Just finished
Crisis on Multiple Earths: Book 1: Crossing Over, a new edition collecting the earliest yearly JLA/JSA crossovers, beginning in
Justice League of America #21, and running up to #83.
Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, the Atom. As individuals, they are the greatest heroes the world has ever known. Together, they are an unstoppable force for good on planet Earth - the super-team known as the Justice League of America. But they are not alone!
On another world much like our own, a different group of heroes has united to take on the planet's most sinister criminals. Some, like the Flash and Green Lantern, share their code names with the heroes of Earth-One. But they are the guardians of Earth-Two - the Justice Society of America.
These stories originally ran from 1963 to 1970 and were first collected over two volumes published in 2002/3. The bulk of them are written by Gardner Fox, running with the parallel Earths concept he played with in 1961 (
Flash #123,
Flash of Two Worlds). Art is by Mike Sekowsky on all but the last two of Fox's tales, when Dick Dillin takes over.
The first thing that jumps out reading these is how simplistic the writing is. They were written in a time when the average age of comics readers was younger than it is now, and were the equivalent of theatrical Saturday morning adventure serials. Phrases like "Good job!", "Well played, fellow!", and "Drat!" abound, accompanied by dreadful puns, punctuated now and then by a good old 'right to the jaw', or similar. Villain motivation can seem paper-thin, and some of the solutions to potentially world(s)-ending situations come out of nowhere. But whilst the plots themselves may be simple, some of the concepts certainly aren't. Fox was a die-hard science fiction fan (he wrote several novels, and was a frequent contributor of prose stories to pulp sci-fi magazines of the 1930s and 1940s), and it shows. He gave at least some rudimentary 'pseudo-physics' explanations for the existence of multiple Earths (remembering, again, that these stories were aimed primarily at children), and the 'rules' governing them. He used time-travel inventively (his idea of travelling back to alter the circumstances that created each member of the Justice League, erasing them from existence, in the 1965 tale
Earth - Without a Justice League!, was reused in the 2018 animated theatrical movie
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies). And the JLA/JSA's battle with the Anti-Matter Man in
The Bridge Between Earths (1966) was clearly an influence on the heroes' battle with the Anti-Monitor in
Crisis on Infinite Earths 20 years later.
Moving through the collection the Silver Age goofiness begins to subside, and the stories start to have a slightly more serious feel. It's a nice bridging to the final two tales included here (1969/1970) where Dennis O'Neil takes over as writer. O'Neil was more interested in human drama than 'wacky' space adventure, and whilst he honours the cosmic scale that readers had come to expect, he starts to delve deeper into relationships - and occasional friction - between heroes. The stakes
feel higher. The Silver Age transitions into the Bronze Age.
Mike Sekowsky's art looks rough, rushed, even primitive at times. I can't see art of that quality being accepted today, even allowing for changes in style. He does handle large ensemble scenes well, though. Dick Dillin's work is leagues (forgive the pun) better, and has that unmistakable classic 70s DC look. Thankfully, Dillin stayed on when O'Neil took over.
There's a Book 2 coming, which I'm guessing will combine volumes three and four of the original collected editions (I'll definitely be picking that up).
These early
Crisis stories really are Gardner Fox's legacy, the bedrock upon which modern DC is built.
Better art in the earlier tales would have guaranteed this an 8, but the scope, ingenuity, and later artwork still get it a 7.5/10
