In those days, comics distribution was pretty dicey - your local newsstand or drug store or wherever you bought comics didn't always get everything, or perhaps you didn't get to the shop for weeks at a time - so it was very easy to miss an issue.
When that happened, you could check with your friends to see if they got one, in hopes that they'd trade you for it. We'd often gather at one house or another and bring along stacks of comics we were willing to trade (some of those issue would finance a house these days. Who knew?).
But it often happened that you missed an issue. This issue of The Brave and the Bold, which contains the third appearance of the Justice League of America, is one that I never saw in the flesh.
But thanks to the occasional Annuals (each one costing a crushing 25 cents), those early issues were reprinted, and you could see what you missed - which was especially vital with this issue, since the android Amazo would return again and again.
Besides, I've always been a sucker for bad guys who copy the powers of the good guys.
This is the usual fine work by writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky (both uncredited, of course), as they put five members of the JLA through their paces, trying to overcome an artificial creature that has all their powers - and those of Superman, too.
And while the ending was a bit too convenient, it's a fun issue - and well worth tracking down a reprint. The original might be a bit pricey, and I still haven't found anyone willing to trade for it.
Grade: A-
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