Symbol Pending - A Power Girl Blog

T his was originally an introduction to the classic All-Star Comic #58, but it grew to the point that it seemed better as a post of its very own! On the 24th May 1940 the first issue of All Star Comics (All-Star came later), it was an anthology comic in which stories of Hawkman (Carter Hall), Sandman (Wesley Dobbs), The Flash (Jay Garrick), The Spectre (Jim Corrigan) and Hourman (Rex Tyler), alongside Red, White & Blue and Ultra-Man (no not that one, but a standard Future Cop story). Issue second added the Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Johnny Thunder, though the third though still not abandoning the anthology format added a new twist making them part of the first team the Justice Society of America! Oh and the Atom (Al Pratt) making the classic JSA lineup, and also technically the first female superhero in the form of Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel) though it's hardly the shining hour for anyone... Through the issues, and the addition of Batman and Superman (issue sev...

WHEN FALL THE MIGHTY ALL-STAR COMICS #62 Published: 24 th June 1976 Cover Date:  October 1976 Cover Artists:   Ernie Chan / Tatjana Wood Writer:   Gerry Conway / Paul Levitz Penciler:  Keith Giffen / Wally Wood Inker:   Wally Wood Colourist:   Carl Gafford Letterer:   Ben Oda Editors:   Gerry Conway Introduction Not much to say here except to say that for the rest of the year we'll be looking at the classic All-Star Comic run as I try to get back into the flow of this blog again.  Synopsis We start with an amazing full page of a Kirby-like machine that is keeping Doctor Fate alive! Or at least Kent Nelson, as he starts off out of costume with the helmet off. The fancy machine, as well as showing his vitals also shows the symbol of the Ankh, as pointed out an Egyptian symbol of life (and divinity). In a nice touch, it's Hawkman, and Green Lantern for some reason, explaining to the alien Pee Gee what the symbol signifies. We also get a quick re...

SPIN CYCLE JSA 80-PAGE GIANT Published:  18th November 2009 Cover Date:  January 2010 Cover Artists:   Freddie E. Williams II Writer:   Jen Van Meter Penciler:  Jesus Merino Inker:   Jesse Delperdang  Colourist:   Allen Passalaqua Letterer:   Rob Leigh Editors:   Chris Conroy Introduction This is five mini-stories that made a whole tale, revolving around the relatively new character of Cyclone who's been thrown back in time, because comics!  Cyclone, as I'm sure you all know is the teenage granddaughter of Ma Hunkle, the original Red Tornado, and DC's first female superhero! Coming out of the same comic as Alan Scott's Green Lantern it was obvious that Ma would be made at least an honour JSA member, being one of the few of the team that's been allowed to grow and stay old. As I seem to struggle to cover a single 22-issue comic I won't try to cover everything, besides the only one that contains Power Girl is Spin Cycle, so that is th...

  CRISIS BETWEEN TWO EARTH or APOKOLIPS NOW! JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #184 Published:   14th August 1980 Cover Date:  November 1980 Cover Artists:   George Pérez Writer:  Gerry Conway Penciler:  George Pérez Inker:   Frank McLaughlin Colourist:   Gene D'Angelo Letterer:   Ben Oda Editors:   Len Wein Introduction No little lectures or points to be made this time around, other than to say that I'm using the Apokolips Now as the title rather than its official title as it's, in my opinion. much cooler than the Crisis related title. And for context at this point, Crisis was just the name of the annual crossover between the JLA and the JSA rather than the big multiversal event that they are now. And the film Apocalypse Now was only a year old, coincidently releasing on August 15th 1979, so was relatively cool and probably still in the public consciousness. Synopsis After a glorious full-page spread that gives us the story so far, we get anoth...

ENGINES OF FAITH, SHEDDING SKIN JSA vs. KOBRA #6 Published:  11th November 2009 Cover Date:  January 2010 Cover Artists:   Gene Ha Writer:  Eric Trautmann Penciler:  Don Kramer Inker:   Michael Babinski Colourist:   Art Lyon Letterer:   Pat Brosseau Editors:   Rachel Gluckstern Introduction The problem with picking an arbitrary point to look at comics is that you'll always get odd little things like this where you get to look at the tail end of a series from another decade. In this case, this is part six of a mini-series about the JSA fighting Kobra, duh! I could easily skip this for the next and move it to the previous decade, but just for a little variety, I figured I'd cover it here. Strangely the fact that is not hosted on DC Infinite, hence harder to find online makes it even more tempting to cover here and now. So let's go... Sypnosis We start in media res if you could call that for the last issue of a run, with three Kobra minions char...

  CRISIS ON NEW GENESIS or WHERE HAVE ALL THE NEW GODS GONE?JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #183 Published:   10th July 1980 Cover Date:  October 1980 Cover Artists:   Jim Starlin Writer:  Gerry Conway Penciler:  Dick Dillin Inker:   Frank McLaughlin Colourist:   Gene D'Angelo Letterer:   Ben Oda Editors:   Len Wein Introduction Everything these days has to be a massive crossover with the entire Multiverse in crisis, whilst in the 70s and 80s you got these (relative) low-key events where two or more teams just teamed up over both of their comics. Which I guess is weird as this involves New Genesis and Apokolips, y'know the New Gods that you'd figure would want, no need, to be in a big massive story. But somehow for me, these kinda stories have a bigger appeal, probably because right now there's a little bit of event fatigue. Synopsis We start, as with all these crossovers with the standard one-page explanation of how the JLA are from Eart...