The Secret Origin of the Justice League - 1981

"The Secret Origin of the Justice League of America" by ?, ?, and ?

After talking about the biggest (at least in terms of physical size) JLA adventure ever yesterday, I thought we'd follow that up with the smallest--the Justice League installment of the Leaf Candy comics, a series of origin stories that came packed in small bags of candy (check the label to see other posts related to this topic).

This issue opens up with a sadly Aqua-deprived splash page followed by an unusual opening gambit for a kids' comic:

Superman tells the little racists about the origin of the JLA, which he says involved a giant alien who tried to conquer Earth, an alien so powerful that it took the combined might of Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and himself to defeat it.

When they did, they realized they should form a team:

There's mention of some of the JLA's most fearsome foes, like Despero, Brainstorm, Starro, the Shaggy Man, and Dr. Destiny. There is no mention as to why Martian Manhunter doesn't get a chair, or why the alien foe on the inside does not match the (presumably) robot on the cover.

Also shown is how The Joker discovered the location of the Secret Sanctuary, forcing the JLA to build its satellite:

Before we get to the conclusion of this little tale, I feel like I have to mention a couple things: first, how is Flash surviving in airless space like that? Second, regarding the big JLA group shot: once again someone has left out Hawkgirl. Man, and I thought DC had it out for Aquaman! Third, I love how happy Superman and Batman are to see Aquaman and Flash arrive. Must have been a JLA birthday party or something.

Okay, anyway, back to Superman and the kids:

...the end!


I reviewed this book for my JLA Satellite blog, and at the time I couldn't figure out why the origin was changed for this story. I must have been pretty dense then, because now it seems rather obvious: the writer of this book only had a few pages to get in a lot of info, and trying to fit in seven Apellax aliens makes no sense when it can be just one big bad guy. Duh.

The one thing I didn't know then and still don't know now is who wrote and drew this book. I thought maybe it was our pal Paul Kupperberg, since he wrote a few of these Leaf Candy books (including the Aquaman one). But Paul said it wasn't him, maybe it was Bob Rozakis?

I then asked Bob, and he said no, maybe it was Len Wein? I then turned to Len, and he said no as well. Having no further leads, I gave up my search, and have to admit the author still remains unknown as of this writing. Same thing with the art: parts of it look like the work of Rich Buckler, inked by someone else, but I can't be sure. They, too, remain unknown.

And as much as I've been kinda goofing on this book, I really do like the whole "inclusive" angle the author tried to work in here. That's a lot to ask for in such a limited, absurdly commercial enterprise such as this. Who would have expected an social commentary in a comic book included with a bag of candy?

I guess my only real complaint is with the splash page: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and...Hawkman. Hawkman, really? Don't make me start a "My Grudge Against Hawkman" page, DC!

Leaf Candy Collector's Album - 1981

After a couple of different posts covering the Aquaman mini-comic distributed by the Leaf Candy company, sold inside a bag with some of said candy, I finally got my hands on the complete "Collector's Album", along with the Aquaman and JLA mini-comics. (Did one of you generous F.O.A.M.ers send this to me? I have absolutely no recollection of how I got this!)

I still can't quite place the art style on the wraparound--it looks a little Rich Buckler, a little bit Dick Giordano to me--and its interesting that it features characters that don't really appear anywhere in the mini-comics, like Supergirl, Red Tornado, and Firestorm.

And once again, Martian Manhunter gets screwed out of his rightful spot on some merchandising--even though he appears in the JLA comic, he is the only character who doesn't get his own "Secret Origin" story, this time replaced by Hawkman.

It says "Series 1" on the top right of the cover, so clearly Leaf Candy was thinking they might do more of these. Imagine, as a kid you could've gotten some candy along with Plastic Man, Blackhawk, or Dingbats of Danger Street mini comics!

Leaf Candy Comic Album - 1981

Ask and ye shall receive!

Just last week, I did a post on the Leaf Candy Mini-Comics, and wondered about the "Collector Album" that you could mail-in for.

Well, just a few days ago, I got this scan from new F.O.A.M. member David, who said: "As you can see, Aquaman's there standing behind Green Lantern but is probably the most poorly represented super hero on the front and back cover. I sent away for this back in the day. I just remember it taking forever!"

Yes, David's right--as you can see, Aquaman is by far the smallest hero on this thing(*sigh*--what else is new?), and a lot of other, er, less impressive heroes like Red Tornado and The Elongated Man get to be in exciting action poses. Aquaman looks like he's standing in line at the DMV.

On the plus side, he is on the front of thing, and one look can tell you the bigger names in the DCU were selected for the front, so I guess we can be happy with that.

Side note #1--I didn't know that Martian Manhunter was part of this series(Paul, do you remember writing that one?). At 1980, this would be one of the very first times Manhunter got involved in merchandising, if not the very first!

Side note #2--on the upper right, it says "Series 1"--??? Did DC/Leaf hope to do more of these? Could we have been treated to origin stories of Ultraa the Multi-Alien, Lady Cop, and maybe The Phantom Stranger packaged with little pieces of candy??

Anyway, it's great to get a chance to see this. Thanks David!

Leaf Candy Comic - 1980

Early readers of the Shrine may remember that I already covered this mini-comic not too long after we opened our (metaphorical) doors, but I'm posting about it again for several good reasons:

1)I didn't have the book outside it's little baggy of candy goodness that it came sold in, so I had never actually read it
2)I think my writing skills have sharpened since I first posted about it, and I'm always up for the chance to rewrite something

...but most importantly,

3)This copy was provided to me by our pal and AquaScribe Paul Kupperberg, who wrote the book in question! Paul didn't even remember what these Secret Origin mini-comics were for, and I was able to clue him in as to where these books eventually surfaced.

Anyway, this is, as advertised, The Secret Origin of Aquaman, with art by Don Heck and Vince Colletta.

The basic elements of Aquaman's origin--the lonely lighthouse keeper, the mysterious girl lost at sea, a gifted child born of two worlds--are so strong that this origin always works well, even in this very abbreviated form. Paul even manages to work in Aquaman talking to his "finny friends" (sorry, Paul--I had to mention that!). It's a dang shame that DC saw fit to completely re-work his origin, losing a lot of the Classic Myth elements in the process. Ah well, whatever--this will always be Aquaman's origin to me.

I was never a big fan of Don Heck's work when I was a kid, but over time I've grown to appreciate it more, for its grace and clear storytelling. Paul, a big fan of Don's, had some fun experiences working with him:

"Don was a very good artist. If you can locate any of his 1950s work--lots in the Atlas western, war and, I assume, other genre titles--you won't believe how good it was. Of course, I *loved* his 1960s Iron Man and Avengers work: after Daredevil (maybe nowhere near the top of the iconic importance scale, but by far the best creatively realized early Marvel Age origin/#1) my favorite Marvel origin story is Iron Man's by Heck. Don was an intuitive, natural storyteller and he sounded exactly the way I always thought Ben Grimm would've before he became the thing...and, like Grimm, had the bluster and dat Noo Yawk ac'ent, hey, whaddaYOUSElookingnat?!?, but was a sweetheart of a guy.

He once cursed me out--in a good-natured, over the top way--using every 4-letters-and-abovewords after picking up a Weird War story script that I'd written: the half-page splash called for Alexander the Great at the head of his army as it crosses the Alps, elephants and all... 'You *** writers sittin' on yer fat **** asses and it takes ya 10 seconds t'type 'Alexander the Great at the head of his ***** army as it crosses the ***** Alps, ***** elephants and all,' and then us *** artists gotta figure out how to ***** draw it, ya ****!'

And all I could do was stand there, laughing hysterically and when I told him how cool it'd been to have been cursed out by one of my favorite artists, he blushed and started stammering. (In the end, he solved the Alexander splash panel problem the same way he always did, simply, eloquently, and just right to get the job done.)"

So, with a Dick Giordano cover, Paul Kupperberg script, and Don Heck pencils, Aquaman was pretty well served in this comic. Thanks again, Paul!

One last thing--you can see there's an ad for a Super Heroes Collector Album on the back cover. Anybody ever had one of those? It's a good bet Aquaman's on there somewhere! I'd be willing to mail my $1.50 to Northbrook, Illinois tomorrow, but something tells me the offer isn't valid anymore.

Candy Comic - 1981

We finish off our Aquaman Dinner Party with a little candy for dessert (I know, it makes no sense, just go with me on this). This was a mini-comic, packaged with some enamel-destroying candy by the Leaf company (whoever that is). I'm not exactly sure where and in what capacity these were sold, but they're a nice little treat that you don't see a lot of anymore. As usual, this was one of a series, along with the usual DC suspects.

As the cover suggests, this 14-page comic re-tells the origin of Aquaman(before they went and screwed it all up), with art by Don Heck and cover by the always-rock-solid Dick Giordano.