Superman #223

Bought at Has Been Collectible Toys and Comics, Wilbraham MA USA.

Title: Superman
Issue: 223
Date: January, 1970
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Cary Bates, Henry Boltinoff
Artist: Curt Swan, Henry Boltinoff
Editor: Mort Weisinger

Clark Kent encounters three women who know that he's Superman. They soon reveal themselves to be part of an extraterrestrial team of superheroes who are considering recruiting him for their team. But a test of his powers goes badly wrong, Superman soon finds himself facing a new threat to Earth.

So, this is one of those stories where everything would have been solved much more easily if people had just talked to each other. It's got a bunch of plot twists, a surprise guest appearance, and the general silly vibe typical of Silver Age DC.

The story is a fairly entertaining ride, but the grim situations that come up don't mesh with the overall goofy flavor of the story. The superheroine team, the Galactons, turn out to be not what they seemed, which is too bad, because their introduction was pretty intriguing, and they might have made interesting longer-term characters.

Rating: 5.5/10

Justice League of America #80

First review in a while, and there have been big changes in my life since the last time I posted here. I'm typing this from our new apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where we are currently settling in. I start my new day job here in a few days.

We were pretty limited in the amount of stuff we were able to bring over, and the packing was something of a whirlwind process. As a result, only a small stack of comics from the seemingly-endless backlog made the trip. I've got a baker's dozen comics with me...

... Plus about five graphic novels. After that, I'll have to find them locally.

In the meantime, let's start with a classic American issue: A Justice League comic from 1970.

Title: Justice League of America

Issue: 80

Date: May, 1970

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Denny O'Neil

Artist: Dick Dillin, Joe Giella

Thanagaran bad guy Norch Lor is stealing souls with something he calls a Ghenna box, and the JLA mostly stumble around trying to stop him. Lor's motivations are a bit fuzzy here, but basically he is out to preserve souls due to some impending universal apocalypse.

He is one of those pesky villains that gives the League more trouble than he has any right to. And unfortunately, the plot is loaded with little inconsistencies, down to the effects of his Ghenna thingee. It puts some victims into a coma while it leaves others in a kind of zombie-like condition.

I did like the fact that it is Canary who finally gets the upper hand on the bad guy (with a sleeper-hold, no less!), but the plot holes here were just a bit too frequent and too large. There was also a rather tired "an unprotected person can survive for 10 seconds in space" bit, which I have seen done in at least two other comics from this general time period. And the story hinted on the cover bears little resemblance to what actually occurs.

I did like to science facts backup features which took up a couple of pages of the book.

But a bad villain and a bad weak plot don't make for much entertainment value.

Rating: 4.5/10