Friday, July 21, 2017

The Brave Or The Bold: When Good Guys Go Bad!

Martinex1: It is hard to deny that the Justice League of America is one of the two premiere teams in all of comicdom.  Between the JLA and the Avengers, the most recognized and powerful characters of all time are represented, but even I must admit that the JLA may be even more iconic than the Marvel powerhouses.   Surely everybody growing up knew Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash (perhaps only Green Lantern was a bit of a mystery).  While on the other side, Iron Man, Thor, Ant Man, and the Wasp may have been less known in the common household (although that has changed dramatically due to the cinema these days).

So it should have come as no surprise that creators in the fields would eventually create analogues for the DC characters and give them less than honorable characteristics.   Today in The Brave Or The Bold, we are going to compare and contrast those villainous mirror characters - the Squadron Supreme and the Crime Syndicate of America.
In 1964, with issue #29 of Justice League of America, writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky introduced us to the bad guy versions of the JLA from Earth 3.   The team consisted of Ultraman, Superwoman, Power Ring, Owlman, and Johnny Quick.  The explanation was quite simple, in the DC Universe there are parallel worlds and in this particular dimension the "heroes" believe in following a polar opposite path.

Over at Marvel in 1969, Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema introduced their version of an evil JLA in the pages of the Avengers.   The team consisted of Hyperion, Nighthawk, Dr. Spectrum, and the Whizzer.  At this point there was no counterpoint for Wonder Woman, but she would appear many years later as Warrior Woman.


In story, the team of the Squadron Sinister was the creation of the Grandmaster in a battle with Kang;  each overlord had a team representing them in an evil game of chess over the power of life and death.  Making their initial appearances in Avengers #69 (the final page) through a major battle in issue #70 with the Avengers and into #71 with a brief recap, the Squadron Sinister truly hit the mark with the fans.

DC's Crime Syndicate was the result of a world gone mad.   Everything that occurred was in opposite and reverse from the world we know.   Colonial England seceded from the United States, Lincoln assassinated President John Wilkes Booth, and the main super characters embraced crime.

 In recent times, both of these negative groups have headlined in titles the Squadron Sinister and Forever Evil.

Over time the Squadron Sinister has run afoul of others in the Marvel Universe including the Defenders and the Thunderbolts.  Nighthawk changed his ways and became a member of the Defenders and paid for many of their activities as billionaire Kyle Richmond.

But the team concept became even more convoluted when a parallel example of the team, the Squadron Supreme, also started to appear (beginning in Avengers #85). In fact even the publisher confused the two, when Marvel mistakenly identified the "Supreme" as the "Sinister" on the cover of Avengers #141.  The Supreme team was more fleshed out with additional members like Golden Archer (Green Arrow), Lady Lark (Black Canary), Nuke (Firestorm), American Eagle (Hawkman), Power Princess (Wonder Woman), Tom Thumb (Atom) and others.   It hinted that the Sinister may also have variations as such.






The Crime Syndicate stuck to the core team for a while, but they also started adding some other characters to flesh out the team like Deathstorm (Firestorm), Atomica (Atom), Grid (Cyborg), Sea King (Aquaman), and even Scarab (Blue Beetle) and Frostbite (Ice).


So today, let's compare and contrast these villainous constructs.   And feel free to talk about other Marvel and DC analogues from Gladiator to Quasar.  For that matter, consider the creation of Quicksilver, Moon Knight, Rocket Red, and Sentry.

Are these valid characters worth watching, or does the construct limit the exploration?   Who is the better team?   And what did you think of them back in the day?  Was it exciting to see an evil Superman?  Or did it try your credibility knowing what they were designed to be?



12 comments:

Selenarch said...

I loved the Squadron Sinister in their first appearance, and seeing as I was not into DC at all at the time, I was completely oblivious to any similarity to the JLA. In retrospect, even, I don't think that original group was nearly so patent as to the reference as later iterations of the group would be, arguably to their detriment.

My first introduction to the Crime Syndicate was actually through the Earth-2 story which I bought hardcover when I was living in Paris, and it was more than the language that had me saying "Huh?" (Highly recommend the story by the way, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter have some of the best take downs I've seen those characters deliver)

I've since fallen in love with the CSA and have gone on to try to collect every appearance of them and I think I'm getting near to closing it out. Over time I think that each group has gone on to display the strengths and weaknesses associated with their first appearances. The CSA originally came from that crazy opposite world whereas the Squadron was just created by the Grandmaster as a pieces for his game. So there was a lot which could be done with the CSA, but they do it having to carry that world on their back together. So you rarely if ever see members of the CSA acting on their own individually. The members of the Squadron on the other hand have alternately either merged or split from Marvel continuity with varying degrees of success. Hyperion and Nighthawk have had some particularly good stories, Whizzer and Dr. Spectrum not so much.

But they're both great teams and this is a fantastic topic. Many thanks and happy Friday!

Garett said...

I always liked seeing the Crime Syndicate show up in JLA, and I thought the JLA Earth 2 comic you have pictured, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, was good. It's fun to see the evil versions of characters, like on Star Trek with evil bearded Spock, or Captain Kirk being split into good and evil parts.

And what about the time the Avengers met the Crime Syndicate?
https://braveandboldlost.blogspot.ca/2014/04/the-avengers-vs-crime-syndicate.html
; )

Anonymous said...

Dunno why, but the concept of an evil version of Earth's mightiest heroes (talking both the Avengers and the JLA) always had a fascination for me. I'm more familiar with the Squadron Supreme/Sinister than I was for the Crime Syndicate of America, Marvel fanboy I was and still am.

I always found it amusing that the Squadron was Roy Thomas's tribute/version of the JLA! It was only after a long, long time I realized that 'hmm, y'know Hyperion is very similar to Supes, Nighthawk is like Batman, Whizzer has the same powers as the Flash, Dr. Spectrum has a power prism that makes light constructs just like Green Lantern... hey, waitaminnit this is an evil Marvel version of the JLA!'


- Mike 'still waiting to meet my evil doppelganger' from Trinidad & Tobago.

J.A. Morris said...

Great topic! I've always been a fan of evil versions of superheroes. I was never a huge DC guy, but I loved the Crime Syndicate when I discovered them during 'Crisis On Earth Prime' back in 1982.

It took me years to figure out that the Squadron Sinister was Marvel's version of the JLA characters, which shows how clever Roy Thomas was when he wrote that Avengers story.

Mike Wilson said...

Kinda weird that the Squadron and the Syndicate are both JLA knock-offs. I've heard good things about the Earth-2 graphic novel, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Unknown said...

I must admit that despite having read innumerable Marvel and DC comics, I'm not familiar with either the Squadron Sinister or the Crime Syndicate of America … I'm intrigued to learn that the Justice League had evil counterparts--created by Marvel, no less. I'd better get on the ball and check out some of these stories!

Anonymous said...

Earth 2: Aquaman calls Power Ring a "gutless moron," fires his harpoon through his ring arm and lays him out with one punch. This ain't your Superfriends Aquaman.
I loved it!

M.P.

The Prowler said...

I started branching out in my comic reading late 80s, early 90s. One of the titles I started reading at the time was Justice League, the reboot with Giffen and DeMatteis. Early on, he had the new League battle the Silver Sorceress, Blue Jay and Wandjina. Or as we know them, the Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket and Thor. What I found out later, much later, these guys were part of a team, The Champions of Angor. The team was created back in 1971 to appear in DC's Justice League of America at roughly the same time The Squadron Supreme was appearing in Marvel's Avengers. I know! Right? What a country...

The team made many more appearances, sometimes as the Justifiers, Meta Militia, and the Assemblers. If you believe the internet, there's also a version called the Maximums, a DCU version of Marvel's Ultimates...again, what a country!!!

(Now that I've lost everything to you
You say you wanna start something new
And it's breakin' my heart you're leavin'
Baby, I'm grievin'
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there


Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl


You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do
And it's breakin' my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don't be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware


Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl


Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl).




Martinex1 said...

Thanks for the comments everybody.

I always liked the Squadron Sinister design. Sal Buscema created some interesting costumes and color sets. It distracted from the fact that they were JLA mimics. I particularly liked Dr. spectrum's costume.

We may have to review Mark Gruenwald's Squadron Supreme maxi series as that takes the heroes / villains in an entirely different direction and explores the JLA even further.

Redartz said...

Fascinating subject. I love the various 'analogues', of all characters from all companies. Those Avengers stories with the Squadron are among the best. Not so familiar with DC's "Assemblers". Sounds like something that deserves further investigation...

Rip Jagger said...

Love both the Squadron Supreme/Sinister and the Crime Syndicate. These analogs allow for broader and deeper storytelling as they aren't confined by the necessities of keeping the characters available for the next month's issue. We get to see weird takes on Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman and still enjoy the originals. Love 'em.

Rip Off

Dr. O said...

In the Avengers vs. JLA miniseries they put out in 2003-04, there is a great running gag where Hawkeye keeps saying that JLA are really familiar! And then he finally is like, "These guys are just Squadron Supreme knock-offs! I bet they're mind-controlled!" Funny stuff, and a great series (with art by George Perez)

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