I got to catch up on and enjoy more of these issues today.
To finish up the discussion questions, Shining Knight continues to be a fascinating character. Be great if the flying horse is part of Stargirl. I liked the chivalry knight code of honor where instead of a kiss he wants a scarf from the future Firebrand.
These first 7 issues at least introduced the reader of the late '70s to the Golden Age characters of the Justice Society again like the Justice League annual crisis had to the audience in the '60s. Maybe Roy hoped to do a Justice Society after this, but '86 Crisis destroyed any hope of that.
I loved the setting of World War II. I got to see the team in its prime. My only regret is that I would have liked to see a lot of issues set in the āmystery manā era then watch the tone shift entirely when the war starts.
Robotman. I had first seen him in JLA #144 and was waiting for him to appear again. The āendā of his story was told in DC Comics Presents #31 earlier that year. Iām happy Roy moved his debut up a few months so he could take part.
While, Iād rather watch the JSA and the other ābig namesā they still had a strong team put together. The bigger heroes would guest star and rotate all the time, so it really wasnāt an issue.
Per Degaton! What a plot! He comes from the future, hires flunkies meeting the JSA years earlier and is trying to calculate how to take over a world at war. Iāve got a shelf of counterfactual history novels and that interest probably started right here.
Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick are probably the first two characters people think of when they hear All-Star Squadron. Their relationship was the heart of the book from start to finish.
I guess it is something else entirely, though I still consider All-Star Squadron a subset of JSA. In the series itself, that is the other way around.
MORE COMMENTS
I bought JLA #193 when it came out and was so thrilled to see the JSA returning. In the 1990s I CAREFULLY removed the preview from the rest of the comic, CAREFULLY stapled it again and put in its own bag and board. The preview now sits between the last issue of Adventure Comics with the JSA in it and All-Star comics #1 in the JSA #1 box. Here is an overview of the preview if you havenāt read it.
Roy Thomas states that the title of the first issue is from the song āI Donāt Want to Set the world on Fire.ā It was a very popular song right after Pearl Harbor.
I agree about the use of so much comic book continuity was both a blessing and a curse. The plan was to go at a pace of one year of our time= one month of comic book time. The fortieth anniversary of the title is coming up. Had they maintained the pace and DC never cancelled it, All-Star Squadron would now be in February 1945! Theyād still have three years to go to get to VE Day, five years to the first A-bomb explosion and seven years to VJ Day. Thankfully, Jerry Ordway is still around to draw it.
Since Paul Levitz came up with the Spear of Destiny to keep the heroes out of Europe in 1977, Roy Thomas comes up for a similar reason to protect Japan in #4.
The only active JSA member left off the cover of #1 is Starman. He also had to stay behind to guard Pearl Harbor while the rest tried to conquer Japan. I feel a strongly worded letter is in order!
and now for the rantā¦
YES CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS DESERVED TO DIE AND I HOPE IT BURNS IN HELL!!!
I just want to point out that the All-Star Squadron preview pull-out from Justice League of America #193 was added to the service several months ago after I requested it:
Considering that DC has spent the proceeding 35 years undoing the effects of Crisis (up to and including the conclusion of Dark Nights: Death Metal just a few months ago, after which, apparently, āeverything countsā again now), I find that Iām hard pressed to argue with you.
LOL, thanks! I was being kinda cheeky with that post. I do understand why DC thought something like Crisis was necessary back in 85/86. Comics, as a whole, were going darker, more realistic. DCās sales had been hurting for a while a reboots can attract new readers.
Ultimately, though, they ended up erasing a lot of things I personally enjoy about DC Comics. I feel that they threw the baby out with the bathwater to some extent. I think thatās what brought about the inevitable return of much of what was lost.
See Iām the exact opposite. I absolutely hated having the JSA and the JLA on the same earth because of what I saw as too many duplicate archetypes. Plus it really screwed up the continuity of characters like Power Girl and completely eliminated others like Helena Wayne from canon. I would have been happier if they had left the multiverse alone.
