DC SUPER-STARS #10

DC Super-Stars #10 (Dec 1976)
title: "The Great Super-Star Game!" 

writer: Bob Rozakis
penciller: Dick Dillin
inker: Frank McLaughlin
letterer: uncredited

colorist: uncredited
editor: Julius Schwartz
cover: Ernie Chua (Chan)

Order of Appearance: Uncle Sam is the only Freedom Fighter to appear in this story. 

Also Starring: 

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Kid Flash, Plastic Man, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the reformed Huntress  

Opponents:
Sportsmaster, Lex Luthor, the Joker, Chronos, Weather Wizard, Dr. Polaris, Matter Master, Felix Faust, the Tattooed Man, and Amazo

Overall Summary: 
Uncle Sam accidentally gets involved in a convoluted plot to prove that Evil *can* defeat Good, in a super-powered game of baseball staged by the Sportsmaster and the Huntress!  

Plot Summary:
The Huntress is arguing with her husband, the Sportsmaster, that Good always defeats Evil. In fact, she is so tired of being on the losing side of the equation that she has sworn to go straight. Her husband offers her a wager: a friendly baseball game between a group of heroes and villains; if her Team Good wins then she will give up her life of crime, but if his Team Evil wins, she will remain a super-villainess. They agree, and go off to draft their respective teams.

One week later, the Sportsmaster and the Huntress have used a $250,000 bowling tournament in Gotham City to "recruit" some members, and bag three heroes and two villains. In Metropolis, Superman plays tennis against himself for charity until he is interrupted by Lex Luthor and Amazo; the team captains snatch them all. At the UN Soccer Championship, four more members are seen and teleported. Then, in the sequence that is most important for our purposes, we visit the Saratoga Racetrack, where good friends Robin and Kid Flash face off against the Tattooed Man and Dr. Polaris. They are then interrupted by Felix Faust, and a lone Freedom Fighter, Uncle Sam! All are taken by the Huntress and the Sportsmaster. 

Mr. and Mrs. Menace confront their kidnapped players and explain what they want. And while the villains are more than willing to try to defeat the heroes, the Good Guys do not want any part of the plan. However, when they are told that there are 66,000 people hypnotized into attending who will not be freed until the game is over, the heroes reluctantly agree to play. The first order of business is to pick the two umpires, and Wonder Woman herself nominates Uncle Sam, calling him "the most honest, trustworthy man alive." 

The rest of the story is the baseball game, as each team strives to prove that they are the stronger force. For eight innings, neither team uses their super-powers to score any runs. They appear evenly matched, as at the top of the ninth the score is 8-8. 

Faced with the prospect of losing not only the game but his wife, the Sportsmaster tells his team to pull out all the stops and to win at all costs. In other words, he tells the super-villain team to cheat by using their powers! 

Even with the super-villains using their magic, their time-stopping devices, and their villainous weapons, the super-heroes are able to score three runs to the villains' two. The Good Guys win! 

The hypnotized audience file out of the stadium, the kidnapped players return to where and whence they came, and the Huntress promises to go straight. 

In an scene that is not shown, Uncle Sam helps Robin and Kid Flash defeat Dr. Polaris, the Tattooed Man, and Felix Faust at Saratoga before leaping off to rejoin his friends in upstate New York. 

Review: 

This is an odd little story that doesn't have a lot going for it, but if you embrace its silliness, I think you'll find that it IS a lot of fun. I hate to admit it, but this is one of my favorite Guilty Pleasures. 

I really like the idea of a super-villain couple, so right from the get-go you have me with the Huntress and the Sportsmaster. Then, their argument about Good vs Evil is fun, and of course they're going to try to decide their difference in opinion in some sneaky, underhanded way. 

My only real complaint is in the choices of Good Guys we end up watching. I don't like the idea of Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary hanging out together; I would have much preferred Batman with Batgirl and Robin. And having both of the Dynamite Duo here would have been a fun call back to their recent battle against the Huntress and Sportsmaster over in Batman Family. 

Likewise, I enjoy the inclusion of Robin and Kid Flash; I like the idea that these friends hang out together. But throwing in Uncle Sam seems totally random. And Wonder Woman and Plastic Man? 

I think this story would have worked better as either a full-on JLA story (the Flash for Kid Flash, Elongated Man for Plastic Man, Green Lantern for Uncle Sam, the inclusion of Aquaman!) or as LESS of a JLA story; maybe Black Condor and the Ray instead of Robin and Kid Flash, or more Teen Titans instead of fewer, or Supergirl instead of Superman, and Metamorpho for Wonder Woman? 

As it is, the choices just seem a TAD too convenient for DC's Sales Department, ya know? 

As a fun "summer read," the story works fine. On the other hand, if it had been handled a bit more "straight" we might have gotten a choice scene where Robin confronts the Huntress and the Sportmaster, referencing their recent battles. We might have gotten a scene where Uncle Sam meets Plastic Man (a fellow Quality Comic hero and doppelganger from the Earth-X Plas). Or even a scene where the JLA promises to look into the fate of the Freedom Fighters! However, that story is not THIS story, and for what it's worth, this story is greatly entertaining. 

The art is by regular Justice League of America artists Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin, which means this story "reads" like a JLA adventure. They do a great job on all the characters, with the possible exception of Amazo, who looks more like a giant elf than a killing machine IMO. 

This story is not referenced in the pages of Freedom Fighters, so we have no specific in-story continuity between this story and that book. However, Wonder Woman endorses Uncle Sam during this adventure, so this game has to have happened after the events of Freedom Fighters #5. That is cover dated December 1976, just as this issue is. The events in Freedom Fighters #6 occur closer to Halloween, so I place this story in-between those issues. 

Uncle Sam's Moment IS the Best Moment

Wonder Woman vouches for Uncle Sam. Nice.   

Worst Moment

Although Uncle Sam and Plastic Man were both originally published by Quality Comics, 

and although it has been established that there was an Earth-X Plastic Man, 

Uncle Sam and Plas have no scenes together in this story.   

Moment They Could Have Been Cleared:

The Justice League could have gone with Uncle Sam back to New York City and straightened out the Freedom Fighters' legal status once and for all! Come on, Batman and Green Arrow were two of the Justice Leaguers who MET them on Earth-X in JLA #s 107-108!! 

Freedom Fanmail
This issue's letter column was all about the play-by-play of the game. So if you're a baseball fan, you will get a big kick out of this. If you're not, I recommend you skip it. 

Freedom of Information

• Saratoga Springs Race Course is in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is approximately 185 miles (300 km) north of New York City. 
• The Huntress and the Sportsmaster had just recently battled Robin and Batgirl in Batman Family #7.  
• The Tattooed Man had recently worn a flashier mask, tights, and cape combo in Justice League of America #111; in his next appearance, he will go back to that outfit rather than the "sailor" costume he wears here. 

The Freedom Fighters

assembled by Len Wein