Although the JLA/JSA crossovers are a major and important part of the early multiverse stories, it wasn’t a large of group of heroes that started the whole thing. In fact, it began with one person, a hero on Earth-1 known as the Flash, named Barry Allen in his private life as a police scientist. At a specific point, at a specific place and a specific time, the Flash managed to vibrate the particles of his body to barrier breaking speed, resulting in him transporting himself accidently to Earth-2, where he met his alternative, the Flash, known as Jay Garrick, who Barry had been familiar with as he featured as the Flash in comic books when he read them as a child. This story known as Flash of Two Worlds begun the multiverse and due to that, there were no limits. Heroes from both Earths could meet, team up or even fight in certain cases. And to think it all started due to the genius of one man, a writer of comics, things that were published on cheap paper and used as ballast on ships. This writer didn’t only change DC Comics, but he changed the world of comics as a whole and its detailed legacy. This writer was Gardner Fox…
For first of two interlude posts covering instances where hero’s crossover to other Earths and sometimes meet the alternate versions of themselves, I will be reviewing multiple stories from the same title together, making it easier and quicker to review. The stories are:
Flash of Two Worlds/Double Danger on Earth/Vengeance of the Immortal Villain, Invader from the Dark Dimension --- The Flash 123, 129, 137, 151
Solomon Grundy Goes on a Rampage/Perils of the Psycho Pirate --- Showcase 55-56
Secret Origin of the Guardians --- Green Lantern (vol 2) 40
Mastermind of Menaces --- The Brave and the Bold 61
The Hour Hourman Died --- a story from The Spectre (vol 1) 7
Issues 123, 129, 137 and 151 of The Flash (vol 1) were published in September 1961, June 1962, June 1963 and March 1964 respectively. Showcase (vol 1) 55 and 56 (featuring Doctor Fate and Hourman) were released bi-monthly with the first being published in March and the second in May 1965. While Green Lantern (vol 2) 40 was released in October 1965, The Brave and the Bold 61 (featuring Starman and Black Canary) were published bi-monthly in September/October 1965 and the Hourman story originally from The Spectre (vol 1) 7 was released, yet again, on a bi-monthly schedule in November/December 1968. While various artists worked on these stories, they are all written either by Gardner Fox or John Broome (another pioneer of the silver age era) and I have read these stories in the Crisis on Multiple Earths: The
Team-Ups Volume 1 trade paperback.
Flash of Two Earths/Double Danger on Earth/Vengeance of the Immortal Villain, Invader from the Dark Dimension --- Written by Gardner Fox with art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella
THE PLOT
One day on Earth-1, Barry Allen is late for a meeting with his girlfriend Iris at the Central City Community Centre. When he arrives, not only is Iris annoyed that Barry arrived late, but a magician she hired to entertain some orphans hasn’t arrived. Barry then makes an excuse and disappears, returning back to Iris and the orphans as the Flash. He performs lots of different acts, one of which is climbing a rope that is falling in the air. However, when he performs this, he disappears into thin air and Iris and the orphans become confused. Meanwhile Barry Allen has appeared on Earth-2 for the first time, but he obviously doesn’t know that. He runs around confused that Central City has been replaced by Keystone City, even though the date is the exact same as it was before. After remembering the name of the city, the Flash checks a phone directory and finds the name Jay Garrick, who he recognises as the Flash from comics he used to read as a child. As Barry Allen, he visits Jay Garrick (who is retired from his role as the Flash) and his wife Joan. Barry explains to them that he is also the Flash, but from another Earth and after explaining his origin (being covered in chemicals while being struck by lightning), Jay mentions how he is thinking of coming out of retirement as he has heard of numerous robberies being conducted in Keystone City, all of which were done in different ways. Meanwhile, Earth-2 villains the Thinker, Fiddler and Shade gloat about their robberies and how they used their powers to help them. After the meeting, the villains go off to commit more crimes and both Barry and Jay become the Flash. Jay finds the Thinker robbing a mansion, but the hero is defeated. The same happens to Barry, who loses to Shade. The heroes then team up to fight the Fiddler, who manages to escape and meet with the Thinker and Shade. A large fight occurs, and all three villains are taken out and arrested. In the end, Barry says goodbye to Jay and when he arrives back on Earth-1, visits Iris as the Flash and tells her why he disappears as he thinks to himself that he could tell his adventure to the writer of the comics he read as child featuring the Flash, which was Gardner Fox and he wishes for him to write a story based on his adventure with Jay Garrick.
On Earth-2, a meteorite crashes into the sun which emits deadly radiation. As Jay Garrick hears this and wonders if he should bring in the help of his Earth-1 counterpart and if he should take on this crisis as the Flash or as Jay Garrick, he begins to recall his time with the Justice Society of America. Afterwards, Garrick and some scientists research a piece of metal from the meteorite found in Arizona and discover that it can in fact absorb radiation. However, he later finds out that the meteorite has been stolen, so he decides to visit Earth-1 to see if that has had a meteorite crash into their sun. Meanwhile on Earth-1, Barry Allen becomes the Flash and visits Iris, who now knows that the Flash is Barry Allen, causing him to wonder how she could have worked it out. After finding out that they are attending a dress-up party of sorts and that Iris thinks that Barry is just dressing as the Flash, they both attend the party, but Barry notices people dressing as his villains like Captain Cold, Trickster and Mirror Master. But it is revealed that Captain Cold and the Trickster are the real villains and they begin to cause trouble. This is when the Earth-2 Flash arrives and tries to take on the villains, but fails, and they escape with the charity money from the party. After telling Barry Allen about this, the two heroes’ team up and try to fight the Trickster and Captain Cold, but the heroes are frozen solid, resulting in the villains escaping. Using this speed and vibration powers, the two heroes escape, and the Earth-2 Flash explains to his counterpart about the meteorite on Earth-2. The Flashes then split up, with Barry going after the villains and Jay going after the meteor site on Earth-1. After Jay finds the site and breaks down the minerals inside of it to take back to his own Earth, he meets up with Barry to take on the villains. Although at first, they are tricked again by the villainous duo, the heroes succeed and beat Captain Cold and the Trickster. Afterwards, Jay explains to Barry that not only have the rocks from the meteor site from Earth-1 been transported to Earth-2, but the radiation from the meteors would be absorbed in the space of 24 hours, resulting in both the meteors and radiation disappearing.
After numerous blackouts and strange lights in the sky in numerous cities like Washington, Gotham and Calvin, Barry Allen walks Iris home. Barry then looks for a link between the affected cities and looks through an old issue of All-Star Comics that he had as a child, which reminds him that all the cities affected by the blackouts were
protected by JSA heroes. Due to that, Barry becomes the Flash and travels to Earth-2 to find his counterpart, Jay Garrick, but he isn’t at his home. He then waits for Jay, who is shocked to hear about what is going on with Earth-1 as something similar has been going on with the Earth-2 heroes as they have mysteriously gone missing. During their talk, blackouts and strange lights occur, resulting in the two Flashes running out. Although Jay discovers the source of the strange lights coming from a light beam, he is trapped in a cosmic cube and he cannot escape. Luckily, Barry arrives and manages to rescue him after smashing the cube using his powers. While the two Flashes decide to go back to the source of the lights, it is revealed that the immortal old JSA foe Vandal Savage has captured all of the JSA members (except Flash obviously). After remembering his origin, that being he was a caveman who is hit by light from a meteor, making him immortal, he travels in his flying ship to capture the Earth-2 Flash. Although he captures the Earth-2 speedster, he is shocked when he finds that the Earth-1 Flash is also present, resulting in Savage crashing his ship, forcing him to escape on foot. The speedsters follow Savage to his cave hideout, where he uses one of his weapons to trap the Flashes together in a forced fight, which is won by the younger Earth-1 version. Barry then goes after Savage, who creates a trap for the hero. But Barry manages to set the trap off so fast that he avoids its effect and also, the hero has managed to rescue all of the captured JSA members, shocking Savage. In the end after Savage is arrested, the Earth-2 heroes decide to reunite and come out of retirement and relaunch the JSA as Barry leaves for Earth-1.
One day on Earth-1, Barry and Iris look around a jewellery store, but when a ring that Iris wants is stuck in some black gooey spot, it becomes bigger, resulting in the police being called to the scene. This gives Barry the chance to become the Flash and try to fight a strange black entity, but all of his attacks don’t do any damage. Barry then escapes from the scene, resulting in the black figure going missing. Afterwards, Barry and Iris are driving together, hearing news from the radio about the crimes of the black figure. Barry manages to get away from Iris again and becomes the Flash to fight the black figure, which is morphing itself into dangerous animals. After a long time of fighting, Barry manages to defeat the black figure, but cannot get Iris’s ring back. Barry then theorizes that that a similar event might be happening on Earth-2 (due to the recurring double themes on both Earths). Before going to the other Earth, Barry vibrates at a certain speed as he did when he fought the black figure and recognises from his fingerprints that the villain, he fought was the Shade, a foe of the Earth-2 Flash. After speaking to Jay on Earth-2 about his encounter with the Shade, Jay mentions how the villain was released from prison and he was being nice to everyone on Earth-2. The two Flashes team up together and locate the Shade, who reveals that he once witnessed Jay vibrate at speed to go to Earth-1, allowing him do something similar with his powers which gets him to the other Earth. However, during his talk, the Shade managed to trap Jay in a chair, but Barry arrives and tries to fight the Shade. This fails as the Shade escapes, but Barry manages to find Jay, but he (continues after image)
remains trapped. Barry then tracks down the Shade, who has morphed himself into a giant 8-Ball and then into other creatures to terrorize people. But the Shade is defeated when Barry follows him into the Dark Dimension, the source of the Shade’s powers. After the Shade is arrested, Barry rescues Jay and travels back to Earth-1, where he gives the ring back to Iris which was stolen by the Shade.
MY THOUGHTS
Starting with the first story, it is an absolute classic. I think it comes to the surprise of nobody that I love this story due to my fascination with the multiverse. It is certainly a tale of historical significance as it is the first time, we see an Earth-1 hero meet an Earh-2 hero, but in terms of the plot, it works well. Although the method of how
Barry Allen travels to the other Earth is purely an accident, I think that it works well and it was most likely the most realistic method for him to travel as it wouldn’t have made sense if the Flash could have done this before but just chose not to. Barry’s knowledge of the Jay Garrick Flash and Earth-2 is perfectly shown here to update old readers and introduce new readers to these, characters, making the story far from confusing (apart from the odd piece of pseudo-science). The introduction between the two heroes work well and the villains they fight are silly, but that is just something from the times. To me, this can make the story pretty funny, but not to an over the top degree where the meaning of the plot becoming nothing. Due to this, the villains still have their threatening moments. Speaking of funny moments, this story is full of them, such as the scenes between Barry and his girlfriend Iris, who seems to pretty much hate his guts when he is late. Aspects like this give these characters, well, character and while the dialogue can be a bit clunky (like always with Gardner Fox), he is a master in his storytelling and the plot for the Flash of Two Worlds is excellent. The second story featuring Captain Cold and the Trickster is incredibly similar to the previous story and that is not because it features both Flashes, but because it features the Jay Garrick Flash meeting Earth-1 villains, the opposite of the previous story which had Barry fighting Earth-2 villains. This makes the story feel different while having similar aspects to previous stories, despite the plot being a normal sort of Flash story. That being said, there is some great comedic moments between the two villains of the tale as it is clear that they don’t really get on. Apart from that, there isn’t much else to say about this tale, mainly due to how normal a story it is and some things I’m not a fan of from it. The story featuring Vandal Savage feels incredibly unique and due to that with Savage’s character and background, this is an excellent story. This is one of my favourites mainly due to the content surrounding the JSA history as its kind of explains why they were forced into retirement. It also shows that the two Flashes were responsible for releasing the JSA, resulting in the JSA meeting yearly with the JSA, which it eventually indirectly sparks and the multiverse and obviously Crisis on Infinite Earths. Therefore, I think that it is safe to say that the Flash is the real villain in all of this… Anyway, Savage is an excellent villain and despite some of the weird fictional science surrounding certain parts of this story, it works well enough. Lastly, the story featuring the Shade is excellent and I think that it is up there with the Flash of Two Worlds story. This is coming from somebody who has read Starman (vol 2) by James Robinson, which covers the history and background of the Shade in such microscopic detail and due to that, we find out a lot of things about the villain, which really references stories like this one. But back to the plot, the Shade’s intentions are pretty clear and obvious and it is great to see how different he is to other villains, mainly due to his realm of darkness where he gets his powers from as it feels incredibly interesting and unique to read about. To conclude with the positive, I think the greatest thing about these stories has to be the interaction and discussions between the two Flashes, who work perfectly together as characters and you can really a see a bond between the two start.
While I think that the Flash of Two Worlds is an absolute classic that is pretty much flawless, the story featuring Captain Cold and the Trickster bothers me a bit, not just because of how normal the story seems, but also because of how convoluted and thrown in the parts about the meteor are. We are first introduced to them at the start of the story and they kind of get forgotten about until near the end, making me think that Fox himself was just more interested in the heroes fighting the villains. Also, his method of transporting the minerals he extracts seems unclear and while that can be forgiven, it isn’t really explained how the minerals will help him. My only issue with the one featuring Savage has to be the lights and the blackouts in cities that he causes. I don’t have a clue why they would affect cities on Earth-1. Surely it would have been a bit more realistic and better if Jay travelled to Earth-1 to speak to Barry about the lights, but I guess not. The Shade story is excellent, but one thing I learnt is that Iris is an ungrateful little sh*t. The Flash saves her from being violently killed and she just has a go at him for not being able to recover her ring. But all joking aside, these stories by Fox are classics and while some are better than others, they all add to the history of the multiverse in their own ways.
In terms of the art, all of which is pencilled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Giella, it works incredibly well for the characters in the Flash as everything comes across as dynamic and full of energy, very fitting for the title. As opposed to artists like Dick Dillin, I think that Giella’s inks work very well on Infantino and the great uses of speed and action are shown throughout. To me, this is the classic silver age look for comic books and due to that, the art is damn-near excellent.
Stories: 8.5/10
Art: 9/10
Solomon Grundy Goes on a Rampage/Perils of the Psycho Pirate --- Written by Gardner Fox with art by Murphy Anderson
THE PLOT
Although he has been defeated by the Earth-2 Green Lantern, Solomon Grundy manages to break free from his prison and crash lands in a swamp. Meanwhile, Kent Nelson and his wife Inza come home and discover evil (using his crystal ball) around the Tyler Chemical Company and the swamp, resulting in Kent becoming Doctor Fate. At the same time, Rex Tyler (owner of the company mentioned before) becomes Hourman and takes his Miraclo pill (giving him super strength and powers for an hour) before heading out on patrol, where he finds Solomon Grundy. The two fight and Doctor Fate joins in, but despite their efforts, the heroes are defeated. Grundy then goes off to look for his enemy, Green Lantern (Alan Scott), who he finds after breaking into some buildings. At first, Green Lantern manages to secure Grundy in a cosmic bubble, but Grundy shatters it and manages to defeat the hero. Doctor Fate and Hourman then arrive after following Grundy’s radioactive trail, but surprisingly, the two engage in a fight as if they are being controlled. The two heroes defeat each other as Grundy leaves with Green Lantern to go to Slaughter Swamp. But on his way, Grundy meets two gangsters who take advantage of Grundy for muscle. Meanwhile, Doctor Fate and Hourman wake up and come to the conclusion that Hourman’s Miraclo pills affect Doctor Fate’s magic. The two then split to find Grundy. Hourman finds the two gangsters working with Grundy and he successfully beats them. At the same time, Doctor Fate finds Grundy and Green Lantern, who becomes a zombified (like Grundy) villain, who is taken out by Doctor Fate. In the end, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate and Hourman unite and defeat Grundy, resulting in Green Lantern trapping Grundy in a cosmic green sphere as before.
One day, Kent Nelson and Inza are digging at a site sponsored by Rex Tyler and his company. Kent finds numerous old masks, each expressing different dramatic emotions. Later on, the Nelsons attend an exhibition sponsored by Tyler, who is also present with his girlfriend Wendi. However, when staring at the masks, Wendi goes under control of a mysterious force and steals the masks. However, she isn't stopped by anyone as everyone in the room begins laughing uncontrollably. After recovering from laughing and wondering why they all were, Rex finds his girlfriend outside, who is now no longer being controlled and all she can remember is that she gave the masks to a beggar. It is then revealed that the beggar was Psycho Pirate, a villain who can control the emotions of people using the masks. He then goes and commits numerous robberies and crimes dressed normally in a suit. Doctor Fate’s crystal ball is clouded from the location of the masks, but he finds Psycho Pirate (not knowing that he is the villain) and follows him to a bank, where he finds numerous criminals trying to rob it. But, by using his emotion powers, Psycho Pirate causes Doctor Fate to imagine some of his villains attacking him, such as Wotan and Mayoor. Meanwhile, Hourman begins his search for the cause of his girlfriend stealing the masks and although he comes close to capturing Psycho Pirate, the villain uses his power to make Hourman think that they are both friends, resulting in the hero helping the villain in his crimes. Sometime later, Doctor Fate meets Hourman and the two speak about their failures, but by using the clouds in the sky, Doctor Fate manages to track the Psycho Pirate and his gang and after they fight the gang members and themselves when the emotion controlling villain controls them, Doctor Fate conjures up a blank magic mask for Psycho Pirate to wear, making his powers ineffectual and the heroes arrest him.
MY THOUGHTS
Compared to other stories in this review (apart from the tale with Starman and Black Canary), these are rather strange stories as they don’t feature any Earth-1 characters as all of the stories are set on Earth-2, which really makes the stories feel different to anything else being published at the time. For the first story, this is pretty good. The main villain of Solomon Grundy is always fun as although he is clearly written to be a silly villain, you sort of feel for him as he is a brain-dead zombie. The appearance of the Alan Scott Green Lantern is good as it introduces more Earth-2 characters to us and speaking on that topic, I think the stars of the story are great. I like Doctor Fate and I think Hourman is amazing. Sure, they come across as an unlikely combo to be teaming up, but to me, that is partly why they work so well. The second story featuring the Psycho Pirate is pretty average really. I think that he works well as a villain due to how unique his villainous powers are, and his intention is pretty obvious. That being said, it is good to see into the civilian lives of Doctor Fate and his wife as we see the two excavating, which add some real depth to their characters. Apart from that, I’ll explain why I don’t think this story is as good as any of the previous ones.
Starting with the first story, what is the real point of those two gangsters with Solomon Grundy featuring? They are introduced not too far from the end of the story and not too long after that, they are defeated and never seen again. Also, I don’t get how Green Lantern becomes all zombified as one minute he seems to be standing there fine and then he becomes this Grundy-like menace. I guess it is used to show some unseen powers of the undead villain, but there could at least be an explanation. However, moving to the second story, my main issue with it has to be how slow it is and how stupid Psycho Pirate can be, Starting with the first of the two, I think that this story cannot really last long enough to be sustainable as a complete twenty-five page story. There is a lot of unneeded padding and due to that, there is loads of repetition and it would have just been easier if the story was published as a shorter story or backup. That being said, while I like the powers of the villain, he never really uses his powers in the strongest way he can. Sure, he can make people afraid and scared and so on, but by using his powers, can’t he just make a bank manager for instance get the money out of a safe and then just give to the Psycho Pirate. He did it earlier with Rex’s girlfriend, so why can’t he do it again. And also, apparently the powers of Hourman and Doctor Fate don’t work well together according to Doctor Fate after their strange battle. Surely, they would have noticed this in, well, I don’t know, but the previous story!
In terms of the art by Murphy Anderson, it is pretty good. It can look a bit messy in a few places, making me think that Anderson works at his best when he inks over other artists like Dick Dillin and Neal Adams. That being said, the storytelling is excellent and feels incredibly unique. There is a great use of lighting and action, making what can he an average story look amazing.
Stories: 6.5/10
Art: 8.5/10
Secret Origin of the Guardians --- Written by John Broome with art by Gil Kane and Sid Greene
THE PLOT
On Earth-2, Alan Scott is being driven in a car by his friend Doiby Dickles, but suddenly, a yellow meteor passes in the sky, which crashes into a tree which is about to hit the car. Alan becomes Green Lantern to take out the meteor, but his power ring passes through it, but he manages moves the tree out of the way, which surprises him and Doiby as his ring normally doesn’t work on wood but his ring does normally work on yellow. This causes Alan to decide to travel to Earth-1 to see if something similar is happening to their Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Although the effects of the ring aren’t present on Alan’s ring on Earth-1, the ring tells the two Green Lanterns a story about how millions of years ago on the planet Oa (home to the Green Lantern Guardians), a rogue scientist named Krona witnessed the creation of the universe through a device that is banned in the Oa society. This causes the direct creation of evil and Krona is forced to live out eternity trapped on numerous universes. As a result of Krona’s actions, the Guardians were forced, and the Green Lanterns were created to protect the universe. This makes Alan aware that the asteroid he tried to stop was actually Krona, who no longer has a body and his presence made Alan’s ring think it was from Earth-1, resulting in the switch between the ring’s power of wood and yellow things. Suddenly, the Guardians appear to Hal and order him to go to them, which he does with Alan. After the Guardians tell the Green Lanterns that Krona’s presence is in some massive waves, volcanoes and asteroids on Earth-1, the heroes take them out and report back to the Guardians, who order Hal Jordan to give up his powers and title to Alan Scott. Meanwhile, Krona manages to control the Guardians and Alan Scott using a machine, causing Alan and Hal to fight each other. Alan manages to defeat his counterpart and heads to the (continues after image)
hideout of Krona, who has a real body now. After snapping out of the control of Krona, Alan contacts Hal, who finds the villain and tries to defeat him. Although he is defeated, the Guardians appear and using their powers, they turn Krona back into a trapped bodyless form as both Green Lanterns go their separate ways.
MY THOUGHTS
Like the Flash of Two Worlds story, this is a masterpiece. This isn’t only due to the first meeting between the two Green Lanterns in their own title, but because of how different the story feels and how un-formulaic it is. This is certainly down to the great and interesting writing by John Broome, who is up there with Gardner Fox in terms of his multiverse and universal plots that he conjures up. The meeting between the two heroes is great and while I don’t think that they have the same character bonding and progression as the two Flashes, they work pretty well. The main plot featuring Krona is incredibly interesting and it actually made me interested in the Guardians of Oa, who have always been too dull and like an exclusive upper-class club to me. Krona’s actions launch evil in the universe, which may be a little farfetched, but it also has some effects on the multiverse, which shows this story is definitely important. Krona’s main intention is pretty clear and understandable, even if he is incredibly evil. Apart from that, the great thing about this story has to be how fondly remembered it is and that it still remains to this day an important part of the progression of the multiverse.
That all being said, I kind of thought that Krona himself and his original fate was incredibly confusing. He is taken out of his body by the Guardians for his crimes, but we not only see that he is definitely a menace when in this spiritual form, but we also see that he is later on back in his original body, which may be down to his control of the Guardians, who seem to break out of his spell pretty easily at the end of the story. Also, although this isn’t even a problem, but the fight between the two Green Lanterns was only really in there for a fight scene and that kind of shows because apart from Krona’s controlling powers, there is no real reason for the fighting.
Drawn by silver age greats Gil Kane and Sid Greene, the art here is the best in this book. This is not only due to Kane’s way of storytelling and Greene’s detailed finishes, but due to the lighting, action and panel breakdowns, which all look excellent. It was clear that Kane was going to live on comic history as certainly one of the most unique and different artists of his time, akin to Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams and so on.
Story: 9/10
Art: 10/10
Mastermind of Menaces --- Written by Gardner Fox with art by Murphy Anderson
THE PLOT
On Earth-2, a financier is mysteriously commanded to hand over money to an invisible villain. Meanwhile at their flower shop, Larry Lance comes home to his wife Dinah Lance after a long day at work. But, after he leaves the shop, Larry hears mysterious words in his head telling him to steal money from the shop. At the same time, Ted Knight becomes Starman and uses his Cosmic Rod to take out some criminals, but he is defeated when one of the criminals uses a mysterious device to render him confused, resulting in the criminals escaping. However, it is revealed that the attack was arranged by Starman’s long-time foe, the Mist. The villain’s attention moves onto
another target of his, that being Dinah Lance and her husband, who has discovered that Dinah has committed a crime. Starman works out that she is under a trance and she begins speaking to some flowers, which links back to the Mist. Afterwards, Dinah snaps out of it and becomes angry that somebody has been using her for their crimes. As the flowers that Dinah spoke to belonged to her shop, she becomes Black Canary and with the help of Starman and Larry, they each go to the homes of people who the shop has delivered flowers to in order to prevent any further crimes. All three heroes find the controlled minions of the Mist and take them out, but this is at the cost of Larry being taken hostage by the Mist, who is later found by Starman. Together, he and Black Canary take out the Mist and all of his goons while rescuing Larry.
MY THOUGHTS
For me, this strange Earth-2 only story, is just about above average. The best thing about the story has to be the action and meeting between Starman and his arch enemy, the Mist, who always work perfectly together as to me, they have a relationship to me along the lines of Batman and the Joker, but I’m probably thinking that due to my reading of James Robinson’s Starman stories. Speaking of which, aspects like the team up between Starman and Black Canary are explained in that run as quite honestly, the two don’t really mix well here. Apart from that, the Mist is probably the best character here due to his powers and how evil he comes across. His crimes are clear as they tend to be simple robberies, even if there is one pretty stupid aspect of his plans. Before moving onto that, it is good to see more of Larry Lance before his death in the Justice League of America (vol 1) title and not only that, but all of the main cast of characters are excellent.
However, my main issue with the story has to be the Mist’s way of getting people to commit crimes, which is through flowers delivered by Dinah’s shop. This is a bit shady sure, but there must be easier ways for him to communicate with people. I mean, why can’t he just speak to people directly? Why does he have to bother with the flowers? Other than that, like the story with the Psycho Pirate in with Doctor Fate and Hourman, I think that story goes on for way too long and I think that it could have been told in about ten pages realistically. I just find this story a bit hard to read mainly due to its dullness, but I repeat, the characters are great, and the main plot is pretty good, but I just feel like it could have been better.
As I said before about Murphy Anderson’s art, it is excellent, if a bit messy. His use of storytelling and action is perfect and to me, that is the best thing about his work. His use of lighting is also great, and it feels incredibly different to other artists at the time, especially ones like Mike Sekowsky.
Story: 6/10
Art: 9/10
The Hour Hourman Died --- Written by Gardner Fox with art by Dick Dillin and Sid Greene
THE PLOT
After a JSA meeting, Hourman returns to his hideout, where he finds a robber stealing secret blueprints from the Tyler Chemical Company. The two fight each other, but it ends when the robber’s gadget falls out of his pocket, emits harsh light and seemingly kills Hourman, causing the robber to escape in fear of being caught for murder. After some time, Hourman wakes up and works out that he is still alive due to the effect of the Miraclo pill he took, which when it loses its affect, he will die. He comes to the conclusion to find the robber and the gun to save his life. He manages to find the robber escaping in a car and he violently takes him out. He also finds the gun and by using the information he finds about the gun, he creates an antidote, drinks it, saving his life and hands the robber over to the police.
MY THOUGHTS
Though this is a short story (that for some reason appears in The Spectre (vol 1) 7), it is a pretty good story that works well for its length, even if the title is a bit misleading. For starters, as I mentioned earlier, I think Hourman is a great character and his whole gimmick and powers involving Miraclo is excellent due to how unique and interesting it is. In terms of the story, it is short, but sweet. The main villain works well as for this and his intention is pretty clear. I think what this story works well on is the drama aspect of it. As he isn’t a recurring character that doesn’t appear regularly in any title, some readers may actually believe that he is actually dead, and I can honestly see why they might think that. Another great thing about this tale is the anger that is shown in Hourman, which is definitely written and drawn to be full of rage and anger, which makes his character more realistic while making the intensity of the story huge.
My only main problem with the story is that surely the robber would see a connection between Rex Tyler and Hourman as he is breaking into a vault in the Tyler Chemical Company’s building, which is where Hourman is. You would have thought that the robber would have seen a connection, but I guess not. Apart from that, it does seem a bit quick just to get an antidote from a gun, but I guess stuff like that is the cost of having a short secondary story.
While I think it can look unusually messy on rare occasions in this story, the art by Dick Dillin and Sid Greene is excellent. As usual, the team have a great sense of (continues after image)
lighting, action and drama, making the story and character mesh perfectly with the dynamic, visual and dramatic art that Dillin brings to the story.
Story: 9/10
Art: 9.5/10
VERDICT
Overall, these stories featuring team ups between heroes from both Earths-1 and Earth-2 are pretty good. There are almost certainly some classics in here, such as the Flash of Two Worlds and the Secret Origin of the Guardians, both of which are excellent. All the other Flash stories are good, with the weakest still being enjoyable. The stories in Showcase and The Brave and the Bold are probably the weakest two of them are just about average and one of them is good, but nothing too special. Finally, the short story featuring Hourman is excellent and while it may be a bit misleading with its title, it is a fantastic feature for the Man of the Hour. To me, along with artists like Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson, writers like Gardner Fox and John Broome can shine and it is clear to me that both of those writers are the true geniuses of DC Comics and its multiverse.
Stories: 8/10
Art: 9/10
Highlighted Character: Hourman (Rex Tyler)
Next Review: Crisis on Multiple Earths Tales Part Four (Justice League of America (vol 1) 123-124, 135-137, 147-148). Written by Cary Bates, Elliot S. Maggin, E. Nelson Bridwell, Martin Pasko and Paul Levitz with art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. Expected to be published by 01/12/2019.
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