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Wildcat and Dr. Fate
The Strips

Martian Manhunter & J. Hex New!

Superman and The Flash New!

Justice League of America

Jonah Hex

Green Lantern

Batman

Green Arrow and The Flash

Hawkman

The Flash

Shazam!

Gotham City Police Dept.

Johnny Thunder and Shazam!

Batman, Green Lantern,
and The Flash

Man-Bat

Metal Men

Pete Ross and Lana Lang

Superman & J'onn J'onzz

Charles M. Jones

Batman and Robin

The Flash and Zatanna

Jor-El and Lara

DC Prez Jenette Kahn

Deadman

Clark Kent and Lois Lane

The Haunted Tank

Superman and Lois Lane

The Unknown Soldier

The Vigilante

The Private Life of Clark Kent

Green Arrow and Black Canary

Sgt. Rock and Easy Company

Witching Hour

Green Arrow, The Human Target,
and Superman

Super Friends

Lois & Clark

Green Arrow & Black Canary

Superman & Jimmy Olsen

Gravedigger

Batman & Shazam!

Justice Society of America

Phantom Stranger and
Phantom Girl

Batman and Robin

Black Lightning

Private Life of Clark Kent

Green Arrow and The Warlord

Eclipso / Mr. Mxyzptlk

The Flash & Adam Strange

Aquaman

Lightning Lad & Chameleon Boy

Justice League of America

Wonder Woman

Zatanna and Professor Zoom

Firestorm, the Nuclear Man

Swamp Thing

Gotham City Police Dept.

Bizarro World

The Atom

The Flash and The Mirror Master

Two-Face

The Batman and the Joker

Lex Luthor and Brainiac

The Flash

Enemy Ace

Green Arrow & Black Canary

Hawkman & the Flash

The Phantom Stranger

Legion of Super-Heroes

Green Lantern

Hawkman

Batman and Red Tornado

Green Lantern and the Flash

The Creeper

Robin, the Boy Wonder

Justice League of America

Legion of Super-Heroes

Elongated Man and Plastic Man

Superman Family

The Flash and the Spectre

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen

Deadman

Hawkman & Hawkgirl

Starman

Wildcat & Dr. Fate

Batman & Robin

Mon-El

Plastic Man

Bob 'Answer Man' Rozakis

Batman & the Flash

Green Arrow & Green Lantern

The Atom

Batman & Robin

Coming soon

Jimmy Olsen & Lois Lane

Steve Trevor

Superman

Steve Savage

The Flash

Johnny Thunder

Sgt. Rock & Easy Company

Scalphunter

Johnny Cloud

Green Lantern

Lois, Clark & Jimmy

Plastic Man

Perry White & Jimmy Olsen

Martian Manhunter

Madame Xanadu

Bruce Wayne

Krypto

Swamp Thing

Fred Hembeck


Justice Society of America
Uploaded January 23, 1999

I picked this one for two reasons: (1) it's one of Fred's favorites, and (2) it neatly ties into DC's pending revival of the Justice Society.

Wildcat and Dr. Fate are both Golden Age characters, dating back to the early 1940s. Wildcat was a professional boxer, framed for murder by his managers. On the run from the police, a kid inspires him with the story of how Green Lantern wears a costume to hide his identity while fighting crime, leading Wildcat to put together a costume and prove his innocence....which he did mainly by beating the crap - and confessions - out of those responsible. Somehow, I don't think that Fifth Amendment rights have much standing in the world of costumed vigilantes.

About the only thing that has stayed the same about Dr. Fate over the years is his house. His origin and magical powers have displayed a remarkable lack of consistency, but basically, the helmet is the embodiment of a Lord of Order called 'Nabu' (not to be confused with the computer system from the early eighties), extending its influence over the wearer. Now you know why your mother always warned you about putting on strange hats.

DC has been slowly reprinting the original Golden Age stories over the last several years, in their high-end 'Archives Edition' format. Unfortunately, high-end means high-priced, leaving young readers with few opportunities to get into these stories the way I did. You see, back in the early seventies, DC published several titles in a 100-page, fify cent format. Superman, Batman, Justice League, World's Finest, etc. Each of these had the expected new twenty-two pages of story and art, and the rest of the book was filled by reprints from the vault. I don't know what kind of thought process - if any - went into choosing which stories were reprinted. All I know is that I was hooked. The DC Universe was a vast, wonderful playground to escape into, with a rich history of heroes, villains, and assorted hangers-on.

It was a fun place to visit.

- NP


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