All-Star Squadron #50

All-Star Squadron #50 (Oct 1985)

title: "Crisis Point!"
writer/editor: Roy Thomas
pencillers: Mike Clark (pp 1-10) & Arvell Jones (pp 11-38)
inkers: Vince Colletta (pp 1-25) & Tony DeZuniga (pp 26-38)

letterer: Cody

colorist: Carl Gafford
cover: Jerry Ordway

Order of Appearance: Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Ray, Uncle Sam, Doll Man, and the Human Bomb 

Other Stars:  Harbinger; Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder, Dr. Mid-Nite, Starman, the Spectre, the Sandman, and the Atom; Commander Steel; Robotman, the Shining Knight, Hourman, Tarantula, Amazing Man, Dr. Fate, the Guardian, Dr. Occult, Firebrand, Plastic Man; Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle, Green Lantern; cameos by the Blackhawks, Spider, Manhunter, Midnight, and the Jester

Opponents: German saboteurs in the US led by Nazi engineer Gootsden, a Nazi scientist in Berlin working with Gootsden, and anxiety over the Crisis

Overall Summary: 
As Nazi scientists send the Justice Society out into space, the Crisis comes to World War II on Earth-2, snatching away a few members and moving the Freedom Fighters permanently (?) to Earth-X!  

Plot Summary:
The Justice Society sits down to have a meeting but are knocked out by some special gas and kidnapped by Nazis. They are handed off to a German engineer named Gootsden and are sent into outer space. (Instead of, you know, killed straight off.)  

In Germany, Commander Steel is working to rescue Captain Brad Farley, the husband of Steel's former girl-friend. He finds Farley, and together they break up the German side of Gootsden's energy source. While doing so, Steel is accidentally and permanently (?) sent to Earth-1. 

At Madison Square Garden, several members of the All-Star Squadron appear at a War Bonds rally. Firebrand (Danette Reilly) and Phantom Lady (Sandra Knight) are there, too, in their secret identities, working for the USO. 

Danette's brother, the original Firebrand, Ensign Rod Reilly, is also there. He is still recuperating from the wounds he received during the Pearl Harbor attack. He jokes with Danette about returning to his Firebrand identity, but she doesn't want to give it up. 

Amazing Man faces discrimination and is consoled by Dr. Fate. Hourman confides in Tarantula about how Miraclo was slowly poisoning him, so he now can't take the drug upon fear of death. 

Sandra suggests to Danette that they go on another double-date because John Law (Tarantula) has asked her out again. Danette tells Sandra that she will think about it. Sandra suggests that maybe Danette go out with the Shining Knight instead of Hourman. 

Sandra dances with Dr. Occult while Danette heads into the kitchen. She is surprised by the appearance of Harbinger, who takes her away. 

Everyone "feels" the presence of Harbinger as she appears and then disappears, but no one knows that it was her or what it means. 

Rod sees his sister disappear and alerts the others. Sandra changes into Phantom Lady and meets up with Plastic Man, who had also been on-site in his civilian identity. Suddenly, Uncle Sam, the Ray, and Black Condor arrive, asking Phantom Lady if she is really willing to go back to Earth-X to help them.  She and Plastic Man agree, and both join the others that Uncle Sam has already drafted, including the Human Bomb and Doll Man.  

Rod Reilly witnesses their disappearance, too, and wonders if he should have joined them. 

Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle are married in Boston, but before they can go on their honeymoon, they are recruited by Green Lantern to investigate the Crisis. They manage to see Harbinger and Firebrand disappear into the sky but are unable to follow. 

Dr. Occult knows that something NOT from their dimension has crossed over onto their Earth, but he doesn't know what or where. 

Review: 

Well, this is it: the last "real" appearance of the Freedom Fighters before their final appearances in CRISIS. 

I did not read this issue back in 1985; by that point I had gone to Japan to study abroad so I stopped reading almost all comics. I can't remember the last "real time" issue of All-Star Squadron I read; checking the covers I can remember reading the Freedom Fighters issues (#s 31-35) and I remember getting the Amazing Man race war issues (#s 38-40), so I must have quit after that. And all I can say is that if the quality of the book was at this level then, I can see why I had quit: this issue is awful! 

First of all, I usually try to praise the artists on this book, but this time out the art is a real hodge-podge. The artist switch between initial penciller Mike Clark and secondary penciller Arvell Jones happens at a chapter mark, so that is not quite so noticeable, and initial inker Vince Colletta has a VERY heavy-handed style, so that helps keep the art style consistent (if that is a good thing!). However, secondary inker Tony DeZuniga's style not only doesn't resemble Colletta's, it doesn't match penciller Jones' style AT ALL, and the switch happens in the middle of the story, too, so the artistic change is quite jarring! You can see it for yourself in the pages reprinted above. 

But it's the story that just doesn't work for me. Writer-editor Roy Thomas has finally bowed to the inevitable and included this book in the CRISIS cross-overs, six months after the Crisis has already started. It's clear from reading this issue that he is not enthusiastic about the whole thing. For example, he takes TEN pages to tell a story about how the Justice Society is kidnapped and sent into space by Nazis. This is a sequence STRAIGHT out of All-Star Comics #13, but in that story it only took FOUR pages. This is obviously a labor of love for Roy, and you can tell how much he enjoys this, especially compared to the rest of the issue, but do we really need twice the number of pages to have the JSA pass out?  

Roy tries to link the JSA disappearance to the Crisis (Gootsden is using some sort of infinite earth energy to send the JSA away) AND he tries to link Commander Steel on Earth 2 with Kid Steel in the Justice League on Earth 1, too. This plot point works logically, but it just takes SO long to set up and work out that it hardly seems worth it, and the final scene with Steel seems so rushed that it's clear Roy ran out of space to tell the story he wanted to. 

Of course, the only reason we are here today are the eight pages I reprinted above, which constitutes the entirety of the scenes where Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, and Doll Man re-join the Freedom Fighters. You would think that instead of silly jokes about Dr. Occult being called "Doc Ock," Roy would have spent more time explaining how or why Uncle Sam was back looking for heroes, and settling (?) on Phantom Lady and Plastic Man. 

How about if some scenario like this had happened instead: All-Stars such as Human Bomb, Doll Man, Midnight, and the Jester just happened to be at a War Bonds rally with Phantom Lady and Plastic Man, when Uncle Sam shows up. The JSA is already missing, so Uncle Sam "takes who he can get." Wouldn't that have made infinitely more sense than....whatever actually happened here? And I'm sorry if you think I'm being negative, but do YOU really think that characters like Manhunter, the Jester, and Spider (a character never seen before in these pages IIRC) are the type of heroes Uncle Sam was hoping for? And yes, I know that Blackhawk was a Quality Comics character, but do you believe that the entire Blackhawk troupe would have gone off with Uncle Sam to help save another Earth, when EACH of their members was fighting for their own individual countries already?!? And by the way, it had already been established that the Blackhawks had Earth 1 AND Earth 2 versions, so why not just create another Earth-X version and simplify the whole plot?!? 

Okay, okay, I'm calm now. Roy Thomas, unfortunately, doesn't do simple plots. 

The point I'm trying to make is that in my opinion Roy fumbles what should have been the important points of this story and keeps the spotlight on bits that really don't need the spotlight. But what's done is done.  This is the last in-continuity appearance of the Freedom Fighters before EVERYTHING changes, and I really REALLY wish it had been handled better than it was. 

Next Week: CRISIS!  

Worst Moment 1

Phantom Lady gives Plastic Man a free show. 

I have no words. 

Worst Moment 2 

The Human Bomb does nothing in this issue. 

He doesn't even get to be on the same page as the other Fighters. 

And his illustration isn't even as big as Manhunter's frickin' DOG!  

Freedom of Information

• Black Condor and Phantom Lady are the only members to appear on the cover. 
• Although the Freedom Fighters are shown as part of the overarching Quality Comics group of characters, there is no actual "group reunion" in this story. 
• Although he is shown witnessing the Freedom Fighters leaving, Rod Reilly (Firebrand) does not join them. 

The Freedom Fighters

assembled by Len Wein