From: [scott hollifield] at [the-matrix.com] (Scott Hollifield) Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc Subject: Golden Age Annotation 1/5 Date: 18 Jan 94 23:49:00 GMT BOOK TWO -------- Page 1 Some time has passed since last issue. Johnny Chambers' mystery man documentary, _Masks_, is finished, when in Book One, it had the working title _Yesterday's Gods_. Page 3 The Atom appearing unmasked and uncostumed here is curious, considering he never publicly revealed his Al Pratt identity to the public. Presumably, Thompson's idea is to avoid association with the traditional masked superheroes (and their costumes) that the public is already familiar with. Thompsons remarks to the crowd about Robotman are ironic considering what we saw of Robotman last issue. Page 5 Libby comments that the Atom was too young and volatile to have been trusted with the secret identities of the other JSAers. This is unlikely considering how close-knit the JSA seemed to be, although the tone of the original 1940s tales did not lend itself to personal conversation about each others identities. The Atom *did* participate in such a tale-swapping session in ALL-STAR SQUADRON #2, in which he, Liberty Belle, Johnny Quick, Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Robotman and Plastic Man all shared origin stories with one another. The Atom's characterization has been altered somewhat for this story; while he was headstrong, he was never deemed untrustworthy or unreliable in a previous story. Jonathan Law's statement to Libby that "it was your husband that everyone went to with their secrets" is also strange, since it was Law himself who collected the secrets of other heroes for his book. If anything, Johnny Quick was more hot-tempered and volatile than the Atom, as depicted in ALL-STAR SQUADRON. Like most of the vices depicted in this story, Law's drinking habit is new. Page 6 Ted Knight erects a theory that the cosmic radiation he tapped in 1939 was responsible for physically and psychologically causing certain people to become costumed heroes. While James Robinson may have chosen to make this a valid idea in this story, it would be inaccurate in DC history, since there were a number of costumed heroes around before 1939 (including Doctor Occult, Zatara and the Crimson Avenger). Page 9-14 The Sportsmaster was a foe of Green Lantern during the '40s, consistent with what is seen here (although his first appearance was as the non-costumed villain "Crusher" Crock). He was also a member of the Injustice Society. The personal details about his ex-wife and daughter are new. In DC continuity, he eventually married a fellow Injustice Society member, the Huntress, who appears later in this story. Page 19 The man trying to gain entrance to Al Pratt's office is Johnny Thunder. His magic word, "Cei-U", is pronounced "say you". Page 20 Johnny's talk about visiting Tibet, the land where he was born, is partially made up. In DC history, Johnny was born in a fictitious Asian land called Bahdnesia, and it was there where he was awarded possession of the powerful Thunderbolt. Al's remark about the JSA "putting up" with Johnny is based in past continuity; Johnny always did stick out, not having any real powers or costume of his own. In JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #220, Johnny mentions that he seemed like a fifth wheel in the group, and felt even more useless when the JSA replaced him with Black Canary (an incident which seems to be out-of-continuity for this story, since Black Canary's debut didn't happen until 1949). Al Pratt is sketching the design for his new costume, which appeared about this time (see Book One, page 30). His previous one is seen here hanging up. Page 21 Dan's power manifestation of slamming his fists together at the bottom of the page is no doubt intended as an acknowledgement of his previous power, which worked the same way. In his original adventures with TNT, the two heroes each wore a ring that, when slammed together, produced a bomb-type explosive blast. After TNT was killed, Dan retrived the other ring and discovered that he could wear both of them, one on each hand, and produce an explosion by slamming them together. Apparently, as Dynaman, Dan's new explosive power is not dependent on any rings. Page 23 Dan's words to the crowd about America needing "supermen" as opposed to shadowy mystery men is a central theme to the book: the transition from pulp-style crimefighters who did their work in darkness, like Batman and Dr. Mid-Nite, to gaudy colorful heroes whose motives were clearer. Two prominent Golden Age heroes, the Sandman and Crimson Avenger, actually made a switch from the one style to the other, changing costumes and acquiring sidekicks. Page 25-26 The blond-haired man is Lance Gallant, aka Captain Triumph, a hero who appeared in Quality's CRACK COMICS in the '40s. His gimmick is pretty accurately described on page 26: by touching the T-shaped birthmark on his wrist, he could combine with the spirit of his dead twin brother Michael and become the super-strong Captain Triumph. DC bought the rights to Captain Triumph along with all the other Quality Comics heroes, although he was never really used as a character in a story. The closest example was in ANIMAL MAN #7, when Animal Man encountered an aged supervillain named the Red Mask, who told of fighting Captain Triumph in a flashback. (I'm uncertain whether or not the Red Mask, or his partner The Veil, actually appeared in any Captain Triumph story; does anyone know?) The Red Mask tells Animal Man that Captain Triumph had "the personality of a deck chair", which is not entirely inconsistent with his portrayal here. Roy Thomas intended on using the character in ALL-STAR SQUADRON, but never got the chance. He appeared partially on the cover of that series' first issue, however, and eventually was officially counted as part of the group's roster, in WHO'S WHO UPDATE '87, even though he never actually appeared in a story with them. The woman is Joan Dale, a minor Quality heroine named Miss America. She was first used by DC in ALL-STAR SQUADRON, as a part of a retconned prototype lineup of the Freedom Fighters who were recruited by Uncle Sam, taken to the parallel world Earth-X, and all killed while fighting Nazis in their first battle. Unlike the other members of this group like the Red Torpedo and Neon the Unknown, Miss America was brought back to life in YOUNG ALL-STARS; she was retconned to take the place in the JSA of Wonder Woman, who didn't exist as a Golden Age character after the Crisis On Infinite Earths. Joan's relationship with Tex Thompson is, of course, new, although their pairing makes sense if only from a name-game standpoint, as they were known separately as Mr. America and Miss America. Pages 30-31 The addictiveness of Miraclo is not new (see Book One, page 33), but this is the first time it has been seen as having psychedelic properties. Page 32 Paula Brooks, aka the Tigress, first appeared as a foe of the Golden Age Wildcat, although she was called the Huntress in those days. Roy Thomas used her in some YOUNG ALL-STARS stories that took place before her criminal career; at the time, she was written as an agressive but generally good person. Thomas gave her the name "Tigress" so as not to confuse her with the then-current Huntress, who had her own series. The character also went through a psychological change towards the end of the series that was meant to establish the background for her impending criminal career. Her last appearance even portends the name change, as she tells the Young All-Stars, "If you juvenile delinquents ever see me again, I'll be a *huntress* after my own fortune--not a non-profit do-gooder!" James Robinson chooses to continue with the name Tigress here, although he writes her as being supposedly reformed. In DC history, she married "Crusher" Crock, the Sportsmaster, in the late '40s, and the two had a daughter who became a costumed criminal in the '80s named Artemis. Paula's picture on the bandstand, the facial portrait in her Tigress outfit, differs from the way she was depicted in past appearances. The mask shown here is brown, while all of her DC universe appearances, as both heroine and villainess, were in a yellow outfit (although only her heroic "Tigress" personna went masked). Page 33 Paula's personal thoughts regarding Lance Gallant are consistent with her personality as portrayed in YOUNG ALL-STARS. Page 45 Dan is snorting cocaine in this scene.