The Greatest Heroes of the Silver Age Battle a Big Starfish- Brave and the Bold #28

Well, "The Greatest Heroes of the Silver Age" minus Superman and Batman.
For those of you who don't already know, The Brave and the Bold #28 is a landmark issue in the history of Silver Age comics. Having already resurrected/revamped Green Lantern and The Flash, the next logical step for DC was to try and resurrect/revamp the old Justice Society of America. Only this time, it was decided that "League" sounded much hipper than "Society".

Naturally, sales powerhouses Batman and Superman were part of the line-up, as well as their old-school gal-pal, Wonder Woman. Also joining the new team were the brand-new sales sensations Green Lantern and The Flash. And rounding out the dream team were back-up feature stalwarts, Aquaman and J'onn J'onnz- Manhunter from Mars.



The story gets off to a great start, with Aquaman (maybe for the last time) being the first hero to learn of a threat to the Earth:

"Peter the puffer-fish"? Seriously? Anyway, a giant, alien menace preparing to invade the Earth? This sounds like a job for SUPERMAN!

Except Superman is too busy. Hmm, well, Batman's always been pretty clever. I'm sure the World's Greatest Detective could use his superior intellect and cutting-edge technology to save us all from the certain domination of an evil, alien intelligence...

Or, I guess he could beg off to stop some street crime. Well, I suppose we'll have to rely on the new kids and the second string, then:

Why does everyone make their HQ in a cave in the 50's and 60's? You know, I don't actually know how much it costs to renovate a cave. Is suspect with having electricity, gas, and running water installed, not to mention all the custom fit walls and carpet, it's probably pretty pricey. Maybe the JLA should have priced one of those pre-fab, steel buildings or something. Bad guys seem to have no trouble finding abandoned warehouses. I'm just saying is all.

So, setting a precedent that will be repeated many times for years to come, the five available members of the JLA split up and try to take on Starro's minions around the globe, individually. Except Wonder Woman. Can't send a girl out there by herself, so she teams up with the Martian.

During his part of the mission, Flash picks up a new friend:

A really irritating friend. A really irritating friend who snaps his fingers all the time and speaks in a completely bogus youthful slang clearly written by out-of-touch adults.

Of course, "Snapper" turns out to be the key to the whole thing. For some reason, Snapper is immune to Starro's influence.

Getting the team back together, Green Lantern uses his power ring to do a spectrographic analysis on Snapper and discovers that the lime Snapper was adding to his parents' lawn or "grass mat" is actually harmful to Starro and his minions.

The JLA quickly obtain some lime from local farmers...

Whew! I thought for a minute there I was going to have to not care if they paid for that lime!

and Starro shrivels up and dies.

Or does he??

But wait, even though Batman and Superman were completely useless to the JLA, they make Snapper an honorary member. Unfortunately for us, Snapper regularly comes to the meetings.

Gardner Fox will use this same formula for some time to come. Team finds out about problem. Team fights problem as individuals. Team teams up and wins. But hey, if it works, don't mess with it.

Mike Sekowsky does an admirable job of giving a universal look to seven heroes typically drawn in seven, individual and character-specific styles.

For those of you out there who feel I spend an unfair amount of time on DC comics and not enough on Marvel, I would like to mention that this single issue of Brave and the Bold was what inspired Marvel publisher Martin Goodman to tell Stan Lee to create a line-up of super-heroes. That's right, without the JLA, there would be no Fantastic Four, no Avengers. Pretty cool, huh?

Who The #$@% is Captain Flash?

Wow! When I posted the poll last week, I never expected to have 100% of the response be "Who the #$@% is Captain Flash".

Honestly, I discovered his existence by pure chance. I was looking at the custom action figure galleries on the Mego Museum site when I saw a fantastic custom is Captain Flash by Troy "Aquatroy" Younger and noticed his figure of Captain Flash. " "Who the #$@% is Captain Flash", I thought. So I looked him up and discovered the following:

Captain Flash was a short-lived superhero published by the equally short-lived Sterling Comics in 1954. His comics series only lasted for 4 issues before Sterling closed its doors. Captain FLash is considered by some (Including Uncle Scrooge writer/artist and comcis historian Don Rosa) to be the first Superhero of the Silver Age. A title usually claimed by The Flash.

Captain Flash was professor Keith Spencer. Spencer accidentally exposes himself to a deadly dose of cobalt during a routine experiment. His doctor tells him to go home and make himself comfortable, as he is definitely going to die. Spencer retires to his home and tends his rose garden. Strangely enough, he notices that his heavily irradiated body has no ill effects on his plants. In fact, Spencer begins to feel stronger.

Spencer discovers that by clapping his hands together, he can trigger a "miniature atomic explosion" within his body that gives him super powers. He decides to become "America's Ace Defender" as Captain Flash and he teams up with his young friend Ricky Davis who becomes his eponymously named sidekick, Ricky.

So what's all the fuss? Well, for one thing, Captain Flash is one of very few new heroes of the 1950's. He predates DC's revamp of the flash by nearly two years. In the second place, he's the earliest of the Atomic super heroes, predating Solar, Captain Atom and Nukla by years. His origin story would feel right at home as a Silver-Age Marvel story, as would his quirky stable of supervillains.

Another element that makes Captain Flash seem so at home in the Silver Age is the look of the comic. Drawn by future JLA artist Mike Sekowsky, the look and feel of Captain Flash is well ahead of it's time. Personally, I prefer Sekowsky's art on Captain Flash to his legendary run on JLA. I always thought his JLA work, while clean and pretty, was a little stiff. Without 7+ heroes mucking up his panels, Sekowsky really shows you some dynamic action!

There's a site where you can download scans of public domain Golden Age comics for free, and they have all four issues of Captain Flash, so I was able to read some (Sorry, I can't find the url or the name right now ) and I have to say, I was VERY entertained.

So, back to the original question of the poll, is Captain flash the first Silver Age hero, or one of the last Golden Agers?? You decide.

Captain Flash, Doctor Solar, Captain Atom and Nukla... Radioactive and Fabulous!

There's a whole subgenre of superhero that sprung up after WWII, the atomic superhero. Doubtless, after the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, the subject of atomic power was on everyone's minds. A lot.

But unlike in Japan, where atomic energy produced nothing but giant monsters a'la Godzilla in film after film (inspired, doubtlessly, by the country's growing fears of possible genetic mutation due to having been exposed to so much radiation- sorry Japan.) here in the U.S. , we put a more positive spin on things. Atomic Power, which had made us the victors of WWII and the world's preeminent superpower MUST be a good thing. Instead of monsters, it gave us HEROES (to be fair, it gave US monsters, too. In the atomic age, monsters tended to shy away from the supernatural and more and more into embodiments of our own anxieties about the bomb).

Enter Captain Flash.

Published by the soon-to-be defunct Sterling Comics in 1954, Captain Flash was physicist Keith Spencer, who accidentally exposes himself to a deadly dose of cobalt. But instead of killing him, it gives him the ability to become an atomic superhero for two hours any time he claps his hands together. Heck, he's even riding a bomb on the cover of his first issue!

Captain Flash is also noteworthy because he is considered in some circles to be the first new superhero of the Silver Age. Captain Flash was drawn by Mike Sekowsky, who would go on to draw the Justice League of America.

Next up, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom.


Published by Gold Key comics in 1962, Doctor Solar (or just Solar, or sometimes The Man of the Atom) was Doctor Phillip Solar. Dr. Solar was exposed to a deadly dose of radiation trying to save another scientist during a meltdown caused by a saboteur. Rather than killing him, the radiation caused him to be able to convert his body into any type of energy. And, for some reason, makes him green when he's a superhero. Dr. Solar's costume is actually a radiation suit that keeps him from irradiating everyone around him.

And they just keep coming. In 1960, Charlton Comics brought us Captain Atom.
Captain Atom was Dr. Allen Adam, who was working on a experimental rocket when it somehow launched prematurely with him inside it. He was launched into the upper atmosphere where his rocket exploded, atomizing him. He somehow reformed his body on Earth, now with super powers. (If any of you were wondering, Doctor Manhattan from The Watchmen is based on Captain Atom.) Captain Atom wears a costume that doubles as a radiation suit to protect the people around him from the deadly levels of radiation he emits. Sound familiar?

Hey, when an idea is hot, keep trying it. In 1965 , Dell Comics gave us Nukla.

Nukla (Created by Captain Atom Writer Joe Gill ) was Matthew Gibbs a pilot and spy for the CIA. When his spy plane was blown up by the Red Chinese, the nuclear energy of the corresponding explosion somehow allowed Matt to keep his consciousness and re-form his atomized body. Nukla has fabulous nuclear powers, like the ability to become immaterial at will and fire "radiation free"atomic energy bolts. How does THAT work?

Of course, most of Marvel's Silver Age pantheon of heroes have some sort of link to radiation, but these four heroes have a common theme. All were exposed to deadly radiation and all were transformed into heroic figures. They are each hoping to be the Superman of the Atomic Age. Sadly, none of them made it. Perhaps because, as the cold war continued to escalate, we just didn't want a hero who reminded us of our own tenuous position.

“THIS IS IT...THE HOWLING NEW ONE FROM DC—WHICH ROARS WHERE OTHER JUNGLE BOOKS PURRRRR!” Guest blogger Michael Carroll takes on B'Wana Beast

Of course, howling roars could also suggest some sort of intestinal disorder, but more about that later.

B’wana Beast was a fabled character in my early fandom years. “Worst. Superhero. Ever.” Was the most uttered phrase whenever his name was mentioned, and this was before we started separating each word in those observations with punctuation.

By that time in my life, I'd co-founded a bad movies club in high school, and was much enamored of lesser known comic book heroes and obscure characters. The first time I recall seeing anything about B'wana Beast, he was featured as one of the potential new members for The Justice League of America, in a very funny Dateline: @!!?# strip by Fred Hembeck.

Learning that there was a bad movie equal in superhero comics...well, insert the head explosion footage from David Cronenberg's “Scanners” except that it's a happy splosion and not provoked by Darryl Revok.

I don’t remember the exact day I found Showcase issues 66 and 67, but it was at the Eastland Mall in Columbus Ohio on a weekend when they hosted a small comics convention. I do remember that I was out of high school, which goes to prove not all adult decisions are necessarily sound.

B'wana Beast was Mike Maxwell, who rejected working for his millionaire father in favor of joining his college roommate Rupert Kenboya as a game warden in Zambesi Africa.

Of course they don't get far. Their plane is struck by lightning and crashes at Mt. Kilamanjaro. I figure staying in America wouldn'tve gone well either. Having wealthy parents in a superhero comic book pretty much paints an origin target on your head.

Fortunately Rupert and Mike survive, finding themselves in the lair of a mutant red ape. Mike drinks some rainwater filtered through the minerals of the mountain. The ape returns to its den, and Mike, suddenly empowered by the mineral water, wrestles and defeats the ape. As a sign of submission, the ape presents Mike with an alien helmet that allows him to communicate with animals, and also enables him to combine two animals into one big powerful mutant animal. There are no intentional punchlines in this paragraph.

The two issues detailed the Beast's encounters with the 'sinister' Hamid Ali, aka “He Who Never Dies”. Halfway through the first is a notable smackdown between BwaBeast and HWND. It's memorable because ol' Hamid is piloting a giant gold dinosaur looking tank, and BB uses his helmet to merge a rhino and a buffalo, which I guess makes a 'ruffalo', and battles Tankosaurus Rex.

The second issue continued the running battle, and introduced a female photographer who intended to capture the elusive B'wana Beast on film. For all the great honking originality bleeding all over the pages of these comics, the best career they could manage for the female character is photojournalist. As if Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen had a kid! I might actually give them enough credit to have swiped the female photojournalist idea from the John Wayne film “Hatari!” rather than any other comics.

Heavily promoted(meaning it received half to full page blurbs in nearly all the DC titles published at the time), the ‘Beast arrived in early '67 courtesy of writer Bob Haney, who’d already given the comics world Metamorpho, and Mike Sekowsky, regular penciller of the Justice League of America.

According to Toonopedia.com there was supposed to be a third issue, but Sekowsky left over the racism in the concept. They never found a replacement artist, and the third issue never appeared.

Re-reading them this week, I repeatedly had to pick my jaw up off the floor over the frequent use of jungle adventure stereotypes that were dated by about 30 years when these comics were published...42 years ago.

Of my favorite moments from the books:

*The first big reveal of B'wana; his expression, stance, and a strategically placed fire give the appearance of him taking a flaming dump.

*The red ape, Djuba, racing to get B'Wana a drink of Mt. Kilamanjaro Dew. Djuba. Everyone's favorite simian Alfred.

*Beast's battle cry. “KI KI KI KIUEEEEEE!” Clearly a callback to Tarzan's yell, but when read aloud, sounds dangerously close to ca-ca oowee.

*The giraffe riding panel on page 16 of Showcase #67. Also a callback of sorts, this time to the opening of The Lone Ranger radio show. Starts off with the same dramatic rhythm as LR's announcer, becoming less daring and resourceful as it goes until it's finally punctuated by that caca yell.

*The B'wana Beast costume. An alien helmet, fur trimmed boots, and candy cane loincloth(?!?). Certain to strike terror in the hearts of poachers and superstitious natives, if by terror you mean provoking your enemies to both laugh AND point.

It would be almost 20 years before B'wana would appear again, this time in issue two of the notorious DC maxiseries, “DC Challenge”. He used his animal melding powers to combine an elephant and a rhino. You do the math.

Grant Morrison brought him back briefly during his run on Animal Man, and one other person in the DC Universe took the helmet and water and became another version of the character(recently killed off, along with Mike Maxwell a few years back), but BwaBeast's best work is in another medium, in memorable animated guest shots in Justice League Unlimited (the classic “This Little Piggy”) and in the opening teaser of “Enter the Outsiders” from Batman: The Brave and the Bold, where he merged a horse and a spider. Whatever you call that, don't wear spurs.

Considering his merging powers, I think B'wana has just as good a shot as a commercial spokeshero as Hawkman did with Baby Ruth a few years back. I mean, can you think of a better superpower to promote Reese Cups?

I'm such a fan of the character that I got Sergio Aragones to sketch ol' B'wana for me in 1985 while attending my first Chicago ComiCon. Curiously, I don't think I ever attempted to draw him until this week. Certainly have enough fluorescent Batman doodles lurking in my sketchbooks.

With the right approach, the B'wana Beast concept could support a light and silly adventure miniseries. Okay, I just slapped myself. That'll be enough of that.

Thanks to Toonopedia.com, the Wednesday night gathering of Sunday Comix at The Crimson Cup, wikipedia, Sergio, and Aaron for offering the blog space and the inspiration to write this. Oh! And extra special thanks to Fred Hembeck.