14
MARCH 2010
» 1991
JlA Interview with Dan Jurgens
From Comics Scene magazine, about the revamp of JLA and JLE, installing Superman and Hal Jordan as leaders.
NEW DOMAIN! Please change any bookmarks to
the new cosmicteams.com!
14 MARCH 2010
» Recently... New Chronology Additions
The DCU is heating up again in anticipation of Supermans return to Earth, Batman's return to the present, Brightest Day, and the return of the Legion!
VISIT A CHRONOLOGY: JLA • JSA • Legion • Outsiders
New Entries…
| BLACKEST NIGHT | |
| Blackest Night: Guy is freed from the red ring by Mogo on a microscopic level. All are summoned to Earth. | Green Lantern Corps #45 (4.10) |
| Nekron kills a Guardian. Luthor and Larfleeze argue. Dove is capable of severing ring connections on her own. The Guardian claims that Earth is the center and origin of life in the universe. They buried that fact to keep Earth protected and for a long time tried to keep Earth natives from the GLC. Nekron unearths the brightest white light's power source, the Entity, from within the planet—to kill it. Sinestro is enraged that the Guardians let Abin die knowing all this. He claims the Entity's power. "Thaal Sinestro" is his name. | Blackest Night #7 (2.10) |
| Blackest Night: Parallax cleanses the Spectre. Atrocitus tries to recruit him next but he fights that off. Spectre is powerless over Nekron. | Green Lantern #51 (4.10) |
| SUPERMAN / LEGION | |
| Wonder Girl fights Superboy, who is able to gain clarity enough to tell her and Krypto to go to his dead body in the Fortress. It acts to draw the black ring away. Connor freezes the ring and Cassie hurls it into space. His previous control under Luthor had led him to practice overcoming mind control. | Adventure v.2 #7 (3.10) |
| The Omega Men find the things that defeated Starro, a poison. Doc thinks he can remake it. The Psions open their lab to Dox. Dox grows Despero a new body. The gong will hit Starro physically. The gene bomb cuts the psionic link with slaves, then Despero can finsh him. His flame of Pytar fuels the bomb. Lyrl plots against Starro, going to Smite, asking him to let Dox's plan play out. Lyrl then abducts his father to let him in on it. He employs Lythylian fighting techniques. Lyrl teleports Starro into the REBELS' midst. | REBELS v2 #13 (4.10) |
| Starro Finale: The Omega Men's toxin succeeds in killing the star creature on Starro's chest, cutting him off from all his probes. Despero claims Starro for execution on Kalanor. Dox broadcasts a message announcing the reinstitution of the L.E.G.I.O.N. | REBELS v2 #14 (5.10) |
| 26: Zod returns to full duty, and defends his facility as New Krypton's defense against Earth and Brainiac. He demotes Gor. Tam-Or dies. Tyr-Van is made a council member, representing the Labor Guild. Council member Wri-Qin confesses all to Kal-El. He and others formed an alliance with Lane and Superwoman to secure themselves safety in the future. Superwoman recruited their help. Then Qin turned on them all. Adam Strange is sent home. Brainiac arrives. | Superman: World of New Krypton #12 (4.10) |
| 27: The origin of the Flamebird, created by Rao who also made Vohc the Builder. Whatevr he created, the Flamebird would destroy, thus each of Vohc's own creations was better than the last. Vohc loved the Flamebird, but it fell in love with the Nightwing, Rao's eyes in the dark. Vohc was jealous and offered a creation that WAS his heart, which the Flamebird destroyed. After this, he imprisoned the Nightwing in another new thing, the sunstone. He became Vohc the Breaker and also is reincarnated. Now he is Jax-Ur. Nightwing and Flamebird sleep together. He holds power over Chris still. Ur has built something that links to Rao. Captain Atom works with the Shadowpact, the JLA cameo out. They tell him about the Sorcerors World, Mirabai's home. It is the nexus of power for Ifé, Gemworld, 5th dimension, Jejune, Myrra, Land of Nightshades, the green/grey/red, and has gates up to Hell. Captain Atom's shell prevents magic and travel there. Chimp says a way there is through Skartaris. Accessed through Himalayas | Action Comics #886 (4.10) |
| 28: Lana becomes the Insect Queen, infected. Once freed, Supergirl refuses to be a part of her life, saying Lana's refusal to be completely honest left others vulnerable, even dead. Gangbuster and Dr. Light help. Lucy is retrieved by her father. The magic that had powered her suit is now a part of her and she has Kryptonian-like powers. She kills accidentally. Helen Slater cowrites an origin tale. | Supergirl v. 5 #50 (4.10) |
| 29: Chameleon Boy reveals he's led the Espionage Squad all along, and brings Quislet out of hiding, where he'd been inside the . Once free, Cham is joined by Starman, Sensor Girl, Tellus and Matter-Eater Lad, who team to keep Mon-El at bay so that they can escape. Steel returns to clean things up, and restores the city's infrastructure. Battles Ultraa?, Superman/Batman/Kryptonite Man? Mon-El showers with Billi. Conner tells him his ship is repaired. He asks Mon back to Smallville to meet the Legion, joined by Element Lad. | Superman #697 34.10) |
| 30: When Brainiac 5 was young, his father, Brainiac 4, reclaimed the title of their notorious ancestor. Querl was his mother's great great grandfather's name. R. J. Brande contacted his father hoping the boy would join the new Legion. The Legion saves the crew of Earthgov Science Outpost Delta 2. It's destroyed by a chronal rift created by Brainiac in the 21st century. Element Lad reveals himself to Superboy (as his teacher Mr. Janson). He brings Mon-El to Smallville to meet the Legion. They've been sent on a mysterious mission by R. J. Brande to ensure the integrity of the timestream. Gen. Lane takes Romundi (Car-Vex) into his organization. She gives him intel on Quex-Ul hiding in Canada. 1st app. of Sgt. Cloud. NOTES: Brainiac 5 is the seventh generation after the first Brainiac. This means Coluans are exceptionally long-lived. | Adventure v.2 #8/511 (4.10) |
| 31: Brainiac attacks New Krypton in earnest, killing with red sunlight weapons. When Kal-El learns that Zod failed to save lives, he resigns his post and resumes his role as Superman. He breaks into Brainiac's ship to find him allied with Luthor. Superboy and the Legion arrive hoping to salvage the shrunken worlds in Brainiac's possession. Zod arrests them. | Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton (5.10) |
| 32: Lois asks John Raymond (the Web) and Simon Stagg for help getting to the Middle East to cover the story of Vohc's creation of Rao, and to write of her father's actions. Jax-Ur/Vohc uses essence from Flamebird and Nightwing to create Rao. The god begins to roam the Middle East. Jax-Ur deflects a blast that turns Nightwing into shards and traps him in the "void of shadows." Captain Atom returns to the Sorceror's World via Skartaris, where 8 months have passed. Rebel forces ready to attack Mirabai, who holds Zatara. | Action Comics #887 (5.10) |
| JUSTICE LEAGUE | |
| Green Arrow visits the Shade asking a dark favor. They go into the shadow realms. The new JLA battle Atlas. Hal steps aside to let Dick lead. Dick and Donna enjoy it. Starfire does not. The Challengers of the Unknown once found the old weapon after a battle against Kra, Multi-Man and Volcano Man. Ace touched it and went mad. Magnus and the Metal Men took it away to S.T.A.R. Today, the Power Company (Josiah, Bork, Skyrocket, Striker) guard STAR against Dr. Impossible and a new vanguard of New God copies: Hunter (Orion), Neon Black (Lightray). Tech is based on New Genesis. They harm Darwin Jones, friend of the ATom. Black Canary and Hal wonder where Ollie is. Cyborg works to restore REd Tornado's body. In 1944, Blackhawk, Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters fight the War Wheel, which was powered by the old artifact. It's now on Blackhawk Island, where Mik and Bill encounter Tender Mercy (Barda) and Chair (Metron). The JLA find them there. Meanwhile, the others invade the Watchtower as Green Arrow returns. | JLofA v.2 #42 (4.10) |
| The technology fails and STar City doesn't disappear but 90,000 die. Lian is one of them. Bulleteer and Mr. Scarlet in Fawcett free Freddy, whose mouth has been sewn shut. Prometheus forces them to let him go, so he will stop the bombs, which the JLA finds they cannot stop. Green Arrow follows him to his secret lair and kills him. | Justice League: Cry for Justice #7 (4.10) |
| The JLA discover that Green Arrow has killed Prometheus. He was transported to his dimension by the Shade, who also takes Barry and Hal there to witness the corpse. They narrowly stop him from killing the Electrocutioner, too. Ollie uses Prometheus' key to escape. Text piece in the back is mock newspaper article. | Justice League: The Rise and Fall Special (5.10) |
| JUSTICE SOCIETY | |
| Mr. Terrific constructs a one time bomb to destroy all black lanterns in New York. | Blackest Night: JSA #3 (4.10) |
| Captain Nazi leads a new Fourth Reich team including Baroness Blitzkrieg, White Dragon, Hunter, Shadow of War, Green Ghoul, Count Berlin, Dr. Demon, Baron Gestapo, Captain Murder, Captain Swastika. Hourman and Liberty Belle settle into a new home in New Rochelle, NY. 20 years later, the JSA have been imprisoned all the time and it's time for Mr. Terrific's execution; he must give his life's story. The Veteran (Lt. Gen. Nathan H??) prepares to take custody of Kid Karnevil. Green Lantern is killed by a bomb that emits shards of wood. Dr. Fate leaves on a personal mission. Terrific disables Capt. Nazi. | JSofA v.3 #36 (4.10) |
| Johnny Sorrow kills Killer Wasp as blood sacrifice for the King of Tears. Atom-Smasher is prisoner somewhere of a hooded figure. Belle and Hourman in new home, New Rochelle, NY. Magog leaves in a huff. Sand receives a visit from Wes in his dream. backup: Trail leads to Peter Blue en route to Italy. | JSA All-Stars #3 (4.10) |
| Sand comes with warnings. he reclaims the name Sand, preferring it over Sandman. In a mystic rite, the King of Tears is brought to Earth. Sorrow is intangible after Sand destroyed his "subspace prototype." Stargirl agrees to go with Sorrow to stop the JSA certain defeat. She meets Al in another dimension. pre Blackest Night. backup: Blue's boss says it will be too difficult to get the staff. They plot to use the metas for help. | JSA All-Stars #4 (5.10) |
| After events in Magog. The All-Stars receive a notice that Magog is running rampage in Haven prison. They arrive to find no inmates, but they are cloaked. They must fight not only Magog but the inmates, including Magog's new nemesis Mind Czar. Power Girl must stop Magog from killing and the clash becomes irreconcilable. Magog succeeds in revealing that the facility (Flashpoint) was being used for nefarious purposes but it's too late. It's head blows it up. Magog resigns. Mind Czar escapes. Maxine is traumatized. | Justice Society of America Annual #2 (2010) |
| OUTSIDERS | |
| Black Lightning seriously questions Geo-Force's leadership after learning that he tried to commit suicide during his battle with Deathstroke. Eradicator explains that he is a new incarnation, created by the Kryptonians as an ambassador of sorts. He retains the original's memories. Owlman attempts to connect with Katana. A new formation of the Masters of Disaster strikes, adding Dust Devil and Mudslide to New Wave, Heatstroke and Coldsnap. Creeper heads back to the U.S., and his stalker too. | OUT4 #27 (4.10) |
12
MARCH 2010
» Legion Update!
I've done a whole lot of scanning and editing. You'll find images in almost every profile now. A lot left to do. Most profiles are quite cleaned up. > BROWSE THE INDEX.
Also take a look at the revised Legion Gallery, where I organized a messy list of links to misc. Legion images on the web.
The current profile is Supergirl, which is a real challenge, mostly because it had never been written in the first place. The girl's history is complex! But since she's slated to be reintroduced to Legion membership, I wanted to make sure her profile was solid. I started reading the Legion at a time when she rarely appeared, so I never really considered her much of a member. But original Silver Age Legion tales used her a lot.
Completed…
More goodies! From Legion #312, I scanned the original…
21
FEBRUARY 2010
» Heroes of Russia
Soyuz
So I'm reading John Ostrander's run on Firestorm, and will be adding more info as I go. I have begun by relocating all the Russian characters to one document, like I did for the Heroes of Japan.
This page includes Blue Trinity • The People's Heroes • Red Trinity • The Rocket Red Brigade • Soyuz • Stalnoivolk, the Steel Wolf
…and probably some obscure others you've never heard of! >MORE...
19 FEBRUARY 2010
» Welcome Home Again!
For realz, now Cosmic Teams finally sits on its own domain (which I've owned for a while now). The old site will no longer be hosted after February 27.
If you are accustomed to my navigation, or have bookmarks, the file structure is the same. Only the domain name has changed.
So for example, the old address:
www.mykey3000.com/cosmicteams/jla/jlafaq02.html
is now
www.cosmicteams.com/jla/jlafaq02.html
"So, What Have You Been up to?"
A lot of non-teams stuff, I'm sorry to report. My spare time goes into maintaining the chronologies here, and into my Quality Comics research. I am itching to get back to updating a whole bunch of profiles, though. A lot of things have updates since the Final Crisis. Have faith!
31 JANUARY 2010
» Recently... New Chronology Additions
What, you don't like spending a million dollars a week, like I do? Catch up right here with some of the DC titles that tie most closely to my site.
Here's what was chronology-worthy within the last month. Got something to add?
VISIT A CHRONOLOGY: JLA • JSA • Legion • Outsiders
New Entries…
| BLACKEST NIGHT | |
| John on Xanshi fights a planet, and an amalgam GL/BL, Driq of 667. Jean Loring takes Atom and Mera inside the BL ring, claiming there's no beginning or end to the universe, only to the life therein. Over eons, the darkness manifested its own Guardian, Nekron. Nekron "saved" some heroes from death so that he could use them later to help destroy light. Deadman follows them. | Green Lantern #49 (2.10) |
| Blackest Night: Black Lanterns nearly devour the power battery on Oa. Mogo moves to purge them from Oa, drawing all living things to himself. He absorbs the BLs into his core where they disintegrate. | Green Lantern Corps #44 (3.10) |
| The second guard of Guardians jumps in to help as Hal reassumes the Parallax: Ganthet retrieves it from the four earthmen's lanterns. Jason apparently separated from Ronnie. Group effort defeats the Spectre, who retreats when Parallax reappears. | Green Lantern #50 (3.10) |
| Barry outruns the black rings for he and Hal. Mera is taken by a red ring; Wonder Woman is converted by the Star Sapphire. Atom by the indigo. Barry by blue. Scarecrow by Sinestros. Luthor by orange. Ganthet reclaims green power. He claims all rings are based on Oan technology and can be replicated. Shows full page previews of the "resurrected" titles. | Blackest Night #6 (2.10) |
| LEGION | |
| Lex agrees to cure his sister, Lena, but then takes the cure away. Conner must get a prehistoric leaf, get a Bizarro hair, a bone from Themyscira and something from Atlantis. When he takes it away, Brainiac steps in to fight Superboy. He and Luthor teleport away. After, Conner meets with the core Titans. Luthor plans to try a new clone, using different alien DNA. | Adventure v.2 #6 (3.10) |
| Starro, Smite and Lyrl fail to stop the BLs. Lyrl teleports them into a black hole. Broot's new telepathy allows him to mask the Omega Mens' presence. They find a world with clues how to kill Starro--a toxin. The Rebels dock at Port Slarvit for repairs. Strata and Garv quit. Dox retrieves the Gamma Gong shards, a Dominion gene bomb, and Despero's living head. | REBELS v2 #12 (3.10) |
| JUSTICE LEAGUE | |
| Blackest Night: Steel and Vibe and Dr. Light rise. The battle leaves Vixen, Dr. Light, Plastic Man, Zatanna and Red Tornado broken. | JLofA v.2 #40 (2.10) |
| After Cry and BL. Dr. Light fails to convince Vixen to stay. Wonder Woman convinces Troia to rebuild the JLA. Donna recruits Batman, Cyborg and Starfire. Dick and Hal recruit Green Arrow; Guardian and Dr. Light invite Mon-El. In 1777, Tomahawk and his band (Stovepipe, Frenchie, Dan, Anvil) encounter a piece of future technology. He gets flashes of monsters then Miss Liberty arrives. She advises taking it to Ben Franklin. Now, Darwin Jones finds it in the Smithsonian. From it, emerges ??. | JLofA v.2 #41 (3.10) |
| Supergirl unmasks Shazam as Prometheus. Troia defeats him with brute force. While he is captive a bomb goes off in Star City, transporting it somewhere else in time and space. Before Blackest Night. The text piece explains the decision not to use Batwoman in the series. | Justice League: Cry for Justice #6 (3.10) |
| JUSTICE SOCIETY | |
| Mordru returns, free from the Lords of Chaos, in the Tenth Age of Magic. He possesses the new Dr. Fate as the JSA sets up shop in the JLA Happy Harbor facility. The team's mystical alarms sense his presence and they force him out. Mr. Terrific modifies Mr. America's whip into a powerful weapon. Kid Karnevil is their prisoner. | JSofA v.3 #34 (2.10) |
| Mr. Terrific and Dr. Fate free the other JSAers from various dimensions—inside which they then imprison Mordru. | JSofA v.3 #35 (3.10) |
| Johnny Sorrow brings back his Injustice Society (Tigress, Killer Wasp, Wizard, Geomancer, Icicle, Shiv). Rex Tyler creates Roxy, an A.I. servant. They storm the Strike Force's Pittsburgh hideout for Stargirl. Power Girl stops Magog from killing Icicle. Sandman dreams that Sorrow revives the King of Tears. | JSA All-Stars #2 (3.10) |
| OUTSIDERS | |
| Blackest Night: Terra gets the Outsiders to their ripe emotional point then strikes. Katana must kill her family. Halo is able to break the black rings' connections. She then takes out Terra and is called by some light; she goes to it. | OUT4 #25 (2.10) |
| Brion returns to leading his country and allies with the Eradicator, declaring that Markovia and New Krypton now have a non-aggression treaty. Katana and Lightning clash when they go to stop pirates off the coast. They encounter Captain Fear,whom Katana stabs through, but he doesn't die. Creeper attracts the attentions of a strange woman. | OUT4 #26 (3.10) |
| SUPERMAN | |
| 19: Lois is brought in by her father. Jax-Ur saves Chris, but Nightwing knows his identity and is now indebted to him. He will have no more aging bouts. Lois quits in order to pursue her story. Jax-Ur takes genetic information from Chris. Mon-El recruits Captain Atom, brings him to the JLA Watchtower, where the new JLA has assembled, including Starfire, Cyborg, and Congo Bill. | Action Comics #884 (2.10) |
| 20: Henderson reveals that he has an artifact belonging to the family of the Silver Banshee (she needs all seven to end her curse). Lana admits that she is ill to Kara. Kara touches an artifact and is transformed into a banshee. | Supergirl v. 5 #48 (2.10) |
| 21: Mon-El asks Superboy to retrieve and repair his Daxamite rocket from the Fortress. Says he was captive for a month and tortured. He moves to expose Lane, but Lane moves first, going public to say that Mon-El's brain was affected. Perry White brings him to Jimmy Olsen, who survived with Tellus' help. He stays the night with Billi Harper. After a visit from Natasha, John Irons wakes up. | Superman #695 (2.10) |
| 22: Allura's assistant Lyra is killed. Adam Strange helps investigate. They find a weapon bearing Tam-Or's DNA. They cannot locate him. Councilor Zo is angered and insults Kal's mother, who had come up from labor guild. Zod says Tam-Or is innocent. Tyr-Van leads Kal to Or. Adam mentions that he's joined Vril Dox. Kal's surprised to be taken to a military facility built by Zod, experimenting on aliens for their hides. Tam surrenders to clear his name. Commander Gor catches up with them and accuses Kal of treason; Zod has returned to duty and ordered execution on sight. | Superman: World of New Krypton #11 (3.10) |
| 23: Guardian and Mon-El come to take in Nightwing and Flamebird, who go willingly. They tell Guardian that Zod has spies on Earth. Officer Romundi is revealed as Zod's agent, Car-Vex. She and Jax-Ur share a secret conversation. Car-Vex destroys the S.T.A.R. lab. A new Squad K suits up. Lane tries to take the lovers but the Science Police refuse. The JLA bring Captain Atom to his senses. The last thing he remembers is sacrificing himself. They call the Shadowpact to help him end Mirabai's reign. | Action Comics #885 (3.10) |
| 24: Lana dies in the hospital and is entombed in a cocoon. Supergirl isn't there to help, instead she helps the Banshee defeat her ancestors. the Banshee disappears, having collected her artifacts, to search for the rest. | Supergirl v. 5 #49 (3.10) |
| 25: In the aftermath of Car-Vex's bomb, Guardian finds Chameleon Boy, who'd been posing as the Science Police's "Control." Lane offers Romundi (Car-Vex) a spot under him. | Superman #696 (3.10) |
17
JANUARY 2009
Cover thine eyes!
From Smash #13 (1940). Art by Will Eisner
» Crack Comics Indeed!
This would be a hundred times funnier if it had run in Crack Comics. Tell me: am I wrong to be SUPER SURPRISED to find this in Smash Comics #13 (1940)? A risque panel from Will Eisner's "Espionage" starring Black X.
Oh well, I'm sure X didn't mind. You know what they say about a guy who wears a monocle.
If ya got it…
10
JANUARY 2009
» 
Quality
Number Crunching
I know you like lists. I do too. Check out my accumulated data on the longevity and chronology of Quality Comics' heroes.
4
JANUARY 2009
» Freedom Fighters
The
Human Bomb, Ray III, Doll Man and Phantom Lady III.
From Uncle Sam & the F. F. v.1 #2 (2006). Art by Daniel
Acuña.
My Quality Comics research, naturally, encompasses the Freedom Fighters. I finally got around to summarizing their last mini series and adding details to each of the individual profiles, too.
I am still collecting issues from the 1970s FF series, so that part is incomplete.
I have begun doing my issue-by-issue reading of all Quality Comics by starting in chronological order. I write things as I read them. I'm not far! It's going to take a while!
Please
continue to check back on these profiles…
Freedom
Fighters • Invisible
Hood • Magno •
Miss
Cosmos • Neon
the Unknown • Red
Torpedo • Uncle
Sam • Black
Condors • Doll
Men • Firebrands • Human
Bombs • Rays • Phantom
Lady • Red
Bees
PLUS! See/download a panoramic scan of the All-Star Squadron:
28
DECEMBER 2009
» Shelved
Legion Project? No.
UPDATE: If you tuned in previously, I'm glad to notify you that this was all a false alarm.
Chris Sprouse himself replied to me and said that the seller of this artwork was totally wrong. This page was done by Chris as a "preparatory sketch" for the final panel of Legionnaires #11 (Feb. 1994). The note at the bottom (which reads reads "Presenting—Kid Quantum!") was to describe the action on the page.
In my original post, I'd said that this was a cover sketch is by Chris Sprouse, from unpublished DC comic. The person who posted it to ebay told me that "Chris was paid but the book hasn't come out and likely won't." She also thought it was meant for a Showcase-style book. When listed online, this person also used the name "Kid Eternity."
13
DECEMBER 2009
» Uncle Sam + Quicksilver
These
characters' profiles are a lot of work! I've added a host of Quality and
DC info on both of them, but I still have a way to go, so check back
if you're interested.
And I am going through whole series to chronicle its characters, many of whom do not have any histories written for them. Right now I'm in the middle of National Comics, which also includes Wonder Boy, Merlin, Unknown and G-2.
Most of my recent energies have gone into the long-term building
of the Quality
Comics section. I made a super fun new logo for it (above), inspired
by the Crack Comics logo.
12
DECEMBER 2009
» 
New
Art!
I snagged this great page from L.E.G.I.O.N. '91 Annual #2 by Mike McKone. I love it because it features nearly every member of the L.E.G.I.O.N.
9
DECEMBER 2009
» More Smallville Stuff!
Entertainment Weekly has posted some more spoiler-ish preview photos—Hawkman & Green Arrow having a "disagreement" and another shot of Dr. Fate & Stargirl (a clearer look at them).
And, from before...
Did you see the preview? This is for the two hour movie event, on Smallville in February.
Also check out:
The full JSA! Is it: Star-Spangled Kid, Wildcat, The Atom, Sandman, The Spectre, Flash, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Dr. Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Mr. Terrific?
25 NOVEMBER
2009
» Rittenhouse Justice League Cards
So my main point is this: Just because a sketch card is "one-of-a-kind" does not mean that the art is good, or that it is worth something. Naturally, now that the series has been released, one finds a zillion of these "rare" sketch cards on ebay. Look at the art on these and ask yourself: how good is it? Yes, you're allowed to judge, with your head and your wallet.
At a glance, which one would you like to have? At a glance, which is worth more? From left to right, opening bids are $99, $0.99 and $2.25. Am I the only one who's confused? "Rare" or not, bad art is bad art—I don't care how quickly it was done.
I'm in an art-related field, and sensitive to the following statement but in all truth... in some cases, I could do that. THIS is what you want to spend $30-300 for? (Don't get me started on all the crap marketing pieces that Alex Ross puts out there. And Justice was not a good comic book.)
OK, so I just want to warn y'all—this set is only for JLA suckers like me... The reality is that some skilled production people + licensing fees = very pricey, but not very special cards. There is no real value-added text on these cards, just reproduced artwork. An historical retrospective on the JLA, this set covers the team's history from 1960–69. 72-card base + 18 Super Friends Cards + 7 Founding Members + 6 Other Earths Cards.
If you're looking to invest in JLA, I suggest you buy some really nice, high grade Silver Age books. And I implore you, don't go paying $30-300 for those godddam sketch cards on ebay just because they're "rare"; buy one because you truly like it.
I bought a nice "mini master set" of these cards which had a promo, a sketch and an autograph card plus the binder. My vendor was fantastic and all, but the cards themselves were a total snooze. I didn't even spend any time with them before filing them away. I guess it's my own sort of blind fandom that sickened me and led to this rant. Buyers remorse? You better believe it.
16
NOVEMBER 2009
» Justice Society Wallpaper!
How about a JSA pinup by Murphy Anderson? It originally appeared in Justice League of America #76 (1969), and was reprinted in #110, where I scanned it. This issue was a 100-pager, so the binding clips the middle of the illustration :(
This inspired George Pérez' JLA/JSA pinup that ran in JLofA #195.
Download:
640 x 480 •
1024 x 768 • 1680
x 1050
3
NOVEMBER 2009
»Cosmic Teams Site Statistics
Here's some trivia for you about my site. My tracking indicates that the most popular page on my site isn't the one you're currently reading, but the Index of Profiles. That scares me a little because I don't think to update that one all the time. (Nothing on this site is database driven; it's all manually assembled; I know!)
These are the most accessed internal pages, other than the "landing pages" (those that introduce sections):
- JLA Membership
- JLA Collectibles
- JSA membership
- Teams: J
- Teams: K-L
- Teams: D
- JLA: Elseworlds
- Legion Elseworlds
- Legion 1 Members
- Legion Gallery
- Legion Allies
These are the most accessed single-character profiles. Sometimes, certain pages receive healthy ongoing traffic because they are linked in Wikipedia. Black Adam, Hawkman and Power Girl have always been at the top of this list. Confusion breeds Googling...
27 OCTOBER 2009
» 
New Art!
I don't usually go in for these "acetates" you see for sale on ebay (as they're not true original art), but this one struck me—it was originally created for the Legion's second appearance in Adventure #267 (1959).
This is from an issue of Superboy printed in Brazil. It would be no less than a third generation copy. In case you are wondering about the print process... DC would have made a "photostat," or high quality copy of the original black art and sent it to the Brazilian publisher. Then they would have pasted on their logos and text. Then this acetate would have been created in the same was as the first photostat, now including the added text.
21 OCTOBER 2009—UPDATED WITH PICTURES!
» Secret Society of Super-Villains!
I've decided to break this group and "the Society" into their own profile. I've added recent events, but don't have time to do scans at the moment. It's a good thing I consider this site a stress reliever, or nothing would ever get done!
"The original Society was secretly organized by Darkseid, who provided them with a hideout called the Sinister Citadel, in San Francisco. Throughout it's early days, the Society suffered from a constant struggle for leadership. ..." > READ…
14 OCTOBER 2009
» New Quality Comics subsection!
As my research grows, this section will multiply exponentially in size. It's also accessible from the navigation bars. What began with my hero profiles has become a sort of obsession with the publisher in general. > GO SEE…
14 OCTOBER 2009
» No More Google Ads!
I like Google as much as the next person, but the ad hosting is so not worth it. I decided to try it as an experiment a couple months ago. Let's lay it all out—in two months, I earned less than $3.00 (which they didn't have to pay me, because it's less than their "threshold"). So unless your hits are over a million a month, don't bother. Only a fraction of your revenue comes from page views. To rack up the $$, people actually need to click on your ads.
On top of it, the increased bandwidth, made me incur extra cost at my ISP! I kept the tracking feature, though, which is slick for traffic reports.
Tarot, from Superboy v.2 #15.
6 OCTOBER 2009
» Obscure Legion Knock-Offs, part 2
I was alerted to the fact that the non-Legionnaires from the TV Superboy comic made a return visit, in Superboy v.2 #15 (1991). >MORE...
6 OCTOBER 2009
New Samurai, and TV's classic Samurai.
» Heroes of Japan: Samurai
What a strange coincidence, that after I start adding to my Samurai profile, a new in-continuity version of this hero is created! In case you missed him, he is from medieval Japan and was introduced in this month's JLA 80-Page Giant.
I have also scanned the original Samurai's origin story > MORE...
30 SEPTEMBER 2009
» Scanning the Star(man)s
I've done a handful of Starman scans that depict some "elusive" moments in DC history. I'm documenting those fleeting references to Golden Age Quality characters. A lot of people talk about these appearances with question marks trailing, so in case you've wondered, here's the proof! We have here, appearances of the Red Bee, Phantom Lady, the Jester, various heroes in an untold JSA case, and some "memorabilia."
From Starman #37, 44, 46, 62, 64
I could use more help though! I don't have original issues of the series, and there are supposedly a few more references. Can anyone help with these?
- In which issue was it said that Doll Man, Darrel Dane, went undercover some time ago and was believed to have been In an insane asylum?
- In Starman #19, can you confirm that the Shade says the Clock's "death" in 1941 was part of an elaborate hoax: "Brian O'Brien told me reports of his death were greatly exaggerated"?
20 SEPTEMBER 2009
» Spider Widow and The Raven
This is an intriguing duo of Quality Comics heroes. They seem to be some of the few who partnered, and fewer who crossed over into other features (namely, Phantom Lady). In fact, the Spider Widow and Phantom Lady had a bit of a rivalry going for the Raven's attentions. > READ ON ...
14 SEPTEMBER 2009
» Finally! I finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
And so should you. Wow, wow, wow. There is no mystery why this book won the Pulitzer. But also, as comics fans, especially if you love the Golden Age, this is a well-researched glimpse inside the life of the young creators of that era. I've never read the Escapist comics which followed from this book, are they good?
Major updates have been slow to come, but I haven't been idle. I've been adding to various profiles from back issues I've bought, and doing a massive amount of research about the history of Quality Comics. I hope to establish a sort of clearinghouse for all things Quality when all is said and done. Though many researchers have interviewed Quality creators over the years, no one has ever really assembled anything specifically about the company. I find it so strange because: (1) the company lived up to its name. Its art especially was top of the line for its day. And (2) it's part of DC yet largely unexplored given the humongous volume that it published. Coincidentally, Kavalier and Clay is heavily inspired by Quality's legacy.
If you want to see my basic research so far, browse Quality Titles and Quality Bibliography.
Madam Fatal • USA • The Voice
18 AUGUST 2009
» Quality Comics Heroes
When I stumbled across the Golden Age Comics Downloads, I began downloading ahoy. Then I thought wouldn't it be great to flesh out the histories of some of these really obscure heroes? Certainly, but I didn't realize that we were talking about dozens of heroes here! Nobody has really chronicled this goldmine, which is ostensibly owned by DC. (If they have never used a character, does DC actually have the copyright? Online discussions make my head spin.) Roy Thomas (of course) and James Robinson are probably the two writers who have most mined this stable of characters.
I'm picking away at them, doing ones with shorter runs, or those that interest me the most first. I've finished the following three, but have added info for a whole bunch of others, too.
Madam Fatal • USA • The Voice