Showcase #22 (July 1959) finally brings us the last of the original Justice League members: The Silver Age Green Lantern. Hal Jordan, a revival of the Golden Age Green Lantern but changing the battery/ring explanation from magic to pseudo-science. Hal, a test pilot for Ferris Aircraft Company, is summoned by the dying Abin Sur to […]
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In Challengers of the Unknown #4 (August 1958), it’s hard not to see Jack Kirby angling towards complex, fantastical world-building alongside and team-building between characters, as the Challengers find themselves traveling through time in a scientist’s “time cube”. Very Fantastic Four! And what I love the most are those giant, single-page splashes, like this one […]
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The last appearance of the Justice Society for more than ten years occurs in All-Star Comics #57 (December 1950) with “The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives”. It’s mostly a bland story about a crime syndicate boss named The Key, but I did find it interesting that a panel featuring Wonder Woman’s invisible plane describes it […]
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The cowboy continues to replace the superhero in September 1948, as DC’s All-American Comics follows “More Fun” out of the superhero genre. It gets a name tweak to “All-American Western” and a new cover star: Johnny Thunder. This means no more solo stories for Dr. Mid-Nite in the Golden Age. Green Lantern still has his […]
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In Green Lantern #34 (July 1947), Allan Scott learns that Harlequin has been a secret agent all along, she is Agent H-9 of the Bureau. This, of course, makes no sense in terms of continuity … we have seen Molly Mayne coming up with the idea for Harlequin! Oh well, at least they tried to […]
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The supporting cast of Green Lantern continues to expand! In Green Lantern #30 (December 1947), Alan (Green Lantern) Scott gains a new partner-in-crime-fighting: Streak the Wonder Dog. Streak narrates the story, making him the main character – which is funny because eventually he replaces Green Lantern in the comics. Another interesting thing to note is […]
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In All-Flash #32 (October 1947), two new Golden Age villains are introduced in two different stories: The Fiddler and Star Sapphire. This brings the number of enduring DC villains introduced in 1947 to at least eight. The Fiddler was a criminal who was imprisoned in India and learned the mysteries of Indian music from a […]
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Surprisingly, 1947 featured the introduction of many Golden Age villains from DC: Per Degaton, The Huntress, Harlequin, The Gentleman Ghost. In All-American Comics #90 (August 1947), Green Lantern gets another addition to his rogue’s gallery with The Icicle. Physicist Dr. Joar Mahkent invented a cold ray gun and decided to embark on a life of […]
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Speaking of love interests, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) is given a supporting cast member in All-American Comics #89 (July 1947). Molly Maynne is Alan’s mousey secretary at the radio station where he works. It turns out she is secretly athletic and outgoing and is in love with the Green Lantern. While working on a new […]
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Green Lantern joins Wonder Woman (who went to Mars and Venus) in the ranks of DC’s space-traveling superheroes in Green Lantern #16 (June 1945). Superheroes traveling to other planets became a common trope in the 1950s, but this is the first time we see Green Lantern leaving the Earth’s atmosphere and taking a quick trip […]
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