Space Stories & Stellar Sagas: Dynamic Duos & Problematic Pairs

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

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

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

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

Fantastic Four Supports Seven Soldiers

Shortly after an their adventure alongside the Justice Society of America, wherein they assisted them in recovering their fellow All-Stars missing since the golden age of mystery men, the Justice League returned to Earth-One. That is, all save three Leaguers who remained on Earth-Two, who were tasked with what Hawkman said was: “helping the Seven Soldiers adjust to the world of the present”! Why?

In the early 1950’s, the Seven... also known as Law's Legionnaires, gathered together for one final case as a group. On that occasion, atop the Himalayas, they along with their unofficial eight member Wing, battled the Nebula Man monster. Assembling a Nebula Rod that destroyed the create, a side effect was Wing's death, while his teammates were sent to various past time periods. From these eras, various members of the JLA and JSA retrieves the Legionnaires, bringing them back to the 20th century although decades after they disappeared. Thanks to their reappearance, the Soldiers were able to save Earth-Two!

Undoubtedly, the Society also aided the Soldiers in their transition from the 50’s to the 70's. However, those three Leaguers: Aquaman, Atom and Black Canary; these three had special purpose that necessitated their temporary presence in that alternate universe.

At least one of the Soldiers was given one-on-one assistance by a Socialite, as Starman took an immediate interest in his fellow stellar superhero, Star-Spangled Kid. In fact, when he later broke his leg, Starman lent the Kid his Cosmic Rod to use. And it would be this device, along with his knowledge of the Nebula Rod, that helped the Kid create his Cosmic Converter Belt.

The Legionnaire known as Shining Knight would have little difficulty readjusting to a new decade, as he had previously experienced a frozen sleep that lasted over a thousand years removed from his native time in Camelot. He and his flying steed Winged Victory simply acclimated to yet another new time period.

Apparently, although sent to save Star-Spangled Kid from the prehistoric past, something drew Aquaman's attention toward the Legionnaire referred to as the Vigilante. Perhaps with his telepathic abilities, the marine marvel was able to perceive some melancholy in the cowboy crusader. One thing they both had in common were beloved sidekicks who were surrogate sons, that they had grown distant from. While the emotional rift between Aquaman and his young partner Aqualad eventually mended, at the time of this tale it was still a fresh wound.

And if history parallels on both Earths, then this Vigilante would soon discover the tragedy that befell his sidekick Stuff. On Earth-One, after that Vigilante returned from a mysterious years-long absence, he learned of the death of his world's Stiff., who had been murdered by his arch-enemy the Dummy.

Honorary League member Metamorpho would have had a positive influence on Stripesy, the senior partner of the Kid. The Element Man would no doubt encourage Stripesy into settling down into a normal life and get married, something Metamorpho longed to do if ever cured from his inhuman condition. Stripesy later mentioned that he retreated into a new life with a wife and son on the other side of the United States... retiring from heroics… something he wasn’t inclined to do before meeting his new League acquaintance.

The Atom had first encountered Legionnaire Crimson Avenger in ancient Mexico, when the hero was under the influence of a fragment of the Nebula Man. Radiating with power from the radioactive rock, Crimson Avenger had battled Atom as well as Elongated Man and Doctor Fate, until they defeated him and he regained his senses. However, there was undoubtedly a concern as to the physical effects of Avenger's close proximity to the alien substance, which Atom sought to investigate using his scientific knowledge and experience with dangerous white dwarf radiation.

And indeed, his concern was borne out, as the Crimson while traveling the world as Lee Travis, discovered he now had cancer. With time running out, he resumed his costumed career for one final adventure. Sadly, if Atom discovered the root cause, he was unable to prevent the resulting effect.

And finally, there was Black Canary, a native of Earth-Two. She would perhaps feel inclined to help Vigilante, whom she helped save from the old west. However, she would've instead sought out the Legionnaires' ace archers, Green Arrow and Speedy. And given her recent history with her adopted world's versions of the pair of bowmen, one can see why this is a logical choice for her.

Throughout the years, the romantic relationship between Canary and the Earth-One Arrow usually involved her being the voice of reason, given his stubborn and opinionate point of view on life. This made him a better man, and would carry over with his adopted ward.

That ward, Speedy, had succumbed to drug abuse and addiction, despite having a storied career alongside his mentor and as a member of the Teen Titans. Canary in her Dinah Lance identity helped the lad recover over time.

Now on her home world of Earth-Two, Dinah saw a more mild and reserved Green Arrow, and a very frightened Speedy given his experience in ancient Greece when he temporarily lost his grip on humanity. 

She seemed a stabilizing influence, as the pair retired to reclaim their lives as Oliver Queen and Roy Harper. While the Earth-One Oliver and Roy had lost the fortune that supported them, causing them to live more modest lives and persist in their masked escapades... this wasn't the case for the Earth-Two pair. Those two ex-Legionnaires never acclaim resumed their more famous alter egos, aside from the occasional reunion with their teammates and during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Although Roy felt torment later during the Crimson Avenger's funeral due to their displacement in time, he did not revert to substance abuse as had his cosmic twin. Instead, he dealt with the harsh realities life had presented him with. The Teen Titan Roy, also at a funeral, felt some indignation for the abandonment of his former guardian Oliver, and would once more become Speedy in order to prove that he had regained control of his life once more.

Spandex Stripe and Star Suited Studs

On Earth-Two, wealthy young heir Sylvester Pemberton and his chaffeur Pat Dugan joined forces to become the crime fighting team of Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, in part inspired by Superman. Together, they fought a variety of foes as a dynamic duo and, later, as members of both Law's Legionnaires and the All-Star Squadron, where they were teammates of Superman himself!

On Earth-One, school student Lucas "Snapper" Carr was a mascot of the Justice League, of which Superman was a member... and years earlier school student Carl "Moosey" Draper was a school classmate of the younger alter ego of Superboy. Although friends, their relationship with the Man of Steel soured, leading to Lucas adopting the Star-Tsar alias while Draper became the Master Jailer. Their criminal careers led to their each confronting Superman in battle and losing.

Both Lucas and Sylvester were genius level intellects as well as aspiring crime fighters, using their aptitude for the sciences to devise devices that could channel stellar energy through weaponry and their super-suits. Also, Carl and Pat were adept in mechanics and utilized their skills to develop various gadgets they then used in their costumed careers. One such device that Dugan built was the flying car known as the Star-Rocket Racer which he and the Kid drove, a vehicle that mirrored that of Snapper's flying hot rod car which the League gifted him in his early adventures with them.

Around the same time that Pemberton as the Kid joined the Justice Society, Carr in his Star-Tsar alter ego conspired with the Key and Privateer to defeat the Justice League... before having a change of heart. Also around this time, Draper and Dugan both became embittered by the superheroes whom they had known for the lack of appreciation shown to them, each of them hiring out their technical design skills to use their advanced weaponry to aid criminal endeavors. This was in part also due to the anger they felt over lost loves, Carl with his love for Lana Lang not being returned, and Pat with his divorce to his wife Maggie who abandoned him and their son Mike. However, while Draper as the Master Jailer remained a criminal adversary of Superman and Supergirl, Dugas as Stripesy continued to assist his old partner the Kid along with other heroes such as Superman and Power Girl behind the scenes.

The Crossovers Time Forgot Between Titanic Teams

While the teamups of headliner heroes such as the Justice League in the silver age and, prior to that, the Justice Society in the golden age, were fairly common... minor mystery men generally kept within their corners of comicbook continuities. Partly this was due to their lack of notoriety, and popularity. However, on occasion, these did occur with startling results.

There was the time when the criminal League of Challenger-Haters stalked the vacationing objects of their vitriol. And without their gadgets, the Challengers of the Unknown may have been helpless versus their inhuman opponents, were it not for the Doom Patrol who leant a hand. Elasti-Girl vs Multi-Woman... Kra versus Robotman. And, of course, the more modest masked men Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy crossed paths... not to mention almost running into each other.. with the Dynamic Duo in pursuit of the Joker. Good times.

Striped Spandex Subduers Simulate Supermen

Carl Draper was a seemingly average student in Smallville High School when he fell in love with classmate Lana Lang. However, due to the presence of that town's protector Superboy coupled with Carl's own frumpish physique, he wasn't noticed. Even when he temporarily obtained superpowers as the android Kator-Two, the original having merged with the lad in an attempt to defeat the Boy of Steel, Lana still only had eyes only for Superboy

Pat Dugan was an inventor and chauffeur to the Pemberton family, as well as the best friend of the son Sylvester. Together, the lad and Pat became the costumed team known as Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, using their athletic aptitude to defeat their criminal opponents. Dugan developed various devices such as  the flying Star-Rocket Racer car,used in crime fighting cases. The pair joined Law's Legionnaires, later known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory... and All-Star Squadron.

As an adult, Carl dove into his career path as a master architect and locksmith, designing the elaborate Mount Olympus prison facility housing Superman's greatest adversaries on Earth-One. However, when his caped rival made the prison a floating prison instead, Lang herself renamed it Superman's Island, and this set off Carl on yet another path... this one towards evil. As the Master Jailer, Draper through his genius replicated the powers of the Parasite, Atomic Skull and Metallo which he used against Superman. Leaving the now Man of Steel in a seemingly inescapable trap, Superman was nevertheless freed thanks to the assistance of Lana who rejected Carl's advances, leaving the fiend imprisoned himself.

After being lost in time for decades, when they returned the two parted ways, with Pat marrying and having a son. After his divorce, Dugan became a designer for a criminal syndicate when his original blueprints were stolen by the Kid's nephew for his Strikeforce Gang. Though embittered, Stripesy and the Kid reconciled and renewed their friendship after defeating the crooks whom Pat had been employed with previously.

Carl would escape and resumed his costumed career, facing Supergirl in a series of clashes before renewing his grudge against her cousin. At one point, Master Jailer actually used a device to cause Superman to forget his heroic alias, and adopt a more civilian identity... neither he nor Carl realizing that Draper's childhood schoolmate Clark Kent was his foe's alter ego. As a means of taunting the man whom he viewed as stealing his true love, Master Jailer wore Superman's costumed underneath his own in order to protect himself, at least until its rightful owner recovered his memory and once more caged his cagey adversary.

Interestingly, both Draper and Dugan sought to use their genius in gadgetry for lawful purposes, but consumed by jealousy turned to crime. Still, Stripesy was defined first and foremost as a superhero, while Master Jailer a flawed supervillain.

A third variation of the same man resided on Earth-S. Unlike Draper of Earth-One and Dugan of Earth-Two, this man... didn't display the inventive skills of the Master Jailer nor of Stripesy. However, like both of them, he was a fighter... in fact a former prize fighter... and like Pat Dugan he was a chaffeur for a masked man. Only not of Jack "Minute Man" Weston, the counterpart of Sylvester Pemberton on his world. Instead, Gleason was the assistant of news reporter Ken Wyman.. and of Wyman's alter ego... Devil's Dagger. 

While Wyman, like his Earth-Two counterpart Lee "Crimson Avenger" Travis, was born into wealth... Wyman sought only justice. This he found both in publishing hardhitting newspaper articles exposing the criminals of his hometown Carterville as Wyman, and in capturing crooks in his alias of the Dagger. Both he and Pat persistently clashed with the crime lord of their city, Jeff Marlowe for a couple years. Once they captured him, both men retired from crime fighting and resumed their normal civilian lives fulltime. While Gleason never changed his costume nor wore a mask when playing sidekick, Gleason's identity remained secret!