The Justice Society of America, the first superteam in comics, first appeared in All-Star Comics #3 (Summer 1940*) & ran till All-Star Comics #57 (February 1951). A point some comic fans consider to be the end of the Golden Age of Comics.
Years later, when the Silver Age of Comics had begun & new versions of old characters started appearing, a decision was made to have the then current Flash meet the original Flash. Since it had been established that the original Flash was just a comic book the idea of parallel worlds was used, Earth-1 & Earth-2, the reintroduction of old characters was successful & eventually the JSA met the JLA and would team-up annually. In the 1970's a decision was made to give the JSA their own title again & the revived the All-Star Comics name & began publication with #58 & it ran until #74 when it was canceled in the DC Implosion, but a few months later got a slot in Adventure Comics #461 - 466.

* Cover date. The actual comic probably appeared a few months earlier.

The Injustice Society Of The World! All-Star Comics #37 Reprinted in 100-Page Super-Spectacular #DC-17
The JSA is to be honored on a radio show that starts at 12.
Would that be 12 Noon or 12 Midnight? Either way it seems an odd time to honor anyone.

The warden telephoned the "Federal Police Chief". Did we have a federal police force in 1947?

Okaaaaaaaaaaay, the Injustice Society of the World is breaking criminals out of prison to serve as an army to help them take over the United States. Surprisingly the only heroes who seem to be doing anything to stop this are the JSA members in this story. So where are Superman, Batman & Robin, not to mention characters like the Spectre, Dr. Fate, Zatara, etc., etc.? (Were they all busy in another country, or world, in October-November, 1947?)

The caption reads, "Plateau City, capital of the state and gateway to the west".
Um... what state? Also could any one state truly consider itself to be the gateway to the west? I mean flyover country is big, really big. There are lots of states that people could go through on their way west. The story also implies that Plateau City is strategically important as part of the Injustice Society's takeover. Somehow, I doubt it.

Brain Wave's "special glass box" changes shape as he sits up. Man, that is special glass!

Atom is talking to what he thinks is a general in Gotham. Gotham? Where's Batman & Robin?

Washington, DC, is just called Capital City here.

The last page of the Doctor Mid-Nite story (Chapter 6, drawn by Alex Toth) shows Dr. Mid-Nite tied up. The first panel of Chapter 7 (drawn by Irwin Hasan) shows Mid-Nite chained to a giant metal ball with other JSA members.

For some odd reason Irwin can't seem to remember which order the JSAers should be in. (You'd thunk he'd just look at another panel he'd already drawn to see where he'd put someone.)
Panel 1 (going clockwise). Doctor Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder, Atom.
Panel 3. Flash is now on Dr. Mid-Nite's right.
Panel 4. Johnny Thunder can be seen standing some distance from the ball behind Dr. Mid-Nite. Dr. Mid-Nite's chain stretches counterclockwise past Hawkman's legs.
Panel 5. Dr. Mid-Nite, Atom, Hawkman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder.

In panel 4 someone says, "The ray has destroyed my powers, and Flash's too."
Of the assembled heroes, only Wonder Woman & the Flash have superpowers. Although Atom is really strong & Johnny Thunder can summon his magical Thunderbolt. However Johnny is not the speaker & I think it would be ridiculous for Atom to call his strength a power. However if it is Wonder Woman speaking then it's more likely that her powers would have been taken away by having her bracelets chained by a man, not a ray that saps will power.

Page V, Panel 3. The JSA leaves the prison cell through a stone door. In Panel 4 the JSA is running down a corridor & Atom seems to be following through a window.

In the final panel of the story, in a courtroom, Hawkman is speaking to the assembled Injustice Society & pronounces them guilty. Ummm... isn't that the job of the Judge or Jury?

The caption reads, "Plateau City, capital of the state and gateway to the west".
Um... what state? Also could any one state truly consider itself to be the gateway to the west? I mean flyover country is big, really big. There are lots of states that people could go through on their way west. The story also implies that Plateau City is strategically important as part of the Injustice Society's takeover. Somehow, I doubt it. - Keith Alan Morgan

Isn't St. Louis known as "The Gateway to the West"?

Washington, DC, is just called Capital City here. - KAM

What is this? The Simpsons?

Excelsior!

The Blue Benn - Isn't St. Louis known as "The Gateway to the West"?
That does sound familiar. And I think they have that Gateway Arch as well. (And here I was thinking Plateau City might refer to Denver.) But my point mainly was that you don't need to pass through any one state to go from east to west or vice versa. When I was a baby my parents drove from Washington to New York & we passed through the northern states (Montana, the Dakotas, the Great Lake states), years later we drove down to Florida & passed through the middle states (Kansas, Nebraska, etc.) & coming back we passed through the southern states (Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico). So I just had a problem with the idea that any one state could be so strategically important.

A few more nits from the same story.

Green Lantern tells Dr. Mid-Nite to go south & he ends up in Capital City. That may be south of JSA HQ but what about Florida or those other southern states?

Green Lantern goes north. If midway on the Atlantic Seaboard is south there isn't much north left to the US.

GL tells Wonder Woman & Johnny Thunder to hold the fort. Okay, Johnny I can understand since he's a bumbler who's only 'power' is accidentally summoning Thunderbolt, but Wonder Woman? You're having your most powerful member 'hold the fort'? Dr. Mid-Nite has to handle the whole south, but WW has to watch HQ? (Later we find out that WW & JT were taken out, off-panel, by a weird ray.)

GL tells everyone where to go & what to do, except Atom.

To weigh in on the "gateway" question: Before air travel became popular, and before the Interstate Highway system was built, the vasy majority of westbound traffic did pass through St Louis, nearby St Joseph and their suburbs. People would travel across the Erie Canal and then down the Ohio River, or they would travel up the Mississippi to this area, where the Missouri River ended and the Oregon and Santa Fe trails began. Even after the automobile became popular, the main highways west were the famous Route 66 and the almost as famous Lincoln Highway both of which passed through the area.

Green Lantern goes north. If midway on the Atlantic Seaboard is south there isn't much north left to the US.

Assuming JSA headquarters are in Gotham (Whether Gotham is NYC or some fictitious city in New Jersey), there is still upstate New York and all of New England.

Okay, Johnny I can understand since he's a bumbler who's only 'power' is accidentally summoning Thunderbolt, but Wonder Woman? You're having your most powerful member 'hold the fort'?

Wonder Woman may have been one of the most powerful active JSA members of the time, but she was a woman. The writers, (and the 10 year old boys they envisioned as their readers) were not particularly interested in her exploits, and GL and the other heroes were somewhat chauvinistic in their attitude toward her. For years after joining, she was not a full member, but just a "recording secretary." Presumably she was usually left behind to record the others' progress (and secretly -- so secretly that it is not recorded in the issues -- used the opportunity to organize Plan B when Plan A inevitably fell apart).

Thanks. I figured it was before the Interstates were built, but I didn't realize that so much traffic was routed through the area.

Yeah, I knew about WW just being the secretary (So that nit could probably go in most JSA stories featuring WW.)

Oddly enough she has a line here that I always interpreted as a sarcastic comment, although it might not have been intended that way. Johnny complains about not doing anything important & WW says something to the effect of 'We are doing something important. We're holding the fort.'

(Rereading it this last time I was reminded of the Phantom Returns days of LICC. Taquito Boy made a big deal out of trying to contact Hamburger Pattie & have her come to help out the team & when I did get online & write her showing up, Pattie was told to monitor communications. *nose firmly out of joint* I got a little sarcastic after that.)

Evil Star Over Hollywood! All-Star Comics #44 Reprinted in Justice League of America #115
A movie where the script is actually important??? Clearly this is a work of fiction.

On the Stellar Pictures lot we see some Hollywood stars, of those I was able to identify (more from dialogue than artistic resemblance) were Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby & Peter Lorre.
Sayyyyyy, weren't Hope & Crosby signed to Paramount Pictures? What are they doing on the Stellar lot?

They've added a pointless comedy scene to the picture. Okay, that sounds more like Hollywood.

Evil Star has captured the JSA and put them all in chairs facing a knife throwing machine and if anyone of them moves the machine will throw the knives straight into their chests. They decide to all move at the same time to the right so the knives will miss. They do, but the knives seem to fly more to the left than straight at their chests.

Adventure Comics #465
Spoiler for Justice League of America #172!!!!! Yeah, it was published over 20 years ago, but just in case someone doesn't want the surprise spoiled.
The end of this story leads into the annual JLA & JSA team-up in Justice League of America's #171 & 172 (the infamous murder mystery one). In 172 we learn that the Spirit King had possessed the Golden Age Flash, however the Golden Age Flash plays a major part in this story & doesn't seem possessed at all.
The real reason is probably that JSA writer Paul Levitz didn't know what JLA writer Gerry Conway was planning, but I'm a nitpicker & I don't deal with reality. ;-)

The Revenge Of Solomon Grundy! All-Star Comics #33 Reprinted in Super-Team Family #4
Wonder Woman observes, "We're all here--all except Green Lantern!"
Not technically true. There are several members of the Justice Society who are not there: Red Tornado; Hourman; Sandman; Spectre; Dr. Fate; Superman; Batman; Robin; Starman; Wildcat & Mr. Terrific.

All Star Super Squad All-Star Comics #58
The logo on the cover reads All Star without the hyphen, but the indicia has a hyphen.

The cover reads "All Star Comics presents Super Squad featuring the Justice Society of America" and shows members of the Justice Society defeated while the Super Squad (Star-Spangled Kid, Robin & Power Girl) arrive on the scene.
Frankly there doesn't seem to be a real need for the Super Squad designation. Power Girl's description seems like she means it to be some kind of strike force, but even so it's very poorly written & feels tacked on.
(A letter column in issue 59 commented that they did it to avoid confusing people with the whole Justice Society of America/Justice League of America thing which really makes one wonder how smart they thought their readers were. Eventually the stupid name got dropped.)

Page 2, Panel 5. A red blotch on Hawkman's nose.

The Star-Spangled Kid is wielding Starman's Cosmic Rod because Starman broke his leg.
Frankly it seems like a weak excuse to give the Star-Spangled Kid something approaching superpowers.
I also wonder if they were trying to write the original Starman out because they had high hopes for the 1970's version of Starman (who appeared in one issue of First Issue Special and sunk like a stone.)

Page 8, Panel 2. Brainwave's face is yellow.

Power Girl (the Earth-2 counterpart of Supergirl) doesn't really explain how she knows what's going on. She gives the comment that a lady with powers like hers gets around, but she really seems to know more than she should. (Weak writing.)

Brainwave Blows Up! All-Star Comics #59
Okayyyy, last issue Power Girl's cape was held on by a cord that ran under one shoulder. This issue the cord goes around her neck.
Oddly enough last issue ended with her holding onto Wildcat & leaping through the air (she can't fly) & this issue has her still leaping & holding Wildcat. So apparently she changed how she wore her cape while leaping and hanging on to Wildcat.

Wildcat indicates that the trip from Peking, China, to Gotham, USA, was 20 minutes.
Fast leaper.
Also interesting since presumably Power Girl doesn't leap much farther than her cousin (the Earth-2 Superman) which was around an 1/8 of a mile. How big are the Pacific and Atlantic oceans?

Also last issue, after stopping the Peking volcano Power Girl suggested to Flash & Wildcat that they go help the heroes in the other cities (Seattle & Capetown), but instead they go to Gotham, check out the JSA monitors on those cities & get into the JSA rocket and go into space to stop Brainwave.

Caption reads, "The Star-Spangled Kid was born to another age--the 1950s".
No, he was born in the 1930s.

Page 13, Panel 5. Power Girl's belt buckle is missing, although the colorist colored it as it if had been drawn.

Vulcan: Son Of Fire! All-Star Comics #60
Green Lantern was looking for his old enemy, The Harlequin.
Wait a minute. I thought Harlequin had reformed, fought alongside GL & joined the FBI back in the `40s?

Vulcan was originally Commander Christopher Pike.
O_o Do we congratulate the writer on the Star Trek reference or just smack him upside the head?

The military guy in charge of Pike's ill-fated spaceflight said, "Vulcan One achieved Earth-orbit, and ten hours later--was on its way to the sun."
Wouldn't it make more sense to simply launch the ship out of Earth's gravity entirely instead of going into orbit then having to break orbit later on?
(Insert joke about waiting until it was night to approach the sun.)

Final caption says, next issue will be titled "With Flame And Fury!", but actually it was called "Hellfire And Holocaust".

The Death Of Doctor Fate All-Star Comics #63
Last issue Dr. Fate & the fancy machine they are using to try & keep him alive with was at the hospital. This issue it's at JSA HQ.

Yesterday Begins Today! All-Star Comics #64
The cover has a circle drawn over Power Girl's cleavage, but it's colored white instead of flesh. Inside Power Girl's costume now has a solid front. (Not that the new costume is a nit, I was mainly commenting on the difference between the cover & inside.)

First page caption reads, "New powers, new costumes, new menaces".
New Powers? The Star-Spangled Kid has improved upon the Cosmic Rod & now has a Cosmic Converter which he wears as a belt. Not really a power & not that different from the Cosmic Rod save it's a lot harder to drop now.
New Costumes? The Star-Spangled Kid now wears the Cosmic Converter as a belt. Not a big change. Power Girl's 'new' costume looks like her old costume except it's lacking the cleavage hole & she no longer wears a belt.
New Menaces? The villain is Vandal Savage, whom the JSA has fought before.

Hourman is explaining how the time machine will work & says, "and also clothes you appropriately".
Clothe, I believe.

The JSA & the Shining Knight are sent back 1400 years. Oddly enough the Shining Knight's steed, Winged Victory, also ends up in the past even though he wasn't visible in the range of the time machine.

Page 8. The colorist colored the white of Power Girl's outfit, except for the part covering her breast, flesh-colored instead of white.

Page 9. Suddenly the medieval versions of their costumes are gone and their present day uniforms are back. (Pity. The medieval versions looked neat.)

Superman calls it the 16th century, but it's 1400 years before 1976.

The Master Plan Of Vandal Savage All-Star Comics #65
Superman says, "bet after" instead of 'but after'.

Page 8, Panel 3. Power Girl's sleeves are flesh-colored instead of white.

Injustice Strikes Twice! All-Star Comics #66
NANJAO. Super Squad is finally dropped from the cover.

This issue starts off with the JSA busting into their headquarters to find the Injustice Society. After a short battle there is a flashback to the JSA returning from the past ending with the start of the issue from a different angle. Problem is the last 2 panels of the flashback have dialogue from Brainwave, the Flash & the Wizard that weren't there in the beginning.

NNANJAC. Brainwave again??? He & Per Degaton were defeated 7 issues ago. Couldn't Paul Levitz think up another Injustice Society member to fill out the group?

There's a bit of a time discrepancy here.
In issue 63 Dr. Fate died and came back to life.
Issue 64 starts, apparently a short time later, as they talk about Dr. Fate having to take time to recover. Also Flash & Green Lantern who had left to try & find a cure in Egypt just return here indicating that only a short time has passed. On the other hand Power Girl & the Star-Spangled Kid are now officially members of the JSA, PG has a 'new' uniform & SSK has the Cosmic Converter instead of the Cosmic Rod. Still I think it would be safe to say that maybe this is the next morning. After Flash & Green Lantern return with the Shining Knight they go into the past & this issue they just get back. So you'd think not much time has passed since the end of issue 63.
However when the scene cuts to Dr. Fate it's said that he has been recovering for weeks & next issue Robin asks Hawkman & Flash where they have been for the last few weeks.
Problem is the Injustice Society captured Hourman in issue 64 & used him to capture Wildcat in issue 65, so if we accept that the JSAers who went into the past have been gone for weeks you have to wonder why the Injustice Society waited so patiently for the JSA to return?
Also if they had access to the JSA's headquarters for several weeks, why didn't they loot, or booby trap, the place?

Icicle's gun fires a "frozen energy field"?

The Attack Of The Underlord! All-Star Comics #67
The Cover shows Power Girl wearing a red belt, but inside she wears a blue belt. However she hasn't worn a belt for the last 3 issues & last issue Power Girl & the Star-Spangled Kid went to Alaska & this issue starts shortly after the last issue, so there wasn't much time for her to grab a belt.

Page 2. PG, SSK & Wildcat's skin is colored green.

Page 7, Panel 1. Part of PG's costume is flesh-colored. (Seems to be a recurring problem. Guess those colorists just want to see her naked.)

Divided We Stand! All-Star Comics #68
Power Girl's belt must have color-changing properties. Last issue it was blue, this issue it starts out red. Page 2, Panel 3 it turns white. Page 9, Panel 3, it's red again. Panel 6, it's white. Page 12, Panel 1, red, Panel 2 white. Page 13, Panel 5 red. Page 14, Panel 2 white, Panel 3 blue. Page 15 white.
(The end of this story leads into the annual JLA/JSA crossover in Justice League of America's 147 & 148 where the belt appears to stay red for the whole story.)

Page 12, Panel 5. Faces are white & Power Girl's cape fades from red to orange.

United We Fall! All-Star Comics #69
Page 1. Power Girl's belt looks yellow. Page 2, Panel 1 white, Panels 4 & 5 red, Panel 6 white. Page 3, Panel 2 red. Page 17, Panel 1 yellow, Panel 3 red.

Page 6, Panel 1. Red blotches on policeman. Looks like a printing problem although I suppose one could argue it's blood.

Caption says, Ted (Starman) Knight watches the "star", but given the context I think they meant 'stars'.

NNANJAO. Years later in the pages of Infinity, Inc. it would be established that Diana Prince & Steve Trevor married & had a daughter who would be in her late teens in the early to mid-1980s, which would mean that Diana should be Diana Trevor at the time of this story. However she is identified her as Major Diana Prince. Guess she decided to keep her 'maiden' name.

Hourman is explaining how the time machine will work & says, "and also clothes you appropriately".
Clothe, I believe.

It would depend on the first part of the sentence. If he said somthing like "The machine sends you into the past..." then his continuing the sentence "...and clothes you..." would be correct. If he said "The machine will send..." or "the machine is designed to send..." then you are correct, though in these cases it would have been better to repeat the auxilliary verb or the "to" of the infinitive. In any case, the form of "clothe" should agree with that of the main verb in the first part of the sentence.

TomM, Hourman says, "If I understand the machine correctly, it will create a force field to throw you through time and also clothes you appropriately, and translate your speech pattern!"

A Parting Of The Ways! All-Star Comics #70
This issue says the Star-Spangled Kid was born in 1926 & is 18 years old, which would contradict previous issues where it was said he was from the 1950s & that he was 2 decades old.
If he was born in 1926 then he would be 14 or 15 when he started fighting crime in 1941 and if he's 18 that would mean that The Seven Soldiers of Victory fought the Nebula Man & were scattered through time in 1945, when The Seven Soldiers of Victory ended however the Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy's adventures continued until 1948 or `49.
Other members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory:
I don't know if the Crimson Avenger appeared after the end of the Seven Soldiers of Victory (his last solo story was in Detective Comics #89, but a cover date is not given);
Vigilante continued until 1953 or `54 (although the post-SSoV stories could be claimed as the Earth-1 Vigilante we saw in Justice League of America #78 & 79;
The Shining Knight also continued on into the 1950s;
Green Arrow & Speedy continued on, possibly their solo series ended in the 1960s, but Green Arrow kept appearing in the Justice League, although that was definitely the Earth-1 version.
(Wow, seems like Gerry Conway knew what he was doing when he indicated the final mission of the SSoV to have happened in the 1950s instead of 1945 like Paul Levitz who wrote this issue.)

A Thorn By Any Other Name All-Star Comics #72
Wildcat has been scratched by one of Thorn's poisonous thorns. At the hospital the doctor says, "A prior brain injury is preventing the poison from killing him!"
Huh?
Next issue the doctor admits he doesn't know how the brain injury is protecting Wildcat. Gee, Mr. Levitz, did you ever think of maybe doing some research before you write?

Okay, Power Girl hypothesizes that the brain injury was caused by Icicle's freeze ray, because after that he started to sound more & more like a punch drunk fighter and the doctor thinks by examining the blaster he can figure out a way to cure the brain damage.
Huh?
First off they are not certain the blaster affected Wildcat. Heck Hourman was hit by the same weapon and he didn't start speaking like a punch drunk fighter.
Second does it really matter exactly how the damage was caused? Isn't the important thing to fix the damage now?
("Was this man hit on the head with a baseball bat or a frying pan?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?!? Why man, until we know exactly what caused this injury we can't fix the damage!")

In issue 66 the highlight color of Hourman's tunic is yellow, he taken to the hospital in Capetown, South Africa, and when he gets out in issue 68 his tunic has red as a highlight color.

The Deadliest Game In Town! All-Star Comics #71
The villain of the story is Arthur Pemberton, nephew of the Star-Spangled Kid (Sylvester Pemberton).
Now as far as I can tell, the only sibling Sylvester had was his adopted sister Mary (who fought crime as Mary, Girl of a 1000 Gimmicks). Now while it's not impossible for Arthur to be Mary's son, it seems unlikely that he would have the last name Pemberton since she most likely would have been married.

Of course, Sylvester's father adopted Mary in 1948 because he thought his son didn't have any friends, but if Sylvester disappeared in 1945, like a previous issue indicates, that reason wouldn't exist.

World On The Edge Of Ending All-Star Comics #74
NANJAO. The Justice Society of America logo has been altered to read just "Justice Society".

Page 6, Panel 5. The caption reads, "a rising column of green flame", but it looks more like a green tornado.
(And it looks nothing like the heroine Green Flame that we meet in Super-Friends. ;-)

Page 18, Panel 1. Despite having blank white eyes, the Master Summoner suddenly develops irises for this panel.

Page 19, Panel 5 & Page 25, Panel 4. The Master Summoner's white eyes turn yellow.

Page 20. Superman's red S looks yellowish.

Okayyyyyy, the Master Summoner wants Earth destroyed and he's using the hero's powers to do it. To save the day the JSA gathers and does nothing until the Critical Time ends.
There's a few possible problems here.
1. Did the Master Summoner specifically choose only members of the Justice Society or all heroes? Given that it was the JSA who did nothing that might be the assumption, since I can't imagine any other surviving Earth-2 heroes just sitting back & doing nothing.
2. Some heroes like Huntress don't really have superpowers. Were they actually affected or not?
3. They mention that 3 members did not attend the special summons. Batman (who had retired & Bruce Wayne became Police Commissioner), Wildcat (who was still recovering from the attack by the Thorn & his brain surgery), and The Spectre (about whom no reason was actually given for his absence). Mr. Terrific however wasn't mentioned at all. (Of course, like Huntress he had no superpowers so maybe his helping didn't cause anything bad to happen?)

The Night Of The Soul Thief! Adventure Comics #463
Okay, last issue Batman died & it was discovered that Batman & Bruce Wayne were one & the same. This issue Robin & Huntress go into action without their masks because now that the world knows Batman was Bruce Wayne they also know Robin is Dick Grayson & the Huntress is Helena Wayne.
1. Just because people know who you are doesn't necessarily mean you should give up the mask. It usually is a part of the costume as a whole & it just looks funny to not wear it when the costume is designed to be seen with it.
2. How the heck would the world know that Huntress is Helena Wayne? Robin = Dick Grayson sure, because they worked together for decades, but Huntress never had an affiliation with the Earth-2 Batman & Robin. Some people might suspect that the new heroine in town was Helena, but there is no proof positive.

Dick wonders how the president will react to the news that one of his ambassadors is moonlighting as a superhero.
Well, given that Robin has shown up, at least, twice in Capetown, South Africa, where Ambassador Grayson is stationed, I'd be surprised that no one was capable of putting 2 & 2 together.

If you're wondering, at the end of the story Dr. Fate manages to rewrite people's memories so that they think Batman & Bruce Wayne died separately in the same incident & erased knowledge of Robin & Huntresses secret ID's.
If you're not wondering, these last 2 sentences never happened. Fnord.

To Everything There Is A Season... Adventure Comics #464
More of a Wildcat solo story than a Justice Society story, but it was labeled as a JSA story so...

Dick (Robin) Grayson, Karen (Power Girl) Starr & Helena (Huntress) Wayne are leaving the JSA HQ & talking to Wildcat to come join them. Wildcat later leaves probably dressed as Ted Grant. Dick, Karen & Helena return to the JSA HQ in their civvies at the end of the story as well.
Way to keep those secret identities secret guys.

The Man Who Defeated The Justice Society! Adventure Comics #466
Plot: Huntress tells Power Girl the story of why the Justice Society was inactive for 12 years. In an unrecorded case a mysterious man manages to trap the Justice Society with futuristic technology. They escape and capture the man who is recognized as a high-up individual in a foreign government. The House Un-American Activities committee decides to investigate the JSA because of this and demands to know who the JSA really are & the JSA declines and disappears from superheroing until the political climate has changed.

Black Canary uses acid to create a pinhole between her cell & Flash's. Flash uses his superspeed to create a partial vacuum in his cell then stops & the pressure balance causes his cell to blow out.
Ummm, wouldn't creating a vacuum cause his cell to blow in? Also since he's forcing the air in his cell into Black Canary's cell shouldn't her cell blow out?

Page 10, Panel 3. The caption reads, "as is the case with reporters, a headlined soon followed".
Headline

A congressman or senator* says, "If you are good Americans, you will show this committee your faces and then we may begin the process of clearing you."
The funny thing about this statement is that Wonder Woman, Black Canary & Flash don't wear masks, so they've been showing their faces the whole time.

* I think Joe Staton was trying to draw someone's likeness, but I don't know who.

Shame I don't have a copy of Flash Of Two Worlds because IIRC when the Golden Age Flash talked about it I got the impression that the super-heroes just retired rather than being forced to quit.

Another possible problem is that several of these heroes kept fighting crime after the last recorded JSA tale. Heck, Wonder Woman kept fighting crime until the Silver Age.

The Untold Origin Of The Justice Society DC Special #29
Plot: Winter 1940. Hitler has plans to invade England. British Intelligence contacts Batman, Green Lantern & Flash to help them stop it. After these heroes are captured by a nazi robot, Dr. Fate grabs Hourman and goes to help free them. Hitler uses the Spear of Destiny to unleash Valkyries to fight the heroes & launches the invasion of England. Dr. Fate summons Sandman, Hawkman, Atom & the Spectre to stop the invasion. Meanwhile as revenge Hitler launches a special long-range bomber to bomb Washington, DC. The heroes rush to stop the bomber which is defended by Valkyries, fortunately Superman smashes the bomber & catches the bomb. One Valkyrie sneaks to the White House with the intention of killing President Roosevelt, but the Atom blocks the blast & having failed in their mission the Valkyries vanish. The President suggests the heroes band together & they call themselves the Justice Society of America.

Paul Levitz must have forgotten which Green Lantern he was writing for. He has GL smash down an ancient oaken gate. The original GL's weakness was wood.

Okay, the Nazis capture Batman, Flash & Green Lantern then they are shipped to Germany where they are bound, but awake. Given Flash's superspeed trickery, Batman's mastery of escapology & Green Lantern's casual omnipotence, why haven't they escape their bonds?

It's mentioned that British Intelligence had tried & failed to contact Dr. Fate. Frankly I wonder why they were unable to contact any of the other heroes. I mean Superman only appears at practically the last minute? You'd thunk a better effort at trying to contact these various heroes might have been made?

Also where's Robin? He was mentioned in the first JSA story you'd think he should appear in the origin story as well.

Hitler uses the Spear of Destiny (which Longinus stabbed Jesus with) to summon the Valkyries who are servants of the god Wotan.
Hmmmm, while I haven't read Weird War #50 where the Spear first showed up, but why would a spear from Christianity summon Tuetonic entities?

Page 16. The chapter title, America, is colored from top to bottom red, white & blue. Except for the top of the letter E which is yellow for reason.

The strength of Dr. Fate, the Spectre & the Valkyries seems to change as is convenient to the plot.

Given how easily the Valkyries are at fighting superheroes, I found it interesting that one Valkyrie chose to sneak into the White House instead of charging forward through the guards.

Page 33. The Spectre's body is colored flesh instead of white.

Despite blocking a blast intended to kill Roosevelt, the Atom just seems a little shaken up and the only apparent damage is his uniform is ripped. His skin appears unharmed.

Me - first appeared in All-Star Comics #3 (Summer 1940*)
Winter 1940, actually. D'oh!

All Star Super Squad All-Star Comics #58
The logo on the cover reads All Star without the hyphen, but the indicia has a hyphen.
In All Star Comics #3 all references to the title lacks the hyphen.

Justice Society Of America All Star Comics #3 Reprinted in Famous First Edition #F-7
Plot: Johnny Thunder crashes the first meeting of the Justice Society of America, but they allow him to stay and each hero tells of an adventure they had.

On the cover the hero is identified as Hour-Man, but on the splash page he's called Hourman. Oddly enough, this same indecision pops up in his story, with Hour-Man being used most often.

While identified as the first meeting on the splash page the heroes are very familiar with each other even knowing each others' secret identities.

Comic books detailing the heroes adventures exist in the same universe as the JSA. Interesting.

Johnny Thunder is upset that he wasn't invited to the JSA meeting. Later we find out the meeting was supposed to be secret.
How would Johnny Thunder know about the meeting if it was a secret?

Johnny wishes the rest of the members would show up, but only Hourman, Spectre & Atom show up.
Why didn't Thunderbolt bring Superman, Batman & Robin, the Crimson Avenger, Zatara, the Red Tornado, etc.,?

Page 3, Panel 7. The caption says Johnny's head has returned to normal, but it's still drawn smaller than normal.

I find it amusing that Atom & Sandman seem most disappointed when the food disappears, since they have full face masks which would have to be removed to eat. (Dr. Fate also has a full face mask, but he says he doesn't touch food.) Of course it later turns out that they know each others secret identities, so I suppose it's not surprising that they would remove their masks in front of the others.

Page 4, Panel 1. The Spectre's face is pink like the background.

Superman, Batman & Robin's absence is explained that somebody has to deal with all the criminals while the other heroes have their meeting.
Well, maybe if they hadn't have apparently announced their meeting to the world, the crooks wouldn't have known about it?
(Another odd note, when the Red Tornado shows up, Flash says they didn't invite her because they thought she would be busy.)

Johnny knows that the Red Tornado is a she? (And later when she shows up Flash knows that she's really Ma Hunkle.)

Johnny wasn't invited to the meeting and he won't become a member for several issues, but when the other heroes are telling their stories they have no problem saying who they really are. (Well, the Spectre & Doctor Fate don't mention their real names in their stories.) Man are these heroes a trusting lot. How do they know Johnny won't give them away?

Flash speaks underwater.
When did he become Aquaman? He seems to spend a surprisingly long time underwater in this story. (Then again a later Flash story did indicate that he wins the annual Liars Club contests... ;-)

Flash says, "Altho I didn't know it".
Altho? I thought it was although?

NNAN. Hawkman's story seems to indicate that he's based in New York.

The Spectre catches a most unusual comet. It's star-shaped.

The Spectre says, "I forced him back up the the pedestal".

A two-page spread advertising the comics says about Action Comics, "On sale about the 23 of every month".

The Sandman & Dian Belmont come across a giant wearing giant clothes. However near the end of the story we discover that the giants are unwitting participants in doctor Faversham's schemes, so why give them giant clothes to wear & why put them on instead of squishing Faversham like a bug?

Johnny says, "I'll have have nightmares tonight!"

Just before the 2-page Johnny Thunder text story, Johnny says to the others that the editors wrote his story.
Surprisingly everyone else seems to accept this rather odd statement rather than wondering who these editors are that Johnny speaks of.

Atom says he's the only one that doesn't have supernatural powers.
Uh, what about the Sandman? Not to mention Batman & Robin who were mentioned earlier & the Red Tornado who made a brief appearance.

A telegram from the head of the FBI is delivered to this supposedly secret meeting.

Green Lantern says, "A non-metal is the only thing against which the ring does not protect me".
Well, that's a heck of a lot more than the usual claim that he's vulnerable to wood.

Green Lantern uses his ring to free himself from some ropes.
I didn't know they made metal ropes?

Page 6, Panel 8 (of GL's story). Up to this point Lacy's hair has been colored blonde, but from this point on he has brown hair.

Rereading this story I think it's a shame that the Red Tornado didn't make more appearances with the JSA. Her cameo was one of the highlights of this issue.

Guess TPTB decided that Johnny was comic relief enough.

Green Lantern uses his ring to free himself from some ropes.
I didn't know they made metal ropes? - KAM

Of course, they do. They're called "cables".

Excelsior!

All Star Comics #33 Reprinted in Super-Team Family #4
Grundy's route is really confusing. After discovering Solomon Grundy has been in their HQ the radio says where Grundy has been. My assumption was that this was where Grundy had been before reaching JSA HQ, although rereading I'm wondering.
The list is 1. Harford
2. Lynneville
3. Dander
4. Carver
5. Alcona.

The JSA decides to split up & go to each town to see what they can learn.
6. Hawkman goes to Harford & learns Grundy went to Regis next, so he follows & fights Grundy.
7. Doctor Mid-Nite follows the road out of Carver & crosses paths with Grundy near an unnamed town.
8. Flash goes to Alcona & follows Grundy's path to Moosehead & fights Grundy.
9. A criminal has had Grundy brought from Lynneville to Lambert City.

Admittedly Grundy has not been taking a straight line course since he went from Arizona to Chicago to New York at the beginning of the story, but still there seems to be no order to this & one wonders about the speeds everyone is traveling.

Green Lantern use radio equipment to track movements & reported the first list to the radio station. GL says, "A little mathematical calculation, I ought to discover where Grundy will be at a given time."
Stephen Hawking couldn't do that kind of math.
Surprisingly he figures that Grundy will be at State Park at 5 pm.
Of course later GL says, that Grundy has a homing sense that draws him to GL, so frankly all GL really had to do was pick a spot & stay there.

Not a nit, but since on the Fantastic Four board some of us have been listing when a later (or current) comic personality wrote a letter I decided to glance at the Letters page when rereading the revived All-Star Comics.

Issue 58 has a letter from comics historian Jerry Bails & some chap named Roy Thomas, whom the editors say, moved to New York in the mid-60s, published Alter Ego #10, then dropped out of fan circles & hasn't been heard from since. ;-) Gee, I wonder what ever happened to him?

Issue 60 has a letter from Al Schroeder III, who I think does the Mindmistress webcomic.

All-Star Comics #58
Brainwave has created three disasters around the world: a volcano in Peking; a geyser spouting fluorocarbons in Capetown, & an earthquake in Seattle. At one point Green Lantern & Dr. Fate wonder about the coincidence that Robin just happens to be in Capetown, which leads the reader to wonder about the coincidence about the Star-Spangled Kid in Seattle & one why Power Girl happened to be close enough to deal with the Peking volcano.
However nothing is ever done with this so is it a nit, coincidence or dropped opportunity?

All-Star Comics #59
This issue Robin discovers that the Capetown geyser is an illusion. He's then attacked by Brainwave's thugs, who also turn out to be an illusion.
In Seattle Hawkman & Dr. Midnite are attacked in the air by Brainwave's thugs & the Star-Spangled Kid flies in the crevice to put a stop to the earthquake all of which is apparently real (as was the Peking volcano dealt with last issue).
Would have been nice if writer Gerry Conway (with an assist from Paul Levitz) had been consistent.

All-Star Comics #62
Zanadu refers to himself as being of "ancient Mu and fabled Lemuria".
Fabled usually means that you are not sure if it exists or not.

Letter writer Roger Winston points out that the Injustice Society is incorrectly called the Injustice Gang. It happens next issue as well.

All-Star Comics #63
Last issue Zanadu put everyone in Japan into a coma, at the end of last issue & during this one, the JSA is attacked in Japan by the Fiddler & Solomon Grundy. There is no evidence that they are working with Zanadu (he seems pretty confident the JSA is no threat to him) so it seems unlikely they were in Japan when Zanadu arrived. Which would seem to indicate that the Fiddler was following the JSA. Given his defeats previously at dealing with super-hero teams you'd think he'd be a little smarter at going up against the JSA with just one partner.

All-Star Comics #64
Camelot is 1400 years in the past (6th Century). It is said that time has been changed & Roman Legions, who should not even know of Britain's existence, is attacking Camelot.
Wellllllllll, seeing that Rome fell in the 5th century & previously had Legions stationed in Britain, that's some trick.
So did writer Paul Levitz flunk math or history?

Help!

I've been trying to track down a comic book that I believe was the very first one I ever read. Over the years (decades now, actually), I've searched many comic shops, rifling through stacks, waiting for a forgotten-yet-familiar cover to leap out at me across the dust of years.

I know it was a D.C.

I suspect it was a team book (Justice League or Justice Society, most likely). I recall cover or page 1 'roll call' type images, and that Sandman was among them.

I know Hawkman was in the story, and I believe it involved time travel into the past. One of the characters made a remark about how fresh the air was, and someone replied that it was because pollution hadn't been invented yet.

That's all I remember. Any idea, anyone?

Bob, if no one here can help you, you might try asking the "Legion of Superfluous Heroes" here. They tend to be pretty good at figuring out this sort of thing. You will have to register, though.

Excelsior!

Sounds like Justice League of America #100 or 101, probably 101.

It was a 3-issue storyline starting in 100 where the JLA & JSA are sent back in time to recover the Seven Soldiers of Victory who were scattered through time after they had destroyed the Nebula Man.

The scene in particular would be the characters arriving in Sherwood Forest to recover the Earth-2 Green Arrow.

You might be onto something, KAM. That Sherwood Forest reference seems to evoke something. It's definitely a place to start searching. I'll let you know how the search goes!

Benn, that looks interesting, as well. I may go that route if the search fails. Are you a member?

Yeah, I post every once and awhile there. I'm here more than at the Cave.

Excelsior!

I checked my copy. It was 101. Hawkman makes the comment about the air purity & Dr. Mid-Nite makes the comment about pollution not being invented yet.

KAM, you are my hero!

Now I'll just have to find a copy, but since I can look by name, the long search is nearly over!

Why didn't you tell me this 25 years ago? ;)

Because my time machine is broken. ;-)

It is a three part story remember, 100-102, so if you want to read the whole story you'll need all three parts.

Oddly enough the cover to 101 was one of those images that stayed in my mind long after I saw it. (I didn't buy it when it was out, I only picked it up years later at a used book store.)

I know the feeling. I don't know if was just an effect from seeing things from the innocence-of -youth vantage point, but some old covers could really evoke emotions, somehow. They conveyed more drama and terror than they really did, almost as if they had been photographs of real events. At the time, my brother had a stack of eight or so comics in his room, and I was irresistably drawn to them.
Heck, there were even some old Gumby episodes that practically invoked nightmares!

Oddity: back then, I could read a comic once or twice, and have all the text memorized, and could recite it from memory. That ability quickly faded for some reason, which is unfortunate. It could have come in really handy in school!

Well, sure... If they had only used the Justice League for math problems it would have been a lot easier!

"If Green Lantern whomps six villians with a giant boxing glove, and Batman knocks out seven with his Batarang, how many bad guys did they subdue?"

Ha,ha..nooo, I meant the memorization aspect in general. But I suspect you knew that. ;) My phrasing was poor, now that I re-read it!

Funny thought, though!

All of the pre-Crisis JLA/JSA team-ups were reprinted in a series of graphic novels titled Crisis on Muultiple Earths. Not the same as collecting the original issues, but a lot cheaper.

JLA 100-102 are in the third volume. Amazon has it available for $10.19

Thanks for the tip, TomM..!