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Last Updated on
Monday, July 01, 2002
The Silver Age
Synopsis
| Review
| Titles |
 |
| "Not a dream! Not a hoax! Not an imaginary
tale!" |
| ISSUES: |
| 12 one-shot specials, 2000. |
| WRITER(S): |
Various (see below).
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| ARTIST(S): |
Various (see below).
|
| MAJOR HEROES: |
| The JLA: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman,
Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, and the
Atom. |
| MAJOR VILLAINS: |
Agamemno, Lex Luthor, the Penguin, Catwoman,
Felix Faust, Mr. Alchemy, Black Manta, Chronos, Sinestro, Dr.
Light.
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| SUPPORTING CAST: |
The Doom Patrol, the Teen Titans, Challengers of
the Unknown, Dial "H" for Hero, the Seven Soldiers of
Victory, Robby Reed, the Elongated Man.
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| THE PLOT: |
Agamemno, a galactic despot, decides he needs
three artifacts to achieve ultimate power. To get them, he
recruits nine Earth super-villains, who switch bodies with nine
superheroes in order to carry out their tasks.
|
| TRIVIA: |
Many of the covers for this series were drawn by
Silver Age legends. Carmine Infantino was the first artist to
draw the Silver Age Flash; Gil Kane had a lengthy run on Green
Lantern; Nick Cardy is remembered for his 1960s Aquaman
artwork.
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| RECOMMENDED READING: |
| Heck, anything from DC's Silver Age (1956-1970)
will do, if only to give you an idea of the kind of stories
these titles tried to emulate. |
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HIS NAME IS AGAMEMNO, and he is an alien
warlord bent on universal domination. Learning of the legendary Justice
League of America, he decides that he must defeat them is he is to claim
his "rightful title as ruler of the universe."
Using his power to transfer his "immortal life essence"
into any material on hand, he visits Kanjar Ro, an alien despot once
defeated by the JLA. Learning what he needs to know about the heroes,
Agamemno travels to Earth to recruit them in his quest. Actually, all he
wants is their superpowers, so he makes a deal with nine super-villains.
In exchange for their services, he will "switch" the bodies of
the heroes and villains, giving the villains all the power they need to
help him gather the three mystical objects he needs to achieve unlimited
power.
Naturally, even while trapped in their archenemies' bodies and
distrusted by their allies, the JLA refuse to give up, and so they try
to foil his plans. Meanwhile, the villains have a plan of their own,
though it's not necessarily one that involves giving their new bodies
back...
"THE SILVER AGE" refers to a simpler,
gentler time in superhero history, an era (late 1950s to 1960s) when
plots were simpler, heroes were nobler, and villains came in two
varieties: easily hoodwinked alien despots or colorfully costumed bank
robbers.
Those who remember that era will tell you it was the greatest time in
comic-book history because it was simply more fun. As "Unca
Cheeks," a Silver Age aficionado, puts it, the Silver Age was
special because "[w]riters still weren't wholly incapable of
appreciating (and sharing, with the fortunate reader) the marvelous,
inescapable silliness inherent in the whole
Fighting-Evil-Whilst-Gallivanting-About-In-One's-Underthings schtick;
the good, golden coin of four-color f-u-n was still being esteemed more
highly than that of its counterfeit, 'continuity'; and people still read
the bloody damned things, as a result."
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"DC Comics' twelve-issue SILVER AGE limited series
was intended, plainly, to serve as heartfelt paean to those
heady, halcyon days before the greater portion of the comics
industry had noisily and messily soiled itself,
storytelling-wise."
- Cheeks the Toy Wonder
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Given the state of the North American comic business in the 1990s,
it's easy to see how older readers like "Cheeks" (aka Kent
Orlando) would be nostalgic for those wonder years. Byzantine
storylines, endless character revisions, heroes that were often more
psychopathic than the villains, women drawn in proportions that would
make Playboy's Hugh Hefner blush... these factors and more contributed
to a comic-book culture that turned off many older fans (present company
included) and active discouraged newer ones from signing on. As a
result, the industry (again, as far as North America goes -- Asia and
Europe are separate stories) was in its biggest crisis since the
censorship scares of the 1950s.
To put it bluntly, "The Silver Age" succeeds as a story
because it reminds old and new readers alike of what has been lost
thanks to contemporary dictates of action-over-plot and the
all-consuming "continuity" (wherein every appearance of any
single character has to fit in with a larger, fan-imposed narrative). In
this series, the heroes (including the resurrected Barry
"Flash" Allen and Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan) are
confronted with a super-villain, split up to attack his forces, and
rejoin for the climax. It's a classic three-act play that works
simply because it doesn't insult the reader's intelligence by pandering
to the lowest common denominator.
While the writing and artwork of this series are meant to reflect the
prevailing styles of the Silver Age, there are some exceptions that,
quite frankly, distract from the work. Lex Luthor remains the modern-age
businessman and doesn't revert to his mad-scientist days, and scenes in
which the villains stamp out an entire microscopic civilization or
slaughter hundreds of Green Lantern Corps members would never
have seen the light of day in the early '60s.
Despite the occasional lapses into modernity, though, this was one
damn fine piece of work. For one thing, it allowed older fans to rejoice
in the return of the original Doom Patrol, the first Teen Titans team,
Robby Reed of "Dial H for Hero" fame, and other long-dormant
heroes and villains.
More importantly, though, the series was a history lesson for newer
fans in how to do things right. Heroes get along with each other.
New characters are introduced in such a way that you don't need to read
a hundred back issues to keep up with who's who. The artwork is stylish
yet clean, devoid of any of the excesses that many modern
"artists" claim as their style. And, like Cheeks said, the
emphasis is on F-U-N, not on feeding the "fanboy's" need to
feel superior with obscure footnotes and clever "in" jokes.
Does this mini-series represent a turning back to those simpler
times? Probably not -- there is a sizable and vocal group of comic fans
that want nothing to do with "silly" stories about superheroes
and villains trading punches, as if there's something inherently
"serious" about comics to begin with. Their loss of the point
is our loss, period. Which is a shame, but at least we have stories like
"The Silver Age" to remind us that not all is lost. Not yet.
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(Arranged in chronological order)
- Silver Age Secret Files #1
- Writers: D. Curtis Johnson, Mark Waid, Jason Hernandez
Rosenblatt
Artists: Mike Collins, Jim Mooney
A prequel of sorts, it sets up the story by introducing
Agamemno, an all-powerful, galactic-spanning villain who
learns the Justice League of America might be a threat to
his conquering ways. Two backup pieces introduce Robby Reed
of "Dial H for Hero" fame and the Silver Age Hawk
and Dove to a modern audience.
- Silver Age #1
- Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Terry Dodson, cover by Brian Bolland
Agamemno appears in front of Lex Luthor with a proposition:
help him gather three artifacts, and he will give Earth's
villains the power they want. One by one, he uses his powers
to "switch" the bodies of nine heroes and nine
villains so that the villains will have the power needed to
get the artifacts. (For the record, the switcheroos are:
Superman/Lex Luthor; Batman/Penguin; Aquaman/Black Manta;
J'onn J'onzz/Dr. Light; Atom/Chronos; Flash/Mr. Element;
Black Canary/Catwoman; Green Arrow/Felix Faust; and Green
Lantern/ Sinestro.)
- Justice League of America #1
- Writer: Mike Millar
Artists: Scot Kolins, cover by Ty Templeton
While the villains-in-heroic-clothing carry out their
master's plans, the heroes-trapped-in-villainous-shells
decide the only way to save the Earth from its new
"heroes" is to destroy humanity's trust in the
JLA. While they pursue this plan, the villains set about to
retrieve two of the three objects desired by Agamemno.
- Challengers of the Unknown #1
- Writer: Karl Kesel
Artists: Drew Johnson, cover by Joe Kubert
When the Atom (trapped in Chronos' body) returns to his
university to find a way to reverse the body-snatching, he
attracts the interest of the Challengers, who have warned to
be on the lookout for him. They battle until the Challengers
realize that "Chronos" is actually the Atom. At
one point, the Challengers accidentally get shrunk, which is
a shame considering the Atom is the only one who can survive
the process...
- Teen Titans #1
- Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artists: Pat Oliffe, cover by Nick Cardy
The Teen Titans -- Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and
Aqualad -- are summoned to a seaside town that's been
overtaken by a serious law-and-order freak who uses
unnatural means to keep the troublemaking teenagers quiet.
Batman and the Flash try and fail to convince the Titans
they're not really the Penguin and Mr. Alchemy.
- Dial "H" For Hero #1
- Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Barry Kitson, cover by Jim Mooney
While touring a military installation, high school student
Robby Reed is caught in the middle of a battle between the
U.S. Army and the "Martian Manhunter," who is in
fact the Martian Manhunter trapped in Dr. Light's body (he's
using Light's technology to appear like his real self).
Using the power of his dial, Robby turns into several heroes
in an effort to save the base.
- The Flash #1
- Writer: Brian Augustyn
Artists: Norm Breyfogle and Ty Templeton, cover by Carmine
Infantino
The first story stands apart from the overall mini-series,
and tells a Flash story from the Silver Age era. Right in
the middle of Central City's Flash Appreciation Day, the
super-slow baddie known as the Turtle commits a series of
crimes, which the Flash is unable to stop because of his
fans. In the second story, Kid Flash and the Elongated Man
pair up to solve a series of crimes involving valuables
disappearing in a "flash." The crimes were
committed by the Flash, who is trying to frame himself so
that Mr. Alchemy-in-Flash's-body can't take advantage of the
Flash's popularity.
- Doom Patrol #1
- Writer: Tom Peyer
Artists: Bachan
The original Doom Patrol -- the Chief, Cliff Steel, Rita
Farr, and Larry Trainor -- are summoned by "Lex
Luthor," who is actually Superman in Luthor's body. He
manipulates them into guarding a weapons stash in an
orbiting fortress that contains weapons capable of bringing
down the JLA.
- The Brave and the Bold #1
- Writer: Bob Haney
Artists: Kevin Maguire
The Batman (who is actually the Penguin) orders the Metal
Men -- a team of sentient robots -- to apprehend Felix Faust
and Catwoman (Green Arrow and Black Canary on one of their
not-so-good days). An errant magic spell turns the robots
into human beings, which means the smitten Platinum may
finally have a chance with Dr. Magnus.
Or does it...?
- Green Lantern #1
- Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artists: Brent E. Anderson, cover by Gil Kane
Green Lantern makes things right again, putting bodies and
minds back where they belong. "Well, now. That's
better," he says with all the confidence of an icon.
Ahem. Anyway, it's looks as if Agamemno's plans are all for
naught, and things are looking up until Luthor seizes the
moment to grab the ultimate power for himself...
- Showcase #1
- Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Dick Giordano
DC revives its "Seven Soldiers of Victory" hero
team name by bringing together seven of its lesser-known
characters: Adam Strange; Batgirl; Blackhawk; Deadman; Mento;
Metamorpho; and a revamped Shining Knight. They're brought
to the planet Rann courtesy of Adam Strange's Zeta-Beam to
do battle with the bad guys.
- Silver Age 80-Page Giant #1
- Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Eduardo Barreto
We'll let the cover speak for itself: "Eight new
super-heroes! Who are they? What are they? And how will they
every succeed -- where the JLA failed? 'S.O.S. to Nowhere'
-- a 51-page extravaganza starring 37 super-stars and 9 vile
villains!" You know, they just don't write cover blurbs
like this anymore...
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