Sixty-four pages for $4? For this alone, you should buy the comic.

Frankly unless you have an affinity (like I do) for the Justice Society guys, then the price may indeed be the only reason to buy this Millenium Edition comic. Take away historical curiosity and you're left with a weak serial anthology.

But, yes, let's start with the famous guys. Hourman, Sandman and Manhunter are here, but the debuting Starman headlines this comic. He's certainly the most dramatically dressed hero. His solid red suit and green accessories make him standout like a Christmas ornament. But dig that gravity rod! Able to melt steel, hover its driver and blast giant gadgetry, the "scientific" rod is as near to magic as a hero can have. Heck, Perseus needed a shield, helmet and sandals to save the day. Starman only needs his trusty glowing vibrator to stop the evil Dr. Doog.

Truly a hero of the time, Ted Knight is a dashing hero who pretends to be a milksop. I'm of the post-Marvel generation. I like my heroes insecure and attaining nobility; I lean more toward Spider-Man than Batman. Artist Jack Burnley, like many artists at the time, is inconsistent in style but capable of strong lighting effects and dramatic poses.

In contrast Hourman's tale revolves more around the Bowery Boy-esque sidekick then Rex Tyler's exploits as the Miraclo-powered do-gooder. I hate kids like this. The Newsboy Legion can drop dead for all I care. But the story is saved by the use of a robotic purple dinosaur or two.

Sandman has asimple episode involving lots of airborne fighting. It's well drawn and the script is surprisingly sharp and short. This could easily fit next to Mike Allred's ATOMICS.

But the art on "Paul Kirk, Manhunter" steals the show. A pre-curser to Steve Ditko and Keith Giffen, Ed Moore's effort is confident, clean and smooth. Moore doesn't attempt any depictions that are beyond his abilities and the result is an actual style, not an accident of habits and shortcuts.

We go from one extreme to the other with "Mark Lansing of Mikishawm" by Howard Purcell. Purcell is obviously influenced by Alex Raymond's FLASH GORDON strips but he doesn't have the control of anatomy or storytelling. A sample panel offers the narration "Mark ... grabs his wrist!" The art shows Mark grabbing his wrist. It's a waste.

What stands out, however, is the homosexual overtones. I don't know if Purcell is gay. I don't care. But more than a few panels are inarguably teeming with overtones. Consider this narration: "And Mark Lansing stands chained to a cell window, deep in the underground layers of Costa's headquarters - awaiting Lishak's pleasure!" Below this text is a shot of our apparently woozy hero - short open and torso bared. Maybe it's Purcell's inability to convey pain, but Mark doesn't seem to mind the impending torture by the gladiator Lishak.

Completists may find Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel's "Federal Men" short of interest. Some may prefer the two fact/quiz pages. Others may be drawn to the Flash Gordon-like "Cotton Carver, Defender of Barlunda" story. When I say "like Flash Gordon," you should read that as "Flash Gordon with a different name."

But we can take shots as the then-standards of comics and the expectations of publishers and readers. We can debate the quality versus the current inflation of story length or creator skill. We can forgive the flaws. But you might have to stretch that forgiveness pretty thin to read "Steve Conrad, Adventurer." Set in Singapore and dealing with a square-jawed world-traveler, "Conrad" features one of those dated ethnic caricatures that proves useless to defend or condemn. It was acceptable at the time. Let's say no more.

ADVENTURE COMICS #61 was tapped for special reprinting because of Starman's debut. Fans of the James Robinson series want to pay homage. OK. But this hero is nothing like the Robinson Ted Knight, and that's not simply indicative of two eras of storytelling. This Knight remains the quintessential early '40s super hero, and this comic, printed a good eight months before Pearl Harbor, makes no reference to the Axis powers that populated comics by the thousands in later '40s comic books.

But if you're weighing the purchase of this comic versus another use of your $4, unless you love them JSAers, stroll further down the shelf and buy SCARY GODMOTHER.

Recommended with reservations

Gregory Dickens is a staff writer for PopImage.

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