Bell, Wheel and Frog - Justice League of America #147

Crisis in the 30th Century

Justice League of America #147
Cover Dated: October 1977
Released: 28th June 1977

So it seems Psycho Pirate isn't important at all, just a reason for the League and Society to get together and have general cross over shenanigans. This follows what must be the briefest explanation of Earth-1 and Earth-2, with just two panels explaining the concept. And as is traditional the two flashes are used to explain the concept. Talking of I'll use the first name to help with duplicate super identities, so we have Scott Lantern and Hal Lantern, Barry Flash and Garrick Flash.

Our first appearance of Power Girl is erm worrying, what with her openly flirting with Earth-1 Superman, and that's now me interpreting something more innocent its implicitly called out it the comic itself. And I guess they're not really cousins if a different dimension is involved? Though the supergirl calls out is still a little awkward especially as they mention how more grown-up Power Girl is compared to this worlds equivalent!

Then when Kara goes into another room she'd grabbed by a giant massive space hand, though this one isn't green, and after a quick battle, ten little heroes get swept away from the satellite and into adventure. Now you'd think that this was to thin out the numbers a little, what with two super teams in the same story, but no not really. Because later we'll be adding a whole bunch of Legion characters as well on top of those snatched away. For the record, at the moment we have Superman, Batman, Black Canary, green arrow and Hal Lantern from the League and Doctor Fate, Scott Lantern, Garrick Flash and Hawkman. As well as luckily Power Girl or this would have been a much shorter entry!

They end up a thousand years in the future and meet Mordu, and space wizard from a planet of space wizards. He was defeated in the past, with the Legions help I believe, and his godlike powers greatly reduced. Power Girl thinks it'd be an easy win but he quickly overcomes the team and traps them in a literal cage. Also, there are some Legion members but they're not important yet, no it's time for the exposition dump. Seems our good space sorcerer want to call three demons to help him conquer the universe, but to do so he needs three devices a wheel, a bell and a jar. He tried to get them from the satellite but got the heroes instead, and is about to destroy them when he changes his mind a send them to get the items instead. Doctor Fate claims it's his own magic influencing Mordu but I figure he's just bluffing at this point. With Ollie and Dinah picked as hostages and, in an almost literal ticking clock, put into an hourglass. Then we have the other sent in teams to go retrieve those items. 

First, we go to find the wheel where we meet more characters Sunboy and Wild Fire from the Legion who are captured by aliens who are literal wheels, which would be a little on the nose if it wasn't that they're shapeshifter who have taken this form. We have Supes, Doctor Fate and Hawkman, though that doesn't matter as Clark just zooms through grabs the wheel and zips around creating star-like objects in the sky, which the alien start to worship (and take the form off) forgetting about their wheel. And people complain original Superman was too powerful!

We have a quick flash to Dinah and Ollie reminding us how she was from Earth-2 but jumped ship to Earth-1, though we're decades away from them being a couple of her being her own mom. We also get the Legion wondering if they picked the right leader, what with the older superheroes showing everyone up.

Next, we have Batman with Alan and Hal Lantern end up on a planet where a horde of dragons, technically wyverns, are bothering the local inhabitants. Only the bell, whose magic means it works in space, keeps the creatures at bay, which is a problem for our heroes. Luckily Batman thing about using a scarecrow, for very obvious reasons, and the heroes have an old man yells at clouds moment about how much from a thousand years ago has been forgotten. They then decide to carve a giant image of a creature on the side of the planets moon to scare the creature away. So the aliens in thanks let them take the bell and everything is good. Oh and Brianac 5 and Projectra is there, but really all they do is provide exposition about future things.

Then we have a quick cut to Mordu to say that he plans to betray our heroes, gasp I wouldn't have expected that at all!

Finally, after far too many words, we get the whole point of this little blog Power Girl!

She and Garrick Flash are running through space, well he is she's flying, to a pocket dimension where the Legion has stashed the jar. And whilst Garrick calls her Gal the two seem pretty chill with each other, though lovely Garrick can rarely do anything wrong! In this pocket dimension, we have frog aliens with bug heads, because frogs are apparently a thing now it seems. After a quick scuffle with the frogs, Kara figures out that the massive sphere's they're sitting on and guarding are actually their eggs. Which considering are massive compared to the frog raises far too many questions. She also quickly works out that one is sitting on a sphere containing the jar, it may be x-ray vision or just we're near the end of the comic. A quick swap out with the real egg and PG smashes the sphere to recover the jar, as it should be she does all the work and as biased as I am coming out of this one pretty well.

And with that, the heroes all come back to face down Mordu, only for him to call their bluff with Dinah and Ollie. So in a shocking twist after shocking twist he gets to summon the demons only for them to betray him in order to take charge themselves, all in time for the end of part one ready for part two.

Maybe's it the influence of the other writers or just the crazy number of characters, but Kara isn't quite as confrontational as she normal it and get a moment to shine but showing her smarts over punching ability. This is my first JLA/JSA crossover so I'm not sure how traditional this is, but aside from a little Silver Age zaniness, it's a pretty solid story.

Onwards to part two!