Assembling the Squadron! All Star Squadron 1 Review

 

Rich Buckler's cover is just amazing. Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, and The Atom pouring over photographs of Golden-Age Mystery Men. The cover question "Who Will Be the Heroes of the All-Star Squadron"? Pause for just a moment and consider... "mystery men" and "mystery women" actually posing for photographs, like Hollywood celebrities of the day! Between Hawkman and The Atom is a photograph of The Golden-Age Batman and Robin. These are not newspaper photographs. These are portraits. Posed portraits. In the foreground is a posed portrait of The Spectre. Now, granted, it is possible that a shutterbug might catch one of these colorful figures off-guard. All of the photos on the cover feature the heroes smiling at the camera. Even The Dynamic Duo seem to be caught in a pose, although whether they're smiling is hard to tell. This is going to be a fun book to read, simply because no matter what happens inside, no matter how serious, dramatic or Earth-shattering, the heroes will face it with a positive "can-do" attitude. These heroes will face the hard knocks and shrug each one off with a wink and a smile! These are not angsty, navel-gazing costumed vigilantes... except for Vigilante.

Roy Thomas' "The World on Fire!" opens with Hawkman returning to the Justice Society of America headquarters, where he runs afoul of - - Plastic Man!? A quick recap recounts Solomon Grundy overpowering The Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman; Professor Zodiak capturing The World's Finest team of Batman and Robin along with Superman; Wotan capturing Dr. Fate and The Spectre; and Sky Pirate capturing Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt along with The Sandman and Starman! Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite and The Atom faced and bested The Monster! On their way to Washington, Hawkman and Plastic Man encounter King Bee! They quickly best him and his winged henchman!

Elsewhere, Sir Justin, The Shining Knight and Danette Reilly are captured by Per Degaton and his crew!

All these events lead up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

At the White House, Hawkman and Plastic Man are joined by Robotman, The Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle! They are commissioned as The All-Star Squadron and head to San Francisco to head off saboteurs and ultimately stop Degaton!

Buckler and Ordway's art is just simply Golden-Age eye-candy. On newsprint, John Costanza's lettering is somewhat muddy and blurred. Carl Gafford's coloring is top-notch. Len Wein guides creators Roy Thomas and Buckler to a thrilling, enjoyable story.

The Greatest Generation saving the world earns five stars.

Maybe Late to the Party... Thoughts on The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Season One

 

I may be a little late to the party.

The Curious Case of Natalia Grace was release in 2023. It ran for three seasons from 2023 through 2025. I'm midway through season two, Natalia Speaks, where she shares HER side of the story.

Her story is tragic, shocking and sensational. It makes for "tabloid television" the kind of gaper's block you would find on Geraldo! The Maury Povich Show, Dr. Phil, or any one of the typical daytime talk shows.

The first season is all about things like "control", "manipulation", "narrative" and "spin".

Natalia's story unfolds from her adoptive father, Michael Barnett. He comes across very articulate. Very flamboyant. The story he tells is quite vivid and detailed. Almost polished and rehearsed. It's quite possible that Michael and Kristine Barnett's version of the story may be based on the 2009 horror film "Orphan". The Barnetts adopted Natalia Grace in 2010. Season One focuses primarily on Michael Barnett and his son, Jacob, leading up to Michael's trial for the abandonment of Natalia. As Michael's grip on the "narrative" and "spin" apparently slips, and the seeming house of cards starts to collapse, he comes across more of a bitter, vindictive, whiny cry-baby. An unnecessarily foul-mouthed one at that.

My take-away from Season One is that it is not Natalia's complete story. It's only the horrific experience with the Barnetts. 

Natalia Grace was born in Ukraine to a single, low-income mother. Natalia's mother was told that she could not afford to care for Natalia properly. In Season One, she comes off as not wanting to be tracked down for any information on Natalia. Eventually, she provides DNA and critical birth information.

What's missing is any information from Gary and Dyan Ciccone. Did they decline to be interviewed? What comes across is the question of why they only had Natalia for a year after adopting her. The quick and glossy answer is that they found some behavioral issues with her. But there's several accounts that the Ciccones were trying to find a new home for her with couples that also had dwarfism, to the point that the narrative and spin is that the Ciccones were shopping her around.

Toward the end of Season One and midway through Season Two, the story comes across that Kristine Barnett may be the true villain of the story.

The sad thing is that very few people came to Natalia's help and rescue.

It's a shame that her story was negatively sensationalized and turned into trashy tabloid television.

There are a lot of noble couples and families looking to build relationships and support future generations through adoption. Hopefully this one story doesn't severely damage that.   

Stuck in The Golden Age With Dr. Fate

 

I was really excited when Pierce Brosnan was cast as Kent Nelson, also known as Dr. Fate. Defender of Order versus Chaos. Fate previously made an appearance on Smallville. Clark got to see glimpses of the Justice Society. It would be exciting to see one of the original, founding members of the Justice Society on the big screen. He was going to be working with Carter Hall, Hawkman; Atom Smasher and Cyclone!

I never really got past The Rock as Black Adam. Sure, he was portrayed as a wronged individual, looking for justice and vengeance and retribution and revenge. Which was why he crossed paths and swords with the JSA. It was just incredibly confusing that the character was split from Zachary Levi's Captain (SHAZAM!) Marvel. I'm still confused. I'm not sure I really want to know.

I didn't watch Remington Steele for Brosnan. I watched Remington Steele for Stephanie Zimablist. She was my excuse for bad grades in high school.

Brosnan's Bond was fairly enjoyable. Mom and Dad were Sean Connery fans. Mom and my sister were Roger Moore fans. Cathy, my wife, is a George Lazenby fan. Gotta respect the man that connected with Diana Rigg! I'm not sure I know any Timothy Dalton fans (He was pretty good as Prince Baron in Flash Gordon; as well as an appearance on Doctor Who, and as The Chief in Doom Patrol!)

Brosnan was my era or generation Bond. I'm not sure the material was up to his performance. Wherever the bar is set, the next mission or adventure usually has to up the ante. By Die Another Day the ante had been upped to the extreme. The hotel made entirely of ice (ICE!) was extreme... extremely redonkulous!

As an aside, one of the reasons Daniel Craig ditched a lot of the paraphernalia was due to Mike Meyers' Austin Powers parodies. Craig was quoted in some interview somewhere that Austin Powers poked so much fun at the Bond tropes - not to mention the Mel Brooks-Buck Henry Get Smart parody - that Bond had sort of become self-parody. Look closely at some of the scenes with Q, there's a bit of self-deprecating humor and parody in those scenes. Connery's Bond didn't seem to take Q seriously. neither did Brosnan. Q gave Brosnan's Bond two specialized cars. The second one had a stealth, cloaking ability, like Harry Potter's blanket.

Off and on Brosnan has made some impressive solo films. Some, hit or miss. Seraphim Falls with Liam Neeson and The Matador with Greg Kineer stand out. After The Sunset is somewhat shaky. Remember Me with Robert Pattinson is engaging. We don't have to talk about the Mama Mia! films... 

Celebrating his 73rd birthday today, Brosnan has most recently been in The Thursday Murder Club with Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Celia Imrie... along with David Tenant and Jonathan Pryce.

Might be a good day to give that a spin... it just might be better... Fate.

   

A Salute to Marv Wolfman and His Half of The New Teen Titans

 

I blame Burt Ward. 

There's a whole legion of Bat-fans that grew up watching Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. It was Burt Ward's performance as Dick Grayson, also known as Robin, The Boy Wonder that got me interested in the Teen Titans. I could have been an X-Men fan. Crimefighting sidekicks versus teenage angst and puberty. Stan Lee's Uncanny X-Men was about teenagers gaining super-powers at a certain age and living in a world that feared and hated them. Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Speedy and Wonder Girl fought crime. Smiling and joking. Almost like The Amazing Spider-Man without all the teenage baggage. Don't get me wrong, teenagers have baggage. My superpower as a teenager was invisibility. I also repelled girls. I wasn't really athletic, or smart. I didn't have an award-winning personality. I didn't stand out for any reason at all. So, I accepted my lot in life as a comic book geek and reveled in it.

Instead of Uncanny X-Men, I went Teen Titans. 

Marv Wolfman turned 80 yesterday (May 13th, 2026.) He and George Perez relaunched and revived the group as The NEW Teen Titans! Aqualad was benched. Speedy made rare guest appearances. Gar Logan went from Beast Boy to Changeling. Wolfman and Perez introduced Victor Stone as Cyborg, Koriand'r as Starfire and Raven... as... er, um... Raven.

The core of the team was Dick Grayson's Robin, Wally West's Kid Flash and Donna Troy as Wonder Girl. (Side note, probably another reason I'm a Teen Titans fan is both The Penguin and Wonder Girl name drop in The Monkees' Randy Scouse Git...) Wolfman and Perez also introduced a sense of teenage angst that wasn't there in the original Teen Titans. Robin struggled against The Batman's tight reins. Kid Flash struggled with emotions and feelings for Raven and a girl from hometown Blue Valley that developed magnetic powers. Wonder Girl was an independent photographer in a relationship with an older, soon-to-be divorced gentleman. 

George Perez gets a lot of well-deserved credit for the look of The NEW Teen Titans. Marv Wolfman, along with Perez came up with the angle. Raven's father was the demon Trigon. Starfire's sister was the evil Blackfire. The team fought against a cult led by Brother Blood. They also dealt with drugs and runaways. Issues that were somewhat realistic, but still able to fit in a comic book world that could be dealt with using comic book rules and solutions.

As much credit as George Perez deserves, Marv Wolfman is a talented writer who carved out a place for NEW Teen Titans in the DC Universe.

I still blame Burt Ward for drawing my attention to his groovy team of sidekicks...  

Back-Up Feature - The Origin of the JSA; 52, Week Forty-Nine Review

 

52 may have been an attempt to ride the wave of 24. The FOX political thriller starring Keifer Sutherland was a weekly series with events that occurred in real-time. What that meant was the fifty-minute drama contained fifty-minutes of action, adventure and suspense. there were no time gaps. Typically, there's a jump, usually over the boring stuff. 24 contained no boring stuff. Every second, every moment was jam-packed with something. The series occurred over a single twenty-four-hour period. That single day was rolled out over twenty-four weeks. 52 was a single story - an EVENT! - that rolled out every Wednesday for a full year!

Week Forty-Nine, as the series winds down to its conclusion, finds the Justice Society in China trying to rescue Black Adam from captivity. When Adam finally is free, he has nothing but vengeance in mind and heart. Elsewhere, Doc Magnus unleashes his Metal Men on Chang Tzu. He's been developing a new Metal Man for the vile creature. After destroying Chang Tzu, Magnus helps Professor Morrow, creator of The Red Tornado, escape. 

Following the main story is a two-page back-up featuring an abbreviated origin of the Justice Society. Written by Mark Waid, with art by Don Kramer, inks by Michael Bair and colors by Alex Singlair, the spread highlights the landmark first superhero team, leaping out of the mists to fight Nazis and turn the tide of WWII. Later, they are summoned out of retirement by the Justice League. As time passes, the legacy of the JSA continues, with new heroes taking up the mantle and baton of the original, older heroes. The feature ends with a roll call and Essential Storylines.  It's an enjoyable piece.

Your mileage may vary on the main story of 52. The cover, posing Doc Magnus as Bond, firing Metal Men bullets is simply eye candy. It would make a great wall poster. The back-up feature on the JSA is well worth the price of admission.

From April 11th, 2007, 52: Week Forty-Nine, "Eve of Destruction" earns four stars.  

Revisionist History; Secret Origins 31, Starring The Justice Society of America Review

 

The Challenge for writer and fan Roy Thomas is putting an end to the Justice Society of America. With the landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths series, a single Earth, a single timeline and reality was written. Legend has it that some writers found it confining. I would argue that that may have been the case for Thomas and The Golden-Age portion of the DC Universe. All-Star Squadron was left without Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Arrow, and their associated, connecting characters. Power Girl had to be re-imagined. Robin and The Huntress were erased along with The Golden-Age versions of Batman and Catwoman. Fury had to be re-imagined. Green Arrow and Speedy were no longer members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory or Laws Legionnaires. The Justice Society was trapped in a Ragnarok loop to preserve the universe. All-Star Squadron came to an end and replaced with the Young All-Stars title. Infinity, Inc. may have come to a close around the same time as well. 

Roy Thomas re-imagines the origin of the Justice Society of America, post-Crisis. Michael Bair, Bob Downs and Carl Gafford handle the art, with Jean Simek lettering. Mark Waid edits.

The story is pretty much similar to DC Special 29, from 1977. Without Batman, The Flash and Green Lantern head off to Glasgow. Superman does not make an eleventh-hour save. The significant difference is that FDR is in fact killed by a Valkyrie. The Spectre goes into the afterlife to plead for his return to lead the country, nay, even the world through the second great war. That's really the centerpiece of the story. Jim Corrigan pleading for the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the comparison to Moses that FDR did not survive into the "Promised Land".

What really comes out is that The Spectre and Dr. Fate could easily eliminate Hitler and the Nazi threat, just the two of them. Add Green Lantern, Hourman and possibly The Flash, and the Axis powers might be stopped in its tracks. Hawkman, The Atom and The Sandman are pretty good in hand-to-hand, or espionage agents. Unfortunately, fictional characters, comic book characters can't fix or solve real-world problems. They're stuck fitting into a reality. Which is an explanation for Hitler diverting from invading England. 

It's a great story. Thomas updates it well. Bair's art is thrilling, providing a number of individual character poses. The opening splash page appears somewhat weak, but the end page splash is pretty decent.

Over all, Secret Origins 31, featuring The Secret Origin of The Justice Society of America earns four stars.  

Our Heroes at War; DC Special 29, The Untold Origin of The Justice Society Review

Kudos to Paul Levitz. Thirty-seven years after their first appearance in All-Star Comics 3, Winter 1940, Levitz reveals the secret origin of comics' first superhero team. Their debut appearance was made up of dinner conversation. The team gathered and shared solo adventures. This origin story accomplishes a few things. Primarily, it explains why Hitler did not invade England during World War II. Secondly, it provides an action-packed origin story for the Justice Society, including Superman and Batman. This story takes place prior to Wonder Woman's debut, as well as a number of other Golden-Age heroes.

Levitz establishes that President Roosevelt attempts to keep his promise not to enter the war - unless of course the United States is attacked. That would occur almost a year after these events of November 1940. That's when Agent Smythe carrying an important message from Intrepid, Sir William Stephenson, imploring the Commander-in-Chief to aid the British against the Nazi Reich. FDR's solution is to use "Mystery Men", costumed superheroes - basically civilians - in covert operations.

Smythe contacts Batman, The Flash and Green Lantern and sends them off to Glasgow. Dr. Fate observes as the trio is captured and moved to Hitler's Berlin, where he is about to make an example of them. Fate and Hourman rush to the rescue. Fate also summons The Atom, Hawkman and Sandman. Ultimately, The Spectre and Superman make an appearance. The heroes end up fighting Valkyries. The Atom even saves FDR from a "fatal" Valkyrie blast. He quips that it's impossible to split The Atom. Little do he know...

Joe Staton, Bob Layton and Anthony Tollin pack the punch for Levitz's bombastic script. Bill Morse's lettering is superb - even in newsprint, which is finicky and fickle.

The opening and ending splash pages are a treat. This is definitely for Justice Society and die-hard comic-book-y fans. Readers that enjoy Dr. Fate, The Spectre and Superman fighting Valkyries and Nazis. It's definitely wonky.

As such, The Untold Origin of The Justice Society in DC Special 29 earns five stars.