Wanted Dr. Clever Gentleman Ghost Dr. Glisten Captain Cold Mister Who

E. Nelson Bridwell didn't make it easy for future comic historians.  While it was great seeing stories of Johnny Quick, Hawkman, Hourman, Flash and Dr. Fate in Wanted, The World's Most Dangerous Villains, these villains he chose for the seventh and eight issue....

Doctor Clever....Gentleman Ghost (okay, not a bad choice, but he isn't on the Nick Cardy cover!)....Doctor Glisten....Captain Cold (good one there!)....and Mister Who!

Still, here there are!

The Adventure Of The Human Streak

First up for the seventh issue of Wanted from More Fun Comics #76 (February, 1942) by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin is the story of Johnny Quick facing a new speedy menace, thanks to his reoccurring foe, Dr. Clever (under an original cover of Dr. Fate by Howard Sherman)!


Johnny Quick's foe, Dr. Clever, fakes his own hanging in prison to get free, and continue his war with his foe. Dr. Clever has a new trick up his sleeve, a ray that gives whomever he shines it upon super-speed, and uses it on his henchman, Breezy.

After sending Breezy on a looting spree, Dr. Clever has his man confront Johnny Quick in the ring (as Johnny was using his speed formula in a boxing exposition to raise money for the USO).  Breezy beats Johnny, and Dr. Clever takes him back to his lab, where he leaves Johnny in a heated cage to perish.  Johnny gets a little extra boost from his speed formula, frees himself, and is able to defeat both Breezy and Dr. Clever.

Dr. Clever had faced Johnny before in More Fun Comics #74, and would return in More Fun Comics #78 and #89, while Johnny Quick would eventually go on to Adventure Comics (with many of these tales reprinted, and later, be a focus of the retroactive comic, the All-Star Squadron).

The Crimes That Couldn't Have Happened

Next up, is a tale of Hawkman and his invisible foe, the Gentleman Ghost (so invisible he didn't make the cover) from Flash Comics #90 (December, 1947) by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert (with original Flash cover by Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia).


Gentleman Ghost returns (his first appearance reprinted in Secret Origins #1), this time having taking the loot from a locked bank vault.  Hawkman and Hawkgirl spring into action, finding out he had taken the jewels before it was placed into the vault.

The Gentleman Ghost strikes again, taking a pharaoh's ruby from a museum, but his gives Hawkman a hint how to trap his foe.  Posing as archeologists having just returned from Africa with a precious gem, the Gentleman Ghost tries to rob the Hawks, who had a phony gem rigged with a camera to take his picture.  In battle with the Ghost, he tries a weapon on the Hawks, which explodes on him, and he disappears.  Checking the camera footage, Carter and Shiera still are unsure whether he was really a ghost.

Gentleman Ghost would return, to face not only the Golden Age Hawkman, but the Silver Age Hawkman as well, revealing that he really was the ghost of Gentleman Jim Craddock! 

Dr. Glisten

The last adventure in issue seven was from Adventure Comics #72 (March, 1942 under a Starman cover by Jack Burnley) with an Hourman (Rex Tyler, the man with power for an hour) story by Ken Fitch and Bernard Baily, featuring his foe, Dr. Glisten.

While patrolling, Hourman comes across a hit and run that was really a kidnapping, taking submarine Captain Frank Preston.  The Captain was taken by Dr. Glisten, who used his hypnotic powers to enslave himself a submarine crew, who he planned to use on his own submarine to loot the seas and blame it on enemy subs.  Hourman tracks down the villain, and puts the lights out on his nefarious scheme.

This was the only appearance of Dr. Glisten, but Hourman had many adventures in Adventure Comics with quite a few of them being reprinted.

The Big Freeze

Wanted #8 starts off with more recent villain, that of Captain Cold, and his second story from Flash #114 (August, 1960) by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson (under an original cover by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella).


Leonard Snart was up for parole, with Iris West taking Barry Allen there so she could testify. 

Barry then appeared as Flash to testify as well, recommending Captain Cold not be let go.  The prison board agreed, but Snart was able to escape anyway with a refrigeration device he had made.  As Captain Cold, Snart approached Iris West, who informed him she wouldn't have anything to do with him even if he was the last man on Earth.  Captain Cold worked on that, with a new device that froze everyone in Central City except those two.  Barry, being outside of the city, heard of its plight, and sped home as the Flash, breaking through the ice barrier surrounding the city.  Inside, Flash faced off against Captain Cold's cold illusions and real ice threats to knock out his foe, and with Iris' help, turn off the device freezing Central City.

Captain Cold had faced Barry before during his original Showcase run (reprinted in Treasury form), and would repeatedly return to face the Flash!

Mr. Who

Last but not least for the eighth issue, is the first appearance of Mister Who from More Fun Comics #73 (November, 1941) by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman, with Sherman also providing the original cover with Doctor Fate!



Dr. Fate shows up to stop hoods from robbing a museum, but their boss, Mr. Who, gets the painting he wanted and escapes. 

Dr. Fate finds Mr. Who's headquarters, and confronts him, but is surprised by the power of Mr. Who, enhanced by Solution Z, which gives him powers of strength, regeneration, growth and camouflage.  Capturing Dr. Fate, Mr. Who tells him the tale of how he was a sickly youth, and developed Solution Z to give himself a new lease on life.  Leaving Dr. Fate to face a giant spider, Mr. Who goes out to steal a diamond.  Dr. Fate escapes the spider, tracks down Mr. Who, and faces him on a boat, where Dr. Fate (still not use to his lesser power with his half helmet), throws Mr. Who through the boat, to the bottom of the lake.

Mr. Who would return a few more times in More Fun Comics (only reprinted in the Doctor Fate Archives), and even later, as a member of the Monster Society of Evil (facing Hawkgirl, Hourman, Dr. Fate and Sandy) introduced during the Crisis during World War II (and tying in with the next issue of Wanted).

Proceeding to the end of Wanted, having Batman, Flash and Golden Age stories (though no Golden Age Flash) with one more issue left (though the letter pages didn't foreshadow this).  Hope was still there, with possible promises of new stories, and perhaps an all female issue of Wanted, with Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Cheetah or the Huntress!

Flash Facts: The Last Crossover

Seems a good enough time to pull out the last Flash crossover that Barry Allen and Jay Garrick would have before the Crisis on Infinite Earths....

....and it sure looks like it was going to spell doom for Jay's wife Joan!


Let's see how this event played out in this meeting of the greatest Flashes of Earth-1 and Earth-2 in Flash #305 (January, 1982), by Cary Bates, Carmine Infantino and Robert Allen Smith (with cover by Carmine Infantino and Mike DeCarlo)!

Don't Take My Wife -- Please!

The tale started on Earth-2, where Joan Garrick was sleeping at home while her Flash, Jay Garrick was patrolling Keystone City....and she was taken by a mysterious force.  Meanwhile, on Earth-1, relatively recently widowed Barry Allen was dreaming about Joan (not like that...but a dream where she was running on a cliff....then falling to her death; leading Barry to feel worried Jay would lose his wife like he lost his).

This dream unnerved Barry enough to send him across the dimensional divide from Earth-1 to Earth-2, where, ending up at the Garrick's home, he found Jay....who was searching for his missing wife!  Having revealed his identity to the world, Jay felt he was the target of a terrorist group, the Ravagers, who were attacking Keystone City.  As Jay went into a drawer to show Barry proof, he triggered a device they had set...blowing up Jay's home!

The two speeders were to fast to fall for the unplanned explosion, with Jay saving the note of theirs, and Barry saving the fuse from the explosive, which he would use to track the villains.  But, who is the mysterious figure watching the pair?

The two speedsters track the terrorists to their mountain hideout, but do not find Joan there.  Instead, the mysterious figure appears....it is Doctor Fate, a JSA teammate of Jay Flash (who worked with the duo before)....and he tells the duo that he was responsible for Joan disappearing.

Seems an extradimensional villain was able to access the magic orb in Dr. Fate's Salem tower, and send a bolt of mystic energy to draw Joan into his dimension....that evil being known as the Lord of Limbo (who was the menace faced by Barry at the end of his quest dealing with the death of Iris).

Barry barely escaped limbo before, and was unable to return to free the other inhabitants, but, working with Dr. Fate, the two speedsters worked their way back....found Joan, faced the Lord of Limbo, freed the inhabitants, and still got back home without freeing the Lord of Limbo from his prison!

A special issue dedicated to Gardner Fox, who co-created the original Flash and Dr. Fate, as well as starting the two Flashes on their meetings from multiple Earths, as well as kicking off the Crisis with the earliest of the JLA/JSA meetings (including their first).

Jay Flash and Dr. Fate appeared here after the nineteenth JLA/JSA team-up (against the Secret Society of Super-Villains, coverage coming soon), with Jay appearing next with the JSA in an issue of Wonder Woman, and Dr. Fate starting a run as a back-up feature in the very next issue of the Flash!  An oddly prophetic issue as well, as Barry was worried Joan would die (but didn't), like Iris...who was dead (or was she?).

Flash Crossover Multiple Issues

One odd thing over the years, is that while JLA/JSA meetings seemed to take either more issues or more space, Flash team-ups usually only went for one issue....

...except for the 3 issues where Barry and Jay Flashes worked together here!

Follow along quickly as the tale is told....

Vandal Savage -- Wanted Dead And Alive

It started simple enough in Flash #235 (August, 1975) by Cary Bates, Irv Novick and Tex Blaisdell (under a stunning Dick Giordano cover), heralding not only Jay Flash's return, but that of Green Lantern Hal Jordan and villain, Vandal Savage....in a full length tale.


Barry thought his Flash adventures were going to make him late for a dinner of Veal Scaloppine with his wife Iris...but, instead, he found her missing.  Instead, he is confronted by Vandal Savage, who tells him he took his wife (and after a bit of a battle....in Barry's mind), Flash follows up on this.  Meanwhile, Hal Jordan (Earth's Green Lantern) is getting his ex, Carol Ferris, back in his life, until Vandal Savage shows up and takes her from him (and gives Hal a little mental battle as well).

The heroes end up on Earth-2, helping out Flash Jay Garrick, and asking him about Vandal Savage....and he relates that the meteor crash which may have not have taken Savage's life, but just transferred him to Earth-1, but, Jay was mysteriously too busy to help the heroes.  Back to Earth-1, where Vandal Savage taunts Flash and Green Lantern, goading them to finding the meteor which would restore Savage's immortality, and Hal uses his power ring to see at least one of the girls are inside it.....and Green Lantern and Flash use their powers to put out the flaming meteor (and capture Vandal Savage).  They open the meteor....to find only Carol Ferris.  Savage explains he went to kidnap Iris, but she was already missing.  This puts Barry into detective mode, now on the hunt for his wife....though, if he could just peer into Earth-2 he would find her, as Jay is hiding her from him!


Jay Flash was last in a team-up with Barry in Flash #229, and Vandal Savage appeared in the Jay-Barry meeting the time previous, in Flash #215, both covered here, with Vandal Savage next returning for a bit in the 1970s All-Star Comics run.

Nowhere On The Face Of The Earth

Not finding Iris has put Barry in a bit of distress, as shown in Flash #236 (September, 1975) by Cary Bates, Irv Novick and Tex Blaisdell (under a Mike Grell cover).

Barry Flash is searching (a little carelessly) through Central City and the surrounding areas for his wife, Iris, to no avail.

Meanwhile, on Earth-2, Jay Flash is stopping menaces in Keystone City, with a little help from the mystical Dr. Fate, who has come to help with another problem...that of Iris Allen!  Dr. Fate uses a spell to keep Barry Flash busy on Earth-1 while Jay Flash and he look for a solution for the problem Iris has, which is she now has an aura that, if it comes into contact Flash's super speed aura, will result in a cataclysm.

Barry thinks he sees Iris on a live TV report, so goes to the tunnel that it is coming from, and does find Iris....or so he thinks, as the lady says she isn't.  While there, he is attacked by a pair of mystical hands, and he tries to keep "Iris" safe from them, eventually defeating the hands, and finding out that this lady wasn't Iris.  It was all a mystical spell by Dr. Fate to keep Barry busy, but, while that did, neither Dr. Fate nor Jay Flash found a cure for Iris.  So, they decide to send her to the 30th Century for help....but, coincidentally, that's where Barry Flash is going to look for her, speeding off on his cosmic treadmill!

Dr. Fate is fresh off his appearance with the JLA/JSA, meeting the Freedom Fighters (as chronicled here), and Joan Garrick makes a quick appearance, between Flash #229 and the 1970s All-Star Comics run..

The 1,000 Year Separation

The distractions Barry had faced to find Iris has made him desperate in Flash #237 (November, 1975) by Cary Bates, Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin (with Ernie Chan doing the cover....and revealing the mystery villain behind Iris' disappearance....the Reverse-Flash!).

Barry is on his way to 1000 years in the future, the time Iris West originally came from (she was translocated into the past to keep her alive, explained in another story for another day).

Flash is approaching his wife and her parents in the future....when he suddenly gets a mystic bolt from Dr. Fate explaining to him what has been going on and the dire fate the universe will suffer if he touches his wife again.   Even being this close to Iris causes disasters, but why?

Well, Reverse-Flash shows up to explain.  Seems he set this plan in motion the last time he battled Barry (and tried to marry Iris).  Now, Reverse-Flash plans to marry her in 2975!  Barry is dejected, but notices things Eobard Thawne does....and, after a quick battle with his foe, figures out the vibrations he uses to cancel out the energy flux around Iris, and is able to duplicate them to free her from their problem.  Thawne escapes, as Barry and Iris enjoy their reunion, then head home for a long overdue dinner!

Dr. Fate appears next in his first solo story since the Golden Age, then joins Jay in the first issue of the JSA revival of All-Star Comics that introduced Power Girl.  Reverse-Flash isn't done with alternate Earths either, as he meets with the magical fellow here in a later issue of Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Come back quick, because there are still many Flash crossovers to come!
 

First Issue Plus One: Doctor Fate

Digging into the history of Doctor Fate, one sees that he had one era where he had shown as a particularly bright light....

...that of the 1970s.

Being a major player in JLA/JSA team-ups was not his only function at this time, as he had two solo ventures worth taking a look at!

Here they are, appearing as if by magic!

The Mummy That Time Forgot

First up is the first Dr. Fate solo tale since the 1940s, 1st Issue Special #9 (December, 1975) by Martin Pasko and Walt Simonson, all under a cover by Joe Kubert.


This issue was a great showcase for the golden gladiator, introducing readers of this issue to Kent Nelson, archeologist, who lives in a mystic tower in Salem, MA, with his wife, Inza...

...all the while harboring the mystic entity of ancient Lord of Order Nabu, which when Kent dons his helmet..

...turns Nelson into the protector of the universe, Doctor Fate!

This issue starts in the Boston Museum of Egyptology, where a great evil breaks loose, one that Dr. Fate has feared...that of Khalis!  This animated mummy attacks the doctor, taking away his mystic amulet, with Fate heading back to his sanctuary, and removing the helmet of Nabu, allowing Inza to care for the injured Kent Nelson.   Inza tries to care for her husband, but curses the fates that make her share him with Nabu, and leaves their tower.

Kent awakens, to go to study about Khalis....who was a follower of Anubis in 2030 B.C., and causing chaos in the Egypt of that time, until Nabu came and stopped the mad sorcerer, who was punished by being mummified alive, with Anubis insuring Khalis would stay alive, to come back at some future point to retrieve the amulet of his power...and that day was today!

Kent also reflects on his own origins (more on this later), and Inza feels she stormed out too quickly, yet goes to investigate the museum Khalis came from.  Nelson becomes Dr. Fate again, chasing after Khalis, and using what power he has available, but still unable to defeat his foe, at least until Inza arrives with a piece of Khalis' sarcophagus with Nabu's seal....giving Dr. Fate the ability to stop Khalis' plan to turn modern Boston into ancient Egypt by invoking the power of the Egyptian sun god, Amon-Ra.

Once the battle is completed, Inza and Kent reunite, getting back the amulet, and figuring out a way the three of them can live together.

A stunning story by Marty Pasko that added a little of the Egyptian look to Dr. Fate's bag of tricks, especially the use of the Ankh, all thanks to Walt Simonson's vibrant art, and one of many special issues of First Issue Special, which included characters like the Warlord , Metamorpho, Creeper and Atlas.

This Immortal Destiny

All that, but only a hint of the origin behind Dr. Fate.  DC Special Series #10 (1978) by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton and Michael Netzer explores his origins more fully, expanding upon the original tale told back in More Fun Comics, all under a cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

This issue starts with Inza brooding in Dr. Fate's Salem Tower, poring over the tomes that give life to Dr. Fate's history.


Young 12 year old Kent Nelson was accompanying his archeologist father, Sven Nelson, onto a dig in Sumeria, when the boy stumbled upon the sleeping form of Nabu, releasing him from his suspended animation (with the gas keeping him under killing Kent's dad).

Now alone and grief stricken, Kent's anguish was replaced by Nabu's magic, as the Lord of Order explained that he was a host to an ancient mystic power, that had been hibernating since his battles in ancient Egypt, waiting for this day, when he could teach a new student the mystic arts, to prepare that body to be his new host to fight the forces of chaos across the multiverse.  Nabu gave Kent the amulet of Khalis and helm of Nabu, and, accepting them....became Doctor Fate.

But, Kent didn't know that would also mean handing control of his body over to Nabu, a fate which Inza was still wrestling with....

This issue also contains origins of the New God, Lightray, and Dr. Fate's fellow Earth-2 inhabitant, Black Canary (though her origin is more complex than the one told here, as it is the Earth-1 Black Canary relating the origin of her mother, the Earth-2-Black Canary).


These will be tales explored at a different time.

Looking for an inexpensive way to read these classic tales?  Look no further than The Immortal Doctor Fate #1 (January, 1985), that reprints these two stories, along with a classic Golden Age adventure of Dr. Fate vs. Wotan, all under a wraparound cover by Walt Simonson, the first of three issues reprinting Dr. Fate (the next two focusing on stories from his time as a back up in the Flash), showing off the magic that is Dr. Fate! 


 

Flash Green Lantern Dr. Fate First Multiple Crisis

While the JLA and JSA team ups usually got more attention, that tradition began with the Flashes of two worlds, Jay Garrick and Barry Allen, teaming up for a few times.

Then, they got comfortable, and brought in their friends, and those friends, like the Green Lanterns of two Earths, as well as JSAers Dr. Fate and Hourman as well as Starman and Black Canary, had team ups of their own....

Flash Of Two Worlds

This was the big one.  The first time Barry met Jay, in Flash #123 (September, 1961) by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella (with Infantino and Murphy Anderson supplying the cover).

While helping Iris by putting on a show as the Flash at the Central City Community Center, Barry ends up on another Earth, that had subtle differences.  The big difference between Earths was that Jay Garrick had been the Flash in Keystone City, and had retired for a time.  But, with his old foes on the loose (Thinker, Fiddler and the Shade), Jay was coaxed back into action by Barry, and the two Flashes defeated the three villains, with Barry vibrating home at the end (and Jay watching, so he'd know how to do that trick.

This was the first appearance of the Flash (Jay Garrick), his wife (Joan Garrick) and the Fiddler, Thinker and the Shade since the Golden Age.

Double Danger On Earth

Next up for the two Flashes was Flash #129 (June, 1962) by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, under another Infantino/Anderson cover.

This time around, Jay's Earth was menaced by a mysterious radiation coming from a comet that had crashed into the sun, with a meteorite in Arizona that was absorbing the radiation...but it vanished.  Jay figured out it went to Barry's Earth, and quickly went there for help, but encountered Captain Cold and Trickster (who were both robbing the same location).  So, Jay fought the villains, and quickly got help from Barry (as the Flash).  The villains decided to team up s well, but were promptly defeated, with the Flashes taking the meteor back to Jay's Earth to coat the atmosphere to protect it from the radiation.

The JSA's last case (or at least the one readers saw), All-Star Comics #57, was referenced in this issue, as was both Jay and Barry's origins, as well as Barry's copy of All-Star Comics #37 (the first appearance of the Injustice Society of the World).

Vengeance Of The Immortal Villain

Though mostly a team-up of Barry and Jay, the JSA returns in Flash #137 (June, 1963) by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, under an incredible Infantino/Anderson cover.

Barry sees problems in cities that seem familiar.....the cities on his Earth that are having problems are the homes of JSA members (heroes from Jay's Earth).  A quick jump to that Earth finds trouble, as Jay suspects someone has captured the JSA.  The two start to leave Keystone City to investigate, when Jay is captured in a stasis cube.  Barry frees Jay from a stasis cube, and after being manipulated into fighting each other by Vandal Savage (the villain who captured the team), the two Flashes defeat the immortal villain, freeing the other Justice Society members,  who decide that they need to meet more regularly in the future.

This story has the first appearances of the JSA's Green Lantern, Hawkman, Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Thunder and Wonder Woman, as well as Vandal Savage .

Invader From A Dark Dimension

This is the first solo team up of Barry and Jay, Flash #151 (March, 1965) by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, under an Infantino/Anderson cover, since the JLA and JSA met.

Barry Allen faces a new menace, a black goop that Iris finds in a jewelry store (which keeps the Flash busy, and allows the store to be robbed).  Similar thefts keep happening all over Central City, while, on Earth-2, Jay finds his foe, the Shade, with plenty of money to burn.  The Shade was using his powers to rob on Earth-1, then take the loot to Earth-2, and the Shade traps Jay in darkness after Jay confronts him.  Barry covers himself in gold on Earth-1, so Shade takes him as "loot", and, inside the dark dimension Shade accesses, Barry defeats the Shade, using his cane to free Jay and return the stolen goods.

This is the first time Barry and Jay's Earths are referred to as Earth-1 and Earth-2 in a Flash comic book, after their being named in the first JLA/JSA team-up.  Jay appears here between the second and third JLA/JSA team-ups.

Solomon Grundy Goes On A Rampage

A team up of two JSAers happens in Showcase #55 (March-April, 1965) by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson (with cover by Anderson), as Dr. Fate and Hourman team-up to save the original Green Lantern from his foe, Solomon Grundy.

Solomon Grundy ends up back on Earth, after the globe Green Lantern (Alan Scott) created crashes to Earth thanks to striking a comet.  Grundy heads to home, Slaughter Swamp.  Dr. Fate has a mystic alarm go off, which puts him on Grundy's tale, as Hourman gets involved as his chemical plant is close to Slaughter Swamp.  Grundy fights the two, countering their magic and miraclo powers, escaping from them.  Grundy then faces Green Lantern, and beats him, taking the original emerald crusader back to Slaughter Swamp, changing him into a Grundy like monster.  Dr. Fate cures Green Lantern with his magic, and using their combined magical might, capture Grundy in a new sphere.

This issue recaps Solomon Grundy's origin and battle with the JSA from All-Star Comics #33 (as will as being his first appearance since the Golden Age), but how Grundy got back in that prison is recounted as part of the origin of the All-Star Squadron, and Grundy returns soon, in the fourth JLA/JSA meeting.  It is also the first appearance of Inza Nelson, Kent's wife (with their marriage being revealed first here; as she was just Inza Cramer when she worked with Dr. Fate in the Golden Age).

Perils Of The Psycho-Pirate

Next up is a story by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson (under a cover by Anderson) from Showcase #56 (May-June, 1965), with Dr. Fate and Hourman facing a new villain with a familiar name.

Archeologist Kent Nelson finds a set of Medusa Masks on a dig, and financier Rex Tyler finds his fiancee, Wendi Harris, fascinated by them (so much so she tries to steal them when displaying them at a party she held).  Roger Hayden manipulated her into doing that, as he planned on taking the masks to take over the identity of Psycho-Pirate.  Hayden was a cellmate of the original Psycho-Pirate (Charley Halstead), who taught him how to manipulate emotions and about the masks.  The new Psycho-Pirate sets Dr. Fate and Hourman against each other until they are able to defeat him.

This issue has the first Silver Age appearance of the original Psycho-Pirate, as well as the reporting of his death.  Dr. Fate appears here between the second and third JLA/JSA team-ups, and Hourman between the first and fifth.

Secret Origin Of The Guardians

Green Lantern #40 (October, 1965) is a big issue, revealing much of the origins of the DC Universe in this story by John Broome, Gil Kane and Sid Greene, all under a great cover by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson.

This story stars with a reunion of Alan Scott and Doiby Dickles at Gotham Broadcasting, with Alan having to ring-sling as Green Lantern to stop a meteor, which his ring seems to have no effect on, then to save Doiby from a falling tree, which oddly works as Alan's ring usually doesn't against wood.  Alan goes to show Hal his new trick....which now doesn't work.  Alan explains, with the help of his ring, that the comet was really an ancient Oan scientist named Krona, that ended up being freed from his prison by exposure to Alan's magical based ring.

Krona was an Oan scientist, long ago, who performed experiments trying to find the origins of the universe.  He succeeded slightly, seeing a "cosmic hand" of creation (but his activities were also destructive, causing evil to be unleashed in the universe, and later, more trouble like the creation of the Multiverse, according to the Crisis on Infinite Earths).  So, the Oans banished him in comet form (and eventually became the Guardians of the Universe, who formed the Green Lantern Corps).

Krona planned on doing more experiments, and was possessing Alan Scott's body (with Alan hiding in Hal's mind).  The two battled, with Hal winning (as he had secretly switching rings with Alan, exchanging a weakness for yellow for one for wood), allowing Hal to defeat Krona, with the Guardians of the Universe returning Krona to comet form, the Green Lanterns swapping rings back, and Alan heading back to Earth-2.

This issue is the first appearance of the "Cosmic Hand", hinting at the foundation of the DC Universe (and Multiverse, all revealed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths), as well as Krona's first appearance, and the first appearance of Doiby Dickles, Alan Green Lantern's Golden Age partner.  Green Lantern Alan Scott appears here after his appearance in the third JLA/JSA team-up, and appears next in another team-up with Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

Mastermind Of Menaces

Another focus on a team-up of two JSA members, Brave and the Bold #61 (August-September, 1965) by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson (under a stunning Anderson cover), sees the gathering of Starman and Black Canary!

Ted Knight (Starman) is visiting Park City, and drops by the florist shop that is owned by Dinah Drake Lance, the Black Canary.  Larry Lance knows there is a rash of robberies in the town, traceable back to Dinah's flower shop.  Investigating, Starman finds that his old foe, the intangible Mist is behind it, having hypnosis, but Starman has problems working his Cosmic Rod near the Mist's men (due to frequencies given off by Mist's hypnotic flowers).  Working together, Starman and Black Canary are able to defeat the Mist and his men.

This issue sees the Mist return from the Golden Age, as well as Larry Lance (a detective who was friends with Black Canary, and is now revealed to be her husband).  Black Canary and Starman were both last in the second JLA/JSA team-up, and appear next in the next issue of B&B (which is reprinted in the second volume of this Crisis collection).

The Hour Hourman Died

The last story in this collection is from Spectre #7 (November-December, 1968) by Gardner Fox, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene, and is a back-up story featuring Hourman in a bit of a problem.

Returning to his HQ under Tyler Chemical Company from a JSA meeting, Hourman encounters Tricky Dick Arnold, a thief phasing through the door.  Taking a Miraclo pill for an hour of power, Hourman faces him, but the thief hits him with a beam from his Metalizer....which seems to kill Hourman!  Normally only working against metal (allowing Arnold to phase through items to thief), that unique radiation seem to spell doom for Hourman....except his Miraclo was keeping him alive for one last hour.  Tracking down the thief and analyzing the Metalizer, allowed Hourman to make an antidote before he faced his last hour.

Hourman appears here between the sixth and eighth JLA/JSA team ups.

All these stories are reprinted in the Crisis On Multiple Earths the Team-Ups Volume 1, with a cover by Jerry Ordway.

More JLA/JSA collections, including a second one of team-ups with team members will be forthcoming, as these meetings of members of teams from Earth-1 and Earth-2 foreshadow the Crisis On Infinite Earths.

All-Star Comics 3 The First Meeting Of The Justice Society Of America

On November 22, 1940, in a hotel lobby, was "The First Meeting Of The Justice Society Of America" as relayed to readers in All-Star Comics #3 (Winter, 1940) under a cover by Everett Hibbard in a story by Gardner Fox.

The eight members there: Sandman, Spectre, Flash, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern, Hourman and the Atom formed the charter membership of the Justice Society of America, and was the first teaming of super heroes formed.

The story wasn't much of a team-up, but instead the heroes gathering to tell individual tales of their exploits (and the party was crashed by non-members, the original Red Tornado and Johnny Thunder as well).  Still, it was a good start.

With the next issue, All-Star Comics #4 (March-April, 1941), the team began to work on the same case (though they'd go off on their own).  Soon after that, old members started to leave and new members would join....but readers had to wait until DC Special #29 (August-September, 1977) to get the tale of how these heroes (as well as Superman and Batman, who were too busy to be anything but honorary members in the 1940s) originally met for the first time.

All-Star Comics #3 was reprinted a few times, first in the Famous First Edition #F-7 (June-July, 1975), then in the first volume of the All-Star Archives (a 12 volume series, which reprinted All-Star Comics #1-57, with a zero issue covering the two pre-JSA issues, and ending with volume 11, which contained All-Star Comics #50-57), and most recently in the Millennium Edition: All-Star Comics #3 (June, 2000).

All-Star Comics #3 came out on November 22, 1940, and according to America Vs. The Justice Society, that's the date of the meeting as well.  The four issue mini-series from 1985 was a great source of information on the JSA (though DC didn't reprint the inner covers in the tradepaperback, lessening the helpfulness of the TPB, as Roy Thomas put extensive notes on the inner covers of the original issues, including where to find all the Golden Age reprints of JSA and individual JSA members stories (which has been updated for most members, like Starman and Black Canary, here).  The fact Roy was also born on November 22, 1940, is just luck!

A comic that started the heroic tradition of team-ups and teams, something to be thankful for, as that tradition continues to this very day!