Fearless Fedora Fist Fighters: Radar and the Question

Amongst the more colorful costumed crimefighters, there are those who prefer wearing a stylized suit during their crimebusting careers. Two notable examples were Pep "Radar" Pepper of Earth-S and Vic "Question" Sage of Earth-Four. Both men had deductive abilities far exceeding those of their peers, as well as being adept at hand-to-hand combat.

Pep Pepper was initially a soldier who gained notoriety for his various skills during a live performance, and further boxing match with Captain Marvel. When it was discovered that he had low-level telepathy, he was recruited as an International Policeman code named Radar, who received his missions from transmissions originating at his employer's headquarters at Mt. Mysto while wearing a suit and fedora.

Vic Sage was a crusading journalist who fought to clean up the streets of Chicago, and later Hub City. However, his friend Professor Rodor gifted Vic with a special gas which transformed Sage's suit and fedora into a different color, while leaving his face featureless to disguise his identity. As the Question, Vic pursued various leads from his own news agency which he we employed at, and eventually worked alongside fellow superheroes like Blue Beetle and Captain Atom as part of the Sentinels of Justice.

On Earth-One and Earth-Two, the roles of Pep and Vic as the premiere suit-and-tie law enforcement professional of their worlds were filed by police detectives John “J’Onn Jon’zz” Jones and Larry "Radio Patrol" Trent (themselves tied to caped crusaders Dirk “Martian Manhunter” Giles and Clark “Superman” Kent)

Fantastic Fleet-Footed Formula Folks

Johnny Quick and Bill the Magnificent, two super speedsters distinct fro their fellow fleet footed peers on that their powers were derived by what they said. For newsreel journalist Johnny Chambers, the mathematical formula he uttered was “3x2(9yz)4a”. For copyboy Bill Hanson, the grammatical phrase he uttered was “jeepers  creepers”. While Chambers’ formula granted him superhuman speed, a protective aura and the power of flight… Hanson’s phrase bequeathed him with superhuman speed, invulnerability and unbelievable strength.

As Johnny Quick, Chambers (like his Earth-One counterpart Wally “Kid Flash” West) would use his speed both for solo adventures and working alongside the Flash and other superheroes. Quick had teammates in the All-Star Squadron of Earth-Two (as has Kid Flash with the New Teen Titans). Meanwhile, Bill the Magnificent worked alone, although contemporaneous with another speedster in Kid Eternity and his friends in the Marvel Family of Earth-S.

Gaggles of Garbed Guardians Guarding Gothams

Gotham City is known for many things. First and foremost, for their Caped Crusaders. As these cities on parallel planets have been afflicted in modern times by their supervillians, Dynamic Duos have protected them from their sinister schemes. 

On Earths One and Two, these masked manhunters are Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, the amazing alter egos of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. But on Earth-S, they are radically different yet still strangely similiar. Brian Butler and his adopted son Pinky swing through the skylines of their city as Mister Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid. And that city's name is... Gotham! 

Indeed, this is the very first locale where District Attorney Butler first donned his colorful costume, and later inspired his orphaned son to join him in his crusade. Strangely though, the Gotham City of Earth-S was not as well-known nor as reputable. This is evidenced by Captain Marvel's uncertainty as to if his world has its own Gotham. 

And in fact, when he along with his Marvel Family and fellow superheroes returned from decades of suspended animation in the 1970s, it seems that Mister Scarlet and Pinky had moved from Gotham to Cap's hometown of Fawcett City... the Earth-S version of Metropolis. Perhaps due to their world's Gotham City being smaller, it wasn't quite the financial center of their United States as it was on the Batmen's worlds.

As to what the names of the other distinct correlating cities on Earth-S were for those on Earths One and Two (Central City/Keystone City, Ivy Town/Calvin City, Coast City/Gateway City, Midway City/Civic City, among others), this has not as yet been revealed since most of the mystery men on that world either operated in Fawcett, Gotham, New York or Washington D.C.

Mysteriously Missing Mighty Meteor

The errant emerald energy exiled by the Guardians of the Earth-One Universe was contained within the heart of a star on Earth-Two’s universe… the Starheart. This sentient power within a celestial body transferred a portion of its power into a massive meteor, which was sent to a planet in its new universe, that world being Earth-Two. Crash-landing in China centuries ago, legendary lampmaker Chang crafted a small amount of this space-rock into a green lantern, which he then misplaced when some residents in his town attempted to steal it. While he still possessed another piece of the meteorite, which sustained his life through the late 20th century, both the lantern and the remaining meteorite were claimed by a group of monks who safeguarded these for centuries.

Eventually, Chang’s lantern was claimed by engineer Alan Scott, who used its energy to charge his handcrafted power ring. As the Green Lantern, Scott was able to perform a wide range of feats, just as long as he charged his ring with the Chang’s power battery every 24 hours. During one accidental trip to Earth-S with his All-Star Squadron teammates Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, he soon ran out of power as his ring’s charge lapsed.

However, Scott correctly surmised that a green meteor would be found in the same location on Earth-S as was that which Chang harvested on Earth-Two. But how could this be, since the Guardians only willed the Starheart’s emerald energy into Earth-Two’s dimension,  not Earth-S?

The Green Flame of Life, which is what the Starheart meteor called itself, had apparently sent a portion of the meteor into other universes such as Earth-S and Earth-Three. We know this due to the existence of the villainous Power Ring of Earth-Three’s Crime Syndicate. This Syndicator was given his power battery by a mad monk named Volthoom, the counterpart of the Chinese Monk who bequeathed Alan Scott his own battery*. And Power Ring’s emerald jewel has the same weakness as Alan’s, that being all wooden substances. Eventually even Power Ring, although a greedy criminal, still attempted to protect innocents from harm during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

The meteor’s correlating energy repository of emerald energy in Earth-One's universe, the planet Oa’s Central Power Battery, was briefly transported to Earth-Two by Sinestro when he attempted to create a Sinestro Corps with his clones. This massive battery from Oa now on Earth-Two filled the gap of an energy-repository machine left behind by the vehicle known as Goitrude, the taxi cab of Alan Scott’s best friend Doiby Dickles which he left on Earth-One.

After the timely intervention of Alan Scott and his Earth-One counterpart Hal Jordan, the Green Lanterns defeated Sinestro, the Central Power Battery was transported back to Oa, where it would remain. However, a few years later the rogue Malthusian named Krona attacked his brothers in the Guardians of the Universe and their Corps, destroying this main Battery. Another centralized battery was built as a replacement. 

The remnants of the Earth-Three meteor contained within Power Ring’s power battery was later claimed by the visiting Captain Comet of Earth-One. The Captain used it to transport himself to Earth-Two, in pursuit of the Secret Society of Super-Villians. This Earth-Three battery with its concentrated emerald energies now on Earth-Two correlates with the Anti-Matter Universe’s yellow power rings developed by the Weaponers of Qward for their chief agent Sinestro, which he brought back with him to his native universe to plague Earth-One and its Green Lantern.

* Alan met his world’s Volthoom during a time travel adventure, when he was inadvertent transported to ancient Camelot. Volthoom was one of a delegation of Chinese ambassadors who were also monks and guardians of the green lantern battery through the centuries.

The Other "S" Teams of Justice: Why didn't they last?

Earths S and Four were the more in conspicuous parallel planets to the more famous Earths One and Two. Unlike those latter two, the former two consisted of superheroes who mostly operated on their own or with their familial sidekicks. Think the Marvel Family...Judomaster and Tiger... and more whom we will now consider. Nevertheless, on occasion the greatest champions of each Earth banded together as had Justice League and Justice Society.

On Earth-S, Captain Marvel banded together with the three Lieutenant Marvels and labeled their quartet as the Squadron of Justice, and decades later six more heroes formed a second Squadron to fight alongside the League and Society. This was their only known adventure.

On Earth-Four, three young heroes in Helio, Brute and Mentalia used special devices to fight the forces of evil as the Sentinels of Justice. Later, a quartet led by Captain Atom adopted this same moniker for a single chronicled tale.

Yet what caused the Squadron and Sentinels to only be temporary team-ups? For the heroes of Earth-Four, their was a tension between its members due to their differing ideologies... from a government agent... an alien princess... a corporate magnate... and a ruthless journalist. For the heroes of Earth-S, their was mutual respect that bound these heroes into lasting friendships, although their cases took them in different directions that consumed their time and energy.

Seven Deadly Enemies of Mankind

The Monster Society of Evil were the preeminent assemblage of costumed criminals on Earth-S, and the Sivana Family was the most successful group of arch-foes of the Marvel Family. Other villainous teams included Bulletman's foes in the Revenge Syndicate and Mister Scarlet's foes in the Death Batallion.  Another sinister syndicate had a more far reaching impact of humanity, the so-called Seven Deadly Enemies of Mankind!

Although ancient alien entities which have battled the forces of good since the days of the Champion in ancient times down to when King Kull reassembled them in the modern day to battle with Captain Marvel, these seven has human sides that caused trouble. And they would appear on occasion to trouble mankind with their adverse influence. They first appeared in November 1944, and reappeared in October 1952.

Led by a mysterious monocled man named Mr. Hogg, this gang of seven crooked confederates consisted of men identified by their devious defining characteristics of Pride, Envy, Greed, Anger, Sloth, Gluttony and Lust. Doctor Sivana personified Pride and served as a secretary and host for his colleagues, and he like Henry "Brain Wave" King of Earth-Two were the most persistent adversaries of their worlds' greatest heroes.

Other members of the Seven Deadly Enemies likewise were the Earth-S versions of King's Injustice Society allies Wizard, Thinker, Gambler, Per Degaton, Sportsmaster, and the Icicle. The Earth-One counterpart of this amoral alliance, the Secret Society of Super-Villains, likewise bedeviled the heroes of their world. A version of this Secret Society also formed later on Earth-Two, while a less successful Injustice Gang also operated around the same time on Earth-One... each of these, like the Sivana Family, used similar methods and had the same goals. And were tangentially connected to their larger sister syndicate.

Fawcett's Finest: A New Blog

While touching on the various heroes and heroines of Fawcett Comics at times throughout our examination of the DC Multiverse, two dynamic duos deserve some long overdue attention.

Bulletman and Bulletgirl, aka Jim and Susan Kent, were known as the Flying Detectives and were their own world's version of the classic Winged Wonders of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Similarly, attorney Brian Butler and his ward also had the distinction of being Gotham Guardians, as they both lived and protected a Gotham City of another Earth as Mister Scarlet and Pinky. Within the context of their reality, what became known as Earth-S, these four fearless fighters were as important as were their more famous caped and cowled contemporaries.

In fact, the Bullet pair were more successful than the Hawks as their popularity meant an ever growing family of characters, second only to the Marvel Family whom they teamed up with on occasion. As for Scarlet and Pinky, they were itinerant masked men drifting from job to job, yet maintained a wonderfully glib interaction with each other that made the best of the dwindling returns from them costumed crusades.

Largely, their vast array of adventures, adversaries, and abilities have been left untold in a modern context... until now. Join the review at Fawcett's Finest: Scarlet and Gold.

Courageous Captains Cause Cosmic Chaos

Earth-276 was a world never visited by residents of the prime universes that survived through the final days of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and yet it was the mirror image of one of these parallel planets known as Earth-S, which had been home to the Marvel Family. It's prime protector also once visited another prime universe in Earth-One.

Captain Thunder aka Willie Fawcett was the counterpart of Billy "Captain Marvel" Batson from Earth-S. Willie had been born on Earth-276 and came upon the acquaintance of Merokee, who like his own counterpart Shazam had imbued a lad with superhuman abilities. The Monster League of Evil had a long running enmity towards Thunder as had the Monster Society of Evil with Marvel, although in the former's case this pitched battled spilled out through some 1,953 dimension. Eventually, the Captain captured the League, leaving them in inter-dimensional Limbo existing between universes, however the League's leader used his mental abilities to warp the mind of Thunder. This led the caped crusader to erroneously venture to Earth-One instead of his home world, whereupon as young Willie happens upon both criminals and the costumed crimefighter, Superman.

However, when Fawcett transformed to Thunder, the Captain's suddenly evil disposition turned him into an adversary of Superman, and the two battled on a couple occasions, In between these encounters, Willie reverted to his childhood self and sought out reporter Clark Kent in hopes of the journalist helping to lead the teen to Superman. Together, they ascertained that Captain Thunder was acting against his true benevolent nature, and so Superman tricked his rival into utilizing his inherent wisdom to revert the Captain to his once righteous demeanor once more.

At that point, Captain Thunder calculated the means to travel back to his native Earth-276, at which point he disappeared from Earth-One's reality nevermore to return. Similar confrontations occurred between a mentally controlled Captain Marvel, who temporarily resided upon Earth-Two and battled that world's Superman, and decades later a similar occasion when he battled this same Superman who previously dueled with Thunder years previous. As to whether Captains Marvel and Thunder, Shazam and Merokee, or the Society and League of Monsters ever encountered one another is unknown, although given that Marvel and his Family where in suspended animation during the period when Thunder was traversing various dimensions before irrevocably returning to his Earth, it is unlikely. 

As for Thunder's cosmic twin Captain Marvel, and later tale wherein Mister Mxyzptlk swapped the powers and costumes of Marvel and Superman, in a scheme wherein the imp was working alongside Mister Mind and King Kull to defeat the pair. This encounter solidified that Captain Marvel, and by extension Captain Thunder their worlds' respective Supermen, even though neither originated on Krypton as has Kal-El and Kal-L. At the end of this crooked caper, wherein Mxyzptlk became disenchanted with the bloodthirsty demeanor of Mind and Kull, he returned to his 5th dimensional home after reversing the condition of Earth-One and Earth-S' mightiest men that restored them to normal.

Bedeviling Brunette Beauty Bewilders

Illyria was similar in certain ways to her counterparts on other Earths, in so much as she had a strong will and resourcefulness that drove her to wrongdoing time after time. However, she diverted from her cosmic twins in that she didn't seek riches, but instead had a deep sense of perverse patriotic pride for her inidentifed nation.

On Earths One and Two, a Selina Kyle adopted the costumed criminal alias of Catwomna, after each of these larcenous lasses first encountered and were defeated by their respective Batman. After several classes with their mail adversaries throughout the years, both of these women retired to pursue romantic relationships with the alter ego of the Batmen, wealthy parallel playboys Bruce Wayne.

However, as is often the case on Earth-S, people there are substantially divergent. Such was the case as to Illyria, who remained in nightgowns without flamboyant costumes. And instead of encountering the Dynamic Duo of her world, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, she had a recurrent opposition with another hero... Minute Man aka Jack Weston.

On a fourth world, Earth-Four, Illyria and the Selinas’ counterpart was the foreign operative known as Lynx. She had a series of confrontations versus Sarge Steel, as each were working for nations on opposing sides during the Cold War of the 1960s. There seemed to be some romantic chemistry between Lynx and Sarge, although ultimately frustrated due to their opposing agendas.

As the Queen of Spies, she naturally continued to run into Minute Man as she tried to disrupt various aspects of the American government and military. Eventually, after a series of failures versus Weston's alter ego, Illyria's boss the Green Hood grew displeased at her seeming uselessness. Although she nearly perished at the hands of the Hood, Minute Man saved her life. After this encounter, she disappeared. Did she end up with Jack in the end?

Team-Up Tuesdays: Finest Fawcett Friends Forever

Earth-S was very unique in the midst of the Multiverse. For one thing, there was no Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman or derivatives thereof. Indeed there were analogues to each of these, and other superheroes and heroines, both in the golden age starting in the 1940's like Earth-Two and the silver age 1970's such as on Earth-One. Nevertheless, there was also a lack of scientific principals, as this particular universe's particular laws of physics almost lent themselves as much to the whimsical as the wonderful. But that wasn't all that made it stand apart from the rest.

On this world, the greatest superhero team that ever existed wasn't the Justice League or the Justice Society... not the Justice Alliance nor Freedom Brigade. Not even a Crime Syndicate... well okay there was the Monster Society of Evil but... as it was, they were persistent if nor productive. However, on Earth-S, their premier team was a family! Yes, the Marvel Family, consisting of Captain Marvel along with his sister, his best friend, three namesakes, a lovable old fraud and the elder guardian who empowered them all. They mirrored the youthful Teen Titans and Blue Boys of parallel planets but more prominent.

That's not to say this world didn't have their share of costumed crusaders. Indeed, Bulletman and Bulletgirl were as prolific as protectors as were Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Mister Scarlet and Pinky were as gifted a dynamic duo as were Batman and Robin. Spy Smasher was evenly matched with Mister Terrific, as was Minute Man with the Star-Spangled Kid. That's just the tip of the iceburg.

And indeed, these various heroes teamed up informally throughout the years at social events, and they were all stuck together in Suspendium thanks to the machinations of Doctor Sivana after the Captain's long time friends showed up to support a ceremony in his and his Family's honor. Eventually, they would team up, well most of them, to form Shazam's Squadron of Justice. 

Still, this was a one-and-done scenario, as most of the members then proceeded to retire or at least semi-retire. Except for the Marvels. Regardless, this world was well protected, so much so that none of the various incarnations of the Monster Society were able to vanquish good from that planet. And so it would remain, until the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Or, in at least one timeline, into the uncharted future.

Fawcett Fridays: Peak Physique Personas

On parallel planets populated with powerful people, it would at first seem that Peter Cannon and Jack Weston were ordinary. But in fact, each man was extraordinary, accomplishing tremendous feats of physical and psychological strength that far exceed their more common-place contemporaries, and earned the respect of their superpowered peers.

Jack Weston was the first to appear, in 1941 as the costumed crimefighter known as Minute-Man on Earth-S. Left an orphan after first his mother’s passing, followed by his father dying during World War I. Throughout his formative years, Jack was trained in various physical and psychological discipline, each of which he excelled in. Recruited by his guardian General Milton into adopting an alter ego as a One-Man-Army, Jack as Minute-Man battled a wide range of both local criminals and foreign adversaries.

Peter Cannon was an orphan whose parents were medical professional a group of Tibetan monks in the Himalayas from a ravenous disease. In gratitude for this self sacrifice, the monks raised Peter and taught him from ancient scrolls how to unlock his full physical and mental potential. Journeyed to his parents’ native country the United States of America, Peter as the costumes crusader known as the Thunderbolt on Earth-Four. Cannon fought a wide range of both local criminals and foreign adversaries.

While Peter’s femme fatale was the one-shot Egyptian temptress known as Evila, John’s femme fatale was his frequent foil named Illyria, who worked for various countries in the field of espionage, seeking to exploit secrets from the United States. 

The Earth-One and Earth-Two doppelgängers of Minute-Man and Thunderbolt were Star-Tsar and Star Spangled Kid, respectively. While the Kid was himself a child protégée, so much so that he was the leader of a dynamic duo consisting of he and his adult chauffeur, the Tsar was only highly intelligent. That said, Tsar’s alter ego of Snapper Carr was trained by the heroes in the Justice League, of whom he was an honorary member. The Kid had years of experience before joining the Justice Society.

Cannon’s constant companion was Tabu, who motivated him in his constant war against evil. Milton was Weston’s mentor and closest companion, continually spurring on his protégée in his heroic pursuits. While neither were team-players, preferring to work more solo, on occasion Minute-Man worked alongside Captain Marvel and the Crime Crusaders Club, while Thunderbolt operated on occasion with Captain Atom and the Sentinels of Justice.

Marvelous Miniature Mighty Men & Maidens

In 1943 on the world known as Earth-S, the young hero known as Captain Marvel Junior met a tribe of miniature men and maidens which is labeled the Trolls. They were the same hidden dwarfs as were those encountered previously by Captain Marvel shortly before this. They were their universes version of the Kandorians of Earth-One, who were originally Kryptonians of Krypton-One who were shrunk by the android Brainiac and kept in a jar until located by Superman. On Earth-Two, the mini Kandorians were actually virtual reality copies of the now long dead Kryptonians

Just as the Marvel Family had connections to their Trolls, so had the Superman Family with Kandorians. After securing them for his foe, Superman brought them to his Fortress of Solitude where several of these Kandorians aided him later as the Superman Emergency Squad. 

Similar miniaturized humans were found in Midget Town. While a chemical formula was used by Darrell Dane to transform into the 6 foot tall Doll Man in 1939, in the early 1940s the malevolent mastermind known as Brain Wave developed a purple ray which accomplished this feat. A variation of these treatments was later used on a village by another criminal scientist named Doctor Vargo. Doll Man became aware of these tiny folk, causing them to turn on their creator Thinking this town was destroyed, Dane never revisited it, as it developed into the more civilized Midget Town within a few short years

Marvel Mondays: The Captains of Energy

No two figures are as prominent on Earth-Four and Earth-Shazam as the Captains, Atom and Marvel. Each our dynamos of power, the pinnacle of human perfection, the guardians of the greater good. And also partial to the similar color scheme in their speedos.

Captain Marvel is really Billy Batson, a young lad transformed by lighting which he calls upon from ancient Shazam to grant him vast powers unmatched by his peers. Captain Atom is Captain Nathaniel Adams, a soldier who during a mishap in a launched rocket finds him body atomized and transformed into a human nuclear furnace. Each fly, have superhuman strength and durability, and can call upon tremendous energy to transform themselves from mere men to mighty mortals!

Both men are the recognized leaders of their worlds premier heroic teams, the Squadron of Justice and Sentinels of Justice! Alongside their skirt-clad gal pals, goggle-clad aviators and fellow red-and-yellow spandex studs, they champion the cause of justice. While Atom changed to a red, white and blue suit latter in his career, Marvel remained in his familiar duds.

In 1954, aspiring comic book publisher Charlton purchased the rights to several prominent characters from the expiring Fawcett Comics, such as Ibis, Golden Arrow and Lance O'Casey. In 1980 and 1985, DC Comics purchase Fawcett's Marvel Family then Charlton's Action Heroes, and the two were linked once more, now on parallel Earths, Four and Shazam.

Fawcett Friday: Colorful Crusaders

As the world was heading once more into a war that would grip the globe, a plethora of powerless protectors championed the cause of the everyman. Foremost among them were Mister Scarlet, a Fawcett costumed hero of Earth-S who in his day-to-day life was district attorney Brian Butler. Tired of the rampant crime going unchecked in his burg, he donned a red and yellow costume, using his natural acrobatic prowess to combat the criminal element.

After succeeding in his righteous cause, he found that there were no more criminals for him to prosecute. Left unemployed as the public at large felt Butler was lazy, he persisted in his double identity while adopting a ward named Pinky and supported financially by secretary Miss Wade. Butler was his world’s version of Batman, while Pinky the Whiz Kid filled the role of the Boy Wonder, Robin.

Over at Fox Feature Syndicated on Earth-Four, they had a winner in the form of police officer Dan Garret. Transformed by the miracle vitamin 2-X into a superstrong powerhouse thanks to local pharmacist Dr. Franz, Garret donned a chainmail costume and became the Blue Beetle. Defeating criminals in a manner unavailable to him as a mere beat cop, Garret made a reputation for himself and curried the attaction of crime reporter Joan Mason of the Daily Blade, both in and out of his super-suit. His career lasted into the late 1940's, was briefly revived in the 1950's and then disappeared from the scene. Another would take his place, and a third!

While Beetle never gave his vitamin to Joan, he did bequeath it and a costume to sidekick Sparky for a brief period. his career briefly, he eventually reverted to the restful slumber of civilian life and marital bliss, not to be seen again after one final outing with Captain and Mary Marvel in the late 70's.

World's Wickedest Wednesdays: Devious Docs

Dual demented docs do doggedly devilish deeds! Say that five times fast! Or better yet, have the bad Doctors... Sivana and Spectro... of adjacent Earths S and 4 say that via their cloned proxies. Each of the good Captains... Marvel and Atom... faced off against these evil geniuses more than once. And on one occasion, against several duplicates of themselves. Thankfully, their heroic opposite numbers still proved superior!

Doctor Thaddeus Bogus Sivana was once an aspiring physicist who invented various revolutionary devices for the benefit of mankind. And yet, secular authorities scoffed at him, and as a result Sivana swore revenge against his fellow man. From that point forward, upon meeting the World's Mightiest Mortal, Sivana was Captain Marvel's most persistent and deadly foe. In fact, on on occasion he trapped the hero and his allies in suspendium. Alas, the mad mental menace and his family was also captured and held in stasis along with the heroic Marvels in suspended animation for decades. Even after his revival, Sivana never won except once when his inventions were actually acclaimed to the point where he received a Nobel Peace Prize when Marvel used them to aid mankind... much to Sivana's chagrine!

Doctor Spectro also wanted to use his colored light technology for the medical benefits of mankind. However, once he was attacked by a gang of opportunistic hoods and his beam was reflected back on himself, Spectro turned evil and gained vast powers which he used against Captain Atom on more than one occasion... including when a miniature malicious mob of his clones attached the Atomic Avenger intent on reassembling Spectro into one man once more. Yet a good persona existed in the group of Docs, who attempted to exert control over the reconstituted Spectro later.

n 1954, aspiring comic book publisher Charlton purchased the rights to several prominent characters from the expiring Fawcett Comics, such as Ibis, Golden Arrow and Lance O'Casey. In 1980 and 1985, DC Comics purchase Fawcett's Marvel Family then Charlton's Action Heroes, and the two were linked once more, now on parallel Earths, Four and Shazam.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Malevolent Mobsters

While DC Comics pioneered the concept of a superhero team of diverse heroes from various comic books assembling together to tackle a mutual threat, the same could be said for Fawcett Comic's treatment of villains. As Captain Marvel developed quite an extensive gallery of rogues on Earth-S, it was only a matter of time before a certain wicked worm recruited most of them to try defeating their common foe.

However, after several issues throughout a historic comic serial, Cap himself defeated the whole lot of them. They would resurface again decades later, most preserved in their youthful 1940's forms through various means. Yet despite new schemes and modern technology, this assemblage of evil were still unable to wrest control of Earth -S away from the forces of good!

Over on Earth-Four, a millionaire businessman named Jonathan Barrington Collingsworth Junior decided one day that the world was not enough (hmmmm, an interesting name for a movie, perhaps?) So he adopted the alias of the Manipulator to live up to the infamous dictators of old. So he channeled his inner Doc Doom and found himself a fantastic four to plague his existence!

Somehow, amazingly, he pulls off what no one else was able to accomplish through the decades of the Action-Heroes' publishing existence. Make them all play nice and in the same sandbox...as in motivate them to join together against a common foe. Okay, Cap Atom and Nightshade had a thing going, and Blue Beetle and Question got together once formally and prior to that informally (Quest was in his civvies on that occasion). Still this was quite an accomplishment, only not the kind the Manipulator would be proud of. Thankfully, while his army of Fiery-Icer, Ironarm,and the Madmen kinda fell flat against our Sentinels, Jr. had enlisted a henchman who seriously upgraded since his last appearance:

And that was that, as both masterminds slunk back into the depths of comic book limbo. And aren't we thankful that we don't have to relive *that* painful experience again? Blue Beetle sure is! Ouch.

In the next-door neighbor universe of Earth-Four, the supervillains there didn't always play that nice together. In fact, on only one occasion did a significant number of them join together to lock horns with the Sentinels of Justice (although they were lesser lights Banshee, Fiery-Icer, Iron-Arms and the Madmen led by newby the Manipulator).

Team-Up Tuesdays: The "S" Teams of Justice

When you think superheroes you think super-teams, which help to define the individual members in the context of their fellow teammates. While there are more prominent teams in the cosmos, for our purposes here today we center on two with significant parallels.

The Squadron of Justice from Earth-S was recruited by Shazam when he and his Marvel Family were left powerless by ancient adversary King Kull. Formed out of sheer necessity, some of these previously joined forces in another team during the 1940's known as the Crime Crusaders Club. Surviving into the modern day thanks to the bumbling machinations of Doctor Sivana, these still youthful heroes joined forces to stem the tide of Kull's villainous hordes on three Earths including their own Earth-S. And then they faded back into retirement aside from scant appearances thereafter.

Remarkably, there was an earlier Squadron of Justice that consisted of Captain Marvel and his three Lieutenant Marvels of Fat Marvel, Hill Marvel and Tall Marvel that operated during the 1940's.

And the progenitor of the modern incarnation of the Squadron was Captain Marvel Junior's known as the Crime Crusaders Club. However, that Club was more of a meeting of Junior, Minute Man, Bulletman and Bulletgirl solely for the purpose of recounting their latest cases and occasionally team up to handle social issues rather than criminal threats. Thus, the Crusaders filled the role that the Seven Soldiers of Victory had on Earth-Two. The vast majority of teamup tales on Earth-S were of the Marvel Family, that world's version of the Justice Society satellite team Super Squad of the Justice League unofficial affiliate of the Super Friends... both of which like the Crusaders operated out of their respective worlds' Gotham City.

The Sentinels of Justice on Earth-Four formed also on one occasion, although there was a hint during their first appearance that they previously met up, and battled a crime lords super-armored forces to save criticial solar technology. The next appearance of this team was during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when their initial membership of four expanded to included three more drawn towards the presence of heroes arriving from two other Earths, the same two from whom the Squadron met earlier!

The Squadron's membership constituted Ibac, Spy Smasher, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, as well as allies Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior (and, of course, the team's founder Mercury who brought them all together under Shazam's suggestion). The Sentinels membership originally comprised Captain Atom, Nightshade, Blue Beetle and the Question with later allies Peacemaker, Thunderbolt and a time lost Judomaster joining forces with them.

Alas, the history of each was fleeting at best. But the potential for both was sky high!

_____________

In 1954, aspiring comic book publisher Charlton purchased the rights to several prominent characters from the expiring Fawcett Comics, such as Ibis, Golden Arrow and Lance O'Casey. In 1980 and 1985, DC Comics purchase Fawcett's Marvel Family then Charlton's Action Heroes, and the two were linked once more, now on parallel Earths, Four and Shazam.

Twice-Told-Tales: Majestic Multiverse Myths

The Multiverse holds various Twice-Told-Tales, some chronicled, many left to the imagination. And all tied in to the nature of the cosmos in the DC Universe. This is only natural considering that they all originated from the Earth-One cosmos, when the Malthusian known as Krona unleashed cosmic forces while attempting to view the dawn of creation. As a result, his universe was cloned an infinite number of times to become with countless positive matter and one Anti-Matter Universe of Qward. Undoubtedly the main universe that mirror Krona's own was Earth-Two which seemed to be twenty years ahead of Earth-One due to exhibiting a slower vibratory rate. This may be due to the fact that Earth-One existed for untold eons prior to the other universes, and as such this is a way for all universes to stay in sync.

From Earth-One's universe was spawned the imperfect clones that would become the Bizarro race migrated to a world that Superman remodeled into a square planet at its inhabitants' decree. Several years after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the Multiverse was transformed into a single matter and anti-matter universe, another Crisis reignited the Multiverse due to the machinations of Alex Luthor from Earth-Three. Not only was his world recreated, but so was Earth-Zero which mirror the Bizarro Earth of Htrae, alluding to the possibility that the planet which the Bizarros migrated to was actually not in their own universe but a parallel one, accessed by a wormhole Superman used when he first ventured there. This world had a twisted nature, wherein the Bizarro League mirrored the evil sensibilities of the Lawless League from Earth-A and that of Earth-Three with its Crime Syndicate, with sinister counterparts of superheroes.

Then there were the seemingly peripheral planets that didn't seem to resemble Earth-One's Justice League of America and Earth-Two's Justice Society of America, yet had heroes of equal measure. There was, for example, Earth-S that like Earth-Two debuted superheroes in the golden age of the 1940's, and Earth-Four that for the most part had their superhero explosion in the modern age like Earth-One. Then there was the initially hero-less worlds such as Earth-Prime and Earth-X, although they eventually would have their own versions of costumed crusaders. And, lest we forget, just as their was a heroic Justice Alliance of America on Earth-D there was also a Freedom Brigade on Earth-Twelve that were also erstwhile imitators of the League and Society that were more well known. This doesn't even include Earth-666 where Marvel's mightiest reign, nor Earth-MLJ that are published elsewhere....

Fawcett's Finest: Fastest Men Alive

The Fastest Man Alive. On at least three of the parallel planets in adjacent universes, three men were labeled by this term: Barry Allen, Jay Garrick and the man who would be Johnny Quick. However, as revealed upon reviewing data obtained from the Multiverse, the heroine Donna Troy aka Wonder Girl learned of the existence of a Flash on each Earth.

Some more famous than others, some noble while others infamous, each with different strengths and weaknesses both in ability as well as character. Nevertheless, every incarnation of the Flash was a necessary component in the fabric of his own distinct dimension's diorama.

On Earth-One, Barry Allen was charged with superspeed force when a bolt of lightning shattered chemicals that splashed upon him, becoming the Flash.

On Earth-Two, Jay Garrick had succumbed to the powerfully potent fumes of hard water which mutated his body to react as superspeed as the Flash.

On Earth-Three, a malcontent criminal obtained a powerful helmet that while wearing it provided him superfast powers as the evil Johnny Quick. 

On Earth-S, Kit Freeman as Kid Eternity accessed his world's speed force...Eternity... allowing him to call upon heroic Mercury and Thjalfi often. 

On Earth-D, Tanaka Rei gained superhuman speed through undisclosed means whereby he adopted an alias of that of his comicbook idol the Flash.

On Earth-X, an individual under the employee of Nazi Germany was provided abilities comparable to the speedsters then quickly disappeared. 

On Earth-Four, the Crisis on Infinite Earths prevented the appearance of its own potential fleet fighter who would've debuted at some point thereafter. 

On Earth-Six, on a world that had as its premier protectors as their Monarchy it was only natural that their scarlet speedster himself would be a knight. 

On Earth-Twelve, Mister Cramer attained the flying and superspeed abilities of the Freedom Brigade's Captain Swift, father of Inferior Five's Blimp.

During a Crisis on three worlds, Kid Etnerity called upon Mercury to assemble heroes from his Earth-S as well as Earths One and Two. Among these were Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, who as the Flash sped alongside Kid's swift alter ego. And it would be Mercury who founded the second incarnation of the Squadron of Justice, mirroring the Justice League and Justice Society.

The Joker Isn't Playing with a Full Deck of Cards!

Before the animated Joker founded a team of troubled teens to become his own gang under the same name, the Royal Flush Gang and the Crime Prince of Crime had a long if not storied history in comic books.

There were two official incarnations of the Gang, each comprised of one of two suits... first the Clubs and later the Spades... with three Aces, two Kings, two Queens, three Jacks and three Tens. Behind each was a mastermind who made his claim to fame as a solo supervillain before realizing that such pawns may prove advantageous against the Justice League.

Meanwhile, the members of the Justice Society had their own threats to face in the form of the Four Cards and the Black Sphere Gang, each with four felons, as well as the golden age Joker and fellow Gotham goon the Gambler, a pair of problematic players as well.

To start with, Professor Amos Fortune recruited four of his childhood friends into the initial Royal Flush Gang, using "Stellaration" energy to attempt to manipulate the outcome of their felonies. With Amos as the Ace of Clubs, he had the following occupy the remaining positions in his quintet: Kerry was the King of Clubs, Queenie the Queen of Clubs, an unnamed ally as the Jack of Clubs, and Thomas Dillon as the Ten of Clubs. Twice the Justice League defeated these Gangsters, after which Fortune abandoned them to seek out other schemes, whereby his former fiendish friends found leadership elsewhere later.

However, a card-classified cadre of crooks was first introduced on Earth-Two. In Batman #5, after his last encounter with his arch-foe, the Joker was found out of in the sea by three struggling criminals looking for a new angle. After saving the Earth-Two Joker's life, he christens Queenie as the Black Queen, Diamond Jack Deegan as the Jack of Diamonds, and Clubsy as the King of Clubs. The Four Cards of the Joker! Concurrent to these events, the adventurer know as Tex Thomson aka Mister America had twice encountered a Colonel Rushmore, the first time facing the colonel in his other identity as the Ace of Spades where he threatened the lives of others, and later when his own life was lost leading to Tex tracking down his killer. This Ace had a cosmic twin in a second Ace leading the Royal Flush Gang under a new clubs suit versus the Joker.

While the golden age Joker was at least initially amiable to rival "cards" cutting into his action, his Earth-One counterpart was not. The four remaining members struck off on their own under the leadership of the new Ace of Spades. Under this new boss, the Gang found their taste in stolen artwork was shared by the Chaplain of Chicanery in Joker #5 (same issue number as the Four Cards introduction... odd ain't it?). This Ace of Spades transformed this fearsome foursome into the King, Queen, Jack and Ten of Spades.

As for Ace aka Professor Fortune, he created a "Luck League" that had even less success then his Gang, while his Earth-Two counterpart Professor Zobar Zodiak had a different modus operandi with his own henchmen while adopting his Alchemist alias.

However, how would this newly reconstituted Gang fare against the Joker in this battle of gimmicks and greed?

In fact, they were beaten and left imprisoned by their clownish competition (it was HIS comic book after all). Sometime later, a new leader retrieved Ace, King, Queen and recruited a new Jack with a different mission. Their thefts led to battles with Wonder Woman at Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Once more, the Gang flopped.

Returning to the spring of 1941, the golden age Joker decided to setup shop on a casino ship three miles from the coastline of Gotham City. One of his Cards, the Black Queen, quickly fell under the charms of Bruce Wayne... who was investigating a strange series of crimes aboard the vessel over several weeks.

The Joker decided to setup shop on a casino ship three miles from the coastline of Gotham City. One of his Cards, the Black Queen, quickly fell under the charms of Bruce Wayne... who was investigating a strange series of crimes aboard the vessel over several weeks.

After being left for dead by a disguised Joker, and then finding his partner Robin captured by the quartet, a simple nick of the chin while shaving tipped of Queenie to Bruce's double identity. And saved his life... at the cost of her own! Or did she lose it?

Interestingly, Batman mused that the one suit that Joker overlooked for his gang was a heart, which was what Queenie ultimately became.

Actually, his three card criminals corresponding with members of a later Royal Flush Gang, with Clubsy the King of Clubs corresponding to Kerry the King of Clubs, Queenie the Black Queen corresponding to the Queenie Queen of Spades, and Diamond Jack Deegan corresponding to the later Jack of Spades. These three crooks never met either of their contemporaries, Deuces Wilde nor Ace Wolfe, as they operated in a different city than the pair.

The Ten of Spades who orchestrated this latest foray into felony was in actuality a coworker of Diana Prince, Mike Bailey. Bailey replaced Ten of Clubs aka Thomas Dillon, who was the muscle man of the original Gang, a role he didn't relish which led to his abandoning his teammates at this time.

Stephen Sharpe aka the Gambler of Earth-Two would correspond to the Jack of Clubs who would later become the more infamous  Hi-Jack (there would be a Jack Jackson and Jack Spade on each Earth who also used this alter ego once).

Both gamblers joined sinister Societies and worked alongside the Wizard. And both would face a Green Lantern during their initial solo missions as well as alongside their criminal confederates who opposed the Lantern's teammates on their respective Justice teams.

Sharpe attempted to hit the big time alongside other masterminds in the Injustice Society on two occasions, as had his counterpart Jack of Spaces/Hi-Jack, and each time this too was a bad bet for the bad guy. In each instance, these rogues bet the house that they could break the back of their heroic adversaries. Each time, they came up short and had to fold.

This caper led by Bailey, with his new recruits clad in outfits matching his suit,  would correspond to the caper wherein the Gambler recruited a gang on board the Pleasure Queen gambling boat, and were also quickly vanquished by the Emerald Crusader.

Back on Earth-Two, Deuces Wilde was a professional gambler who like Dillon kept being unwillingly drawn into criminal endeavors by crooks like Ace Wolfe, himself a master strategist and gadgeteer like Bailey.

Both Wilde and Dillon were frequent foils of their world's respective Flashs, although Wilde was in the end an ally of his scarlet speedster.

Besides being the first case to introduce the Batmobile, which thanks to the Joker's schemes was totaled as it collided over a cliff, this initial incident of Joker’s Four Cards which started this all was memorable for one other event. A femme fatale, prior to Catwoman, who was able to deduce the dual identity of the Dark Knight. Despite seeming to meet her tragic end, this moment perhaps humanized the then hardened Batman and conditioned him for accepting his future one true love. Meanwhile, Joker ended up again drifting in the surf.

The Black Queen had not perished but was saved by Clubsy aka Ivan, and instead returned shortly thereafter. Disguising herself as chess champion Olga Romanoff, Queenie was involved in a con job with Ivan "Clubsy" that ensnared assistant museum curator Justin Arthur, who'd alter ego of the Shining Knight discovered her ruse and avoided her deadly traps. The hero soon captured "Olga" and left her with the authorities, who imprisoned her for her crimes. Still, she ended up pining for two knights, first a dark one and then a shining one.

Her doppelgänger Queenie returned along with her allies in the Royal Flush Gang on a second occasion wherein she adopted the disguise of Queen Elizabeth and she worked alongside her teammates who appeared as a knight, a judge, a politician and a snake. The Justice League vanquished them for a second time.

And this would not be the last time that Earth-Two's Joker dealt with these particular card characters. In the later 1940's, he would base a series of capers revolving around a royal flush, targeting various prominent individuals along with his henchmen. These five persons were dime store owner Harley Cottonworth, baseball tycoon Diamond Jack Barnes, beauty queen Roxane Wilder, match king Rupert Dazel, and air force Eddie Hoyle. The Dynamic Duo once more defeated the Joker's scheme. While this innocent quintet were not counterparts to the original Gang of Earth-One, this tale corresponded to the introductory tale wherein Amos "Ace" first enlisted his childhood colleagues in their initial battle versus Batman and his Justice League allies.

As for the aforementioned last incarnation of Royal Flush Gang on Earth-One, this involved Green Lantern's foe Hector Hammond recruiting hobo Joe Carny, alcoholic Mona Taylor, a gigolo named Jack and test pilot Wanda Wayland to be his King, Queen, Jack and Ten respectively. This Gang was more successful than its predecessor, and outshined another felony flush of foes who were financial pawns of the Red Sage (aka Gadgeteer, cousin of Hammond’s Earth-Two counterpart Spirit King)..

This Eaerh-Two quintet like their mirror images in the newest Royal Flush Gang only had one appearance before disappearing. Whereas Hector's gang faced the Justice League as a team, Red Sage's diabolical deck only encountered the Justice Socialite known as Doctor Fate. Seeing his scheme fail, Red Sage escaped capture and resurfaced a couple years later to duel with Green Lantern. Like all the other card carrying criminals, he ended up folding.