Worlds would live...worlds would die. And the DC Universe would never be the same again.
The Fourth Tape: DC Dave and Doug Adamson play Tape #4, which looks at …
The Justice Society of America
With guest host Captain Entropy
Timestamps:
2:36 – Crisis News
7:52 – Captain Entropy
19:00 – Promo: Justice Society Presents – The Sandman Slept Here
20:17 – The Justice Society of America discussion
57:48 – Infinite Earth Spotlight
1:06:23 – Promo: DC Secret Files: The Definitive Podcast of the DC Universe, 1993-2011
1:07:27 – Notes from the Multiverse
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DC Finest: Events: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One
New History of the DC Universe
Crisis on Infinite Earths Animated Trilogy: What Worked and What Didn’t – by Anthony Young.
All Out Pooh #1 – COIE 8 homage cover
House Ads from Dr. Anj can be found at the show link
Supergirl Comicbox Commentary – by Dr. Anj
Follow the JSApril action on social media with the hashtag #JSApril
Music: Achilles
by Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Congratulations on another great episode, it’s always fun to hear the good Captain.
I enjoyed the Earth 2 history, and yes, Martian Manhunter was always on Earth One – but let’s not forget another Captain, Adam Blake, Captain Comet, the tightiest, whiteiest of superheroes.
It always bothered me, too, that Earth One people called themselves Earth One, when that was the second planet in terms of getting superheroes, but don’t forget, Earth Two was discovered by Barry Allen of Earth One, so he had naming rights.
Yes, Power Girl was presented as older than Supergirl, and no, Superman’s Babysitter doesn’t come into it – the bit about Kara Zor-El being older than Kal-El, but taking longer to get to Earth was a product of the 2000s. I hate it, it’s so reductive to have Kara sent to Earth not because she was worth saving in herself, but to look after the future Superman.
Now, you were asking why we never saw the raised-to-Olympus Wonder Woman post-Crisis. In-canon-wise, that’s explained in the Legend of Wonder Woman mini-series by Trina Robbins and Kurt Busiek. Mostly it’s a Golden Age-style flashback tale but the final pages see Aphrodite explain to Hippolyte – who began the series mourning her just-killed daughter – that a reality wave means Diana never existed. She’s been holding it back from Paradise Island but soon it would wipe everyone out, and new versions of the Amazons would rise. Hippolyta and her sisters were made into constellations, able to remember the old reality. Now, it’s not stated that Diana has vanished from Olympus but it seems fair to assume the current Olympians were being rewritten too.
So, I think we can assume that Olympian Diana was gone, so wasn’t available to meet post-Crisis Diana when she was killed and ascended to godhood in the John Byrne run.
Thanks, Martin!
Martin is, as usual, correct about Power Girl’s age, and I have receipts! In Showcase #98 (March 1978), Kara (a lovely name if I can butter up a host :D) is talking about how she travelled to Earth in a Bioship that projected a fake Krypton. During the tale, she says how she aged twenty years in the pod, and sixty years real time, as seen in this lovely full-page spread https://i.imgur.com/SJbxHGZ.png
And as an actual fan of the Infinity Inc comics, it was eight issues with the Crisis banner, though there’s also #30 after the JSA get Ragnoroked, and a personal favourite #27 where Fury has a breakdown from coming from an earth that no longer exists.
Oh and that Bryne issue where he tries to fix Superboy being in the Legion through Time Trapper shenanigans, that was my personal first taste of the Crisis and the Post Crisis universe in general!
This was a blast to do, and I hope Doug, DC Dave, and all the listeners enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks again for having me on the show, guys!
I do feel I have to make one additional point, however: Doug, you are funny. I don’t care what Dave and your family tell you. I laughed out loud at your jokes while listening and should have done so on the show. I think I was distracted by trying to keep up with the rapid fire banter, but I thought you were funny at the time. Dave is funny too, of course, but he isn’t always beating himself up about it.
I look forward to talking with you both again and even seeing you both in person (presumably at Publix)! It’s ironic that the one I’ve met in meatspace is not the one who lives within an hour and a half.
Great show and wonderful look at the JSA in Crisis. Obviously their team is the most impacted by the eventual ending of the Crisis. But throughout this comic, they are leaders, teachers, mentors.
It is hard to reconcile the age of Power Girl and Supergirl at this point. I think PG remains older but by just a couple of years. Sure, Supergirl feels like she is 15 in her first appearance and PG feels like 24 in hers. But by this time, SG has grown up in her own comic, graduating college and being an established hero. I think that 10ish year gap has decreased considerably.
If I had to think which JSAers increased in prominence after the Crisis, I think Jay Garrick gets the biggest bump. With Barry dead and Wally ascending, Jay becomes the mentor. His role in the eventual Wally Flash book is huge. Perhaps after Jay, Dr. Fate gets a big bump, becoming a primary magic-wielder in the DCU. That is probably made easier with him not having a E1 counterpart.
Thanks for the #JSApril entry!