Review- ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 6

ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 6 (DC, First Printing, 2000; Hardcover)

Collects All Star Comics #24-28 (cover dates Spring, 1945- April/May, 1946)

Writers: Gardner Fox with two-page text stories by Jay Marr, Jim Robinson, and Jesse Merlan

Artists: Joe Gallagher, Martin Naydel, Joe Kubert, H.G. Peter, Stan Aschmeier, Paul Reinman, and Jon Chester Kozlak

If you have never read an issue of All-Star Comics then I'll fill you in really quick. This title is the home of the Justice Society Of America, the first superhero team in the history of comic books. The issues are set up in what is now called a comic jam format. Each character is handled by a different artist, often the creator of the character. The team meets for a few pages, are presented with a case, and then split up to solve it, reconvening at the end to compare notes and solve the mystery or issue at hand.

Why is there even ONE way to skin a cat???

Our victory in World War II was hardly assured when issue 24 was released in early 1945. Carter Hall (Hawkman)'s neighbor's son has been drafted and sees no reason to fight Germany. Somehow the fairy spirit Conscience answers their call and splits the team of The Flash, The Green Lantern, Johnny Thunder, The Atom, Dr. Midnite, Wildcat, and Mr. Terrific (although not their secretary, Wonder Woman) up and sends them back through various points in time to show how savage and evil Germany is. Comic book propaganda at its best.

#26 is my favorite issue in not only this book, but in the whole series thus far. Metal creatures from Jupiter come to Earth. They are made of metal yet also feed on metal, taking on the properties of whatever kind of metal they consume. Each member figures out a way to beat these foes that they cannot physically defeat. It's a lot of fun to read and turned things around for me. The first two issues in this book were decidedly average for the era.

Issue 27 was a touching way of telling kids to not only be kind to people with various handicaps, but to adults returning from the war without limbs. The team used handicapped kids to help them solve their crimes. Issue 28 is more typical Golden Age fare, with someone from the year 11,946 looking back on the jars of paint and wondering why they shouldn't be used. It's told in a way that the adventure was a matter of record. It was a neat way of telling this tale.

Whoa! The ship that the unnamed Metal creatures from Jupiter arrived in looks an awful lot like the one that the Chitari used in The Avengers movie.

I am reading this line of Archives at a clip of about one per year, so I should be finished reading all 11 of them by 2022! Stay tuned.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is the part where I go into tactile sensations and materials used in physical media. Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or women who are pregnant should exit my blog at their earliest convenience, as their safety cannot be guaranteed beyond this point.

There are two one-page non-JSA stories in each issue, none of which are reprinted here.

Linework and Color restoration: The issue cover restoration is awful. The covers are cropped and there are endless coloring mistakes on each and every one. Worse still, DC never bothers remastering their material, even when better methods or source materials become available like Marvel does. This early DVD-level restoration will be passed off as 4k HD on fans in the inevitable Omnibus of this series.

The cover to #26 has the issue number removed from the cover.

The interior restoration is perfectly serviceable by today's standards and was excellent for the time this book was originally published. The linework looks good compared to scans of the original comics. The color palette is faithfully maintained although some blends are off. It could look so much better if DC allowed some of the current restoration pros take a crack at this stuff.

Paper stock: Super thick off-white coated stock.

Binding: Beautiful sewn binding.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Laminated dustjacket. Casewrap is faux leather with dye foil stamping. DC doesn't make books this classy anymore.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Matte coated cardstock cover.