Justice League of America #73

Justice League of America #73 (On Sale: June 12, 1969) has a cover by Joe Kubert featuring none of the Justice League; those are all Justice Society heroes.

"Star Light, Star Bright -- Death Star I See Tonight" is by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. Long ago the Council of Living Stars (go figure), removes all energy, save enough to sustain him, from the star Aquarius, who is guilty of some unnamed heinous crimes. Aquarius is adrift in the cosmos for eons, till one day he spies Earth.

The Red Tornado is at JLA headquarters relating a tale of the Justice Society of America to the members at large. It starts with Ted Knight seeing some strange glow in the sky and checking it out as Starman. He blasts the glow with his Cosmic Rod, only to have the blast returned to him with increased force. The "glow" begins to form into a creature and grabs the rod from Starman's hand, leaving him to plummet to the ground, where Larry and Dinah Drake Lance have just entered Knight's observatory, bearing gifts of food.

Starman crashes through the skylight and Dinah gets into her Black Canary garb to do a quick reconnoiter of the grounds. There she is attacked by husband Larry, whom she quickly dispatches. Larry remembers nothing about attacking Dinah and sensing something is very wrong, she summons the rest of the JSA. However, each is delayed by one thing or another, having to do with inanimate objects or unexpected people, such as the small boy on the cover, temporarily gaining amazing powers. Dr Fate senses a dark force is present and attacks. Aquarius makes his presence known and that the Cosmic Rod is beginning to restore his long lost energy.

One by one the JSA attack Aquarius and each is defeated. After Superman and Wonder Woman go down in defeat, the remainder of the team attack en mass, but Aquarius claims that he is done toying with Earth and cold rays of death spread out from his body and the Earth simply fades away. But Dr. Fate, sensing what was happening erected an ectoplasmic shield around the JSA members. Fate explains that Aquarius has transported the people and objects of Earth to another dimension, where they will cease to exist if the JSA members were to die; that the only link Earth has to reality is the minds of the JSAers.

While Aquarius gloats Dr. Fate knows that they have but a slim hope of survival, for before Aquarius transported Earth away Fate sent a telepathic message to the Red Tornado, to go to Earth-One and tell the Justice League what has happened. This story has been reprinted in Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2 TPB, Justice League of America Archives Vol. 9 HC and Showcase Presents: Justice League of America Vol. 4 TPB.

Edited by Julius Schwartz.