We’ll begin our discussion of today’s fifty year old comic book by spending a few moments basking in the glory of its cover, one of your humble blogger’s favorites of this era. Pencilled and inked by the legendary Wally Wood (and colored by his ex-wife Tatjana, according to the Grand Comics Database) it marks Wood’s transition from having “merely” provided finishes over other artists’ layouts in earlier installments of this series to taking full responsibility for the artwork. It also represents a welcome return by the veteran artist to a particular sort of subject matter — i.e., knights, castles, and other trappings of Medieval European history (and legend) — for which he’d always shown a great affinity and facility.
From Mad #13 (Jul., 1954). Text by Harvey Kurtzman; art by Kurtzman (breakdowns only) and Wally Wood.
From Valor #1 (Mar.-Apr., 1955). Text by ?; art by Wally Wood.
Not that my nineteen-year-old self of October, 1976 had more than a vague awareness of Wood’s earlier forays into the Middle Ages, you understand. While I was familiar with some of his medieval-adjacent fantasy material for Warren and other publishers (I might also mention his collaboration with Steve Ditko on DC’s Stalker in this regard), I had little knowledge of Wood’s glory days at EC Comics, where he’d illustrated straight-up feudal era yarns for Two-Fisted Tales and Valor. OK, so I might have read his and Harvey Kurtzman’s parody “Prince Violent” from Mad #13 [Jul., 1954], due to it having been reprinted in black-and-white in the paperback collection Mad Strikes Back. But I didn’t know the more serious medieval-oriented work that had made him a logical candidate to follow Hal Foster as the illustrator for the real Prince Valiant newspaper strip, when Foster himself decided to step back. (Wood actually auditioned for the gig in 1970, but lost out to John Cullen Murphy.)
All that being said, I was plenty enthusiastic about this cover, as well as finding out what lay behind it, even without knowing the extent of Wally Wood’s Middle Ages cred. As regular readers already know, I was (and still am) a fiend for the Arthurian legend in all its permutations — and even though we didn’t have a blurb labeling the cover illo’s setting as Camelot, the presence on it of Sir Justin, the Shining Knight, seemed a pretty strong indication that that was indeed where we were heading.
And I was right, of course… though it was clear from the issue’s opening splash page that it would take us at least a couple of scenes to get there…
As we’ve already noted, Wally Wood assumed full art chores with this issue, following his collaborations with Ric Estrada (in issues #58-59) and Keith Giffen (in #60-63). The simple credit for “Wally Wood — Artist” doesn’t quite tell the whole story, however, as a note on this issue’s letters page indicates that he also assisted writer Paul Levitz with its plotting. On the other hand, per another datum from the Grand Comics Database, another artist — Wood’s assistant, Al Sirois — contributed significantly, if anonymously, to the artwork, providing both layouts and background inks; of course, like everything else coming out of Wood’s studio in this period, the end results still looked very much like his solo stuff.
A few other things to note before we move on from the first page. One is that Power Girl and the Star-Spangled Kid are now official Justice Society of America members, making the “Super Squad” name used on the cover as well as the splash page more meaningless than ever (it’ll hang on for one more issue, alas). The others involve a couple of modifications to Power Girl’s costume: the elimination of the belt, and (gasp!) the closing of the so-called “boob window”. Per an interview Paul Levitz gave to Roy Thomas decades later for Alter Ego #14 (Apr., 2002), the second alteration was the idea of Wally Wood, who (in Levitz’s words) “thought it [i.e., the new design] was sexier”; but whatever the reason for the change, the bit that immediately follows between PG and her teammate, the Star-Spangled Kid, obviously wouldn’t have worked without it:
As you may recall, we’d first glimpsed the mysterious figure now revealed as the Shining Knight back in issue #62, where he was shown haggling with a vendor at a bazaar in Egypt over a time-travel potion; the vendor had wanted to trade the elixir for Sir Justin’s horse, Winged Victory, which was an obvious deal-breaker. Fortunately for the Knight, his (flight) path had crossed with the trajectory of Flash and Green Lantern on their own completely unrelated Egyptian excursion in the next issue; even more fortunately, the JSA have their own means of traveling through time, as Jay Garrick goes on to explain: “The Flash of Earth-One has a cosmic treadmill, and using his developments, I’ve created a time vortex device — it can safely carry us all back to Camelot!”
Jay then suggests that Hourman, who has a scientific background, stay behind to operate the time machine’s controls. This doesn’t go over at all well with Rex Tyler, who’d shown up in All-Star Comics #62 looking to return to active duty, only to be left to help stand guard over the ailing Dr. Fate while most of the other JSAers headed into action; while he’d been able to join the fight against Zanadu in #63, the earlier sidelining is apparently still a sore spot. “Maybe I should just retire again,” he grouses. “You could replace me with a cigar store Indian!”
Your humble blogger has always been a sucker for seeing superheroes go medieval, and this instance was and is no exception; still, fifty years later, it’s striking that Power Girl, despite being characterized as a “women’s libber”, doesn’t get to dress up as a knight, but instead has to wear more conventionally feminine clothing. The times might have been changing in 1976, but evidently not so much that Wally Wood was keen to draw a woman in a suit of armor.
It may be fairly said, I believe, that Wally Wood’s output in the 1970s wasn’t the equal in quality of what he’d produced in the 1950s, or even the early ’60s; even so, there’s still a great deal of pleasure to be found in his “latter period” artwork, assuming you’re at all in tune with his overall aesthetic in the first place.
Well, at least PG isn’t going to let a little thing like inappropriate attire slow her down…
The newly-reconstituted Injustice Society had launched its first attack on the JSA at the end of issue #62, courtesy of members Fiddler and Solomon Grundy; having soundly defeated those two villains in the first six pages of #63, our heroes clearly haven’t been expecting another assault so soon, this time at the hands of the Icicle. I guess they didn’t get the memo that Paul Levitz is writing this book “Marvel-style”, meaning that plot threads will weave in and out of the ongoing storyline from issue to issue, and you shouldn’t count out a defeated villain (or villainous group) too soon. (Just ask the Avengers about a guy named Kang.)
There probably never was a “real” (as in historical) “Arthur, King of the Britons” — but, if there was a real person at the core of the legend that grew up around that name over a thousand years ago, he probably lived in the 6th century… which, as it happens, is the period in which most later storytellers (including Levitz and Wood, here) have placed the kingdom of Camelot, anachronisms be damned. And, yes, the Roman occupation of Britain had indeed ended prior to that, around 410 C.E., so much of the chronology presented above actually makes sense; still, it’s a little hard to swallow that what was left of the Roman Empire would have completely forgotten about the big island in the north within a hundred years or so, as is implied both by the dialogue above and by the earlier account given by Sir Justin. On the other hand, this is Earth-Two, so we can hardly count on historical events having played out there exactly as they did in our own past.
Arthur and Merlin appeal to the time-traveling heroes for their aid “as ye are honorable men”, and Flash and Hawkman quickly assure them that they will help — and would do so even if the existence of their own America in the future wasn’t also threatened by this tampering with history. At this point, Power Girl breaks in to the conversation…
Power Girl and Superman both realize that even if there’s not someone in the 6th century who knows how to build robots, there is someone who knows how to send messages, and perhaps objects, through time: Merlin. They resolve to gather up their teammates and return to Camelot for some answers.
Meanwhile, back in the 20th century, Alan (Green Lantern) Scott has returned to his job running the Gotham Broadcasting Company — just in time to have his creditors inform him that if he doesn’t pay then the $500K he owes them by Tuesday, they’ll foreclose on his GBC stock. Oh, well; at least his gorgeous secretary Eileen is sympathetic…
But the tower’s lightning proves only a temporary setback for our heroes. The Star-Spangled Kid throws up a shield of cosmic energy to protect both himself and the temporarily stunned Hawkman and Power Girl. The Flash pours on the speed so that he runs between the lightning bolts. As for Superman, he does what comes naturally when faced with a tall building; he leaps.
In a sense, it’s odd that Superman is given such a prominent role in this story, given that he’d so firmly announced his retirement at the end of the previous issue. This is purely speculation on my part, but I wonder if Wally Wood was the driving force here; perhaps he was having such a good time following Keith Giffen’s lead in depicting the Earth-Two Supes as an aged-up take on Joe Shuster’s version from the Golden Age that he prevailed on Paul Levitz to keep Kal-L around for at least another couple of issues. (Perhaps that’s also why Superman and his colleagues ditch the medieval drag so quickly; Wood was more interested in drawing the “classic” Man of Steel.)
Hawkman comes soaring in through the window next — but he, too, quickly falls to a blast from King Arthur’s raygun…
Cover to Flash #137 (Jun., 1963). Art by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.
Vandal Savage, the “Immortal Villain”, might seem to be everywhere these days (at least if you’re currently reading Batman and its companion titles), but in 1976, he only had five previous appearances under his belt — and two of those were from the 1940s. Your humble blogger knew him best from Flash #137 (Jun., 1963) — the comic that had brought not just Mr. Savage into the Silver Age, but Jay Garrick’s Justice Society teammates, as well. (No, I didn’t start buying comics until 1965, so I didn’t acquire this one new; rather, I shelled out for a “very good” condition copy as a back issue sometime in the early ’70s. For anyone interested, it’s still one of the oldest comics I own.)
As cool as this last-page revelation was, I’m pretty sure that my younger self was more concerned about what this meant for Camelot. Where was the real King Arthur? Had Merlin turned (gulp) traitor to his liege?
Luckily, the answers to those questions — as well as to those concerning the fates of Superman, Power Girl, and their comrades, naturally — would be forthcoming in just two months. I hope you’ll join me on December 30th, 2026, when we’ll be looking at All-Star Comics #64 on the exact fiftieth anniversary of its official publication date. (I mean, really, how often does that happen?)
Fascinating as always. Thank you, Alan.
I only read a couple of All-Stars back in the day, and I’ve never seen this. That is a good cover – busy but interesting.
Much as I love his EC science-fiction, I never found Wood a good fit for superheroes. His figures tend towards stiffness and there’s not the dynamism or movement that the genre requires. Still, it’s all visually appealing and beautifully composed, and has that glorious sheen.
I would be interested in acquring this run (especially for the Staton issues). Does anyone know which collected edition is best?
My thoughts exactly. For a super team comic, there surely are a lot of people standing around and seldom doing anything dynamic. I wonder if in part this is due to some of his assistants setting up the roughs.
As for Alan’s comment about women in armor, one need only look at Wood’s early ’60s work on a “Joan of Arc” newspaper strip try-out: https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/comic-strip-art/wally-wood-joan-of-arc-newspaper-comic-strip-pitch-piece-original-art-1963-/a/7384-92189.s#
Chris, I read the 1970s run of All-Star Comics in the two Justice Society of America trade paperbacks published by DC in 2006 and 2007. They were topped off by brand new Brian Bolland covers. The books are out of print, but I believe they can be found for reasonable prices on eBay. But hopefully there will be a new DC Finest collection of this material in the near future. Fingers crossed!
Thank you, Ben.
There’s also “All-Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever”, a 2019 tome that reprinted the whole run. The hardback seems to be out of print (and way expensive to buy secondhand, at least on Amazon), but the digital edition is still available.
Cheers, Alan.
Good, fun issues, Alan. Glad you spotlighted it.
So, some random comments…
Really good artwork by Wally Wood in this issue. As you say, he was almost certainly assisted by Al Sirosis, as well as by whoever else happened to be hanging out in his studio that day. But whoever was involved, it looks very nice. Yes, as you observe, certainly not nearly as good as Woody’s art from a couple of decades earlier but given what we now know about his declining health & other personal problems during the 1970s, this is noteworthy for being nice, effective work. The coloring by Liz Berube complements the artwork well, as does Tatjana Wood’s coloring of Woody’s exciting, illustrative cover.
When I first read this story in the JSA trade paperback collection some 15 years ago, I remember being struck by the introduction of the Cosmic Converter Belt by the Star-Spangled Kid. So, that was where it came from! I, of course, knew of it after teenage Courtney Whitmore had obtained the belt and assumed the identity of the Star-Spangled Kid in the late 1990s.
Ah, for the days back when Vandal Savage was not so overexposed (although certainly not nearly as badly as Lex Luthor, the Joker and Darkseid) and his reveal at the end of this issue was a genuine, exciting surprise.
Finally, as a longtime Monty Python fan, when we get to the splash page of Camelot, I automatically heard Terry Gilliam muttering “It’s only a model.” 🙂
Even given his decline in vision, overall health and artistic capacity, and acknowledging the work of his assistants, the art in this issue was still unmistakably “Wally Wood”. Interesting (to me at least) that he was only a few months older than Ditko, both in 1927, although Wood rose to prominence much sooner as one of the EC masters of the early 1950s. At his best, Wood’s art looked quasi-photographic and often somehow both modernistic and archaic, a portal into other realities whether set in the distant past, present or sci-fi futures.
I was fifteen when this came out but even three years of comic reading hadn’t prepared me for how awesome Wood was. Yes, there is a lot of stationary panels but they’re beautiful stationary panels. The best part is he’s inking himself which means no inker had to put the clothes on Power Girl themselves. The balloonification (that’s in Chrome’s dictionary?) has started though. I wish Levitz had kept Superman full time (and not offed Batman, much less in such a lackluster way) but there’s not much else to complain about in his run.
My immediate thoughts after reading Alan’s superb review of a comic I would never have considered purchasing at the time are as follows:
*To me, Wally Wood is like a bell pepper. The latter is something I did not care for – not at all – as a young man of fifteen. Indeed, I would go to considerable lengths to avoid any contact with them. I would have considered Wood’s art another “old guy” who did not compare in my far-from-fully-developed mind to the likes of Starlin, Cockrum, Perez and crew. However, as my tastes further blossomed with wisdom and age, much as I graciously partake in bell peppers of all colors, I too appreciate the grace and beautify of Wally Wood’s art. Steven said it well with the comment “beautiful stationary panels.”
*Vandal Savage is cool. No real idea his powers – as I’m not as fully versed in the DC-verse. But the bearded dude is just badass no matter when he appears.
*Power Girl … will you just shut up? Yeah, you’re Supes’ cousin. Sure, you’re real tough and all that. But damn if you’re not always exhausting. I can’t say I’ve ever liked her.
*And I’ll be disappointed if someone doesn’t take me to task for my unkind remarks about the woman with the “boob window.” It’s going to be a long day and I need someone to show me the errors of my wrongful thinking.
“Ideas are the province of the youth.” Now wait just a second, you doggone whippersnapper…
Always a pleasure to see some Wallace Wood comics art. Sure, it lacked the sort of dynamism of Kirby and Ditko, among other masters, but I still enjoy his style, not to mention his capacity for drawing very beautiful women!
Of course, there are plenty of anachronisms. The Roman Empire had splintered by the 600s and while they were still dominant in the eastern Mediterranean region, ruling Greece, Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt and had retaken much of Italy (the capitol of the empire itself had been moved to Constantinople in the year 330), they no longer held much direct sway in western continental Europe. The assertion put in the mouth of the Shining Knight that the Romans shouldn’t know that Britain even exists struck as ridiculously stupid. Romans at least knew about the existence of Britain centuries before they conquered it and they never “forgot” it simply due to having abandoned it in the 6th century, at least no more than Americans “forgot” about Vietnam after our armed forces left that nation in the early 1970s. Yeah, a lot of people, then and now, are profoundly ignorant of history and geography, and certainly 7th century Romans had no knowledge whatsoever of the Americas, subSaharan Africa, Australia and southeast Asia, but there were still plenty of reasonably educated Romans who retained knowledge of the regions that had once been part of their empire as well as of other peoples and realms surrounding them. Levitz was simply going for all too typical fantasy hyperbole for dramatic effect, excessive simplification of what would have been the real reasons a Roman army would have been very unlikely to show up in the mythic Arthurian realm of post-Roman Britain.
Anyhow, overall a fun trip and I can’t help but think this may have provided some inspiration for Barr & Bolland’s Camelot 3000 series launched in 1982.
https://tombrevoort.com/2017/11/05/now-this-was-a-good-oneso-much-so-that-im-pretty/
Hadn’t Wood already drawn a ‘woman in a suit of armour’ quite frequently in Thunder Agents – Dynamo’s enemy/love interest Iron Maiden? Maybe he just didn’t want to repeat himself.
That cover is one of Wood’s classic compositions using three depth levels: foreground, focused middle ground and background. The JSA pop as they are (mostly) framed by the open portcullis.
The splash page and opening sequence showcase more classic Wood – walls made up of his trademark machinery, purpose and function unknown and not relevant to the story.
My favourite was the opening shot from ‘1400 years earlier’. Woods’ woods seem alive even though the drawing is deceptively simple – the leaves are indicated by the shaded black behind them, not by any detail of the leaves themselves.
I actually quite like that the art doesn’t use typical ‘dynamics’ (as much as I usually love those dynamics from someone like Jack Kirby). Some of the figure drawing is quite subtle and clever, like for instance the panel where the Shining Knight is explaining the situation to the five other heroes. Each is individually posed in keeping with their character, no generic stock poses or unnecessary melodrama.
Ben , was that a Freudian slip calling Al Sirois ‘Sirosis’, given Wood’s known issues with alcoholism?
Oh yeah, I agree with Wood that Power Girl actually looks
hotterbetter without the ‘boob window’, so when was the cover done as it’s still visible there?That’s a good question about the cover, Mike. Although I note that, even there, the window was colored in to be the same white as the rest of the costume, so there seem to have been some last-minute adjustments.
My first exposure to the JSA (and therefore Earth 2). At 9 years old, I wasn’t entirely able to tell one artist from another, but this one really had some stand-out work, didn’t it? Just the shots of Superman alone…it feels like a whole other medium, something beyond comics.
For me, though, it was the storyline that made it particularly outstanding. I didn’t know who anyone was, but the building continuity made it all seem more vital than the typical Supermans and Flashes I had been reading. Now that I realize how early in the career of Paul Levitz this run came out, I am even more amazed at what an unsung talent he has been. I picked up every All-Star after this and I relished every single one of them (though I missed the carry-over into Adventure until about 40 years later). Levitz put so much care into the sub-plots that just were not found in other DC comics of the period, and into the details of crafting the world of the JSA. In one issue, he used the Quebec of Earth 2 as a setting, explaining it had in fact become its own country there, and as a kid from Quebec seeing my province trying to separate from Canada that year, I could not believe an American comic company had addressed that (even though I was glad that on Earth-Prime Quebec never did separate). And his Secret Origin of the JSA? An absolute classic (made only more beautiful by the gorgeous drawings of Staton and Layton, a team that should have been kept together for eternity)!
Justifiably, everyone loves Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber and Chris Claremont and many other writers of the past who turned out authentic masterpieces, and I do too. But for my vote, Paul Levitz deserves a place among them with his work on this series.