Tag: Geolab ’77

And we are back on the Justice League of America book, closing out a very epic three way fight between DC’s mightiest super-hero teams! Did you ever wonder, fellow Legionnaires, who would win in a fight between the JLA, JSA, and LSH? By the end of this you will know, or at least have a pretty good guess! 

And wow, what a book packed full of characters. You know that Dick Dillion’s pencils and Frank McLaughlin’s brushes must have been working overtime. But they keep everything straight this time around and the plot does flow a lot better. Plus our beloved Legionnaires get the screen-time, errr, page-time they deserve. But cool up Osman! I need to save it for the Creative Team section! Dim the lights, make sure there is no evil Wizard lurking anywhere nearby, and get reading!

Crisis in Triplicate!

We return from the previous story as the JLA and JSA are being hurled through time, on the path to return to their own timelines. We zoom in on Black Canary and Green Arrow who are still trapped in Mordru’s hourglass, and the sand within continues to pour, ready to drown them both. Seeing his immediate demise, Green Arrow decides to a tiny time-out in order to bring us up to speed on what happened last issue. Buckle up.

• A giant hand emerged in the JLA Satellite, and brought the JSA and JLA to the 30th Century.
• There they met the evil wizard Mordru, who had taken some members of the Legion hostage.
• He sent the remaining Legionnaires out to look for three objects; the Green Bell of Uthool, the Red Jar of Calythos, and the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath
• Seeing the Legionnaires had failed, he grouped members of the JLA and JSA together and sent them off in teams to retrieve the items in their stead
• After they were successful in their mission, he used the three objects to free the three ancient demons: Abnegazar, Rath, and Ghast.
• But after the demons were released, they zapped the heroes, sending them back to their timelines and then turned on Mordru and zapped him unconcious.
• Now they are intending to destroy the three objects themselves so they will never be held prisoner again.

All caught up gang? Good!

Because as the three demons are trying to figure out how to destroy the objects, Wildfire, Lightning Lad, and Ultra Boy explode onto the scene and immediately attack. However, the battle is brief, and with one simple gesture, Rath stops them in their tracks. And then it finally happens, what the Justice League had fought so hard to prevent, the demons hurl the bell, jar, and wheel to the floor, and the objects vanish. Now the demons are irrevocably free to walk the Earth!

Seeing their work is done, the demons turn to the Legionnaires and put them under their spell. They command them to lead Mordru’s spirit back to his body. Powerless to resist the magical force which compels them, the super-teens reluctantly take to the air via their flight-rings with Mordru’s astral form in tow. Though their bodies might be under the demons’ command, their ability to talk to each other is not. And they wonder what will happen to Green Arrow and Black Canary. However, when they started their departure, the hourglass actually inverted in the process, causing the sand to reverse and give both Green Arrow and Black Canary a slight reprieve. Green Arrow quickly moves to Black Canary and begs her to wake up lest they miss their only chance.

Meanwhile, the three demons have their sights on Earth and cannot wait to rule it again. Which is quickly interrupted by one who disagrees. Abnegazar has grown weary of their quarrel with humanity. And despite being trapped, he was able to observe humanity’s progress. And as each generation passed, he witnessed its heroes who brought serenity to the 30th Century, and to Earth who is currently at peace. Abnegazar declares to his two fellow demons that he wants to be one with that harmony. The other two balk at his suggestion. Rath cannot believe that he would give up the wealth and power the world has to offer them. In fact, Ghast shall remake planet Earth as it was before-time, when it was still in their dominion. He will drive the moon from the sky and make sure all humans will vanish from it. Rath comments that they have come at an impasse and are no longer united in their goal. Abnegazar agrees but reminds them that they have battled each other before, and he shutters to think of the consequences. 

The other two sneer and put it to the test. Suddenly the demons attack each other, and chant an incantation that was old when the world was new new.

“By stars, by sun, by demon light, I bid the mystic flame ignite!

“Burn my foes with fire bright!

“Destroy them!

“Drive them from my sight!”

Three tongues of flame lash out simultaneously and when the blinding light fades, the three demons still stand. Their powers are equal and they are at a stalemate. Abnegazar then has an idea. If their powers will cancel each other out, why not make use of champions as proxies, and he points to the Legion of Super-Heroes

Lightning Lad!

Chameleon Boy!

Shadow Lass!

Wildfire!

Princess Projectra!

Now they are goaded into action by enchantment. But, were they to choose for themselves their course of action would not be different. For now they rally to save the world! Abnegazar asks them to ally themselves with him in the cause of saving the world so beloved by them. Wildfire cannot believe that he is about to join forces with a demon, but they agree. 

Meanwhile the other two make their choices. Ghast chooses the Justice League of America while Rath chooses the Justice Society of America. But there is one slight problem. They had vanished them to their respective timelines. But no matter, because where we last saw eight members of the Justice League and its Earth-two counterparts hurling through time, we now see see a giant hand that plucks them out from space, stopping their return trip home.

Quickly back to the 30th Century, as the Legionnaires start their attack, the speediness of the demons become apparent because both the JLA and JSA’s arrival block the Legionnaires’ advance. Rath quickly begins his chant, but is interrupted by Dr. Fate who tries to use physical means to stop him, and delivers a hefty punch. Dr. Fate puts on the pressure and Rath changes tactics. He focuses in on Jay Garrick, and successfully puts the speedster under his spell. With Earth 2’s Flash under his control, he uses his speed to quickly run back and forth, hypnotizing the JSA and putting them firmly under his aura of influence as well.

Meanwhile, Ghast is also busy trying to subdue the JLA. He starts with Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. With a magial gesture, yellow smoke envelops the emerald gladiator, bending him to the demon’s evil purpose. The smoke dissipitates as quickly as it came. There is a flash of stunning green brilliance and the rest of the JLA is firmly under his control. Then Ghast’s final commands rings forth:

“Now, my minions, to war!” 

Chapter 2: The Battle That Shook the 30th Century

The JLA waste no time and immediately attack the Legion of Super-Heroes. Abnegazar quickly calls the Legion to action and Wildfire is very happy too. And his first target is of course Superman, a rivarly that he enjoys, albeit when he was young as Superboy. Superman shouts to Wildfire that they are on the same side, and the only difference is that they cannot control their actions.

Out into the street that battle spills, and right into the Avenue of Super-Heroes, a famed thoroughfare in 30th Century Metropolis! The JSA have joined in on the battle and Rath empowers Dr. Fate to use his powers. But Shadow Lass quickly swoops in and uses her shadow powers to envelop him in compete darkness. 

Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of Earth 2, blasts the legs under the statue of Lightning Lad, and it falls on Shadow Lass, interrupting her attack. Batman quickly realizes that there is a difference between the JLA and JSA. The JLA still have control of their minds, while the JSA are under the complete control of Rath. He turns from the battle and sees Ghast approach him, and assumes that he is ready to give further orders. However, Ghast punches him and quickly changes back into Chameleon Boy. Meanwhile, with Dr. Fate now saved from Shadow Lass’ attack, he uses his powers to animate a statue of Sun Boy, who picks up Chameleon Boy saving Batman. 

The real Ghast appears on the scene and realizes that he is missing two JLA members to Rath’s five champions. He then remembers that Green Arrow and Black Canary are still stuck in the hourglass. He dispatches the JLA Green Lantern to fetch him on his behalf. While Green Lantern rushes off, the other Green Lantern thwarts Lightning Lad’s thunderbolts with a projection of a lightning rod, that allows Hawkman to sneak up behind and kick him in the head. 

We leave this scene of battle and return to the Legionnaires who are still transporting Mordru’s astral form to his body, which is still locked inside a weird chamber!*

*Let’s take a pause Legionnaire fans and make note of the…errr editor’s note:

Special note to Legion lovers: Since the Legion’s last battle with Mordru, the “Dark Lord” escaped his previous prison: He was defeated again, though, and placed in Doom Crater, in an as-yet-untold Legion adventure.

With that head-scratcher out of the way Ultra Boy is concerned about Black Canary and Green Arrow. He knows that once they reunite Mordru with his physical body, they will be trapped and will suffocate. But his fears are groundless, thanks to the verdant figure materializing on the crater’s rim, and a pair of green scissors that snip the chain, causing the hour glass to fall. 

Inside the hourglass, both our heroes quickly realize what has happened and that their buddy Green Lantern is responsible for the scissors. Green Arrow springs into action and shoots an arrow in mid-air, smashing the hourglass. And as they leave the magical confines of the hourglass and approach the ground, they return to normal size. Their relief quickly turns into terror as Green Lantern slowly points his ring at them. He warns them that he is not in control and that he is sorry, but he has no choice because he is under the power of Ghast, and now they both are too. 

With the possession complete, Green Lantern aims his ring and sends out a big projection of a fist hurtling towards the Legionnaires who have turned toward them and who are still carrying the astral form of Mordru. Saturn Girl quickly takes the lead and singles out Green Lantern because she knows his ring operates on will power. If she can misdirect its energy and concentrate hard and with that extra oomph, the big fist quickly reverses course and returns to sender, hitting GL squarely in the face. Black Canary observes what has happened and knows that it is Saturn Girl who used her telepathic powers that controlled the ring. She squares up, opens up, and emits a large sonic scream that envelops Saturn Girl and disrupts her concentration, forcing her to fall right into a projected net that Green Lantern created. 

Indeed, the Legionnaires are very powerful but because they are distracted and engaged in by transporting Mordru’s astral form, the JLA are able to knock them down. Green Lantern then uses his power to reunite Mordru’s spirit-self with the flesh and blood counterpart that spawned it. Green Arrow and Black Canary join them, and they disappear, assuming that it is Ghast ready to give them their next assignment. 

Meanwhile, Superman and Wildfire continue to fight each other, bringing back the time when he was Superboy. Power Girl decides to end the stalemate and swoops in from behind, knocking him back while Superman quickly finishes the job. With the Legionnaires out of the way, Superman does wonder if they have missed something. His thoughts are interrupted with Ghast transporting them to their next destination. 

We then peer in on Dr. Fate and Alan Scott who are being controlled by Rath who are moving toward the Global Tunnel that cuts thorough the Earth’s molten core. Dr. Fate uses eldritch energy to create a barrier allowing him to cut off the generator’s steam and slip under the barrier to reach Geolab ’77, a recently constructed inner-space station. However, because Dr. Fate cut the beam protecting the tunnel, it collapses and Green Lantern captures the station in time. Rath then goes on TV and tells President Kandru of Earth to surrender all control of the planet to him immediately, otherwise the global tunnel will be destroyed and thousands of innocents will die. 

The Legionnaires regain consciousness in the meantime and Abnegazar informs them of Rath’s evil plan and they spring into action. They catch up with Dr. Fate and Princess Projectra uses an illusion to distract him while Wildfire blasts him from behind. Green Lantern and Power Girl are just beyond the tunnel entrance and GL confirms that PG has some capability to fight back unlike her JSA colleagues who are completely under Rath’s control. And then he tells her he, in fact, has a plan.

The Legionnaires look down at an unconscious Dr. Fate and Wildfire quickly moves into the tunnel. He meets Alan Scott and blasts him, allowing him to lose control of the lab. Power Girl and Green Lantern start to fight and we learn this is one more step in their plan and they have to make the fight convincing. As Wildfire gets closer he overhears them fighting over the generator and he blasts them both. As they fake unconsciousness we see Ghast’s anger that his pawns have been defeated. Luckily he still has Superman and Batman and they will be able to put forth his plans to clean the entire planet of humans. He disappears to put forth his friends elsewhere and we, as readers, see one reveal. And that is that Green Lantern had his power ring the whole time, using its power to transmit everything that was being said to his JLA teammates. It also reached two heroes with one doing the flying: Superman and Batman. 

The JLA regroup and and continue to plan how they can defeat the demons. Black Canary suddenly has a plan. They took them as champions because they thought their powers would equal out. But suppose that the three groups also show a stalemate. Would the Demond then have to take their battle back into their own hands and destroy each other? Batman and Superman love the plan and they get to work. As their next mission had something to do with Ice City, they chose this location as the battleground. Which might just prove to be their final one.

Chapter 3: Some Say the World Will End in Fire…Some Say in Ice!

In minutes, the climatic battle begins as, after depositing Batman before the city gates, Superman flies over the icy wasteland. He is met by Shadow Lass and Wildfire who use their powers to subdue them. To their shock they do easily, and Superman plummets to the ground and pretends he is beaten. While Superman’s battle takes place, Green Arrow and Black Canary make their way into the city and quickly take out any guards. Batman arrives on the scene and holds a thirtieth-century bomb that Ghast ordered him to retrieve in order to blow up Ice City should Superman’s attack fail.  A blaze of fire erupts in the sky and Batman turns, when the bomb is swiped from his hands by a lethal looking bird. It is Princess Projectra and Chameleon Boy. Lightning Lad arrives and quickly stuns the trio and he orders Chameleon Boy to dismantle the bomb.

Meanwhile, Rath and the JSA have appeared outside the city. Jay Garrick rushes in to stop Princess Projectra when suddenly the ground turns to ice, courtesy of Superman’s super breath that he quickly emits while pretending to be unconscious. Sure enough, it slips up Garrick and as he rebounds he realizes that no matter hat he does, the water will be frozen and they will get nowhere. 

In the skies above the city, Hawkman joins the battle and hits Chameleon Boy. Black Canary quickly steps in to help him and blasts Hawkman with a sonic blast. Chameleon Boy takes advantage of the distraction and hits him again while Chameleon Boy assumes the form of Hawkman and hopes that with their now equal weight and height, they will be able to create yet another stalemate. And it works, because the demons are now in a meeting with each other and believe that a stalemate has happened. There is only one option, to test the their true power against each other. Rath funnels all his eldritch energy into the onslaught, forcing him to surrender his hold on his JSA pawns. 

With the JSA freed, Dr. Fate gathers up Power Girl and Alan Scott, who has Green Lantern safely encased in a projected bubble. No one knows what would happen if an irresistible force met an immovable object. One theory holds that both force and object would be annihilated. Dr. Fate is soon to learn the validity of that theory, for as he approaches, the demons begin to glow white, hot, glowing brighter with each volley of supernatural force, until finally, they explode, and the masked mystic is caught in the blast. 

Superman rushes to Dr. Fate’s side, who quickly stands up. He notices there is something different about him and that the explosion between the two demons must have made him more powerful, powerful enough that they may just overcome the final demon, Ghast. Members of the JSA, JLA, and Legion of Super-Heroes simply attack Ghast with all their power, forcing him back into outer-space. While below, Dr. Fate glows even brighter, working his most ambitious spells ever. And suddenly, in response, strange gleaming shapes rush through the void toward earth, as if pulled by a magnet. From countless light-years away they hurtle across the depths of space, strange fragments of metal drawn toward a single destination, 22,300 miles above earth, as if with a sense of purpose. Ghast is in the middle and he slowly realizes what is happening. As the space-scrap converges, it takes shape, and imprisons him. He recognizes for what it is:

The Justice League Satellite!

And it is over. Dr. Fate confirms Superman’s suspicions that the satellite is the perfect prison since it did hold the three mystical objects for so long that its magical residue was now built into its materials. With the work completed the three teams say goodbye to each other. Green Lantern puts everyone under a spell of hypnotic suggestion to make them forget about what they saw lest they accidentally mess up the space-time-continuum. With that, Superman heads for the time-barrier bearing nine brightly-garbed figures back to the era that invented super-heroes. Where each group of the greatest heroes of two Earths will return to their respective worlds with only vague recollections eased somewhat by the contentment that comes with the job…

A job well done. 

Creative Team

With Justice League of America #148, we finish the Legion of Super-Heroes crossover with another, definitely needed, Giant Size issue. The pacing here was definitely a lot better, though there were still some messy elements. The most obvious was the literal sidebar explaining that Mordru is somewhere else due to an as-of-yet unreleased Legion story. Was this the initial intention to the Stargrave saga? Again, it is still odd that Mordru would make an appearance in a book that is not the Legion of Super-Heroes, so the elephant is still definitely in the room.

However, in part two we do have to do quite a bit less mental gymnastics. The dynamics between the two teams were good, in particular the biggest difference that the JSA were completely under the control and the JLA were not. The JLA could still communicate but could not control their physical movements. When we do these thought experiments on what character or team would be able to beat another character or team, employing the whole ‘I’m not in control of my acitons’ is used quite a bit, and not to as great effect. I mean I guess we still did not answer the question but it was fun to read.

Because if there is one thing you can say about this issue is that it is action packed. Issue two was the moment everyone was waiting for and I can safely say it did not disappoint. The brawls were there and you got to see the power of the two teams come against each other. I particularly liked how Power Girl was portrayed in this issue. Though she belongs to the JSA she conveniently also did not succumb to complete control mainly, as they put it, because she was young. But she got to throw some really mighty punches and it was fun to see her in action.

Also what I liked is that the Legion of Super-Heroes actually did stuff right off the bat. The previous issue they really did not come in until we were well into the issue, so it was nice to see how Abnegazar quickly put them under his wing as a force for good to help defeat the other two’s champions. And speaking of Abnegazar I did think he got the short end of the stick. I mean he was basically advocating for good and the JLA and the Legion just allowed him to mutually destroy Rath. But hey, them’s the breaks. 

Were there some weird, loose ends? Yes of course. I do think they were unavoidable in a story like this. I think the whole, let’s get Mordru’s astral form back into his body thing was a bit weird and not needed. The only purpose the astral form had was to give a reason for the Legion not being able to fight at full strength because they were too encumbered with it. That was a bit odd, but hey, so is a 30th Century wizard. Also what was the reason for the icy city thing? Even after my third read-through I thought the need to destroy an icy city was odd and it felt like a leftover plot thread that was taken out before, almost like a scene in the movie that referenced something that was actually taken out.

But other than that I can say that Pasko stuck the landing and the issue did work a lot better than the previous one. And if you want to really peel back the layers and analyze it, these two issues are at its most basic a wonderful tribute to Gardner Fox and everything that came before. 

Once again the star of the show is Dick Dillin. As mentioned during the last post, he is my favorite JLA artist from this period, so it was an absolute joy to have him depict the Legion and their powers and he did a fantastic job. From Saturn Girl’s telepathic powers, Wildfire swooping on the scene, to Chameleon Boy changing into fantastic creatures, he nailed every aspect of it. And I cannot understate this. Dillin had to draw action packed scenes, depicting three different teams. Even with so many characters to juggle everyone was depicted perfectly, and kudos must also be extended to Frank McLaughlin who had to ink and render everything. These two were such a great team.

To conclude, whether you are a fan of the JLA, JSA, the Legion, or only one of the three, this is a great two-parter to have in your collection. You get a wonderful display of the power of Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin and it is just a beautiful sixty-six pages over two issues. Is the whole thing a little wonky and far-fetched? Of course! The creators have to think up ways to bring teams from different times together and things are going to get messy. But this is why we love comics in the first-place. This is not only two solid issues but a great little snapshot in the history of DC. 

The Legion Medallion of Merit

Even though we are in an ad interim in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, we must still award a Medallion to a Legionnaire who went above and beyond in the call of duty. I do feel like I say this with every outing, but this time it is really difficult to pick one. The teams were effectively split up and each member did what they had to do in order to bring two teams down and effectively save the universe. And officially this was a JLA book after all, so if there was going to be any character that needed to shine it would have to be a member of the Justice League. 

However, I do have one, because I could not help but smile every time he showed up. It was a nod to what was happening in the main Superboy series at the time and also a reaffirmation that there was a rivalry between the two. And by this I obviously mean every time Wildfire had to confront and attempt to take out Superman. The two went at it like old times, even though to Wildfire it probably felt like current times. But still, they were really great moments. Also there was a bit of an admission that their powers were equal, I suppose declaring that Wildfire is actually a very powerful Legionnaire indeed. So why the Medallion? Look, Wildfire showed grit. He is a hot head but he still kept at it, even knowing that Superboy had the leg up time and time again on their adventures and now he had to fight him in man-form. Still, he never wavered and he continues to prove why he is the right choice as Legion Leader, even though we know there will be a change coming soon.

Congratulations Wildfire! You are certainly racking up the medallions but they are all well deserved. Not only are you proving yourself capable in battle, but are proving the nay-sayers (*cough, Saturn Girl, cough*) that you are a fine leader and can bring it over the finish line when the stakes are on the line. 

Whew! And that is it for the mega-task of looking at JLA #147 and #148. I hope it was fun for you as it was for me and if you have not read or picked up these issues, do so at your earliest convenience. And as you immerse yourself in the web that is the world, and should you find yourself feeling lost or astray, just remember you can always ring the call of help and bring forth those magical words that everyone in the universe knows…

LONG LIVE THE LEGION!