Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Freedom Fighters and The Invaders



You have to love a big sprawling superhero wartime story.  Unfortunately, judging by the solicitations,  it looks like the new Earth Two series from DC will be taking place during current times, severing the JSA from the backdrop of World War II once and for all.  While I can understand the desire to modernize their line, I think they are letting go of a big part of the appeal of the Goden Age characters.  I always enjoy seeing superhero period pieces and even when those characters are brought into present day, it's cool to see how they interact with others, given their sensibilities from a bygone era.

18 comments:

Joseph said...

as i'm sure long time Freedom Fighters fans know, there was a knock off of the Invaders that appeared in their book back in the 70s. i think issues 8 and 9, but not sure. i think they were the Crusaders, some comic book fans (that looked suspiciously like Roy Thomas, Len Wein, and some other comics writers working for Marvel. it was all, of course, a nefarious plot by the Silver Ghost.

Dougie said...

Two things occur to me: as I was saying to my brother the other day, the Invaders are primal creatures, archetypal and imposing. I love Bucky's dialogue here.

Secondly, why didn't DC set the Freedom Fighters in the Nazi-occupied world of Earth-X? I read five issues and they were almost all terrible.

Anonymous said...

THAT must have been one tricky, exhausting cover to pull off!

Anonymous said...

Didn't The Archie comics line publish a team book called the Crusaders.

Ross said...

It was a tricky cover but it came together well. There are some real doozies coming up. Issue #300 almost put me in the grave.

Ross said...

Yes, Archie has The Mighty Crusaders.

Cathy and Dave said...

Dave sez,

That's a beautiful thing right there!

Chamber of Horror Music said...

It just keeps getting better! Any plans to go outside of DC and Marvel and use characters from other companies like Image, Dark Horse, and others?

Ross said...

I admit it is a bit Marvel/DC heavy in the beginning, but I have already featured some characters from other companies and you can expect many more in the future

dicecipher said...

Yeah it was Invaders #7 & #8 and Freedom Fighters #14 & 15.

Bob Greenwade said...

This is worth it just for Captain America vs. Uncle Sam.

Hopefully something with just the two of them will come up some time in the future.

gfritts said...

Fascinating concept! I'm surprised you did not arrange a more direct face-off: The Justice Society vs. The Invaders (or All Winners Squad).

Ross said...

JSA and Invaders will meet...

Bob Greenwade said...

Or, All Winners Squad and All-Star Squadron!

Mike Mitchell said...

Two of my all-time favorite comic teams and series. And I also completely agree with you about the mistake it is to reboot the JSA outside of WWII. They're removing a LOT of their appeal by doing that.

Brian Hague said...

While I look forward to finding out what DC has up their sleeve for the new JSA title, my dream version of the concept in the nu52 would have been to retain the characters' Golden Age appearances, set the book in either WWII or immediately after, and have Howard Chaykin run the thing. Maybe a mini-series like that could happen at some point...
I love this website, BTW. The juxtapositions are inspired, the wordplay is often dynamite, and the actual mechanics of the covers work exceptionally well. You clearly have a grasp of MS Paint which I can only hope to one day achieve. Thanks for putting these out there for us to appreciate!

Ross said...

Thanks, Brian!

Jeff Nettleton said...

The problem with the Freedom Fighters was that the Nazi domination of Earth X was taken care of in JLA, when they introduced the world. The series followed that continuity. Nobody was really thinking about a period setting, until Roy Thomas came over to DC and pitched the All-Star Squadron. He then tied things to Earth X, with more of the Quality Comics characters. Then Crisis came along.

Freedom Fighters was a Jack C harris book and, outside of Warlord, he didn't have a great track record, as an editor. Then again, DC as a whole didn't, in that period.

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