Migrants of Multiple Earths: First Case of the Freedom Fighters

Among the most critical Earths within the DC Multiverse is that of Earth-Prime. From this world, their inhabitants are able to effect the actions of individuals on alternate Earths. And those other Earthly beings could also interact with creative people from the Prime universe.

In 1978, one such occurence transpired when five members of the Justice League were plucked from Earth-One and brought to Earth-Prime, due to the appearance of that latter world's first superhero and supervillian. The hero, Ultraa, was sole survivor of his world, and his former robotic nursemaid Maxitron somehow inadvertently pulled the Leaguers into their reality. They and Ultra left for Earth-One after Maxitron's defeat.

In the late fall of 1941 on Earth-Two, a mysterious mustached mutant travelled to Earth-Prime, kidnapping various artists from the Prime world's "comic factory". Once under his control, they could no longer pen tales of villians always losing to heroes, which led to several future Freedom Fighters landing in an "unemployment line". These included the Ray, Black Condor, Neon the Unknown, Quicksilver and Joe Hercules. Once Uncle Sam noticed, he helped free the artists and subdued their captor, which led to the defeat of his evil allies*. Apparently, following this trip to the then-unnamed Earth-Prime, Sam was motivated to move to a third parallel planet, Earth-X... where the Freedom Fighters would officially be founded!

* Among these villains was the green skinned female ruler of "Evil Land", whom Sam defeated while visiting "Kid Land" in a previous tale, the counterpart of Phantom Stranger's arch-foe Tala of Earth-One. She would later resurface as Inza Nelson's green-skinned evil duplicate Jealousy to battle Doctor Fate.

Aggressive Attorneys and Avenging Americommandos

In 1977, the Freedom Fighters arrived from Earth-X, making the New York City of Earth-One their new home. Seeking a fresh start to their crimefighting careers, they were initially given special status by the city's District Attorney David Pearson. However, the sinister Silver Ghost soon after framed the Fighters, first blackmailing them into committing crimes for him and later by seemingly perishing at their hands. But was the Ghost really deceased?

From decades past, the once fictional Crusaders appeared in Pearson's office, requesting his authority to pursue the Freedom Fighters. Led by Americommando, the Crusaders included his sidekick Rusty, the undersea warrior Barracuda, and the flaming duo of Fireball and Sparky. Seeing the potential, D.A. Pearson authorized them to arrest the Fighters. Following a confrontation at Niagara Falls in upstate New York, the Crusaders' seeming victory over the Fighters swiftly turned to defeat. 

During the battle, Americommando's true identity as the Silver Ghost was exposed! Utilizing a device to supply temporary superhuman powers to he and his four comrades, his scheme to finally vanquish his old foes failed. Abandoning the Crusaders, who presumably lost their abilities, Silver Ghost would later enlist a different group to deal with his enemies... the Secret Society of Super-Villians.

In 1942 on Earth-Two, the original home world of the Freedom Fighters, a different Americommando likewise had a professional relationship with his city's District Attorney, D.A. Mahoney. With the aid of his best friend Bob "Fat Man" Daley and the mysterious Miss X (secretly Mahoney's daughter), Tex "Americommando" Thomson battled a variety of foes including the Gorrah and his Rat Men, two gigantic alien puppets, and the Purple Gang... as well as various racketeers and saboteurs. 

While the Freedom Fighters and their "Americommando" left Europe following World War II, this golden age Americommando was sent to Europe at the beginning of World War II. The Fighters battled other foes besides Silver Ghost and his Crusaders, including powerful action figures and metahuman native Americans. Eventually, these heroes (Uncle Sam, Ray, Black Condor, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb and Doll Man) left Earth-One for their home world once more, following their final defeat of Silver Ghost.

Twice-Told-Tales Untold of Sinister Societies

During the relatively brief yet memorial history of the original Secret Society of Super-Villians, there came a point where this group fragmented into at least three parts. One section, led by Gorilla Grodd, pursued a vendetta against his arch-foe the Flash and other members of the Justice League of America. Another faction accompanied the Wizard back to his home world of Earth-Two to battle the Justice Society of America. 

Meanwhile, back on Earth-One, Mirror Master and Copperhead recruited four previously unaffiliated members to assist them and their employer Silver Ghost. Their goal, to eliminate the Freedom Fighters, whom the Ghost has quarreled with for several months since their arrival from Earth-X. Originally from Earth-Two, the seven Fighters fought the Axis Powers on their adopted world for decades, before deciding to journey to a third Earth to start their careers anew.

Regrettably, their reputations were marred by Silver Ghost, who secretly was Raphael Van Zandt, a Nazi corroborator on Earth-X. When Van Zandt decided to create a criminal empire on Earth-One, he was pursued by his enemy Firebrand to this new planet. There, he would soon after encounter his old adversaries in the Freedom Fighters whom he also believed were following him. Wishing to rid himself of these pest, he sought the aid of the Secret Society.

While not much is known of how this battle between the two teams developed, we do know the outcome as Silver Ghost ended up transforming both himself and Firebrand into silver statues when exposed to his transmutation abilities (this process was reversed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths). Meanwhile, the remaining Freedom Fighters returned to Earth-X, while some of the members of the Secret Society such as Mirror Master and Chronos returned with their original group, the Injustice Gang a couple months later.

A similar untold tale of the Injustice Society on Earth-Two took place in the late 1940s, when future marriage mates Brain Wave and Merry the Gimmick Girl first met as opponents. During this case, the counterpart to Secret Society arch-foe Captain Comet battled the Injustice Society alongside Merry and other former allies of the All-Star Squadron. This man, Captain Triumph, had also traveled to Earth-X to assist the Freedom Fighters briefly before coming home, where he joined the Squadron. Among those present on this occasion was Doll Man, who had returned from the future to reunite with his fiancée Martha Roberts after several years with the Fighters.

This assemblage of evil was apparently led by the Wizard, and shortly after this while dueling with Superman, he conceived of reinventing this gang into a Secret Society. With this in mind, the Wizard was drawn to an actual realization of his concept while exiled on Earth-One in the late 1970s. Although most of the villains portrayed in this battle of 1949, such as Shade and Icicle, were the originals… the Solomon Grundy here present was evidently the imposter whom Johnny Thunder met a couple years earlier, when the Justice Society tracked down the real version who was terrorizing across the United States. At this point. Grundy was exiled on the moon (first by Green Lantern, later by Per Degaton) until the mid 1960s.

What If: There was an Earth-One Freedom Fighters

Yes, yes, the Freedom Fighters were on Earth-One for several months in the late 1970s. During this period, they left behind their adopted world of Earth-X to find brand new adventures on a third world. In fact, the seven surviving members... along with their deceased and missing teammates... originated on Earth-Two! 

In 1942, Uncle Sam recruited several members of the All-Star Squadron to assist him on Earth-X, which at that time had no native-born superheroes. After decades fighting the Axis Powers, the Fighters finally won... with the assistance of their world's Justice Society and their soon-to-be adopted world's Justice League

However, on Earth-One, they met frustration after being framed by an old adversary, the Silver Ghost. Despite attempts to clear their name and reputation, the Freedom Fighters finally resolved to return to visit their home world of Earth-Two, and then the team (except for Doll Man who journeyed back in time to reunite with his fiancee Martha... and was replaced by another Doll Man) migrated back to Earth-X. 

Each member had a counterpart in the Earth-One universe, whom... had they assembled in like fashion... would themselves have been a fascinating team. Instead of Phantom Lady, there would be Nocturna... Human Bomb would be replaced with Infinity Man... Don-El would pinch hit for Doll Man... Highfather would sub for Uncle Sam,.. Firebrand's shoes would be filled by Deadman... Lightray would cover for the Ray, and the void left by Black Condor would be filled by Blackrock.

Of these individuals, most resided in other dimensional planes of existence. Highfather, Lightray and Infinity Man live in or near New Genesis within another realm. Don-El was on the planet named Rokyn existing in another universe. Nocturna disappeared into the Multiverse during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Deadman himself no longer lived on Earth-One following his acrobatic career. Only Blackrock remained on that world, although he retired. And so, like the Freedom Fighters, those seven soldiers of victory only left brief marks on Earth-One.

Will the Real Martha Roberts Please Stand Up... Please Stand Up...Please Stand Up?

She was there from the very beginning... when the original Mighty Mite first appeared. The perpetual fiancee of Darrel Dane, aka the Doll Man, Martha Roberts was a stalwart girlfriend to her guy's dual identities. Indeed, all three of her were loyal to him!

Doll Man originated on Earth-Two, and thus that world had its own Martha, who along were her father Professor Roberts were the only ones who knew of Darrel's secret life. And from 1939 until at least 1942, the two lovebirds were near inseperable. Then what happened?

Somehow, Doll Man as well as fellow mystery man Midnight heard of a man named Uncle Sam recruiting various heroes for an urgent mission. Arriving to late, as Sam and six other superheroes disappeared from their world, Doll Man and his new friend followed them through the rift created. They ended up on Earth-X.

After a couple months on that world, the pair along with Sam returned to their native world, meeting at the Perisphere where the full membership of the All-Star Squadron had been invited for a joint meeting. After a brief trip back to Earth-X with his fellow All-Stars, Doll Man soon returned home, into the loving arms of Martha.

However, a couple months later in April of 1941, Uncle Sam returned to recruit a larger group of All-Stars for his Freedom Fighters on Earth-X. Among those was Doll Man, who like the others moved Earths during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. He no doubt believe this was  a temporary move, until they defeated the Axis Powers, however took many years to do this.

On Earth-X, Dane eventually formed a new relationship with that world's Martha Roberts, who was an ally of Doll Man and his Freedom Fighters teammates. We know this Martha wasn't the Earth-Two version, as she didn't become Doll Girl in order to protect herself and her father when Nazis attacked and killed her!

Batman verifies that the Freedom
Fighters return to Earth-Two

Heartbroken, Darrel soon found a third opportunity to be with his love, this time on Earth-One where he and the remaining Freedom Fighters moved to in the late 1940. Kept young through the decades, Dane met reporter Martha Roberts, and the two soon fell in love.  After a series of misunderstandings led to the Freedom Fighters being hunted by the law, they left Earth-One to return to their home world, Dane decided to leave this Martha behind, as it was evident her career was more important. 

Doll Man and his allies returned to Earth-Two in the late 1970s to visit the Justice Society, as Batman acknowledged they had appeared there at that time in his infamous Dairy. While this would have been a brief reunion with their old allies from the All-Star Squadron... and more recently from when the Justice Society with the Justice League traveled to Earth-X accidentally to aid the Freedom Fighters in liberating their adopted world. 

While it is logical that the individual members would look up old family and friends... Phantom Lady's father Senator Knight and her cousin Ted "Starman" Knight, Black Condor his former girlfriend Wendy Foster, Human Bomb's ex-girlfriend Jean Adams, Uncle Sam's sidekick Buddy... there were no lasting bounds between them. However, the bond between Darrel and Martha was deeper, more profound, with both driven toward being together. This bond traversed even the dimensional barriers of separate universes, with Darrel always gravitating towards the Martha of whichever Earth he was currently living.

After having left the original Martha decades ago, Darrel traveled back to the 1940s to reunite with Martha (no doubt using the Flash’s recently built Time Vortex in Justice Society headquarters)*. 

We know this because Martha’s “Who’s Who” entry mentions her being with Darrel when he became Doll Man in 1939, and in 1951 joined his crime fighting crusade as his partner Doll Girl. Between those dates, the Earth-Two Martha continued to have hundreds more adventures in the late 1940s and early 1950s. And really, it is unimaginable that he would leave his first love behind indefinitely! 

The dynamic between Doll Man and Doll Girl echoed that on Earth-One between Superboy and his childhood girlfriend Lana Lang, in her various aliases such as Sky Girl, Flying Girl and Gravity Girl. Like Darrel and Martha on Earth-Two, Superboy's alter ego Clark Kent and Lana Lang rekindled their love as adults many years later while working together as news anchors.

* A later told tale of the Freedom Fighters returning to Earth-One to assist Superman versus neo-Nazis would've occurred just before they left Earth-Two and returned to Earth-X, and thus before Doll Man journeyed back to the mid 1940s. And a later 1985 appearance of Doll Man alongside his teammates on Earth-X was of a temporarily time-displaced Darrel Dane… as many heroes from the past were pulled into the present day including Doll Man’s fellow All-Stars Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle!

The Russian Blackhawk or Whatever Happened to Boris

Boris was the missing eighth member of the Blackhawk Squadron, which consisted of their leader along with Andre, Chuck, Henrickson, Olaf, Stanislaus and Chop-Chop. Each member originated in a different country that had each been displaced by the Axis Powers during World War II. As to Boris' home nation, that was Russia, then part of the Soviet Union. Early on in the career of the Squadron, Boris mysteriously disappeared. What became of the Earth-Two version is unknown, although perhaps similar to his Earth-One cosmic twin. That twin became Anti-Man,

During a mission in Angola, Boris had been separated from his compatriots, and presumed dead. In fact, he had been mutated into his superpowered form, and was consumed with revenge over his former teammates having unknowingly abandoning him.

Despite possession potent powers, Anti-Man still lost to the combined might of the modern day Blackhawks, and finally found the death so long denied him. If,  in fact, a similar event transpired with his Earth-Two counterpart, that Boris didn't seek out his Squadron. Perhaps, the Earth-One version, he simply couldn't locate the sensational seven... as they ventured to a third Earth.

Those Earth-Two Blackhawks had indeed disappeared on April 1, 1942, recruited by Uncle Sam along with several members of the All-Star Squadron to join him in fighting the Axis Powers on Earth-X. That world did not currently have superheroes nor mystery men, as they were then called, and so these All-Stars turned Freedom Fighters traveled there to protect that world.

However, at some point between that spring day in 1942 and the late summer date of September 19, 1944, the Blackhawks had returned to the planet of their birth. It would seem that their travel back there was unexpected, as Sam referred to the Blackhawks as among those Freedom Fighters who had perished. However, like Plastic Man (who during a cosmic Convergence event, actually moved to Earth-Twelve to start a family), the Blackhawks simply traveled through the Multiverse. 

On this date, both the Blackhawks and Earth-Two's Batman were on the trail of German Nazi Captain Hauptmann and his "Ice Station Alpha". During the conclusion of this tale, Batman expressed the desire to once again work alongside this Squadron. And further tales of these Blackhawks would be chronicled throughout the remainder of the 1940's until the mid 1950's. Yet still no sign of their world's Boris.

Transmatter Team Travelling Tales: The Beginning

Throughout the first ten crossovers between the Justice League and Justice Society, their tales involved facing various threats to their twin Earths... from supervillain gangs such as the Crime Champions to the Black Sphere Villains... to evil versions of theirs from alternate Earths like the Crime Syndiate and the Lawless League... to existential threats from the cosmos such as the Anti-Matter Man and Creator2. During these adventures, on occasion the heroes would visit each others headquarters, such as when the Society ventured to the League's headquarters in their first meeting to free their colleagues...  and when the League were summoned to the Society's headquarters to help combat parasitic life forms from another universe.

However, it was only during their eleventh meeting that the two teams intentionally planned to vist each other's headquarters for planned social events. Three Leaguers and three Socialites were sent via the newly developed Transmatter Devices to the other's world. However, the presence of the android Red Tornado... seeking to return to his homeworld Earth-Two after a brief existential exile to Earth-One, threw both devices off balance. As a result, seven heroes from these worlds were sent to a third in Earth-X, wherein they met and then joined forces with the Freedom Fighters. There, they helped the FF to extinguish the Nazi threat that conquered that planet. After this tale, the displaced heroes were able to contact their respective Earths, which modified the Transmatter Cubes to retrieve the four Leaguers and three Socialites. Persumably, the heroes carried on in their festivities with each other.

Nevertheless, this was just the start of several gatherings that the Justice teams would have in the years that followed, thanks in no small part to this revoluntary invention. While as before, only cosmic crisises at certain times of the year brought the groups together, now they could cement the bonds of friendship at any time, which they would do annually.

The Other Heroes of Earth-X - from Earths One and Two

By far the most famous superheroes on Earth-X were the Freedom Fighters, who migrated from Earth-Two in order to combat the Axis Powers that dominated that world. Brought there by Uncle Sam, among their most prominent members were the Ray, Black Condor, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb and Doll Man. All former members of the All-Star Squadron, which itself had scores of members to defend their world which included teams such as the Justice Society and Law's Legionnaires, there were several others who joined Sam and for a brief period of time were themselves Freedom Fighters.

Sadly most of these individuals evidently perished on Earth-X... such as Red Bee, the Jester, the Spider, Quicksilver. Others left that planet relatively soon after their arrival there. The Blackhawk Squadron ventured back to Earth-Two in 1943, sometime later during the Convergence event Plastic Man... presumed dead by his teammates... ended up on Earth-Twelve where his son would follow in his footsteps and eventually met the Inferior Five. Then there was the case of Dan Richards, aka Manhunter.

Richards decided he wanted to return to Earth-Two, which is evident as he would have a child there, then a grandchild in Marcie Cooper, herself girlfriend to Infinity Inc.'s Obsidian aka Todd Rice. His method for returning was through the dimension-spanning android Manhunters, originally designed by the Guardians of the Earth-One Universe, who initially recruited Richards as well as Paul Kirk to become their agents. Although he was sent to Earth-X so that these androids could extend their influence to another universe, Richards ultimately decided to retire his costumed identity. 

However, upon returning to Earth-Two in 1943, he must have brought back with him another superhero native to Earth-Two... Captain Triumph. Triumph briefly joined the All-Star Squadron,  no doubt learning from the more experienced members on a few unspecified adventures together.

Early in that same year, Triumph first journeyed to Earth-X, apparently accompanying Rod Reilly aka Firebrand, who desired to journey to that world and had an undefined ability to cross dimensions.

Accidentally journeying to Earth-X thanks to a device created by his friend Professor Potter, Jimmy Olsen of Earth-One discovered there that he gained powers (due to an exploding volcano) comparable to those of his pal Superman. Adopting the alias of Steel-Man, a fictional creation of writer Clark Kent of that world, Olsen battled the evil LUTHAR League and its leader. That leader, who appeared like the Joker of Earths One and Two, was in actuality Kent himself. Clark lured Jimmy into a trap, allowing him to steal Steel-Man's powers, although Olsen used Krypton gas to render the villain's powers inert. 

Clark was originally Kal-L, sole survivor of the planet Krypton in his universe known as Viro. Instead of landing on Earth-X in his home dimension, he ended up on Earth-Two where he used his powers for good as Wonder Boy. When his abilities began to wane in the mid-1940s, he traveled back to the world he was meant to live on… Earth-X. Sadly, as an adult Clark Kent, his thirst for his former amazing abilities turned him corrupt.

Once that threat was dealt with, Jimmy returned to Earth-One along with Professor Potter. And then, the Allied Powers of Earth-X finally lost to the Axis Powers, with the Freedom Fighters as the last surviving superheroes opposing them.

* It has been disputed that this Earth-X wasn’t the same Earth that the Freedom Fighters operated on, as there was no reference as to World War II having continued past 1945. However, Uncle Sam told the Justice Society and Justice League in 1973 that the German forces were unable to invade America until "5 years ago", in 1968. Two years prior to that, in 1966, Jimmy Olsen arrived on Earth-X and became Steel-Man over a period of mere weeks. Of course, there is no record of his meeting the Freedom Fighters, who may have been busy in Europe.

Marvelous Manic Magnetic Manipulators

Anthony J. Masters and Tom Dalton were two men who obtained incredible power at the cost of great personal tragedy, which impelled them to become the superheroes known as Orion and Magno.

Orion was the son of planet Apokolip's ruler Darkseid. Traded to his father's mortal enemy Highfather for that man's son Scott Free, he came to be raised on Highfather's world known as New Genesis. Due to this, he was able to temper evil desires inherent in his genetic makeup and became a champion of justice.

Magno was originally an electrical lineman known as Tom Dalton who accidentally electrocuted by a massive charge of electricity and then revived. Realizing he had a new lease on life, he decided to adopt the alter ego of Magno an defend the defenseless.

Orion has control of the astro-force with which he can generate magnetic blasts and pilot his astro-glider, as well as superhuman strength. Magno likewise can emit pulses of magnetic energy and lightning bolts while also allowing him to defy gravity at times. While Orion survived his final battle alongside his New Genesis allies versus Darkseid, Magno himself perished while defending a parallel planet alongside his Freedom Fighters allies.

Freedom Fighters on Earth-X: The X-Factors

Of all world's in the original Multiverse, only two had no resident superheroes, at least initially... Earth-Prime and Earth-X. The former eventually had two, known as Ultraa and Superboy. And the latter had their own superhumans, although these would only appear following the migration of a legion of champions from another universe, and then with mixed results.

The history of Earth-X was left undocumented save for the exploits of those Quality heroes who arrived from Earth-Two in 1942. In the reconstituted Earth-10 following the Infinite Crisis, a world was formed modeled after Earth-X, with a version of Axis Amerika there known there as JLAxis. This team had a variation of Batman known as Der Grösshorn Eule or Leatherwing. Apparently, there was also a variation on the Flash and Green Lantern heretofore unseen as well as a pair of Winged Warriors. Also, a Valkyrie named Brunhilde was among the JLAxis, corresponding to Gudra of Earth-Two who had joined Axis Amerika, and who filled the role of a Wonder Woman there.

On the reconstituted Earth-10, there was a Superman named Ubermensch, although in the original Earth-X history there was instead a de-powered Clark Kent who disguised himself a a variation of the Joker, leading the LUTHAR League which battled Jimmy Olsen of Earth-One, who while on Earth-X was temporarily the superhero known as Steelman. In place of a Superman in the original Earth-X history, there was Lance and Michael Gallant who, like Billy Batson and Freedy Freeman aka Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior of Earth-S, became Captain Triumph. While not officially joining the Freedom Fighters, Triumph was his world's most powerful... and only native... superhero.

Of course, the preeminent team of superheroes on Earth-X was the Freedom Fighters. Recruited and led by Uncle Sam, who along with his compatriots arrived from their native Earth-Two to assist the then-hero-less world against the hordes of the Axis Powers. As he brought most of these former All-Stars from Earth-Two during a Crisis event in 1942, something similar happened on Earth-X as happened when the citizens of Earth-B migrated to Earth-One during the Crisis... the Fighters seemingly merged with their Earth-X counterparts! And so, such heroes as Doll Man and Phantom Lady merged with the Darrel Dane and Sandra Knight of Earth-X, which enabled them to renew acquaintances with counterparts of Darrell's girlfriend Martha and Sandra's father Henry, among others. Meanwhile, the original friends and family members they left behind on Earth-Two undoubtedly had significant holes to fill with the departure of their loved ones. Such was an eventuality during times of war and conflict.

Son of Fire... storm? Are We Splitting Atoms?

While Ronald Raymond and Martin Stein had a long amiable relationship, after first inadvertently merging into the superhero known as Firestorm, their counterparts of Earth-Two never had opportunity to meet. This was due to their differences in age, and the circumstances of their lives taking them in vastly different directions. Nevertheless, there were similarities: two eager young men with dreams of heroism, and two older intellectual men who developed devices allowing others to access vast cosmic energies.

Ronald Raymond was a high school student and an aspiring athlete who sought the attention of Doreen Day, and to that end joined a protest of the Hudson Nuclear Plant. As this power plant was being discommissoned, there were no security staff on site, only the plant's designer Professor Martin Stein. While confronting these protestors, both he and Ronnie were left unconscious, to become victims of a stick of dynamite left behind to detonate the nuclear material. When this occured, both Ronald and Martin fused into the combined Nuclear Man, who after designing a uniform embarked upon a heroic career* as Firestorm. While Ronnie was the dominant persona of this new hero, Martin became his mentor guiding the lad's actions.

Christopher Pike was a young man who idolized the Justice Society, and like Ronald, he aspired to living up to the example of his World's Greatest Heroes. Achieving the rank of a Commander at NASA, Pike was assigned to the Vulcan Probe One, with a mission parameter whereby he and two colleagues would journey around the Sun for a hundred days. Going insane while onboard, Pike slayed the other two astronauts, yet was preserved alive when his vessel plunged into the Sun. This was thanks to the vessel becoming a protective shell for Pike, along with the intervention of a benevolent alien stabilizing Pike's physical condition. Granted the ability to irradiate tremendous heat, which he used to fly and to project blasts of heat, Pike also gained transmutational abilities. He used this latter power, as the supervillain Vulcan Son of Fire, to both transform his molten metal armor into a harder metallic substance... and to generate a flaming axe as a weapon... which he would recreate on a later occasion. 

Vulcan then attacked the Justice Society, seeking misguided vengeance upon them for his appearance, and later joined their foes in the Secret Society of Super-Villains, shortly after the time that Professor Styne had made a monumental discovery. 

Professor Styne (yes, the counterpart of Professor Stein) had developed an experimental "Strato-Balloon", he enlisted a few volunteers including reporter Happy Terrill in order to fly it. When it had been exposed to a strange electrical storm surge, Happy attempted to fix repairs on the outside of the vessel and was mutated by these enigmatic energies into becoming the Ray. Styne's research assistant Cliff was also imbued with power from the storm, becoming the Dark. Later, the Ray would join fellow members of the All-Star Squadron in migrating to Earth-X where there were no heroes, leaving his native Earth-Two behind as the Freedom Fighters. 

As for Ronnie and Martin, they eventually accepted their symbiotic nature following the nuclear incident that melded them together. This new young potent powerhouse even gained enough acclaim to join the Justice League of America for a period of time. Ronnie continued his studies in high school, eventually attending a university in order to further his studies. Martin bounced around between employers, given the erratic nature of his mysterious disappearences, caused when Ronnie summonded Stein to merge into their colorful costumed crimefighter alias. 

During this period, Firestorm battled a range of adversaries, including Killer Frost (one time work associate to Martin), Multiplex (a former assistant to Martin) and Hyena (sister to Raymond's girlfriend Doreen) Among Ronnie's most persistent adversaries was Cliff Carmichael, counterpart of the Dark. Carmichael in one alternate future had himself become a supervillain known as the Thinker.

Decades after first journeying to Earth-X, both Ray and his Freedom Fighter teammates migrated once more to a third Earth, Earth-One (following a brief reunion on their native Earth-Two). 

On Earth-One, Happy finally had a rematch with Cliff, as the latter's alias of the Dark confronted the Ray seeking vengeance. Apparently, this villain was pulled from Earth-Two to Earth-One by the Shade, who used his Ebony Cane to traverse universes and entered a Dark Dimension. Cliff aka the Dark was one of his minions, used versus the Flash of both Earths.

Meanwhile, Vulcan had been residing within interdimensional limbo between Earths following his first with the Justice Society. It was shortly thereafter that he had encountered six members of his world's Secret Society of Super-Villains, themselves also exiled in that limbo. Joining forces with them, Vulcan journeyed decades into the past (during the time period that Styne was alive), in order to once more battle members of the Justice Society as well as the All-Star Squadron, while under leadership of the Super-Villains' leader Ultra-Humanite. On this occasion, Vulcan briefly met Danette Reilly, aka the fiery Firebrand, although only in passing. Eventually, he and the other villains were defeated by the All-Stars, and returned to their limbo prison.

However, Vulcan would once more reappear during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, along with an assembled of both heroes and villains. All were summounded to the Monitor's transdimensional satellite, in order to recruit them to face a threat to the entire Multiverse. In an alternate future, Vulcan returned to villany, and was once more defeated by Power Girl... a woman for whom his cosmic twin Firestorm had a long and enduring romantic crush.

* Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein’s Firestorm adventures on Earth-One mirrored the adventures of Johnny Thunder and Archibald the Thunderbolt’s adventures on Earth-Two, both solo and as members of the Justice League and Justice Society respectively. Their counterparts on each others’ Earths were recurring foes of the League and Society during their few apprarances.

The Mystery of the Blackhawks Through Time

In August 1941 a team debuted that would endure for decades to come. As high flying aviators combating the Nazi regime and other treats to humanity, the Blackhawks consisted of the following:

• Blackhawk - The group's leader, Bart Hawk, a Polish American
• Andre Blanc-Dumont - He is a French member of the this group.
• Olaf Bjornson - He is either from Norway or Sweden.
• Chuck Wilson - He is an American from Texas.
• Hans Hendrickson - He is their Dutch member.
• Stanislaus  - He is another Polish member.
• Chop-Chop - Named Liu Huang/Wu Cheng

And, of course, their unofficial member Lady Blackhawk- Zinda Blake of Earth-One, and Eva Rice of Earth-Two.

And yet, their multiple appearences in latter years beside various superheroes from different eras, and different worlds, caused no shortage of confusion as to whether there was more than one set of seven such soldiers. And indeed there were, for the first such team (appearing in Quality Comics) resided on Earth-Two, that is until Uncle Sam recruited several freedom fighters from that world to the parallel planet of Earth-X in 1942 with no resident heroes up to that point. When the Freedom Fighters reappeared in 1973, only six costumed crusaders remained on that world (Firebrand would show up later), stating that their fellow Quality comrades who aided them against the Nazis had perished. Specifically spotlighted were the Blackhawks and Plastic Man. A second set of Blackhawks, the ones who appeared when DC Comics acquired the Blackhawks' title from Quality in January 1957 onward, resided on Earth-One. Those tales chronicled their modern day adventures, while a latter reappearence of their publication in the 1980's showed their tales during the 1940's (confusing isn't it)? However, two oddities have thus far not been reconciled, until today. First, the Earth-One Blackhawks, who battled during World War II, appeared unaged and still in their prime alongside the Justice League... in the modern day... decades later! And the Earth-Two Blackhawks appeared alongside that world's Batman in September 1944, two years after they supposedly left for Earth-X!

This can be explained a few different ways. First, we may postulate that during the Crisis on Infinite Earths which distorted space and time (at which point Earth-Two's team left for Earth-X), perhaps the Earth-One flying aces were plucked from the 40's ending up in the 60's/70's to work alongside the League. The second possibility is that the original teams inspired copycats to duplicate their idols, even going by the names of the first Blackhawks on each world. It is known that Kid Eternity pulled the Blackhawk from "Eternity" to his native Earth-S, where he operated through the mid-1950's.

These original Blackhawks of Earth-Two returned to their home world, a Blackhawk team labeling themselves as Freedom Fighters eludes to their past history as protectors of a second world at war until they were pulled back to the universe of their birth. 

Their former allies like Uncle Sam who were still on Earth-X believed that the Blackhawks has perished when in fact they continued their aviation adventures into the middle of the 1950's. These seven soldiers of victory carried on their mission to right wrongs around the world from the mid 1940's through 1956, having hundreds of adventures. Then, the mysteriously disappeared, while the Earth-One version carried on later that year after having been unseen since the early days of World War II!

What became of this version of the team is unknown as their disappearance on Earth-Two was never esplained. Nevertheless, all three Blackhawk Squadrons on Earths One, Two and S were separate and distinct with only minor variations in their respective members' personal histories.

Protectors and their Prolific Pooches

Pooches that are faithful to their masters... not so hard to fine. Canines that are courageous... also pretty common. Dogs that display mental acumen rivaling humans in intellect? That's very rare.

Rex the Wonder Dog was the star of Earth-One's K-9 Army Dog Training Corp operating during World War II. Working alongside red haired Lt. Dennis (later Major Dennis), eventually Rex was adopted into the Dennis family and befriended the Major's son Danny. The Wonder Dog had several adventures around the world with both his masters, and gained relative immortality drinking from a fountain of youth.

Streak the Wonder Dog was the pet of Alan Scott aka Green Lantern of Earth-Two. Having a series of adventures, both with his costumed owner and on his own when he was later separated from Scott, Streak proved as equally resourceful as was Rex. However, he never had opportunity to meet Dennis' counterpart on his world in Donald Richards. This was left to another pooch on his world.

Thor the Thunder Dog was a canine assigned by the alien androids known as the Manhunters to their first human recruit of Earth-Two, Donald Dan Richards. A police officer wanting to make a difference, the red haired Richards found as the Manhunter not only a reliable ally in Thor but an intelligent and seemingly immortal companion. Turns out the Thunder Dog was an android himself working secretly to monitor his master for his creators. When both crimefighter and canine left for Earth-X, Dan unwittingly played into the hands of his former robotic masters. 

Thor and his fellow Thunder Dog models mirrored the robot duplicates of Krypto the Super Dog, whom his master Superboy built. The original Krypto had adventures by Superboy's side or on his own, in the 20th Century and the 30th Century with his fellow Legion of Super-Pets. His Earth-Two counterpart Thor was later given to Clark and Lois Kent by Clark’s former fellow All-Star Squadron teammate Dan Richards. Thor traveled with the Kents to the planet Telos during their stay on that alien world for a year during the Convergence event effecting cities from multiple Earths of the Multiverse.

Legionnaires Week #2: Invisible Justice is Served!

Imagine having the power of invisibility. Your opponent unable to see you when you bring him to justice, your identity kept secret, you have no need of looking in the mirror in the morning!

Lyle Norg was an aspiring scientist on Earth-One during the 30th century when he developed the means to permanently grant himself this power. Joining the Legion of Super-Heroes, his ability was matched by his wit and his intellect.

Kent Thurston was one of many idle men of Earth-Two's 1940's that donned a costume, in his case a hood, to battle evil. Known as Hooded Justice, early in his career he stumbled upon a late scientist's formula that turned his garb (and thus himself invisible). Soon he joined the Freedom Fighters to defend hero-less world, Earth-X.

Each met a sad end, as Invisible Kid halted the rampage of Fatal Five member Validus at the cost of his life, and Invisible Hood halted a Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor but not the kamikaze that aimed for him and his comrades.

Legionnaires Week #1: Cosmic Costumed Crusaders

Rokk Krinn of Earth-One and Rock Braddon of Earth-Two may have been known by the ladies as gents with a form of magnetic appeal, however the forces of energy at their fingertips were far more potent. While Rokk originated from a world wherein all of its inhabitants could control magnetic forces, Rock utilized equipment to allow him mastery over electro-magnetic forces. Each were mainstays of their respective legions in future eras, leaders among their peers, and had one true love as well.

Both men joined teams of heroes, as Rokk helped found the the Legion of Super-Heroes while Rock was a leader of the Space Legion. Each possessed flight belts that allowed them to glide through the air on missions, and while both of them were based in their respective world's largest city of the era in Metropolis, they helped wherever they were needed. 

While each had young heirs and protegee in their little brothers Pol and Curly, the ties that bond them was the women they loved. Each the daughter of prominent scientists of their era, Lydda and Elaine matched the heroic muster of their boyfriends. While Lydda as Night Girl was a superstrong member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes that aided Rokk's Legion now-and-then, Elaine stuck close to the Space Legion relying on her wit. Both Rokk as Cosmic Boy and Rock as Captain Braddon were the best among their peers in heroism

One of Braddon's most fiery and ferocious opponents was Captain X, a space pirate that clad herself in a green and red body suit with gas weaponry that disoriented her foes. Secretly a queen of another planet whom Rock previously encountered with her rival queen, Captain X's counterpart was Princess Projectra, who was herself an adversary of the femme fatale known as the Emerald Empress, a member of the Fatal Five that opposed the Legion of Super-Heroes. After Projectra's husband and fellow Legionnaire Karate Kid perished, she assumed the alter ego of the red and white bodysuit clad Sensor Girl with illusion abilities.

Migrants of Multiple Earths Thesis: Part 3

In the previous chapters of our Migrants of Multiple Earths Thesis here and there we considered the loss of heroes from Earth-Two that migrated to Earth-One. It would seem that this golden age Earth became a provider for metahumans throughout the Multiverse, as we'll learn in this and future chapters, other Earths experienced this as well in later years. Let's now focus on the Freedom Fighters of three Earths!

We already learned how Uncle Sam, the Ray and Black Condor remained on Earth-X to offset the presence of Baron Blitzkrieg's three Nazi troops from that world. Similarly, Doll Man, the Human Bomb, Phantom Lady and the original Firebrand (not pictured but whom we previously considered) also left their home world of Earth-Two for that hero-less Earth. They were followed to Earth-One in late 1970's by the resident Earth-X bad guy the Silver Ghost.  In the course of their brief but memorable stay on this silver age world, they ended up running from the law for being framed by both foe and bad circumstances, yet did their part to protect another world though not their own.

Interestingly, it was later revealed in the so-called "Diary of Batman" that the Freedom Fighters had at some point during the 1970's journeyed back to the world of their birth, as Batman had said that the Freedom Fighters "have been seen back on this earth in recent years". When would this have occured... before or after their appearances on Earth-One in the mid to late 1970s? 

Well, Batman had delivered his diary to long-time friend Doctor Carter Nichols "months before he died", and it had been tainted with insanity due to mind control inflicted upon Batman's alter ego Commissoner Bruce Wayne by the Psycho Pirate. During that period of time, when Wayne manipulated retired members of the Justice Society into fighting its active members, the Freedom Fighters had left Earth-One following a battle with the Secret Society of Super-Villains. The only way Wayne would know that the Freedom Fighters were back on his Earth is if they visited the Justice Society.

It had been "two years" since the Freedom Fighters, with help from the Justice League and Justice Society, defeated the Nazi Regime on Earth-X. After this, a professor friend of theirs had developed an inter-dimensional teleporter, which the Fighters first  used to immediately travel from Earth-X to Earth-One. Eventually after a months lovong on the run on Earth-One, Sam used his natural abilities to bring them to Earth-Two. At that point it seems Doll Man traveled back in time to the late 1940s (no doubt using the Flash’s recently invented time vortex device) to reunite with his first love Martha shortly before she had gained her Doll Girl abilities. 

During this period of time, the Secret Society of Super-Villains had been battling individual members of the Justice Society on Earth-Two... while also battling the Freedom Fighters as directed by Silver Ghost. Five members of the Secret Society of Super Villains consisting of the Wizard, Blockbuster, Reverse Flash, Floronic Man, and Star Sapphire were being pursued by the hero known as Captain Comet. Note in the accompanying box the words of their leader the Earth-Two Wizard had spent "several profitable months on Earth-2".*

Back on Earth-One, Mirror Master and Copperhead led another faction of the Secret Society into battle with the Freedom Fighters at the direction of Silver Ghost, prior to their departure to Earth-Two. The Fighters proved victorious and, after their brief stay on Earth-Two, they and a Doll Man clone (created by Funny Face’s bio-ray) traveled back to Earth-X. Months later, Phantom Lady was shown to be operating in the Paris France of Earth-X, while the male members of the Freedom Fighters traveled one final time to Earth-One to aid Superman on a case.

After their foray on Earth-Two, the Wizard reviews what became of he and his colleagues, as they were trapped for months in limbo between universes. This no doubt sounds similar to what transpired in the near future, wherein other members of the Secret Society also found themselves trapped in the same netherworld between parallel realities. For the Wizard's team there were five beings of Earth-One (Reverse Flash, Star Sapphire, Floronic Man, and Blockbuster) and Wizard of Earth-Two, while the Ultra-Humanite's team would lead seven beings of Earth-Two (Ultra, Psycho-Pirate, Brain Wave, Rag Doll, the Mist, Monocle... and a seventh in the form of Vulcan who arrived in Limbo through a different manner) and five different beings of Earth-One (Gorilla Grodd, Killer Frost, Cheetah II, Signalman). Of course, Floronic Man of Earth-One and Brain Wave of Earth-Two resided in Limbo twice!

That's eight villains of Earth-One and eight of Earth-Two removed from their native worlds at various times, once more showing how the cosmos offset itself repeatedly despite the best of intentions of these puny mortals. Not to mention the five members of Earth-Three's Crime Syndicate of America, who had been kept in prison there within an emerald bubble for several years!

Interestingly, the first known reference to this inbetween Limbo dimension was when the Crime Champions of Earths One and Two created a base of operations there, in order to escape detection from their foes. Years later, after their defeat, the Champions' enemies.... the Justice League and Justice Society... would co-op these headquarters to team-up with a third heroic group known as the Squadron of Justice from Earth-S.

By the time of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, all members of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, the Crime Syndicate, and all Leaguers, Socialites and Squadroners were back on their native homeworlds. However, several of these malevolent metahumans would resurface during the "Villain War" at the height of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and under the leadership of Lex Luthor and Brainiac attempt to usurp control over Earths Four, X and S.

* During the several month sojourn of the Secret Society on Earth-Two, the Wizard led his five Earth-One minions into several successful victories versus individual members of the Justice Society. These included the Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite, Mister Terrific, and apparently Starman... the latter of whom had along with his teammates been captured by the Super-Villains. At some point, the active members of the Justice Society became aware of this, and tracked down the Secret Society where they eventually overpowered  the costumed criminals. While the Secret Society fled Earth-Two, the Justice Society successfully freed their colleagues soon after.

Migrants of Multiple Earths Thesis: Part 2

When Uncle Sam returned to Earth-Two, he recruited a small group of All-Star Squadron members, of whom the Ray and Black Condor permanently moved to Earth-X. This was to maintain the cosmic balance between both Earths, as Baron Blitzkrieg brought three elite Nazis with him from Earth-X. A fourth hero who remained there, the Red Bee, was killed by the Baron… just as the Baron had only hours before sent one of his Earth-X Nazis to his death as he fell off an Earth-Two building. 

Hourman only spent a few months on Earth-X (after five of his allies perished at Pearl Harbor) before returning to Earth-Two. So he wouldn’t be classified as one of these permanent migrants, but one of five Justice League and Justice Society members who aided the Freedom Fighters during their brief visits to Earth-X. Doll Man and Midnight journeyed there during Sam’s first visit, exchanging places with Baron Blitzkrieg’s initial Earth-X Nazis.

The next batch of new heroes who moved to Earth-X a few months later, during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, were: Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, Spider, Manhunter* (and his robot dog Thor), Plastic Man**, the Jester, Quicksilver and the Blackhawk Squadron*** (Blackhawk*, Stanislaus*, Olaf*, Hendrickson*, Chop Chop*, Andre* and Chuck*). Lance and Michael Gallant also previously journeyed to Earth-X as Captain Triumph in 1942, before returning to Earth-Two to join the All-Star Squadron... though their brief stay would like Hourman's disqualify them as offical cross-Earth migrants.

During the same Crisis event, a number of Earth-One heroes fought to save all reality in other universes, where they perished in the universes of Qward and Earth-Four. These included Nighthawk, Kid Psycho, Supergirl, the Flash, Aquagirl, Prince Gavyn the Starman, Immortal Man, Xax the insect Green Lantern, and Green Lantern Tomar-Re (as well as the robot body of Red Tornado). Additionally five renegade Guardians of the Universe perished in an Anti-Matter Universe barrage projected upon their meeting chamber on the planet Oa. 

By 1943, Firebrand and his arch-foe Silver Ghost traveled to Earth-X under undisclosed circumstances, leaving Earth-Two behind forever. Silver Ghost forsook his American citizenship to join Germany while Firebrand’s alter ego Rod Reilly used his status in their military to become a double agent for America. It could be assumed that when Manhunter traveled back to Earth-Two, he traded places with Firebrand if perhaps inadvertently (while Silver Ghost arrived on Earth-X during the same time period that Doll Man from the 1970s reappeared on Earth-Two* to reunite with his fiancé Martha Roberts).

* These Freedom Fighters eventually migrated back to Earth-Two. We know this because; 1.) Doll Man had adventures in the late 1940s with the Martha "Doll Girl" Roberts of Earth-Two, 2.) Dan "Manhunter" Richards, always accompanied by his loyal pooch Thor, became grandfather to Marcie "Harlequin" Cooper of Earth-Two, 3.) the seven Blackhawks had an adventure in September 1944 with the Batman of Earth-Two.

** Plastic Man later migrated to Earth-Twelve during the Convergence event, where he sired Plastic Man Jr. who became a frenemy of the Inferior Five of that world and his father’s counterpart.

*** While the Losers of Earth-One along with their fellow soldiers on the same battlefield perished at the same time as their Earth-Two counterparts, they died due to non-Crisis causes. So they wouldn’t be considered as offsetting in this multiverse erasure of characters. Instead, the Blackhawks’ reappearance on Earth-Two took their place.

Migrants of Multiple Earths Thesis: Part 1

A seemingly throwaway line at the conclusion of a confrontation between the Freedom Fighters from Earth-Two, while battling their world's Baron Blitzkrieg on the hero-less Earth-X, was that the cosmic balance was jeopardized due to the All-Stars' presence on a world not their own. 

The three who remained behind on Earth-X were Uncle Sam, Black Condor and the Ray; after three Nazi troopers returned with the Baron to Earth-Two to serve him on his home-world. 

Months earlier, Sam had brought other heroes to Earth-X, all of whom (save for Hourman and Sam) remained on this world before their premature deaths protecting that world’s Pearl Harbor.

According to the law of conservation of mass, also known as the principle of mass/matter conservation, is that the mass of a closed system will remain constant over time. The mass of an isolated system cannot be changed as a result of processes acting inside the system. A similar statement is that mass cannot be created/destroyed, although it may be rearranged in space, and changed into different types of particles.

So the mass of these metahumans removed from one closed system, or universe, and transferred into another. How did the multiverse compensate for this unauthorized transfer? Well another incursion happened shortly thereafter when several Nazi troops followed Midnight and Doll Man back from the Nazi's Earth-X to the heroes' Earth-Two:

In the third panel, if you squint you can make out eight soldiers on the opposite rooftop from Midnight, and two falling presumably to a life-ending landing. That's ten, so five of these would cancel out the five late heroes Red Torpedo, Magno, Miss America, Neon the Unknown and the Invisible Hood. The remaining Nazi troopers correlated with Uncle Sam and Hourman (whom Red Bee later traded places with on Earth-X when Hourman returned to Earth-Two), as well as Doll Man, Midnight and Baron Blitzkrieg who simultaneously traveled to Earth-X at the same time as the fatal five freedom fighters.

So the total number of Nazi soldiers and Fighters who permanently moved Earth balanced out, thus compensating for the transfer of mass. 

During this initial encounter between two parallel Earths, this formative Freedom Fighters departed Earth-Two to protect the Pearl Harbor of Earth-X from a devastating attack, with five of the seven perishing when a kamikaze pilot took their lives (note: Uncle Sam and Hourman, due to their invulnerability, survived this encounter). Meanwhile, Doll Man and Midnight followed Uncle Sam through his portal to Earth-X, and then retreated back to Earth-Two a couple months later with the aforementioned ten Earth-X Nazi troops who followed them.

While most of these Nazis soon perished, five of their number became Baron Blitzkrieg’s henchmen the Human Bombs, which were quickly dispatched by Wonder Woman. Five foes of freedom…five fighters of freedom, removed from the cosmic equation in the 1st Freedom Fighters and Nazi Human Bombs.