I don't know how much this issue is worth in mint condition but that doesn't matter because this issue wasn't anywhere near mint within days of being retrieved from the spinner rack at Dameron Drug.
I read the hell out of this thing! This book got rolled up in my back pocket and taken out on bike rides. Over time, this comic had the consistency of warm pudding. The cover hangs on barely as an act of defiance against entropy. And one more thing to kill any collectible value of this book.
I drew capes on everybody.
What can I say, I was very young, very stupid but what can I say, I like capes. So if you didn't have a cape, I took my little stub of a #2 pencil and gave you one.
The Flash got a cape.
Green Lantern got a cape.
Black Canary got a cape.
Green Arrow got a cape. (Pulling arrows out of a quiver with a cape in the way? I didn't care. Green Arrow got a cape!)
I was like Oprah Winfrey, giving out capes instead of cars. Even Amazo got a cape!
I may be in the minority here but I liked Red Tornado. Why? He had a cape! And he had the balls to wear it near his tornado twirling torso.*
*Yes, technically, Red Tornado does not have balls in that sense. But I'm sure he has ball bearings.
The story was a continuation of a story from the previous issue (which I had never seen until a few years ago) where the Justice League lost half their powers and in this issue, worked out a crazy scheme to get them back by activating their android nemesis Amazo to somehow collect their missing powers which would then be transferred back to the heroes.
What could go wrong?
Among the heroes who lost half of their powers was Batman. Now as I read this issue, I am very, very new to the comics game but I'd seen the Batman TV show and I knew Batman didn't have any super powers other than being awesome. Well, apparently being half awesome is not enough for our Caped Crusader as he's moping about so the other Leaguers opt to let Batman, er, keep an eye on things back on their satellite HQ.**
**Now THAT tripped me out! The JLA meet up...in SPACE?! Cool!
So our intrepid super heroes head down to Earth to fight Amazo because that's what it's gonna take to make Amazo re-absorb those missing powers and...you know what? It's comics! Just move on.
Back on the satellite, the assembled heroes plug Amazon into a doohickey tube thing to get the powers out of it and back into them. Except...BUGGER!...Amazo's ready for them and zaps them all unconscious. He had figured out their plan!
But Batman was ready for him. The android with the powers of the Justice League gets taken down by our Gotham Gangbuster! Hell yeah!
So what's the deal? Batman realized that Amazo would absorb half of Batman's detective prowess (which apparently is a super power after all?) and figure out the plan so Batman booby trapped the doohickey to immediately drain Amazo's powers, leaving only enough to zap the Justice Leaguers unconscious. Except for Batman who took the time to insulate his boots.
Man, working only on half of his cylinders, Batman out awesomed everybody!
As for the rest of the book, the Seven Soldiers of Victory were an odd bunch but kind of cool. I also enjoyed the Starman short. (Green cape?! Sweet!!) And the Justice League back up by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky? I enjoyed that adventure as well (I added capes to Wonder Woman and Aquaman!) but I did not care for Sekowsky's penchant for boxy physiques and pointy boots.
But this was my first exposure to super heroes operating as a team. And I was enamored with the concept. As a young person who was something of an outsider, I gravitated towards super heroes and specifically the idea that in their civilian identities, they possessed powers and abilities unknown to others around them. But in the Justice League, I discovered the idea that people who are different can still find a connection with others and form a special bond.
The Justice League of America wasn't just a cool comic book but it gave me hope for MY own future.
Until next time, be good to one another.
Dave-El
I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You
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