the Golden Age of DC Comics, with both of them being rendered by Murphy Anderson.

The first was a two page spread of the Justice Society of America, with its membership as it was at the time this issue came out including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Robin....as well as an extra half a page with a little of the JSA's history.

The second pin-up was that of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, who were the leaders of 14 issues of Leading Comics, and this team had not been seen in decades, with a few of the members not even active in current comics! 

This was a first step to bringing them back....

...that, and more Giant coverage coming in the future!

Giant Superman's Krypton

Superman's homeworld of Krypton took the focus of one of the last of the 64 page DC Giants to run in Superman's title (with only one after, then a few 100 Page Super Spectaculars just to keep readers happy with collections of older tales), with Superman #232 (December-January, 1970/1971) also known as Giant #G-78, with a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

These reprints had a bit of a purpose, and this incredible cover was just the beginning of new happenings in the Superman titles.

But, first, the stories contained within the Giant....

Superman #141

The main tale of the issue was "Superman's Return To Krypton", a full length tale from Superman #141 (November, 1960) by Jerry Siegel, Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye, with an original cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.  This tale took into account many of the additions to Superman's Kryptonian history, and presented them as Superman had accidentally time traveled to Krypton before it exploded, where he was trapped, due to not having powers on Krypton.

Superman had to find his way around, being mistaken for an extra on a Kryptonian movie set for "The Space Explorers", meeting his parents, Jor-El and Lara, on the day they were married and attending the ceremony, then going to work for Jor-El as he attempts to save the inhabitants of Krypton from the upcoming explosion with a fleet of space arks. 

Superman, going by Kal-El, even falls for Lyla Lerrol, a famous actress, as well as meeting Krypto's parents, helping out Jonathan Kent and Martha Clark on Earth via long range telescope, but, for all he did, Superman was unable to change anything, as the equipment to build the space arks was in Kandor, which Brainiac came to shrink and capture, insuring the doom of Krypton.  Superman then got caught in a launch of a prop ship for the movie company, which took him out of Krypton's area, allowing him to time travel home.

Adventure Comics #313

This time around, it is "Father's Day On Planet Krypton", though the Superboy story from Adventure Comics #313 (October, 1963) by Leo Dorfman and George Papp don't quite get to celebrate in style (not making the cover, as the Legion of Super-Heroes tale did).

Still, it was quite an adventure for the Boy of Steel, after making a gift for Pa Kent, young Clark Kent went to the Mind-Prober Ray to learn of how Father's Day was celebrated on Krypton....and that each Kryptonian house had a fortress with statues of their ancestors, which Kryptonians were suppose to honor at a certain age.

Superboy had ended up on Earth before this happened, so he had a little extra mystery to solve, as well as being tormented by Jax-Ur, a Kryptonian criminal from the Phantom Zone, and, the fact that, while he found the statues in space, they had been turned to Kryptonite!  Still, Superboy did beat these obstacles, and discovered more on Val-El, Sul-El, Tala-El, Hatu-El and Gam-El. 

Superman #164

Next up is "The Fugitive From The Phantom Zone", a back up tale from Superman #164 (October, 1963) by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein, with a new threat to Superman's life (though he had his hands full in the front of this issue as well).

Kryptonian criminal Ras-Krom escaped from the Phantom Zone after the detonation of a nuclear bomb.  Disguising himself as "The Old Man from the Cosmos", he tried to steal nuclear weapons to open a rift to allow the rest of the Phantom Zone villains out, but, while fighting Superman, revealed his fear of ancient Kryptonian superstitions, which allowed Superman to herd him Ras-Krom to where he needed him to be, to nullify a device the criminal created to prevent Superman from sending back into the Phantom Zone.

Adventure Comics #216

Adventure Comics #216 (September, 1955) has "The Wizard City" by Bill Finger, Curt Swan and George Klein (under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye), which appears to be a story of Superboy teaming up with Superman?

Well, there is a team-up in the story, but it was Superboy getting help from a professor that had been lost in the African jungle, looking for a meteor that had crashed there.  That meteor was the remnants of a Kryptonian city, so Superboy couldn't go into the area, as it had been turned into Kryptonite, so he dressed his new pal as Superman, to confuse Vedders, the guide who abandoned the explorer to another city, that of ancient knights, who had gotten lost in Africa.  Superboy helped the new "Superman" to defeat Vedders, bury the city to keep others away from it, and take the lost knights to civilization.  Then, Superboy was able to reunite the explorer with his son, Jimmy, who proclaimed Superboy would forever be his pal for finding his dad, Professor Mark Olsen.  Shame Jimmy was too young to get a picture of the occasion....

This Giant set up for the next issue of Superman, which signaled a turning point for Superman, marking the start of the Bronze Age, along with the destruction of all Kryptonite on Earth (for a time), as well as a new back-up feature for the Superman title, the World of Krypton, of which many tales were based on the tales presented here (and collected in the recent tradepaperback of Superman: The Many Worlds Of Krypton, along with more modern interpretations of Superman's home from two World of Krypton mini-series), all to showcase the planet that is home to Syfy's newest series, Krypton, which showcases Superman's grandfather....and more.

Love Giant Lois Lane

True, it was still the title of Superman's Girl Friend, but even though Superman and Lois Lane loved each other, it was shown on a few occasions that Lois might love someone else, or that Superman might have someone else in his life...

....or that Lois would have to move on from Superman, as you can see on the cover of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #113 (September-October, 1971) by Dick Giordano (which was also Giant #G-87, but not quite the 80-Page Giants of the past, as this one only had 68 pages.....).


Still, it brought back quite a few tales of love...

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #49

First up was "The Unknown Superman" from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #49 (May, 1964) by an unknown writer and artist Kurt Schaffenberger.

Lois tests out a device by a Dr. Drolc, which allows her to trace talents, which she proves works.  So, she finds Strong Bear, an Indian man with super powers, and the two fall in love, then plan to marry.  Looking at the ring his tribe gives her, she realizes that Strong Bear really was Dr. Drolc, and others whom she had found during her testing.  Lois breaks the ring, and Strong Bear becomes a small blue alien man, the last survivor of the nuclear war which devastated his planet, who had been using the ring to take human form, allowing him to survive on Earth.  He did love Lois, but, without the ring, he was unable to survive on Earth and dies....

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #54

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #54 (January, 1965) is the next tale up, with "The Monster Who Loved Lois Lane" by Edmond Hamilton and Kurt Schaffenberger.

This time around, it was the inter-dimensional alien of Herko that falls for Lois, having been brought to Lois' dimension by Dr. Elder, and the super-strong and invulnerable alien immediately falls in love with Lois.  Lois leads Herko away from populated areas, giving Dr. Elder time to repair his machine.  Herko even proves a match for Superman for a bit, and, after the doctor finishes his repairs, Lois leads the love struck alien back to a portal to his own dimension, where he is heartbroken, having to live there without Lois Lane.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #57

Next up is "The Return Of Lois' Monster Sweetheart" from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #57 (May, 1965, by Edmond Hamilton and Kurt Schaffenberger, though that feature didn't make the cover...).

Feeling a little guilty about what she did to Herko, Lois goes to check up on him with help from Jimmy Olsen, but the two accidentally get trapped in Herko's dimension.  While there, Herko tries to renew his relationship with Lois, but Lois finds Zagga (a female member of Herko's race, who happens to love Herko).  Lois convinces Jimmy to try to woo Zagga, hoping to make Herko jealous and pursue Zagga, but this plan backfires, nearly resulting in a double wedding of Earthers and aliens.  Thankfully, Lois' makeup makes Herko sick, and he falls for Zagga as she helps him recover, while Dr. Elder fixes his machine to bring Lois and Jimmy home.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #43

With Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #43 (August, 1963), Lois became "The Girl Who Mourned For Superman", in a story by Leo Dorfman and Kurt Schaffenberger (with another story not featured on the original cover of the issue).

This time around, an electrical experiment with the Jimmy Olsen Fan Club transports Lois to an alternate Earth (but this one was so similar, she wasn't aware she was on an alternate planet).   Here, Lex Luthor traps her, and is able to kill Superman (but dies in the process).  Lois lives there long enough to see a robot replace Superman, then a Kandorian....before she meets an ambassador from Atlantis (which had not sunk in this world).  Lois visits her doppleganger without revealing herself, and ends up back home after getting another unintentional electric shock.

Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #41

The last Lois Lane story of this giant was from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #41 (May, 1963), with "Superman's Romance With Lana Lane" by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and George Klein.

Wait a minute...Lana Lane?  Yes, a few years before this story, Lana and Lois were merged into one girl by an alien pendant, and Superman, realizing he is getting the best of both worlds, proposes to the merged woman (believing this change would be permanent).  Unfortunately, it was not, and Superman realized they would both die.  Superman came up with a way to save one with a magic statue, but thankfully radiation from a strange meteor safely separated the two, and Superman, confronted by the pair, refuses to admit which of them he would have saved.

Unpublished Flash/Rose And Thorn Story

There is part of one more story in this issue, an unpublished Flash Comics Rose And Thorn Story from the tail end of the Golden Age by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.

At least, it is two pages of this story, with the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, saving Joan Williams from the evil Thorn, who turns back to her good side of Rose, with Flash giving Rose to Green Lantern to take to Wonder Woman's island, to make sure she is reformed. 

More on this Rose and Thorn, and her more modern version who was a heroic back-up in Lois Lane, is available here, and, if you loved this, more Giant Lois Lane fun can be found here, with the eventual results of that union of Green Lantern and Thorn pop up here, as Roy Thomas used this untold tale during his run on Infinity, Inc.