Shaman and Johnny Thunder

 

This issue serves to close up a loose STF plot line.   Doctor Fate met Professor X in STF #4321, and the two were merged into one in STF #4322.  I figured that it was time to follow up on that two-parter and get these guys unfused.

Captain America and Johnny Thunder

 Johnny has a genie and a super-soldier as back up so I think he'll do OK in this situation.  Still, I'd be interested in reading about it, especially to see the young hero's reaction to working alongside Cap.

All-Star Squadron and The Invaders (And more!)

When I was a kid, the 100-Page comics and Annuals that featured classic reprints were my introduction to the characters and creators of the Golden Age. It was cool to see the building blocks of the heroes and stories that I had been currently enjoying.  I thought that I would pay homage to those specials for this Anniversary Issue.

Here are the full sized images of each story: 

Masters of Evil Vs. The Justice Society of America

 

This Anniversary Issue took quite a bit of tweaking for me to get it to work. Here's a behind the scenes look at how I removed the Marvel heroes to make room for the JSA:

The Defenders and Johnny Thunder

 

Marvel has all the ingredients for a Defenders film, but they don't seem interested in making one. I thinks getting Hulk, Dr. Strange and Valkyrie together with a Namor variant (one closer to the comics please) in an adventure that introduces The Silver Surfer (thus avoiding having him first appear in an FF film for a second time) would make for a great tale. We'll see if they ever get around to getting the non-team together, but as for now I am not holding my breath.

Justice Society of America and Captain Britain (Part One)

Frim the casting of Superman: Legacy, it appears the first official movie in James Gunn and Peter Safran's new DCU will present a world that is already filled with superheroes.  What does that mean for the JSA?  Will they have existed in this timeline?  Ideally I'd love to see a proper World War Two era JSA movie at some point.  Throw in  some kind of suspended animation at the end and you they can bring whatever JSA'ers they want into present day adventures as well.

This is only Part One of a Two-Part Epic, so make sure you come back here tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!

 

Power Man & Iron Fist and The Justice Society of America

 

Concluding our Three Part Epic, we see that the Heroes for Hire have successfully located and liberated the JSA - now the whole crew is going to have to deal with Immortus!  I'm looking forward to seeing an image of Hawkman in full costume from the upcoming Black Adam movie.  It has to be one of the toughest looks to pull off in live action, and I hope to finally see it done justice.  Then again, we're getting a bald Adam with no pointy ears, so who knows what changes will be made to Hawkman? 

Power Man & Iron Fist and Johnny Thunder

 

Continued from yesterdays cover, we come to the middle part of our 3-part epic.  It looks like Johnny was able to get free from Kang, but not before his teammates were taken.  Maybe now that the Heroes for Hire are on the case, we can get this situation settled.  Make sure you come back for Part Three tomorrow to see the exciting conclusion!

Justice Society of America Vs. Kang in: "Chronal Detention!"

 

Presenting part One of a Three-Part Epic!  A blurry image of Kang from early promotional materials for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has made the rounds, and it looks promising.  It's small and he is only seen in a reflection - but it does seem to look like Kang will indeed have the classic appearance from the comics.  I enjoyed Jonathan Majors in the final episode of Loki, and I think he will be even better here.

Make sure you come back tomorrow to see where the story goes in Part Two!

Kang first encountered the JSA in STF #2294...

Justice Society of America and Squadron Supreme

 

Since the Squadron Supreme is inspired by the Justice League of America, it would be interesting to see them interact with the heroes responsible for inspiring that team.  You have to wonder how long it will be before Kevin Feige decides to introduce the Squadron in the MCU.  I can imagine Warner Bros wincing if they get their own feature before another JLA movie is put together!

Johnny Thunder and Thor

 

There were definitely some teases for Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt to make an appearance on the next season of Stargirl.  There's the magic pink pen that was included among the JSA artifacts that Courtney discovered, and younger brother Mike has name dropped his friend Jakeem.  Hopefully we will see him show up, and the TV effects budget will be enough to effectively bring Badhnesia's most famous genie to life.

Johnny Thunder and Ghost Rider in: "Same Name, Different Century!"

This cover serves as a follow-up to the recently posted STF #2148. When some visitors (including The Irredeemable Shag, (a Patron of this blog) requested to also pair the Western versions of these two heroes, it got my wheels turning.  I decided to make it a proper sequel (or prequel?) by featuring a vengeful Death-Stalker, who is clearly sore about being defeated the first time around.

JohnnyThunder and Ghost Rider

This could be an interesting pairing, just for the personalities involved.  Two guys named Johnny, each given access to beings of incredible power - for one it is a curse and the other a chance to finally be able to stand among his heroes. Both are fighting for justice, but from very different vantage points.

Eternity and The Justice Society of America

There have been lots of big big moves from DC lately, with the return of properties like Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Alan Moore's Watchmen characters and the heroes from his ABC Comics line... but still no sign of the classic JSA.  Their reintegration into the DCU has been teased for a while, but I am still waiting for the announcement of a new series with a top-notch creative team.

Johnny Thunder Dreams of Jeannie!

I liked watching reruns of I Dream of Jeannue! when I was a kid.  The comedy was corny in a Gilligan's Island kind of way but the main character had super powers, something that always interested me.  Plus Barbara Eden was easy on the eyes!

Johnny Thunder and Shazzan

I thought that this would be a fun match up.  it would be nice to see Thunderbolt and Shazzan really go at it without having to hold back.  It would be cool to see it animated - come to think of it, there's never been a cartoon Johnny Thunder & T-Bolt- let's change that, DC Animation!

Justice Society of America and The X-Men

I love to see George Perez artwork on just abou anything, but where I feel he shines the most is on team comics.  He has the ability to include multiple characters in his storytelling without the artwork. ever looking too crowded through his deft use of composition and multi-paneled pages.  Plus, his characters all have very individualized faces and body types, rather than stock hero and heroine forms, which really enhances my enjoyment of a comic with a large roster.

The JSA and X-Men first crossed paths in STF #1400...

Justice Society of America and Man-Thing

DC is about to undergo another semi-reboot/relaunch of their titles, and I was hoping that we would be seeing more of the classic JSA following their appearance in a few Convergence specials. It looks like DC will be sticking with their newly developed Earth 2 characters though.  I don't see why there can't be both though - why not try a series set in the 40's featuring the original heroes in  their prime?

Doctor Strange and Johnny Thunder

I always liked the concept behind Johnny Thunder, sort of Aladdin crossed with a superhero.  Even though the Thunderbolt was incredibly powerful, he could only do what Johnny commanded, and Johnny on his own had no special abilities.  This dynamic made for some interesting adventures and set the character apart from traditional crime fighters.