Fun story about Oom, it was retconned Mr. Mind saved him, when he then became a founding member of the Monster Society of Evil, a prominent evil team of super villains who fight Captain Marvel.
That rule that no one could be in the Justice Society if they had their own title was also the reason why Wonder Woman was only allowed to be the secretary. The fact that she was there at all was actually a testament to how respected she really was. The 1940s: Slightly Less Sexist Than You Thought (in this one specific instance)!
Also, Marston refused to have anyone else write her, so he settled for her being a honorary member and the secretary instead, so as not for other writers to inject unwanted sexism into the character.
16:15 You know, they did a joke just like that in Justice League Unlimited(the show) where Hermes accidentally gives Wonder Woman the wrong message, which says "for a good time, call Aphrodite."
Only because that invokes the image of him going to a bar full of gangsters and lowlifes, looking for information and the thugs pick on him, resulting in him saying that
Interesting that it opens with Johnny Thunder, a character with the ability to shape reality at his fingertips, looking at comics in the news stand. I'd like to think the implication is that all the stories were fictional, until the thunderbolt made them real just before that first panel.
It's a shame too, since there's more "critiques" of the superhero genre these days than actual superheroes doing superhero stuff. This includes pissing matches between superheroes and superheroes going rogue.
It’s kinda my hope since I follow the cinematic universes and cartoons and the like that, in much the same way as the Avengers went for shawarma after they saved the world, that after the Justice League does the same in their upcoming movie, they’ll all be invited by Clark (please drop the whole “Evil Superman” thing by the way DC) to his mother’s house for pie. Show some damn camaraderie between your heroes instead of that Frank Miller hero hates crap that saturated Batman v Superman
BannerTurtoise1 So damn tired of pissing contests in general. "Two series aren't even in the same media genre or from comparable worlds? Let's get this dick measuring contest going!" Ugh.
The Spectre was awesome back then, since he ended up being a middle finger to the CCA. Turns out, you could kill anyone you wanted, as long as they weren't technically living when you did it. Like the guy he turned to wood and then sliced to kindling with a saw.
TouhouFather I don't think he started the rampant murder until the Silver Age. If this is still the Golden Age, then he might not have progressed that far. so the stories are much simpler.
There wasn't any CCA until 1955. The Spectre had long since entered comic book limbo when the code was enacted. After the War superheroes were in decline, and many titles were either cancelled or rebranded into western titles.
Trans8010 Silver age. The Silver age. I said the Silver age. That was after the CCA was created. When everything got goofy, the Spectre became the most violent superhero in print. I know my first post said "back then", but I didn't mean the Golden age, exactly. I know when the CCA was created.
How can one tell what you meant, when it's worded so ambiguously? The Spectre wasn't a middle finger to the CCA, or else the stories wouldn't have been printed. There has been no documentation anywhere that even suggests that DC had any troubles printing any kind of Spectre story starting in 1966. The CCA allowed every bit of Silver Age Spectre. Being the Hand of God was certainly not against the Code then, in fact it was probably welcomed, thanks in part that kids could see just what would happen if you sinned or were a criminal. If any company pushed the code's limits then it was Marvel.
Ok, not only is that shark sentient and thinking, not only does it somehow know what a "man" is, it's crying for it's mama even though most sharks leave their young as soon as they are born/hatched? Clearly one of the many wizards or mad scientists of the DC Universe has turned a man into a shark, and The Flash fought the poor bastard instead of helping him.
They should've had the thought bubbles coming from Flash - y'know, like he was thinking "Ha! Bet that shark's thinking - Where'd my lunch go?" kind of thing.
The original superhero team? Cool! Alright let's see here: 1. "If the meeting was secret, then how'd Johnny Thunder know about it?" Johnny might've been breaking the fourth wall like he did later in the book. Then again, Hoover knew about it, but that could just be the government spying on superheroes. Harsher or hilarious in hindsight given their McCartney trial later... 2. "Clearly Hawkman stands against the evils of Ancient Egypt!" Considering one of his arch-enemies was Hath-Set, the former priest who kicked off the whole reincarnation thing, you're not wrong. 3. Spectre vs Oom was one of the most bizarre things I have seen, and yet I love it! Wish he did more of this instead of the whole "kill all criminals" thing. 4. I'm pretty sure the light behind the first giant Sandman encountered was the moon. 5. "Which basically makes Hourman the human version of Underdog." That's kind of cool. Now I want to watch some Underdog. 6. "Time and place for flirting Doc!" Considering Kent and Inza get married later on, this might've been their first date. 😆 7. I agree with starting off with the smaller stories to build up to the bigger ones. Other than that, this was a great "team up!" I wouldn't mind seeing another like this in the future! EDIT: Dang it, sorry for the double post.
2:08 Atom's grandson was on Flash last year (season premiere IIRC) Spectre's mortal identity was on Constantine. Flash, Hawkman, and Hourman are all in the DCW Doctor Fate was on Smallville, and in the DCW his helmet is in the collection of John Constantine Sandman and Green Lantern are the only ones not in a modern TV show.
Lynn Green And Constantine's psychic friend did get a vision of Corrigan's destiny - him looking sort of skeletal and surrounded by a green glow. Since John has been on Arrow, that means that the pre-Specter does exist in the CW DC TV universe.
TouhouFather I'm going to say Jay Garrick could come up with a use for them, this being early in his career before power creep. As for the Spectre, thanks for naming the one guy on the team that literally pulled a star from the sky...I'm sure he's the bench mark by which we should judge what the rest of the team does and doesn't need. Sorry, Atom, Sandman, Hawkman, and Hourman....no one needs weapons or armor...after all the Spectre doesn't need them.
I'm disappointed that no joke was made about the actual witches that have been on Endor, like "Wait 3 witches? first off Morag was dead before Charal even showed up, and who the hell is the third one?"
I was always amused when Niel Gaimon's first Sandman book basically explained the super hero Sandman by saying he was inspired to become that person because Dream got taken out of his home and the universe needed someone to fill the roll, so he ended up with a compulsion to do his superheroing as a sort of B-grade substitute.
Well, I wanted Geoff Johns' JSA to be adapted as part of Young Justice universe. As a opposite to YJ, - Entire team is mix of adults and youths. - No secret missions, just adult trying to show ropes to new heroes. - More optimistic take.
No, they really aren't. They put together a really insulting tiny team with mostly people who don't belong there, like Star Girl, Sergeant Steel and Vixen (WTF), and completely ignored the majority of members of the JSA (partially because they screwed themselves over by constantly introducing characters who SHOULD be JSA members in Arrow & Flash ways that made it impossible to include them when they finally showed up, meaning what should've been a momentous occasion on Legends was rather a pathetic showing). The only show that's managed to do the JSA justice is... well, kinda amazingly, Smallville.
I have and it's one of my favorite comic book series of all time. :D I've always thought Linkara kinda looked like SMT Dodds (especially in his current oufit) so seeing him do the bits with the gasmask was like "yes!"
I have. :) Quite excellent IMHO. Not all of them, unfortunately. I've got seven volumes of it. I also have a reprinting of some of the Sandman's very first Golden Age adventures.
Ah yes, Doctor Fate, the hero that got an episode dedicated on Superman TAS rather than someone like Wonder Woman, but also is responsible for some of the best scenes in Young Justice
***** The Heroes Life are full of sacrifes..Sure he was taken away from his child BUt he can still be himself,at least somewhat but having to keep the balance. ..Marvel has some Assholic stuffes of heroes as well: Spider man selling his Wife`s love,Tonys Great idea of Ragnarok And Prob SHIELD has done some dark stuff of keeping the peace
Full background on why Wonder Woman never got a feature on Superman TAS: The final season of STAS was supposed to be a direct lead-in to the Justice League series, so they had features for characters like Flash and Aquaman. There was a planned episode for Wonder Woman to close out the season, but before they could start production on that word came down from the studio that the series was cancelled and Justice League was being put on hold. So instead they put together one of the best series finales any superhero cartoon has ever had, "Apokalips, Now!"
W.C. Wit It's still random that Doctor Fate managed to get one in. Green Lantern and The Flash are understandable, but Doctor Fate isn't anyone you'd go to next
This is easily one of the better first appearance stories. While the team does not actually fight along side each other, we still get to see their varied stories and worlds and it does a great job of showing off that Golden age charm. I love how varied superhero stories can be and this issue perfectly embodies that.
Recently reread James Robinson's Starman run and it gave me a lot of appreciation for the old school JSA. Just cool to get a more modern view of their adventures back then with a more in depth and nuanced look at the time period.
I literally waited an entire season of Legends of Tomorrow for them to show up... And now, I'm regretting the fact that they didn't include Hawkman, even though it actually would've worked in universe.
I love how Hawk man followed the usual conventions of old school heros of getting a female counterpart who ended up being VASTLY more interesting and popular than him to the point of him almost being a joke character in the bruce timm series and being the most insufferable ass of a character on legends of tomorrow both appearances treating him like hawk girls side character
I always thought it was because she's an easier character to explain, still complicated but not like Hawkman Edit: I just learnt that Kendra is the more popular one
So he has a mace that isn't a hammer from thor who is actually Hercules and mistakes Hephaestus the god of blacksmiths for Thor the god of thunder... What drugs where these writers on?
Not to mention all the books that are related to their respective families. Think about how many characters in comics are either a Bat, Super, Spider, or Pool. There used to be more Hulks but I think the Lanterns are starting to take their place.
SMAXZO No, I like it but you've got to admit there are a lot of characters that are tied in with the bigger superhero families, some of which with their own series. Batman, Batwoman, Batwing, Batgirl, the four Robins. Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Power Girl, Superwoman. Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (technically), Silk, Spider-Gwen. Deadpool, Gwenpool, Deadpool and the Mercs for money. Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro, and the other Lantern Corps. I'm not saying any of these are bad, far from it, it's just when Marvel and DC get a popular character they start slapping their name or at least part of their name onto everything they came.
So, Ancient Egypt is actually evil Thanagarians bent on conquering the world? I KNEW IT! Ironically, "nabo" (almost pronouced as Nabu, but the the stressed sylable being the 2nd one) is Portuguese slang for "idiot" or "dumb", although literally means "turnip" in Portuguese. 13:12 - Maybe Jay Garrick had a Tony Stark moment. 14:28 - OMG, it's the shack from the Titanic animated movie! Thor: "Verily, has anyone seen my mace? I must have displaced it." 22:43 - Wasn't around this time that Hugo Strange created his original Monster Men? Connection or simply recycling stories? Golden Age Atom should do a crossover with Puck from Alpha Flight.
Funny thing: Linkara looks a ton like Wesley Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre (the '90s Vertigo comic retelling that character's adventures), so it's wild seeing him with the gasmask.
11:45 IMAGINE THIS: An alternate Universe where Batman and Superman were founding members of the Jusitce Society and how you can make that still make sense after establishing the sciety as a team from WW2 while superman and batman are from modern times
Actually clew is an archaic way of spelling clue. A clew is a ball of thread or yarn, a reference to how Theseus used yarn to help him navigate the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. No one would ever spell clew like that now so it's an honest mistake and it's honestly a weird choice because I'm pretty sure that even in the 40s "clue" was more common but still great video!
That thing about characters with their own titles not being in a group book is actually a good idea. They really should do that today as it would really make continuity so much more simple. :)
I've only just started buying comics. Already a fan of Ms. Marvel but then I see that she's not only in her own series but also All New all different Avengers, Civil War 2, Certain Spider-Man comics apparently, like hot damn I don't want to burn through my money THIS quickly!
Funny thing, this actually ties into one of the DC shows on the CW, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Mostly because a few episodes ago, they actually MET the Justice Society of America.
I honestly think them meeting up at a diner dressed in street clothes to share stories sounds way cooler. Just imagine Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, John Stewart, and Barry Allen (or Wally West, whatever. I just prefer Barry) doing that in the comics of today.
Thanks for doing this one. The JSA (2000's version anyway) is my favorite team next to Shadowpact and it's nice to see how this mad road trip started. The classic JSA needs way more respect than it gets (looking at you "Legends"). You just made mt day keep up the good work.
Regarding Dodds and Spectre, they would be featured in Kingdom Come, with Dodds telling his visions of the end of days to his pastor friend before passing, and the Spectre guiding McCay (the pastor) to judge who was guilty in the ensuing war at the end.
Dear God... I recognized every Superhero on the cover except for the two at the bottom, and then I recognized Hourman when Linkara named him. I'M SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!
I watch Buster Keaton movies. I used to binge watch them all the time as a kid. And if you're looking for the obscure, I've seen the nine episode tv adaptation of The Lord of the Rings from Finland known as Hobbitit. And if you're looking for shocking completionism, I've seen all of the Christopher Lee Dracula movies as well as that weird one he did for Bruno Mattei, every major adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera including the one with Freddy Kreuger, and all of the Universal Frankenstein movies including the one which Young Frankenstein directly parodies, right down to the constable with the mechanical arm. I can also say with some certainty that there is no good version of The Great Gatsby as the only one I haven't seen is the lost one from the 20s. I also know that After M*A*S*H was not the only M*A*S*H spinoff, and I'm not just talking about Trapper John MD. Oh, and did you know about the Star Trek Animated Series? Because I sure do. Get on my level, bro.
Ah that's fine. I'm just a film buff, that's my excuse. If it makes you feel any better, I have no idea who Jerry Anderson is, and the only reason I know about these guys is because of that Smallville two parter that Geoff Johns wrote. Your street cred's still intact. If you want to bolster that street cred, though, and be a bit of a film buff yourself, just get a free account with IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes and start making lists of films you've seen or want to see. Pretty soon you'll be recognizing names and seeking out films just for their director, writer, composer, or production designer, or even to see an early cameo from one of your favorite actors, and predicting with stunning accuracy just which upcoming films will be good.
And feel free to look up anything I mentioned, as even the worst of them are worth watching just to say you've seen it. That Frankestein film, by the way, was Son of Frankenstein starring Bela Lugosi as an aged Igor, a performance many of his fans, myself included, would place alongside Dracula as one of his best. And if you're really adventurous, I'm pretty sure the Finnish Lord of the Rings is still on youtube with English subtitles. It pretty campy with effects not quite on par with classic Doctor Who, but worth a watch for curiosity's sake, and again, to brag to all your friends that you've seen it.
@@JaelinBezel Well, that's great, but my comment was in regards to She-Hulk's own tendency to break the fourth wall during her SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK series.
Oh Johnny Thunder. People DO remember you…as that guy who was shouting in that one part of DC Universe Rebirth and I have no idea if he's reappeared since.
The Westley dodds Sandman is one of my favourite DC heroes. I don't know why just a cool idea for a character, a cool mask, even his retconed connection to Dream of the endless just makes me like the character more
I remember the big JSA revival of the mid-'90s. Johnny Thunder became guardian of another little girl, this time the last of Bahdnisians whose society had fallen to pieces after he'd left their island and taken the Thunderbolt with him. She had all the fixings to make for an interesting successor to the now elderly Johnny.... until Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison came along :(
Tevya Smolka I didnt mean that i hate them,they started the Superhero League stuff..I really wonder How Jay is still alive though,since he is soo old..
TrainerRED Charizard I know you didn't mean that sorry if I came off as angry/annoyed my bad. The explanation given for Jay still going is that the speed force slows down his aging
***** Figure game with Superheroes from Dc/marvel..upcoming set(Jokers Wild) will have a lot of Jsa Old dudes and Batman vilains,Suicide Squad members etc etc
12:30 : No shout-outs to that one Aquaman Twinkies comic? 14:04 : Guess that power's not exclusive to Dan Garret. 16:33 : And i guess Hawk is on the list of people worthy of lifting it. 19:34 : I feel like there should be a Get Me Hennimore ''On an unrelated note...'' clip here. 19:45 : More companies need a policy like that. 21:00 : Red Tornado for next Secret Origins Month please.
So, I just came here from your excellent Sandman Retrospective, since I didn't think this comment would be relevant to the themes of that series. Several times you (and many others) have commented on why the Wesley Dodds Sandman would have changed his costume from the awesome, pulpy classic look to that generic yellow-purple atrocity. Fortunately, I can explain. The answer lies with one DC writer/editor, Mort Weisinger. If you don't want to read my following diatribe, just skip to the bottom for the TL; DR. Weisinger is most known for having been the editor of Superman for many years during the 50's and 60's, throughout the Silver Age. He guided the creations of many key elements of the character (the Fortress of Solitude, a friendship with Batman, Kandor, Brainiac, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane's series, Imaginary Stories, Supergirl, Bizarro, etc.). He was also one of the main proponents of super-dickery, as he focused heavily on covers that would grab children's attention. Weisinger was into marketing above all else, constantly working to get Superman into the hands of as many children as possible, even if that occasionally led to lower quality stories or bizarre covers. He was also extremely protective of the character, constantly making Superman more prominent in Batman during most of their World's Finest Comics team-ups and keeping him as inactive as possible in the JLA. In short, Weisinger advocated for marketing, appealing to children and keeping the simplest, lowest-common denominator (think a more creative version of Illumination Animation). But his career at DC had actually begun back in the early Golden Age. There, he created or co-created famous Golden Age heroes like Green Arrow (since kids loved Robin Hood), Aquaman (since kids love the ocean) and the Greg Saunders Vigilante (since kids love cowboys). Although all of those characters were big successes, there were others that were good, but less original. He created Johnny Quick as a way of ripping-off the Flash, but added a magic formula (that included unpronounceable parentheses) since that would appeal to kids, who might try saying it gain super speed. He created the Seven Soldiers of Victory (3 of whose members were his own characters) to mimic the JSA's success. When DC created a new anthology feature as a vehicle for Jerry Siegel's new character Star-Spangled Kid, Weisinger was asked to come up with back-up features. He created two new superheroes: TNT and Dyna-Mite, and the Tarantula. TNT and Dyna-Mite were an adult-kid duo who were actually teacher and student. Thanks to a school lab accident, the two gained explosive superpowers that they could unlock and bumping fists. This was an attempt at Batman and Robin mimicry, something he had also done with Green Arrow and Speedy. TNT and Dyna-Mite lasted for a few issues and occasionally appear in DC Comics (though they killed TNT in the late 80's, and Dyna-Mite's most famous appearance was in an Elseworld's tale where the Ultra-Humanite killed him and put Hitler's brain in his body). The other hero was the Tarantula (also called "Spiderman" in his first appearance), a mystery writer who decided to fight crime with a web-gun to get ideas for his writing. He fought a racist caricature of Shiva, the Crime Candle, the Bandanna, the Fly and several other villains, but ultimately failed as he was far too generic (his 80's reboot was awesome, though). It was around that time that Weisinger was put in charge of revitalizing a then-dying feature, the Sandman. For some reason, the Sandman started out strong but his creator Gardner Fox just couldn't get the character to stick. All of the elements were there, but there was something missing. When Weisinger took over, rather than try to find what that missing factor was, he instead decided to completely redo the character with his own generic formula. He jettisoned Dian Belmont (Wesley's girlfriend/sidekick) and replaced her with a random boy named Sandy as a costumed sidekick (imitating Robin, Speedy, Dyna-Mite, etc). He would fight generic super-threats (the first story involved fighting giant bees, for God's sake). But worst of all, he got rid of the classic costume, and instead replaced it with... the Tarantula's costume. That's right, for a time, DC had two heroes, written and drawn by the same two guys (Paul Norris, Aquaman's co-creator, was the artist for both series) and with the SAME COSTUMES! And keep in mind that Tarantula was failing almost from the start because it was so generic. How was that supposed to work?!!? That change almost killed the character immediately. Fortunately, DC brought in the recently hired Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (who were also working on revamping the Paul Kirk, Manhunter feature, as well as creating the Boy Commandos) to salvage Weisinger's damage after only three issues. Kirby and Simon decided to focus on the dreams aspect of the character, something Fox hadn't really touched on. The character took off, and became one of DC's cover features for several years afterwards. Unfortunately, however, they could only work with the Weisinger version of the character. That means that, thanks to Weisinger, we missed out on a Jack Kirby version of the classic Sandman look! Imagine what that would have been like. The Sandman series was finally cancelled in 1946, and replaced with Superboy. When Garden Fox himself got to revive his creation as a JSA member for JLA team-up stories in the 60's, he purposely had him appear in the original costume, and without even a mention of Sandy. No explanation would be given for this until Len Wein's JLA run in the mid-70's, when it was revealed Sandy had gotten turned into a giant sand monster in an accident Wesley caused, and that Wesley had destroyed the second costume out of grief. In the early 80's All-Star Squadron series (my personally favorite comic of all time), Roy Thomas revived Tarantula and had him meet with Wesley, expressing amusement at his "unoriginal" costume. Wesley explained he changed it using a design Dian had made before her death (fridging her), and wore it in her honor as an attempt to fit in more with his colleagues. Not perfect, but fair enough. Since then, that costume has just been an object of humorous shame, and Sandy has become an actual character. Then the Crisis came and DC just tossed Wesley into fake Ragnarok. Of course. TL; Dr: A writer with a greater talent for marketing than originality plagiarized the costume of his own creation as part of a failed reboot, that was only salvaged by much better creators later on. He later on played a key role in developing the Superman mythos.
We don't talk about it, and if you do some men from Marvel come to your place and ask you to come with them as a matter of Comic security, then you'll never be heard from again.
Yup, fair play. I had no idea who 70% of the JSA were. Granted I'm not a comics fan and just watch the show for entertainment, so I don't expect every single character and detail to be explained to me. But I can appreciate Linkara not wanting to cover heroes that a large chunk of the audience haven't heard of
Fun fact, this is technically also the first intercompany crossover - Johnny, Hawkman, the Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, and Red Tornado were owned by All-American Comics (the publishers of this book) but Spectre, Sandman and Doctor Fate were owned by National Publications. However, at the time, you wouldn't have known that two different companies were involved unless you read the fine print because both of them used the same "DC" logo in their comics. All-American wouldn't start using a separate logo until All-Star Comics #24, shortly before their merger into DC Comics made that irrelevant (Speaking of which, Batman was also owned by another company that was later merged, Detective Comics Inc., but that was more of a "sister company" situation, since it had the same owner as National). Golden Age comic book branding was _wild._
You know, given how you'll be doing a Sandman retrospective at some point, I wonder if that gas mask will make a return in it for some jokes. And yes, I know it's the Neil Gaiman Sandman, but he had one too. Though, given how some connections were made to Wesley Dodds, I wonder if you'll talk about him at all during it.
"My multiple pasts" written by Carter Hall and Donna Troy. DC should release such a book
HiperPivociarz that would a great comedy book
"Life was okay since... until... the New 52 attacked! DUN DUN DUN!"
HiperPivociarz hahaha lol i can see that
Someone on dA made a pic of Donna Troy at the signing of her autobiography entitled "your guess is as good as mine".
Then again, is this comic in Earth-1 or Earth-2?
Fun story about Oom, it was retconned Mr. Mind saved him, when he then became a founding member of the Monster Society of Evil, a prominent evil team of super villains who fight Captain Marvel.
That rule that no one could be in the Justice Society if they had their own title was also the reason why Wonder Woman was only allowed to be the secretary. The fact that she was there at all was actually a testament to how respected she really was. The 1940s: Slightly Less Sexist Than You Thought (in this one specific instance)!
Kurt Reinkemeyer not sexist at all specifically unless you consider women doing that job itself but it's a secretary in society not a Corp or business
D. San
At least they tried given the standards of the time.
Also, Marston refused to have anyone else write her, so he settled for her being a honorary member and the secretary instead, so as not for other writers to inject unwanted sexism into the character.
"Shut up and eat your rat Robin!" I lost it.
16:15 You know, they did a joke just like that in Justice League Unlimited(the show) where Hermes accidentally gives Wonder Woman the wrong message, which says "for a good time, call Aphrodite."
Nicholas Fallbrook
What episode was that?
@@daelen.cclark "The Balance" from Justice League Unlimited, though you can find the scene by looking up "Justice League Hermes" on TH-cam
Just going out on a limb, here, but I think that was intentional on Lewis' part.
Actually it was Podenimus
2:53 When this guys say: "I'm Al Pratt, welcome to pain" it actually sounds cool XD
A lot cooler than ray Palmer, that’s for sure.
Because, yeah, he was made to punch reaaaally hard
Only because that invokes the image of him going to a bar full of gangsters and lowlifes, looking for information and the thugs pick on him, resulting in him saying that
Yeah, cause he’s actually primarily a fighter. Unlike Ray Palmer who is a scientist and thinker before anything else.
Interesting that it opens with Johnny Thunder, a character with the ability to shape reality at his fingertips, looking at comics in the news stand.
I'd like to think the implication is that all the stories were fictional, until the thunderbolt made them real just before that first panel.
It's nice to see a bunch of superheroes hang out with each other and not have it turn into one big pissing contest.
It's a shame too, since there's more "critiques" of the superhero genre these days than actual superheroes doing superhero stuff. This includes pissing matches between superheroes and superheroes going rogue.
It’s kinda my hope since I follow the cinematic universes and cartoons and the like that, in much the same way as the Avengers went for shawarma after they saved the world, that after the Justice League does the same in their upcoming movie, they’ll all be invited by Clark (please drop the whole “Evil
Superman” thing by the way DC) to his mother’s house for pie. Show some damn camaraderie between your heroes instead of that Frank Miller hero hates crap that saturated Batman v Superman
BannerTurtoise1
So damn tired of pissing contests in general.
"Two series aren't even in the same media genre or from comparable worlds? Let's get this dick measuring contest going!" Ugh.
@@namegoeshere5220 isn't that just Batman meeting a new character
Having a superhero meeting in a hotel sounds so much like something modern superhero movies would do.
Or at a place that makes shawarma.
18:50 Did the Spectre grab a Warp Star? Is the Spectre actually Kirby?
That’d be an awesome crossover!
I see I'm not the only one whose mind went there
The Spectre was awesome back then, since he ended up being a middle finger to the CCA. Turns out, you could kill anyone you wanted, as long as they weren't technically living when you did it. Like the guy he turned to wood and then sliced to kindling with a saw.
TouhouFather
True, but it doesn't make the deaths any less gruesome lol
TouhouFather
I don't think he started the rampant murder until the Silver Age. If this is still the Golden Age, then he might not have progressed that far. so the stories are much simpler.
There wasn't any CCA until 1955. The Spectre had long since entered comic book limbo when the code was enacted. After the War superheroes were in decline, and many titles were either cancelled or rebranded into western titles.
Trans8010
Silver age. The Silver age. I said the Silver age. That was after the CCA was created. When everything got goofy, the Spectre became the most violent superhero in print. I know my first post said "back then", but I didn't mean the Golden age, exactly. I know when the CCA was created.
How can one tell what you meant, when it's worded so ambiguously? The Spectre wasn't a middle finger to the CCA, or else the stories wouldn't have been printed. There has been no documentation anywhere that even suggests that DC had any troubles printing any kind of Spectre story starting in 1966. The CCA allowed every bit of Silver Age Spectre. Being the Hand of God was certainly not against the Code then, in fact it was probably welcomed, thanks in part that kids could see just what would happen if you sinned or were a criminal. If any company pushed the code's limits then it was Marvel.
Ok, not only is that shark sentient and thinking, not only does it somehow know what a "man" is, it's crying for it's mama even though most sharks leave their young as soon as they are born/hatched? Clearly one of the many wizards or mad scientists of the DC Universe has turned a man into a shark, and The Flash fought the poor bastard instead of helping him.
starwarsnerd100 so… Tuesday?
No no no. Tuesday is the day that an evil villain destroys a town for lulz. You're thinking Wednesday.
Right, easy to mix up
Naah, an evil scientist turned himself into a shark. Remember, he thinks men are "juicy".
They should've had the thought bubbles coming from Flash - y'know, like he was thinking "Ha! Bet that shark's thinking - Where'd my lunch go?" kind of thing.
The original superhero team? Cool! Alright let's see here:
1. "If the meeting was secret, then how'd Johnny Thunder know about it?" Johnny might've been breaking the fourth wall like he did later in the book. Then again, Hoover knew about it, but that could just be the government spying on superheroes. Harsher or hilarious in hindsight given their McCartney trial later...
2. "Clearly Hawkman stands against the evils of Ancient Egypt!" Considering one of his arch-enemies was Hath-Set, the former priest who kicked off the whole reincarnation thing, you're not wrong.
3. Spectre vs Oom was one of the most bizarre things I have seen, and yet I love it! Wish he did more of this instead of the whole "kill all criminals" thing.
4. I'm pretty sure the light behind the first giant Sandman encountered was the moon.
5. "Which basically makes Hourman the human version of Underdog." That's kind of cool. Now I want to watch some Underdog.
6. "Time and place for flirting Doc!" Considering Kent and Inza get married later on, this might've been their first date. 😆
7. I agree with starting off with the smaller stories to build up to the bigger ones. Other than that, this was a great "team up!" I wouldn't mind seeing another like this in the future!
EDIT: Dang it, sorry for the double post.
25:03 Lewis' grasp of comedic takes on panels is unparalleled this had me dying
"Dude, your sleep gun is so supernatural. Stun gas that always puts people to sleep with no danger of an overdose? That's some Harry Potter shit."
2:08
Atom's grandson was on Flash last year (season premiere IIRC)
Spectre's mortal identity was on Constantine.
Flash, Hawkman, and Hourman are all in the DCW
Doctor Fate was on Smallville, and in the DCW his helmet is in the collection of John Constantine
Sandman and Green Lantern are the only ones not in a modern TV show.
A Sandman Mystery Theatre TV series would be amazing. :D He did show up in the Smallville JSA episodes, but died in one scene.
Rob Moreau
Oh yeah, I forgot.
Oh, both Red Tornadoes have appeared in the DCW - The silver age android on Supergirl, and Ma Hunkel's helmet is in the Waverider's ready room.
Lynn Green And Constantine's psychic friend did get a vision of Corrigan's destiny - him looking sort of skeletal and surrounded by a green glow. Since John has been on Arrow, that means that the pre-Specter does exist in the CW DC TV universe.
@@patricklyons794 And would show up during Crisis
The real problem with Hourman was that he should have been passing those vitamins out to the rest of the team. :)
Sure, let's call 'em vitamins...
najhoant lol
TouhouFather I'm going to say Jay Garrick could come up with a use for them, this being early in his career before power creep.
As for the Spectre, thanks for naming the one guy on the team that literally pulled a star from the sky...I'm sure he's the bench mark by which we should judge what the rest of the team does and doesn't need.
Sorry, Atom, Sandman, Hawkman, and Hourman....no one needs weapons or armor...after all the Spectre doesn't need them.
TouhouFather LOL
Say your prayers and eat your vitamines BROTHER
Dr. Fate, fought the Witches of Endor? So I guess you could say Naboo went to Endor? :)
starwarsnerd100 Can't you just see Jar-Jar at the Ewok village?
I hate you both for that mental image lol
I'm disappointed that no joke was made about the actual witches that have been on Endor, like "Wait 3 witches? first off Morag was dead before Charal even showed up, and who the hell is the third one?"
CButtonshaw Enjoy the mental image of the Ewoks trying to cook and eat Jar Jar. >:3
Autobot Starscream
the gungan's probably Hired the ewoks
I was always amused when Niel Gaimon's first Sandman book basically explained the super hero Sandman by saying he was inspired to become that person because Dream got taken out of his home and the universe needed someone to fill the roll, so he ended up with a compulsion to do his superheroing as a sort of B-grade substitute.
Well, I wanted Geoff Johns' JSA to be adapted as part of Young Justice universe.
As a opposite to YJ,
- Entire team is mix of adults and youths.
- No secret missions, just adult trying to show ropes to new heroes.
- More optimistic take.
That’d be fun
Though "never was a child" thing could be just Nabu talking and not Kent.
SMAXZO that's not how it works. or worked.
I believe in one story, Nabu aged Kent up to adulthood to skip the raising child part
@@exileforever2508 sounds like something Nabu would do
If after taking the pill you become four hour man, please consult your doctor
Anyone else want a JSA Movie or Animated Series
Dude, they're on DC legends.
snakes3425 me.
Hell yes!
Make it a sitcom on "The CW", with no connection to the Arrowverse, considering the humor in this issue alone, and it would be even better.
No, they really aren't. They put together a really insulting tiny team with mostly people who don't belong there, like Star Girl, Sergeant Steel and Vixen (WTF), and completely ignored the majority of members of the JSA (partially because they screwed themselves over by constantly introducing characters who SHOULD be JSA members in Arrow & Flash ways that made it impossible to include them when they finally showed up, meaning what should've been a momentous occasion on Legends was rather a pathetic showing).
The only show that's managed to do the JSA justice is... well, kinda amazingly, Smallville.
2:10 Hey! Wesley Dodds is probably my favorite comic book character. Yes, we've heard of him!
Golden Age Sandman is awesome.
Golden Age is awesome.
The Spectre is AWESOME. We know who he is.
I have and it's one of my favorite comic book series of all time. :D I've always thought Linkara kinda looked like SMT Dodds (especially in his current oufit) so seeing him do the bits with the gasmask was like "yes!"
I have. :) Quite excellent IMHO. Not all of them, unfortunately. I've got seven volumes of it. I also have a reprinting of some of the Sandman's very first Golden Age adventures.
Ah yes, Doctor Fate, the hero that got an episode dedicated on Superman TAS rather than someone like Wonder Woman, but also is responsible for some of the best scenes in Young Justice
The Drama of Zatanna`s dad taking the mantle was nice..Though Using the Helmet when in bad situations become a bit annoying.
***** The Heroes Life are full of sacrifes..Sure he was taken away from his child BUt he can still be himself,at least somewhat but having to keep the balance.
..Marvel has some Assholic stuffes of heroes as well: Spider man selling his Wife`s love,Tonys Great idea of Ragnarok And Prob SHIELD has done some dark stuff of keeping the peace
Full background on why Wonder Woman never got a feature on Superman TAS:
The final season of STAS was supposed to be a direct lead-in to the Justice League series, so they had features for characters like Flash and Aquaman. There was a planned episode for Wonder Woman to close out the season, but before they could start production on that word came down from the studio that the series was cancelled and Justice League was being put on hold.
So instead they put together one of the best series finales any superhero cartoon has ever had, "Apokalips, Now!"
Wonder Woman has cooties.
W.C. Wit It's still random that Doctor Fate managed to get one in. Green Lantern and The Flash are understandable, but Doctor Fate isn't anyone you'd go to next
This is easily one of the better first appearance stories. While the team does not actually fight along side each other, we still get to see their varied stories and worlds and it does a great job of showing off that Golden age charm. I love how varied superhero stories can be and this issue perfectly embodies that.
Recently reread James Robinson's Starman run and it gave me a lot of appreciation for the old school JSA. Just cool to get a more modern view of their adventures back then with a more in depth and nuanced look at the time period.
I literally waited an entire season of Legends of Tomorrow for them to show up...
And now, I'm regretting the fact that they didn't include Hawkman, even though it actually would've worked in universe.
It's amazing how the Silver Age Red Tornado was able to bounce back from that.
Ah the Justice Society of America. One of my favorite superhero teams though my introduction to them was through Geoff John's run on the team.
I love how Hawk man followed the usual conventions of old school heros of getting a female counterpart
who ended up being VASTLY more interesting and popular than him to the point of him almost being a joke character in the bruce timm series and being the most insufferable ass of a character on legends of tomorrow
both appearances treating him like hawk girls side character
Yeah.
Tukeysu No complaints here!
@Caleb Mayfield Strongly beg to differ. If Hawkgirl wasn't a better character than Hawkman before the JL TV show, she CERTAINLY was afterward.
I always thought it was because she's an easier character to explain, still complicated but not like Hawkman
Edit: I just learnt that Kendra is the more popular one
So he has a mace that isn't a hammer from thor who is actually Hercules and mistakes Hephaestus the god of blacksmiths for Thor the god of thunder... What drugs where these writers on?
KajiRider1997 coke lots and lots of coke maybe an ounce of weed
considering is around WW2 probably cocaine & a whole lot of racism
Also Racist? errr both of those are european gods lol
KajiRider1997 you don't know what World War 2 is do you?
KajiRider1997 Life before Google, my comics would be crazy inaccurate too.
11:31 and 11:40 Ironic. Nowadays Superman and Batman are everywhere and appear in at least three books.
KidSnivy96 yep
Not to mention all the books that are related to their respective families. Think about how many characters in comics are either a Bat, Super, Spider, or Pool. There used to be more Hulks but I think the Lanterns are starting to take their place.
Come on. Don't tell me you don't like Super-Dad?
SMAXZO No, I like it but you've got to admit there are a lot of characters that are tied in with the bigger superhero families, some of which with their own series.
Batman, Batwoman, Batwing, Batgirl, the four Robins.
Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Power Girl, Superwoman.
Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (technically), Silk, Spider-Gwen.
Deadpool, Gwenpool, Deadpool and the Mercs for money.
Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro, and the other Lantern Corps.
I'm not saying any of these are bad, far from it, it's just when Marvel and DC get a popular character they start slapping their name or at least part of their name onto everything they came.
Alexander Sigstad true yes but i will give superdad credit his series is so awesome and badass
28:09 I guess the “of America” was more then just a location designation.
So, Ancient Egypt is actually evil Thanagarians bent on conquering the world? I KNEW IT!
Ironically, "nabo" (almost pronouced as Nabu, but the the stressed sylable being the 2nd one) is Portuguese slang for "idiot" or "dumb", although literally means "turnip" in Portuguese.
13:12 - Maybe Jay Garrick had a Tony Stark moment.
14:28 - OMG, it's the shack from the Titanic animated movie!
Thor: "Verily, has anyone seen my mace? I must have displaced it."
22:43 - Wasn't around this time that Hugo Strange created his original Monster Men? Connection or simply recycling stories?
Golden Age Atom should do a crossover with Puck from Alpha Flight.
Marco Rocha nabo is bokmål/Norwegian for person who lives next to you
bjam89 Well then, if I ever get a Norwegian neighbour I can call him turnip. Too bad I only had a Danish neighbour once.
Marco Rocha fairly sure the danes use the same word
bjam89 Wooooo, someone is going to get trolled!
Wow the Flash was ahead of the game, knowing full well that his girlfriend was going to get in trouble if he brings her anywhere.
Funny thing: Linkara looks a ton like Wesley Dodds in Sandman Mystery Theatre (the '90s Vertigo comic retelling that character's adventures), so it's wild seeing him with the gasmask.
11:45 IMAGINE THIS: An alternate Universe where Batman and Superman were founding members of the Jusitce Society and how you can make that still make sense after establishing the sciety as a team from WW2 while superman and batman are from modern times
Actually clew is an archaic way of spelling clue. A clew is a ball of thread or yarn, a reference to how Theseus used yarn to help him navigate the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. No one would ever spell clew like that now so it's an honest mistake and it's honestly a weird choice because I'm pretty sure that even in the 40s "clue" was more common but still great video!
5:00 actually Na bu is the name of the Mesopotamia patron god of literacy, rational arts, scribes, and wisdom
Is it just me or the Sandman looks rad as fuck?
That thing about characters with their own titles not being in a group book is actually a good idea. They really should do that today as it would really make continuity so much more simple. :)
I've only just started buying comics. Already a fan of Ms. Marvel but then I see that she's not only in her own series but also All New all different Avengers, Civil War 2, Certain Spider-Man comics apparently, like hot damn I don't want to burn through my money THIS quickly!
Funny thing, this actually ties into one of the DC shows on the CW, "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Mostly because a few episodes ago, they actually MET the Justice Society of America.
And the Flash met Jay Garrick on his show
"You are in deadly danger" As opposed to the perfectly safe danger you experience on a regular basis.
So the first comic is them telling stories and the second is them FIGHTING NAZIS!!!
Maaaan, fuck the nazis!
So the Justice Society was a bunch of nerds in costumes telling stories at a hotel convention?
...huh.
I honestly think them meeting up at a diner dressed in street clothes to share stories sounds way cooler. Just imagine Bruce Wayne, Diana Prince, John Stewart, and Barry Allen (or Wally West, whatever. I just prefer Barry) doing that in the comics of today.
Sounds like gencon
Thanks for doing this one. The JSA (2000's version anyway) is my favorite team next to Shadowpact and it's nice to see how this mad road trip started. The classic JSA needs way more respect than it gets (looking at you "Legends"). You just made mt day keep up the good work.
NowherePhotp I stopped watching Legends after seeing their version of the JSA. What an insult.
If you do a "Secret Origins" episode on Hawkman, it might need to be an hour just to cover everything.
Regarding Dodds and Spectre, they would be featured in Kingdom Come, with Dodds telling his visions of the end of days to his pastor friend before passing, and the Spectre guiding McCay (the pastor) to judge who was guilty in the ensuing war at the end.
Jesus, Spectre told a story that absolutely no one could follow up.
Dear God... I recognized every Superhero on the cover except for the two at the bottom, and then I recognized Hourman when Linkara named him. I'M SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!
I watch Buster Keaton movies. I used to binge watch them all the time as a kid. And if you're looking for the obscure, I've seen the nine episode tv adaptation of The Lord of the Rings from Finland known as Hobbitit. And if you're looking for shocking completionism, I've seen all of the Christopher Lee Dracula movies as well as that weird one he did for Bruno Mattei, every major adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera including the one with Freddy Kreuger, and all of the Universal Frankenstein movies including the one which Young Frankenstein directly parodies, right down to the constable with the mechanical arm. I can also say with some certainty that there is no good version of The Great Gatsby as the only one I haven't seen is the lost one from the 20s. I also know that After M*A*S*H was not the only M*A*S*H spinoff, and I'm not just talking about Trapper John MD. Oh, and did you know about the Star Trek Animated Series? Because I sure do. Get on my level, bro.
Um... I watched a bunch of Jerry Anderson shows as a kid?
I honestly have no idea how to compete with that. You win.
Ah that's fine. I'm just a film buff, that's my excuse. If it makes you feel any better, I have no idea who Jerry Anderson is, and the only reason I know about these guys is because of that Smallville two parter that Geoff Johns wrote. Your street cred's still intact. If you want to bolster that street cred, though, and be a bit of a film buff yourself, just get a free account with IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes and start making lists of films you've seen or want to see. Pretty soon you'll be recognizing names and seeking out films just for their director, writer, composer, or production designer, or even to see an early cameo from one of your favorite actors, and predicting with stunning accuracy just which upcoming films will be good.
And feel free to look up anything I mentioned, as even the worst of them are worth watching just to say you've seen it. That Frankestein film, by the way, was Son of Frankenstein starring Bela Lugosi as an aged Igor, a performance many of his fans, myself included, would place alongside Dracula as one of his best. And if you're really adventurous, I'm pretty sure the Finnish Lord of the Rings is still on youtube with English subtitles. It pretty campy with effects not quite on par with classic Doctor Who, but worth a watch for curiosity's sake, and again, to brag to all your friends that you've seen it.
Ferhog Yeah, how dare you not recognize Hourman?
ah yes the " crazy Steve" Batman....good choice xD
25:00 -- Huh... maybe Johnny and She-Hulk should have met during one of the DC/Marvel crossovers.
I like She-Hulk. She’s cool. Not a fan of what they’ve done with her post Civil War 2, though.
@@JaelinBezel Well, that's great, but my comment was in regards to She-Hulk's own tendency to break the fourth wall during her SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK series.
Golden Age Sandman is stupid cool. Like, holy shit that Gas Mask and Suit Combo is awesome.
8:38 Johnny Thunder? The Australian Indiana Jones ripoff from the Orient Expedition Lego theme, arguably one of their best?
AspyHC oh thank goodness, thought it was just me who was thinking of him
Oh Johnny Thunder. People DO remember you…as that guy who was shouting in that one part of DC Universe Rebirth and I have no idea if he's reappeared since.
Wait a Spanish ship carrying AZTEC GOLD and sinking on the coast of Panama? Is this comic a prequel to Pirates of the Caribbean????!!!!!!!!
Only if the ship sank on to what became Isla de Muerta, the island that can't be found unless you already know where it is.
Or you use Google Maps.
@@furioussherman7265 or have a magic compass that points to your heart's desire.
thank you Linkara. The JSA is my favorite team and has most of my favorite Heroes. Thank you for getting this Legacy Team some public recognition.
"The most unrealistic part of this book is getting everyone's schedule aligned."
So we're just gonna ignore all that shit about Oom?
21:39 there really is a Dr Cox clip for everything
Well, clearly it wasn't a JSA D&D session. Can't even get 3 nerds to agree on a single day that works.
The Westley dodds Sandman is one of my favourite DC heroes. I don't know why just a cool idea for a character, a cool mask, even his retconed connection to Dream of the endless just makes me like the character more
...Has anyone else noticed that this comic was just a "hero" version of "Almost Got 'Im"? XD
Ace
I did.
And then I threw a rock at my monitor!
2:46 ONE PUUUUUUNCH!
I remember the big JSA revival of the mid-'90s. Johnny Thunder became guardian of another little girl, this time the last of Bahdnisians whose society had fallen to pieces after he'd left their island and taken the Thunderbolt with him. She had all the fixings to make for an interesting successor to the now elderly Johnny.... until Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison came along :(
My favorite superhero team is the JSA. I love this team more than any other by far. I've been waiting so long for this episode!
This made me go back and re-read JSA:The Golden Age such a goddamn good book.
I love Justice society of America they are so awesome
JL are a bit cooler BUT these Old timers have their points.
TrainerRED Charizard true yes but you gotta give the JSA credit because without these old timers there wouldn't be a Justice league existing today :)
Gotta disagree way bigger fan of the JSA
Tevya Smolka I didnt mean that i hate them,they started the Superhero League stuff..I really wonder How Jay is still alive though,since he is soo old..
TrainerRED Charizard I know you didn't mean that sorry if I came off as angry/annoyed my bad. The explanation given for Jay still going is that the speed force slows down his aging
This video just makes me more Hyped of Upcoming JOKERS WILD Heroclix set that has a Punch of these Old timers.
TrainerRED Charizard Who in the WHAT now?!
***** Figure game with Superheroes from Dc/marvel..upcoming set(Jokers Wild) will have a lot of Jsa Old dudes and Batman vilains,Suicide Squad members etc etc
Why is it that your Scrubs clips are always just so perfect?
Cascade Hellsing I see your channel says "future home of something".
Are you planning to release videos? :)
Because im sure the janitor became a super villain after he quit.
12:30 : No shout-outs to that one Aquaman Twinkies comic?
14:04 : Guess that power's not exclusive to Dan Garret.
16:33 : And i guess Hawk is on the list of people worthy of lifting it.
19:34 : I feel like there should be a Get Me Hennimore ''On an unrelated note...'' clip here.
19:45 : More companies need a policy like that.
21:00 : Red Tornado for next Secret Origins Month please.
Also, the Hawkman story has amazing art for that time period; seriously, check out the drop in quality with the Spectre story after.
If my understanding of the Hawkman continuity is correct you could have a couple of secret origins months on him alone.
I want Avengers 4 to be a clip show with the Avengers sitting around telling each other their backstories.
11:15 this is the opposite approach of modern DC. They’ll put Batman on the cover of anything and everything to boost sales.
10:37 I now want to see Linkara cover one of Fletcher Hanks's comics. I swear, his comics at times make the silver age look normal in comparison.
25:32 Hector Hall does have supernatural powers. He has prophetic dreams. I'm not sure if that's a retcon or not though.
It’s not a retcon. It happened when he became the Sandman for a time.
So, I just came here from your excellent Sandman Retrospective, since I didn't think this comment would be relevant to the themes of that series. Several times you (and many others) have commented on why the Wesley Dodds Sandman would have changed his costume from the awesome, pulpy classic look to that generic yellow-purple atrocity. Fortunately, I can explain. The answer lies with one DC writer/editor, Mort Weisinger. If you don't want to read my following diatribe, just skip to the bottom for the TL; DR.
Weisinger is most known for having been the editor of Superman for many years during the 50's and 60's, throughout the Silver Age. He guided the creations of many key elements of the character (the Fortress of Solitude, a friendship with Batman, Kandor, Brainiac, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane's series, Imaginary Stories, Supergirl, Bizarro, etc.). He was also one of the main proponents of super-dickery, as he focused heavily on covers that would grab children's attention. Weisinger was into marketing above all else, constantly working to get Superman into the hands of as many children as possible, even if that occasionally led to lower quality stories or bizarre covers. He was also extremely protective of the character, constantly making Superman more prominent in Batman during most of their World's Finest Comics team-ups and keeping him as inactive as possible in the JLA. In short, Weisinger advocated for marketing, appealing to children and keeping the simplest, lowest-common denominator (think a more creative version of Illumination Animation).
But his career at DC had actually begun back in the early Golden Age. There, he created or co-created famous Golden Age heroes like Green Arrow (since kids loved Robin Hood), Aquaman (since kids love the ocean) and the Greg Saunders Vigilante (since kids love cowboys). Although all of those characters were big successes, there were others that were good, but less original. He created Johnny Quick as a way of ripping-off the Flash, but added a magic formula (that included unpronounceable parentheses) since that would appeal to kids, who might try saying it gain super speed. He created the Seven Soldiers of Victory (3 of whose members were his own characters) to mimic the JSA's success.
When DC created a new anthology feature as a vehicle for Jerry Siegel's new character Star-Spangled Kid, Weisinger was asked to come up with back-up features. He created two new superheroes: TNT and Dyna-Mite, and the Tarantula. TNT and Dyna-Mite were an adult-kid duo who were actually teacher and student. Thanks to a school lab accident, the two gained explosive superpowers that they could unlock and bumping fists. This was an attempt at Batman and Robin mimicry, something he had also done with Green Arrow and Speedy. TNT and Dyna-Mite lasted for a few issues and occasionally appear in DC Comics (though they killed TNT in the late 80's, and Dyna-Mite's most famous appearance was in an Elseworld's tale where the Ultra-Humanite killed him and put Hitler's brain in his body). The other hero was the Tarantula (also called "Spiderman" in his first appearance), a mystery writer who decided to fight crime with a web-gun to get ideas for his writing. He fought a racist caricature of Shiva, the Crime Candle, the Bandanna, the Fly and several other villains, but ultimately failed as he was far too generic (his 80's reboot was awesome, though).
It was around that time that Weisinger was put in charge of revitalizing a then-dying feature, the Sandman. For some reason, the Sandman started out strong but his creator Gardner Fox just couldn't get the character to stick. All of the elements were there, but there was something missing. When Weisinger took over, rather than try to find what that missing factor was, he instead decided to completely redo the character with his own generic formula. He jettisoned Dian Belmont (Wesley's girlfriend/sidekick) and replaced her with a random boy named Sandy as a costumed sidekick (imitating Robin, Speedy, Dyna-Mite, etc). He would fight generic super-threats (the first story involved fighting giant bees, for God's sake). But worst of all, he got rid of the classic costume, and instead replaced it with... the Tarantula's costume. That's right, for a time, DC had two heroes, written and drawn by the same two guys (Paul Norris, Aquaman's co-creator, was the artist for both series) and with the SAME COSTUMES! And keep in mind that Tarantula was failing almost from the start because it was so generic. How was that supposed to work?!!?
That change almost killed the character immediately. Fortunately, DC brought in the recently hired Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (who were also working on revamping the Paul Kirk, Manhunter feature, as well as creating the Boy Commandos) to salvage Weisinger's damage after only three issues. Kirby and Simon decided to focus on the dreams aspect of the character, something Fox hadn't really touched on. The character took off, and became one of DC's cover features for several years afterwards. Unfortunately, however, they could only work with the Weisinger version of the character. That means that, thanks to Weisinger, we missed out on a Jack Kirby version of the classic Sandman look! Imagine what that would have been like.
The Sandman series was finally cancelled in 1946, and replaced with Superboy. When Garden Fox himself got to revive his creation as a JSA member for JLA team-up stories in the 60's, he purposely had him appear in the original costume, and without even a mention of Sandy. No explanation would be given for this until Len Wein's JLA run in the mid-70's, when it was revealed Sandy had gotten turned into a giant sand monster in an accident Wesley caused, and that Wesley had destroyed the second costume out of grief. In the early 80's All-Star Squadron series (my personally favorite comic of all time), Roy Thomas revived Tarantula and had him meet with Wesley, expressing amusement at his "unoriginal" costume. Wesley explained he changed it using a design Dian had made before her death (fridging her), and wore it in her honor as an attempt to fit in more with his colleagues. Not perfect, but fair enough. Since then, that costume has just been an object of humorous shame, and Sandy has become an actual character.
Then the Crisis came and DC just tossed Wesley into fake Ragnarok.
Of course.
TL; Dr: A writer with a greater talent for marketing than originality plagiarized the costume of his own creation as part of a failed reboot, that was only salvaged by much better creators later on. He later on played a key role in developing the Superman mythos.
Also, the Weisinger-Norris outfit for the Sandman and Tarantula was almost identical to another character, MLJ's Black Hood. 😑
"Team, roll call! Catman, Black Siren, Tom Turbine, Green Guardsman, The Streak!" -The Justice *Guild* of America
LordManda2 The Green Guardsmen was voiced by the Greatest American Hero.
Anyone else see the notice similarities between star lords mask and sandmans
We don't talk about it, and if you do some men from Marvel come to your place and ask you to come with them as a matter of Comic security, then you'll never be heard from again.
Starlord meets Sandman make it happen Marvel and DC
*WHO?*
"My name.....is Wesley Dodds."
"Who?!"
"The Sandman, man! Member of the Justice Society?"
"Oh, you mean that guy made by Neil Gaiman?"
Yup, fair play. I had no idea who 70% of the JSA were. Granted I'm not a comics fan and just watch the show for entertainment, so I don't expect every single character and detail to be explained to me. But I can appreciate Linkara not wanting to cover heroes that a large chunk of the audience haven't heard of
16:59 asbestos suits aren’t made of asbestos as far as I’m aware. They’re made for handling asbestos I think. I might be wrong though.
Fun fact, this is technically also the first intercompany crossover - Johnny, Hawkman, the Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, and Red Tornado were owned by All-American Comics (the publishers of this book) but Spectre, Sandman and Doctor Fate were owned by National Publications. However, at the time, you wouldn't have known that two different companies were involved unless you read the fine print because both of them used the same "DC" logo in their comics. All-American wouldn't start using a separate logo until All-Star Comics #24, shortly before their merger into DC Comics made that irrelevant (Speaking of which, Batman was also owned by another company that was later merged, Detective Comics Inc., but that was more of a "sister company" situation, since it had the same owner as National). Golden Age comic book branding was _wild._
23:40 I never would've expected that the madness caused by seeing Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth or their ilk would be due to their maddening gorgeousness.
A great episode showcasing my favorite DC team!
4:50 - I had to hit the breaks on this video just to go see that commercial. Holy hell was that majestic XD
30:10 wait he's not *checks list of upcoming episodes* huh. I admit that was waaaay quicker than I expected for another one of those.
How many years have you waited for such an appropriate use of the "World's most giant doctor" clip?
So, Golden Age atom is basically One Punch Man, but with a complex.
You want obscure heroes? Who else remembers Madam Fate?
15:42 Volcanoes and fire ghosts... sounds like a missed opportunity to reference Alolan marowak.
Something about Linkara speaking in this video made me think of the Cinema Snob.
So by his own reasoning Linkara will be doing the first appearance of the Justice League this November to coincide with the movie.
With the JSA being in Legends of Tomorrow right now, this is pretty timely. Kinda.
I don't care what anyone says, the original Hawkman mask is awesome.
You know, given how you'll be doing a Sandman retrospective at some point, I wonder if that gas mask will make a return in it for some jokes. And yes, I know it's the Neil Gaiman Sandman, but he had one too. Though, given how some connections were made to Wesley Dodds, I wonder if you'll talk about him at all during it.
Horses with magical powers?... Need another lesson in friendship already, Linkara? LOL
"Don't oversaturate with certain characters...?" What new spore of madness is this?
"Here's a bunch of crap that happens and maybe it's in order"
I just found my new inspiration.
31:03 Considering the fact that he's from "The Dark Side Of The Moon" he's basically a Lunatic On The Grass.