All Star Comics: The JSA in Dreams of Madness!

[alicemacher]

Now that we've relived Identity Crisis (and survived to tell of it), let's take a trip back to the Golden Age, when members of the JLA's predecessor underwent their own, somewhat different crises of identity. This issue-length Gardner Fox story, from All Star Comics #30 (Aug-Sept 1946), is so delightfully cracky it took four artists to illustrate it. It previously appeared, way back when, on s_d 1.0, so no better time to post it again.



16 pages out of 52.

Our story begins as the JSA responds to a newspaper ad from one Forest Malone, a scientist who says he wants to record the superheroes' dreams for the benefit of humankind. Hawkman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Green Lantern, the Flash, the Atom, and wacky comic relief Johnny Thunder show up at the lab, and Malone has them take a nap. But all is not as it seems! (Frame sequence art by Joe Gallagher and Martin Naydel.)







In the first induced-dream sequence (art by Joe Kubert), Hawkman finds himself in a world torn by war between the Ice Creatures and the Fire People.







Try as he might to save his feathered friends, Hawkman is no match for Boreas, the personified icy wind, nor for the demonic Furnace Tenders, both sides tormenting him with extreme temperatures.







In the next segment (art by Stan Aschmeier), Dr. Mid-Nite dreams he's in a world where giant Germ People rule the puny "normal" humans. He manages to rescue a man the Germ People were planning to experiment on, but his troubles are just beginning.







Mid-Nite uses his scientific acumen to develop a knockout gas for use on the Germ People, but it has no effect on them so he tries to fight them with good old-fashioned fisticuffs. Then one of their number shows up, urging them to avoid direct contact with Mid-Nite.







In Green Lantern Alan Scott's dream (art by Aschmeier and Naydel), the superhero encounters weird astronomers who think the sparks from sparklers are new stars being born. Scott fails to convince them otherwise. When gangsters turn up to steal the sparklers, he goes after them.










The Flash, in a dream sequence illustrated by Naydel, encounters a world in which funny animals keep humans as pets, believing as they do that humans are unable to speak. (They can, but only Flash can understand them, and the animals can only understand Flash.)







Unfortunately, this world's physics work against the Flash. His feet grow big and heavy, then propel him up a snow-covered hill like reverse skis.







In the following Gallagher-illustrated segment, the Atom dreams he's in a world where people have clocks for heads and umbrellas for arms, to protect themselves from the rain. He tries to stop a couple of giant crooks from robbing a bank, but the rain shrinks him to microscopic size.










The final dream sequence (art by Aschmeier, as Stan Josephs) has the zany Johnny Thunder and his level-headed, djinn-like companion Thunderbolt discover the Land of the Already Equipped in which, for example, painters have brushes for hands and their models have fruit bowls for heads. Although this strikes Thunderbolt as crazy, Johnny feels right at home. However, they soon encounter some unhappy, unequipped "normal" people who are victims of gangsters.










Sure enough, Johnny wakes up back in the lab, perfectly sane. As for his teammates, well...







As the Brain Wave returns to gloat, with three thugs in tow, Johnny and Thunderbolt hide to spy on him as he gains their delusional colleagues' trust by promising to give them what they need (a medicine cabinet for "thermometer" Hawkman, etc.), then puts them in a cage.

Comments

[ozaline]

Heh that's a fun story; glad you finally found time to post it.

I think my favourite dream is the Flash's.

[brushwoodthicket]

"As a sponge, I belong in this sink."

[bradygirl_12]

"As a sponge, I belong in this sink."

Definitely the funniest line! :)

Nice Golden Age story. They are always a lot of fun! :)

[alicemacher]

The Atom looks so comfy resting in the sink, too. It's kind of adorable. ^_^

[leoboiko]

Ice creatures versus fire people, and the innocent get caught in between? A Song of Ice and Fire?