Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Justice League of America #67

Justice League of America #67 (On Sale: September 24, 1968), AKA 80 Page Giant #G-53 features a Special Initiation Issue with a cover by Neal Adams.

We begin with "Doom of the Star Diamond" from Justice League of America #4 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs. An electromagnetic accident in space causes Carthan, a warlord of the planet Dryanna, to become invulnerable to harm. Fearing Carthan’s popularity with the people, Xandor, the planet’s ruler, has the warlord exiled to Earth.

Upon finding that something in the make-up of his protective aura prevents him from seeking the direct aid of the Justice League, Carthan kidnaps Green Arrow, whom the super-heroes have just voted in as a new member. At the same time, he unleashes menaces controlled by a series of golden boxes, which had been created by Xandor to enforce his exile. He hopes that the Justice League will destroy the boxes, and indirectly free him.

Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter battle giant insects created by the first box; Flash and Aquaman prevent the second box from causing Australia to sink into the ocean; Green Lantern destroys monstrous statues animated by the third box.

While Batman and Superman free the captive Green Arrow, the other members invade Carthan’s ship, only to become trapped in a gigantic hollow diamond. The archer rescues them by splitting it with a diamond-tipped arrow.

Carthan returns to Dryanna to settle accounts with Xandor, and Green Arrow becomes an official member of the Justice League of America.

Next is "The Menace of the 'Atom' Bomb" from Justice League of America #14 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs. Although the Atom is elected as the Justice League’s newest member, no one can remember exactly who he is, or why votes were cast for him. After Green Lantern consults his power ring for the information, J’onn J’onzz is sent to inform the Atom of this strange circumstance, and the meeting adjourns. Meanwhile, in Ivy Town, the entire citizenry, including the Atom himself, forgets about him, and the Tiny Titan is trapped, a victim of amnesia in a world of giants.

The power behind these happenings is a mystery mastermind calling himself Mister Memory, who has invented a De-Memorizer weapon. He recruits Hector Hammond (who uses his evolution-meteor to transform himself into a man of the future), the Pied Piper, the Sea-Thief, the Angle-Man, and Dr. Davis to help him capture Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Green Arrow. Mr. Memory captures the Martian Manhunter, just as the hero is about to confront the Atom. Stunned by the appearance of J’onn J’onzz, Atom accidentally shrinks into a sub-atomic world, and the shock restores his memory.

Trailing Mr. Memory to his hideout, the Atom is captured and used as a weapon against the captive JLA members, but he escapes using his own abilities and Green Lantern’s ring. The League then unmasks Memory, who turns out to be an amnesiac Batman manipulated by the true villain. By tracking the frequencies of the villain’s electronic spy devices, J’onn J’onzz and the Flash are able to capture Professor Amos Fortune.

We end with "Riddle of the Runaway Room" from Justice League of America #31 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs. Hawkman becomes the newest member of the Justice League, and immediately teams with Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman to stop robbers using fantastic hoops which protect them by propelling whatever threatens them into the near future.

After Hawkman solves the problem of capturing the crooks, the JLA returns to their meeting room to examine the strange hoops, only to find themselves and the Secret Sanctuary suddenly propelled into outer space. Responsible for these occurrences is Joe Parry, a crook who has accidentally come into possession of an alien machine, which has created both the time-hoops and the threat to the League. Hawkman's anti-gravity powers save his fellow members from perishing in space, and the team tracks Parry to his hideout.

Parry then uses the alien device to form a super-being which is a composite of the five JLA members, possessing Flash's legs, Green Lantern's arms and ring, Wonder Woman's head and lasso, Batman's torso, and Hawkman's wings. With its combined powers, the creature defeats the heroes, whom the villain then has hurled back into space, but he has made one error -- since, the composite being, like all creations of his machine, is composed of a yellow force, its power ring cannot function. Hawkman takes advantage of this to turn the tables on both the multi-powered foe and its creator.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.

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