Dial H for Heroine - Victoria Grant

Indiana Jones meet Montana Mason

Montana Mason. Indiana Jones. Ace archaeologist achieving amazing acts of archaeology. These counterparts were legends on their respective Earths, albeit legends spoken in hushed tones and later mutated when other larger-than-life legends overtook them. Nevertheless, Montana and Indiana set the tone for noble discovery that later generations would imitate when uncovering astounding artifacts of the past.

On Earth-One, Montana trained his young son Rex to follow in his footsteps, although over time the father and his child deviated in their methods and goals. While the elder Mason sought to share his forgotten finds with the world, his son Rex had a far less benevolent nature, as the lad found opportunity to cash in on his prized treasures to increase his own personal fortunes.

On Earth-Two, Indiana was trained by his father, Henry Jones Senior who like him had similar noble intents in their archaeological work. However, whereas the father was more scholarly and reserved, his son was far more daring and adventurous. At times, the young Indiana became overzealous at protecting his fabled finds from those who wished to expose them.

Rex Mason eventually entered into the employee of wealthy Simon Stagg, and quickly fell in love with his daughter Sapphire. This embittered Stagg to Mason, motivating Simon to trick Rex into entering an ancient Egyptian tomb where he was irradiated by the meteorite stored with the Orb of Ra scepter. This transformed Rex into the elemental man known as Metamorpho, leading to his permanent severance from his own humanity and from any further relationship with his father. Rex never had further interactions with Montana, as the two Masons parted their separate ways.

Back over on Earth-Two, Indiana Jones had a professional rivalry with his fellow archaeologists Carter “Hawkman” Hall and his wife Sheira “Hawkgirl” Hall, while apparently knowing the Winged Warrior’s double identity. Whether he knew of Hall’s ancient ancestry as a 20th century descendant of Egyptian Prince Khufu is unknown, nor if he was aware of Khufu’s memories asserting themselves within Carter on occasion. This Khufu and his wife Princess Shiera were the counterparts of Rex Mason and Sapphire Stagg, the son and daughter-in-law of his doppelgänger Montana Mason. However, Indy was known to have explored the various pyramids and tombs in Egypt’s Valley of Kings, and very well may have been present when fellow archaeological Jim Rock uncovered Khufu’s crystal dagger which first revealed Carter’s connection to the ancient Prince. Although his prime focus was on the pyramids in Mexico rather than Egypt.

Montana's son Rex as Metamorpho was a teammate of archaeologist Carter "Hawkman" Hall, as both were members of the Justice League of America. Prior to arriving on Earth-One, Hall originated on the planet Thanagar-One where as Katar Hol he was his world's premier policeman, sent to observe how humanity protected its citizens. Rex Mason lived the life on his world that Carter/Khufu Hall live on his own parallel planet, up until the time that Rex became Metamorpho and Hall became Hawkman. At that point, a new entity appeared with Rex's memories in Metamorpho, who's doppelgänger was a mutated Sandy Hawkins.

Indiana's contemporaries Hawkman and Hawkgirl were teammates of Sandy Hawkins, the lad who one day became his world's version of the elemental man, when he transformed into the Silicoid Creature. These three were members of the All-Star Squadron, while also working on cases involving the Justice Society of America of Earth-Two. In an alternate future timeline, Sandy was connected to the Halls when he formed a bond with Shiera, first seen decades earlier when he and Hawkgirl teamed up to save Sandman and Hawkman in early 1942.

The parentage of Sandy Hawkins has never been revealed, as he was an orphan before Wesley "Sandman" Dodds accepted him as his ward following the death of Sandy's aunt... and Wesley's girlfriend... Dian Belmont. It is possible that Sandy's father was Henry "Indiana" Jones Junior himself!

Sinister Silicon: The Clark Kent Connections

Quarrmer, as the sentient silicon Superman from the dimension of Quarm was known, had a contentiously chaotic relationship with the original Man of Steel. Spawned when a green Kryptonite fueled explosion tore a rift in the dimensional fabric between Earth-One’s reality and Quarm, an injured Superman irradiated sand with the Quarrmer inhabited. From this event, the legendary Sand Superman was born!

His counterpart on Earth-Two never personally met the Superman of that world, although he was a foe of the hero’s Justice Society colleague the Flash. During an expedition in the Gobi Desert led to chemist Jay Garrick and his girlfriend Joan Williams faced sand-beings, it was Jay’s alter ego of the Flash who prevented them from unleashing a devastating solar ray upon humanity around the globe!

During a period when he was weakened due to his silicon clone draining a portion of his powers, Superman simultaneously dealt with an extraterrestrial infection in his Clark Kent identity. Soon after in his caped costumed identity. Superman attempted to save the life of journalist Lois Lane while in Central America. It was while saving his girlfriend’s life that Superman was once more confronted with the ambiguous Quarrmer.

Another Clark Kent along with fellow reporter Lois Lane were assigned to covering the annual meeting of Keystone City’s Lias Club. On this occasion, Clark and Lois learned of the Earth-Two twin of Quarrmer as well as its fellow sand-beings, and their thwarted attempt to irradiate humanity. While not a Sand Superman, this reality’s version of the creature also absorbed solar energy like the Superman and was nearly a match for the Fastest Man Alive.

Thankfully, Superman and the Flash were able to hold on check the parallel problematic parasite of silicon, who’s devastating power nearly cause the end of all human life on each Earth!

Greedy Green Geniuses versus Parallel Patrols

Garguax was an aspiring alien invader from planet Mytil-One, sent as a covert agent for his world’s supreme leader. Using superior technology and his malleable Plastic Men, Garguax repeatedly faced the Doom Patrol, who repeatedly thwarted his schemes on Earth-One. This led to his accepting honorary membership into the Brotherhood of Evil, arch-enemies of the Patrol. During one joint mission, Garguax and the Brotherhood ensnared the energy form of Negative Man, although the Flash disguised himself as the captured crimefighter, thus tricking the villains into releasing their captive.

Garguax's cosmic twin from the planet Mytil-Two had a similar goal in subduing humanity using superior technology.  With his malleable Rubber-Faces, Garuax-Two ensnared the doomed Patrol of Earth-Two inadvertently. Despite superior numbers and adaptable attacks, these aliens were unable to defeat their human foes, who stalled their plans on conquest.

Eventually, the grand leader of Mytil-One known as Zarox-13 led his forces to Earth-Two, prompting the Doom Patrol and Brotherhood of Evil to temporarily join forces to repel their attack. Following this defeat, both Garguax and Zarox-13 as well as their allies flee back to their homeworld, nevermore to return.

Three years after their encounter with Patrollers Fred, Pedro and Slim, Garguax and his ruler King Agon absconded athletes of Earth-Two with the intent of having them provide sport on their world. However, the Flash joined his fellow humans in the journey across space, and successfully subdued the Rubberfaces. Embarrassed at this humiliation, Flash and his fellow humans were returned to their world.

Bot Boys Battle Brain & Brawn Baddies

Robotman was mortal enemies with the Brotherhood of Evil, who were the arch-foes of his team, the Doom Patrol. While the Brotherhood's body-less leader, the Brain, was their leader... his arms and legs were his faithful simian servant Monsieur Mallah, a gorilla whom he imbued with super-intelligence. For years, these rival organizations battled with one another. with the Brain constantly coveting the metallic body of Robotman, who like himself was once human before his natural body perished. To that end, the malevolent mind often pitted Mallah against Robotman, with the two forming an intense antagonistic relationship with one another as two beings with superstrength.  

On a parallel planet in another universe, that world's Robotman very nearly himself faced a brain-without-a-body and his bestial brother in battle. Originally born Jason Rogers, who became a rich industrialist, a second persona resided in the deep recesses of his mind for decades. This being was his nameless twin brother, who while not having formed a body within their mother's womb, had his mind perserved alive through mysterious means. This "Brain" exerted his mental might to form a fourth-dimensional body, which manifested when the docile Jason Rogers transformed into the inhuman genius, the Monster*!

And so it was, on December 6th, 1941 in Washington, D.C., the Monster was tasked with eliminating three members of the Justice Society of Earth-Two, those men being the Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite and Hawkman. Off in the distance, ready to assist, was the disguised Robotman... who saw how his fellow heroes quickly defeated the Monster. As that bedeviling Brain transformed back into Jason Rogers. Robotman departed the scene while the twins were subdued.

Soon after this, a different doomed Patrol formed when three members of the French Foreign Legion gained shape-shifting bodies, similar to those of the remaining Doom Patrol members. That trio of Earth-One Patrollers consisted of Rita "Elasti-Girl" Farr, Larry "Negative Man"  Trainor and Garfield "Beast Boy" Logan**. Their doppelgängers of the Earth-Two Patrol were Fred, Pedro and Slim, resolving to use their abilities of growth and shrinking (like Rita), energized form (like Larry), and animal metamorphosis (like Garfield) to battle the Nazis during World War II.

By 1947, Jason Rogers was in a comatose state, which prevented his twin the Monster from asserting control over his body. Thus, he melded his mind with John Gresham, a man attempting to claim sole inheritance of his late brother’s fortune. When Fred, Pedro and Slim investigated, the trio were thrust into the fourth dimension by the Monster, who stole their superpowers for himself and his two allies in their synthetic energy bodies. Despite these abilities, the terrible trio were unable to defeat the Patrol, who returned to the third dimension of Earth-Two where they exposed the Monster's new "brother" John Gresham as a crook. 

This was to date the last documented appearance of the Monster, although a similar begrudging beast would work with a disembodied brain decades later, in the form of the Ultra-Humanite. Originally a super-intelligent scientist whose brain was artifically augmented, Ultra's frail human body perished when exposed to one of his deadly devices, and had numerous body transfers which each housed his magnificent mind for extended periods of time. 

Eventually, Humanite… like his Earth-One counterpart Brainiac… upgraded the housing encasing his cerebral center. Although instead of storing his mind inside a robotic body (which he tried to do when holding Robotman hostage yet failing to complete the procedure), Ultra had his brain implanted in the body of a mutated albino gorilla. Like Gorilla Grodd, this Ultra-Humanite possessed vast telepathic powers, which separated these two super-simians apart from their fellow contemporary beasts, Monsieur Mallah and the Monster of their respective Earths.

Monsieur Mallah himself assumed another identity much as Monster had in his later appearance against the Patrol. Clad in an emerald cape, garish green garb and a bestial full face mask, Mallah fabricated the alias of financier Abu Hassan. Abu acquired another monetary holdings to develop a financial empire with the intent of luring the Doom Patrol’s principal ally, and Elasti-Girl’s husband, Steve “Mento” Dayton. Luring the mental millionaire into a trap to use as bait for the Patrol, Hassan failed to secure Dayton and seemingly folded his riches into the Brain’s Brotherhood and their criminal endeavors.

Unlike the Earth-One Patrol's repeated clashes with the dastardly duo of brain and brawn, the Earth-Two Robotman and his world’s Patrol only faced their version of the brain and brawn once each. Years later, Brain and Monsieur Mallah found new foes in Garfield’s new teammates in the New Teen Titans, together with the Brain founding a revitalized Brotherhood of Evil, with the goal of seeking revenge against their former ally turned adversary in Madame Rouge.

Rogers and his Monster twin brother were recurring thorns in the side of the Justice Society of America as well as the All-Star Squadron and the terrific trio of Pedro, Fred and Slim throughout the 1940s.

* The Brain’s counterpart before his human body perished was Jason Rogers, while Monsieur Mallah’s beastial counterpart was the Monster.

** Rita, Larry and Gar wore similarly clad costumes which matched one another in style, as had those uniforms worn by Fred, Pedro and Slim. 

Bulls-Eye: Legacy of the Bad Bullet Boys

Bulls-Eye was a criminal alias used by various crooks throughout the decades, with a speciality as skilled marksmen. Leapo the acrobat was the exception, due to his acceptional agility against Ace Archers!

Leapo was a former circus performer turned professional criminal, incarcerated in prison. After staging a daring excape with fellow prisoners, Leapo was inspired to assume the alias of Bulls-Eye in 1946. This soon led him into direct conflict with the Battling Bowmen of Earth-Two, Green Arrow and Speedy, with Leapo's ability to leap coupled with his agility making him a difficult target to capture.

Four years later, an assassin-for-hire named Kendall also assumed the Bulls-Eye nickname in Earth-Two's Gotham City. He was hired by the crimelord known as Black Diamond, along with three other professional felons, with contracts to kill the Batman. Alongside his sidekick Robin, Batman faced all four men, quickly defeating Nitro Nelson and the Baracuda Brothers. When Bulls-Eye and Black Diamond later cornered the Dynamic Duo, Batman swiftly subdued the sniper and took his place. Disguised as Bull-Eye, Batman outmanuevered and captured Black Diamond, sending him and the real Bulls-Eye* to jail.

In the Gotham City of Earth-One, criminal gadgeteer Phil Cobb had twice attempted to defeat the Batman as the Signalman. After his second loss, Cobb enlisted the aid of his prison cellmate Kendall, also known as the Bulls-Eye. Kendall taught Cobb how to design specialized arrows, like those used by Bulls-Eye's foe Green Arrow, prompting Phil to create a new costumed career as the Blue Bowman. Despite this unique gimmick, Cobb was soon beaten by Batman and Robin.

Unlike the other two more standard suit and tie thugs using the Bulls-Eye name, Leapo was uniquie both in his clown costume as well as his physical agility and various gadgets. His Earth-One equivalent was the acrobatic crimefighter, who portrayed himself as a psychopathic criminal, known as the Creeper. In his secret identity as Jack Ryder, he was a security official for a major news network as well as a reporter, with his costume appearing and disappearing due to a molecular transducer while within his veins flowed a recuperative serum that kept the Creeper healthy and unearthly strong.

* A third Earth-Two Bulls-Eye faced Batman and Robin a year later, as part of another criminal gang, while another Bulls-Eye also faced the Blackhawks of Earth-One on one occasion.

Fiery Females Fight Foregone Foes

Lorraine and Danette Reilly were reluctant heroines at first, each of whom were granted superhuman powers by the actions of vile villains. Each were fiery females fighting fearsome foes with the force of flames.

Lorraine was a university student, initially kidnapped by industrialist Henry Hewitt and used as a hostage victim and a test subject for his own experimentation, attempting to replicate the nuclear incident which birthed. This process created Lorraine's alter ego of Firehawk, an ally of Firestorm. Danette was a volcanologist who inadverentely was caught up in the schemes of time traveling tyrant Per Degaton on his artificial island, with his henchman Wotan blasting the young woman with a bolt of energy. This radiation combined with synthetic lava she fell into transformed her into Firebrand, 

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Firehawk teamed up with New Teen Titans member Donna "Wonder Girl" Troy, as the two were looking for Donna's husband and Lorraine's father. Due to the time and spacial displacing effects of the Crisis, the duo ended up in 1776, where they assisted historical hero Tomahawk into thwarting a navial invasion of the British upon Manhattan. Meanwhile, Tomahawk's ally Miss America was temporally displaced to 1985, where she allied with Firebrand to thwart an attempted incursion upon Cape Canaveral by the Ultra-Humanite's forces.

Within these two stories, we know which Earth these events took place on. In Firebrand and Miss America's case, they were in 1985 Florida on Earth-Two given the prescence of Danette's god-daughter Terri Rothstein. From notations within this story, it was the Tomahawk of this world's Miss America who encountered Firehawk and Wonder Girl. Hence, the two heroines crossed universes to the 1776 New York of Earth-Two for their adventure with Tomahawk. 

As for the Tomahawk and Miss America of Earth-One, they apparently were unaffected by the Crisis' events. However, that Miss America would be pulled into the 20th century by a separate event, due to the machinations of the Lord of Time. It was on that occasion he was used as a pawn, at first to strike out with four fellow historical heroes, against both the Justice League and Justice Society. However, his ultimate goal with her and her allies was to use them and the twin teams of two Earths to help him destroy his malfunctioning Eternity Brain. Whether the Tomahawk of this Miss America's Earth-One ever had occasion to travel to the modern age and encounter heroes of that era is unknown.

Lorraine Reilly was only a part-time superheroine, mostly joining Firestorm in occasional adventures before seemingly retiring, as she was uncomfortable with both her powers and her alter ego. This was perhaps due to her being made a pawn by Hewitt in a blackmail scheme to get her senator father to vote on a bill that allowed the evil businessman to have a monopoly on nuclear research. As an only child, Lorraine didn't have a positive example to face, with even her on-again off-again boyfriend Firestorm not being enough to motivate her career as a costumed crimefighter.

Danette Reilly would take the opposite approach, encouraged with the knowledge that her brother Rod had fought crime as the masked man known as Firebrand. Following his example, she joined the new All-Star Squadron as the second Firebrand, and two other sterling rolemodels in her on-again off-again love interest Sir Justin, aka the Shining Knight, as well as the leader the Squadron in Liberty Belle. Even when her own father, himself an industrialist, was blackmailed and ultimately killed in her prescence by Nazi agents... Danette's fiery zeal burned brightly within her heart to fight evil until the end of World War II alongside her teammates.

Flying Fox and Googled Good Guys

The name "Flying Fox" was used on three worlds, all tied to living legends. There was the Flying Fox of Earth-One, a young Bruce Wayne who would later become that world's Batman. The Flying Fox of Earth-Two was a frequent foe of sky criminal Air Pirate A-X. The Flying Fox of the Post Crisis Earth seems to have originated on Earth-8.

While training as a detective, a teenage Bruce Wayne of Earth-One assumed the alter ego of Flying Fox. On one occasion in her masked alias, Wayne teamed up with Clark "Superboy" Kent in Smallville, Years later as the Batman, Wayne regularly teamed up with his "World's Finest" partner, fellow Justice League founding member and best friend, a now grown-up Superboy now known as Superman.

Radiologist/pilot Lou Rex Darrell of Earth-Two was a flying detective in the image of his world's Batman, who also was an aviator sleuth.After a few notable tales as a good guy during the early days of World War II, a debilitating head injury during the war left Darrell with a greedy rather than good mental attitude.

Back on Earth-One, gangster "Matches" Malone had built up a reputation with the Riverfront Mob. Like his counterpart Darnell, Malone had a greedy disposition which led to Batman seeking him out to aid him on a dangerous mission. Before the hero could convince the criminal to agree to assist him, a bullet meant for Batman ricocheted towards Malone. After being fatally shot, it seemed this was Matches Malone’s swan song.

However, Batman decided to assume a third alter ego as Matches Malone, disguised as the gangster during various crimefighting missings throughout the years when he needed Malone's underworld credentials to provide Wayne the connections needed to ensnare his prey. This became an effective means of exposing criminals involved in a variety of cases, and even motivated Bruce's young ward and sidekick Dick "Robin" Grayson into assuming the Matches Malone identity one time.

Under the cover of his career as a radiologist, the former Flying Fox attempted to steal valuable radium, which led Darnell into a confrontation with Batman and Robin (Batman #37). Of note is his preference for green and brown clothes from his Flying Fox days  Following his failed scheme, exposed by x-ray which revealed his identity, Darrell’s criminal career was finished before it even began.

Whether Lou Rex Darrell reformed and once more sided with the cause of justice, as he had years before, is unknown. What is known is that he, like the man who continued the "life" of his doppelgänger Matches Malone, carved out a brief yet notable career as the Flying Fox... scourge to criminals everywhere!

Twice-Told-Tales: Miniaturized Masked Menaces

Among the various rogues who faced the Atoms, the balding bad-guys David Clinton and Kale Zercoff were the most malevolent foes they ever faced. Both men based their crimes around their mastery of time, with Clinton the masked menace known as Chronos, and Zercoff as the henchman of Per Degaton. Initially small-town felons operating on Ivy Town of Earth-One and Calvin City of Earth-Two respectively, David and Kale first faced their worlds’ Atom one-one-one before eventually teaming up with gangs of goons who faced their arch-enemies’ teams, the Justice League and Justice Society.

After a series of battles throughout the years, Chronos sought to change his modus operandi, seeking to steal rare coins from four key locations in Ivy Town. First, he stole Scandinavian coins then French and Spanish coins before targeting American coins with his fourth burglary. The Atom was somehow tipped off the the perpetrator of these thefts, confronting Chronos on his fourth outing. However, an electrified force field around the Time Thief knocked the Tiny Titan unconscious, and when he woke up the Atom discovered his foe had stolen his shrinking belt. Impersonating the Atom, Chronis met the police lieutenant on charge of this criminal case, to try and discover how he slipped up and revealed his identity to his foe.

Decades earlier, the individual members of the Justice Sociery were each tasked with a hundred thousand dollars which combined they can donate to war orphans of Europe. In his futile attempts to obtain his portion of the proceeds, Johnny Thunder encounters two crooks dressed as Sandman and the Atom, threatening local gangs in an attempt to obtain protection money from them. Johnny’s Thunderbolt quickly exposed the pair, a crook disguised as the Sandman*, with the Atom impersonator** being Kale Zercoff himself. Seeking revenge against the Mighty Mite who defeats him months earlier, while Johnny and his T-Bolt were subduing he and his cronies, 

Ray “Atom” Palmer was able to escape the syrup-filled blender his enemy left him trapped within, thanks to his secondary size-changing glove controls. Facing his arch-foe once more, the Atom was able to outmaneuver and capture Chronos, who subconsciously avoided stealing coins with names that sounded like his criminal alias.

Al “Atom” Pratt was working the obtain his portion of the war orphans donation funds, when Zercoff was captured by his Justice Society teammate in the fall of 1941. Nevertheless, Kale would be freed by the summer of 1947, whereby he was recruited as the principal lieutenant to temporal tyrant Per Degaton's militia which inially defeated the Justice Society. On this occasion, Kale was finally able to knock out the Atom, although his victory was only temporary before once more returning to prison.

* This fake Sandman’s Earth-One counterpart dressed as the Sandman, and drugged police scientist Barry “Flash” Allen during a masquerade party the night that Professor Zoom aka the Reverse Flash murdered Barry's wife Iris’. While that Sandman armed his sand-gun with narcotics, which he used on his victim, the Earth-Two psuedo-Sandman seemed to have standard armament in his sand-gun.

** Zercoff somehow managed to portray himself as short as his foe, the real Atom, who was 5 foot 1 inch tall., However, unlike Ray Palmer, Al Pratt did not possess shrinking technology. It could be theorized that Zercoff hired a co-conspirator who was taller than himself, who impersonated the Sandman, thereby presenting an optical illusion making himself short in comparison when both are standing side-by-side. As seen in their two direct confrontations, Zercoff was much taller and far bulkier than the Atom.

Twice-Told-Tales: Green Gladiators' Gather

The Green Lanterns of Earths One and Two, Hal Jordan and Alan Scott, had on occasion interacted with other Green Lanterns.. And early in their career, this caused Hal and Alan grief when confronted with their noble-minded namesakes, while attempting to uncover a duplicitous scheme by a felonious foe.

Jordan's colleagues were official members of the Green Lantern Corps. They summoned Hal to a tribunal presided by veteran Corps member Tomar-Re, with his fellow Green Lanterns Chaselon, Xax, Larvox, Medphyll, Stel and the Corpsmen from planets Aeros and Rojira. Their concern and the reason for this impromptu trial involves three incidents over a 24-hour span, when Hal acted out-of-character by leaving a bank vulnerable for theft, creating a disturbance at an event and endangering the life of a fall victim. The tribunal ruled giving Jordan only a stern warning, while he adamantly asked for a guilty verdict.

Scott's fellow emerald gladiators were not officially sanctioned. These men clad in colorful costumes mimicking Green Lantern, each man armed with flashlight battery modified power rings. Responding to an emergency radio broadcast summoning the caped crusader to the Explorer’s Museum. Perhaps motivated by fame or financial reward, the faux-Green Lanterns each presented himself as the real deal, in order to offer their assistance to the prestigious Explorers’ Club. Several of its members disguised themselves as either wildlife or cavemen, attacking the various Lanterns with only one able to stand up to them. Once he was identified as authentic, Green Lantern was presented with an assignment, locating the missing explorer Simon Ghent.

Hal-Lantern acted strangely due to mental influence exerted by his arch-enemy Sinestro. Exiled to the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward following the guilty verdict upon him, Hal was welcomed by his foe who offered him a partnership which the hero declined. He was then captured by Sinestro, who possessed a spare yellow power ring which replaced his original ring lost during their previous encounter.

Alan-Lantern along with his pal Doiby Dickles tracked down where Ghent was said to have been held, in a local Gotham City cemetery. Once helping them to enter into the towering chapel within the cemetery, the Club turned on Lantern and Dickles… knocking them out then capturing them. Their scheme in fabricating the fictional Ghent was to trick Green Lantern into helping them retrieve star witness May Leeds, who was set to testify in a court tribunal against a prominent crime syndicate, who were the discussed Explorer’s Club members present.

The remaining Green Lanterns from the tribunal secretly followed Hal to Qward, and although they too were captured, the Corps escaped Sinestro’s snare and ensnared him instead. Likewise, Alan and Doiby were able to free themselves and May from the Syndicate, thanks to Alan having been tipped off from the beginning that the Club was bogus and criminals… since he is the actual president of the actual Explorers’ Club!

Hardwater’s Heroic Helping Hands

Hard water is said to be "high in dissolved minerals, largely calcium and magnesium" according to the USGG.gov website. When heated, hard water can form solid deposits of calcium carbonate in confined areas, such as within water heaters. However, moderate intake in this type of liquid can have healthy benefits on humans.

In the DC Multiverse, hard water has different physical properties in each universe it exists within. Two instances of this are in the parallel planes of existence known as Earths One and Two. And the individuals who manifested divergent abilities from this particular property as Mera and the golden age Flash.

On Earth-One, the queen of adjacent Dimension Aqua known as Queen Mera possessed the power to solidify water particulars into various objects. While other inhabitants of her native realm likewise possessed this skill, including her twin sister Hela, it was Mera who mastered it.

On Earth-Two, college student turned police scientist Jay Garrick accidentally inhaled hard water fumes overnight, causing his metabolism to become superhumanly fast. While his counterpart Barry Allen gained his similar powers from lighting striking a plethora of chemicals within his police lab, it was hard water that altered Jay. Both men became Flash, the Fastest Men of their worlds.

Jay's Garrick Research Laboratories experimented with hard water years later. The lab's scientists concealed this substance, which inadvertently unleashed their hyper-accelerated stored kinetic energy, which proved fast enough to even challenge Garrick as the Flash. Whether Mera's Earth-Two counterpart Queen Eeras ever employed hard water weaponry in Atlantis is also unknown.

Interestingly, the Water Sprites of Earth-One had hard water based powers similar to Mera, who were allies of she and her husband Aquaman. Qwsp and his Sprite brethren’s doppelgängers on Earth-Two were the Thunderbolts with lighnting-based powers derived from sparks of electricity similar to that which empowering a Barry-Flash. They were of the Thunderbolt Dimension, the Earth-Two version of Earth-One’s Dimension Aqua.*

* While on Earth-One, lightning energy translates into speed force and hard water translates into solidified constructs, on Earth-Two it is the reverse with hard water translating into speed force and lightning energy into solidified constructs.

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Continuing thru April 2025 - #JSApril! Celebrating 85 years of #DCComics JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, the world's first greatest superhero team! Join over 40 podcasters bloggers as we honor our favorite heroes! Info participants:

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Feathered Furies’ Fabulous Food

The Hawkmen, Katar Hol of Earth-One and Carter Hall of Earth-Two, were similar in several ways. Both were winged warriors, courageous crimefighters, and heroic husbands to the Hawkwomen. And yet, there were stark differences, such as Katar being a brunette and officer while Carter being a blonde and a leader. One other variation between the two men… Katar could modify technology while Carter could invent technology.

One example of this is Nth metal, which Carter discovered and incorporated into a flight belt, with a winged harness allowing him to fly. Katar inherited his anti-gravity belt and harness which had been constructed by his father, Paran Hol of the planet Thanagar-One.

Another creation of Carter Hall was specialized food capsules, which when mixed with a secret solution process turkey dinners. With this invention, Hall charged his colleagues in the Justice Society of America with the task of distributing these capsules to starving citizen of European counties then occupied by Nazi Germany during the early days of World War II. Carter as Hawkman assigned himself the mission of distributing these capsules in France, where he met a blonde woman who was part of the French resistance forces.

As for Katar Hol, while he was able to modify a wide array of Thanagaian and Earth technology during his costumed career, during his many missions throughout the years. However, when facing the brunette villainess known as the Golden Raven, he resorted to using Hostess Fruit Pies on her! Fruit pies!!! Although Justice Society Hawkman used some unknown ingredients in his capsule and solution, it still produced a nutritious turkey dinner. Meanwhile, Justice League Hawkman relied on a chemical concoction of a sweet treat with no nutritional value.

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Continuing thru April 2025 - #JSApril! Celebrating 85 years of #DCComics JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, the world's first greatest superhero team! Join over 40 podcasters bloggers as we honor our favorite heroes! Info participants:

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The Triumphant and Tragic History of the Superman Robots

Early in their costumed careers, Kal-El and Kal-L surmised that they would need help in carrying out their super-feats, as Superman couldn't be in all places at once. Especially given his secret identity as reporter Clark Kent, each Superman developed lookalike robots who could substitute for their creator in times of need.

Kal-L of Earth-Two first used a lifelike dummy in 1944, then a remote controlled automaton in 1949 culminating in the robotic Krag in 1952 to combat an alien invasion. By the time he married fellow reporter Lois Lane, Kal-L built Clark Kent and Superman robots with artificial intelligence.

Kal-El of Earth-One first constructed Clark Kent and Superboy robots during his teenage years. As an adult, he gave a remote controlled replica to pal Jimmy Olsen. A Wonder Man robot was used to face an alien horde.

On both worlds, the increase of air pollution caused the Superman robots to progressively begin to malfunction. This led the Supermen into decommissoning them, although Kal-El still used them to a limited degrees within his Fortress of Solitute and in his apartment. A couple caused them great trouble.

A Superboy robot escape the self-destruction decree of his master, and perceived that his master was evil for sending he and his "brethren" to an early "death". Secretly protecting Smallville for years, his prescence was eventually revealed when Pete Ross and Lana Lang observed the automaton, and Kal-El tricked this robot into destroying itself.

A Clark Kent robot pretended to be his master, even convincing Kal-L's wife Lois until as Superman it began to malfunction. She was able to deactive the Superman robot, and apparently the other robots were never utilized following this incident.

One remote control robot labeled Powerman was designed by Superman to safeguard his friends Batman and Robin from Lex Luthor who developed a dangerous death-ray. In fact, Kal-El conceived of Powerman's costume from a dream, which in fact was his recollection of an event which occured decades early on Earth-Two.

On that world, Kal-L faced a Nazi sleeper agent named Heinrich Melch, who was secretly the Kryptonite-powered Atoman, Although the villian didn't have an opportunity to wear this costume, until his later revival in the 1980's, following the conclusion of their epic battles in the mid-1940s, Superman dressed the seemingly deceased Melch in this uniform, then placing him in a coffin. Following his awakening from prolonged suspended animation, Atoman journeyed to Earth-One to battle the World's Finest team of Superman and Batmen before returning with them to Earth-Two when he discovered his Superman was a different man.

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Cosmic Converter Creating Costumed Crusaders

Along with the emerald batteries and their respective power rings, another pair of items that harnesses vast energies was created that rivaled these. The first was a star-band devised and wielded by a scientist adopting the alter ego of Evil Star. The second was a cosmic-converter belt developed and worn by Sylvester Pemberton aka the Star-Spangled Kid. Both channeled cosmic energies, allowing their owners to create objects from solid energy along with various other effects.

While Evil Star of Earth-Two didn't have access to the technology of his Earth-One counterpart, he was connected to the man who was, as Pemberton was not only a scientist capable of making the belt but also a financier of Stellar Studios. The original Evil Star's civilian alter ego was Guy Pompton, owner of Ace Movie Rental Agency, which provided movie props for several Hollywood studios including Stellar Studios. A movie script outline the criminal activities of Evil Star and his underworld associates, which Pompton sought to surpress when Stellar Studios sought to make a movie based on it. This led to Evil Star battling with Green Lantern and his allies in the the Justice Society of America. Decades later, Pemberton exercised his ownership right over Stellar Studios.

The later Evil Star was a frequent foe of his universe's Green Lantern, from the planet of Aoran. He sought immortality from the stellar energy, harnessing the Star-Band device he invented. However, a side effect transformed the once benevolent scientist into a malevolent menace to his family and the people of his world, watching gleefully as he remained young while his wife and children advanced into old age. The effects of wearing the Star-Band for years resulted in only Evil Star and his artificial Starlings remaining as the sole inhabitants of the planet of his birth.

Despite Evil Star's star-band having greater functionality than Lantern's ring, he was defeated in each of their encounters. Star-Spangled Kid's Cosmic Converter Belt was based on the technology developed by astronomer Ted Knight from his alter ego Starman's Cosmic Rod. Whether the Kid's Costmic Concevter was likewise more versatile than his Justice Society teammate Green Lantern's power ring is unknown.

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Crimefighters' Calculating Computers of the JLA and JSA

After their initial years working in a pre-automatic climate, with the advant of increased technology, both the Justice League and Justice Society developed their own unique computers to aid them in their costumed crimefighter careers. In the years that followed, these instruments would be essential, indeed instrumental, in these twin teams' successful missions, and would on occasion even be used in conjunction with one another across the dimensional barrier when needed.

The first of these groups to develop their own computer was the Justice Society, spurred on by their resident chemist and amateur hardware engineer, Hourman. Known primarily for his work in the field of chemical conconctions while with his former employer Bannermain Chemical, which he would later acquire and renamed Tyler Chemical, Rex Tyler produced his revolutionary "Crime-Caster" which could calculate different probabilities as to crime that he... as Hourman... would have to combat alongside his fellow JSA members. This device was first used simultaneous to the appearance within their brownstone base of an alien entity, the Tornado Champion, that had merged together with the android Red Tornado which joined the Society. As to the Crime-Caster, it would become the basis for T.O. Morrow's future computer.

Soon afterward, following the exposure of their initial secret headquarters by the Joker, the Justice League created a new Satellite headquarters orbiting Earth-One. And to operate this mobile base, League members Superman and Hawkman pooled their Kyrptonian and Thanagarian technology, creating the Justice League Computer. However, as with it's Earth-Two doppleganger, this computer was introduced simultaneous with base of an alien entity, a Dharlu, which had been encased in moon-rocks that were experimemented upon by S.T.A.R. Labs. Traveling with Leaguers Flash and Hawkman to the Satellite, it attempted to retrofit the Satellite into a space vessel that would take it to its extra-terrestrial place of origin. 

The Justice League were able to overpower the Dharlu, and while doing so realized that its prescence within their computer helped it to function correctly. It seemed that the sensitive circuity within the computer were destabilized, however creature was able to correct this flaw. And so, for years thereafter, the Dharlu stayed in frozen suspended animation imprisoned within the Satellite, although on one occasion it was temporarily freed before being captured by Wonder Woman.

As previously mentioned, the two groups on occasion used their computers in conjuction, such as when they were attempting to track down the killer of JSA member Mister Terrific onboard the Satellite. Given that both devices networked seemlessly, it seems that the Society's Computer with 100% Earth-based technology was superior to the melding of the Leaguer's hybrid system that was their Computer. 

It is unknown if the Dharlu survived during this case, as the evil Roger Romaine sabotaged it... causing it to explode in order to cover up his complicity in the hero's death. If the being did survive, undoubtedly it perished following the destruction of the Satellite during a Martian invasion of Earth-One.

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Purple Rays: Mystery Energy that Heals and Harms

The purple ray, which manifested unique and opposing effects upon those exposed to it s mysterious form of energy. Understanding the nature of this radiation may uncover one of the fundamental forces with the DC Multiverse!

The first to discover this energy was the malevolent scientist known as the Ultra-Humanite. Unleashing its radiation upon citizens of the Earth-Two Metropolis, this led to multiple deaths labeled the "purple plague". Ultra's arch-enemy Superman tracked him down and, during a pivitol battle, between the two, was exposed its rays. Although this killed his body, the effects hadn't reached his brain as yet, which was preserved and implanted in the mind of his kidnap victim, actress Dolores Winters. In this form, Ultra tracked down the ancient Powerstone, last used by Alexie Luthor against their common foe until Superman defeated him and retrieved the stone. When Ultra soon after claimed the powerful object for himself, it manifested similar purple lights which the Humanite used to varying effect. This jewel seemed similar to another, that will be discussed later, from the 7th dimension.

On the Metropolis of Earth-One, a benevolent scientist named Frederic Fowe used his ultra-violet rays Steve Lombard to repair his knee, and unintentionally created a temporary energy duplicate of the football quarterback.

The second appearance of the purple ray was when Princess Diana developed it in order to revive airport Major Steve Trevor, who crashlanded on her homeland of the Earth-Two Paradise Island. Years later, Diana as Wonder Woman used this same purple ray on six of her male colleagues in the Justice Society, who like Trevor were thought dead... reviving them.

A version of the purple ray was also used on the Earth-One Paradise Island by that world's Wonder Woman, both to heal different individuals and to destroy a composite shadow creature attacking her homeland during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Who developed this purple ray, predating Fowe's, is unknown.

It seems that this purple ray, or ultra-violet ray, is connected to the radiation generated by the star sapphires. These gemstones, created by the immortal Zamorans (who were a type of alien Amazonians, like the Wonder Womens' people), were similar to the Green Lanterns' emerald power rings (created by the Guardians of the Universe, male who were once of the same planet of Maltus as were the Zamorans). This purple energy also had the power of life and death, could create energy constructs, and seemingly bend reality to their user's will. This energy was tied in to their owner's feelings of love, hence if there was ill-will towards another it could be deadly, if a sense of nurturing it could heal.

While it was stated that the purple rays could revive the dead, this evidentally is not the case. As with both Earths' Steve Trevors, and the Justice Society of America members, they were in near-death like comas. Were this energy to actually restore dead ones to the living, the Earth-One Wonder Woman would have used it on her Justice League teammate Barry "Flash" Allen's late wife Iris, and the Earth-Two Wonder Woman would have used it on her former teammate Batman.

Others experimented with these revitalizing and regressive rays, such as those who’s science spawned Bag-O-Bones and the Skull.

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Cosmic Crusaders’ Creative Constructs

The main Green Lantern’s of their home worlds, Hal Jordan of Earth-One and Alan Scott of Earth-Two, had dissimilar professional occupations. Hal was a test pilot while Alan was an engineer, with Jordan later dabbling in toy sales and trucking while Scott diversified as a broadcaster and radio executive. When bequeathed with their power rings and power batteries which energized them, it was their indomitable will power which allowed them to shape the emerald plasma they were charged with into various constructs.

And so, unlike Hal’s fellow Justice League colleagues and Alan’s fellow Justice Society associates, the Green Lanterns were not known for inventing anything. For example, the Flash’s developed their cosmic treadmill and time vortex to travel through time, the Atoms designed the shrinking bio-belt and vibrator belt allowing them to traverse the Microverse and Multiverse. And yet, they had something their teammates’ didn’t possess… limitless imagination and the means to form it into whatever they desired.

With this cosmic power coupled with their will power, they could form large emerald fists to knock out opponents and green hands to catch a falling pedestrian. They could create rudimentary shapes to lend support to crumbling structures or intricate framework to support tremendous weights. In fact, the only limit to this creative outlet is the Green Lanterns was their concentration, the duration of their power rings’ charge… which was typically 24 hours at a time, and their rings’ inherent weaknesses.

For Hal’s power ring, this was a specific color, or rather how any substance’s physical makeup absorbed and scattered light in the electromagnetic spectrum it was bathed in. The color which Jordan’s power ring constructs had no effect on was yellow. For Alan’s power ring, this was an organic structural tissue, found within the stems and roots of all plant life. On other words, the substance immune to his power ring constructs was wood.

Remarkably, each Green Lantern found methods to circumvent these vulnerabilities by effecting objects surrounding yellow and wooden objects, such as those projected by the Sinestro’s own yellow power rings and found within the flesh and tissue of the Solomon Grundy’s. Due to their synthetic technology materialized through their boundless mental reserves, Jordan and Scott proved victorious throughout the years against the attacks of their foes.

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Untold Tale of the Justice Society: Mission in Space!

In late summer of 1975, the Greatest Superheroes of Twin Earths were called away to other worlds, facing ancient adversaries that threatened parallel planets. In both instances, each team defeated these foes one by one, until the true malevolent mastermind was revealed behind-the scenes, powered by a stellar stick in a ploy to lure these champions to their doom using fin-head spacemen.

On Earth-One, members of the Justice League were transported to Rann-One by the scientist named Sardath using his Zeta Plus Beam, in order to assist his future son-in-law Adam Strange in battling old gigantic enemies in the form of: a ray-gun, the bird Kalulla, the metallic Borg, and the Cloud Creature. All of these creatures were manufactured by Kanjar Ro, a villain who battled both Strange and the League in the past. 

On Earth-Two, members of the Justice Society were teleported via celestrial energies at the Mount Pride Observatory* while tracking down missing member Starman. On another world in space, most likely Rann-Two, the Society members battled stellar beings designed by their immortal adversary Vandal Savage** to resemble constellations Andromeda and a giant winged horse, Orion and a giant dog, and Sagittarius and a giant eagle (and later, characters modeled after those on Earth’s broadcast television airwaves). Savage accomplished this by utilzing Starman's old Gravity Rod. With these stellar beings, Vandal built green Kryptonite suns for the planet Colu-Two to orbit.***

While the space mission of the Justice Society was accomplished without any serious threat to life, such was not the case with the Justice League. For a time, it seemed as if Leaguers Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary and Elongated Man had perished, until Adam Strange noticed that they had been transformed into black spheres. Using Kanjar Ro's Energi-Rod to reverse the process, the five heroes along with their fellow members and Strange were able to defeat Kanjar Ro, removing the threat he and his minions posed.

During to the Society's own mission in space, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Starman were likewise able to outmanuever Savage, when Starman used his prototype Cosmic Rod to overpower Vandal's stolen stick. Concurrent to this, six other members of the Society were dealing with a threat posed by the Injustice Society of the World and their minion, the empowered Cary Bates. Bates, a comicbook writer on Earth-Prime, accidentally ended up on Earth-Two when he used the Earth-One Flash's Cosmic Threadmill left behind on Cary's world. Seeing the potential to create sinister scenarios using his creative storytelling techniques, Bates was manipulated by the Wizard into leading the Justice Society into a trap while battling their Injustice adversaries. Mentally controlling Wonder Woman, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hourman, Johnny Thunder, Wildcat and Robin, Bates had each hero pose as a member of the Injustice Society. Then, when Bates' coworker and fellow writer Elliott S. Maggin journeyed to Earth-One with six members of the Justice League. he found his former friend now a vile villain. The League defeated those whom they thought were the Injustice Society, seemingly killing them.

The Leaguers remained on Earth-Two**** to protect it until the remaining Society members returned from space. As for those six seemingly deceased heroes, they were  in fact all comatose under the effects of Cary Bates, a process reversed by the Spectre, visiting his homeworld after having previously migrated to Earth-One. Together, the League and Society defeated the supervillains, and Bates with Maggin returned to Earth-Prime (a similar battle between the Justice League and Injustice Gang later took place on Earth-One).

* While this tale initially was told in a post-Crisis Earth, during the period of the early 1950s, it has been witnessed that tales on that composite world had a basis in adventures on Earths One and Two. As there were two fin-headed space heroes involved (Adam Strange and Starman), various energy beings used as pawns (Strange's old inhuman adversaries in the cloud etc. and the 3 constellation entities), spawned by evil enemies (Kanjar Ro and Vandal Savage) using stellar sticks (the Energi-Rod and Gravity Rod), with teleportation to and from Earth to other parts of the universe (via Zeta Plus Beams from Sardath's laboratory and cosmic rays from Starman's Mount Pride Observatory), involving remaining members of the Society (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Starman) not present during the Injustice Society case... it seems logical that this is the untold tale of the Justice Society in space in 1975. 

**Soon after this tale, Vandal Savage attempted to restore his immortality while visiting Earth-One. He made this planet…. probably Rann-Two... as a staging ground to build Colu-Two and its two suns a year later. We know he was still in his phantom state as Earth-Two Flash mentioned to his counterpart that he just learned of Vandal’s condition (which was an untold tale… this tale!!!). Afterwards, Savage lured Superman and the Justice Society to Colu-Two via ancient Camelot!

***Undoubtedly, the stellar beings which Vandal enlisted into service on Rann-Two as constellations were the Sun-Thrivers, whom he forced to build for him Colu-Two’s twin green Kryptonite suns.

**** Of those remaining members of the Justice Society during these contemporaneous tales of Savage on Rann-Two and the Injustice Society, six heroes were present on Earth-Two though not active at this time. Atom was recovering from injuries in a previous crossover, Sandman had self-imposed amnesia of his dual identity (in order to deal with the trauma of his sidekick Sandy's current condition), Mister Terrific was focusing on his career as a Gateway City college professor, Superman and Batman were busy raising a cousin and daughter respectively. As for Doctor Fate, he was dealing with his old foe Khalis' return in the city of Boston.

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