We have arrived fellow Legionnaires, to the crossover that the powers at DC were promising for quite a few issues. And it is not just our beloved Legion of Super-Heroes meeting the legendary Justice League of America, but also the Justice Society of America make an appearance. You read it right! We are getting DC’s most powerful teams in a humongous story that spanned two Giant Sized issues in 1977, all in one explosive crossover story. 

What powerful and evil force could possibly bring these three teams together? None other than the Legion’s most potent adversary, Mordru, who makes his first official appearance against the Legion since the ‘retooling’ of Superboy into the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes way back in 1973. 

And your next question without a doubt is how does it fare, and does it hold up? Well do not take my word for it, read the overview to find out before diving into my thoughts in the following sections. But first, be sure to check your surroundings to make sure a magical hour glass is not appearing that could trap you forever, settle into your comfiest chair and get ready to become immersed in a…

Crisis in the 30th Century!

At last! The Greatest Heroes of Two Earths. The Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America, team up with their most incredible allies of all time, the Legion of Super-Heroes, all to battle Mordru the Merciless, a super sorcerer out to conquer an entire galaxy. All that stands between him and his goal are three enchanted objects and it will take the combined power of all three super-teams to stop him!

Chapter 1: Terror of the Time Plunderer!

We go out into space, 22,300 miles above the Earth to be exact, and peer into the Justice League of America Satellite, which is currently playing host to members of the Justice Society of America who are currently finishing up their annual visit. What makes this visit so special? Because the JSA actually live on Earth-2, an Earth very much like our own, occupying the same space but vibrates on a different frequency. 

Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth-2 thanks the group for helping them detain the Pscyho Pirate, whom they can now take back to their Earth. Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth-1 is sorry that they are going so soon. Wildcat seems the most restless and orders his JSA comrades into the transmatter, when suddenly a boxing glove placed on top of an arrow, hits the off switch. Its owner? Oliver Queen, Green Arrow of Earth-1 who wants them to stay just a little while longer. Wildcat is annoyed because now it will take an hour for the transmatter to warm up again and the Green Lantern of Earth-2, Alan Scott, just manages to pull them apart. Power Girl nestles a bit closer to Superman who offers to show her the JLA Trophy room, which she eagerly agrees to. As Green Arrow, Black Canary and the Star-Spangled Kid (who is not supposed to be in this issue but Dick Dillin remembers this on the next page) hear a scream. They rush into the next room and find Superman battling a weird magical hand who attempts to pluck Power Girl and bring her to some nefarious location. Luckily Dick Dillin now realizes that Dr. Fate is supposed to be in this feature and replaces Star Spangled Kid with him, just in time too, because Fat manages to quickly conjure some quick defenses to stop the hand from completing its mission. However, the hand still manages to grasp our group of heroes and carries them at super-speed across the time barrier. In its grasp are:

Dr Fate, Power Girl, Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Superman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Hawkman. 

And these heroes quickly reach their destination, the world of 2977 A.D. and find themselves facing the dreaded figure of Mordru who literally has them in the palm of his hand. If we scroll down the page, we also see another group who are imprisoned in an hourglass, more specifically Lightning Lad, Shadow Lass, Chameleon Boy, Saturn Girl, and Ultra Boy, all members of the Legion of Super-Heroes! With disgust Mordru drops his new captives and Superman brings Green Arrow up to speed on who this villain is and why he is the most dangerous of them all. Mordru sneers and is at the same time honored that Superman would remember his power, the power that he will now use to destroy them. 

Mordru then reveals his intentions to the group. He had reached back across time to when the JLA Satellite was in existence in order to steal the Red Jar of Colythos, the Green Bell of Uthool, and the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath. But because these heroes are with him now, they have thwarted his plan, and as punishment he traps them in a magical cage. Dr. Fate instructs the two Green Lanterns to combine their ring energies with his magic and Dr. Fate projects a magical projection of himself to confront Mordru. Mordru laughs at his attempt and reminds the group that it took an entire uprising of his sorcerer-planet Zerox to exile himself to planet Earth and reduce his power by half. But it is not Dr. Fate who will attempt to stop him, but his former captives, because they have escaped from their magical prison and as a team, begin to completely pummel Mordru. Mordru tries to stave them off and Superman even notices how he has been weakened as he is easily able to withstand his flames before flying close enough to deliver one mighty super-punch.

The heroes quickly push Mordru down and Green Arrow fires rope arrows that are caught by the two Flashes who quickly bind him. Our two Emerald Knights meanwhile conjure shackles that bind his ankles, but it is not enough. Mordru swats their restraints away and conjures a Golden Globe of Transkalla and throws them inside it. And because no being has ever escaped the globe, Mordru expects them to quickly die alongside the members of the Legion of Super-Heroes who are still imprisoned and waiting for their comrades to return with the Bell, Jar, and Wheel in the current century and who still have yet to return. 

Now having them both in his grasp he will now quickly destroy them all so they will never interfere with his plans again. But suddenly he stops as if overtaken by some hidden magical force. Mordru wonders if there was something he overlooked and suddenly a faint idea pops into his head. He will ask his new found captives to perform the mission and fetch the objects for him. And with these objects he will free the three demons from imprisonment. Dr. Fate smiles and whispers to Black Canary that his spell of suggestion has succeeded and they still have a chance to survive this ordeal. 

Mordru looks at his prisoners and becomes even more convinced. His first thought was to use the Legion of Super-Heroes to retrieve the objects since they were the mightiest foes he has ever faced. So he appeared before them in the middle of one of their meetings to catch them up off guard. He offered them a trade. In exchange for the five hostages he took, they will provide the bell, jar and the wheel. And because of the hostages they had no choice. But when they did not return he attempted to use the past instead. He wanted to simply pluck the objects from the Justice League Trophy Room but failed after Superman and Power Girl intervened. Thus where the Legion failed the JLA and JSA just might succeed. Mordru lifts the globe before them and decides to keep two of their members hostage, Green Arrow and Black Canary, and he will send forth the others to find the objects. If they fail before the sand of time runs out in the hourglass where our two love-birds are captured, they will simply die. 

Black Canary demands to know what the objects are if she must be held as hostage that may potentially result in her death. Mordru is in a giving mood so he accepts her request and delves into the backstory from the events of Justice League of America #10 and #11. 

In the words of Mordru:

“Far famed even among sorcerers in this era is the history of the three demons: Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast! They ruled this planet aeons ago, before the dawn of humankind. But so that humanity might flourish, altruistic aliens known as The Timeless Ones overthrew the demonic trinity! However, before their imprisonment, the Demons created the indestructible bell, jar, and wheel to ensure that they would one day be released. The Timeless Ones could not destroy the objects, so they hid them!”

Green Arrow remembers this story and continues:

“That is, until a dude named Felix Faust manipulated the JLA into digging ‘em up! Faust freed the Demons but eventually were beaten! Green Lantern locked ‘em up in power-ringed cells, and stowed the three objects in our trophy room!”

Black Canary manages to figure out the rest, that Mordru wants to resurrect the three demons and he needs the three objects to do it. But why reach into 1977? Mordru responds that the Satellite did not survive into the 30th Century and at one point exploded, dispersing the objects throughout space. The jar fell to Earth, but the other relics were flung across the cosmos. He knows where the objects are and sent several Legionnaires to fetch them. And since his gambit to retrieve them in 1977 failed, he sent the JLA and JSA after the Legionnaires to fetch them (thanks to Dr. Fate’s suggestion spell of course). Mordru turns and conjures up a magical viii-screen and peers into how the three members are faring in finding the Silver Wheel. 

Chapter 2: Crisis on a Cosmic Quest

The planet is Antares-II. A century ago the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath landed here, altering the destiny of an entire world. Now destiny changes shape once more, as two Earth heroes are marched through the primate city streets. The Heroes? Sun Boy and Wildfire!

Wildfire remarks that he feels silly playing hostage because they can escape in a second. Sun Boy agrees but wants to have restraint otherwise they just might roast their captors alive thereby breaking the Legion code against killing. But Sun Boy is interrupted as he is swooped up by Hawkman, and quickly sees that Wildfire is in the same ‘predicament,’ albeit in the hands of a grown up Superboy, Superman! Dr. Fate provides cover while Superman tells them they are also here for the Wheel. They land in a safe place and Superman tells Hawkman that he used to know the Legion when he ran with them while he was a teenager. Not wanting to get into the timey-wimey specifics of it all, they could not help but notice that their captors looked like wheels. Wildfire conquers and tells them that the Antarenas are a protean species and can alter their shape at will. When the Wheel arrived they must have changed themselves into wheel people, after admiring its secret power. So when he and Sun Boy managed to find the wheel they were quickly attacked. Dr. Fate interrupts the story and moves, telling them all to follow him because he has found a solution to their problem. 

In minutes the others have followed the masked mystic to the Antarean city and they quickly find the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath on an altar. Dr. Fate gives the order for Superman to take it at super-speed. So fast does the Man of Steel fly that he is invisible to the Antareans and to them, the Silver Wheel seems to streak into the sky on its own accord. There, it erupts into myriad colors, a dazzling other-world fireworks-display that blazes across the sky. Instantly, the colors merge, becoming a constellation of multi-hued stars and in mere seconds, the Antareans have transformed into stars. Wildfire is bewildered and Dr. Fate lets him in on the reason. Since they worshipped the Wheel because it fell from the sky, they took the Wheel to be some sort of God. Now, he simply gave them another thing to worship. 

We return to Green Arrow and Black Canary who watch their success from Mordru’s vidi-screen. Black Canary is impressed with Dr. Fate who knew that this would be easy for experienced heroes like ‘us JSA-ers’. Green Arrow wishes she would not say that because she has been with the JLA for a while now, reminding readers that Black Canary used to live on Earth-2 before Denny O’Neil moved her to Earth-1. 

Inside the other glass we finally view the conversations and thoughts of our captured Legionnaires. Saturn Girl decides to use this time to once again question Wildfire as the Legion leader who failed to figure out the solution quick enough. But thankfully Brainiac Five is on another intelligence level all together and he should be able to secure the Green Bell. 

Chapter 3: For What the Bell Tolls

Our two Green Lanterns and Batman are traveling through space and have just reached the Planet Vaxon. Suddenly a bunch of Space Dragons appear and our heroes hear a very distinct and loud, BONNG!!! Batman is amazed that he is able to hear this in the vacuum of space but quickly deduces that it must be the Green Bell of Uthool because only its magical properties could defy the laws of physics. Before they can act further one of the Space Dragons attack and the Green Lanterns quickly use their power rings to stop it. As they look at the planet and see the swarm of Dragons, this must be the reason why the Legionnaires have not returned and must still be there.

As our members of the JLA and JSA deliberate, the meeting of the Vaxonian Governing Council is currently in session with Brainiac Five and Princess Projectra pleading their case to allow them take the Bell back to Earth. The High Advisor refuses because taking the Bell would mean their instant death. Only the sounds of the Bell have been successful in keeping the Space Dragons from preying on their citizens. If the Bell leaves, then no one is safe. Suddenly Batman and the Green Lanterns appear and Brainy is quick to recognize them despite being from another time and assures the Council that they are his friends. Luckily they overheard the High Advisor telling his tale and Batman has found the answer. All they need is a scarecrow! After some scolding that Brainiac Five has no idea what a scarecrow is, Batman inquires if there are any natural predators the Space Dragons fear. Brainy answers in the affirmative and asks the Princess to create the image of a Xanthor. A ferocious looking dragon that is about the size of the planet and that enjoys eating the Dragons for breakfast. Batman says fantastic, and the Green Lanterns shoot off into space and, using their power rings, sculpt the planet’s uninhabited land-masses just enough to create a very convincing planet tattoo of Xanthor. Sure enough the sight scares the Space Dragons and they flee. As a thank you, the Vaxonians grant them the possession of the Bell, and our heroes depart. 

Mordru, meanwhile, is satisfactorily following the events and is giddy with excitement that there is only one team left, and one object left, to claim and then his goal is complete. And with that we zoom in on the Flash of Earth-2 and Power Girl, two JSAers who have entered an inter-dimensional limbo to find the remaining item. And even Mordru can see that they are up to something and will attempt a double cross after bringing the Red Jar of Calythos to him. 

Chapter 4: The Final Errand!

Power Girl asks the Flash why the jar could possibly fall in this inter-dimensional space. The Flash answers that when the Legion found the jar and decided it was to dangerous for even them to have, they teleported it to a space where not even they could get to very easily. And only he can vibrate at a certain speed to allow them to enter the dimension. PG tells him to hurry up, which does not sit well with him. But still, he vibrates at the corresponding speed and manages to hold the gateway just enough for Power Girl to enter. She is quickly met with alien-like creatures who are sitting on various egg shaped objects, one being the casing for the jar. Power Girl rushes in and tries to move closer but is quickly thwarted by the frog-like creature. She stops to think and realizes that maybe she should look at the situation in a different way. Perhaps the creature is not a male but a female and is sitting on the egg because she thinks it is actually her egg. PG picks up a different object, and hurls it to the side, causing the creature to chase after it. The egg is now alone for PG, she hits it with a mighty punch, and sure enough sees the jar in the center. She quickly grabs it and returns to the Flash who still has the door open for her. Flash is glad to see her and hopes that their little ploy will be successful, otherwise they are dead!

Mordru knows something is fishy and he brings his prisoners in the globe before him. He sneers at them and tells them that he will force them to give him what he wants and once he has it, they will still be his prisoner no matter what. A heroic voice answers that threat in the distance that Mordru should not bet on it. And it is the Flash, alone, who has returned from the inter-dimensional limbo. The Flash tells him he can have the jar, but he better release the prisoners first. Mordru pauses and thinks on the situation. He agrees, knowing that he is so close to having what he wants that nothing can stop him now, even if these heroes are released. True to his word, Power Girl arrives with the jar and as Mordru reaches for it, Superman quickly yells attack and the combined forces of all three teams quickly ascend upon him. But Green Lantern notices very quickly that something is wrong and that not all members are free. And Mordru laughs and dangles Green Arrow and Black Canary before him. He delivers another hideous spell that causes the hourglass to slowly shrink. Our heroes know they are now powerless to stop him, especially with two of their own in danger and the stop. 

Mordru places the objects in front of him and then gives the magical chant:

“By oil from Jar and Peal of Bell, By Spin of Wheel and Ancient Spell, I free the Trinity at last, Lords Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast!”

With a collective shutter of dread, the Justice Leaguers visualize what happens next in the Antarctic, in China’s Sin-Kiang desert, and in the waters of the South Atlantic, the three places where they had imprisoned the demons. In a blink of an eye, the demons appear in the Legion headquarters and demand to know who summoned them. Mordru answers with himself and he commands the demons to destroy the heroes. Ghast looks at them and recognizes the JLA as their old enemies. Mordru quickly makes them and the JSA disappear and tells the demons they are his to control. The demons demand silence and tell him they will not be ruled by such as he. And then they turn on him and Mordru is struck by overwhelming magical energy and falls before the eyes of the stunned Legionnaires. 

The demons then look at the three objects and know what their next move should be. To destroy the objects once and for all so that they may never be imprisoned again. And then take over the world once more!

What on Earths has happened to the JLA or the JSA? And what of Green Arrow and Black Canary?? We may never know for now the demons are free and that, dear friends, spells…

CRISIS IN TRIPLICATE! Coming next in JLA #148, on sale first week in August!

Creative Team

Right off the bat you do realize that this is a very ambitious endeavor. Martin Pasko and Paul Levitz have conceptualized a story that incorporated three of the most well known teams not only for DC but also for comics as a whole. These teams are from three different periods throughout DC’s history, so the task of trying to figure out a reason and a means to put these three teams together must have been an extremely difficult undertaking. And I really do not think this would have been possible outside of the Giant-Sized format, so thank goodness this was open to them. Because we do have the ability to tell this gigantic story in about sixty-six glorious pages over two issues. 

Before we really dig into whether or not they were able to pull this off for part-one, we need to address the big elephant in the room. Or in this case the Wizard. 

If you are a fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and I imagine you are because you are reading this, the biggest head scratcher is why they would decide to finally include Mordru in a story that takes place in a different book. Since Superboy’s repurposing, Mordru has only shown up as a fake illusion, or as a flashback, but he still had yet to appear in the current line. Jim Shooter was going to include him in the Stargrave saga, but due to his departure and I suppose the decision by Levitz and O’Neil, that never came to pass. So here he is, albeit in the Justice League of America series.

This brings met to my first complaint. The Legion does not really show up or even speak, until about the midway point. That is a lot of exposition and narrative, which is, frankly, a jumbled mess. The outspoken narrative and dialogue of Mordru goes back and forth, emphasizes his need for the objects, what they will do, how he will do it, and why he will enlist the JLA and JSA to help the Legion, making it very repetitive. Sometimes I thought it even contradicted itself and I did have to read Mordru’s rants more than once to get a solid grasp of the reasoning. This repetitiveness almost made us lose the thread of the whole thing and in turn could have derailed the entire thing.

Furthermore, it is quite convenient that all of a sudden Mordru would appear at a Legion meeting and quickly take them over and kidnap a few of them. Again, as a Legion fan you immediately scream, where is this story and why did we not get it in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes? It felt like a wasted opportunity and you just continue to ponder the big reason for this crossover. 

With the major derailments out of the way, the splitting off into teams in order to find their Legion comrades was executed well. It was the classic plot device of the Gardner Fox era, which was a wonderful tribute and nod to that era. Yes, there were some silly stuff, such as the alien race mimicking the look of the wheel as well as Power Girl figuring out that the beings protecting the jar were actually females believing they were protecting their own egg. But all in all it was a decent story and I am looking forward to the second part. 

For me, what really helped propel the book forward was Dick Dillin. Dillin has always been my favorite JLA artist from the so-called “pre-Crisis” Justice League and I really was looking forward to seeing how he would handle the Legionnaires. And of course he came through. It almost had a nice little callback to Dave Cockrum, which would make sense since they are, more or less, from the same era. Dillin’s gigantic task of incorporating and depicting three big teams is enough for me to forgive that slight mistake of accidentally including Star Spangled Kid in the beginning before quickly switching him out for Doctor Fate. With all those individuals to keep track of, you cannot fault the guy for that.

Thus, to conclude, there is a lot of story here that almost goes off the rails but they do manage to keep it on track. Despite the convenience of Mordru suddenly appearing and being as strong as he is, the use of timey-wimey magic to bring two groups in the 30th Century to meet a third, it is a worthy story for anyone’s collection. And I can firmly conclude that if it were not for Dick Dillin’s trusty and experienced pencil and Frank McLaughlin’s inks, it would not have been as satisfying as it was. 

The Legion Medallion of Merit 

Even though this is an ad interim, we will still do a quick analysis and reward a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes who went above and beyond the call of duty the prestigious Legion Medallion of Merit. However, it is simple because we are allowed to focus on one of the three teams, but it is also quite challenging because we did not really see any of the Legionnaires until well into the story. But there is one moment where it was not only very appropriate for the character to act that way, but he actually saved the moment. And that is the time when Brainiac Five quickly recognized Batman and the two Green Lanterns and was able to keep the diplomatic negotiations going. Yes, we cannot fault him for not knowing what a scarecrow was (and let us face it, I am pretty sure that little ploy of carving the image of a Xanthor into the planet’s topography probably did a lot more harm than good), his ability to quickly think on his feet probably saved the day, and helped bring about a bit of needed time to rescue their comrades from Mordru’s clutches. 

Congratulations Brainiac Five! May you wear the Medallion proudly as a reminder that there are times when a student of ancient history will actually create some impact and save the day.

And that is it for this ad-interim folks! Join us in just two days as we continue our journey in the adventures found in the wonderful Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes series. 

But remember, as we ponder the utility of keeping an evil Wizard buried and covered in dirt so he may no longer rise and destroy the universe, be sure to take a break and shout out the most well known and powerful command ever to be found in the universe…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!