After a shocking defeat at the hands of Despero, Superman and the phony Justice Leaguers are placed in stasis aboard the baddie's ship. I thought Despero wanted to conquer that planet in which Superman was whisked away to. But plans change, I guess.
Meanwhile, aboard Hawkman's space cruise, Supergirl has managed to get some members of the League to finally go on a rescue mission from her cousin. Literally, flying blind, the team finds Superman and his captor thanks to a pair of omniscient beings fascinated by the concept of anger and revenge.
As Despero and the heroes are pitted against each other in a series of conflicts, I am reminded of two things. One is Marvel's Contest of Champions in which the Grandmaster and the Collector pit heroes and villains against one another in a fight for the universe. Secondly is a number of Star Trek episodes, especially the 'Gamesters of Triskelion', in which god-like beings test the mortal crew members of the Enterprise.
Since Star Trek came first, I wonder if the crew behind this book (Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Ernie Chan), had Star Trek as an inspiration and Marvel later taking notes from these 3-issues storyline.
As with quite a few DC books at this time, the ending is quite abrupt with nothing very satisfying. The last panel or two get philosophical as you'd expect an episode of classic Trek. But there's so many loose ends left dangling without any adequate conclusion.
One thing that I was quite happy with was the additional presence of Supergirl. In issue #133, her presence was in my opinion a dirty trick bait-and-switch. Here, Kara Zor-El is a major player in saving her beloved cuz, Kal-El from the villain.
Lots of great Supergirl action but things don't add up from the end of the previous issue to the conclusion here. That really doesn't make a lot of sense as Conway wrote all 3 issues!
It's very typical of mid-70s DC sadly...
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
When we last left the Justice League of America in the pages of Showcase Presents: Justice League of America, Volume 6, Superman had gone missing. His cousin, Supergirl, called on the League to investigate the disappearance. And then we had a big ole' 'To Be Continued...'
As fate, or DC's publishers, would have it, Volume 7 never materialized. Both DC and Marvel decided to stop publication of the very popular black and white reprints for a more expensive (and profitable?) line of color collections.
This now meant that I was on the hunt for individual issues of Justice League of America #133-261. Recently, I found the two issues that completed the storyline left hanging in Showcase Presents and I must say, I was blown away by issue #133!
Superman awakes on an alien planet with the rest of his Justice League teammates. Only, his pals are actually actors equipt with high tech gadgets to mimic the powers of the other Leaguers. Together, Superman is put through a ruse to defeat the 3-eyed menace of Despero who has claimed this alien world as his new base of operations.
As these phony superheroes are no match for Despero's might, they start dropping like flies. Instead of being inspired to save the day, the Man of Steel becomes despondent at the fall of his comrades. Can Superman overcome the one weakness that is even mightier than Kryptonite?- His love and devotion for his friends!!!
Issue #133 was a near flawless masterpiece from Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. The only thing I wanted was more Supergirl! We're promised a lot more of her on the cover. But except for a brief- VERY BRIEF- cameo, there's really no Maid of Might here. That's a big disappointment for a huge fan of Supergirl such as myself!
The fate of Superman and a beleaguered planet hang in the balance. It's a good thing I've got issue #134 for the epic conclusion to look forward to next!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
