Letters to All-Star Annual #1

I loved that story. I read the name ted Grant and loved it! However when I got to the part mentioning time travel to the past I actually decided not to read it. I figured I couldn't connect with characters who lived in the past. Oh, how glad I am I was wrong. Writing this I have a tingly feeling in me. Okay so I like dark comics but Ive just realised how much more I prefer these classic comics which truly evoke a sense of pride and joy in the team and in the country.....and Im not even American. I genuinally love JSA now and I want more....definatly more Hawkman (cant wait for next month) and more Wildcat. When will Scott appear in Hal's series? Soon I hope. Also Atomika is great. I assumed she must have been cannon DCU as she was written so well. Its good to know that she was purely from your imagination and still (like you said) and intergral and easily working part in the story. Also the costume does rock! And will Cyclone become Jesse Quick anytime soon.




What an issue!

Atomika's age is the only one that can be inferred from the story; she was taken by Degaton at age eleven, and trained at his Nazi Infinitor "academy" from 1938-1945, a total of seven years--- so she is 18.

The others are roughly the same age, captured at various, but young, ages and programmed for a minumum of six years (as is the case for the Ray).

I'd say none of them were older that 20, 21.

Why do you ask?

I tried very hard to ignore all the hype this issue had gotten so far until I was able to sit down and read it uninterrupted.

OK, I did peek at the cover several times because it was so damn beautiful. Boirze, you have a style all your own and have to ability to capture so much in your covers. This is one of my favorites now.

The opening of this tale was like a Saturday afternoon matinee. All it needed was some ominous music playing as Per Degaton went forward in time as the opening credits flashed across the screen!

The rest of the tale was epic in scoop but intimate in spirit. Again the standard has been set not only on this site but for great storytelling in general.

There were many highlights here but there were a few random ones that really stood out for me:

Every character came to life in this story and you captured them all perfectly. Ted and Allan really stood out to me as favs here.

The way you were able to tell this tale and have it all make sense really showed discipline and talent as a writer. It flowed beautifully.

The JSA's role in WWII as been explained many times over but never has the Spear been explained so well. It was so simple that is was believable. Again well thought out!

Those poor kids! Jo Pratt my be a new character but you made her so real I might write DC and ask where she's been lately.

“Kid, are you flirtin’ with me…?” Great freakin' line! Loved it!

"Perhaps the world needed to deal with Hitler, that the fires of the war forged not only a world capable of dealing with true evil, but men and women willing to fight to save it?"

This is such a deep ine and meaningful statement. This really made the story for me in a small but profound way.

How you brought in the 'other' JSA members to turn the battle in their favor was great!

Seeing the kids go up against the seasoned vets was done perfectly. Not only do you have a grasp of each of these characters internally your battled flowed so well because you know how each one acts outwardly as well.

Allan reaching out to his daughter showing that love and family is the ultimate strength in the JSA no matter how 'powerful' they are.

Of course the final scene between Jay an Joan was classy. You said so much while writing so little, showing that you are a master at your craft.

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this. You provided another example of the best DC can be when done by people that love the characters, not just gushing fanboys living out a fantasy.

Thank you sir.

You know, other than an issue that never got posted, Borize and I had not worked together (at least directly) prior to this. I was really looking forward to seeing what he could do with what I gave him, and, well--- the result is obviously breathtaking! His artistic input was a big part of my enjoyment of the issue, too!




For another great story of the Spear, check out Scott Kruger's awesome DC2 Elseworlds epic JSA: A Legends' End (with amazing covers by Adam Tupper)



Jo was the heart of the story for me, too. Glad you picked up on that, John! I was nervous about doing an OC here, but really she kinda just wrote herself.

But still no one has remebered the genesis of her name! Hint: there's a Atom, Wildcat and Guardian connection!



Wildcat was a revelation to me. I didn't realize I would have so much fun writing him. Incidentally, I have big plans for him in the forthcoming JSA title...



Thanks, John. I tried hard to make sure there is an internal consistency to my stories, and a logic that goes beyond standard (what I call) comic-book logic (though I occassional resort to that, too).

The Spear is critical to DC continuity, at least how I see it. And though powerful, I also didn't think it should necessarily be sinister in nature, but a force for Destiny (read: God's Plan, Fate, Kismet ot what ever you will). If it came into the JSA's hands, it must be for a reason, right? Perhaps one yet to be revealed...?



This was a hard one! I wanted the story to mainly take place in the present day (after all, the purpose behind this annual was to intro the team into present-day DC2 continuity), but I also wanted a more or less full roster--- impossible due to the recent attrition of Golden Age characters. That was what really got my juices flowing, and from whence the main plot then derived! Glad you liked my solution.




Yep! Exactly.



Thanks for saying that. That was a hard scene to leave alone--- there is an awful temptation to overwrite something like this, but in the end, you just have to trust your reader, and let the emotion speak for itself!



;D

Thanks very much for reading, John! And for the thoughtful feedback!

This process is why we do this stuff!

Thank you John

HA
That's cool. Thank you very much

Hey, I know it's a bit early to ask this, but we be seeing any of the comics Infintors on the team at some point, like the second Wildcat (Yolanda Montez), Star-Spangled Kid/Skyman, Northwind and/or Nuklon/Atom Smasher (Albert Rothstein)?

Oh, you know, in the comics now, Wildcat has a son named Tom Bronson. He turns into a werepanther, and I think he'd be a great addition to the Infinitors.

And what the heck is wrong with the name Infinity Inc? Just because it's an 80s name doesn't mean it's bad. If I ever write anything for DC2, I'm gonna call those guys Infinity Inc, and you will never be able to stop me! ;D

The Star-Spangled Kid is appearing in Susan Hillwig's forthcoming Seven Soldiers of Victory mini, Northwind (Norda Cantrell) is coming up very soon in my "Return of Hawkman" arc in All-Star (#11 & 12, I believe), and there are indeed plans for a Wildcat (II)--- and it may not be who you think it is--- to debut in that first year of JSA storylines I have planned. Alas, no immediate plans for Albert Rothstein (though I hope Atomika may fill that hole).



Well, believe it or not, I believe there actually is an Infinity Inc proposal from a member in-progress right now (though I don't think there is a Golden Age connection, and may be more of a riff on the way the concept is currently played in the DCU).

Great story. However, while I admired the sheer craft on display, and the orchestration involved, it didn't quite live up to all the hype for me. Having said that, my only real niggle was the non-event of Mr Terrific and Johnny Thunder's deaths, which I could have done without (I'd have thought that one or the other of them would have saved the JSA on occasion, but the fact that their disappearance from the timeline didn't seem to make one iota of difference to history made them seem like a complete waste of space).

Brilliant art by Borize.

I have to admit that, not reading previous JSA tales here, I didn't actually realise there were no Johnny Thunder or Mr. Terrific in the DC2 Golden Age prior to this tale, so it just seemed to me that you were writing them out on a whim, rather than being clever. Apologies about that.