Misplaced Pages

#829170

91-719: When the Golden Age of Comic Books ended in the 1950s, most of DC Comics' superhero comic books ceased publication. At the start of the Silver Age , characters such as the Flash and Green Lantern were revamped for more modern times, ignoring or abandoning established continuity and thus making a clean break between the two eras. It was later established that the Golden Age and Silver Age heroes lived on Earth-Two and Earth-One respectively, these being separate parallel Earths in

182-537: A Superman other than the mainstream one. Several differences between Kal-L and the better-known Kal-El were introduced. Kal-L was written to be different from the original Golden Age Superman, most famously by revealing his secret identity to Lois Lane and eventually marrying her in 1950. Their early marital life was depicted in the feature "Mr. & Mrs. Superman" in DC's Superman Family series, in which Kent kept his secret from Lane and never married her. As Superman, Kal-L

273-650: A cameo appearance by the Golden Age Hawkman in every issue, since he was the one hero to appear in every Golden Age issue of the original All Star Comics series , including the two issues that predated the formation of the Justice Society of America. Although Hawkman did not appear in every issue of the second All Star Comic series, Roy Thomas wanted to create a new streak for the character in All-Star Squadron . The artwork for issue #49

364-464: A creature called K'li: Fury of War to emerge from the fire pit. They fought against K'li until she took control of Huntress and Power Girl so that she can kill them and join her Fury sisters. Red Tornado was able to get through to Huntress and Power Girl to break the mind-control. The group then takes a detour to a nearby lab that sent the distress signal as it was being attacked by mutated creatures. Val-Zod and Power Girl combined their abilities to destroy

455-441: A lengthy journey from Krypton. When her father Zor-L discovered that Krypton was about to explode, he placed her in a spacecraft directed towards Earth. Although this occurs at the same time as Kal-L's ship is launched, Kara's ship travels more slowly, and she arrives on Earth decades after her cousin has landed. Kara's Symbioship is designed to keep her in stasis during the journey and provide her with life experiences and education in

546-631: A new, unified reality with a revised history. The heroes of World War II now existed in the same timeline as modern heroes, simply operating at an earlier time. While it was not a major problem to establish that certain characters such as the Golden Age Flash (a man named Jay Garrick) and the later Flash (a man named Barry Allen) could co-exist and both operate during different time periods, this explanation didn't work for heroes with direct counterparts. Golden Age heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman , Robin , and Green Arrow all of whom had

637-542: A replica of Metropolis and the Daily Star office building in an attempt to help. After the attempt failed, Kal-L began to believe Alexander's claims that the paradise dimension was eating away at their souls. Alexander and Superboy used Kal-L's distraction over Lois' health to break out of the paradise dimension and start their plan to recreate the Multiverse. Appalled by the rapidly deteriorating state of affairs in

728-677: A result, the Comics Code Authority was created by the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers to enact self-censorship by comic book publishers. At this time, EC canceled its crime and horror titles and focused primarily on Mad . The Silver Age of Comic Books is recognized by some as beginning with the debut of the first successful new superhero since the Golden Age, DC Comics' new Flash , in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956). All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron

819-642: A single Multiverse . Superman was one of the few exceptions; his stories had been published without interruption since his 1938 debut in Action Comics #1 . This caused a continuity problem, in that Superman was simultaneously a member of the Justice Society of America on Earth-Two and also a member of the Justice League of America on Earth-One. Writer Dennis O'Neil eventually resolved that there were two Supermen. The Silver Age Superman

910-535: A single war-time organization, just as many American labor organizations did during World War II. In the canon of DC Comics, the Axis Powers used the mystical Spear of Destiny to create a "sphere of influence" over their occupied territories and surrounding areas during most of World War II. This sphere of influence caused superhumans, magically empowered people, and magic-users to fall under Hitler's control and take on some of his personality traits. For this reason,

1001-555: A temporary reliance on his leaping ability while allied with the Justice Society on a case involving his cousin Power Girl and the immortal criminal Vandal Savage . Kal-L reasoned that his diminished power stemmed from aging. Based on Superman's first origin and subsequent reference by U-Ban, this Superman came from a race of Kryptonians that possessed superhuman strength, leaping ability and some visual aptitudes to compensate for that planet's greater gravitation pull. Most accounts of

SECTION 10

#1732783887830

1092-463: A vision of Kal-El's future heroism before the start of his career (keeping Superman as the inspiration for Earth's superheroes in the new universe as well). Kal-L later felt that the paradise was more a prison than a refuge, and eventually discovered a doorway that would allow him to leave the paradise dimension without causing the destruction of the universe. Kal was content to stay in the paradise dimension until Lois began to fall ill, when he created

1183-618: Is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in Justice League of America #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas , Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway . Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its self-titled series took place in the 1940s, retroactively inserting their narratives into the fictional history of the DC Comics superheroes. The team included many of DC's Golden Age era characters, new characters, and other World War II superheroes which DC did not own during

1274-523: Is attacked by Protofuries led by Barda. Val-Zod and Kara met up with Commander Sonia Sato at the headquarters at Atom's Haven. When Darkseid's terraformer fell to Earth, Val-Zod saw it as a threat. Val-Zod begins his attack on the terraformer with the assistance of Power Girl and Red Tornado which caused it to unleash a horde of Parademons. Commander Sato took control of the Parademons and sent them to attack Apokolips. The Earth-Two Superman appears in

1365-529: Is dead. A completely separate Earth-2 Superman was introduced in the new Earth 2 series launched in May 2012 as part of " The New 52 " (a reboot of the DC Comics universe). This version of Superman is named Kal-El, the same as the main version, not Kal-L as the original. The Earth-2 Kal-El is also far younger than the original Kal-L, being only a little older than the mainstream Superman. The new Earth-2 Superman's aged foster parents John and Martha Kent both survive to

1456-454: Is one designated "Earth-2". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre- Crisis Earth-Two. According to comments by Grant Morrison , this alternate universe is not the pre- Crisis Earth-Two. This separation was confirmed in Justice Society of America Annual #1 (2008) when, during the battle between New Earth's Justice Society of America and Earth-2's Justice Society Infinity, it

1547-744: Is rescued from the destruction of Earth-Two and travels to another dimension alongside Lois Lane, Alexander Luthor Jr. , and Superboy-Prime . As a tribute to the Earth-Two Superman, before the Superman character was recreated by John Byrne in the Man of Steel mini-series, Kal-L's origin was retold in Secret Origins #1 (April 1986), written by Roy Thomas and drawn by former Superman artist Wayne Boring . In post- Crisis continuity, Kal-L's role in various All-Star Squadron adventures

1638-458: Is revealed that this universe's Superman has been missing for several years after a major crisis. The Post- Crisis Earth-2 Power Girl (a distinct character from the pre- Crisis Earth-Two Power Girl who resided on New Earth since Crisis ) searched in vain for him for years. Starman admits the possibility that the missing Post- Crisis Earth-2 Superman is still alive ( Justice Society of America [second series] #23) despite being lost, whereas Kal-L

1729-532: Is to bring back Earth-Two. He then tries to enlist Batman 's aid by claiming that Batman's distrust of the heroes has been caused by Earth-One's darker nature, and promises always to stand by him when the "right" Earth returns. Batman, however, asks Kal-L if the Dick Grayson of this Earth is a corrupted version of the one that Kal-L knew, and attempts to use the Kryptonite ring against him. Kal-L destroys

1820-417: Is waning, he is destroyed by Lois using a cyclone blast from her hand. Writer James Robinson commented on this version of Superman: "Mourning the death of his beloved, Superman carries both a sadness in his heart along with the weight of Earth 2's welfare upon on his shoulders, while never showing this and seeming to all that he is this world's peerless champion." Created by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott ,

1911-624: The 1939 New York World's Fair . The Perisphere contained the Squadron meeting hall, while the Trylon was retrofitted as an aircraft hangar/vertical launch platform. The All-Star Squadron had a robotic butler named Gernsback , based on the Elektro robots from the fair and named after science fiction publisher Hugo Gernsback . During the 1985-86 series Crisis on Infinite Earths , Earth-Two and Earth-One, along with some other realities, merged into

SECTION 20

#1732783887830

2002-796: The Flash , Green Lantern , Doctor Fate , the Atom , Hawkman , Green Arrow and Aquaman . Timely Comics , the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics , had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch , the Sub-Mariner , and Captain America . Although DC and Timely characters are well remembered today, circulation figures suggest that the best-selling superhero title of the era was Fawcett Comics ' Captain Marvel Adventures with sales of about 1.4 million copies per issue. The comic

2093-600: The Parademons . Alan Scott saved them as Val-Zod told Batman II about saving Red Tornado. Due to an attack by the Apokoliptian forces, Val-Zod and Batman had to evacuate from the Batcave. Making their way to Amazonia, Val-Zod is blamed by Batman for not using his powers and letting Red Arrow die. Jimmy Olsen states to Batman that it wasn't Val-Zod's fault. When he asks Val-Zod what is underneath his hoodie, Val-Zod shows

2184-472: The Tomorrowverse films Justice Society: World War II and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths , voiced by Darren Criss . Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype

2275-520: The 1940s but later acquired. The name "All-Star Squadron" was creator Roy Thomas' reference to All Star Comics , the series that introduced the Justice Society of America, the first comic book superhero team. According to the series All-Star Squadron , US President Franklin Roosevelt creates a "superhero draft" called Article X during World War II. Article X asks all active American masked crime-fighters and superhuman adventurers to join forces as

2366-707: The All-Star Squadron focused its activities on protecting the US from invasion, super-villains, spies, and sabotage rather than risk their minds being controlled by the Axis Powers if they operated overseas in Europe or Asia. After their introduction in Justice League of America, the team starred in the series All-Star Squadron which ran from 1981 to 1987. At different times, the organization's chairperson

2457-689: The Archie Andrews character remaining in print well into the 21st century. At the same time in Canada, American comic books were prohibited importation under the War Exchange Conservation Act which restricted the importation of non-essential goods. Canadian publishers responded to this lack of competition by producing titles of their own, informally called the Canadian Whites . While these titles flourished during

2548-695: The Earth-2 universe's Val-Zod takes over the role of Superman from Kal-El starting in Earth-2 #25 and throughout the Earth-2: World's End mini-series. The character's name Val-Zod hints he may be part of the House of Zod , or the Earth-2 counterpart of Lor-Zod . Val-Zod was rendered an orphan when his parents were executed by the Kryptonian court and he later befriended fellow orphan Kara Zor-El. He

2639-734: The Fury of Famine. As Power Girl took on Huntress, Val-Zod worked to evacuate the others only for DeSaad to unleash Yolanda Montez (who was transformed into the Avatar of the Red) on them. Val-Zod used his blood to poison the labyrinth while also freeing Yolanda. Afterwards, Val-Zod and Power Girl bury the real Superman's body on a hill and then headed to the World Army outpost where they answer Flash's distress call. Val-Zod uses his charged cells to overload K'li. Though Deathspawn has emerged and Atom's Haven

2730-481: The Golden Age Wonder Woman of Earth-Two had fought Nazis during World War II, then later semi-retired, married her dear friend Steve Trevor, and had a daughter named Hyppolyta Trevor (who became a hero called Fury and joined a team of heroes known as Infinity, Inc. ). The 1970s revival of All Star Comics involved some flashback stories, but most of the issues took place in the modern day, showing

2821-560: The Golden Age. During this time, the popularity of superhero comics waned. To retain reader interest, comic publishers diversified into other genres, such as war , Westerns , science fiction , romance , crime and horror . Many superhero titles were canceled or converted to other genres. In 1946, DC Comics ' Superboy , Aquaman and Green Arrow were switched from More Fun Comics into Adventure Comics so More Fun could focus on humor. In 1948 All-American Comics , featuring Green Lantern , Johnny Thunder and Dr. Mid-Nite ,

Superman (Earth-Two) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-412: The Justice Society members as older heroes decades after World War II. Conway also included younger heroes in the group, such as Power Girl (an Earth-Two version of Supergirl ). His hope was to later have the younger members star in a spin-off series of their own, forming a team that could be called the All-Star Squadron. Management at DC worried that the team's name would be abbreviated as A.S.S., and so

3003-596: The Justice Society members had been captured by the time-travelling villain Per Degaton with the help of JSA foes he had pulled back in time, but the available heroes were asked to first guard against a potential attack on the West Coast of the United States . Degaton himself used some stolen Japanese planes with hypnotized troopers to launch such an attack on San Francisco, hoping to change history by making

3094-521: The Kal-L's origin state that his powers came from his Kryptonian heritage, not from the energy of a yellow sun ( Secret Origins #1 [1986]). A later conflicting reinterpretation stated that his powers fluctuated when under a red sun, as noted in Infinite Crisis and All-Star Comics . As a Black Lantern, Kal-L's black power ring needs to be charged by feeding on the hearts of living beings within

3185-607: The Modern Age Superman; it was later revealed his powers took longer to develop or be discovered. While Kal-L could only super-leap an eighth of a mile until adulthood, as costumed Superman, Kal-L later gained full-fledged flight by the early 1940s. By the time Kal-L met Kal-El in the late 1960s, the two heroes were almost evenly matched in powers. However, almost all later renditions of the Earth-Two Kal-L showed him exhibiting his more limited abilities, including

3276-547: The Readers" wherein he described the impetus for the series. Namely, DC wanted a comic book telling tales of the Justice Society of America (JSA). The last series to do so was the second volume of All Star Comics , which lasted only seventeen issues from 1976 to 1979. As Roy Thomas put it, DC management gave him "a chance to write a return of the JSA". Instead of writing stories in the modern era of Earth-Two, Roy Thomas chose to set

3367-506: The Squadron in combat situations in the European or Pacific Theaters of War was that Adolf Hitler had possession of the Spear of Destiny , a mystical object that gave him control of any superheroes with magic-based powers or a vulnerability to magic (including Superman , Green Lantern , Doctor Fate and others) who crossed into territory held by the Axis Powers . At the time, many of

3458-399: The United States fight to a stalemate against Japan, enabling him to take over the world, so the new Squadron's first major mission was to stop the attack and rescue the captured heroes, who also became part of the new group. Due to Per Degaton going back in time after the JSA were freed they forgot his involvement, though the events were not wiped. America's entry into the war caused several of

3549-469: The above story did occur as written. Kal-L began fighting evil on a local level in his base of operations, the American city of Metropolis . Later in his career he would consider first the entire United States and then the whole world under his protection. In November 1940 Superman became a founding member of the Justice Society of America . Like Batman , he was referred to as an "honorary member" during

3640-582: The comic book industry hit a setback when the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was created in order to investigate the problem of juvenile delinquency . After the publication of Fredric Wertham 's Seduction of the Innocent the following year that claimed comics sparked illegal behavior among minors, comic book publishers such as EC's William Gaines were subpoenaed to testify in public hearings. As

3731-511: The creative team decided to concentrate on "quite promising characters who have been ignored or underplayed for years", instead of only those Earth-Two characters who had popular counterparts on Earth-One. For examples, All-Star Squadron did not focus much on the Earth-Two versions of Superman and Wonder Woman, nor on the Golden Age version of the Flash, Jay Garrick, whose counterpart Barry Allen

Superman (Earth-Two) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-467: The creatures and rescue everyone. Using special suits to enter the fire pits, they encounter DeSaad and find his special laboratory where he was creating imperfect clones of Superman. When Batman was suffering from the madness that the Miraclo is bringing him, Val-Zod destroyed the Miraclo. The dead clones have awoken as the group is confronted by the Parademons as Helena arrives having been converted into

3913-522: The early 1930s). In this story Kal-L briefly attains flight by hovering, an account that is refuted in all other stories specific to Kal-L, as he is stated only to be able to jump far until adulthood. This suggests that the story relates to another Kal-L counterpart in the pre- Crisis infinite multiverse , rather than to the actual Earth-Two Superman, but in Superman Family #207 (May/June 1981), Kal-L tells Lois about having met Superboy, suggesting

4004-466: The emotional spectrum. The ring appears to have given Kal-L's body all the abilities he would have had as a Kryptonian under a yellow sun, as well as the ability to recall certain aspects of his former life. Wearing the ring, however, places Kal-L under the influences of Nekron and his disciples Scar and Black Hand . In the final issue of the weekly comic book 52 , a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among them

4095-470: The entire 1950s were Action Comics , Adventure Comics , Batman , Detective Comics , Superboy , Superman , Wonder Woman and World's Finest Comics . Plastic Man appeared in Quality Comics ' Police Comics until 1950, when its focus switched to detective stories; his solo title continued bimonthly until issue 52, cover-dated February 1955. Timely Comics ' The Human Torch

4186-477: The evil New Gods . On the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor , President Franklin Roosevelt gathered available superheroes—including members of the Justice Society of America , Freedom Fighters , and solo heroes—at the White House. He asked them to band together for the war as the All-Star Squadron to battle sabotage and keep the peace on the home front during World War II . The rationale for not using

4277-722: The fight, Kal-L realizes that a perfect Earth does not need a Superman and that Alexander is using him for his own purposes. Kal-L survives the collapse of the alternate Earths into New Earth and witnesses the death of Kon-El , making him realize he condemned the wrong Superboy. Kal-L and Kal-El then join forces to defeat Doomsday and Bizarro during the Secret Society's assault on Metropolis. The two Supermen then team up to overcome Superboy-Prime by dragging him into space through Krypton's red sun Rao, causing all three to lose their powers and crash land on Mogo . Kal-L and Kal-El fight Superboy-Prime on Mogo's surface, where Prime kills

4368-531: The final two issues, which included Black Cat stories. Lev Gleason Publications ' Daredevil was edged out of his title by the Little Wise Guys in 1950. Fawcett Comics ' Whiz Comics , Master Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures were canceled in 1953, and The Marvel Family was canceled the following year. Also during this period, the mass media with the advent of television were forcing media companies to put out comics that reflected

4459-513: The firepits. Val-Zod was later found by the Wonders to fight what appeared to be a brainwashed Superman calling himself Brutaal and discovered that he was a Kryptonian. Val-Zod revealed to them that he spent his childhood in a capsule and developed a fear of big open spaces. Red Tornado (who has the mind of the late Lois Lane) was able to give him a convincing pep talk. After Red Tornado taught Val-Zod how to use his abilities, they were attacked by

4550-455: The form of a virtual reality . By the time she arrives on Earth, Kara is in her late teens to early twenties. The Symbioship provided virtual copies of Zor-L, Alura and fellow Kryptonians from within her home city of Kandor . Once removed from the ship, this virtual reality ceased to exist. Only Kara – Power Girl , as she would later be known – was known to interact with this virtual Kryptonian reality. In Crisis on Infinite Earths , Superman

4641-556: The gathering to be the first meeting of the Justice Society of America . The JSA was the first comic book superhero team and became the main feature of All Star Comics until it was canceled with issue #57 in 1951. Writer Gerry Conway revived the All Star Comics series in 1976, continuing the original numbering by starting with issue #58. By this time, DC had established that its modern day adventures took place in

SECTION 50

#1732783887830

4732-617: The group's name was changed to the Super Squad. A team known as the All-Star Squadron debuted years later in a special insert in Justice League of America #193 (August 1981). The team's official series All-Star Squadron then began the following month with the creative team of writer Roy Thomas , with artists Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway . The comic book series lasted 67 issues from September 1981 to March 1987, with three annuals published as well. In All-Star Squadron #1, series writer Roy Thomas published "An Open Letter to

4823-542: The latter. In Blackest Night , the Earth-Two Superman and Lois are resurrected as Black Lanterns . Superboy uses Psycho-Pirate 's Medusa Mask to kill Superman, but Lois sacrifices herself to reanimate him with her ring. During the battle between Kal-L and Power Girl, Mister Terrific creates a machine that kills Black Lanterns and uses it on Superman, killing him once more. In Convergence , Brainiac collects Earth-Two's Metropolis, among other locations from doomed timelines. Afterward, Kal-L reveals his secret identity to

4914-510: The licensed Walt Disney animated-character comics) outsold the superhero comics of the day. The publisher featured licensed movie and literary characters such as Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck , Roy Rogers and Tarzan . It was during this era that noted Donald Duck writer-artist Carl Barks rose to prominence. Additionally, MLJ 's introduction of Archie Andrews in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941) gave rise to teen humor comics , with

5005-533: The members of the JSA to enlist, or be drafted in their civilian identities. These included Alan Scott , Starman , Hawkman , The Atom and Johnny Thunder . In the pages of " The New Golden Age ", the Prime-Earth version of the All-Star Squadron is revealed to exist as the bio for the Golden Age Aquaman mentions that he was briefly a member of this group. Mister Terrific also mentioned that

5096-612: The original meeting of the Justice Society. He subsequently appeared with it in two published adventures during the 1940s, aiding them on several other occasions retroactively as a member of the World War II All-Star Squadron . He built a secret citadel in the mountains outside Metropolis as his headquarters, as shown in Infinite Crisis , and eventually built a Fortress of Solitude comparable to that of his Earth-One counterpart. In later years, Kal-L

5187-551: The popular culture of the time period. Comic books focused on space, mystery, and suspense that television and other forms of media were turning to in the march toward scientific progress. According to historian Michael A. Amundson, appealing comic-book characters helped ease young readers' fear of nuclear war and neutralize anxiety about the questions posed by atomic power. It was during this period that long-running humor comics debuted, including EC Comics ' series Mad and Dell's series Uncle Scrooge (both in 1952). In 1953,

5278-467: The present unlike that of the current mainstream Superman. This new Earth-2 Superman was seemingly killed alongside his world's Batman and Wonder Woman while fighting off an invasion from the planet Apokolips led by Steppenwolf . However, issue #16 reveals that he not only survived, but had somehow allied himself with Apokopolis while taking the name Brutaal. After being snapped out of Darkseid's control by his wife Lois Lane (who in this reality inhabits

5369-544: The public and attempts to end Brainiac and Telos' schemes. The Earth-Two Superman has super-strength, the power of flight, super-speed, super-breath, arctic breath, super-hearing, super-vision (including X-ray, heat, microscopic and telescopic visions) and invulnerability to most forces other than magic, psionics and Kryptonite. He is at least as strong as Superman of the Silver Age from the Pre-Crisis continuity, and

5460-507: The ring and departs. Power Girl is knocked out and captured by Superboy-Prime after discovering Alexander Luthor Jr.'s tuning fork, which he plans to use to restore the Multiverse to search for the perfect Earth. Alexander succeeds in recreating Earth-Two, causing Kal-L, the Earth-Two Lois and the heroes who originated on Earth-Two to be sent there. Soon after their arrival on Earth-Two, the Earth-Two Lois dies after telling Kal-L she

5551-454: The ruling scientific council exiled from Krypton after they attempted to conquer the planet. Imprisoned in suspended animation in tube vessels, they were later freed. Superman's lookalike Mala later created a counterfeit Earth. These Golden Age stories and characters were never referred to in later Earth-Two stories. At some time during the Silver Age, Superman's cousin Kara arrived on Earth after

SECTION 60

#1732783887830

5642-434: The same secret identities, same basic origin stories, and largely similar supporting casts as their modern day counterparts. For this reason, these particular Golden Age heroes, and some others, had to be removed from the history of the new, unified timeline. This also meant the canon of several recent All-Star Squadron stories was now questionable, since the Golden Age versions of those same heroes made multiple appearances in

5733-595: The series during World War II. Roy Thomas decided to include other Golden Age era characters that weren't published by DC Comics during the 1930s and 40s but were acquired by the company in later years, such as the Quality Comics characters. All-Star Squadron established that most of these characters co-existed with the Golden Age DC heroes on Earth-Two. In a nod to the original JSA adventures in All Star Comics , writer Roy Thomas tried to include at least

5824-600: The series offered detailed origin stories of various characters, sometimes with revised details. Characters who had origin issues dedicated to them included Amazing-Man , Starman , Doctor Fate , Liberty Belle , Robotman , Johnny Quick , and the Tarantula . The story arc in issues #32-33 detailed how the Freedom Fighters traveled from Earth-Two to Earth-X , an event indicated in an earlier Justice League story. With so many characters to choose from,

5915-453: The series regular penciler starting with issue #19 (March 1983). He and Thomas then co-created the Infinity, Inc. team, introducing it in All-Star Squadron #25 (Sept. 1983). All-Star Squadron #31 (1984) featured the group's first "full roster" general meeting, taking place at their headquarters. The All-Star Squadron HQ was depicted as the Trylon and Perisphere , actual structures in Flushing Meadows , Queens, New York, constructed for

6006-422: The series. To clear the slate after Crisis on Infinite Earths and re-launch the franchise, All Star Squadron ended with issue #67 and the series was succeeded by Young All-Stars . Since then, the All-Star Squadron has appeared in sporadic stories published by DC Comics. Article X was used again during the crossover Final Crisis when Earth's superheroes needed to unite against the forces of Darkseid and

6097-464: The side of shield. Some artists such as Alex Ross and others, including Justice Society series artist Dale Eaglesham , continued to use the specific six-sided 1940s S-shield after Perez's change for Kal-L. Stories featuring both Supermen also indicated that Kal-L was the older of the two, being depicted as late-middle-aged. These choices helped DC Comics to restore continuity to some of the character's Golden Age stories and led them to experiment with

6188-469: The symbol of the House of El. After a talk with Jimmy Olsen and Doctor Fate, Val-Zod rose up and fought Superman who cracked and crumbled revealing that this Superman is a deformed and perverted clone. After the Superman clone was reduced to dust, the Wonders declared their victory against Apokolips. Accompanying Red Tornado and Batman to save the people from the remaining fire pits, Val-Zod encountered Huntress and Power Girl . A massive earthquake enabled

6279-440: The time of the Second World War following the Shield 's debut in 1940. Many heroes of this time period battled the Axis powers , with covers such as Captain America Comics #1 ( cover-dated March 1941) showing the title character punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler . As comic books grew in popularity, publishers began launching titles that expanded into a variety of genres. Dell Comics ' non-superhero characters (particularly

6370-402: The universe of Earth-One, whereas DC's Golden Age stories during the 1930s and 40s occurred in a parallel reality called Earth-Two . While the Golden Age Superman , introduced in 1938, had lived through World War II, the Earth-One Superman had not even been born until long after the war was over. While the modern-day Earth-One Wonder Woman was a superhero in her prime, new stories revealed that

6461-423: The war, they did not survive the lifting of trade restrictions afterwards. The term Atomic Age of Comic Books is sometimes used to describe a brief time period, starting with either the end of World War II in 1945 or in 1948 with the first outcry of Fredric Wertham, and lasting until the mid-1950s. Some authors consider this an interregnum period or an era in its own right, but most regard it as still part of

6552-482: The wind-manipulating robot body known as Red Tornado after it was uploaded into the android body by Sam Lane and Robert Crane ), Superman and Red Tornado leave for the Kent family's farm. After a protracted battle with Earth 2's superheroes, in particular Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and a younger Kryptonian, Val-Zod , he is revealed to be scaling and decomposing. Realizing he is a Bizarro -type clone and that his power

6643-423: The world, Kal-L and his three companions emerge from their self-imposed exile to help. Kal-L batters an exit through the crystalline barrier which has separated them from the rest of reality. He then meets up with Power Girl, explains her true origins and the events of the previous Crisis, and enlists her help. The touch of the Earth-Two Lois restores Power Girl's memories, and Kal-L then reveals to her that his plan

6734-657: The wrist-cuffs, while his S-shield symbol was originally different from the main Superman S-symbol, adapting the 1940s six-sided version with the tail endings and hard-left tilt of the S-edges. George Pérez famously redesigned Kal-L's 1940s S-shield (starting in Justice League America #197) to be mostly the main S-symbol with five sides, and to merely reflect the tilt connecting the upper edge to

6825-486: Was Liberty Belle or Hawkman . A spin-off series entitled Young All-Stars began in 1987 and published 32 issues. During the Golden Age of Comics (roughly 1935–1951), several comic books featured crime-fighters, "mystery-men", adventurers, and superheroes. DC Comics began publishing the anthology series All Star Comics (sometimes referred to as All-Star Comics ) in 1940. In issue #3, DC had many of their superheroes join together for dinner and share stories, declaring

6916-497: Was Kal-El from Earth-One, and the Golden Age Superman was Kal-L from Earth-Two. Several differences between the two Supermen were established to clarify the distinction. The Earth-One names "Kal-El", " Jor-El ", and " Jonathan and Martha Kent " became "Kal-L", "Jor-L", and "John and Mary Kent" on Earth-Two, as in the original Golden Age stories. Kal-L's costume was largely adapted from the 1940s drawing style, retaining

7007-480: Was by Roy Thomas in the letter column of All-Star Squadron #20 (April 1983). Several story lines ironed out continuity errors, fleshed out characters' origins, explained inconsistencies in character development, and resolved lingering questions and plot threads. Roy Thomas had used the Marvel Comics series Invaders in a similar way to address and revise official Marvel fictional history. Several issues of

7098-654: Was canceled with issue #35 (March 1949) and Marvel Mystery Comics , featuring the Human Torch, with issue #93 (Aug. 1949) became the horror comic Marvel Tales . Sub-Mariner Comics was canceled with issue #42 (June 1949) and Captain America Comics , by then Captain America's Weird Tales , with #75 (Feb. 1950). Harvey Comics ' Black Cat was canceled in 1951 and rebooted as a horror comic later that year—the title would change to Black Cat Mystery , Black Cat Mystic , and eventually Black Cat Western for

7189-508: Was capable of landing the killing blow against Anti-Monitor (who had been already weakened), reducing him to a skull with a "star-shattering" punch. An additional ability that actual Golden Age Superman possessed, which his modern counterpart does not, is an ability to "mold" his face and body to disguise himself, as chronicled in several Golden Age tales. Originally, Kal-L was weaker than the Silver Age Superman of Earth-One or

7280-509: Was considered an elder statesman of Earth-Two's superhero community, the one that later generations of superheroes looked to as an example and role model. In his secret identity as Clark Kent, Superman also enjoyed success at the Daily Star , of which he was appointed editor-in-chief in the 1950s, replacing George Taylor . In 1950 Superman encountered three other surviving Kryptonians, U-Ban, Kizo and Mala. All three brothers were members of

7371-448: Was considered the first public superhero in the history of Earth-Two , being the first individual to appear regularly in a colorful costume and display superhuman abilities, in contrast to earlier part-time super-powered heroes such as Doctor Occult . In a contended story, Kal-L received training in his teen years from his Earth-One counterpart , after Superboy was accidentally transported to Earth-Two (and back in time several decades to

7462-504: Was created and many well-known characters were introduced, including Superman , Batman , Robin , Captain Marvel , Captain America , and Wonder Woman . The first recorded use of the term "Golden Age" was by Richard A. Lupoff in an article, "Re-Birth", published in issue one of the fanzine Comic Art in April 1960. An event cited by many as marking the beginning of the Golden Age

7553-414: Was happy to have lived such a long life. Kal-El hears Kal-L's screams of sorrow from the current Earth and investigates. A grief-stricken Kal-L angrily attacks Kal-El upon his arrival, blaming him for corrupting Earth-Two as he did his own Earth. During the fight, both Supermen experience lucid visions of the other's life and try to change things on the other's Earth for the better, but they both fail. After

7644-404: Was just folding..." When Rich Buckler left the series after the fifth issue, editor Len Wein hired artist Adrian Gonzales as a replacement and notified Roy Thomas with a note stating "You're going to like Adrian Gonzales". He drew the series for 13 issues, during which the team had a crossover with the Justice League of America . Jerry Ordway, who had inked the series since its start, became

7735-400: Was later among the orphans that were saved from Krypton's destruction by Jor-El and Lara. During the travels to Earth, Val-Zod learned about his parents' knowledge about violence being the stupidest way to overcome something leading to Val-Zod becoming a pacifist. When Val-Zod landed on Earth, he was taken in by Terry Sloan who offered to protect him from the outside world. He helped Sloan make

7826-413: Was printed without Hawkman's cameo included, making it the only issue of the series where he does not appear. The All-Star Squadron team is an example of " retroactive continuity " or "retcon", since the team itself was retroactively inserted into the history of DC superheroes and the series rewrote portions of already-established DC canon published during the 1940s. The first known use of the term "retcon"

7917-499: Was published biweekly at one point to capitalize on its popularity. Another notable series was The Spirit by Will Eisner , which deviated from the usual publishing model of the period as a weekly multi-page supplement in the Register and Tribune Syndicate newspapers for which Eisner held the copyright, a rare consideration for creators of that period. Patriotic heroes donning red, white, and blue were particularly popular during

8008-451: Was replaced with All-American Western . The following year, Flash Comics and Green Lantern were canceled. In 1951 All Star Comics , featuring the Justice Society of America , became All-Star Western . The next year Star Spangled Comics , featuring Robin, was retitled Star Spangled War Stories . Sensation Comics , featuring Wonder Woman , was canceled in 1953. The only superhero comics published continuously through

8099-559: Was taken by the character Iron Munro from the Young All-Stars series. Kal-L's roles as the most respected member of the Justice Society of America and the person who found his cousin Power Girl were given to the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott and to Kal-El respectively. Lee Travis (the first Crimson Avenger ) became the first costumed hero of the post- Crisis universe after being shown

8190-461: Was the 1938 debut of Superman in Action Comics #1, published by Detective Comics (predecessor of DC Comics ). Superman's popularity helped make comic books a major arm of publishing, which led rival companies to create superheroes of their own to emulate Superman's success. Between 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics and its sister company, All-American Publications , introduced popular superheroes such as Batman and Robin , Wonder Woman ,

8281-469: Was very popular as the Flash of Earth-One. Roy Thomas wrote: "If we lost the original GL , we gained the Earth-Two Robotman ; if we dropped Jay (Flash) Garrick , we picked up on Johnny Quick ; Liberty Belle could stand in for Wonder Woman till more super-powered ladies came along. We even tossed in an Earth-Two version of the venerable Plastic Man , whose series in [ Adventure Comics ]

#829170