BONUS BOOK - All-Star Squadron (August, 1981)
Writer - Roy Thomas
Pencils - Rich Buckler
Embellisher - Jerimiah Ordway
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Carl Gafford
Editor - Len Wein
A few days ago I mentioned that I discovered I was missing a few of the Insert Preview issues... which really kinda threw me for a loop! I could'a sworn I had all of 'em... but, alas... I was missing two! This one, and Brave and the Bold #200 (featuring the first look at Batman and the Outsiders). I mentioned that we might need a Vartox-Week size miracle to find 'em in time... and, as luck would have it, the Mustachioed Adonis decided to smile upon us! I managed to come across 'em both for a couple bucks a piece that very same day!
I do wanna thank reader and pal, Grant Kitchen for his comments that day.
Today, while I've still got it in front of me, we're going to take a look at the daunting and dense introduction of the All-Star Squadron from Justice League of America #193 (August, 1981). Have your notepads ready... there's a lot to get through here!
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It's December 6, 1941 and a pair of shadowy individuals (who, spoiler alert: we eventually learn are President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his adviser Harry Hopkins) are attempting to get a hold of the Justice Society of America... but nobody is there to answer their phone! Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, where it's still daytime, a footrace between Wonder Woman, Flash (Jay Garrick), and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is underway with all proceeds going to the March of Dimes. Johnny Chambers and his photographer, Tubby Watts are there covering the event.
Wonder Woman narrowly beats Jay in the race... poor Alan never had a chance. Flash blames his loss on under-estimating his Amazon opponent... but, it's all in good fun. Wildcat (filling in for Ted Grant, natch) presents Wondy with a trophy for her victory, probably cutting into the loot for the March of Dimes.
Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern decide to head off for anpicnic in Echo Park to get to know each other a little better. They find they have a lot in common, in so far as being costumed heroes and what-not. After establishing that this picnic will not be romantic (after all, they're all spoken for)... the evening is interrupted by: Solomon Grundy! None of the heroes seem to recognize the baddie... though, he knows exactly who they are.
A battle rages, with Grundy taking out the heroes with relative ease. Just when it looks as though Solomon is going in for the kill, a voice booms in his head commanding he deliver the heroes somewhere... or else, there'll be a "penalty". Meanwhile, FDR still tries to get a hold of the Justice Society.
Hopkins suggests maybe they try the "Law's Legionnaires" aka the Seven Soldiers of Victory. The Prez doesn't think that's such a great idea... and, frankly, he's got a point there.
We shift scenes over to a penthouse apartment in New York City. It's the home of Wesley Dodds... the Sandman. He's got company, in the form of Ted Knight (Starman) and... ugh... Johnny Thunder. They're watching a news report being presented by Libby Lawrence, who we know as Liberty Belle. Suddenly, they notice a Pirate Ship sailing through the... skies of New York!
The heroes get into costume... and/or say "Cei-U", and head out to see what this ship is all about. They board, and find themselves surrounded by... well, pirates. Johnny Thunder gets kayoed pretty much right out of the gate... leaving Sandman and Starman to put up their dukes against the mindless pirate-looking "robot-men".
It's ultimately revealed that their big-bad is... the Sky Pirate (first appearance: Green Lantern #27 - August, 1947)! He proceeds to blast the remaining mystery-men with a gas gun, knocking them out but good.
Next stop, Salem, Massachusetts... and the home of Dr. Fate. He receives a warning via the Orb of Nabu, which informs him that his old nemesis, Wotan (first appearance: More Fun Comics #55 - May, 1940) has returned. They fight... by flying directly into one another, knocking them both out. Only, it's revealed that "Wotan" was actually the Spectre... the real Wotan, stood nearby, concocted this ruse to snatch a couple more JSAers.
We shift over to a little-charted island in the South Pacific, where Ensign Rod Reilly, aka Firebrand is trying to cool the jets of his hot-headed sister, Danette. She's got some business to attend to there, in the form of some pretty high-risk volcanic research. He wishes her well.
Next, we head to Gotham City... it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? There, the World's Finest Heroes are present and accounted for at the opening of a brand-new USO Club. Just then, a plane comes crashing through one of the walls of the joint... a plane piloted by Professor Zobar Zodiak (first appearance: All-Star Comics #42 - August, 1948)! Never heard of this geek myself... but, he looks like he might be trouble.
So much trouble in fact, that he squirts a few drops of a special "elixir" into the air... which reverts Batman and Robin to infants! Why, that's just adorable!
Then, turning his attention to Superman, Zodiak dangles his Philosopher's Stone in the Man of Steel's face. You'd think this would be laughably dumb... but, you'd be wrong. Ya see, his coated the Stone with some powder from a certain green meteorite!
Meanwhile, FDR makes another call... this time to an "FBI liaison", who I'm pretty sure will be revealed as being Plastic Man. He asks Plas to "scoot over" to the Justice Society HQ and see if anything's awry.
Also in Washington, DC... Hawkman, Atom, and Dr. Mid-Nite are hanging out, admiring the Lincoln Memorial... when suddenly, they're attacked by The Monster...? The who-now? This is another little-known (to me) Golden Ager (first appearance: All-Star Comics #20 - March, 1944).
Unlike the other fight scenes we've seen so far, this one the heroes actually win! Atom socks the Monster, reverting him into a harmless old-man. Before succumbing to unconsciousness, the oldie reveals that the person responsible for all of the attacks is... old bread-head himself, Per Degaton. A man in a hat and trenchcoat watches this all transpire from the shadows.
We wrap up with the clock striking midnight... beginning a date which, I'm not sure if you've heard, will live in infamy... December 7, 1941. We learn that President Roosevelt was trying to have the Justice Society at the ready... just in case of a Japanese attack. He feels it would have been best if he were able to put together an "All-Star Squadron" of mystery men and heroes to keep America safe during these uncertain times. The President retires for the evening, hopeful that America will "come through this".
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Well... that was one heckuva story, wasn't it?
Before getting too deep into it... allow me to share a personal anecdote. I'm not sure I shared this here before, but this very blog almost became an All-Star Squadron themed place for a bit. It was very early in my "career", where I thought I would perform a bit of multi-tasking. If you've ever listened to any of my audio-exploits, you've undoubtedly heard me lament the fact that, when you're consistently "creating content", you have precious little time to engage in any "for fun" reading.
It feels as though everything you read has to go somewhere... be it this blog, or a podcast, or on some other site. It's really nothing worth actually complaining about... but, it can be a struggle. It's hard for me to justify devoting a lot of time to "learning" about a franchise or property, if I'm not going to parlay that knowledge into an "endeavor"... know what I mean?
Anyhoo... I wanted to actually learn about the All-Star Squadron. It was one of those things that became something of an intentional "blind-spot" for me. Something I found far too daunting to read and write about. Then, with this blog... I figured it might be a fun project to devote a few months to this title... so I could both read and write about it. There would be a dual-purpose, ya know?
And so, I set to doing just that... wayyy back in the day, I took a look at All-Star Squadron #60... just to test the waters. I wanted to get as much as possible "right" with this one, and lemme tell ya, it took probably five hours to put that piece together. I'd put together Google Docs upon Google Docs full of dates/issues/references/40's era pop-culture to try and keep everything straight! As for #60, It's not even that long of a post... but, it still took wayyy too long to write.
Anyhoo, I published the thing... and, ya know, nobody cared. That's not unusual for me... and so, I wrote it off as "just another day". That evening, however, I saw images from my piece floating around social media... posted by someone quite a bit higher on the comics-commentary "food chain" (which is by no means a short list). They shared my (awkward-as-always) photos... tagged a bunch of their friends with a "Hey everybody, who remembers THIS???"... but, for whatever reason, neglected to link to my site.
This really turned me off from the "community", and very nearly caused me to pull the plug on this place. Here's a person who visited my site (because those pictures were Chris-originals - ain't nobody else claiming credit to those), and clearly wanted to talk about the issue... just not with me. I dunno... the experience really shined a light on how territorial this li'l group can be... really soured me in a lot of ways. A real learning experience... and further proof that, in some ways, me and my little corner of the internet are little more than "vestigial limbs" of the greater community.
So yeah, that little "aside" went on far longer than I thought it would! Sorry 'bout that! A-hem.
So, All-Star Squadron... this 16-page preview pretty much embodies all of the reasons I was nervous about learning more about this property. It's wildly dense... and there's a feeling that real research was conducted in order to put it together. Real-world research as well as DC Comics history research. It's just so seamless... with plenty of callbacks and allusions. I couldn't even begin to imagine what an undertaking this would've been to write!
I mean, almost everything that happens here is important... or a reflection of something that came before. Let's look, for instance, at the March of Dimes footrace between Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash. While, on the surface, it seems like just a fun scene to let play out... it's actually a callback to the cover of Comic Cavalcade #1 (December, 1942)!
I mean, how cool is that? This Roy Thomas "corner" of the DC Universe, with all it's references (both real and fictional) never fails to blow my mind. It's as though I notice something new every time I check it out.
I really dig how Per Degaton's use of time-travel made it so villains from the near-future could be delivered back to 1941 to fight the heroes. If you noticed, the heroes did not know who any of the villains were... but the baddies were quite familiar with the good guys. This is because many of the villains hadn't yet appeared when this story was supposed to be happening. Per Degaton snatched them from later on in the decade. Very cool touch that I would've missed altogether had I not been in research mode.
The art here is pretty fantastic... it really feels as though we're looking at something special. From the heroes, to the real-world personalities... just awesome stuff. I'm on record as not being a fan of "crossing the streams" of comics-fiction with real-world political figures, but FDR's inclusion here just feels right. Maybe it's just a "current year" thing for me... but, I dunno... FDR (and Winston Churchill, among others, who will play sizable roles in subsequent issues)... they almost feel "larger than life" as it is... ya know? In my head, they carry such weight and importance that they're almost as "mythic" as the heroes! I dunno... maybe I'm just being silly.
Overall... this is a wonderful series, that... if you devote the time and energy to... I bet you'll really get something out of it. I've had a lot of fun with this run... and while, very little of it actually made it "into print", I'm still happy I put the effort in! I did cover All-Star Squadron #1 here on the blog a couple years back (where my sole complaint was the fact that the real first story occurred in "some prevue pull-out"), if you wanna see where this headed.
UPDATE: February 16, 2020:
A piece from Amazing Heroes #1 (June, 1981) regarding Roy Thomas' arrival at DC Comics... and plans to revive the World War II Superheroes!
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Superman #369 (March, 1982)
"Superman's Last Christmas!"
Writer - Cary Bates
Pencils - Rich Buckler
Inks - Frank McLaughlin
Letters - Ben Oda
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.60
It's the Third Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths... annnnd, we're batting around .500, right? So far, we've had a really good issue of Flash... followed by kind of a stinker issue of Impulse. Let's see if this issue of Superman nudges our average up a bit!
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We open in Galaxy Plaza, where Steve Lombard and Lana Lang are on the air... anxiously awaiting the arrival of Superman and this year's Galaxy Christmas Tree! Lois and Jimmy are watching from the sidelines, and are sure the Man of Steel's lateness has something to do with some sort of crisis or another... and, indeed it does. While searching Maine for the perfect Christmas Tree (and bah-humbugging the whole time), Superman comes across a house falling into a sinkhole!
He saves the house, and the family inside it... and even triggers a molten "fill" on the ground to even it up. With that job behind him, he continues his search. He finally finds just the right tree... but, still ain't quite feeling the Christmas Spirit. He feels like maybe he should've just sat this Holiday Season out... and even suggests that procuring a Christmas Tree is sorta-kinda a waste of his time. Well... it's not like he's wrong, but... gotta say, I don't wanna hear Superman talking like this.
Back in Metropolis, we meet up with Agent Cory Renwald. If you're a regular reader of this blog (or, ya know... pre-Crisis Superman books), his name oughta ring a bell. I won't spoil his "secret" for ya yet, because it's kinda the crux of the issue. Anyhoo, he's in Metropolis, walking down Delancy Street... when suddenly, he's jumped by a bell-ringin' Santa Claus! Cory digs deep into his Secret Agent training and... dumps the Santy Claus into a (moderately convenient) nearby open manhole.
We return to Galaxy Plaza just as Superman is arriving with the giant Christmas Tree. Onlookers... uh, look on, as he wraps it in lights and ornaments... and don't fail to notice Superman scurrying off before they throw the switch. Moments later, Clark Kent arrives on the scene to meet up with his friends and coworkers. Turns out, he's just as bah-humbuggy as his super-self... which makes him rather an irritant to Lois and Jimmy.
We rejoin Cory Renwald as he approaches a construction site. He reveals that he's in Metropolis on business. He calls in to "base" and learns he's supposed to be following the every move of... Clark Kent!
It's a little while later, and we've shifted scenes to the Fortress of Solitude, where Superman is undergoing a sort of light-therapy. In resting under these Rynarian beams, his body is forced to relax. He's just had it with the hustle and bustle of Christmas in Metropolis. He thinks back to his childhood and all of the wonderful Christmases he'd shared with his folks, Ma and Pa Kent.
While he's getting all loosey-goosey under the lights, he fails to notice that someone has entered the Fortress of Solitude... if you took a look at the cover, you'll know the interloper is... Parasite! Superman, in his relaxed state, is easy-pickin's for the purple jerk, who locks the Man of Steel in a full-nelson. Worth noting, at this point in the continuity, Parasite knows that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same.
Superman is finally able to recover, and with one helluva thrust, breaks the full-nelson. He then hurls Parasite a mile across the Arctic expanse... where the baddie finds himself lodged in a glacier! Lucky for him, he'd managed to siphon off a bit of Superman's power... and so, he heat-visions his way out of icy captivity.
The next day in Metropolis, Lois and Clark are out Christmas shopping. His super-hearing picks up on the sound of a rifle bolt being primed, and he frantically scans the area for snipers. He's rather shocked to learn that the sniper has his sight set on him! It's an underworld crime syndicate goon... however, before he can pull the trigger, Agent Cory Renwald arrives and kicks him in the mush.
Clark uses his x-ray vision to read Cory's credentials, and just assumes the Agent (who he'd once helped as Superboy) is there to investigate the syndicate.
We follow Renwald to a nearby payphone, where he calls in to his boss. It's here we learn the true reason for the Kent investigation. Ya see, Clark Kent has betrayed the United States... not by turning to another foreign power, but to aliens from another planet! Cory decides to get a better look by posing as a repairman and sneaking into Kent's apartment.
When Cory opens the door to Apartment 3-D, a microscopic alarm is triggered... this causes a high-frequency Zee-Zee-Zee sound to fill the air... which, Clark Kent immediately picks up on. I gotta wonder why he'd set his alarm to make the same sound as Jimmy's signal watch, but whattayagonnado? His telescopic vision reveals that the home invader is... Cory Renwald!
Clark rushes off to the storage room to "supe up"... unfortunately, the room is already occupied... by Parasite! Remember, he knows the secret identity. Why he doesn't just tell the world and ruin Superman's life (lives?) himself, I haven't the foggiest.
The two titans battle and Superman is hurled threw a window... and, since Parasite managed to siphon off a bit more of his super-energy, Superman plummets to Galaxy Plaza below... and smashes right into the Galaxy Christmas Tree!
Back at 344 Clinton Street, Agent Renwald has wrapped up his investigation... and wrestles with himself whether or not he'll reveal Clark Kent's "secret". He gets into an cab where he chats up the driver. The driver gives him the correct code-phrase to inform him that he's part of the Agency as well. All he's willing to say to the driver is that he found something. He'll only spill the beans-in-full to the head honcho of the operation.
It's here that we learn that the cab driver is actually... Parasite. Not only that, the Parasite was behind the entire magilla. He was the handsy Santy Claus on Delancy, which is when he enacted his plan to control poor Cory Renwald... from there, he orchestrated the Kent investigation. Again, why bother? When you already know the secret... this just seems silly. Seems like Parasite just wants to screw with Superman in both his personas at the same time, just to see how he reacts. I'd figure that's more Mxy's territory, but... heck, it's Christmas, we'll allow it.
Superman finally returns to his apartment, where he performs a scan of the place. It's clear to him that Renwald did a pretty good job digging around... and even found some of his interstellar trophies (which Parasite knew Renwald would come across). Superman worries that his secret... might be out! Ya know, to yet another guy.
No time for that, though... it's time for the Galaxy Christmas Party. Clark makes a brief (and pointless) appearance before taking back to the skies. He happens across Renwald meeting with the Agency's head honcho... who is, of course... Parasite!
Parasite attempts to siphon off more super-energy... however, this time, Superman's ready (it only took him like two decades!). Wait'll I tell you just what he did to prepare. Ya see, Superman's weakness is, of course, Kryptonite... and so, he sprayed himself with a "low-grade dose" of Green-K... so that when Parasite got to suckin'... he'd get a body-full of the bad stuff. This is just so dumb. But it works, and that's all that matters!
We wrap up back at Clark's apartment, where he's visited by... Agent Cory Renwald. Cory spills the beans about what he'd learned while digging through Clark's apartment... he'd learned that Clark Kent was raised (shocker) by the Kents in Smallville... the same couple who took him in during his days as a juvenile delinquent! So he's, sorta-kinda, Clark's brother in a way. But, like... not at all. But, sorta.
Cory credits the Kents for putting him on the straight and narrow... he'd never be an Agent for the United States government if not for their intervention. Clark seems less happy to be meeting his "brother" and more relieved that this knucklehead didn't put two-and-two together and figure out that he's Superman! We close out with the fellas reminiscing over Christmas with the Kents.
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Well... this was better than yesterday's Impulse comic. Yeah, that's not really such high praise, is it?
Let's look at this one for what it is... it's an attempt to legitimize the stories going on in New Adventures of Superboy (also being written by Cary Bates) by inserting Clark's sorta-kinda brother, Cory Renwald into a main title. That's not really anything to get mad about... but, there really isn't much more to it than that.
The Parasite bit was oddly convoluted... and while I'm no "Parasite Scholar", I don't understand why he'd go to such lengths just to annoy Superman. I mean, dude's got the secret... and he chooses to just screw with him? I don't get it. Again, I'm not sure if there's anything that precludes him from spilling the beans... but, this just seemed silly.
I wanna touch on Superman's "bah humbugginess" here. I get that some folks don't dig the Holiday Season, and I can respect that... but, Superman being so cranky just doesn't feel right to me. His claim that fetching a Christmas Tree is a waste of his time... I dunno. Let's look at this for a second. This is pre-Crisis Superman... the one who could sneeze the Sun into another galaxy, right? Shouldn't he be able to fetch and trim a tree in like... less than a second? They play kinda loose with just how fast Superman is... and, while I get it... it's also kinda tough to reconcile.
I mean, if we're talking about "wasting Superman's time"... dude spends (at least) forty-hours a week working. That's certainly hinders him from being Superman, right? If he's so concerned with being Superman all the time... that kinda mucks up the whole concept of having a secret identity... and really affects the "core" of the character... don't it?
I'm almost certainly thinking too hard about this... it was just an "off-hand" remark from Superman when he was cranky... but, I feel like we're expected to "accept" it, when it just raises so many more questions, and flaws in the "secret identity" concept. You'd think they'd shy away from that when trying to maintain a suspension of disbelief. Ehh, whattayagonnado?
Overall... it was neat seeing Metropolis all decked out for Christmas, and as a stickler for lore, it was cool having Cory Renwald inserted into the then-current continuity.
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Justice League of America #190 (May, 1981)
"Our Friends, Our Enemies"
Writer - Gerry Conway
Pencils - Rich Buckler
Inks - Bob Smith & Larry Malstedt
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Gene D'Angelo
Editor - Len Wein
Cover Price: $0.50
Full disclosure... I decided to discuss this little Starro story simply because of this cover. I mean, just look at it? That's some pretty great stuff, ain't it?
Can the inside even hope to live up to the the greatness of the cover? Let's find out...
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We pick up right where we left off last issue... the other half of the Justice League is still on that aircraft carrier trying to process the threat of Starro. Worth noting, Zatanna is here as well... didn't notice her yesterday! Just checked again, and nope... we didn't see her yesterday! Anyhoo, a Naval Officer claims that he'd just spoken to the President of the United States, who is totally on board with the absolute decimation of New York City in order to neutralize the Starro situation. The League is aghast... and pleads for a few hours reprieve. The Officer, knowing he doesn't have a whole heckuva lot to lose grants them until nightfall.
We next head into the city and find the Starro-controlled League going about the business of directing as much of the city's electricity into Grand Central Station, so that their Star-shaped ruler can feed off the, um, protein in the electricity? Is that a thing that happens? Well, I'll be a sonuvagun... it kinda is! Not sure it was a thing in 1981... but, whattayagonnado?
At this point, we find Red Tornado... who, being an android isn't being mind-controlled... he's just playing along. He tears the starfish off his mug, and heads off to try and find a way to shut Starro down. Unfortunately for him, he runs into Wonder Woman... unfortunately for her, she's being written like a complete pushover here. Reddy heads north, into the Bronx.
At that same time, the other half of the League descends on Manhattan. They're all wearing repellor-disks, usually used as insect repellent by Hawkman, on their chests to keep the Starro-spawn away. Batman wonders why they can't just use a really big disk to drive Starro away... Hawkman says that won't work, and we might as well believe him. I mean, he's got no reason to lie to us. The team splits up and gets to work.
We shift over to a fruit and vegetable market on the Lower East Side where we meet up with our old friends, the Watsons. Ya remember, they're that family who are kinda responsible for this mess in the first place. Young Terry wanders into the shop's freezer... and wakes up from his Starro-induced daze. Suddenly, memories come rushing back to him. He decides to hide out in the freezer for a bit.
We rejoin Aquaman as he's receiving word from his fishy friends about a fleet of ships coming down the East River. He deduces from this that Starro is sending his spawns out of New York City... likely to seek out another place to feed and conquer. Aquaman commands the fish to gather seaweed with which they can gunk up the ships' propellers. He then hops out of the drink, and socks the Starro-controlled sailors but good.
Next stop, somewhere in the Subway. Batman, Elongated Man, Flash and Zatanna are scoping out the scene. It's eluded to that Zee and Barry might've shared a somewhat intimate moment not too long ago, which has left them both sorta-kinda uncomfortable working so closely. Maybe we'll take a look at that issue soon.
While Zatanna is making goo-goo eyes in Barry's direction, the gang is attacked by a swarm'a Starro-spawns! The heroes struggle to get the situation under control... and are only able to by the grace of Zatanna casting a freezing spell on the starfish (this will be important later on). Worth noting, the spell sure seems to have taken it out of her. Ralph notices her fatigue, but promises to keep it between the two of them.
Heading up to the Bronx, Red Tornado has infiltrated a power station, with the express goal of shutting the thing down. He breaks through the Starro-controlled defenses, and makes his way to the master switch. Imagine there being a single switch you could pull to shut off electricity to New York City? That just doesn't seem like the best idea, does it? Anyhoo, Reddy goes to pull the lever, but is struck silly by some sparks of feedback.
Back in Manhattan, the Hawks spy a helicopter full'a Starro-spawns trying to leave the city. They put a stop to that with the quickness. They nearly kill the passengers, but... hey, whattayagonnado? Gotta keep that Starro-strain centralized.
After safely lowering the chopper to the ground, Hawkgirl hears a bit of sobbing. They follow their ears into that fruit and veggie stand, and discover Terry Watson huddled in the freezer, crying. At that same time elsewhere, Batman comes across Black Canary... and they engage in some hand-to-hand.
Batman gets the better of the physical exchange... and when he goes to tear the Starro spawn from Dinah's face, realizes that the li'l sucker's on so tight, that removing it would kill her! He figures there's just got to be another way.
Next, we rejoin Red Tornado... who, after being shocked silly, struggles to his feet. Realizing that there's no other option, he throws himself into the massive circuit board... sacrificing himself to shut down all power to the city. Thankfully, this works! Couldja imagine what a bummer it would've been if it hadn't?
Back in Grand Central, Starro wonders what just happened. His mood is further dampened when he is confronted by the entire Justice League (minus, Red Tornado of course)! Remember how Zee was able to down those Starro-spawns with her freeze spell? Well, the same sorta thing happened to Terry Watson... when he entered the freezer, the effects of Starro's mind-control went away. Sooo, Zatanna just froze all of the li'l buggers to free the League.
Firestorm and Hal blast the heck out of Starro into a starfish-cicle, thanks to Ronnie's atomic restructuring hoo-doo... and before we know it, the Conqueror is suffering the same frozen fate as Aquaman's Silver-Age Cat-Dragon pal Myron who we met the other day. Ralph makes a joke about "frozen starfish on a stick", but... nobody laughs... including me! Rather abrupt ending... but, it's the only one we get!
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A pretty good, if not a little bit rushed and abrupt, ending to the Starro story!
Let's talk about some of the "good". Just like yesterday, when we saw Hal Jordan working "defensively" trying to stop the Starro-spawn rather than taking on the big fish head on... I really appreciate how "tactical" the League went about neutralizing the threat here. Having Aquaman and the Hawks watch the air and sky to ensure no Starro-spawns spread out of New York City was really cool... more of that attention to detail and "plot-hole-plugging" that I feel is usually ignored.
Red Tornado's sacrifice and "death" here was a pretty great scene. Of course, he'll get "better" (pretty quickly, if I recall right), but nevertheless, a very strong scene. I gotta wonder though, if he wasn't affected by the Starro spawn, what would've been the harm in keeping the li'l bugger on his face? I mean, it would have allowed him to "fit in" with the others... and probably would have facilitated his access into the power station, right? Oh well.
I'm intrigued about the Zatanna/Barry romance subplot... really wanna dig through the longbox to nab the issue where it began! It feels like such a "Marvel" thing to have teammates do the "will-they/won't-they okeydoke"... it seems so strange for Barry Allen to be part of a story thread like this. Really gotta check it out!
I'd say my only misgiving about this issue is... the same as most other times we discuss a pre-Crisis Justice League adventure... just how quickly it all wrapped up. I'm not sure if it's a "DC thing", a "JLA thing" or a "Conway thing", but it feels like every time we look at a League book of this vintage, we get twenty pages of build, and two pages where it's all abruptly wrapped up. We get no closure, and no "relief"... it's like when you interrupt a yawn.
Overall though, a neat little two-parter... with some awesome Brian Bolland covers, well deserving of a spot in your comics library. As with last issue, this hasn't been collected... nor has it been made available digitally. It's gonna be a bin-dive, but one that shouldn't cost ya much...
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