5 men, each a leader in their profession, drown in a cursed stream and return without a conscience.
Later, members of the JSA read in the paper that Al Prat has been injured and Johhny Thunder has placed an add claiming he has a cold and asking Superman to fill in for him at the JSA meeting. to everyone's surprise, Superman shows up, soon followed by Bruce Wayne who claims to have a stand-in for the Atom. he steps out and Batman soon shows up.
the substitutions accepted, the team discusses a strange wave of crimes, an anonymous letter, and a news article suggest the 5 drown men are behind the crimes. Wonder Woman hands out mini mental-radios and the team splits up to investigate. Green Lantern seeks out the 6th member of the expedition who didn't drown.
Batman goes to the city of Zenith, where detective Ed Findley has become a masked criminal known as the Grim Marauder. confronting him, Batman is triked and left to die but then saved by a man with a stutter who disappears before he can free himself. the second time around Batman makes quick work of the Marauder but after getting a message from Wonder Woman he runs off with Findley in tow.
Flash speeds to Snow Mountain where he faces reporter Mat Matwell, now a blackmailer calling himself Mr. X.
In New-Mexico Hawkman fights an archeologist now calling himself the Black Rider.
Dr. Mid-Nite fights a scientist using a gold magnet to rob banks.
Superman fights an architect blowing up buildings and calling himself the wrecker. as with batmen, each hero gets a message from Wonder Woman just as the capture their opponent and race off with them.
The team meets back up and Green Lantern prepares to tell his tale but the book takes a break at this point for a text story by Charles King titled "NO HELP WANTED", TON O' FUN, and Rockhead McWizzard.
Green Lantern tells how the sixth man's life was ruined by a prank the others played when they were all at school so he arranged for them to camp in the dried-up creek bead when it was due to run again so they would drown. the JSA found the waters of the stream contained a compound that deadened a man's conscience. they develop an antidote and destroy the stream.
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