One Panel #227-229: Why These Guys Need to Become a Justice Society

From Green Lantern: "The Sign of the Green Lantern" by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell, All-American Comics #17 (August 1940)

Green Lantern, arguably one of the most powerful future JSA members, knocked out and thrown in a river?! If they'd tied his hands together with vines, he'd be dead.

From Hawkman: "The Sunspot Wizard" by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff, Flash Comics #8 (August 1940)

Hawkman, arguably the greatest warrior in the future JSA, knocked out from behind?! What's happening here?!

From Sandman: "Wanted! Dead or Alive", by Gardner Fox and Creig Flessel, Adventure Comics #52 (July 1940)

Ah finally, a future JSAer who knocks OTHER people out. In fact, that's his whole shtick, isn't it? He may not be the biggest name in the group, but the "guns" really do need him.

The Justice Society of America... coming soon(ish) on One Panel...

Comments

Brendoon said…
It's interesting how the "Silver Age" gets blamed for being a bit whacky... but I've been reading thru scans of 40's Superman comics and they're absolutely FULL of gags. There are even punchlines followed by "Ho ho ho!" like in the Beano or Whizzer&Chips.

One I read yesterday had Clark being hit with a custard pie...

I see here in your final panel that The Sandman was not bereft of comic gags either.
These really WERE intended to be the funny papers, right from the start.

Kid Kyoto said…
One of Alan Moore's Tomorrow Stories had the ghost of comics past and ended with the moral, `old comics were terrible`. Read am for the history, read em for the potential or the inspiration, but let's not pretend they were actually y`know good.
Siskoid said…
That's a blanket statement that covers most, but not all comics of the era, yes.
Brendoon said…
The Author's original is still "the definitive" to reset to everytime you restart something.
The Jack Reacher movies get judged by the books... although the books are actually very good.

It's a funny sort of honour system relating intellectual property and origins.
Kal El still comes to earth as an infant in a rocket, even in most rewrites. He's still Clark Kent, Daily Planet reporter.

The worst thing with the thirties comics is the inks but ESPECIALLY their lack of readability.
World balloons are crammed in and don't always follow a logical order... these were young men who were still developing into professionals.

Superman by, say issue 25 was getting a whole lot more readable. Joe Shuster's Superman artwork was VERY good, if you want a definitive Superman body type and face, that's it. Everything later refers to Shuster's superman. By the time we get to Wayne Boring's artwork Superman had reached full awesomeness and the stories were amazing.
Even though Alan Moore was editor of my beloved 2000AD comic in the eighties, he just got darker and stranger in his dotage. Have you SEEN his beard?
Moore's superhero tales are NOT mainstream stuff but were targeted directly at the adult audience- with some interesting and important ideas "what would happen if superheroes grew up." However, his advice on comics is to be taken with a spoonful of salt: he's not an authority on how good comics were before he took over.
While, at the time (my early 20's) I LOVED Watchmen and the killing joke, now they leave a bitter taste in my mouth and have a lot to offend my grown-up sensibilities.
Now I'm nearly 50 I see the world through eyes that know light-hearted fun, helping people, and not killing each other are pretty essential to the survival of the world.
Alan Moore was super cool in his day. He may have grown up now and changed his tune, unless he's turned into a grumpy, bitter old man, but there's a much bigger picture than what my old, beardy hero could see in his idea of what's "good".