Yup, until Crisis hit, the Justice League of Earth-1 would join forces with their Earth-2 counterparts, the Justice Society, to have an epic adventure every year. And one of those is what we're going to look at here. The comic I'm going to look at here is part of 1981's annual team-up. An old villain of the Earth-2 Superman has a diabolical plan to get rid of one Earth's superheroes. What is the plan? How is he going to pull it off? Let's find out in Justice League of America #195!
The cover is pretty awesome. We got the villains of the story looking up at a screen, depicting the heroes they're going to face. You got Killer Frost crossing a couple out with ice. That's not how tic-tac-toe works, Frosty. In the corner, there's an offer to go see Superman II. Way ahead of you, comic. I enjoy that movie.
"Targets on Two Worlds"
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: John Beatty
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando
The story begins with a screen.
The story actually begins on Earth-2. We focus on a fancy Rolls Royce being driven to a mansion in Southern France. The driver? One Jonathan Cheval, aka the former supervillain known as the Monocle.
I know what you're thinking, the Monocle?! He's a superciminal themed around a monocle?! Keep in mind, he first appeared in Flash Comics #64 (April 1945). That's right, he's Golden Age villain. Having paid his debt to society years earlier, Cheval managed to build himself a legit fortune thanks to his knowledge of optics. Despite this, he is not a happy man. He's bored with his legit life. He misses the thrill and danger of the supervillain life. A strange figure appears before him, basically saying that if he misses it so bad, he should reembrace it.
The scene next shifts to Earth-1, home of the Justice League. At St. Ignatius Loyola Hospital, a man has escaped from the hospital. Dude, I'm not a fan of needles either, but come on. He was in a special ward for prisoners, and he escaped through the window. But he was on the sixth floor? So, how did he get down? Not by climbing his sheets, but by climbing down the sign.
I love the little detail of the lit-up letters forming the word "signal". It's appropriate as the escaped criminal is one Phillip "Phil" Cobb, aka Signalman. He was a wannabe gangster looking for some fame, and was inspired to become a costumed criminal by realizing society's usage of signs, symbols, and signals. Signalman is not of Batman's most famous rogues, so it's neat that he's getting some spotlight here. I'm also guessing he's being used because the Batman office wouldn't allow Conway to use some of his more famous villains. Anyway, he's fleeing towards his old lair when he's stopped by a blast of ice. The source? One Killer Frost, the Crystal Frost incarnation. She wants to induct Signalman into a new Secret Society of Supervillains.
Back on Earth-2, their Gotham City has a prisoner locked up. His name? Roger Hayden, aka the second Psycho-Pirate. If you've been reading my reviews of the miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths over the last year, you should be familiar with this guy. He starts talking to a guard and crying, which makes the guard cry. Hayden then uses his emotion-manipulating powers to make the guard burst out laughing. You'd think they'd lock this dude up in a special jail, considering his powers. Hayden is able to get out of his cell, but is nearly foiled at the courtyard. Luckily, the Monocle is there to pull his fat out of the fire.
Earth-1 again. In Chesapeake Bay, a woman is staggering around in a dingy old coat. A group of men spot her and decide to have some...fun with her. They surround the woman, but she fights back, slashing at the man like a wildcat. Which is appropriate, as the woman is a bit cat-themed herself.
Meet Deborah Domaine, the Bronze Age Cheetah. She was the niece of Priscilla Rich, the original Cheetah of the Golden and Silver Ages of comics. Her attacks send the men running. Killer Frost and Signalman arrive to recruit her to the new Secret Society.
We jump back to Earth-2. A man delivers a package to a bank in Keystone City, stomping grounds of the original Flash, Jay Garrick. The manager opens the present, but gets a nasty surprise.
Meet Peter Merkel, aka the contortionist supervillain Rag Doll. Fans of Gail Simone's Secret Six may be more aware of his son, the third Rag Doll. He robs the bank by taking the manager hostage. He flees, but the Monocle tells him to get into a van. The police pursue him, but the Psycho-Pirate is able to use his powers to make them scared to the point where they crash their cars.
We make like a ping-pong ball and go back to Earth-1. I'm getting dizzy. In Metropolis, we look in on a greenhouse on top of a building. There, a horticulturist is tending to some plants. He then gets a visit from Killer Frost, Signalman, and Cheetah. They want to recruit him to the new Secret Society of Supervillains. However, the man would rather live his new legit life. Frost orders Cheetah to remind him of who he is. Cheetah tears him apart...but the man is hardier than that.
After all, you can't kill Jason Woodrue, aka the Floronic Man, by ripping up his human costume. It seems ripping up the human suit convinced him to be a villain again. Uh, Jason? Why not just make the plants throw the three villains out the window, then get a new human suit? I guess we have to get him into the story somehow.
We go again to Earth-2. Back and forth. In that world's Las Vegas, we meet Roscoe and Benny Bozak. Once upon a time, they were low-level hoods in Gotham City's underworld, until they got...an inheritance, let's just say. The extra money allowed them to start a casino in Vegas, and they were able to reinvent themselves as high rollers. They, and their dates, enter their limousine. The Bozak brothers notice that the driver is not their usual driver. The driver reveals himself to be Kyle Nimbus, aka the Mist.
You see, the Bozak boys were henchmen of the Mist a little while back. When he got arrested for a robbery, the Bozaks made off with the loot and used it to start their casino. You see, as far as the Mist is concerned, he can steal from others, but you cannot steal from him. As such, he punishes his former henchmen by driving the limo off a cliff. The Mist himself was able to escape thanks to his ghost-like power to pass through things. A figure visits the Mist, and recruits him for their Secret Society.
We then go back to Earth-1. Yeah, this is how a ping-pong ball must feel. Cheetah, Signalman, Floronic Man, and Killer Frost arrive in a hidden lab in Metropolis. There, Frost introduces them to the man who brought them together.
Meet Henry King Jr., aka the second Brainwave. He announced his group is going to Earth-2. Signalman is skeptical about this, as he's never heard of Earth-2. That made me curious. Was the old multiverse public knowledge? Based on Signalman's statement, it seems that it's not known about outside of the costumed set. Huh. Anyway, Signalman suggests it's time for a new leader, and Brainwave is like "LOL, nope" as he uses his mental powers to send the lesser-known Batman rogue to Dreamland. And off they go!
They arrive in a supervillain lair in Earth-2's Nepal. Monocle introduces the leader of the new Secret Society of Supervillains: The Ultra-Humanite.
The Ultra-Humanite was a scientist with a brilliant mind and mental powers. Signalman is understandably surprised. How can a big mutated ape be the leader of this group of costumed criminals? But the Rag Doll gives a primer. He was a regular foe of the Earth-2 Superman. His big gimmick was that he could transfer his brain into other bodies. The mutated white gorilla form in this comic is one of his iconic bodies, even used in his appearance in Justice League Unlimited.
So, why did the Ultra-Humanite bring these villains together? Well, each of these villains has a superheroic counterpart on their Earth:
Earth-1
Floronic Man - Atom
Signalman - Batman
Mist - Black Canary
Killer Frost - Firestorm
Cheetah - Wonder Woman
Earth-2
Ragdoll - Flash
Monocle - Hawkman
Psycho-Pirate - Hourman
Brianwave - Johnny Thunder
Ultra-Humanite - Superman
I know some of these matchups may confuse you. For example, Floronic Man. Nowadays, he's more associated with Swamp Thing, but he started out as a villain of the Silver Age Atom. In fact, he first appeared in The Atom #1 (June-July 1962). The Mist being Black Canary's counterpart threw me off a bit myself, considering he's a Starman villain. I'm guessing it's because Black Canary had no supervillains of her own for this story to use at the time. At least, as far as I know. Johnny Thunder encountered Brainwave's father, the first Brainwave in the past. The Psycho-Pirate in this story is actually the second one, and he fought Hourman.
Anyway, these "rivalries" are the key to the Ultra-Humanite's plan. You see, according to the Ultra-Humanite, there is a cosmic balance in the multiverse, and superheroes are disruptive to it. Okay... Basically, the plan is that if these particular ten superheroes are removed, the multiverse will balance itself out by removing all the superheroes from either Earth-1 or Earth-2. Okay. I have no idea how that works. Why these ten? You'd think removing both Supermen would hurt things, considering their significance.
We then go back to Earth-1, at the Justice League satellite. The JLA and JSA are having their annual gathering.
For Black Canary, this is a reunion, but it's also bringing back some rough memories. You see, Dinah Drake was originally from Earth-2. After her husband Larry Drake died saving her from the rogue star-creature known as Aquarius in Justice League of America #74 (September 1969), the grief-stricken Canary decided to move to Earth-1 to start over. As such, when the party wraps up, Barry Allen has cleaned up, and everyone else has gone home, Canary has decided to stay in the Watchtower. It's her turn to do monitor duty anyway, and she feels the need to be alone right now. The Mist ambushes her with help with the League's teleporter. She attacks, but his being transparent allows him to cause Canary to knock herself out.
Back on Earth-2, the Carter Hall Hawkman is enjoying a nice relaxing flight over a city when he gets blasted. Luckily his wings took the brunt of it, and they're pretty tough wings, so he made it to the ground okay. The Monocle prepares to give Hawkman another laser, but the Winged Warrior calls upon his power to command birds to attack the villain. I thought that was a power associated with the Silver Age Hawkman, but evidently the Golden Age one could do it, too.
With the Monocle distracted, Hawkman lays him out with a Mighty Punch. Cheval goes for his licentious lens, but Hawkman stomps on his hand and takes it. However, it turns out the Monocle can command his lens remotely, as shown by Hawkman eating laser.
Should've stomped on the lens there, Birdman. On Earth-1's Washington DC, Wonder Woman is commanding her invisible robot plane to come and get her, as she's got a date with Steve Trevor. The Cheetah ambushes her and the two fight on Wondy's plane. The feline femme fatale rants and raves about Wonder Woman leaving her to die in Chesapeake Bay. The Amazing Amazon tries to explain that she searched for Cheetah and found nothing, but ol' Debbie Domaine screams Wonder Woman is lying. You know, I bet if this Cheetah accidentally spilled her coffee or stubbed her toe, she'd be screaming that it was Wonder Woman's fault.
Wonder Woman tries to lasso the Cheetah, but it ends up capturing the Washington Monument. Man, can you imagine this chaos going down when Warhead was ranting and raving for a war at the Monument? John Walker's day would not be made any better. Anyway, the force causes Wondy to be pulled off her plane and to be slammed spine-first into the side of the monument. The dazed Amazing Amazon falls to the ground. Cheetah leaps down at her, demanding the Amazon scream. Uh, Deb? I think the Ultra-Humanite wants Wondy alive. Oh, dear...
The three villains report in to the Ultra-Humanite. However, the super-villainous scientist has a secret. He claimed that he was unsure of which Earth would lose its superheroes thanks to his plan, but the thing is...he does know. The Earth-1 villains agreed to go along with this plan because they thought there was a chance that Earth-1 could be the Earth that loses its heroes. Based on what the Ultra-Humanite is saying, that is not likely to happen, and I can imagine the Earth-1 heroes would not be happy to hear that. The story ends with him worrying that if his colleagues find this out, there will be hell to pay. Well, yeah.
This story is...rather enjoyable, albeit I do think the Ultra-Humanite's plan is kind of...goofy. However, I do feel it is kind of appropriate. You see, the Ultra-Humanite is a Golden Age villain. His villainous plan here does feel like a Golden/Silver Age supervillain's plan. It may feel a bit jarring to some because this plan does feel rather silly for a Bronze Age comic. It feels more like a plan from a Silver Age supervillain. Despite that, I still found it a fun story.
As for the art, well...it's George Perez. What can I say about it that everyone else has. It's awesome! I love Perez's art. It was in the 80s where her really solidified his style. It's very detailed, and it's just a joy to look at. If you want to read this yourself, it's available in the 2013 trade paperback Crisis on Mutliple Earths Vol. 6.
Next time, we continue a look at a previous team-up between the JSA and JLA as they witness the return of Darkseid...
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