Batman and Superman meet the JSA

[MichaelBailey]

you have to embrace the madness sometimes to enjoy these old comics, if you only like comics which are logical, then you will never like them.

Well said!  Couldn't agree more.

[Aldous]

you have to embrace the madness sometimes to enjoy these old comics, if you only like comics which are logical, then you will never like them.

Well, no super-hero comics are logical, Super Monkey, but I agree completely; as long as you realise my post was about something that has always bothered me about Batman, whether Golden Age, Silver Age, or modern age. I think a fundamental flaw in the portrayal of the character -- which annoys me (see my post) -- doesn't take anything away from these charming old comics.

And it's also important to point out -- although I am not necessarily talking about the comic used as an example here -- that yes, there are plenty of Golden Age comics that are crap, the same as in any other era.

[Aldous]

Michael, I was looking at your website and I realised I own that copy of Justice League with the 16-page preview of All-Star Squadron. I must dig that out and re-read it sometime.

[TELLE]

It is dumb that he would risk that sort of announcement but I'm less bothered by the changing.  A bulky 40s jacket hides alot and Bruce could easily have left a briefcase in the hallway, a la Tony Stark, where he keeps his utility belt, cowl, etc.  If he is secure enough to change in a hallway, he is secure enough to leave his costume waiting as well.

It's a great adventure.  My favourite remains a story posted last week in which the girlfriends of the JSA dress up as their boyfriends tom tackle Brainwave along with Wonder Woman.  The costumes don't fool anyone (they can't disguise their feminine shapes) but its great to see a "team" of superhero women in the 40s.

[MichaelBailey]

Michael, I was looking at your website and I realised I own that copy of Justice League with the 16-page preview of All-Star Squadron. I must dig that out and re-read it sometime.

It's a great little read.  Friday's update is going to have the entry for that issue with some interesting little tidbits I've gotten from the second volume of the All-Star Companion that came out last week.

Thanks for checking the site out.  It's in it's infancy but I hope to get it to something pretty special.

[Continental Op]

It's interesting that they remind the readers that Superman was an honorary member of the Justice Society all along, but Batman seems to be meeting them all for the first time (except for the Atom, who apparently knows his secret identity when none of the others do).

To be fair, they don't say Batman WASN'T already a member, but it sure seems that way. He (and Robin) were supposed to be JSA members in absentia from the very first meeting in ALL-STAR COMICS #3, though. Not that most kids reading the 37th issue would have been old enough to remember the third!

As for the changing clothes routine... it's just one of those conventions of super-hero comics that a hero's entire costume can be worn comfortably under their normal clothes, without any bulges or other dead giveaways. Try wearing two pairs of shoes, one over the other, in real life! Or a red and blue shirt under a white one without anyone noticing it's there. At least John Romita often had Spider-man stashing his street clothes in a "web pack" that he slung over his back or stuck to a wall somewhere.

[Aldous]

I really liked that about Spider-Man. Once, his street clothes (which he'd stashed) got ripped during a fight, with the Vulture I think.

Even when I was little, I used to wonder where Flash hid his Barry Allen clothes while he was running around.

[TELLE]

And of course Superman compressed his to superwafers that didn't poke through the pockets in his cape.

Continental Op, tomorrow I will try wearing two pairs of shoes and report back!