Chris and Reggie's Cosmic Treadmill, Episode #70
Christmas With the Superheroes #1 (1988)
"Wanted: Santa Claus - Dead or Alive!"
"The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus!"
"The TT's Swingin' Christmas Carol!"
"Star Light, Star Bright... Farthest Star I See Tonight!"
"Twas the Fright Before Christmas!"
"The Silent Night of the Batman"
Writers - Denny O'Neil, Len Wein, Bob Haney, Paul Levitz, E. Nelson Bridwell & Mike Friedrich
Pencillers - Frank Miller, Dick Dillon, Nick Cardy, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Curt Swan & Neal Adams
Inkers - Steve Mitchell, Dick Giordano & Murphy Anderson
Letterers - Ben Oda
Colorists - Glenn Whitmore, Helen Vesik & Jerry Serpe
Editors - Len Wein, Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $2.95
Keeping our Christmas on Infinite Earths... in July festivities rolling along, today I'm sharing Reggie and my first Holiday special... DC Comics' Christmas With the Superheroes #1 from 1988.
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This was one of our longer episodes... as we were looking at like skatey-eight hundred creators and a half-dozen stories. This was also my longest ever blog post to that point... and, actually, it very well still might be! I still haven't published that "full-length" Bizarro World piece yet, so I think this one still might take the length-crown!
With that said... Just as with yesterday, if podcasts ain't your thing, there is a text-n-pics variation on this discussion that you can check out if you decide to click the cover below! While you're at it, you might wanna check out my discussion of Christmas With the Superheroes #2 (1989)!
Justice League of America #107 (September-October, 1973)
"Crisis on Earth-X!"
Writer - Len Wein
Pencils - Dick Dillin
Inks - Dick Giordano
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.20
Been in a bit of a Crisis-y mood the past couple of days... so, let's go even further back in the annuls of the Justice League/Justice Society team-ups... and meet us some Quality characters while we're at it!
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We open with members of the Justice Society getting ready to load into the Transmatter Machine in order to perform a little interdimensional travel... nothing bad could come of this, right? I mean, the Transmatter Machine almost never goes wonky... right? Ahem. At that moment, in the JLA Satellite hovering over Earth-1, they too are preparing to load into their Transmatter Machine. Not sure why both teams need to get in, if they're planning to have their get-together on Earth-2... but, whattayagonnado?
Red Tornado, originally from Earth-2, expresses interest in returning there alongside the Justice League. Green Lantern puts the kibosh on that, because the Transmatter Machine has only been tested thus far using inanimate object and live subjects. I guess a robot is somewhere in between? Okey doke. Anyhoo, Batman, Elongated Man, and Green Arrow file into the Machine... and Ollie mentions that he feels a bit of a draft in the box.
Then, simultaneously on both Earths... the Flashes of their respective teams press a button, sending their teammates... somewhere. Again, not sure why the Earth-2 heroes (which included the Golden-Age Superman, Sandman, and Dr. Fate) needed to get in the box to begin with... but, not much we can do about that now! Was this just supposed to be a trade? Maybe it was just a test.
Anyhoo, the dimensionally-lost heroes wind up arriving on an Earth none of them recognize. We learn straight away that this was likely Red Tornado's fault. Ya see, he stowed away in the JLA's Transmatter Machine (which explains the breeze Ollie felt). This threw everything outta whack and sent the heroes to... a world where Nazi tanks roam American streets?!
Superman is almost giddy at the prospect of wackin' some Ratzis... and hops right into the fray! Everything looks to be going swell, until one of Dr. Fate's "enchantments" is deflected by the baddies, and winds up walloping Superman!
Then, one of the Nazi tanks emits a high frequency sound, which boggles the heroes' minds and bodies enough to temporarily take 'em out.
Before the Nazis can swarm, they are cut off by... Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters! They make short-work of the tanks (and men in 'em) which makes me wonder why they just haven't taken down the Reich themselves? They certainly seem up for the job! Once the dust settles, they carry the heroes of Earths 1 and 2 back to their secret hideout, located behind a propaganda poster of The Fuhrer.
Here, it's explained that on this Earth, the Axis Powers won World War II. Evidently, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt succumbed to a fatal heart attack in 1944... and the government kinda fell into disarray... delaying several "projects". For example, by the time American nukes were completed... Germany also had 'em, leaving the world in a stalemate... and so, the war rolled on for decades! Then, at some point in the late 1960's... it all ended. Ya see, Hitler's "brain boys" concocted a mind-control ray to make everyone fall in line. Everyone, except the Freedom Fighters, that is. They have an "immunity" to the ray... which I gotta assume came in the form of a funky flu shot.
He then introduces us to the members of his team... which is a good thing, since this is their first DC Comics appearance (and perhaps their first appearance anywhere in over a decade)! The team consists of the Human Bomb, Doll Man, The Ray, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, and of course, Uncle Sam.
Ollie interrupts the introduction and asks why the Freedom Fighters just haven't destroyed all the mind-control devices. Sam explains that they're hidden via a "mental block", meaning... they could be just about anywhere, and nobody would be any the wiser. I guess that immunity-inoculation only goes so far then? Dr. Fate digs a crystal ball outta... well, outta a pile of refuse from the looks of it, and figures he might be able to hoo-doo up the location.
Black Condor isn't sure they should trust these gaudily-dressed interlopers, but Uncle Sam puts him in his place with the quickness. Now, this is a team-up issue... so, you might know where this is headed. Dr. Fate deduces that the mind-control devices are in three different locations (Eiffel Tower, Mt. Rushmore, and Mount Fujiyama)... which means, it's time to split up! The heroes (sans Red Tornado) blink outta sight.
We pick up with the team of Batman (Earth-1), Dr. Fate (Earth-2) and The Ray and Human Bomb (Earth-X) as they're stood before the Eiffel Tower. The Ray decides to take point, and head up to the top of the Tower... where he is greeted by, you guessed it, Nazis! After kayoing a lot of 'em, one manages to trigger an alarm... which causes a whole lot more to come pouring out from a nearby door. I've never been to Paris, but I didn't realize there was so much room atop the Eiffel Tower!
By now, Batman has... get this... climbed the entire height of the Eiffel Tower. The Nazis, who have kayoed the Ray, unload their rifles in Batman's direction. Lucky for him, they're pretty bad at this, and only wind up shooting through his cape. Batman seems, perhaps a bit too relaxed during this situation. With the Nazis distracted, Dr. Fate and Human Bomb arrive to take care of business.
When the final Ratzi is knocked out, the heroes turn their attention to those doors the baddies came pouring out of. They're insanely thick, and would take forever to bust through... that is, if you're anyone but the Human Bomb! Bomb punches right through the wall with an explosive right.
Inside, they find themselves stood before the mind-control device... and it's massive! Surely, there's some sort of physical sleight of hand at play.
The machine whirs to life, and after scanning the fellows stood before it, creates humanoid life-forms to take 'em out. If you look quickly, you'd swear this machine just created the Metal Men!
We get a few pages of the heroes fighting the synthezoid baddies... it's a stalemate until they realize (by accident) that each bot is tailored to its target... and so, the heroes just shift from battling one bot to another, and it's academic from there.
With the synthezoids taken out, the machine... does what it should've done in the first place... it attempts to control the heroes' minds! And it works!
Well... sorta. The heroes walk in lock-step toward the machine... and, all at once, karate-chop the thing to pieces! The hell did we just witness?
Well, Batman explains that while they were mind-controlled, they still completed their mission via "reflex action". Ya kidding me with this? Oh well... it's a moot point anyway, because we learn that the heroes' Mind-Control Machine was in another castle.
We wrap up back on Earth-1. Jay Garrick is communicating to Hal Jordan, who by now realizes that the missing heroes aren't on either Earth. He fears they might be dead... which is a really lame cliffhanger, since we already know they're not!
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I'm usually kind of a sucker for the "break into groups and seek out the MacGuffin" type of story... but, this... ehh, maybe it's just my own fatigue, but this just didn't do it for me. Just didn't feel any urgency... maybe it's the inactivity of the Freedom Fighters... maybe it's the ease with which Dr. Fate was able to triangulate the locations. I dunno.
I am still a sucker for introducing new/existing characters into the mainstream. Part of me wishes DC did something similar to this upon acquiring the WildStorm characters. I think that would've been a lot cooler than what wound up happening... and might've opened up some fun possibilities.
Now, Earth-X... always a weird one. Many folks know that this was originally going to be called "Earth-Swastika" (DC actually already established an "Earth-X" in the pages of a Jimmy Olsen comic (above) a few years prior), which... I mean, would be considered "edgy" today, but I wonder how that would have been received back in the early 1970's? I mean, we'd only be a few decades removed from World War II at that point. I suppose we'll never know! And, ya know... that might not be a bad thing.
The Freedom Fighters characters, not the most exciting group'a folks... but, still neat to see them. It's funny seeing the Golden-Age Superman take part in this adventure... he's a bit more "froggy" than his Silver-Age counterpart... and really seemed to be stompin' for a fight with the Nazis!
Overall... decent-enough story, but the prospect of watching another couple of teams face off with Mind-Control machines over the next issue or two, just doesn't do it for me. Also, what a lame cliffhanger... oh no, Hal thinks the heroes (who we spent the entire issue with) are dead! Yawn. This issue is available digitally, and has been collected as part of Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 3.
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Letters Page (featuring Mike W. Barr!):
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Superman #257 (October, 1972)
"Superman Battles the War-Horn!"
"The Greatest Green Lantern of All!"
Writers - Cary Bates & Elliot S! Maggin w/Neal Adams
Pencils - Curt Swan & Dick Dillin
Inks - Murphy Anderson & Dick Giordano
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.20
Being as though I am an avid "cheap-o bin" diver... I don't always come to the surface with pristine copies. Such is the case today. If you look at the cover (just over Superman's head), it looks like a vendor re-priced this issue at a nickel.
That might annoy some, however... I can't help but to find it kinda charming. I love the idea that this issue has a little bit of "story" to it. Plus, the way the price was rubbed out, it almost looks like Superman is wearing a cute little wizard hat... so, it's got that going for it too.
Anyhoo, today we're discussing a pretty important issue... and, get this, the important part comes in a back-up! A The Fabulous World of Krypton back-up, no less... and those are usually the worst!
Let's get to it!
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Our story opens with Lois, Clark, Jimmy and Perry enjoying a day out at the Metropolis Pier. It's been awhile since they'd all been together... as this is shortly after Morgan Edge swooped in and took over. After a long-overdue lunch, the foursome are witness to a strange glowing humanoid form careening into the water. Clark ushers the rest into a cab (using the city ordinance of only three passengers to a cab) to "legally" sneak off and "supe up". He destroys a bit of the pier in the process, but it's not like we're keeping score or anything.
In the drink, Superman comes across a... well, rather generic looking DC alien. The kind of alien that would drive me directly into the waiting arms of a Marvel comic. Anyhoo, he has a strange apparatus on his back, which we soon learn is his "war-horn". He uses it to whip up an underwater torrent which sends Superman off.
The water jets actually carry him thousands of miles over to the western coast of Africa!
As he makes his way back to the States, we shift scenes to a pair of children playing "monster" in the woods... and no, that's not a euphemism for anything (shame on you for thinking that is was). Anyhoo, they run into... War-Horn, who scares them off.
Clark returns to the Galaxy Building, and Jimmy shows him some film of fish acting weird. Also, the report of a pair of young fellas reporting having seen a hulking alien figure. Well, I dunno about "hulking", he looked a bit more lanky to me.
Clark rushes off to "supe up" and next thing we know, he's in a forest that had recently burned to ashes. He then gets a "mental chill" that tells him War-Horn is near. Never knew Superman had a "spidey-sense", but whattayagonnado? Either way, War-Horn is hanging out underground... just like the cover, only without the boys clutching Superman's legs.
War-Horn bursts from the ground, and uses his... uh, war-horn to surround Superman with earth... from which erupts a volcano. This being Superman, such a thing isn't terribly effective. He socks War-Horn in the mush, causing him to attempt to flee.
As Superman gives chase, he finds himself entangled in some vines. After shaking them off, he comes across a camper... who claims that he is responsible for the forest fire. Ya see, he struck a single match... and "whoosh" - the whole forest went up. Superman decides to engage his Infra-Red vision, which reveals... precious little Nitrogen in the air.
He deduces that War-Horn's mission is stealing Earth's atmospheric Nitrogen... and, get this... it turns out, that's exactly what he's here to do! War-Horn then surrounds Superman with a storm-cloud... claiming, if he were to break out of it... the resulting thunderclap would deafen everybody on Earth. Also, the only way to stop War-Horn... is to kill him!
Rather than risk "stepping out", Superman just freezes the cloud with some Super-Breath. He then creates a hail stone... and pelts the geek in the chin with it. With War-Horn on the ropes, Superman reels back and readies himself to deliver a fatal blow!
Before the punch connects, however, the (actual) war horn activates and whisks War-Horn (the alien) back to wherever the hell he'd come from. Ya see, that was exactly what Superman had hoped would happen... the device would do anything possible to protect its wearer. Kinda risky... but, it did the job. And honestly, worst case scenario if it didn't... we have one less generic murderous alien in the DC Universe.
On to the back-up... which, to me, is actually this issue's "main event". This is one of those (very few) important ones... which really adds to the lore of both Superman... and the Green Lantern Corps. We open with Tomar-Re preparing for his retirement. Before he is deactivated, however, the Guardians of the Universe have assembled to finally tell him the story of a certain planet he had been responsible for overseeing.
That planet, of course, was Krypton. The Guardians speak of a Kryptonian specimen who would make the finest Green Lantern... the offspring of a scientist named Jor-El and an astronaut named Lara.
The Guardians had received word of Krypton's pending doom... however, were helpless to stop it from happening. All they could do is send a member of their Corps, Tomar-Re out Krypton way to delay the inevitable long enough for the Kryptonians to realize the danger and colonize on another planet. Why they couldn't just tell the Kryptonians themselves... I dunno.
In fact, our friend Tomar-Re doesn't know either! Though, he deduces that if the Guardians got involved and facilitated the Kryptonians safe passage, it would do irreparable damage to their culture/way of life... or something. Anyhoo, Tomar-Re is tasked with gathering the element known as Stellarium... which, will somehow delay Krypton going boom. There are apparently nine "Krypton Years" left.
On Krypton, just as the Guardians had predicted... a certain scientist realized the extreme danger the planet was facing. He prepared for a planet-wide evacuation via a Space-Ark. Unfortunately, Brainiac stole it (along with the City of Kandor). Around this time, Lara gave birth to the "Star Child" we all know as Superman.
At this point, the rest of the science council decided that Jor-El was just a kook, and they weren't going to waste their time chasing the doom he foresaw. One of the jerks is even yawning in Jor's direction.
Back with Tomar-Re... as he exhausts a sector's supply of Stellarium, he is so absorbed in his work that he doesn't even realize that a nearby star (called Ariel) was just about to go nova!
This would render Tomar-Re temporarily blind. He'd use his radar-guide to attempt to remain on task, however, with the state he was in... it wasn't exactly a direct flight back Krypton way.
Then, just as his sight returns... the first thing he sees is, the destruction of the planet Krypton!
The Guardians continue their tale... Tomar-Re was left in a state of shock which took several days to recover from... during which time, the Guardians themselves were responsible for guiding Kal-El's spacecraft to Earth. Geez, the gall of these guys, taking the credit for everything.
We wrap up with Tomar-Re of Xudar being retired with honors.
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Well, that first story was kind of a stinker, wasn't it? Just Superman versus a generic alien. I've said it before, and I'm saying it now... it's stories like this that kinda slid DC Comics into "second place" for me growing up. Very little stakes... just some alien with an apparatus who makes a one-off appearance, never to be seen again.
Why would I read this instead of a Marvel book... where the heroes were fighting villains we actually had an investment in? Well, that's neither here nor there, I guess. Over at Marvel these days, I can't recognize the heroes, let alone the villains.
The Nitrogen thievery feels like something out of the Silver-Age (especially the page of Superman looking at the "spectrum"). Though, I mean, this was only 1972... not so far removed from the silly sci-fi Silver-Age. Superman risking actually murdering War-Horn was about the only sorta interesting part of this one. Overall, a skippable affair... really not much more to say about it.
Now, although the opener was skippable... the issue overall most certainly isn't... because, mark this date down, because a back-up finally delivered!
I have always loved the idea of Tomar-Re being (tangentially) involved with the last days of Krypton. I feel it's a little thing that adds so much to both the lore of Superman and the Green Lantern Corps.
It also answers a few questions. If the Green Lantern Corps has representation in every sector in the known universe, it would stand to reason that Krypton would be in one of those sectors. It would also stand to reason that the Green Lantern Corps would somehow be involved with their plight, even in just a "clean up" effort.
What I don't quite understand is why the Guardians couldn't just offer their assistance to the people of Krypton. We get kind of a weak answer in that it would somehow hurt Kryptonian culture... but, that feels like a complete cop-out. In fairness though, we are working within the constraints of a story that happened. It's not like we can have a story where the Corps actually intervenes and either A) Saves the Kryptonians or B) Fails the Kryptonians.
So, within the story constraints, I feel like they did the best they could. A temporarily blinded Tomar-Re is unable to deliver the time-buying Stellarium... and so, Krypton goes boom. When we think about it though, Tomar-Re very likely did buy Krypton just enough time for Kal-El to be born, and blasted in the approximate direction of Earth... so, we actually have him to thank for Superman's arrival on Earth.
Not sure I'm buying the Guardians taking full credit for "guiding" Kal-El's ship to Earth... but, whattaya gonna do? They always seemed like self-important jerks... and this is just another log for the fire.
Overall... this is one I'd suggest tracking down. The opener was just kinda "there" (though, it's got Curt Swan on art, which is nice). The backup is really what you're grabbing this one for though. Not only is it an excellent story, but it's also got some fantastic Dick Dillin art. The back-up has been reprinted a number of times, most recently in Superman: The Many Worlds of Krypton. This issue is also available digitally.
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