Twice-Told-Tales: Ancient Alien Adversaries VS Awesome Avengers

Ancient alien adversaries attacked Earths One and Two in the 20th century, aeons after making their first appearances thousands of years earlier, when they devastaed rival races on other worlds. The celestrial bodies these beings called home consisted of an intruding planetoid and a yellow comet, which jeapardized the safety of the worlds they orbited. Only the combined might of the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America could tackle the threats possessed by the citizens of Luna and denizens of the comet!

In 1978, the mysterious satellite known as Luna first materialized above Earth-One. As a result, vast natural disasters occurred around the globe, facilitated by the gravitational pull of Luna. As members of the League were dispatched across the planet to help mitigate the effects of this, while saving victims left in their wake, the Leaguers encountered the invading inhabitants of Luna. The League members (Green Lantern, Flash, Atom, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Elongated Man and Red Tornado) discovered from testimony provided by the adversarial aliens' governor that the planetoid Luna was known as Regina, and it had shifted from its own dimension into that of Earth-One. As before, Regina derived energy from Earth-One which helped sustain its existence and that of its inhabitants. 

In 1949, a mysterious yellow comet along with meteors entered the atmosphere of Earth-Two. As the trio of meteors landed only in locations within the United States, the global impact was confined into smaller regions, although various fires was ignited at each point of impact. As a result, three teams of Justice Society are dispatched to three areas where the meteorites have landed to assist the local inhabitants while quenching these fires.  At each destination, the Society members (Green Lantern, Flash, Atom, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Hawkman and Doctor Mid-Nite)  encountered the Fire People originating from the comet, each attempting to and succeeding in procuring valuable stores of radium from their human foes.

The JLAer soon discovered that Regina and its people existed millions of years earlier, and had been shifted forward in time following an intra-solar system battle with another planet, which they destroyed, Fragments of that doomed world became the astroid belt now existing between Mars and Jupiter, while the energies unleashed thrust Regina into the 1978. The Justice League used their combined powers to propel Regina into a far-future time period, where it would orbit an uninhabited Earth-One.

The JSAers soon discovered from an ancient recording that these comet-people had arrived millions of years earlier, and destroyed humanity of that era using radium they had stolen.  Equipped with this knowledge, the Society ascertained that white-heat could drain the Fire People of their strength. Confronting the Comet-People, who were developing a weapon to erradicate humanity, they were overpowered by the Society and their heat-projectors. Rather than submit to being captured, the Fire-Being turned the weapon upon themselves, destroying their once proud race.

These were but two examples of several encounters the League and Society had with alien invaders. Other invasions from above which their Worlds' Greatest Heroes were able to thwart included the Appellaxians and Yzgartyl, Starro and Nyarl-Amen, the android Manhunters and Diamond Men, the Dronndarians and Golden-Men, the Treasurers and Green-Heads, to name but a few.

Whatever Happened to the Starfish Conqueror?

Starro the Starfish Conqueror was a mysterious entity originating from outerspace. When he arrived on Earth-One, he sought to dominate that world's lifeforms. To this end, he mutated three duplicates, although each of these was dispatched by five members of the newly formed Justice League of America. From a local boy in Happy Harbor, Snapper Carr, the Leaguers learned of Starro's vulnerability... lime, which the lad used on his family's lawn during the alien invasion.

As such, Green Lantern used his power ring to dowse Starro in a thick covering of lime, which immobiized him. Something similar worked on Earth-Two with the shark-shaped spacecraft made of Metal-X, which Green Lantern alongside his Justice Society allies drenched the animalistic alien in acid.

As for Starro, a fragment of the creature had survived and nurtured itself in the poisonous waters of Earth-One, spawning a duplicate that gained even greater mental abilities while gaining a weakened immune system when removed from these toxic waters. However, despite retaining the transmitted memories of the original, this new Starro needed years to grow to maturity. Meanwhile, a fake Starro was built by T.O. Morrow to battle the League when they teamed up with the Society. This synthetic Starro of Earth-One was like the Metal-X ship of Earth-Two, a cybernetic rather than biological being.

Back over on Earth-Two, the actual doppelgänger of Starro and its replicants was the undersea tyrant Nyarl-Amen and his Fishmen, which launched an attack on Hawaii that was repelled by Doctor Fate. Decades later, Fate along with his Justice Society colleague Hourman faced the Psycho-Pirate, who spawned a replica of Nyarl-Amen along with other older adversaries of the hero to briefly confuse him.

Once strong enough, Earth-One’s Starro enlisting the aid of various marine life as well as members of Aqualad's undersea people. Starro sought revenge against Aquaman, who was one of the five originally defeating him. However, the Marine Marvel used his telepathic abilities to summon porcupine fish, which sprayed fresh water on the antagonistic alien. Aquaman then called upon his League teammate Green Lantern to dispose of their enemy, yet even still, Starro was able to jettison another fragment into space to fight another day.

And so it was that yet a third Starro, not counting the three starfish he mutated during his first appearance, appeared to once more war against humanity. This time, Starro was largely successful in mentally dominating millions of New Yorkers, including several members of the Justice League. However, Starro misjudged the Red Tornado, who unlike the other Leaguers was not human and so was not suspectible to the creature's mind control tactics. Leading the charge with his remaining teammates, Reddy was able to shut off the source of the alien's strength, while the other heroes used ice cold freezing blasts from Firestorm and Green Lantern to render this Starro inert. However, Starro had a contingency plan with yet another fragment of his former body.

This latest piece entered a space warp, arriving on Earth-C, whereby a new Starro was created in that univere. This version only had the memories of the original, and of the duplicate that had fought Aquaman, unaware of his counterpart's third attempt in New York.

This Starro's arrival on this new world inadvertently created the circumstances that empowered six new superheroes, who would become Captain Carrot and his Zoo Crew. Together with a visiting Superman, who had been displaced from Earth-One in the same space warp, these new champions were able to replicate the lime dowsing technique used by the League years earlier. This time, it finally seemed as if the threat of Starro had finally been extinguished, and indeed under normal circumstances this would indeed have been the case. However, unlike what had previously transpired, another entity engineered an unlikely resurrection of the Starfish Conqueror... Brainiac!

Brainiac along with Lex Luthor of Earth-One assembled a legion of doom from various eras and from five Earths, in order to implement of coordinated attack on three of those Earths. Starro was dispatched with several other supervillains to Earth-S, yet despite his awesome abilities, it proved unable to defeat Superman. This was no doubt due to the fact that Brainiac sent the being to a section of Earth-S placed under a deep freeze by the Icicle, Captain Cold and Killer Frost... a tactile mistake for the rogue robot. Whether this Starro was the original or replica that battled the League on Earth-One, or the clone that battled the Zoo Crew on Earth-S, is unknown?

The Starros of Earth-One, Earth-C and Earth-S, Metal-X of Earth-Two, the Starros of the Post-Crisis Earths... each were terrifying space-faring foes of mankind. And yet, despite their massive mental might, they each came up short when faced with their World's Greatest Superheroes!
  

Cunning Crystalline Creatures: The Green Lantern Connection

Hidden within the near-inaccessible Himalayas are ancient secrets tied to one thousand years of history... a history involving a pair of Emerald Crusaders! In the universe of the Guardians of the Universe, this ancient alien organization first attempted to protect the cosmos with their green plasma armed android army known as the Manhunters. However, these synthetic agents of order grew unbalanced, and were those removed of the weaponry and left on various planets, whilst the Guardians created another intergalactic peace-keeping unit, the Green Lantern Corps! 

Eventually, the Manhunters reunited with one another and exerted their influence on the worlds they had inhabited, including Earth-One. Initially setting up a covert base of operations on that world, the Manhunters' leader known as The Grandmaster tasked his forces into making an incursion into the parallel planet of Earth-Two. Having been informed by the Guardians during their inital construction of the androids as to the existence of this alternate reality, one of many errantly spawned by the renegade Malthusian named Krona, Grandmaster coveted the emerald energies exiled to that reality by the Guardians residing on that world. 

In order to track down and wrest control of the Guardians' Green Flame of Life from its current wielder, Alan  "Green Lantern" Scott, the Grandmaster employed agents such as Paul Kirk and Dan Richards as human Manhunters. However, before he could successfully manipulate them into battling their fellow superhero, who became teammates of Green Lantern as part of the All-Star Squadron. So the Grandmaster altered his approach, making one more attempt in 1946 by employing Molly Maynne as the Harlequin. Seeing the potential in this young woman with her rebellious streak, Grandmaster bequeather her with illusion technology in the former of special eyewear which the Manhunters developed. 

Mayne was also hestitant in causing lasting harm to the Lantern on her own, and even when given a battallion of female Manhunters in the form of duplicate Harlequins, she broke her ties with the Manhunters and ultimately retired from their ranks. And so, the Grandmaster returned to Earth-One's Himalayas, abandoning his plans to secure the Guardian's disgarded Flame. He then set forth to orchestrate the Manhunters versus the Corps and their Guardian masters, including Hal Jordan whom they would frame alongside the Guardians to usurp the power and reputation of their creators!

This led to a conflict between the Manhunters and Justice League, which was paralleled by the battle decades earlier on Earth-Two between the Justice Society and the Diamond Men, whose drive towards conquest rivaled their android doppelgängers under the Grandmaster.

One human who initially curried the favor of the Diamond Men was amateur geologist Charles Crillon, who was the unorthodox geological patterns over the years and advertised these in his published works. The Diamond Men’s leader  Exmam transformed Crillon into a being like himself as a reward for impressively discerning the existence of his people. However, Charles betrayed his crystalline benefactor, provided him the needed intel to expose the Diamond Men’s invasion as he guided the Justice Society into their conflict with the alien entities.

His counterpart on Earth-One was school teacher Iris Jacobs, who became acquainted with a time displaced Val “Karat Kid” Armour whom she accompanied on some of his 20th century adventures. Seeking to become more noticeable to Val, she agreed to be a test subject of S.T.A.R. Labs secretly funded by the Lord of Time, which transformed her into the crystalline supervillain named Dimaondeth. Unlike Crillon’s Diamond Man, Diamondeth was spurred on by madness, until Karate Kid subdued her and brought her to his native 30th century where she was cured of her mutation.

Meanwhile on Earth-Two, there was also a war transpiring involving two sides of emerald energies, with the Green Dragon Tong led by an evil lamp-maker named Chang... and a group of peace-keeping lamas located in the Himalayas who obtain Chang's old lamp and the meteor containing the Green Flame's energy. While Chang had a portion of the meteor, a globe of which he gave later to the Psycho-Pirate to advance his schemes after his Tong couldn't secure the emerald energy in its original form for their long-lived master. This Tong had earlier accompanied Chang to North America where he grew his organization under his warped principals, with the goal of subjugating the world one day, before returning to his home continent when opportunity presented itself. Knowing of this danger on the horizon, the lamas presented Alan Scott with the reshaped lamp, wherein he became the Green Lantern of his world. The Guardian's counterpart race in this universe, the Buddak, tried to control Earth-Two themselves before these events had transpired... and were soundly defeated themselves. Years later, the millennium-old Grandmaster and millennium-old Chang led their forces against Hal and Alan on separate occasions, both proved successful despite exploiting situations that seemed to show both Green Lanterns as criminals. And so, the lamas and the Corps remained, aloof from the affairs of mankind.

First Day at the JL/SA: The Conclusion

And so... with the seven Appellaxians dispatched and the threats to Earth-Two vanquished... we reach the culmination of the first meetings for the Justice League and Justice Society.

As Snapper Carr and Green Arrow are brought up to date on how far the League has come in three years (we assume the Martian Manhunter actually meant three years from the actual origin of the JLA, when White Martians invaded Earth-One and the heroes first joined forces to defeat them), and as Johnny Thunder is made to feel like maybe he fits in with a team for who he didn't share their first mission together (when they were assembled to combat the invasion of Valkyries sent by Adolph Hitler on an attack on America).

While the individual Appellaxians wouldn't return until several years later, one of their fold the Crystal Creature was revived within the Secret Sanctuary and enlisted by T.O. Morrow into attacking the League alongside other foes (or replicas thereof). Similarly, the only repeat rogue from All-Star Comics #3 would be Oom of Yzgarty, revived by the Red Moon Stone thanks to the machinations of Mister Mind while assembling the Monster Society of Evil. Neither creature lasted indefinitely, each being destroyed.

When the Appellaxians later returned, thanks to an implanted mental suggestion upon each of the seven original Leaguers, causing the original seven to battle newer members until they regained their senses. It seemed as if the founding members would provide the decisive factor in returning the Appellaxians to power. However,   the antagonistic aliens were decisively defeated by the combined might of old and new members of the JLA.

Similarly, on Earth-Two, the Master Summoner had siphoned off powers from the Justice Society to create various creatures that would ultimately destroy that world and bring about chaos. When the full membership was enlisted to vanquish this growing threat, it was finally determined that the best course of action was inaction, as without their abilities being manifest, these creatures would cease to exist. And the humans manipulated into replicating the Socialite's abilities were similar to a fraudulent League that Professor Amos Fortune had earlier created to defeat the Justice League, that scheme squashed thanks to Wonder Woman.

One occasion wherein the League and Society seemed to turn against themselves or their young generation should also be noted. When the Justice Society fought the Psycho-Pirate, who used the Medusa Mask to pit one active team of Justice Society members against their retired colleagues, this echoed the evil Anthithesis. Antithesis had conspired to turn the Justice League versus their youthful charges, who would soon become the Teen Titans.

In both cases, Batman and Flash were affected from both groups, although also Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Aquaman were pawns of Antithesis while Green Lantern was the other pawn of the Pirate's... the former Socialite Batman's alter ego of Commissioner Bruce Wayne did recruit Wonder Woman, Doctor Mid-Nite and Starman to aid him against the Society right in the Batcave while Antithesis caused the conflict in the Justice League cave.

And each time, it is shown that evil forces cannot manipulate the operatives of Justice on these parallel planets, as they ultimately turn the tables on their foes and proves that good triumphs over evil in the end.

First Day at the JL/SA: Reflecting Rogues

The final meteorite revealed a Crystal Creature tormenting the far north inhabitants of Greenland. However, the World's Finest Team of Superman and Batman teamed up to overcome this foe, as the Dark Knight removed the Kryptonite present leaving the Man of Steel to transform the being into an inert form... squashing his plans to prove he was the mightiest of his kind.

Interestingly, during the first meeting of the Justice Society of America, Earth-Two's Superman and Batman were unable to attend. We know what Superman was during around the same period of time, in the winter of 1940 (Superman #7) when the Society's meeting had occured, as he traveled to a city terrorized by a fiendish scientist named Kotzoff. Kotzoff used a weapon to transform humans into reflected glass... similar to Glass-Man whom we considered earlier and similar to the reflective Crystal Creature who had changed Greenlanders into replicas of itself. However, the Man of Tomorrow made quick work of Kotzoff and his corrupt allies in the government.

So now that the Appellaxian meteorites and their spawn have been dealt with, and the menaces of Earth-Two have been dispatched, how would the first day at the JLA and JSA conclude?

First Day at the JL/SA: Mutating Monsters

So far, five individual members of the Justice League of Earth-One faced off against five Appellaxian aliens, each with different appearances and abilities and each were defeated. Now the quintet themselves faced a horrible situation.

Discovering another meteorite, like the ones that spawned the other five fiends, this one revealed Wood-King who transformed the heroes into flora like himself. How would they overcome this strange twist?

Decades earlier, it was only Sandman of Earth-Two who faced the menace of Doctor Faversham, a scientist who mutated fauna into hideous dimensions. Increasing the size of a rodent and a feline, the diabolical doctor had his sights set on enlarging humans, resulting in  potentially horrible eventualities.

Thankfully, alongside his girl-Friday Dian Belmont, Sandman avoided an untimely demise and overpowered Faversham before he could go further with his experiments. And also thankfully, using a combination of teamwork the JLA reverted back from flora to fauna and destroyed Wood-King. Still, there was one more Appellaxian they hadn't dealt with...who would? And would it also have a parallel on Earth-Two?

First Day at the JL/SA: Fiery Foes

While on a visit in northern Italy under his secret identity, Earth-One's Flash witnessed the strange appearance of a stunning alien. Fire-Lord was brazenly transforming various people into duplicates of itself, with the intent of exercising his control over all around him. This was so that he could claim rulership on planet Appellax!

Another fiery madman desiring control of the Earth-Two, was Mazda the Great who wore an asbestos suit as had his minions while operating an experimental steam machine. When Hawkman was tipped off to the villain's goal of world domination, the Winged Warrior alongside girlfriend Sheila Sanders faced him.

Both Fire-Lord and Mazda the Great found their flames snuffed out by the pair of planetary protectors. Yet how would a combined Justice League of America handle the Wood-King, and how would his threat be mirrored by mad scientist Doctor Faversham?

First Day at the JL/SA: Flying Fiends

The plot of the invading Appellaxians upon Earth-One is further revealed as Green Lantern faces the Golden Roc, a gigantic bird terrorizing the skies above Victoria Falls trying to prove he is the mightiest of his world, displaying why he should assume the mantle of leadership over his comrades.

Back over on Earth-Two, we skipped a section of the Spectre's battle with Oom the Mighty wherein the villain temporarily gained victory over the hero by enlisting a deceptive ally. A mammoth space-dragon from planet Yzgartyl seemed intimidating, however Spectre quickly made short work of him, as had Lantern by freezing the Golden Roc in place under the falls.

However, a Fire-Lord and Mazda the Great were waiting in the "wings"...

First Day at the JL/SA: Terrible Tentacles

As the first day at the JLA and JSA continues, yet another tale of terrible tyrants terrorizing unfolds. Wonder Woman of the JLA and Doctor Fate of the JSA are confronted with oozing creatures that look eerily similar in the forms of a Mercury Monster of Appellax and an octopus of the Nile. After considerable effort each is defeated.

As it turns out, the Monster and his fellow combatants from Appelleax had been sent to Earth-One to prove which should be made supreme commander of their planet, sent by unnamed Kalar who was passing on his authority to one of the seven. As for the octopus, an evil madman also unnamed sent the creature after Fate to secure his own malevolent plans which were halted. Neither saw the fruition of their evil schemes. However, there would be further challenges to our heroes such as in the forms of Golden Roc and the Space-Dragon...

First Day at the JL/SA: Sinister Swimmers

The next episode unfolding during the first day at the JLA and JSA are tales told by Earth-One's Aquaman and Earth-Two's Flash. What menace did they each face, and how did they respond accordingly?

Turns out Aquaman is alerted by his finny friends to a dangerous creature swimming through the seas, zapping sea life and turning them to glass. Turns out this an Appellaxian named Glass-Man in order to prove dominant in his element as a testimony to his claim as deserved sovereign of his home world.

However, the King of the Sea quickly dispatches his foe by commanding his undersea allies to create another vibrations to shatter Glass-Man's form.

For the Flash, who is off on a sea scavenging adventure aiding a kind fellow against a pack of criminals, the Fastest Swimmer Alive faces an odd foe. A seemingly sentient man-eating shark attempts to feast on Flash, but instead finds he's bitten off more than he can chew...so to speak. Then the hero makes quick work of the crooks. We continue we a Mercury Monster and an inky octopus from the Nile, and their masters behind the scenes...

First Day at the JL/SA: Stone Stooges

In Justice League of America #9 and All-Star Comics #3, we glimpse into the initial meeting of both the League and the Justice Society, after their initial secret origins of course.

Examined here, side-by side and point-by-point, for the first time anywhere, we see Twice-Told Tales develop in stunning detail!

After Snapper Carr is invited the the Secret Sanctuary by the JLA where they recount the reason for their three-year celebration,  and after Johnny Thunder stumbles upon the secret New York Penthouse suite of the JSA where they recount memorable stories, parallels develop.

Both the Martian Manhunter and Spectre combated two gigantic, powerful alien creatures made of stone. Stone-God and Oom the Mighty unleash their full force on unsuspecting humans, attempting to assert dominance on their respective Earths to solidify their right to rule on their home worlds of Appellax and Yzgartyl.

That being said, the heroic pair in short-shorts and a cape vanquish the sinister stones with their tenacity and techniques. Next we consider Glass-Man and...a shark???

Meddling Monarchs Menace Meta-Humans

Hyperspace bridges the gap between vast expanses of space, allowing voyagers to travel from their section of the galaxy to new worlds. Kanjar Ro used a cosmic boat to accomplish such a feat, and journeyed to Earth-One. Recruiting the Justice League of America to battle the competing sovereigns of his solar system: Kromm of Mosteel, Sayyar of Llarr, and his arch-foe the Queen of Alstair known as Hyathis. Instead, all four villains were taken from their worlds and exiled on a meteor-world. He would escape several times over the years, using such devices as the gamma metal gong and the energi-rod.

Kanjar Ro had an Earth-Two counterpart in the dictator named Blakfu, king of the Mole Men. Utilizing paralyzing electrical currents and other weaponry similar to his doppelgänger, Blakfu like Kanjar Ro made  as a recurring the Wonder Woman of his Earth. Only instead of facing Wonder Woman’s allies in the Justice Society, he made enemies of the girls of Holliday College. 

In the parallel universe of Earth-Two, the tyrants vying for power in the same solar system included Hydara of Hyper-Neptune, Kafta of Hyper-Uranus, and Thermo of Hyper-Pluto. Their plans were spoiled by the intervention of hyper-space traveling Justice Society of America, exiled from Earth-Two by Nazi master engineer Hans Gootsden.

In fact, later ladies of both Earths would also achieved this same scientific success, the counterparts Enrichetta Negrini of Earth-One and Lana Kurree of Earth-Two. But before we consider them, let's learn more about the prominent people the Justice League and Justice Society members met during their hyperspace travels.

Hyathis went on to be the ruler of the hawkworld of Thanagar, while Hydara remained on his native planet as its sole sovereign. Meanwhile, Kromm and Kafta, Sayaar and Thermo were each one-note-wonders quickly defeated. Another tyrant the Society faced in Solaris the Meteor Man was the doppleganger of the Appellaxian ruler who sent his meteor minions versus the Justice League in their origin tale. 

Queen Desira of that same solar system found a counterpart in the flying female named Dwyanna Ral of Llorth. Desira's once winged daughter Eve of Eveland likewise had a doppleganger in the flying Maya from the other-dimensional world of Floria. Desira and Eve had led their Venusian people who were similar to the Florians, although considerably smaller and without the need of wings to glide through the air. Maya was enslaved in the schemes of her former foe Jason Woodrue, aka the Plant-Master who himself would later become the Floronic Man and a foe of the Atom.

Research scientist Lana Kurree seemingly tapped into hyperspace thanks to some type of mutant  mental abilities. Unlike her Earth-One counterpart Enrichetta who relied on mechanical means to produce this effect, Lana was able to pull both herself and others through time and space. This led to a series of adventures throughout various centuries and locales involving herself, her fellow Holliday College alumni the Holliday Girls, and Wonder Woman. One identity she assumed was Norman Servelia, in a tale involving… a meddling monarch, like the aforementioned alien ones!

Research scientist Enrichetta Negrini developed a hyperspace warping device that pierced the barrier between her world, Earth-Two and the Anti-Matter Universe. Thankfully, her employer Ray "Atom" Palmer along with his teammates of the Justice League and the Justice Society were able to reverse the effect before all three realities were destroyed by the mindless monarch the Anti-Matter Man.

Alien Aggressive Adversaries of Justice

The Treasurers arrived on Earth-One at a critical moment, when the sub-atomic X Element key to all life on the planet began to decay worldwide. Offering a supply of this element to humanity in exchange for various life forms, including postal worker George Arthur Stewart, the planet’s governments agreed to this demand. The Justice League pursued the Treasurers as they traveled to the world of the War-Kohns, a reptilian race bent on galactic conquest, including transforming certain humans with the X Element into human-reptile hybrids they controlled. The League overpowered the War-Kohns and outsmarted the Treasurers, extracting the needed X Element from Stewart's own genetic profile to save Earth-One by revitalizing it.

Green-Heads invaded Jupiter in behalf of their world, known as the Green Star. With the goal of galactic conquest, the reptilian Green-Heads kidnapped scientist Elwood Napier, turning him into their strategic ally… the Conqueror. Determining that Earth-Two was too powerful to subdue, the Green-Heads deemed it necessary to destroy that world. The Justice Society tracked Napier first to Jupiter-Two then Mars-Two, battling his  Martian simian minions on Mars-Two and ultimately defeating the Greenheads, whose planet the Green Star was destroyed when their weapon was redirected from its original target of Earth-Two to their world.