Here we have yet another chapter in the endlessly convoluted continuity of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Written out of the JLA, he had several false starts at comebacks, most of which, as here, offered continuity implants that mucked things up.
Once again, Superman loses his powers. A point mentioned often around this time was that the character had gotten TOO powerful and that one simply couldn't write for such an all-powerful character. Still, if one is constantly taking AWAY all his powers, it seems like it might just as well have been any other hero. It didn't need to be Superman.
I had enjoyed Howard Purcell's art at Marvel a few years earlier but I hadn't realized until this reprint that he'd been around that long. I had thought him to be a new artist.
Like most fans, I hated George Roussos' inking on Jack Kirby's FANTASTIC FOUR. I believe the reprint below was the first time I had seen his excellent Golden Age pencils. Blew me away.
Seems like Denny O'Neil had messed up some of J.J.'s history when he was writing him out of JLA several years earlier. I can't remember for sure though.
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct in your assessment of Superman at the time. I really didn't read WF at the time for him, it was for the hero teamed up with him. I probably don't have ten - fifteen issues of his own magazine or Action Comics during my collecting period. It seemed like they had problems writing compelling stories that didn't have him losing his powers.
Messed up or no, this story was my introduction to the JJ character and remains one of my favorites, in part because it branched off from a storyline that was going on in Superman's own mag at the time and that I was really digging.
ReplyDeleteWas this the first time that Sensation Comics' :The Gay Ghost" was renamed "The Grim Ghost"?
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