Relying on memory for comic book chronology can be a tricky thing.It's a concept my pal Rolf first brought up (if I remember correctly). It's the confusion that sometimes results from misremembering when you actually read a comic when you were a kid.
This issue of Justice League of America is a good example. I would have sworn this was one of the first JLA issues I ever read - but that can't be right.
Cover dated November 1964, I would have been 8 years old at the time, and had been reading comics for almost three years. I remember reading the first crossover with the Justice Society (which predated this story), but did I read the original comics, did I trade a friend for a copy, or did I read a reprint?
So many years later, it all gets jumbled together. It's possible this one just stands out because it was such a fun issue.
For one thing, it included Hawkman (one of my favorite characters), who finally is invited to join the team. (I had to smile, reading the scene where the Atom extends the invitation, and then has to explain to Hawkgirl that the team only offers one membership at a time. She accepts gracefully. A bit of sexism that wasn't corrected until years later.)
I was also impressed by the image of the team hanging on for dear life while the meeting room in their headquarters is hurled into space.
The story is faithful to the formula that writer Gardener Fox and editor Julius Schwartz had developed for the team. A mystery appears (in this case, three criminals somehow protected by a thin yellow hoop), the team investigates, is stumped, discovers a solution through intelligent analysis, confronts the menace, big fight, they face defeat, and once again win the day through cleverness (Hawkman gets the honors this time around).
The only gimmick not used is the "break into teams to investigate" bit - and that's because the team is small this time around, using only five members.
The menace (when finally revealed) is a bit on the silly side, but artist Mike Sekowsky has lots of opportunities to create some fun visuals and several entertaining fights.
Sekowsky is an artist who is not a fan favorite - his figures can be a bit stiff and his characters tend to look the same - but I've always been a big fan. His storytelling is strong, he keeps the story popping, his pages flow and he just knows how to make a comic more fun. His style's not for everyone, but I am a fan.
As a kid I was an avid reader of comics, and the Justice League was one of my favorite books to follow. I may not remember which comic I read first, but this was an issue that made a real impression on my young mind, and set me on the path I still walk today.
That's why I consider it a classic.
Grade: B+
4 comments:
I know, I don't comment nearly enough. But I still read, and have from Day One (or at least since Beau sent me), read every. single. post. you make.
I just realized... you're older than my dad!
My first comics, sincerely, were in the 90's. I was born in 1986 (23).
The earliest comics I read I found in my grandma's closet. Mostly Archie and varies cartoon characters. All the comics seemed old and tattered and I read the same ones over and over through the years when I visited.
But when I was 8 or 9, I met an older kid who was a comic reader. He told me about this story that was going on----Batman was was being hunted, worn down by every one of the enemies he had previous defeated, and eventually had his back broken by a villain named Bane! I read the comics he had, and bought what comics I could figure out from my young visits to a comic book store (intimidating stuff!).
I ended up reading ABOUT comics and the novelization. There I found about about this kid, older than me at the time, TIM DRAKE, who was the current Robin. I read that Batman had THREE ROBINS, and that--ohmygod--the second one had bee killed by the Joker.
I. Was. Hooked.
Tim Drake became my character and Robin became my series as long as I could find it at the grocery store (until I was 12).
I found my way back to comics as an adult (18!).
This doesn't have much to do with your post, but you shared some of your first comics so I'm just participating.
I'm glad you're still going. I, for some reason, originally thought your blog was to go for only one year. I'm glad it continues and I'll keep reading every day.
Krod, thanks for the post - I love reading stories like this! We all followed a different path to comics, and it's always fun to hear how others got hooked!
I'll even forgive you the "you're older than my dad" crack. ;-) For what it's worth, you're (slightly) younger than my oldest son.
Oh, and I am younger than Beau, so there.
But Beau is timeless.
OK, I'll give you that one.
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