Abnormal Aliens Affect Amoral Adolescents

Violet Harper was what was termed a "bad girl", fomenting trouble both as a young girl and into her latter adolescence. This led to Harper and her boyfriend in o selling stolen goods in the European country of Markovia, until they were tracked down and murdered. An alien Aurakle, observing this event, merged its globe form with Violet’s human body. This created the new entity that became known as Gabrielle Doe, and her superheroine alter ego of Halo.

Marcie Cooper was a stereotypical “good girl”, and in her late teenage years first met a pair of mutants whom she and her sister Sharon double-dated. She initially dating Norda “Northwind” Cantrell, whom she later attended a music concert with that had been interrupted by the alien Chrona. Marcie later switched boyfriends and attached herself to Todd “Obsidian” Rice when Norda left America. Cooper was secretly an agent of the android Manhunters sent to infiltrate Infinity, Inc., encouraged by her grandfather Dan Richards who was  recruited by the androids when he adopted their name for his superhero identity.

Although Violet never had a sibling, her counterpart Marcie’s aforementioned sister had a counterpart. This doppelgänger was the insidious contract killer known only as Syonide, who had initially slain Violet and was sent by her boss gang-lord Tobias Whale to finish the job with Gabrielle’s reappearance. In the end, it was Syonide who lost her life. Sharon was simply cut off from Marcie’s life when the latter became a Manhunter agent, as unlike her sister she sought an ordinary life away from the costumed careers of heroes and villains.

While Violet and the Aurakle/Gabrielle only shared Harper’s body, Halo redeemed the woman she formerly had been. The same could not be said for Marcie and Chroma, who never actually interacted during the one occasion where they were both present. However, Cooper’s amoral demeanor as the second Harlequin supervillainess lined up with Chroma’s, seeking to satisfy only her own desires at the cost of others.

Mighty Maidens’ Mystery Missions

In April 1985, while her older colleagues in the Justice Society of America were defending themselves in front of a Congressional trial relating to the so-called “Batman Diary” incriminating them, Power Girl was away on a mystery mission. She mentioned this took her out of the country for a couple of weeks, but where was she and what did it involve. This has never been answered.

However, an image of Power Girl battling a few armed men on battle combat gear provides a hint at whom she faced, and why, in London England. We can deduce this by noting a case involving her Earth-One counterpart, Supergirl, which occurred across the world.

This concurrent adventure involved Supergirl confronting her former Stanhope College alum and friend, Rudi Clement, and his estranged cousin Martin Tane. While Rudi’s family migrated to the United States and became wealthy, Martin’s family remained in England to live on poverty. When the two long-lost relatives reunited and discovered each had developed similar anti-gravitational technology, their family’s centuries old feud reignited.

After initially battling Rudi aka Gravitron Man over the skies of Florida, she followed him across the Atlantic Ocean, where he was pursuing his rival. Meanwhile, that rival Martin aka Lord Gravity was facing the visiting members of the Doom Patrol, visiting London on vacation.

.

Although both the Patrol and Supergirl were initially unsuccessful against the problematic pair, together the heroes were able to defeat the cousins. The Maid of Might and her new-found allies eventually reunited to combat the Doom Patrol member Tempest’s former fellow soldier and old adversary, Sgt. Benjamin Krullen aka Reactron. As for Rudi and Martin, they never resumed their criminal careers.

Apparently, the armed soldiers whom whom Power Girl quarreled with “outside the country” may have been the Earth-Two versions of Gravitron Man and Lord Gravity, although they appear to have had a more “cordial” relationship with one another. Perhaps on this world, the Clement side of the family remained in England, and together with the Tane clan remained united.

Legendary Lost Loves: Superman’s Shunned Sweethearts

Lost loves of were a common occurrence for the Superman of Earth-One, but not for his older Earth-Two counterpart. The younger version of Clark Kent had his childhood Smallville sweetheart Lana Lang, his college years romance with Atlantean mermaid Lori Lemaris*, his doomed engagement to Kryptonian actress Lyla Lerrol. Perhaps his greatest love was with Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, although his sense of duty prevented them from uniting in matrimony.

For the Earth-Two Superman, he only met Lana Lang when both were adults after she was hired into the Daily Star. When he was introduced to the Atlantean Queen Octavia Paralea**, she only had eyes for Clark Kent while he was disinterested given her demeanor. And foreign actress Lita Laverne was secretly a spy, with neither party enamored with the other.

Whereas his doppelgänger limited his relationship to his Miss Lane to only dating, the older Superman proved that all along he only had one true love… whom he later married… in his fellow Daily Star journalist Lois Lane Kent.

Twice-Told-Tales: Conquerors Cloning Cronies

Kanjar Ro lorded over the planet Dhor in the Antares solar system, while Blakfu ruled the secret underground world below Earth-Two. Both warlords, with their strange eyeballs, inventive minds, thirst for power, and enmity towards their Earths’ Wonder Woman and a pair of blonde aviators (Adam Strange of Earth-One and Steve Trevor of Earth-Two*) made for memorable and formidable foes.

Kanjar Ro devised the means of separating the aura around individuals’ bodies, including his own, to create minions designed to do his bidding. The initial one of these was a clone of himself, the first Dhorian he had mastery over since his dictatorship on his home world was overthrown. He then uses his auralikron device on his old enemies, Wonder Woman and her Justice League of America colleagues as well as Earth-One itself! The villain’s arch-foe Adam Strange discovered his scheme and helped the League defeat Ro (also aided by Kanjar’s aura-clone, resentful to have been left behind in the original’s Rann prison).

King Blakfu developed the mechanism to irradiate his slaves with glowing auras using photonic chemicals, allowing both he and his Mole Men to see their female slaves. Ensnaring Wonder Woman and her allies from Holliday College, the girls eventually freed themselves and helped Blakfu to regain his vision. Relenting in his goal of global domination due to his Queen’s influence, Blakfu and his Mole Men were then cut off from the surface world by Steve Trevor and the American military (this would lead the Mole Men to further resent humanity).

Neither Deleon Kanjar Ro and King Blakfu would repent of their evil ways, as each would again and again** launch attacks on the heroes of Earth using their armed forces, cunning tactics and creative gadgets.

*  Neither the Steve Trevor of Earth-One nor Adam Strange’s Earth-Two counterpart, Hop Harrigan, ever had opportunity to meet Kanjar Ro/Blakfu.

** Kanjar Ro had a total of six battles with the Justice League, a seventh engagement with Leaguers Hawkman and Hawkgirl along with Adam Strange, and an encounter with the Super Friends (as well as appearance in the Crisis on Infinite Earths). King Blakfu and his Seal Men interacted with Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor as well as the Holliday Girls on four occasions. (Vandal Savage’s repeated conflicts with the Justice Society compensated for those tales and involving Kanjar Ro beyond the number of those experiences by Blakfu).

Wonderfully Wacky Worlds Weave Wicked Woes

Replication equipment akin to cloning, only with inorganic base materials, was achieved with in both Earths One and Two. On the former world, this resulted in the creation of the Bizarro parodies … and on the latter world, this culminated in the Funny Face facsimiles. Synthetic Supermen were created along with Bizarro Superman Number One and Funny Face’s Flying Tiger which tormented the original Man of Steel multiple times. But their colleagues in the Justice League and Justice Society met other demented duplicates.

For the Batman of Earth-One, this occurred when he and his League teammate Wonder Woman were drawn to the Dazzleland amusement park in the Catskills. Its founder Wade Dazzle has succumbed to a life ending medical condition, which he prepared for by developing a duplicating mechanism that spawned robotic replicas of real persons. Those individuals were sapped of their life, with their bio-energy transferred into Wade’s refrigeration unit, which kept his body in living stasis while the robots assumed the lives of their formerly living templates.

For the Batman of Earth-Two, this occurred when he and sidekick (later fellow Justice Society member) Robin were drawn to the laboratory of Professor Anderson, who’s bio-ray brings to life two-dimensional creations within published books, while drawing three-dimensional individuals to that synthetic fairyland. Anderson’s daughter Enid was captured within that land’s confines by its inhabitants, which the Dynamic Duo were dispatched to help retrieve from her crazed captors within an enlarged publication.

Dazzle’s robotic-animal minions included Jerry Gerbil and Harriett Hamster, among others who operated within the Dazzleland Park. The Professor’s fictional beings included the elementals Burn and Freeze, among others… although whether they were recreated in the Fairy Land amusement park north of Los Angeles, )which Infinity, Inc. later visited) is unknown. 

While a synthetic Amazonian analogue of Wonder Woman faced off with the original, the evil madam Gruel tormented Batman and Robin. Still, the Leaguers and Socialites were able to defeat these creatures and rescue these virtual worlds’ captives.

Both Dazzleland and Fairyland were analogies on Earths One and Two for Disneyland and Disney World on our own.

Whatever Happened to the Buddak?

We have previously considered versions of the Maltusians existing in the Earth-Two universe. While those beings originating from the planet Maltus in the Earth-One universe migrated to the planet Oa, this did not occur with their counterparts. As there was no corresponding world at the center of their universe like Oa (or in other positive matter universes) these individuals remained there and became know as the Buddak. Unlike the benevolent Guardians of the Universe, whom the Maltisians became, the Buddak sought personal power. Seeking to create a world in the center of their universe just as Oa was in its realm, they tried to remake Earth-Two into such a planet. Doctor Fate and the Superman of Earth-One defeated three Buddak, others remained on their world.

We gain insight into a probable scenario when, years later, the Controller assumed control of a world like the one they originated from, in order to develop weaponry to help achieve their goal of multiversal order. One such device, the Miracle Machine, produced unexpected results on its world leaving it in shambles. Two Controllers are shown left behind to deal with the consequences of their disastrous creation. The Machine teleports to another planet in Earth-One’s dimensional plane, which briefly causes Superman and his Clark Kent selves to separate.

The logical assumption is that the Controllers setup their central operations base on the Buddak* world, left without leaders as their three primary overlords perished in their earlier battle with Superman and Doctor Fate. We can make this connection, as it was later revealed that they were a faction of Maltus who disagreed with the Guardians faction as to how to govern their universe. These Controllers ended up moving to “a specific segment of the multiple universes”. The closest and most accessible universe to the one they came from was that is Earth-Two.

Hence, left forsaken by its previous overlords of the Buddak and then left severely damaged by its next overseers in the Controllers, this planet was left is a dissolute state. One of these two Controllers filled the role in that universe corresponding to the Monitor and Anti-Monitor in the Earth-One positive matter universe and the anti-matter universe of Qward. The other was the Universe-Two version of the Controller who tormented Wonder Woman and the Super Friends on Earth-One, impersonating the Time Trapper.

* Since the remaining Buddak migrated to Earth-Two centuries earlier, to become the so-called leprechauns, this alternate Maltus found its once thriving culture henceforth no more.

Terrific Trios: Flying Furies & Mighty Mites

Within both the Justice League and Justice Society were informal sub-groups, where likeminded members formed close bonds with one another. Examples of these included Green Lantern and the Flash, and the World’s Finest Team of Superman and Batman. Then was also a terrific trio, the flying furies Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and their pal the Atom.

On Earth-Two in 1940, Al “Atom” Pratt and Carter “Hawkman” Hall were founding members of the Justice Society of America. Decades later on Earth-One, Ray “Atom” Palmer and Katar “Hawkman” Hol were the second and third members inducted to the Justice League of America following its founding. Early adventures of these dual duos later included Shiera Hall and Shayera Hol aka  Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman, respectively.

Another triumphant triad on Earth-Four were the first to call themselves the Sentinels of Justice. These  included the gliding guy Helio, mind-over-matter maiden Mentalia, and powerful paragon Brute. Originally a musical group, these lads and lass were given devises allowing them to either defy gravity or gain superhuman strength. After a series of adventures, they apparently retired, and later the Sentinels of Justice consisted of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade and Question.

On Earth-S, the dynamic duo of Bulletman and Bulletgirl… their world’s Hawks… never had occasion to meet their planet’s version of the Atoms, Captain Kid/Courage. Instead, another trio in the Lieutenants Marvel filled that role as predecessors of the later incarnation of their world’s premier team, the Squadron of Justice.

Loyal Ladies Liberate Larcenous Lads

Behind every successful man is a supportive woman. This adage definitely epitomizes the relationships between Rita Desmond and Flora Styles, and their true loves, Albert Desmond (of Earth-One) and John Sargent (of Earth-Two). 

While Desmond and Sargent were both good hearted men, at times they were sadly corrupted by the  abilities  bestowed upon them from when they were infants, enabling them the transmute elements. At times, this led to their mercurial temperament, when operating under their alter egos, Desmond as Mister Element (and later Doctor Alchemy) and Sargent as Sargon.

Sargon was once framed for a crime, which thanks to the tenacity of his stage assistant Flora he was able to  prove his innocence and expose the true convict. Mister Element repeatedly fell prey to his criminal leanings, due to outside manipulations.

While Albert eventually put a definitive end to his supervillain career, John became intoxicated with the thirst for more power. Sadly, by that point, Sargent had migrated to Earth-One where he remained, unlike Desmond who only briefly lived on Earth-Two while with the Crime Champions. Although Sargon like Element regained his sanity and morality, he never reunited with Flora. Meanwhile, John and Rita lived happily ever after.

Sinister Spacial Strangers: Horton Var & Rayer

Of all the adversaries who faced archaeologist turned adventurer Adam Strange, one was a mirror image of the hero. Horton Var of the other-dimensional world known as Kai appeared on Rann-One, in place of Adam who had intended to journey there from his native Earth-One via a Zeta Beam. Var explained to Strange and his fiancee Alanna that he was a great scientist of Kai, and was exiled from his world by its warlord. Theorizing that by taking Horton's place he could help bring about the collapse of its dictatorship. Staging a battle between the two, the pair made it appear that Var died in the conflict, in order to severe the video-feed placed on him by the warlords. Then, Adam traveled to where he thought was Kai using Var’s teleporter.

A group of Specialists residing on a domed city orbiting Earth-Two, originating from the Rann of that universe, invaded the world below. Hawkman encountered the aliens*, trying to educate them on the morals of humanity which differed from their own. Among their number was the energy projector known as Rayer**.

Upon arriving at his intended destination, Adam Strange quickly discovered the truth, there was no world of Kai in another dimension. Horton and his fellow raiders, traveling through space, devised this scheme to lure Rann's primary protector from that planet, allowing them the opportunity to conquer it for themselves. Using the machine which brought him to a barren world, he was able to return to Rann and lured Var along with his confederates to Maragol where they had intended Adam to remain stranded.

When the Hawkman proved unsuccessful in converting the Specialists into more lawful conduct, he instead helped them repair their city's engines. This allowed them to resume their voyage through space, either to return to their home world or to torment another civilization elsewhere in the universe.

* Adam Strange's Earth-Two counterpart, Hop Harrigan, was occupied at the time trying to save his scientist friend Professor Twink, while capturing his old foe Naja Hana. Hana aka the Black Cobra, like Cobra of Earth-One, was a global treat to peace. Due to this, Harrigan didn't have opportunity to meet Rayer and the Specialists.

** Horton Var was equipped with a ray gun and jet pack for flight. Rayer seemingly displayed inherent powers allowing him to project rays from his hands, which also produced an anti-gravitational effect. Although both Rannian societies developed technology farther advanced than that found on the Earths, some of the inhabitants of Rann-Two also possessed mutant abilities that their Rann-One counterparts could only reproduce through artificial means.

Mirror Masters Meet Malicious Malefactors

Initially, Samuel Scudder and Jonathan Cheval used their reflecting technology towards solo sinister schemes. While Schudder as the Mirror Master faced other superheroes, his recurring adversary was the Flash, as both operated out of Earth-One's Central City. Although Cheval as the Monocle first matched wits with the Hawkman, he eventually moved to Earth-Two's Keystone City where he battled the Flash.

Monocle retired from villainy following his second loss. Mirror Master refused to quit, and soon helped to form Flash's Rogues Gallery, made up of Flash's other opponents working together to defeat their mutual enemy. When even this failed to work, Mirror Master next joined the Injustice Gang, a rival organization created to vanquish the Flash and his Justice League.

After three attempts at succeeding versus the League, the Gang finally dissolved, although the thought of working with a criminal organization would still linger in Scudder's mind. Eventually, Mirror Master led to his recruiting reserve members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, hired by the Silver Ghost to defeat the visiting Freedom Fighters of Earth-X . The Society failed in this mission, as the Freedom Fighters returned to Earth-X following this adventure.

Shortly following this, Cheval was motivated to resume his antagonistic alias of the Monocle when he became a member of Ultra-Humanite's Secret Society of Super-Villains. On this occasion, after capturing Hawkman, Monocle* aided his fellow Flash foe Rag Doll in likewise ensnaring that hero as well. After nearly succeeding in removing all heroes from their Earth, the Society tried once more to overcome their enemies in the Justice Society by traveling back in time. Despite the element of surprise, the Secret Society were once more handed a loss by the Flash, along with his allies in the All-Star Squadron.

Despite these reversals, both Scudder and Cheval held onto their hope that their gadgetry genius and tenacious temperaments would lead to a victory one day versus the Flash of two worlds.

* Danton Graeme on Earth-One assumed the alter ego of the Monocle during one encounter versus the Super Friends, using his illusion casting eyewear. However, his counterpart was another Monocle on Earth-Two named Monocle who crossed paths with Flash's fellow speedster, Johnny Quick, on on occasion.

Space Stories & Stellar Sagas: Dynamic Duos & Problematic Pairs

On Earth-Three the roles are reversed from those on Earths One and Two, where superheroes there are supervillains, and visa versa. For instance, the counterparts on that world of the Justice League and Justice Society are the Crime Syndicate, while the noble doppelgänger of the Luthors on that planet is Alex Luthor, Earth-Three's only superhero (not counting the Rogue Hunters, opposite of Flash's Rogues Gallery, who were actually amoral bounty hunters who opposed the Syndicate).

However, there are some instances where a pair of protectors on Earth-One were devious duos on Earth-Two, with the reverse also being true of others. One examples of this were heroic Space Ranger and his shape-changing sidekick Cryll on Earth-One's future, and the villainous Saturnian Duke Saturno and the Duke of Deception's Martian shape-changer of Earth-Two's past. Another was the legendary lawmen Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, and the larceny leaches Star-Tsar and Master Jailer... all four men possessing mechanical and engineering aptitude allowing them to devise gadgets to aid in their costume careers.

While the Kid and Stripesy had length careers working alongside one another, this was also the case for Space Ranger and Cryll. Some other parallels between the two dynamic duos is their stellar themes, the leader is a wealthy young industrialist equipped with a flying vehicle, assisted by adaptable and strong sidekicks.

As for the other four, Saturno and Deception’s mimic minion worked separate as had Tsar and the Jailer, each pursuing their own criminal capers (although Tsar’s alter ego Snapper Carr had a longer career as an honorary member of the Justice League, both before and after he had betrayed them to the Joker and… later… the Key).

Marvelous Maidens’ Memorable Meetup

When Helena Wayne began her costumed career as the Huntress, she soon came to the realization that she needed guidance from more experienced caped crusaders. Since her dual identity was kept a secret on her own world of Earth-Two, given the fragile health state of her father Bruce following the tragic death of his wife and her mother Selina, initially she drew some insight amongst her fellow members of the Justice Society. 

However, as she sought the respect of her contemporaries, among whom included some sceptics such as Green Lantern and possibly Hawkman, she decided to journey to Earth-One. There, she sought out her father's cosmic twin, who was still active as the Batman. However, he and his ward Dick "Robin" Grayson quickly came to the realization that Helena would benefit from meeting fellow superheroines instead.

Connecting Helena to the retired Batwoman, Kathy Kane, she was then introduced to Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon. Although having different parentage and appearances, both Barbara and Helena had several similarities marking them as true doppelgängers. Both were the daughters of Gotham City Police Commissioners, both were trained from young in martial arts, both had careers in the legal field. And both had cool calculating demeanors yet also, at times, fiery demeanors.

This was shown during their initial meeting, when Barbara seemingly mocked Helena from seeking out her advice. This was merely a cover to disguise her own feelings of inadequacy, perhaps comparing her own modest background with that of Batman's daughter. Nevertheless, after the three women teamed up to defeat Madame Zodiac, Poison Ivy, and the counterpart of Helena's mother, the Catwoman, the two legendary ladies parted as friends.

While Helena invited both her "Uncle" Bruce and her counterpart Barbara to visit her on Earth-Two as she departed from their universe, using the Justice League's transmatter tube connected to her team's own, only Batman journeyed there. 

Perhaps back on her own world, Helena reached out the the Kathy Kane of her Earth, who restarted her career while battling Hugo Strange alongside the Earth-One Batman and Earth-Two Robin. Of course, on that occasion, Helena was out-of-town visiting Karen “Power Girl” Starr’s cousin Clark “Superman” Kent and his wife Lois.

Batgirl and Huntress would next encounter each other, at least tangentially, during the Crisis on Infinite Earths… perhaps aboard the Monitor’s satellite. Interestingly on that occasion, an insecure Batgirl turned to her old friend Supergirl for encouragement, while the roles were reversed for their counterparts as it was a dejected Power Girl who was given motivating words by her best friend Huntress.

Powerful Predecessors of Power-Ring Protectors

An interesting and not widely known aspect of the history of Earth-Two's Green Lantern, Alan Scott, was the one occasion when he was transported to the 12th century of Camelot by a fake Merlin. Trapped in that era and now powerless, Scott was given his ancient power battery to recharge his power ring by a visiting Chinese delegation of lamas from Tibet who guarded it. In November 1945, one of those ambassadors of China contacted Alan from within that same battery to warn him of the impending return of his old foe, Solomon Grundy.

Hal Jordan as Earth-One's Green Lantern encountered the doppleganger of the first Lama who was named Myrwhydden, a powerful enemy of Hal's predecessor Abin Sur whom Sur emprisoned within his power ring. Myrwhydden would try again and again to escape Jordan's ring unsuccessfully.

In July 1968, another lama met the Psycho Pirate, with the costumed criminal seemingly stealing a green globe in the lama's possession. This globe contained remnants of the liquid metal from the original Green Flame meteorite. The Pirate ultimately gained the ability from its energies to mentally manipulate Alan Scott into doing his bidding. In fact, the lama whom the Pirate had "stolen" the globe from was the designer of Green Lantern's power battery... an immortal Chinese lampmaker named Chang. He manipulated the Pirate into claiming the globe, in order to tap into the battery's power, since both the globe and battery were crafted from the same Starheart meteorite. This allowed Chang and his Green Dragon Tong to access the Green Flame energy to now use its energies for evil, although their scheme was thwarted by Green Lantern.

Abin Sur's counterpart was the primary lama ambassador named Volthoom, who presented the battery to Scott in Camelot. Along with his confederate, the doppleganger of Myrwhydden, the pair were said to have "given" Scott the Green Lantern battery (Alan previously came into possession of the 1940 version of the battery via a Mister Billings). 

The other two lamas present in Camelot were the cosmic twins of earlier Green Lanterns who had protected Earth-One before Jordan appeared, the cowboy Daniel Young aka the first Green Lantern of Earth-One and Tomar-Re of planet Xudar-One who later mentored Hal. Young was Abin Sur's replacement in 1873 when that Green Lantern had been temporarily incapacitated. 

Battered Batteries Bruise Brave & Bold Boys

The source of Hal Jordan and Alan Scott's awesome abilities centered around their parallel power rings, and more specifically the Green Lanterns' power batteries through which they charge these rings with emerald energy. While Alan only had one such battery which endured for centuries, although it had been modified from time to time by its previous owners, Hal actually had two.

Jordan's initially power battery was bequeathed him by his predecessor, the alien Abin Sur, when that Green Lantern crash-landed on Earth-One having sustained fatal injuries. Hal would daily recharge his power ring by touching it the battery. Scott likewise followed this same pattern on Earth-Two with his own ring and battery, given to him by his predecessor the monk Volthoom. 

However, while clashing with his foe the Crumbler, the villain's power glove adversely effected Hal's battery, causing it to be unstable. While away from his homeworld on a mission to planet Oa, home of the Guardians of the Universe who originated both mens' power, Hal's backup Green Lantern named Guy Gardner was shunted into the Phantom Zone while charging his ring on the unstable lantern. The Guardians gave Hal a replacement battery, directing him to destroy the original. Jordan rescued Gardner, whose mind was damaged as a result of the battery's blast.

As for Scott, while his battery remained undamaged, an emerald globe constructed by the designer of the original battery Chang remained in the lampmaker's possession. However, seeking to access the emerald energies to empower his Green Dragon Tong, Chang lured the supervillain Psycho-Pirate into seemingly stealing it from the old man. While it was soon after accidentally destroyed by the Pirate's henchmen, the globe's radiation later empowered the criminal into mentally dominating Scott. This unlocked the power from the battery, allowing Chang to gain abilities on par with Green Lantern himself. That is, until he perished when he failed to realize that its energy had a weakness, wood which through a falling tree ended Chang's life.

Alternate Earths: Earth-1A and Earth-2A

While most tales involving the Justice League and Justice Society prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths have been relegated to Earths One and Two, respectively, there have been notable exceptions as to their members. Specifically, the "Big Five" plus two whose tales were continuously published on Earth-Prime (our world) since their inception in the late 1930s/early 1940s and through the decades between the Society's last Golden Age tale and the League's first Silver Age tale. 

The so-called Big Five, these were Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin. And it was this quintet who became the core group known as the Super Friends*, as four Justice Leaguers and one Teen Titan were selected to training aspiring heroes Marvin White and Wendy Harris. Shortly after, they would turn their attention to the extra-terrestrial shapechangers Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins. While reference within the Super Friends and Justice League tales assert that these two groups existed concurrently on the same Earth-One, some oddities in the Super Friends tales do not quite line up with the League's mainstream continuity. As such, their stories may have occured on Earth-One, but not quite as they were written within the comicbook published on Earth-Prime**. 

As mentioned after the Crisis by author Roy Thomas, the dispersed energy of the seven superheroes who departed the 1940's All-Star Squadron had to be compensated by newer heroes taking their place. While Neptune Perkins assumed the place of his fellow former Earth-Two All-Star colleague Aquaman and Dan the Dyna-Mite substituted for Robin, three new heroes from a third pre-Crisis Earth... quite probably Earth-Eight... in Iron Munro, Flying Fox and Fury took the place of Superman***, Batman and Wonder Woman****. While their tales as the Young All-Stars would not be exactly as would've been the All-Star Squadron's tales with the "Big Seven" still active, many elements would be similar making the young heroes' adventures homages to untold Earth-Two Squadron tales*****.

Of course, the remaining duo of those seven characters included the Battling Bowmen known as Green Arrow and Speedy. While they were pulled from their native time period in the late 1940's due to their battle alongside the Seven Soldiers of Victory versus the Nebula Man, there were still stories told specially about the Earth-Two version through the late 1950s. 

These post 1948 tales can either be ascribed to untold adventures from the 1940s, or new cases upon their return to the 20th century in the early 1970s. There is logic in assuming that several of Arrow and Speedy's adventures took place after October of 1972, when they and their fellow Soldiers returned to the present. Their teammate Vigilante faced a similar situation, as his tales were still told until 1954, years after he disappeared.

The dynamic between this pair of archers remained familial, unlike that of the silver age archers of Earth-One, as a rift developed between Green Arrow and Speedy. Part of this may have been due to Arrow's alter ego Oliver Queen losing his fortune, which his counterpart evidentally never experienced. Then there is the fact that unlike their dopplegangers on Earth-Two who were members of the same team blending adult and teen heroes together, the Earth-One Green Arrow was heavily involved with the older Justice League, while Speedy centered his activities with the Teen Titans. 

* The Super Friend's actual Earth-Two counterpart team would the Super Squad, consisting of a core group with the Justice Society who... like the Justice League... were tasked with training a second generation of younger heroes.

** One such example of this is when Red Tornado mentioned his used of time travel referenced Super Friends issue# 8, while engaging in this feat a second time in Justice League of America #155.

*** E. Nelson Bridwell among others postulated that the golden age Superman's stories referencing Daily Planet instead of Daily Star, and a bald Luthor instead of a red-haired Luthor, transpired on Earth-2A. If so, then these same stories were also told on Earth-Two, as referenced by the tale of the Powerstone... where both a bald and red-haired Luthor claimed the object for himself.

**** Other members of the Young All-Stars including Tsunami, Sandy, Tigress would be reflections of Jayna, Zan, Wendy and Marvin with the Super Friends.

*****As shown by the accompanying picture, at least briefly before the inception of the Young All-Stars, members of the Freedom Fighters took the places of the missing "Big Five" in the Squadron. Although curiously, in the retroactively altered picture, golden age Green Arrow and Speedy remained until later wiped from existence!

Sinestro's Sinister Siblings Skirmish with Superheroes

Sinestro earned his reputation as being an adaptable adversary of his arch-foe Hal “Green Lantern” Jordan. A former member of the Green Lantern Corps himself, before his greedy misuse of his power and position caused him to be exiled by the Guardians of the Universe into the Anti-Matter Universe, Sinestro had a backup plan. Currying the favor of the Weaponers of the planet Qward, Sinestro launched a series of attack on the Guardians and their Corps using a variety of weapons. Still, Jordan always outmaneuvered his enemy, finally ensnaring him in energy form.

However, Sinestro absorbed both emerald and Q-energy within the taxi cab named Goitrude, regaining his physical body. Forcibly recruiting three human crooks to genetically modify into his clones, Sinestro and his new Corps of a dozen minions launched a preemptive attack on Earth-Two. There, he and his forces were vanquished by Hal and his counterpart of that world, Alan “Green Lantern” Scott. While he was brought back to Earth-One, his Sinestro siblings remained on there world of Earth-Two.

Soon after, Sinestro convinced his sister to assist him in capturing Hal and his friends Green Arrow and Black Canary, which ended once more in his defeat. Still later, he lured Jordan to a Korugan yellow null-ray house his father operated, which cause he and his clients to become drugged out dope-heads. Even this scheme fizzled, Sinestro apparently gave up on his family.

While the original Sinestro of Earth-One’s universe battled Hal Jordan  a dozen times*, the Earth-Two Sinestro Corps with their dozen members** battled Alan Scott only on this one occasion when both Green Lanterns decisively defeated them and their creator. What became of the Sinestro Corps members now on Earth-Two… or the Sinestro family remaining in Korugar-One… is unknown. However, given their criminal nature, most likely they were imprisoned by the law enforcement authorities if those worlds.

* Sinestro also made appearances alongside his part-time cronies in the Secret Society of Super-Villians, as well as tormenting some of Jordan’s Justice League colleagues occasionally.

** These cloned Korugans constituted counterparts to Sinestro himself as well as his sister, father along with the man’s fellow addicted, and the alien Zalaz.

Fiendish Foe’s Fearsome Fundamental Forces

King Kull had constructed decide on his native world of Earth-S a device that could harness forces of nature in three separate universes not present in ours. His goal as the total of destruction of humanity from these parallel planets, as he blamed mankind for the extinction of his ancient people, the Beast-Men. To combat this threat, the Justice League of Earth-One, the Justice Society of Earth-Two and the Squadron of Justice from Earth-S joined forces to stop Kull and his supervillain minions.

Speed force generated from the Flash of three worlds produced an anti-gravitational effect within Earth-One’s prototype City of Tomorrow, with the affect of causing its inhabitants to float into the atmosphere unbound by gravity. The Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Alan Scott as well as Ibis of Earth-S helped reverse the process while joining the Scarlet Speedsters in defeating Kull’s cronies Mister Atom and Brainiac.

Q-Energy* into cloud form had been produced from a device located on the recently resurfaced Earth-Two continent off Atlantis. This force was the Earth-Two version of the Guardians’ green plasma, which had for aeons been subverted and subdued by a variant of their emerald energy which the Guardians banished from their universe. 

The device had been designed to sink the continent of Atlantis, and then all other continental landmasses on Earth-Two. The Wonder Woman of Earth-Two, Superman and Green Arrow of Earth-One and Spy Smasher of Earth-S teamed up to defeat Kull’s associates Penguin, Blockbuster, Queen Clea and Ibac… and destroyed the Q-Energy device they had built.

A third inexplicable force transformed matter, such as 2-dimensional objects into 3-dimensional** versions, and visa versa. This caused various random individuals to gain crystalline or wooden features, in various locales around Earth-S.

While the Dynamic Duos Batman and Robin of Earth-Two as well as Mister Scarlet and Pinky of Earth-S tackled distractions in their foes Joker and Weeper, two other pairs tackled the true threads to Earth-S. These originated from satellites controlled by Earth-One’s Doctor Light and Earth-Two’s Shade, which Hawkman and Hawkgirl from Earth-One along Bulletman and Bulletgirl helped to neutralize. 

His complete mastery over sciences that would have varying effects on each of these distinct Earths with their own unique laws of physics proved King Kull's brilliant level of genius. However, his strategy was unsound as his actions provoked the forming a team of superheroes on his world in the image of the League and Society in the Squadron, an organization which formerly only existed in an informal capacity.

* We know that Kull’s cloud making device harnessed Q-Energy as it effective gravity in an unorthodox manner, as mentioned by the Earth-One Superman. This energy was used versus both Flashes to increase their weight, while Princess Ramos reversed this force causing Doiby Dickles’ taxi cab Goitrude to fly.

** This effect seems to be a variant on the bio-ray devised by Funny Face of Earth-Two, who uses it to animate artwork such as his Superman clone the Flying Tiger, as well as transform the 3-dimensional living Lois Lane into an inanimate picture. The bio-ray was itself a variation of the imperfect duplicator ray used on Earth-One, functioning under same principles, which created Bizarro.

Sinister Shadow Squads Fight Feathered Furies

Carl Banks and Ian Karkull both used technology developed by others to become a pair of problematic Shadow-Thieves who plagued not only their arch-foes, Hawkman and Doctor Fate, but their enemies' teammates in the Justice League and Justice Society. 

When Banks was offered an early release from prison if he accepted being a test subject on a government sponsored space flight, he was recruited orbiting above Earth-One to join the Thanagarian Queen Hyathis' , where Carl would mass produce his Dimensiometer. Elite Thanagarian used these gadgets as the Shadow Squad, Hyathis' collective army launched an attack on the neighboring planet of Rann-One, then ruled by the Justice League's old foe and Hyathis' adversary Kanjar Ro. With Adam Strange of Rann,  Hawkman and Hawkgirl aka Katar and Shayera Hol helped end the war of those worlds, ending with their banishment from Thanagar.

Karkull discovered the ancient advancements of the Saharan city of Ragnor, which including the ability to transform oneself into a shadow. It was later revealed that a ship from Thanagar-Two crashlanded on Earth-Two during the time of the Pharoahs, with the Thanagarians anti-gravitational nth metal being adopted by the Egyptian Prince Khufu. The Thanagarian Birdmen then living in Ragnor once battled Khufu's descendant Brian "Silent Knight" Kent, and centuries later another in the line of Khufu named Carter Hall utilized this Nth metal as the Hawkman.

Confronting Doctor Fate, who intercepted an's henchmen in shadow form, Karkull himself used the device to become a shadow which the Doctor then trapped him in for eternity. Once he gained the ability to control his shadow-nature, he plucked various individuals from the future of Earth-Two in their own shadow-forms, through which he could see the present-day world through their eyes. Collecting them together to gain greater power, Ian recruited a variety of supervillians to assassinate the current and future presidents of the United States. Members of the Justice Society successfully thwarted the villains' schemes, culminating in their attacking Karkull, causing him to fracture into several shadows.

Years after the Rann-Thanagar War, the Thanagarian Shadow-Squad now sought both revenge against Katar and Shayera, as well as to steal their anti-gravitational devices. It seems that once Hyathis departed their planet after she was deposed as its ruler, the people of that world succumbed to the effects of the Equalizing Plague which she had cured them of earlier. This plague caused all Thanagarians residing on that world to be mediocre, without exceptional physical nor mental attributes that had elevated their civilization. The Shadow War they initiated, using the Absorbascon to tap into the minds of humanity, caused Hawkman and Hawkgirl to pull away from their fellow Leaguers who were susceptible to its effects. The Hols eventually triumphed over the Shadow-Squad.

Decades earlier, the after-effects of Karkull's body exploding, releasing his shadow-force captives, caused the Justice Society and its close friends present to gain added life. This gave Hawkman, Hawkgirl and their allies added youth and vitality for decades. The future humans who’s shadows were stolen probably included Andre Voisin, Olive Morell, a Mongolian bandit, a window washer and other individuals in early 1966 by the evil ruler of the psycho-matter universe of Dis (in Showcase #61). These became their world’s unwitting version of the Shadow-Squad, although their sacrifice in decreased lifespan inadvertently helped their world by giving its protectors in the Justice Society the strength to protect Earth-Two from a variety of threats from space in the years to come*.

Regrettably, just as the former Wingmen of Thanagar-One “lost their wings” and their way when the Shadow Squad took its place when Hyathis’ defeat motivates them to attack Earth-One, so too had the ancient Wingmen of Thanagar-Two who settled Ragnor on Earth-Two had long since faded away. In the end, their legacy was carried out by the Hawkmen and their wife’s the Hawkgirls/Hawkwomen.

* This dark radiation also influenced the genetics of Alan “Green Lantern” Scott’s son Todd Rice, who could transform his body into a shadow form like Karkull’s.

Amazingly Agile Aerial Automobiles: Whiz Wagon and Goitrude

On the surface, these two vehicles could not be more different. And yet, each of these aerial automobiles had attributes that mirrored one another.

The Whiz Wagon was a flying five-seater jalopy commissioned by the clone of Morgan Edge, a pawn of the sinister Darkseid, based on Apokolips technology. Crafted by the young Big Words, a member of the Newsboy Legion, this vehicle would be used by the Legionnaires and their frequent partner Jimmy Olsen in a series of Earth-One adventures. Its computi-pilot likely had its artificial intelligence based on the New Genesis' Mother Box devices.

Goitrude was originally a taxi cab named Esmeralda, purchased by Doiby Dickles, which the cab driver would used to ferry around his employer and best friend Alan Scott. Emerald radiation from the power ring of Scott's alter ego, the Green Lantern, eventually caused Goitrude to manifest a rudimentary intelligence. Eventually, it was commandeered by the evil Sinestro, and brought from Earth-Two to Earth-One to then be destroyed by the villain.

Thanks to Big Word's mechanical aptitude coupled with Apokolips science, the Whiz Wagon could fly at high speeds. Similarly, after Princess Ramia of planet Myrg irradiating Goitrude with Q-Energy, the cab was also able to rapidly rocket through the air.

Worlds' Finest World's Fairs of 1939 and 1984

The World's Fair, or World Expo, is a regularly scheduled international exposition taking place in various cities around the world. Perhaps the most famous ever held in the United States of America was the 1939-1940 World's Fair held in Flushing Meadows, New York, with its readily identifiable landmarks including the Tryon and Perisphere. Famous individuals of both Earths One and Two would travel to this location, and have notable adventures ties to these sites.

On Earth-Two, future members of the Justice Society of America Superman, Sandman, Hourman, Green Lantern and Batman as well as their future ally Zatara each visited the New York's World's Fair in 1939 and/or 1940 during its two years in operation. Each of these heroes had adventures centered around this eventful sight. On Earth-One, detective Slam Bradley also had a case involving his World's Fair, which had a similar Perisphere and Tryon shown in its only appearance. On Slam's world, both structures with gold-colored, on the Society's world they were silver-colored.

Of course, in 1942 the All-Star Squadron become better acquainted with the now abandoned Perisphere, which was being used as a prison for then active members of the Justice Society by their foe, Brain Wave. Following the villain's defeat and the heroes' liberation, the Squadron decided to utilize the structure as their new headquarters. Many of the aforementioned mystery men who had a history with this Fair would return many more times throughout the years of World War II, from 1942 until 1945 when the Squadron was dissolved. There, the All-Stars would have numerous meetings of both their entire membership and select groups for specific missions.

In 1949, the World's Fair was held in Civic City on Earth-Two*, where the Perisphere and Tryon were transplanted. Both structures were the focal point of an invasion by the subterranean Diamond Men, which the Justice Society tackled. These twin structions would be removed and subsequent repurposed by the sinister Eliminations, Inc. as yet another death trap for the Justice Society, this time orbiting the planet.

Decades later, the 1984 World's Fair of Earth-One** transpired in Star City***. While covering a story there for the Daily Star, newspaper columnist Oliver Queen encountered a trio of disgruntled supervillains who had each lost their livelihood due to the supposed technogical advances of this Fair. This terrible trio included the second Printer's Devil, Pinball Wizard and Bad Penny. Despite their inventive gadgets and superior number, they were defeated by Queen's alter ego Green Arrow. 

* The Earth-One and Earth-Prime World's Fair took place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

** The Earth-Two and Earth-Prime World's Fair took place in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.

*** Just outside Flushing Meadows of Earth-Two was the metropolis known as York City, home of Sandman and Sandy. Its correlating city on Earth-One was known as Star City, home of Green Areow and Speedy.  Fitting, then, that both York City in 1939 and Star City in 1984 had a nearby World’s Fair.

The Questionable Quandary of Q-Energy

Each dimensional universe within the Multiverse has its own distinct physics. Each have the four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force. Although not the strongest of these, gravity exerts the most influence over each cosmos, given its extensive reach and its negative mass. While gravity gives weight to objects due to mutual attraction, which is a curvature to space and time due uneven distribution of mass. This is true in our realm of existence, typically labeled Earth-Prime, and in that of Earth-One where the Justice League reside.

However, different universes manifest their own deviations on alternate forces which can affect these. Two typical forms of energy not classified under the fundamental four in Earth-One's dimension are Zeta-Beams and the Emerald Energy discovered by the Guardians of the Universe. In Earth-Two's dimension, alternate forms of energy are Nebuloid and Q-Energy, both with similar properties to their corresponding forces in their parallel planes of existence. However, a curious aspect of Q-Energy is its manipulation of mass in an unorthodox form, unseen in our reality.

This was first displaying when Barry Allen aka the Flash encountered beings of the 24th level of existence known as Gobdor. One of its residential rogues, Dro Dorno, employs a device harnessing Q-Energy which causes the Flash to become heavier. Something similar happened on Earth-Two decades earlier, when the villain known as the Thinker used his heavy-ray gun to increase the weight of his arch foe, Jay Garrick aka the Flash.

It was later revealed by scientist Lorraine Lewis that the destructive force she was using on Superman was Q-Energy from another "dimensional universe". Two years prior, that same energy had been brought over from Earth-Two's universe to Lewis' of Earth-One by Princess Ramia when she sought the assistance the Earth-bound Green Lanterns of both universe, and also been projected from the sword of Ramia’s perverted pursuer Prince Peril. 

This energy lay dormant in the taxi cab Goitrude she had piloted with future husband Doiby Dickles, until it was unleashed by the former Lantern named Sinestro. He would spread this Q-Energy within his universe of Earth-One and that of the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward.

Years later, King Kull of Earth-S generated this same Q-Energy via a cloud-creating device, which he used to sink the Earth-Two continent of Atlantis once more. The Earth-One Superman, not connecting that the energy contained in this device was the same he encountered earlier with Lewis, was confused as to how a cloud could increase Atlantis' mass... as this isn't possible according to his world's physics. Q-Energy exerts temporary effects when used by Dorno, Ramia, Lewis, and Sinestro on Earth-One... and far more long-lasting,d wide-scale effects in its native reality of Earth-Two.

Leave it to Binky… To Be on Two Earths!

Bertram “Binky” Biggs was a typical teenage middle child with  atypical adventures of a comedic nature, which he shared with his big sister Lucy, baby brother Allergy and girlfriend Peggy.

On on occasion on 1948*, Binky and Peggy tried to meet up and after a series of misconnections, decided to meet at a specific store for their future dates. Unfortunately, this was the day when Superman moved this building to a location in order to free it up for a children’s playground!

Decades later, in 1978, a still youthful Binky was among those assembled in private detective Angel O’Day’s office during a Crisis event*. At that time, he met a variety of colorful characters including the old west gunfighter Bat Lash and the future Planeteer known as Tommy Tomorrow (along with the Inferior Five of Earth-Twelve). Due to rifts in time and space, these individuals were brought together on that day in 1978. However, Binky’s contemporaneous adventures indicate he was a child of the 1970s.

It would seem that the Binky who witnessed Superman’s tremendous feat was of Earth-Two, and the Binky in Angel’s office was of Earth-One. This younger Bertram Biggs also had siblings named Lucy and Allergy as well as a sweetheart named Peggy.

* Leave it to Binky #5 / ** Showcase #100