Awesome, Amazing All Star Comics Complete Run-They deserve their own thread! 5 5

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

2 hours ago, Ghastly542454 said:

All Star Comics #36-Cover is credited to Winslow Mortimer by CGC although Irwin Hasen is sometimes also credited with it and a story titled “5 Drowned Men”. CGC lists the story was written by Gardner Fox and Robert Kanigher but others suggest it is undetermined. 

Calvin Stymes tells five friends that Koehaha, the Stream of Ruthlessness, runs once every 100 years: anyone drowned in it comes back to life totally ruthless. That night, Koehaha drowns all but Stymes. Later, at a JSA meeting, Superman takes the place of Johnny Thunder who has a cold and Batman replaces Atom who is ironically injured in a basketball game! The JSA learn that five respectable men have drowned, then come back to life -as criminals. The JSA find them and capture them. Green Lantern learns that they were frat brothers of Stymes who vowed revenge for a college prank. The “drowned men” are drawn back to Koehaha by an urge to drink the water again. The JSA rescue them and Stymes dies trying to dynamite them. 

Though the regular JSAer all know each other’s civilian identities, Superman and Batman will keep theirs secret even from each other until Superman #76 (May-June 1952). This would be the second and final time that Superman and Batman would appear in a 1940’s JSA story. Beginning with this issue, no roll call will refer to Wonder Woman as “secretary” or Hawkman as “chairman”. This would be the first time that DC’s Big Three all appear together on a cover. 

All Star Comics #36 is a favorite of mine in the series because of the cover. It actually took me several years to find one. And then one that I liked. My first copy was purchased from eBay in 2016 from Gary Dolghoff for $850. It was a CGC 4.5 and I was never really happy with it. A couple of years later, @nearmint listed a beautiful 6.0 on the Board. I stupidly thought about it for a few minutes and it was purchased by another Boardie. He who snoozes, loses!!!  It was later that year that @Qua-Brot listed a nice 5.5 that I now own on the Board and this time I didn’t make the mistake of thinking about it!!!

I’m also showing Superman #76 from my collection where Superman and Batman learn each other’s secret identities for the first time.

 

 

 

I used to love stopping by Gary Dolgoff's booth at SDCC when he attended!

[BB-Gun]

For an old time collector, it is always fun to see a big stack of All Star comics.  I purchased issue 23 over fifty years ago but never managed to complete my collection. 

I think I have 5 or 10 more All Stars that aren't in the picture but some of them are a little rough.

[BB-Gun]

I have reprints of 2 and 3 and a few pages of #4.

 

[BB-Gun]

I have added a few extra copies (duplicates) which are useful for group shots.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #37-Cover by Irwin Hasen and the story ‘The Injustice Society of the World” by Robert Kanigher. 

During a broadcast, a (robot) radio announcer abruptly fires a pistol at the JSAers and then crashes out a window, leaving behind only bits of straw. There are prison breaks around the nation as The Injustice Society of the World declares war on law and order. The Injustice Society consisted of the following six members: The Wizard who debuted in All Star #34 and will form a second Injustice gang in issue #41,  The Brain Wave from All Star #15, #17, and #30, Degaton from issue #35, The Gambler who only had solo encounters with Green Lantern starting with issue #12, The Thinker who had battled the Flash starting in All-Flash #12, and Vandal Savage who had been a Green Lantern foe since Green Lantern #10 (Winter 1943). 

The Wizard sends his five fellow super-villains against the JSA. Each member of the JSA is defeated in their solo missions and all of the JSAers are put on trial by the bad guys except for Green Lantern who is presumed dead. But The Thinker reveals himself to be Green Lantern and is very much alive. As the JSA round up the Injustice Society, The Wizard attempts to flee only to be tripped up by a parade by the Junior Justice Society!!!

This issue marks the first use or mention of the Junior Justice Society in a JSA story since issue #16. A full-page house ad announces: Boys and Girls!-The Junior Justice Society of America is back in operation! Of course, the prominent use of the JJSA in this issue was obviously timed to underscore the reactivation. 

My issue of All Star Comics #37 was purchased as a raw book from Comic Connect back in 2014. I blame myself for not looking through it at all until I decided to send it off to CGC to be graded several years later. Although it came back a 6.0 and is a very nice looking book, the note on the label of “Small amount of tape on interior cover” is annoying to me. Had I opened the book when I had first purchased it and seen the tape, I would have sent the book back. Live and learn!!

[sagii]

@Ghastly542454 another one of the more standout covers. Beautiful copy! 

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #38-Cover by Alex Toth and the story “History’s Crime Wave” by Robert Kanigher. The story is split into 4 chapters with Chapter 1 by Toth, Chapter 2 by Infantino and Giacoia, Chapter 3 by Oskner, and Chapter 4 by Toth.

Each of six accused murderers blames a different, long-dead historical rogue for their crime. When the six male JSA members-Hawkman, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Johnny Thunder begin to investigate, each appear to be murdered by one of these villains. As Johnny Thunder is dying, he sends Black Canary (her first appearance in All Star Comics) to JSA headquarters. Wonder Woman refuses to believe they’re all beyond help and flies them in her invisible plane to the scientist Paula (who was originally Nazi agent Paula von Gunther and makes her first appearance in All Star Comics) so she can revive them with her Purple Healing Ray. Once revived, the heroes rush out to a wax museum where they had recently viewed statues of the villains. The JSA set traps for the rogues only to be felled by exploding wax figures. The JSAers awaken but are held fast in molten wax. “History’s Crime Wave” turns out to be one man-the museum guard whose name is never revealed who plans to turn the JSAers into a private exhibit!! After Black Canary causes the guard to fall to a fiery death, Wonder Woman says that one day the JSA hope to have her as a “regular member”. 

The JJSA ad is repeated form issue #37.

My copy of All Star Comics #38 came from Heritage through the make offer to owner. I think I paid $575 for it. It’s a nice 5.5 in my opinion.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

2 hours ago, Ghastly542454 said:

All Star Comics #38-Cover by Alex Toth and the story “History’s Crime Wave” by Robert Kanigher. The story is split into 4 chapters with Chapter 1 by Toth, Chapter 2 by Infantino and Giacoia, Chapter 3 by Oskner, and Chapter 4 by Toth.

Each of six accused murderers blames a different, long-dead historical rogue for their crime. When the six male JSA members-Hawkman, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Johnny Thunder begin to investigate, each appear to be murdered by one of these villains. As Johnny Thunder is dying, he sends Black Canary (her first appearance in All Star Comics) to JSA headquarters. Wonder Woman refuses to believe they’re all beyond help and flies them in her invisible plane to the scientist Paula (who was originally Nazi agent Paula von Gunther and makes her first appearance in All Star Comics) so she can revive them with her Purple Healing Ray. Once revived, the heroes rush out to a wax museum where they had recently viewed statues of the villains. The JSA set traps for the rogues only to be felled by exploding wax figures. The JSAers awaken but are held fast in molten wax. “History’s Crime Wave” turns out to be one man-the museum guard whose name is never revealed who plans to turn the JSAers into a private exhibit!! After Black Canary causes the guard to fall to a fiery death, Wonder Woman says that one day the JSA hope to have her as a “regular member”. 

The JJSA ad is repeated form issue #37.

My copy of All Star Comics #38 came from Heritage through the make offer to owner. I think I paid $575 for it. It’s a nice 5.5 in my opinion.

The very talented Mr.Toth! You can see the beginnings of his genius in this cover. It's a bit cluttered compared to his other DC work but he had a lot to illustrate here!!

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #39-Cover by Irwin Hasen and the story “The Invasion from Fairyland” by John Broome.  Although Johnny Thunder is still a member is not pictured on the cover but non-member Black Canary is. This was the only  issue of All Star Comics that all of the entire artwork, penciling and inking, was done by one artist in this case Irwin Hasen.

Convicted of murder when she wishes her boss would jump into cement (and he does), Sally Barnes tells the JSA of a dream in which Rumpelstilskin gave her “The Voice of the Lorelei”. Slicer, a sharp-faced prison inmate, overhears this and escapes, but is shadowed by Black Canary. Finding the door into Fairyland, the JSA and Black Canary seek magical artifacts in order to regain vanished super-powers based on science. They learn Fairyland coincides with our dimension for 24 hours ever 1,000 years. Lorelei had conquered Fairyland, so a Wise Woman disguised herself as Lorelei and ordered Rumpelstilskin to give Sally witch-powers-she hoped thereby to attract the JSA’s attention. Slicer convinces Lorelei to invade Earth with Ogre Gallifron, witches, etc, but she still turns him into a dog. The JSA defeats her army just as the two worlds part and she and her minions turn to dust. Sally Barnes is freed. 

The JJSA ad from #37-#38 is repeated. This is the last issue in which Johnny Thunder appears. 

All Star Comics #39 was part of a run of between #39-#45 that were some of the last issues I needed to complete my collection. Some of them turned out not only incredibly hard to find, but quite expensive. One big mistake I made trying to find them was to advertise in the WTB section of the CGC Board and offering to pay real good money for them. When you do that, someone who has one of them does a Google search and believe it or not, they show up!!! Anyway, I never secured any of them through my WTB ads. I had looked well over a year for #39 and had come up empty. Finally, in late 2018 I won a 4.5 in a Comic Link auction. It was not a great looking 4.5 and a few months later a raw #39 showed up on eBay that I won for $650. I sent it in to be graded and it came back a 6.0. I was able to sell the 4.5 at a loss. Since the time I acquired my #39 6.0, several #39’s have shown up on eBay and other places so it’s not really that hard an issue to find.

 

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #40-Cover by Carmine Infantino pencils and Frank Giacola inks. The story “The Plight of a Nation” by John Broome. 

Fears about juvenile delinquency emerged with America’s entry into WWII. Historian James Gilbert noted that experts anticipated a rise in delinquency as fathers went off to war and mothers went to work, resulting in a disruption of the family and less supervision of children. It makes me wonder what is the cause of today’s delinquency and anarchy? 

However, the end of the War brought no resolution to the problem and the publication of All Star Comics #40 (whose cover announced that “The Justice Society of America Tackles the Problem of Juvenile Delinquency!”) reflects  the growing concern in post-War America about juvenile delinquency. 

This special issue of All Star Comics, cover dated April-May 1948, appeared in a pivotal year for the post-War controversy surrounding comic books and juvenile delinquency. This comic hit the newsstands shortly before the publication of Collier’s magazine in late March 1948 with an article titled “Horror in the Nursery”. Written by Judith Crist, the article marked psychiatrist Frederic Wertham’s first highly publicized attack on comic books as a factor in juvenile delinquency.  

The Crimson Claw gang leave their calling cards at crime sites. They’ve also formed a kid version, the Junior Claws. The enlist the aid of the Junior Justice Society in a crusade against “juvenile delinquent gangs” A JJSAer named Don infiltrates the Junior Claws who are led by his brother Chick while an older step-brother Eddie is one of the adult Claws. Eventually, the JSA bag both the Crimson Claw and the Junior Claws but not before Flash is captured twice along with Hawkman and Green Lantern and Black Canary are knocked out by a single chair making all of them a bit ineffectual. The Kid Claw gang is spirited away to the Riversend auditorium where Wonder Woman has set up a Magic Sphere that shows the Junior Claws their potential futures: they’ll go to prison and Chick from the Crimson Claw to death row. Chastened and defeated, the boys declare the Junior Claws disbanded. The moral of the story is driven home by Dr. Mid-Nite: “What’s more important is that we won’t have to do the same thing ten years from now on to the Junior Crimson Claws. They’ve learned their lesson”. 

Meanwhile, in post-War America, the crusade against juvenile delinquency conducted without the benefit of Wonder Woman’s Magic Sphere or the intervention of the JSA, continued unabated. 

Johnny Thunder is not mentioned in this issue and never appears again from here on in All Star Comics #41-#57. The JJSA ad from #37-#39 is repeated. 

I can’t remember where I purchased my copy of All Star Comics #40 from but it was sometime in either 2017 or 2018 and it was a very difficult issue to find. I think I paid $850 for it.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 6/23/2020 at 12:07 PM, Ghastly542454 said:

All Star Comics #40-Cover by Carmine Infantino pencils and Frank Giacola inks. The story “The Plight of a Nation” by John Broome. 

Fears about juvenile delinquency emerged with America’s entry into WWII. Historian James Gilbert noted that experts anticipated a rise in delinquency as fathers went off to war and mothers went to work, resulting in a disruption of the family and less supervision of children. It makes me wonder what is the cause of today’s delinquency and anarchy? 

However, the end of the War brought no resolution to the problem and the publication of All Star Comics #40 (whose cover announced that “The Justice Society of America Tackles the Problem of Juvenile Delinquency!”) reflects  the growing concern in post-War America about juvenile delinquency. 

This special issue of All Star Comics, cover dated April-May 1948, appeared in a pivotal year for the post-War controversy surrounding comic books and juvenile delinquency. This comic hit the newsstands shortly before the publication of Collier’s magazine in late March 1948 with an article titled “Horror in the Nursery”. Written by Judith Crist, the article marked psychiatrist Frederic Wertham’s first highly publicized attack on comic books as a factor in juvenile delinquency.  

The Crimson Claw gang leave their calling cards at crime sites. They’ve also formed a kid version, the Junior Claws. The enlist the aid of the Junior Justice Society in a crusade against “juvenile delinquent gangs” A JJSAer named Don infiltrates the Junior Claws who are led by his brother Chick while an older step-brother Eddie is one of the adult Claws. Eventually, the JSA bag both the Crimson Claw and the Junior Claws but not before Flash is captured twice along with Hawkman and Green Lantern and Black Canary are knocked out by a single chair making all of them a bit ineffectual. The Kid Claw gang is spirited away to the Riversend auditorium where Wonder Woman has set up a Magic Sphere that shows the Junior Claws their potential futures: they’ll go to prison and Chick from the Crimson Claw to death row. Chastened and defeated, the boys declare the Junior Claws disbanded. The moral of the story is driven home by Dr. Mid-Nite: “What’s more important is that we won’t have to do the same thing ten years from now on to the Junior Crimson Claws. They’ve learned their lesson”. 

Meanwhile, in post-War America, the crusade against juvenile delinquency conducted without the benefit of Wonder Woman’s Magic Sphere or the intervention of the JSA, continued unabated. 

Johnny Thunder is not mentioned in this issue and never appears again from here on in All Star Comics #41-#57. The JJSA ad from #37-#39 is repeated. 

I can’t remember where I purchased my copy of All Star Comics #40 from but it was sometime in either 2017 or 2018 and it was a very difficult issue to find. I think I paid $850 for it.

I believe this was reprinted in one of the Justice League 100 page reprint books when I was a kid and I seem to recall enjoying the story. When they were looking to fill those 100 pages I bet these long JSA tales came in pretty handy!

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by 50YrsCollctngCmcs

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

On 6/22/2020 at 8:26 AM, Ghastly542454 said:

All Star Comics #39-Cover by Irwin Hasen and the story “The Invasion from Fairyland” by John Broome.  Although Johnny Thunder is still a member is not pictured on the cover but non-member Black Canary is. This was the only  issue of All Star Comics that all of the entire artwork, penciling and inking, was done by one artist in this case Irwin Hasen.

Convicted of murder when she wishes her boss would jump into cement (and he does), Sally Barnes tells the JSA of a dream in which Rumpelstilskin gave her “The Voice of the Lorelei”. Slicer, a sharp-faced prison inmate, overhears this and escapes, but is shadowed by Black Canary. Finding the door into Fairyland, the JSA and Black Canary seek magical artifacts in order to regain vanished super-powers based on science. They learn Fairyland coincides with our dimension for 24 hours ever 1,000 years. Lorelei had conquered Fairyland, so a Wise Woman disguised herself as Lorelei and ordered Rumpelstilskin to give Sally witch-powers-she hoped thereby to attract the JSA’s attention. Slicer convinces Lorelei to invade Earth with Ogre Gallifron, witches, etc, but she still turns him into a dog. The JSA defeats her army just as the two worlds part and she and her minions turn to dust. Sally Barnes is freed. 

The JJSA ad from #37-#38 is repeated. This is the last issue in which Johnny Thunder appears. 

All Star Comics #39 was part of a run of between #39-#45 that were some of the last issues I needed to complete my collection. Some of them turned out not only incredibly hard to find, but quite expensive. One big mistake I made trying to find them was to advertise in the WTB section of the CGC Board and offering to pay real good money for them. When you do that, someone who has one of them does a Google search and believe it or not, they show up!!! Anyway, I never secured any of them through my WTB ads. I had looked well over a year for #39 and had come up empty. Finally, in late 2018 I won a 4.5 in a Comic Link auction. It was not a great looking 4.5 and a few months later a raw #39 showed up on eBay that I won for $650. I sent it in to be graded and it came back a 6.0. I was able to sell the 4.5 at a loss. Since the time I acquired my #39 6.0, several #39’s have shown up on eBay and other places so it’s not really that hard an issue to find.

 

Heritage had one last week!

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #41-Cover by Alex Toth and the story “The Case of the Patriotic Crimes” by John Broome.

After the famous Liberty Train vanishes, the JSA, Black Canary, and Harlequin are captured by the newest version of the Injustice Society, who have erased the JSAers’ memories. The Wizard has declared that the villain pulling off the greatest robbery will be named the leader. Harlequin had joined only to betray them to the JSA. Regaining their memories temporarily through Harlequin’s hypnosis, the JSA try to foil the thefts of Old Ironsides (by Sportsmaster), Freedom Bell (The Fiddler), Plymouth Rock (Huntress), and Washington Monument (Icicle). However, the heroes all fall under another brainwashing spell. While shanghaied civilians are ordered to judge the villains’ contest, Black Canary somehow goads Green Lantern, who is suffering from amnesia, into using his ring to free the JSA. The JSA then proceeds to demolish the Injustice Society gang. Harlequin splits and Black Canary is finally voted into the JSA.

There really was a Freedom (not Liberty) Train which carried dozens of American historical artifacts around the U.S. on tour from 1947-1949. It was the brainstorm of Attorney General Tom Clark, who believed Americans might need a “rededication” of their country’s principles (Wow do we need something like this now!! But with all of the protesters and looters, god knows what could happen to these historic documents!!) It stopped in more than 300 cities and was visited by more than 3,000,000 people. Guarded 24 hours a day by a hand-picked detachment of Marines, the Freedom Train was temporary home to the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, the U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima in 1945, the Japanese surrender that ended World War II and many other “documents of liberty”. 

Some special notes concerning the second Injustice Society:

The Wizard was the only member who battled the entire JSA before

The Sportsmaster first tackled Green Lantern in All-American Comics #85 May 1947 as Crusher Crock and later that year became the Sportsmaster in Green Lantern #28 October 1947. His modus operandi was to use Sports implements as weapons. 

The Icicle another Green Lantern enemy debuted in All-American #90 October 1947 with his ice-gun

The Fiddler whose playing mesmerizes the masses, had his first recital in All Flash #32 December 1947.

The Huntress who had never fought any member of the JSA, was an enemy of one-time JSAer Wildcat first appearing in Sensation Comics #68 August 1947.

A full page All Star Daily Extra with the headline “Black Canary Inducted into Justice Society of America” features a message in her code about the next issue. Plus, there is a JJSA coupon. 

My beautiful copy of All Star Comics #41 came from Heritage in 2018 with make an offer to the owner. I think I paid around $1,100-$1,200 for it. This issue seems to turn up with greater frequency than many other issues in the range of issues #40-#49.

 

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

One thing of note is issues 35-40 show a lot of logo variation as the logo size was reduced from the full masthead. I always wondered why DC did this as those large blazing logos always seemed like a great way to advertise the books.

[Ghastly542454]

2 hours ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

One thing of note is issues 35-40 show a lot of logo variation as the logo size was reduced from the full masthead. I always wondered why DC did this as those large blazing logos always seemed like a great way to advertise the books.

Starting with issue #43, the logo will become larger but the design will change a great deal.

[sagii]

Also a great period run of some back to back knockout memorable covers 

[Silver]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:19 PM, BB-Gun said:

I have reprints of 2 and 3 and a few pages of #4.

 

There are more words on that one page than in the entire issue of a new comic.

[Ghastly542454]

All Star Comics #42-Cover by Irwin Hasen and the story “The Man Who Hated Science” by John Broome.

Starting in 1948, on the heels of All Star #41 and related All-American line, editor Sheldon Mayer put away his blue pencil and devoted himself to the life of a cartoonist. He left behind a legacy of, among many other things, 39 published Justice Society stories. 

The titles Mayer had edited now fell under the editorial control of National/DC’s Whitney Ellsworth, although continuity was provided by Julius Schwartz and Robert Kanigher. Schwartz, who had been assisting with the editing of the JSA stories since 1944, became the de facto editor of All Star, reporting to Ellsworth. 

At once, either Ellsworth or Schwartz under him, decided to make some changes in the JSA magazine. The first would be a change in the cover logo most likely designed by Mayer which would start with issue #43. For the past year, Hawkman’s beaked and winged helmet had been undergoing simplifications often from one issue to the next. With issue #42, DC finally dropped the bird-like nature of the helmet totally and replaced it with a yellow cowl with a red hawk emblem on the forehead. The Atom’s costume was changed almost completely. They dropped the full face-mask, an atomic burst was added to his chest, blue trunks over yellow tights replaced brown leather ones over bare legs, and red gauntlets replaced brown. 

Besides the foregoing cosmetic alterations, Ellsworth/Schwartz reversed several important changes inherited from Mayer’s final four issues. Over the course of issues #38-#41, the JSA stories had moved away to some extent from the original Mayer/Fox formula. Now they were solidified into a revised version of that formula: introductory and concluding JSA segments with the three to five teams in middle chapters although some members such as Green Lantern still had solo segments in some issues. The tales used fewer artists. And finally, because all of these stories were conceived by the team of Schwartz (once a science fiction literary agent) and scripter John Broome (who had briefly been a sf-pulp writer), there was a growing emphasis in All Star on tales with a science fiction aspect. 

And now onto the story in this issue.

Professor Zobar Zodiak is on trial for murder but the star witnesses-the JSA-are no-shows. Zodiak’s flashback testimony: In the 1400’s a scholar named Galio finds Four Wonders of Alchemy: the Philosopher’s Stone, the Elixir of Youth, the Universal of Solvent, and the secret of Perpetual Motion. Finally ageing in 1948, he begs the JSA to keep them out of evil hands. Zodiak, disguised as the Alchemist, locates the Wonders and uses them to capture the JSA. Turned into children, the heroes trick him into turning them back into adults. Zodiak’s getaway plane, built on alchemic principles, falls into the sea. In the end of the story, the JSA find scientific explanations for the Four Wonders. 

I had searched in vain for at least 5-6 years trying to find a copy of All Star #42. As I mentioned in my previous coverage of earlier issues, at one point I put several WTB posts on the Board. Although none of them ever brought me an issue, these posts were seen doing a Google search. So in the summer of 2019, a #42 finally showed up on eBay, a beautiful 7.0, for a very high price of $3,000 buy it now most likely due to my WTB posts. I really didn’t want nor expect to pay that much for this issue but when I looked on the CGC Census, I discovered that there were only 18 of them ever graded which was the reason they didn’t show up. Having learned the hard way over the years, when you snooze, you lose, I sent the seller an email asking him if he would take $2,500 for it. I was beside myself because it took him a couple of days to get back to me and during that time, I had a great fear that someone else would just buy it for the asking price. Fortunately for me, no one bought it and the seller agreed to take $2,500 for it. A few months later in 2019, @Ricksneatstuff had a 6.0 in one of his sales threads, at a much lower price,  but by then, the 7.0 was firmly in place in my collection.

The basic concept of Irwin Hasen’s great cover to issue #42 (I know of someone who owns a commission that Hasen did of this cover and it’s gorgeous) was adapted 13 years later  with Justice League of America #6 September 1961.

 

[sagii]

Wow, what behind the scenes information you scholar you !

Thoroughly enjoying this diary style roll out! 

[Ghastly542454]

7 minutes ago, sagii said:

Wow, what behind the scenes information you scholar you !

Thoroughly enjoying this diary style roll out! 

Thanks 😊 so much!