(Hi folks. Sorry for the delay there. Lots of things got in the way of this next chapter. The pc destroyed of course. And the writer's block. Oh, the writer's block. But, here we are. Chapter two of JLA The Silver Age, rated T+. Take it away, Mr. Quick. :) )
Chapter Two: Forging the silver.
It was the 1st time I met Adam Blake. It sure as hell wouldn't be the last time. When we got back, the fire-fighters as well as those in costume left still alive or able to walk had begun calming the folks in the city down. They had a tough time ahead. Capital Hill looked like a volcano. Aside from the damage done to the capitol building, we're talking an entire lawn littered with either dead or beaten up mystery men, several destroyed houses, injured civilians & the wreaks of several cars, buses and vans. It was a sight that haunts me to this day Neighbours crying in pain for one another, kids looking and crying out for their parents and residence now homeless, looking at what they had lost. But the worse sight of all, was that lawn. Stained with the blood of countless heroes, who had put on their costumes, to bring hope to their world and had now suffered a tragic end to their careers. For a short time, a long time...or at worse, forever. The police tried to keep civilians away, but every so often you would hear a child asking with confusion or tears in their eyes, '' Mommy, why isn't The Red Bee breathing?'' or ''Plastic Man, W-whats the matter? Y-you won...why aren’t you smiling?'' or ''Hawkman! Get Up, PLEASE!'' I couldn't stand looking any longer. We left the scene, and began to try and help anyone we could while also avoiding the press. The rest of that day was spent trying to get everything stabilised. Getting people to hospital, handing out supplies, talking to officers and comforting those who had sustained losses of friends and family. Costumed AND civilian. It was a dirty job, but Me, Libby and Adam made the most of it.
Well, it was damn near close to midnight by the time we'd finished. There was still quite allot that needed taking care of but most of it had been done and dusted long ago. There were still the dead to bury, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. In the meantime, the three of us looked at the carnage, and the ruins of capital hill.
''Well.'' I said at last. ''Nothing much more we can do here any more. Great work everybody. Great work.''
Yeah, It had been a rough day for all of us, we were tired, worn out, sweaty, cold, and hungry. But deep down we felt good about ourselves. And whatever happened next, we knew we would be ready for it. Adam spoke up 1st.
''One thing's for sure. The people need to know what happened here. We can't just let them get left in the dark.''
We all agreed with him, and in truth each one of us was ready to inform the people of Hitler and the Humanite and all that....when out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shape of a man in a black suit and dark glasses coming towards us. If I told you any more about what happened next, then this would probably be the last thing I’d ever write. Needless to say, we were legally obligated to keep our mouth's shut from then on about the true events.
Shortly afterwards, say half a week, we buried the dead. The brave few who had perished at the hands of Dynaman that day in Washington were put to rest in a special cemetery built by the Justice Society. Loved ones, friends and fans of those who had lost their lives came to pay respects. The spectre even made and appearance...only, he didn't say much. He just floated over to each grave as they were filled in. Maybe he was letting us know they were in a better place. I don't wanna sound disrespectful, but I think it was the only time I saw Joe Hercules cry. He had been the one carrying dollman and doll girl to congress. And now, he was gone. Just like that. To this day, most superheroes who have passed on in battle or otherwise have been buried here. And to this this day the cemetery is know as ''Valhalla''. After a few speeches from our numbers as well as some fans. We left the service and got on with our lives as best we could.
Not too long afterwards, Libby received news that John Law had left her his house in the mountains of Alaska where she had stayed with him after our breakup. I wasn't surprised in the least when she turned it down and gave it to a young couple and their kids. I guess the place just brought back too many bad memories for her. With no where else to go, Libby moved in with me in my little single floor house in California. At least that's what she said back then. Fact is..the battle had brought us closer together. We were nowhere near tying the knot again, but living together sounded just as good. We were sure now that, things would calm down and we wouldn't have to put up with another ''Pesky Adventure'' for the rest of our lives.
Heh, boy were we wrong.
Of course, the big problem of dealing with a celebrity scandal of the magnitude of Dynaman's is getting rid of all the merch. In the wake of Dunbar's transformation, TONS of Dynaman merchandise had been produced by companies. Dynaman comics, toys, Halloween costumes, balloons, helmets and advertisements of all sorts sprung up all over the nation. Of course now, no one wanted to buy them, and now all the trash was going where it belonged. Landfill sites and fires were now the only places filled with anything with Dynaman's face on it. And now, the people of America wanted it gone. Rightfully so. The manufacturers didn't mind though, they's found a new sucker to latch onto and make a buck off of. This we found out some time in early May. I was resting near the pool when Libby ran home and came in. Not through the front door but through the gate and into the pool area. I smiled at her.
''What's the matter, Libby?'' I teased. ''Left a fire in the oven.'' Yeah, Yeah. It was a dumb joke and I knew it. Instantly she shot me her infamous, lesser known super power. ''Get into the house and sit down before I tickle you to death'' vision. Works every-time. I sat down at the table as she fumbled in her bag for something. ''OK.'' I said. ''What's the matter?'' Libby said nothing, in reply she reached into the bag and through the latest copy of LIFE magazine in front of me. I picked it up, and almost chocked on my cigarette. Because there, on the front cover, with the same look of defiance on his face we had seen at the battle in Washington, in photo form, was Adam! My mouth dropped open. There we was in black & white and above his photo on the right hand top corner of the front page were the words. ''Heroes of tomorrow: A look at and interview with America's new champion, Captain Comet. Pg. 8 to 10.''
There was a long silence. Neither one of us could speak we were so in shock. After 5 minutes of looking at each other then the cover I said something even more stupid.
''Well, At least he's picked a name.''
Libby slapped her face and shook her head. I groaned in frustration, not knowing what it was she wanted. ''Now what?'' I asked crossly.. ''Read it.'' was the reply. I was afraid I’d get a slap to the lips if I said no, so I did as I was told. What I read, put us all a bit on edge.
''As we all know, Washington D.C. Has seen it's fair share of battles and tragedy’s. But not since the war of 1812 had the capitol been dealt such a blow, as it did in January this year. The betrayal of what we fought were our greatest champions of truth and justice. Daniel Dunbar AKA Dynaman. Formerly Dan the Dyna-mite, former sidekick to late Mystery man TNT and Late senator Tex Thompson. Formerly the Mystery Man known as Mr. America and Americommando. No one is sure why Dynaman or Senator Thompson who was due for the running of the oval office turned on America, but it has left the nation's populace broken hearted as they have seen the houses surrounding capital hill destroyed and the residents of those houses injured or killed. Not to mention the brave costumed men and woman who gave their lives defending their country from the rouge Dunbar. But in the face of Tragedy, a new hero has risen for America, a young hero, a brave man with a brave name. Adam Blake AKA Captain Comet! Comet who was in the crowds at the time but refused entry by the guards at the event, was eventually seen fighting Dynaman during a brief rain storm and during the end when Dynaman threatened to crush comet with a school bus. But if our magazine cover says anything, Captain Comet is no coward. As he demanded that Dynaman finish him off. Most men would have run, but not young Mr. Blake. Of course Adam’s latest costume is a far cry from his brief swamper's and black belt phase but is no less patriotic.''
Next to the text there was a photo of comet's new costume. Allot better, than his 1st attempt, but still retaining the red, white & blue motif. Now though he looked more like something out of a sci- fi comic. A grand majority of his new suit was red, with trimmings here and there. He had VERY thin shoulder pads, like blue crescent moon's that stretched down to his armpits. The neckline of his shirt was thick and white and he had traded in his black leather belt for a pair of white suspenders which were clipped to a big white belt with a gold buckle. He also wore blue & white arm bands and had replaced his swampers with a pair of blue lace ups.
'' But this wasn't the last of the captain. Recently, Adam Blake has been stopping crimes and misdemeanour’s across the nation from Arson to Weapons Violations. Little is known of his powers, but recently Captain Comet himself gave us some info. Here is a short list of his power set.
Superhuman Strength, Telekinetic Flight (meaning he can lift himself upwards using his own mind to make himself fly.) Superhuman Stamina, Telekinesis in general, (As seen when he lifted the undead monster Solomon Grundy using just his mind), A photographic memory and something Blake calls his ''Vibro-Sense'' This strange and unique power so the captain says, allows him to instantly read the emotions of others. (could use a power like that on the misses, eh fellers?) Comet says that some of these new powers have taken shape over the weeks and months following the battle in Washington. When our magazine asked Comet about his role on the battlefield, he insisted that he'd done little. We can only guess that Captain Comet is more modest than we thought folks. ''The other heroes in that fight are the real heroes.'' Blake insisted. ''I just did my fair share and nothing else. I-it was Liberty Belle who finished off Dynaman. But rest assured, I’ll be around for a long time.''
The piece went on for longer than that, but I didn't read the rest of it. For the moment at least, I'd read all that I needed to. I looked over to Libby who now looked just plain annoyed.
''C'mon, Libby, give the kid a break will ya? It seems obvious to me he didn't want the credit for taking out Dunbar and besides...'' She raised her hand and stopped me. She turned around and went to get some coffee. ''I know Johnny. I know... But look at this! Why didn't Adam tell us his power's were just manifesting? Why is everyone giving him all the credit? Why...''
She stopped talking and suddenly hung her head in self disappointment. I walked over to her and she gave a little sigh and shook her head. ''Why am I acting like a little kid?'' she finished. I knew her shame. It was this attitude after all that had brought an end to the golden age. Bruised pride and egos due to Thompson being the reason the allies were in Berlin. I can't go too hard on the guys though. We'd all started out with noble intentions in mind,. Clear our streets from crime was the general idea, and in truth it stayed that way till the end. But the fact is that as the years went by, we became more and more accustomed to our fame. We felt that with our powers, we could have done so much. That's why the All Star Squad was invented. At 1st it worked out until the German meta-human Parsifal got involved. After what happened with Green Lantern, Starman, The flash and The Ray, I don't blame FDR for keeping us out of the war. After Thompson or rather Paul Kirk killed Parsifal, the allies were in Berlin and we with the powers got so jealous and vain that it got the better of us. Most of us quit and the golden age had died with that one stupid decision. I hugged Libby tightly and we looked into each other’s eyes.
''Things will change.'' I told her softly. ''From now on, No more vanity, no more letting fame get in the way of work. We'll see to it the younger heroes don't make the same mistakes we did.''
''And what about Adam? Few Super heroes ever had that much mental and physical power. Who knows what he'll be able to do next?'' I sighed and stroked her lovely blonde hair. It felt great to touch it again after all this time. ''We'll...see how it goes. If we ever run into Comet we'll talk to him about it.''
For a time, we left it at that. But as the weeks and days passed, We realised we should have taken action. ''Cometmania'' began the sweep the nation and within what seemed like a mere snap of the fingers, the whole country was in love with Captain Comet. Children in school were writing essays on the guy, toys, books, comics and the rest were filling up bedrooms, playrooms, etc. ALL across the USA. Comet made appearances in public in between crime fighting duties of course. Talking about the things that concerned American’s at the time. Patriotism, communism, drugs, juvenile delinquency, teenagers & so on. This was nothing new though. The JSA had gone on the radio to do stuff like this in their day. There were other heroes out there of course. Besides comet. Most of um were refugees from the golden age trying to keep their act together as the venomous snake of McCarthyism slivered across the land. That would all change in the coming weeks, months and even years.
The 1st sign of things beginning to look up for costumed heroics was in July the same year when news reports started talking about a mysterious red streak seen around the vicinity of Central City. I was swimming in the pool When I heard the news on the radio. When we heard it, Libby and I thought the same thing everyone else did. That Jay Garrick had recovered from his leg injuries from the Washington battle and was now back in business. Why not? After all, it made sense. Keystone City, Kansas and Central despite being in two different states were twin cities. Separated by states and the Mississippi River but joined together by bridges and human engineering. We kept on believing it was Jay for a while, running fast enough to keep a low profile as there were no clear pictures of him yet. But that changed when we got a letter from Jay from Keystone General Hospital.
''Dear Johnny and Libby.
How are you doing? I hope you two are feeling well. Hear the weather is great in calli. Lucky dogs you. It's freezing up in keystone at the moment. The leg's healing up great by the way. Doctors say I should be up and about in days. Hope their right. They keep telling me I need to lay off it though. No more ''unnecessary running''. But I dunno. It's tempting. Especially with that new guy over in central picking up where I left off. I haven't met him yet, but there's this conspiracy theory going around that he's me. Hate to break it to them, but with a leg like this I won't be doing any crime fighting for a while. I'm not sure how he got his powers Johnny, but I’m just happy to know there's a kid out there who's willing to run around punching crooks guys while I vegetate in this hospital.
I'll write to you when I’m well again. Take care of each other. Your fellow Speedster, Jay Garrick.''
Well, that was the end of that. The conspiracy had ended. It ended for everyone else too near the end of the month when the new flash showed his face for the 1st time in public. I must say, his costume while obviously inspired by Jay, was also somewhat of an improvement. He wore a red full body jumpsuit that had a white circle with a lightning bolt going through it as an insignia. Instead of a mercury helmet, he wore gold, metallic wings on either side of a mask that only showed his chin, mouth and eyes. His costume had highlights on his waistline and wrists in the form of yellow bolts of lightning. He was seen taking in a guy in an ice blue parka with square blue glasses and white trimmings and gloves. In the rerecord footage we saw on TV, the guy was carrying round a light red pistol, everything it fired at was turned to ice. The guy in question, the press and the cops pegged the goon with the name ''Captain Cold''. Though to Libby and me, He'll always be known as the 2nd icicle. Cold was the 1st next generation costumed villain. But unfortunately for the world, he was not to be the last. As for the new Flash, he would be the beginning of a trend among heroes. The successor.
After the new flash showed up, it would be a few months later from September to October when the next two newcomers to the world of costumes and powers would show up. Number 1 would show up in place that up 'till that point hadn't had any superheroes to call their own. Said city would turn out to be closer to home than either of us thought. Coast City, California. Not too far away from Los Angeles where me and Libby were living. In Coast on that day, the city was attacked by a crazy sailor going by the name of Abel Tarrant. Guy had worked on a ship during a war as a teenager, and had turned to crime when times got tough. Police sources claim he got his powers from special chemical's he had been exposed to during a heist gone wrong. The chemicals gave him the ability to mentally make objects out of them. Weird huh? To this end, Tarrant had the chemicals turned into tattoos so he would always have them near him. All kinds of animals and weapons and other things were scarred onto his body & he used them for crime purposes under the name ''Tattooed Man'' We were in Coast city for a small trip when we saw him tearing up the road with a bulldozer from his forearm. Since me and Libby were semi retired, we'd brought our costumes with us just in case. We quickly changed into them and started running towards Tarrant. As we were facing him down, we saw something in the sky abouve us. As the green flash of light took form, we knew who it was. And also who it wasn't. Alan Scott as you recall was fully retired as Green Lantern at this point. The guy we saw was not him. He was allot thinner and wore no cape, but had a green domino mask. he also wore leotards, green with black sleeves and white gloves and boots. Allot of GL's denominators belittled him for not having enough green in his costume. No one was gonna belittle this guy.Also his hair was brown which let us know as if there were any doubt the new guy wasn't Alan. He too had a white circle on his chest with a shape of a green lantern in it and on his hand, was a ring similar to Alan's. The new GL shouted down for us to move out of the way. When we did, we saw hyim produce what seemed to be a giant thimble, which he then put over Tattooed man. Seeing our work was done, and knowing we'd have no time to talk to the guy with the press swarming around him, we left.
When we got home, we phoned Alan up (we were still in contact with him) and told him about the new guy who had taken up his name, hoping he'd know something. Sadly, the lead ran cold. Alan didn't seem to know anything about the new guy at all but like Jay, he was glad someone was there to take care of things, even if it wasn't in Gotham. A week later, the next costumed hero showed up. This one however, was due to bring something new to the game. A young archaeologist called ''Adam Strange'' seemingly disappeared without a trace while on a dig in South America and wasn't found again until a week later. When he was found, Strange was wearing a red and white helmet with a fin on the top and a golden pair of wings as a simbol ,a red jumpsuit with stars on a white collar. The strangest thing though (ba dum, tish) was the jetpack and ray gun he was found with. When questioned by the cops and his colleagues, Strange gave them a story that sounded so fat fetched no one believed him at the time. Apparently he had been transported to a planet called Rann. He told them that a beam of light had taken him to the planet where he had protected it for the week he had been missing. You might find this hard to believe concidering the world we live in now, but when Strange 1st told his story of Rann and it's inhabitance, EVERYONE laughed and decided that it was all part of some big prank Adam was playing. I was sceptical about the whole affair and Libby, like everyone else just regarded Strange as...well, strange. All the same. Those clothes, that jetpack, that raygun. ''Could there be a connection?'' I thought. Strange would go on to fight crime on earth as a self proclaimed ''ambassador'' for Rann. But every so often he would disappear to the planet no one be he seemed to believe in. For now.
Near the end of the year, on new years eve. Me and Libby invited an old friend of ours to our house. D'ya know who it was? If you guessed Captain Comet, take a shot of whiskey or soda or whatever cus you win. Adam wasn't that hard to find. While he was ever mobile, Comet had a home somewhere in the Midwest. We sent Adam a letter on invite. Partly it cus we missed the kid, but also partly it was because we wanted to know if he's developed any new powers in the meantime. Sure enough, on new years eve 1950, Captain Comet showed up at our door step. Adam was tired but happy. He'd spent the day, teaching firework safety to kids and had averted several crimes that day. He was still in costume when he arrived. After a while of laughing we got to talking about his powers. Adam chucked, nervously. His Vibro-Sence must have been in full effect that day because he could tell that something wasn't right. Cautiously he told of of how three new powers had manifested that week. What seemed to be Invulnerability, Limited Clairvoyance & the ability to produce Energy Bursts, brought on by his telekinesis. Now we knew that something had to be done and fast. Intervention’s had to be made and they had to be made there and then Adam must have sensed it again because he asked.... ''Is something wrong, guys?'' I looked him, dead in his eyes, took a deep breath, and started.
''Adam...I know you wanna fill the hole that Dynaman left after his betrayal and I hate to tell you this after all you've done. But with every power you get, we....get worried concerned.''
As I feared, Adam's expression turned into one of hurt. ''W-why? I don't understand...''
I closed my eyes and pointed my head down. I walked over and sat next to him looking into his eyes, which spoke to me, questioned me. ''What have I done wrong?'' they seemed to ask. I didn't wanna do this but..it was for his own good.
''Listen Cap.'' I said softly. ''Few heroes have ever had that much power. The spectre is one that comes to mind and of course Dr. Fate. But they weren’t as big in the eyes of the public you are. Fame got to us Adam, and it could get the better of you if you're not careful. That's why Libby and me are only semi-retired. Because we have to make sure younger heroes won't abuse they're powers, won't get deployed to war zones by the government like we did, won't...''
Then, Adam did something that still gets to me, still haunts me. He slapped my hand off his shoulder and with resentment in his voice he finished. ''Lemmie guess, Won't try to take over the world? Right?'' I was taken aback by this. Libby stepped in. ''Adam, we're only...'' ''Suggesting that I could possibly be the next Dynaman, use my powers to try and take over the country! Is that what you wanna say, Libby?!'' We were now scared slightly. We'd never seen Adam act like this. He turned towards us. Now his face showed a look of frustration, the type you see from young people like that. Adam was 19 at the time so it was understandable. He began breathing in with a slight quiver and with a voice that sounded genuinely hurt he said. ''I'm not Dunbar...I would never be him. I can't help it if my powers keep coming. I was born that way. But i'd never use them to...fix the world.''
''Why not?'' I asked, unsure of what he meant.
''Beacuse when we say the world needs ''fixing'' we're talking about humanity. I'm not a religious person, but it's always been my belief that humanity has an inherent goodness. You talk about fame getting the better of you, but is fame the real reason you picked up your costumes? Is fame the only reason there are heroes at all?'' It was definitely a good, sound philosophy, and I guess. We knew he was right. ''I'm sorry Adam.'' I said at last. ''we misjudged you. But you gotta understand. It's a cold world out there. Sometimes, it's enough to drive a guy nuts. And there are people in office who would exploit your powers any way they could, Cap. So you gotta promise me something.''
Comet tilted his head. ''What?''
''You gotta promise me you'll keep out of this war with Russia. People are scared., Adam. Scared that their neighbour, their teacher or even their dog could be a communist agent. They need a guy to keep them safe through this witch-hunt Joe McCarthy has going on. For all we know, What's left of the Justice Society could be next. I want you to make sure never to take any government offers cus that's just gonna land you in trouble. The world needs Captain Comet the superhero, Not Captain Comet the war hero with Russian blood on his chest.''
Comet blinked twice then with a half hearted smile he said..''sure thing, John. Sure thing.' and with that, we shook on it to make it official.
After that, the tension in the house died down and we had our little get together, playing, eating talking and just enjoying each-other’s company.
Inevitably, midnight rolled round and 1951 began. As it did, Adam insisted on leaving.
''I don't wanna disturb you guys.'' He said. ''I'm pretty sure you both wanna be left alone.''
Libby smirked. ''You're welcome here ANY time you want, Cap.'' she said in a jokey voice. ''and you know it.'' I laughed a little and gave him a little punch in the shoulder. ''Thanks all the same, kiddo.''
We watched as Comet began to float away from us. Then....
''Adam.''
He floated back down as he heard me. ''Yes?''
''One last thing. Do you believe there could intelligent life out there. I know it seems like a random question to ask but, with everything that Adam Strange guy talked about...''
''You mean like aliens?'' Adam tapped his chin. ''I guess it's possible...If not Strange has lost his mind. However, if there is intelligent life in the cosmos, I just hope it's on our side.''
We stalled Adam no longer. And so we watched as he flew off into the night amongst a sea of fireworks.
And yet, as the world celebrated the passing of one year into the next, the cosmos, ever silent, watched and waited. Waited for the time it could show us what kind of ''intelligent life'' it had to offer.
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