Twice-Told-Tales: Miniaturized Masked Menaces

Among the various rogues who faced the Atoms, the balding bad-guys David Clinton and Kale Zercoff were the most malevolent foes they ever faced. Both men based their crimes around their mastery of time, with Clinton the masked menace known as Chronos, and Zercoff as the henchman of Per Degaton. Initially small-town felons operating on Ivy Town of Earth-One and Calvin City of Earth-Two respectively, David and Kale first faced their worlds’ Atom one-one-one before eventually teaming up with gangs of goons who faced their arch-enemies’ teams, the Justice League and Justice Society.

After a series of battles throughout the years, Chronos sought to change his modus operandi, seeking to steal rare coins from four key locations in Ivy Town. First, he stole Scandinavian coins then French and Spanish coins before targeting American coins with his fourth burglary. The Atom was somehow tipped off the the perpetrator of these thefts, confronting Chronos on his fourth outing. However, an electrified force field around the Time Thief knocked the Tiny Titan unconscious, and when he woke up the Atom discovered his foe had stolen his shrinking belt. Impersonating the Atom, Chronis met the police lieutenant on charge of this criminal case, to try and discover how he slipped up and revealed his identity to his foe.

Decades earlier, the individual members of the Justice Sociery were each tasked with a hundred thousand dollars which combined they can donate to war orphans of Europe. In his futile attempts to obtain his portion of the proceeds, Johnny Thunder encounters two crooks dressed as Sandman and the Atom, threatening local gangs in an attempt to obtain protection money from them. Johnny’s Thunderbolt quickly exposed the pair, a crook disguised as the Sandman*, with the Atom impersonator** being Kale Zercoff himself. Seeking revenge against the Mighty Mite who defeats him months earlier, while Johnny and his T-Bolt were subduing he and his cronies, 

Ray “Atom” Palmer was able to escape the syrup-filled blender his enemy left him trapped within, thanks to his secondary size-changing glove controls. Facing his arch-foe once more, the Atom was able to outmaneuver and capture Chronos, who subconsciously avoided stealing coins with names that sounded like his criminal alias.

Al “Atom” Pratt was working the obtain his portion of the war orphans donation funds, when Zercoff was captured by his Justice Society teammate in the fall of 1941. Nevertheless, Kale would be freed by the summer of 1947, whereby he was recruited as the principal lieutenant to temporal tyrant Per Degaton's militia which inially defeated the Justice Society. On this occasion, Kale was finally able to knock out the Atom, although his victory was only temporary before once more returning to prison.

* This fake Sandman’s Earth-One counterpart dressed as the Sandman, and drugged police scientist Barry “Flash” Allen during a masquerade party the night that Professor Zoom aka the Reverse Flash murdered Barry's wife Iris’. While that Sandman armed his sand-gun with narcotics, which he used on his victim, the Earth-Two psuedo-Sandman seemed to have standard armament in his sand-gun.

** Zercoff somehow managed to portray himself as short as his foe, the real Atom, who was 5 foot 1 inch tall., However, unlike Ray Palmer, Al Pratt did not possess shrinking technology. It could be theorized that Zercoff hired a co-conspirator who was taller than himself, who impersonated the Sandman, thereby presenting an optical illusion making himself short in comparison when both are standing side-by-side. As seen in their two direct confrontations, Zercoff was much taller and far bulkier than the Atom.

Twice-Told-Tales: Green Gladiators' Gather

The Green Lanterns of Earths One and Two, Hal Jordan and Alan Scott, had on occasion interacted with other Green Lanterns.. And early in their career, this caused Hal and Alan grief when confronted with their noble-minded namesakes, while attempting to uncover a duplicitous scheme by a felonious foe.

Jordan's colleagues were official members of the Green Lantern Corps. They summoned Hal to a tribunal presided by veteran Corps member Tomar-Re, with his fellow Green Lanterns Chaselon, Xax, Larvox, Medphyll, Stel and the Corpsmen from planets Aeros and Rojira. Their concern and the reason for this impromptu trial involves three incidents over a 24-hour span, when Hal acted out-of-character by leaving a bank vulnerable for theft, creating a disturbance at an event and endangering the life of a fall victim. The tribunal ruled giving Jordan only a stern warning, while he adamantly asked for a guilty verdict.

Scott's fellow emerald gladiators were not officially sanctioned. These men clad in colorful costumes mimicking Green Lantern, each man armed with flashlight battery modified power rings. Responding to an emergency radio broadcast summoning the caped crusader to the Explorer’s Museum. Perhaps motivated by fame or financial reward, the faux-Green Lanterns each presented himself as the real deal, in order to offer their assistance to the prestigious Explorers’ Club. Several of its members disguised themselves as either wildlife or cavemen, attacking the various Lanterns with only one able to stand up to them. Once he was identified as authentic, Green Lantern was presented with an assignment, locating the missing explorer Simon Ghent.

Hal-Lantern acted strangely due to mental influence exerted by his arch-enemy Sinestro. Exiled to the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward following the guilty verdict upon him, Hal was welcomed by his foe who offered him a partnership which the hero declined. He was then captured by Sinestro, who possessed a spare yellow power ring which replaced his original ring lost during their previous encounter.

Alan-Lantern along with his pal Doiby Dickles tracked down where Ghent was said to have been held, in a local Gotham City cemetery. Once helping them to enter into the towering chapel within the cemetery, the Club turned on Lantern and Dickles… knocking them out then capturing them. Their scheme in fabricating the fictional Ghent was to trick Green Lantern into helping them retrieve star witness May Leeds, who was set to testify in a court tribunal against a prominent crime syndicate, who were the discussed Explorer’s Club members present.

The remaining Green Lanterns from the tribunal secretly followed Hal to Qward, and although they too were captured, the Corps escaped Sinestro’s snare and ensnared him instead. Likewise, Alan and Doiby were able to free themselves and May from the Syndicate, thanks to Alan having been tipped off from the beginning that the Club was bogus and criminals… since he is the actual president of the actual Explorers’ Club!

Twice-Told-Tales: Medical Miracles of the Caped Crusaders

These strikingly similar twice-told-tales involved shrinking superheroes... performing delicate procedures from within their patients... victims of criminals seeking to conceal their crimes from those who could expose them.

In 1943 on Earth-Two, Doctor Charles McNider was made the executor to a man named Jamison's estate. Among the items in his possession was a shrinking ray projector developed by Jamison, which McNider replicated. Soon after, McNider was called to a hospital to recommend treatment for a gunshot victim, a detective ambushed by crooks. While unable to perform an operation himself, as he was legally blind, McNider secretly had the superhuman ability to see in complete darkness as well as infra-red googles allowing him to say in daylight was well. Requesting his "friend" Doctor Mid-Nite to perform the surgery on his behalf, Charles as Mid-Nite shrunk down to microscopic size, bringing with him his homemade portable projector. Navigating through the near-death police man's body, the Doctor finally arrived at the man's heart where he used the shrinking ray to reduce the size of the bullet lodged within it. 

In 1974 on Earth-One, social activist Debbie Manton is kidnapped by criminals in the employ of gang-leader Bugsy Cathart, as she had witnessed his slaying of a competitor. Tracking down Cathart's goons to a building, Batman unwittingly was stunned by an electric current as he swung onto its rooftop ledge. Left for dead, the Caped Crusader was retrieved and brought to a Gotham City hospital, where he was pronounced near-brain dead. Called to consult on his case, visiting physicist Ray Palmer hypothesized that by using his white dwarf shrinking belt, he could stimulate Batman's brain from within as the Tiny Titan known as the Atom.  

Reviving the detective, a now full-sized Mid-Nite learned from his patient that critical evidence was discovered that would expose gang-leader Clipper Jackson. Cornering Jackson and his henchmen, the Doctor was able to bring the crook to justice.

Piloting Batman's body from within his brain, the Atom was able to reactive the Gotham Guardian's  subconscious reflexes, and together they were able to rescue Debbie. With her testimony, the crook was brought to justice.

Interestingly, Doctor McNider still possessed this shrinking technology which was remarkably similar Ray Palmer's, yet unlike the Atom of Earth-One, Mid-Nite neither used it himself nor did he bequeath it to his Justice Society colleague Al "Atom" Pratt. Instead, Al-Atom wore a dimensional-vibrator device in his belt, something Ray-Atom also developed but used only once.

Regardless, the fact that such a technique was successful and such science was available highlights the amazing accomplishments within the DC Multiverse!

_____________________

Continuing thru April 2025 - #JSApril! Celebrating 85 years of #DCComics JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, the world's first greatest superheroi team! Join over 40 podcasters bloggers as we honor our favorite heroes! Info participants:

www.fireandwaterpodcast.com/JSApril

Twice-Told-Tales: Wonder Woman vs Flying Fighters

Princess Diana of Paradise Island, also known to the world at large as Wonder Woman, faced several foes throughout the years. Both women with that name, the Wonder Women of Earths One and Two, at times fought side-by-side together, either with team ups just between the two of them or larger Crisis-level events alongside their teammates of the Justice League and Justice Society. 

On one occasion, the legendary ladies were confronted with five “Heroes of History” of Earth-One, empowered by the temporal megalomaniac known as the Lord of Time who sent them against the League and Society to render the majority of those teams comatose. These five champions of the past consisted of three individuals with identical doppelgänger’s of Earth-Two, those being Viking Prince, Black Pirate and Miss Liberty. A fourth member of this informal group, cowboy bounty hunter Jonah Hex, had a counterpart known as Jeff Graham aka the Roving Ranger of Earth-Two. The final person in their midst was known as an Enemy Ace to the American’s flying over Europe during the mid to late 1910’s.

Enemy Ace was Rittsmeister (Captain) Hans Von Hammer of the German Air Force during World War I, a reluctant warrior and expert fighter pilot also known as the Hammer of Hell. His doppelgänger of Earth-Two was the American World War I fighter pilot Captain Thomas Cole aka Captain Desmo, later known as the Bombardier during the early days of World War II. Just as Von Hammer was employed as a pawn by the Lord of Time, Cole was likewise manipulated into service by the Lord of Mars. 

While the Hammer of Hell was empowered by his benefactor granting him superhuman abilities, Bombardier was likewise empowered with identical abilities. Both men could fly while projecting devastation energy bolts, which disabled the Wonder Woman of their respective Earths. Von Hammer’s four allies were also similarly empowered, while their counterparts experiencing something similar when they were drawn to 1985 of Earth-Two by Harbinger to battle Ultra-Humanite.

Interestingly, it was the Wonder Woman of Earth-Two who shortly thereafter stuck back at both men, first Captain Cole in 1942 on Earth-Two, then decades later against Captain Von Hammer in 1978. Despite this initial animosity, the pilots worked with the Wonder Women to defeat Lords of Time and Mars, along with their reality shattering schemes unleashed upon both Earths known as the Eternity Brain and the Disc of Mars. Following this, Von Hammer* as the Enemy Ace resumed his duties in Germany, while Cole officially retired following this and his lengthy career as Captain Desmo. 

* Along with the Earth-One Viking Prince, Black Pirate, Miss Liberty and Jonah Hex each of whom returned to their native time periods, just as had the Earth-Two Viking Prince, Black Pirate, MissAmerica and Roving Ranger following the Crisis event.

Twice-Told-Tales: Tyrants Thaal & Tarquin Terrorize

Thaal Sinestro and his clone Sinestros were tenacious in their goals to conquer their respective universes’ Earths. These men possessed potent power rings projecting awesome emerald energies, until the Green Lanterns of Earths One and Two confronted the Sinestro Corps. While the original Sinestro departed Earth-Two after the defeat of his Corps, the other Sinestro clones were incarcerated there. And yet, a man named Tarquin resembling Sinestro appeared centuries earlier in England!

The original Sinestro would routinely devise various methods of revenge against his arch-enemy Hal “Green Lantern” Jordan, including recruiting Jordan’s ex-girlfriend Carol Ferris to resume her evil alter ego of Star Sapphire and later Weather Wizard in his war with his foe. Despite these schemes, Sinestro continued to meet with failure, until he ensnared Hal’s best friend Oliver “Green Arrow” Queen into a trap. When this ploy also failed, Sinestro fled Earth-One into outer space, and led Green Lantern and Green Arrow into the “Silver Twist” anomaly.

Red-skinned Sinestro lookalike Tarquin suddenly appeared one day in the medieval era of King Arthur and Camelot. This was the era when Sir Justin the Shining Knight first lived. Simultaneous to Tarquin being pulled into events of this time, Alan "Green Lantern" Scott and Doiby Dickles were also drawn to this era. Tarquin fiercely fought Green Lantern, further cementing the circumstantial evidence that this was likely a Sinestro clone, seeking to steal his foe’s ancient green lamp. But for whom?

Back in the reality of Earth-One, Thaal Sinestro along with Green Lantern and  Green Arrow were forced to team up on a medieval alien world modeled after the age of Camelot, complete with knights whom the trio battled. Combining their forces, Thaal, Hal and Oliver defeated the tyrannical ruler of that world and returned to Earth-One’s solar system. Sinestro would frequently return, seeking the destruction of his arch-enemy and securing the power of his former masters, the Guardians of the Universe!

The age of Earth-Two’s Camelot was one of five key eras when the Monitor installed Cosmic Tuning Forks to save the remaining Multiverse. Vandal Savage traveled back to this time*, masquerading as King Arthur while using Merlin to lure the JSA into a trap there. Just prior to the Justice Society of America’s arrival in Camelot, Savage evidently lured their teammate and his old foe Green Lantern along with Doiby Dickles and a Sinestro clone named Tarquin. Vandal as Arthur attempted to manipulate Lantern and Tarquin into helping him locate the emerald power battery lamp in the possession of the Chinese lama delegation (hypothesizing that, just as an irradiated meteorite first gave Savage immortality, another meteorite which Green Lantern's lamp was made would do the same, as it had for the lamp's maker Chang). Savage manipulated Scott and Tarquin into conflict.

Tarquin kidnapped the visiting representatives of the Chinese Embassy from that era. These men were the keepers of the Green Flame of Life emerald lamp, which eventually Alan would inherit in the 20th century. After repeatedly clashing with faux-Sinestro Tarquin and his knights, Alan and Doiby triumphed then discovered that Tarquin’s prisoners the Chinese lamas had concealed the green lamp in a place their jailer could not locate. Recharging his power ring with the lamp, Green Lantern and Doiby returned to their future time, leaving behind Tarquin in the 13th century.

When Savage’s scheme to secure the emerald lamp in the 13th century failed, he imitated his backup plan, entrapping Kryptonian cousins Superman and Power Girl in order to draw energies from them, regaining his immortality. While Vandal returned to the modern day in subsequent tales after he lost to the JSA, there is no record of Tarquin returning to the 20th century. Given Tarquin’s red-skinned appearance and demeanor, he was a Sinestro. The fate of his fellow Sinestro clones is unknown.

As to Thaal Sinestro, he would be a key player behind the scenes during the Crisis in Infinite Earths. During this period, he would traverse time and space, even visiting other universes such as Earth-Four during the Villain War and shortly thereafter accompanied his old adversary Hal Jordan into the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward to confront the Anti-Monitor and his forces.

* Vandal Savage had been made aware of this period in Camelot’s history as being a key junction point in history, having been present during that time period as an eyewitness to events outside his domain’s castle at that time. Witnessing the arrival of his era’s Shining Knight as well as future superhumans Firestorm and Killer Frost of Earth-One, and their battle with a mammoth Shadow Demon from the Antimatter Universe of Qward, Savage knew that this would be a time period he could draw his 20th century foes the Justice Society into when the time was right.

Twice-Told-Tales: Daring Damsels Destroy Destructive Dreams

Dinah "Black Canary" Lance and Helena "Huntress" Wayne were two women with remarkable parallels in their lives. Both ladies were born on Earth-Two, second generation superheroines, living up to the legacies of their parents. Each lass lost both her mother and father to tragic events, motivating them to adopt their heroic alter egos. While the Earth-One counterparts of Dinah and Helena, Helen "Silver Swan" Alexandros and Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon, were their own women with different backgrounds and motivations from this cosmic twins... Dinah and Helena were tied in crucial ways. And in one other key aspect: their destructive dreams!

Dinah was the first who became susceptible to dreams, when she fantasized while sleeping that Larry Lance was still alive. Seeking the assistance of her Justice League teammate Superman to help her access this "Dream Dimension" to find Larry, the two Leaguers journeyed through the barrier between realities where they indeed found a version of Lance. But was this the Larry Lance who perished while protecting his Earth-Two from a cosmic threat in Aquarius... or something else?

Helena would months after this also be consumed by dreams, as she dreamt of her father Batman and mother Catwoman. Each parent appeared in the form of a bat and cat avatar, seeking to consume Helena into their individual legacies. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to call upon her teammates of the Justice Society to assist her, only police detective Gary Minelli was able to support her from the outside world.

The villains behind our marvelous maidens' dream dilemmas were individuals resding in the Arkham Asylums outside of both Earth's Gotham Cities. The first was a skeletal cloaked criminal Doctor Destiny... a long-time Justice League adversary... who manufactured his Dream Dimension, which Black Canary found herself within, through his Materioptikon devise.

Another skeletal cloaked individual* was a manifestation of the former foe of Batman and the Justice Society Doctor Elba, who used Solution K to cause his victims to go insane and which Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether used on the Huntress. Thankfully, through their sheer force of willpower, Black Canary and Huntress were able to destroy these Dream Dimensions from within and vanquish their foes.

* This skeletal nightmare might have been a subconscious manifestation of Helena’s recollection of an experience, related to her by her father of the “Painter of Death”, who ended up being a skull-masked Doctor Elba… inventor of the Solution K that was now injected in her body.

Twice-Told-Tales: Black Spheres Face Justice

The Black Spheres were advanced entities from another universe where they developed over positive time into a hyper-intelligent state, until time was reversed. To avoid reverting to an inferior form now that they experienced negative time, these globular creatures entered the universe of Earths One and Two, with four of these beings on each Earth merging with human hosts. This granted the four individuals with superhuman abilities, yet also with a perversion towards committing evil acts.

While the events occurred simultaneously on these parallel planets, only the four adversaries of the Justice Society were identified and dealt with in the chronicled tales. As the Society battled Money Master, Gem Girl, Smashing Sportsman and How Chu... the League was facing four unidentified individuals with similar abilities. As Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt pulled four Leaguers to the Society's Earth-Two to assist them, the Black Sphere bandit's Earth-One counterparts would be dealt with following this adventure.

From similar encounters with the League on Earth-One, we can ascertain the identities of the four recipients of Black Spheres on that world. These were museum curator Dexter Myles (who was impersonated by Doctor Light aka the Green Ghost), queen Dela Pharon (aka the second Star Sapphire), scientist turned boxer Karl Keller (aka the Annihilator) and Attucka*. These four apparently had some contact with the spheres, which each hero dealt with separately. Then mid-battle, three Leaguers (Superman**, Flash and Green Lantern) as well as a fourth (Green Arrow***) were pulled to Earth-Two by the Thunderbolt. Following the resolution of this tale, they were then dispatched to Earth-One where they dealt with their foes... with Aquaman having finished his conflict with Attucka without interruption.

* While the Black Sphere bandit candidates of Earth-One each had other sources of power, from Doctor Light's weaponry to Star Sapphire's gem to Annihilator's Kryptonian chemical... these were all augmented and enhanced by absorption of the spheres. 

** At the same time as Justice Society member Hourman battled a Black Sphere enhanced Superman, Hourman’s counterpart Prof Riley and the Challengers of the Unknown battled the electrical scientist known as the Powerman, also granted powers in part by a Black Sphere.

*** Green Areow appeared to have had a rough day like his three teammates due to his costume, all his tale isn’t documented.

Twice-Told-Tales: Wonder Women's Strange Substitutes

While the Princesses Diana was the preeminent Amazon and, as such, selected to becoming the ambassador for their respective Paradise Islands to the outside world... there were others who sought their esteemed position. The cosmic counterparts Tonia and Luria each vyed for the title of Wonder Woman, and through superior determination and indominable competitive spirit, they each nearly succeeded in claiming the mantle of the Amazing Amazon for themselves.

Tonia of Earth-One and Luria of Earth-Two bested their fellow Amazonians in a contest, and when Queen Hippolyta awarded them their hearts' desire, they expressed their wish to leave Paradise Island and enter "Man's World", following in Diana's footsteps as powerful protectors. Despite the adverse side effect of losing their immortality if they left the Island behind, both ladies unhesitatingly demanded their requests be granted. However, each Diana had a plan to fulfill these lasses' goals while safeguarding their lives.But how?

As Tonia and Luria journeyed the United States alongside each girl's respective Wonder Woman, they were tasked with handling three cases. These involved saving lives at a Ferris Wheel, subduing criminal motorcyclists stealing precious radium, and rescuening professors held captive by spies on submarines. During each trial, Tonia and Luria each gave it her best yet failed to accomplish the missions, and in the third instance both women seemingly perished underwater.

And yet, it wasn't these Amazonian doppelgängers who died. Rather, it was robot duplicates of Tonia and Luria, who the ladies themselves controlled remotely from Paradise Island. Seeing the futility in following the Wonder Womens' footsteps, they remained in the land that had been their home... safe and secure. Yet they were not the only fabulous females trying to be the next Wonder Woman. There was Earth-One Diana's twin sister Nubia and Earth-Two Diana's daughter Lyta. Then there was two Donna Troys, one raised by Hippolyta as her step-daughter and became Wonder Girl, and the other enroll in Holiday College as one of the Holliday Girls who on occasion wore a Wonder Woman outfit.

Then there was the tragic twin tales of Orana and Dalma, two Amazonians with less lofty ideals than either Tonia or Luria. Orana challenging her Diana to a contest where she won due to her ruthlessness and the Princess' self-sacrificing nature. Dalma hatched a plan a rebellion among her fellow Amazonians, who distracted the Queen and her Princess while she escaped, flying to America. In the United States, Orana assumed the mantle of Wonder Woman, although her rash nature led to her premature death which Diana avenged as she resumed her heroic alter ego. As for Dalma, she became a prominent female boxer until she attracted the attention of Wonder Woman, who eventually outmanuevered her... returning her to Paradise Island.

Twice-Told Tale: Mental Marauders & Menacing Man-Hawks

Among the greatest inventions of planet Thanagar, besides the discovery of anti-gravitational metal, are devices known as the Absorbacron and the Electromizer. These invasive mechanisms could mentally augment those connected to them, mentally implanting potentiallyl so vast quantities of information into an individual's brain. This allowed an individual to rapidly assimilate entire languages as well as culture information, which Thanagarians could use to integrate into societies alien to their own.

The Absorbacron was originally developed on Thanagar-One by the initially benevolent inhabitants of that world. When the malicous Man-Hawks invaded and pillaged their planet, a select number of Thanagarians were tasked and trained to become the Wingmen, a global police force employing the anti-gravity belts and winged harnesses developed by Paran Hol and used by his son Katar. Eventually, Katar and his wife Shayera were commissioned to travel to Earth-One, where they would learn the policing procedures of humanity as Hawkman and Hawkwoman, a concept foreign to those of Thanagar who had previously never experienced crime on their world.

The Electromizer was originally developed on Thanagar-Two by the thoroughly malevolent Vulture King and his fellow Vultures, who sought to reclaim their people’s former glory as they ventured to Earth-Two in an attempt to conquer this world. Their avian ancestors failed to conquer humanity during the ages of Egyptian Prince Khufu and English protector the Silent Knight. Now equipped with winged harnesses enhancing their speed and maneuverability, Vulture King's minions sought to enslave human-kind into their forces.

When Thanagar-One experienced a devastating global Equalizing Plague which crippled their citizenry, followed by a conquest of the alien dictator Hyathis, the Thanagarians abandoned their Wingmen aliases and began a Shadow War on Earth-One. This led to repeated conflicts with Hawkman and Hawkwoman. 

Earth-Two experienced an invasion of Vulture King and his minions, following their fellow advanced Vulture scout Aiymer’s arrival, who had clashed with Doll Man years earlier. Although initially successful in forcibly recruiting residents of Earth into their winged forces, the Vultures were eventually defeated by Wonder Woman, the Justice Society teammate of Hawkman and longterm friend of his wife Hawkgirl.

Just as Thanagarian Vultures used the Electromizer to mentally manipulate humans, who wore enlarged bird-like winged suits, Thanagarian Shadow Warriors used the Absorbacron to mentally manipulate their former flying foes, the Man-Hawks, in an attempt to control Gotham City during the period of the Convengence (when that city and others of various universes was placed on an alien world for a year). Katar and Shayera defeated both Man-Hawks and Shadow Warriors.

Twice-Told-Tales: Manhunters Manhandle Malicious Martians

The blue-caped crusaders clad in shorts and red chest straps heroically battled malicious Martians, who sought to conspire to conquer their neighbors. These men with ties to the Mars in their universes, Martian Manhunter of Earth-One and Atom of Earth-Two, were victorious despite overwhelming odds.

Martians physiology differed  radically in the various universes they occupied. Consider the Manhunters of twin Mars as a case study. J'onn Jon'zz gained powers similar to those of Superman while residing on Earth-One. Roh Kar maintained his normal abilities without gaining additional attributes while visiting Earth-Two.

However, the reverse was also true. How so? Humans from Earth-Two gained superhuman powers on their universe's Mars, while those of Earth-One are still normal on the Mars in their reality. For example, Al "Atom" Pratt gained powers comparable to his Justice Society teammate Superman while on Mars-Two*, while Ray "Atom" Palmer remained unchanged when he and his Justice League allies ventured to Mars-One to aid their former teammate Jon'zz versus the White Martians. But what caused the divergence in superhuman abilities, granting these to Mars-One Martians and Earth-Two humans?

Apparently, this phenomenon is similar to the divergent condition between Kryptonians in each universe. Those Kryptonians living on the homeworld of Earth-Two's Superman possessed superhuman physiques due to the environmental conditions on Krypton-Two. This was not true of those Kryptonians in Earth-One's reality, as they were normal humans on Krypton-One. Perhaps, the presence of a large Blue Flame on Mars-One and a Green Flame on Earth-Two imbued native peoples of each world with the capacity to gain powers on worlds other than their own, as these flames were twin batteries charging Martians and Terrans alike.

Interestingly, a Martian guide immediately welcomed Al Pratt to his world after the Atom there, following the Tiny Titan and his Justice Society allies been exiled into space by their enemies. This individual was most probably Roh Kar, who mentally linked with Al via an Educatograph, which Martians used to teach themselves such things as their native language. Now gaining the Atom's perspective, Roh Kar no doubt experienced the sensory exhilaration of mentally joining the Mighty Mite’s many adventures on Earth-Two.

Years later, Roh undoubtedly appreciated when his mind-mate the Atom gained superhuman strength through exposure to radiation. It seems that the mental bond between the Mighty Mite and the Manhunting Martian was mostly benevolent, although apparently their mental link aroused suspicions within the ranks of the Justice Battalion (which the Justice Society was called during that period of time) due to the Atom’s seemingly odd behavior (as later mentioned in an interview with writer Roy Thomas). 

* Martians in each universe lived on two different Mars, the twin Mars in the same solar systems as Earths One and Two, and a pair of Mars-II's also existed across the universe, accessed via Hyperspace. Both the Atom and Batman of Earth-Two ventured to each Mars, and seemingly gained the same vibrant vigor of these worlds. Meanwhile, J'onn Jon'zz along with his League allies remained their normal selves on each Mars within their own reality.

Twice-Told-Tales: enacious Tin-Soldiers Terrorize Twin Titans

Eric Knowles was a master craftsman and toymaker, who came to prominence in Gotham City on Earth-Two. While appearing to be a reputable businessman in public, even appearing on radio announcer Alan Scott's WXYZ program, Knowles was secretly the costumed criminal known as the Tin Soldier.

His counterpart on Earth-One was given the alias Key-Man #1 by his master, the Key... a recurring adversary of the Justice League of America. When Key and his Key-Man threatened the safety of Saint Louis, Missouri, the Justice League assembled. This included Green Lantern, though not the one who was their teammate!

The initial confrontation between Alan's alter ego Green Lantern and Tin Soldier ended with Scott being knocked unconscious by an exlarged yo-yo lauched from Knowle's hand. Before Hal Jordan could join his League teammates, he slipped on a bar of soap and was knocked unconscious. His power ring recruited one of Jordan's two backups, architect John Stewart, to substitute as the Green Lantern for this adventure.

Both John and Alan faced off against their tenacious foes, as Key-Man #1 sent Tin Soldier robots to deal with Stewart and the Red Tornado, while other gimmicks of the Key preoccupied the other Leaguers. Similiarly, Alan had a rematch with his Tin Solder, which once more saw his foe gain the upper hand. 

Thankfully, both the Tin Soldiers' master and Tin Soldier himself were defeated. Key-Man #1 had been secretly replaced by honorary Leaguer known as the Phantom Stranger, who saved the lives of his teammates. And Green Lantern Alan Scott eacaped Tin Soldier's tornado top and turned his automated minions against him.

The Key escaped the grasp of his Justice League adversaries, who turned his scheme of destroying a part of St. Louis into an opportunity to rebuild the city's dilapidated domiciles, with help from John Stewart's power ring coupled with his brilliant architectural mind. As for the Key of Earth-Two, he had no known connection to the Tin Soldier, and faced Green Lantern Alan Scott and the Justice Society members during their last case in 1951.

Twice-Told-Tales: Green Growths Grip Globes

The Justice Society of America’s epic battle with the Iron Hand was legendary. The Hand utilized energy from his old enemies’ deadliest adversary, the Nebula Man, to ensnare Earth-Two within a gigantic glove-encircled energy hand in its grip. Nearly the entire JSA membership was present when they recruited their Earth-One counterparts to assist them. Yet, five key members weren’t with them on that occasion: Superman, Flash, Atom, Batman, and team leader Hawkman. Or were they?

Simultaneous to this 1972 encounter with the insidious green hand, the Justice League of America faced the threat of extraterrestrial father-and-son galactic gardeners  Bur-Sed and Kur-Sed* attempting to terraform Earth-One from its polluted state. Despite their benevolent motivations, their alien plants were having an adverse effect of the climate on the humans’ world. The League outsmarted them, ensnaring the staffs giving these gardeners their powers.

Amongst the League members present, both to vanquish the green gardeners and assist the Society versus the heinous hands, were the doppelgängers of those five missing Socialites. However, years later the Flash of Earth-Two was shown as present with his teammates during the Iron Hand case, while Hawkman also speaks as to having been present on this adventure.  After both teams helped recover Iron Hand’s original adversaries the Seven Soldiers of Victory from past eras, the heroes thwarted the Hand’s scheme.

And in fact a picture of one of the two initial encounters with the nebula hand shows a Hawkman and Superman present… before the League with their versions of these heroes…had arrived on their world. These two heroes as well as Flash may well have been either injured, on sent elsewhere to explore other options in defeating their implacable foe. A footnote to this adventure (in All-Star Comics #58) refers to the conclusion of the Hand-Saga (in Justice League of America #102), wherein pictures of those who welcomed back Star-Spangled Kid and his fellow Soldiers included the aforementioned golden age Flash. The Society’s Atom had been injured in the previous year’s crossover with the League, while dealing with an alien boy and his symbiotic dog.

As for the Batman, he had remained an honorary Justice Society member… and so only rarely participated in their missions. Although he did participate in some capacity when Creator2 attempted to destroy Earth-Two, and later when King Kull of Earth-S also attempted to end his planet, at least on this occasion he evidently felt the fate of the world was in good hands. Also at this time, he was mostly retired from crimefighting, having turned over his mantle to his ward and former sidekick Robin, now a grown man.

* Bur Sed and Kur Sed’s counterparts King Tassel and Lord Cob had attempted to terraform Earth-Two decades prior to this until they were thwarted by Wonder Woman and her Holliday College Girls.

Twice-Told-Tales: Damsels Deliriously Dangerous Dreams

Sometimes a dream can be so real, it blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Particularly within the DC Multiverse, certain dreams can perceive the veil between the everyday lives of its citizens during the daytime, and the Dream Dimension at night. Such was the case for the lady loves of the Fastest Men Alive, which caused the Flash of Two Earths to race to save their delirious damsels in distress.

Iris was pulled into relentless nightmares, leaving her bedridden in a hospital. Using his deductive mind, police scientist Barry Allen was able to ascertain her tenuous connection to a dream reality which he previously perceived while super-speeding while in his costumed identity. As the Flash, Barry vibrated into this Dream Dimension, battling an unknown entity which seemingly used Iris as bait to lure the Scarlet Speedster into his realm. Using his high velocity metabolism, Flash was able to project bolts of light which caused this entity to cease to exist, freeing Iris from its grip.

Joan was pulled into persistent nightmares, involving seeing herself in a dangerous scenario. In fact, she is seeing events experience by her former classmate Rita, which prompts her boyfriend Jay Garrick in his Flash identity to track the criminals down. Upon capturing these crooks, Flash frees Rita, who reveals her using of mental telepathy to project her thoughts into Joan's mind. A later occurrence of Joan being pulled into a Limbo Dimension mirroring the Dream Dimension by it's Lord was an attempt to draw in both Barry and Jay into his realm, with the goal of using the speedsters to free him from that alternate reality. Instead, it was Joan who was liberated from limbo along with husband Jay and Barry.

Twice-Told-Tales: Conquerors Cloning Cronies

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

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

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

Neither Deleon Kanjar Ro nor King Blakfu would repent of their evil ways, as each repeatedly** launched attacks on the heroes of Earth using their forces, cunning tactics and creative gadgets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Twice-Told-Tales: The Penguin versus the Super Squad and Super Friends

In an interesting bit of cramped chronology, the Penguin of Earth-One had two nearly concurrent appearances. In each, he battled members of the Super Squad on Earth-Two and the Super Friends on his own, working alongside fellow fiends.

In October 1976, the Penguin was among the supervillians of three parallel planets recruited by King Kull for his war against humanity. Meanwhile, the three World's Greatest Heroes were summoned to the interdimensional headquarters of the former Crime Champion. There teams were the Justice League, Justice Society and Squadron of Justice. Members of each team were paired with one another, with select mini-teams sent to Earths Two, S and One. Included in this was the Justice Society's Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman.

Then in November 1976, the Penguin quickly reappeared with a new team of costumed criminals, the Super Foes. This was in response to the Super Friends, a group consisting of four Justice Leaguers and a Teen Titan, training younger aspiring heroes. Imitating their example, the five Fiends each selected a sidekick, with Penguin's being the lad named Chick (his counterpart on Earth-Two was a recluctant teenager who rejected that world's Penguin). The Super Friends consisted of Leaguers Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Titan Robin.

While neither the Earth-Two Superman nor Aquaman were present during this "Crisis on Three Earths", the former was in semi-retirement while the latter passed away a few years before. However, the Earth-One Superman substituted for his doppleganger, working alongside the Society's Wonder Woman, the League's Green Arrow and the Squadron's Spy Smasher. During an epic fight on the island of Atlantis, Wonder Woman encountered her old adversary, Queen Clea (an Atlantean royal filling it for King Aquaman) who sought to regain her throne using a brainwashed Superman. The heroes were able to overpower the villians, with Green Arrow's archery outmanuevering Penguins trick umbrellas.

Around the same time, the Earth-Two Batman and Robin journeyed to Earth-S, teaming up with Mister Scarlet and Pinky to battle the Dynamic Duo's arch-enemy the Joker as well as Scarlet's old adversary, the Weeper. Back over on Earth-One, a month later, Batman tackled Penguin while Robin cornered Poison Ivy. Wonder Woman dealt with her enemy the Cheetah, while Superman faced off with Toyman and Aquaman dealt with the Human Flying Fish. In the end, it was the Foes' and the Friends' young trainees who helped vanquish Penguin and his four fellow felons.

Twice-Told-Tales: Anthropomorphize Avengers

In 1983, the Greatest Superheroes of Two Worlds met anthropomorphize avengers* with powers and eqiupment that could pose a serious threat to them.

On Earth-One, this took the form of the Ani-Men. These included the Maximus Rex, Reena, Rowl, and Gargantus... among others. They were originally the board of directors for Repli-Tech Industries, a company about to go bankrupt and be investigated by the Security and Exchanges Commission. Rather than face imprisonment, the board members and their president Rex Rogan transformed into beast-men spawned by Doctor Lovecraft’s technology. Hosting a gladiatorial game on their island off the New Brunswick coast, they were exposed and opposed by the Justice League. In the  end, all the Ani-Men inevitably transformed into full animal forms, losing their higher brain functions.

On Earth-Two, it was Justa-Lotta Animals who rivaled the Justice Society. Visiting from Earth-C-Minus, this team were analogues to the Justice League. These included Super-Squirrel, Wonder Wabbit, Batmouse, Aquaduck, the Crash, and Green Lambkin. This team traveled to various Earths in the Multiverse until they eventually found Earth-C, where they enlisted the aid of Captain Carrot and his Zoo Crew. Before this, the Justalotta Animals had a brief yet tense stand-off with the Justice Society, who were amazed to find sentient  anthropomorphized  animals.

* Like Rex Rogan and his cronies, another evil entrepreneur named Ivan Caroff and his henchmen also transformed into animals which battled Starman  on Earth-Two decades earlier. And Starman’s sometimes partner a Black Canary on Earth-One battled weapons-supplier Marcel Moreau and his human/animal hybrids.

Twice-Told-Tales: The Sandmen and POTUS

The Granular Guardians, the Sentinels of Sleep, the Nocturnal Knights. The Sandmen, Garrett Sanford and Wesley Dodds, saved many lives during their costumed careers. And on one occasion, they protected the POTUS, the President of the United States! 

On June 28, 1941, attorney Richard Nixon and his wife Pat were on a Caribbean cruise which left the future president sea sick. At least, that’s all that happened to the Earth-One Nixon. The Earth-Two Nixons experienced a violent storm, caused by a shadow entity from a Dark Dimension directed by Ian Karkull. Karkull’s goal was to slay all current and future presidents of the U.S.A., only to be confronted by members of the Justice Society of America. While Wesley-Sandman along with the Atom saved the life of John F. Kennedy, their JSA teammate Doctor Fate rescued the Nixons.

Decades later, in 1973, the Earth-One Richard Nixon was kept in a sleeping comatose state, afflicted by shadows from the Dream Dimension. Enlisting the aid of renowned specialist on sleep studies, Doctor Garrett Sanford, the U.S. government equipped the scientist with a costume and devices allowing Garrett to enter the Dream Dimension and retrieve the submerged conscience of the President. Sanford as the Sandman a permanent resident in this nocturnal realm, except one hour a day when he could return to Earth-One.

Twice-Told-Tales: 10,000 Years in the Future and Ancient Atlantis

Ten-thousand years in the future, inquisitive individuals found ancient devices with the power to assist or ail humanity. Untold centuries in the past, two ancient immortal Atlanteans possessed the means to change the world. Two evil men on Earth-One, Xotor of tomorrow and Garn Daanuth of yesterday.... and their noble cosmic twins on Earth-Two. And the times when they met twin teams of Justice.

On Earth-Two, Xotor's doppleganger read a note buried along with ancient jars, that had been written by Wonder Woman. She detailed the occasion during the middle of the 20th century when the Justice Society battled synthetic beings created by immortal paint*, These were the wicked works of a disgruntled archaeologist named Niles Farrow. An ancient Atlantean, a benevolent version of Garn Daanuth, warned Farrow of the effects using this paint would produce.

Farrow painted these psuedo-people to use as agents of death against six men whom he carried grudges against. However, when an accident led to fatal injuries, Farrow called for the Justice Society, admitting his plan in order to ease his conscience and hopefully save his intended victims. 

The Society were able to overcome the paintings from different locations around the world, and return them to their jars. There they remained buried on New York, until Xotor-Two discovered them ten-thousands years later. Unlike his counterpart, this Xotor left the jars entombed so no others might be tempted by their power.

On Earth-One, Xotor decided to test the four weapons he located against the Justice League in the late 20th century, to see which device defeated them and could be used on the authorities of his era. The team were able to defeat Xotor and his gigantic robot. 

Years later, another threat, this from ancient Atlantis, was revealed in the immortal mad man known as Garn Daanuth. This villian used his powers to transform three humans into elementals in the cities of Metropolis, Los Angeles and Midway City. The focal point between the three locations was Daanuth's City of the Golden Gate, which he intended to raise from being submerged underwater. The Justice League thwarted his plans, and Daanuth apparently perished.

*Some of this living liquid may have been what the man who would become Neon the Unknown drank to gain his powers, abilities on par with his counterpart... and Daanuth's brother... Arion in ancient Atlantis.

Twice-Told-Tales: Men of the Atom Into the Cosmos

Physicists Ray Palmer and Al Pratt were obsessed with scientific discoveries, built upon their previous exposure to life-altering technology. Ray harnessed the ability to shrink to microscopic proportions through use of a white dwarf star fragment housed within his specially designed belt and palm controls. Al harnessed superhuman strength through exposure from Tholium radiation while battling a supervillain. On these occasions, neither man was in full command of their mental and moral attributes, which made them brilliant scientists and legendary heroes.

When another physicist scientist published a paper duplicating research simultaneously discovered by Ray, which he was about to present at a scientific conference, he experienced a mental breakdown. Seeking a new scientific breakthrough, Palmer became obsessed to the point where he harnessed his shrinking technology to pierce the barrier between his own universe of Earth-One, and a mysterious subatomic Microcosmos. When his best friend Hawkman tried to stop him, Palmer attacked him. When then confronted by his Justice League allies, Ray as the Atom disappeared into this new realm, with the Leaguers following him. There, both he and his allies lost their memories aside from vague recollections. Hawkman recalled his Thanagarian origin, and yet also felt a connect to ancient Egypt when he saw some writings in the subatomic world of Goltha. Together with native inhabitants led by the Wanderer and her Siren Sisterhood, the Justice League defeat the oppressive ruler Kass-andre and her warriors, who had used the mindless gigantic Atom as a weapon to subdue the world's residents for a century in their time. The League returned to Earth-One, with Ray regaining his sanity.

When the Ultra-Humanite exposed his arch-enemy Superman to the mind-altering river Koehaha, also known as the Stream of Ruthless which removes morality from any who drown in its water, he then guided Superman into doing the same with some of his Justice Society allies. Among these were the Atom and Hawkman, as six Society members began to unleash their sinister desires upon their world of Earth-Two. Al Pratt as the Atom sought to expose himself to further Tholium radiation to increase his superhuman attibutes, although he was opposed by his step-son Albert "Nuklon" Rothstein. Hawkman likewise was obsessed with uncovering secrets of ancient Egyptian museum pieces, although he was likewise opposed by his son Hector "Silver Scarab" Hall. Eventually, the effects of the stream began to wear off, with the Justice Society returning to Koehaha to submit to is toxic influence once more. This was thwarted when their old foe Brain Wave pulled them, their children of Infinity, Inc., and Ultra-Humanite into inter-dimensional Limbo between universes. There, Ultra was finally defeated and the Society regained their sanity, allowing them to return to Earth-Two. Although the Justice Society didn't encounter sub-atomic beings during this adventure, one of those present in Wonder Woman had years earlier battled Queen Atomia and her minions on a subatomic world mirroring Goltha.