Seven...ish Soldiers of Victory

Who would think that barely a month after starting this blogging exercise, I would reach the point where I would recycle images?  Ah... The economy of effort.  In my very first posting, I included this image to express my general love for comics.  BUT it was also a seed of a topic I wanted to touch upon.  You see, this very "Justice League" digest was one of the most influential comics I've ever bought in my life.  It helped cement the concepts of Earth-2 in my head, with this being one of the annual JLA/JSA crossovers of the time.  (You know?  When there were multiple Earths, and they COULD cross these teams over?  Hell, we have multiple Earths in the DCU NOW, and that crossover will probably never happen again.  Dirty glares at Dan DiDio...)  But this was no ordinary crossover.  In this particular digest was collected a three-issue EPIC featuring the Justice League and Society united... on a search for yet MORE heroes, the Seven Soldiers of Victory!

Hence the title, Seven...ish.  Because unless you lack the ability to count, there are EIGHT members of the team portrayed in this picture... AND in the story.  But they began life in a book called "Law's Legionnaires", and according to the infinitely wise Wikipedia, was the second super team DC created.  I would do a specific roll-call, but I'll be honest... Aside from the Shining Knight's mystical powers, and Vigilante's and Green Arrow's choices of specific weapons, there wasn't really a uniform difference of powers between team members.  But hey, sometimes all you need is a group of colorful brawlers to get by for entertainment!  And it was because of them that we had the JLA/JSA crossover event for an anniversary for the ages!

"JLA #100" starts off with the League tackling individual battles, but in a rush to assemble for an anniversary party for their team.  And they agree to hold the festivities in their original cave headquarters.  Now, this is an interesting gathering in that one of the founding members, Martian Manhunter, could not attend due to his Mars-related duties.  (AKA I think the writers of this time period really disliked involving poor J'ohnn...)  But even a powerless Diana Prince shows up, and Zatanna comes along for the party!  But before the cake can be cut, they are whisked away by Dr. Fate to meet with the JSA to confer with the mystical Oracle... AKA space Gandalf... to stem a coming crisis.  Dr. Fate projects the image of a giant mystic hand in the midst of a death grip upon Earth.  ... Eh, the original story isn't exactly clear WHAT Earth it is, but hey, bad things are happening to it!

The best course of action, Fate decides, is to track down the Seven Soldiers of Victory, because they've encountered this menace before.  The big issue is... NO ONE remembers who the Seven Soldiers are!  (Just like every current DC writer outside of Grant Morrison.  BA-DUM-DUM!)  This hand is actually similar to a foe the Soldiers fought called the Nebula Man.  But in the Soldiers' defeat of the Nebula Man, the being exploded, and that resulted in the Soldiers displacement in time and space.  Well... more time than space.  Anyways, the current hand energy is being summoned by a villain of the Seven Soldiers' history called the Hand, who had gathered the Soldiers' most vile enemies in a group.  In the confrontation with the Hand, his right... I'm getting tired of saying this, but it DID happen... hand was destroyed, and now he bears an iron appendage, and dubbed himself with the new identity of Iron... ugh... Hand.  So now it is up to the JLA and JSA to be sent to various time periods to try and find their targeted members of the Seven Soldiers.  We only get one time trip in issue 100, with Dr. Fate, Atom, and Elongated Man tripping back to the Aztec peninsula to rescue the Crimson Avenger.  But be patient, for more team-ups are to come!

Issue 101 provides us with more team-up action, but before we summarize the questors and their goals, I do want to mention that Diana Prince is acting as a holding person for the mystic spot that the Oracle declared "home base".  (She had a hang-up about the Earth 2 Wonder Woman being present, and not being able to contribute due to being "non powered".  ... Like the Sandman, or Batman, eh?)  So she fills in on the late-in-arriving Mr. Terrific, Earth 2 Green Lantern, and Earth 2 Robin.  Now, let's summarize the team up action for this book!

• Superman, Sandman, and Metamorpho in ancient China, battling against Genghis Khan to rescue the Shining Knight!
• Hawkman, Wonder Woman, and Dr. Midnight in jolly ole' England with Robin Hood to meet up with the Seven Soldiers version of Green Arrow!
• Batman, Starman, and Hourman in the land of the Pharaohs to give a lift to Stripsey!  (AKA Man of little confidence to become the sidekick to Star-Spangled Kid...)

But this issue ends with the Iron Hand having snuck his way to the mystical tether spot, and his looming menacingly towards Diana Prince... SHOCK AND HORROR!!!

Issue 102 caps off with another recap of the Seven Soldiers sticky situation.  But it doesn't take us long to leap right into the team-ups, so without further hesitation...

• Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Johnny Thunder... and I REALLY feel bad for poor Ollie and Dinah to be saddled with this jerk... traipse back to the American West to rescue Vigilante from Native Americans!
• Aquaman, Wildcat, and Green Lantern walk the dinosaur in the time of Cro-Magnon man to retrieve Star-Spangled Kid!
• Flash, Zatanna, and everyone's favorite self-doubting android, Red Tornado, end up in ancient Greece... SO ancient that apparently the myth of Circe's island proves to be true... to find Speedy.  (Who isn't strung out on heroin around this story...)

You're probably thinking, "Hey Metal Mikey!  You just TALKED about Seven Soldiers being rescued!  Why are you being so cute about the 'seven-ish' remark?".  Well... Crimson Avenger DID have a sidekick called Wing, and when the groups learned about the Seven Soldiers, they also found about a grave that was marked for the Unknown Soldier of Victory.  That grave belonged to Wing, who died in the battle against the Nebula Man.  And after the Iron Hand UTTERLY fails in his attack... I mean, even his new appendage gets chopped off by Diana Prince... the group is still at a loss as to how to defeat the threatening hand.  They DO brainstorm the idea that a missile device could destroy the global threat.  But who to deliver it?  It may be powerful enough to destroy even SUPERMAN!  But these are such noble souls that they argue the point... until they notice Red Tornado has disappeared.  If you can't guess who brought the missile up to space to destroy the celestial Hand, you're not terribly observant, I'm afraid.  And thus begins the pattern of Reddy being blown up, and rebuilt at a latter time, and having the whole self-doubt cycle being again.  (Which feels, ironically enough, like my struggles in finding quality employment...)

And all this... plus a reprint of the League's encounter with the Tornado Tyrant... all in one 100 page digest?!?  Man, you can't get a better value than that, especially with Dick Dillin on top of his artistic game with all these heroes, and Len Wein crafting a mini-event that was fun and pacy.  The best part about this story is you don't have to work TOO hard to find it!  If you're feeling bold, you can always track down the original issues.  If you want my similar experience, you can TRY finding the original digest volume.  BUT I know for a fact that it's either volume 4 or 5 that this was reprinted in a "Showcase Presents the Justice League of America" volume!  So take my advice, and if you appreciate a fun heroic crossover, give it a shot!