Star Sapphire, Take 2

Yesterday, I shared the debut adventure of the Golden Age Star Sapphire. And today, we look at her second and final appearance of the era, from Comic Cavalcade #29 (November 1948).

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All that's left is her one-and-only modern appearance in Brave and the Bold #6 (March 2000), which provides an origin for Star Sapphire and even connects her with her Silver Age namesake.

I probably won't be posting the story here, but I encourage you to check it out when you get the chance.

Retro Debut: The Amazing Star Sapphire

After sharing the Super-Villains Then & Now retrospective the other day, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the original Star Sapphire's first appearance (All-Flash #32, December 1947-January 1948). I only have a fiche scan of the original, so these pages come from a reprint in Flash Annual #1 (Summer 1963).

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After this, Star Sapphire appears next in Comic Cavalcade #29 (November 1948) before disappearing into comic book limbo for over 50 years. And her one modern appearance (Brave and the Bold #6, March 2000) -- was more than a decade ago and probably isn't canon since the DC relaunch. So she's ripe for a comeback when Earth-2 stories start again.

Super-Villains Then & Now

Today's treat is a one-page retrospective from The Amazing World of DC Comics #11 (April 1974), which compares Golden Age villains with their modern counterparts.

Lex Luthor and the Joker are obvious and effective choices, but who would have expected Star Sapphire?

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The Carol Ferris and Secret Society versions of Star Sapphire are familiar enough to readers by 1974, but the original has only two prior appearances -- All-Flash #32 (January 1948) and Comic Cavalcade #29 (November 1948) -- and is not seen again until Brave and the Bold #6 (March 2000).

Looking Back at the JSA in 1969

Murphy Anderson's rendition of the JSA (Justice League of America #76, December 1969)

I've always liked Murphy Anderson's art, and his two-page JSA pin-up is a classic piece of work.

The one oddity for me is the presence of the first Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel). She's not active at the time and, in fact, doesn't even make a modern comics appearance until 2004 (at which point we learn she went into witness protection in 1951).

Quest for Third Flash vs. the Thorn Story





The Thorn's dramatic debut
(Flash Comics #89, Nov 1947)

As many of you already know, the Golden Age Flash (Jay Garrick) faced off against the villainous Thorn (Rose Canton) two times before Flash Comics was cancelled. A third story was in the works but not published as a result.

Pages from that unpublished 10-page story have cropped up over the years, and the entire story is supposedly published in Robin Snyder's The Comics v6 #10 (though Snyder's own comments apparently cast some doubt on the accuracy of the issue number).

Though never fully published by DC, the story does impact the origins of Earth-2 legacy characters Jade and Obsidian, who are the twin children of Thorn and the Golden Age Green Lantern (Alan Scott).

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I've only been able to get my hands on pages 1-3 (from Alter Ego v3 #4 & 5) and 9-10 (from Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #113). I'm posting them here and hope that someone who has the remaining pages would be willing to share them.

"Strange Confession" page 1 (Alter Ego v3 #5)

"Strange Confession" page 2 (Alter Ego v3 #4)

"Strange Confession" page 3 (Alter Ego v3 #54

"Strange Confession" page 9 (Lois Lane #114)

"Strange Confession" page 10 (Lois Lane #114)

The Cat Came Back!

Cover art for
Catwoman #1 (Nov 2011)

To be more precise, the Catwoman came back. DC Comics released the first issue of the newest Catwoman series today.

So, how does everyone's favourite feline fatale fare in the DCnU? The usual cheesecake factor is still in evidence, especially in the opening pages. And a special guest star helps bring the heat by the end.
Need a hint? The story title is "...and most of the costumes stay on..."
Overall, Catwoman is as smart, sassy and independent as ever. Too good to be bad. Too bad to be good. She walks that fine line between hero and villain like no one else.

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She's also bloody ruthless. Based on the snippet of back story given, we can understand why she goes on the offensive when faced with someone from her past. But will this be the exception or the rule? Does the DCnU Catwoman have a killer instinct?

I'm an easy sell when it comes to Catwoman, but I can't help but hold my breath whenever she's reinvented. So far, I'm breathing a little easier.

Spotlight on Adventure Comics #416

Once upon a time, DC regularly devoted whole issues of their ongoing titles to reprints (a practice now mostly reserved for high priced trade paperbacks and hard covers).

One such case is Adventure Comics #419 (March 1972), which features classic Silver Age (SA) stories starring Supergirl and Golden Age (GA) stories starring Wonder Woman, Phantom Lady, Black Canary and Merry the Gimmick Girl.

What makes this issue most notable, however, is the wraparound cover depicting DC's line up of female characters.


Who's Who (left to right, not counting inserts): Hawkgirl II, Thorn II, Platinum, Zatanna,
Big Barda, Beautiful Dreamer, Star Sapphire II, Liberty Belle, Lilith, Wonder Girl,
Merry the Gimmick Girl, Enchantress, Dumb Bunny, Phantom Lady, Cheetah, Harlequin,
Batgirl II, Black Canary, Wonder Woman (plus Supergirl front and centre on the front panel)

In the DC relaunch, we've so far seen or been promised versions of Zatanna, Star Sapphire, Enchantress, Batgirl, Black Canary, Wonder Woman and Supergirl (hope I haven't missed anyone).

No word yet on the others, but we can surely expect to see some of the Golden Age characters on the restored Earth-2.

Earth-2 in the DCnU

Word is spreading that the Justice Society of America will make a comeback as part of the new DC after all, albeit on a restored Earth-2.

On the down  side, with all the changes occurring in the mainstream DC Universe (Earth-0), there might be similar alterations made to the Golden Age heroes and their progeny. We might not even recognize some of our favourite heroes.

Personally, I’d like to see a two-pronged approach: the All-Star Squadron during the war years and the Justice Society in the modern age. That way we could see the older heroes in their prime (and hopefully the way we’re used to seeing them) and follow the next generation, too (where there’s more room for change).

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Whatever my hopes, I’m sure there will be upsets. Some characters will change. Some will die. New ones will be introduced. The status quo won’t hold.

But I still have higher hopes for Earth-2 than for most other elements of DCnU. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.



The modern JSA, pre-DCnU, as depisted by Dale Eaglesham (JSA Annual #1)

No Justice (Society) in the DC Relaunch

The big news of the past week has been the upcoming relaunch of DC Comics, commonly referred to as DCnU.

In the wake of the current Flashpoint event, the DC Universe will undergo a major change, with established characters getting sometimes drastic makeovers in both appearance and circumstance. Last week's buzz surrounded the slow unveiling of the 52 titles that will make up DCnU, all of them starting at #1 (even long running series like Batman and Superman are starting over).

The purpose of the relaunch is to appeal to a younger audience, thereby attracting new readers. One striking casualty of the relaunch (so far) is the Justice Society of America (JSA), DC's revered heroes from the Golden Age. The implication is that heroes who fought Nazis cannot be expected to appeal to today's youth.

I have always believed that the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths would have been more stable and successful if the changes had cut across all titles equally. Rebooting some (like Wonder Woman) while leaving others relatively unchanged (like Batman) has led to a convoluted mess that DC has never been able to straighten out. So maybe DCnU will work where other crisis events have failed.

The JSA always seems to bear the brunt of DC's periodic resets (most notably Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour) only to come back stronger than before. Should DCnU prove to have real staying power (I cannot help but think of Marvel's Heroes Reborn effort in 1996/97), will DC find a place for the JSA? With Superman once again being described as DC's first super-hero (and presumably not first active in 1938), prospects seem grim. Even a DCnU version of their wartime adventures would be off the table.

Maybe now is the time to revive their status as Earth-2's premiere heroes -- assuming the Multiverse has survived the onslaught -- and separate them from the ever-growing turmoil of the mainstream DC Universe.