It all started with the Big Bang! Part 11 (issue #18)

I'm skipping again, because this issue is the end of the exciting three-part epic that is the Big Bang/Savage Dragon crossover. I almost have to wonder if the Mighty Man stories in #1 and #7 were intended to foreshadow this.

Clearly the fine folks behind Big Bang (that is, Chris Ecker and Gary Carlson) knew a winner when they saw one, hence the return of the Pantheon of Heroes, whom Dragon briefly met back in #12. Also, the cover is drawn by Dave Cockrum, who was best known for his work on LoSH before that whole "Giant Size X-Men #1" thing. Oh, and if you're wondering, there is a tribute to the Legion's iconic first appearance cover (as well as that other one where the Legion of Super Villains sentences Superman to death)

But that's not actually in the story. No, the story begins just where #14 left off, with Dragon in the Time Being's palace, having discovered a room full of helpless, dying Ultimen being sapped of their powers. 

Clone Boy of the Pantheon of Heroes shows himself, explaining that the Time Being was the Pantheon's greatest enemy (so basically the Time Trapper), and that he's been playing Dragon this whole time. His plan is to destroy an Ultimen-empowered Infinity Orb to create a new Big Bang. This will create the universe all over, with the Time Being as its supreme ruler, its god. Oh, and those aren't really Ultimen; the Time Being has been forcing Clone Boy to create duplicates of the Ultimate Human Being to this end for a while now.

The Time Being walks in on this, and reveals how he expects to survive destroying the universe. See, he's not technically alive -- he's the temporal anomaly created when Grandfather Clock accidentally met himself in the past. He has the power to be anywhere and everywhere throughout time, but naturally this grew boring pretty fast.

As the Time Being prepares to end Dragon's life, Clone Boy turns himself into Ultiman in order to save his new pal. This was just an excuse to get close enough to duplicate the Time Being himself, which had the unintended side-effect of rupturing the Infinity Orb and putting the finishing touches on the Time Being's plan. The energy backlash will gradually erase the current timeline, starting with the most recent date and going backwards. Dragon escapes through the Time Being's time portal, hoping he'll be able to stop all this from happening by going to the past. However, the Time Being sends his lady friend Oblivia to follow Dragon and eliminate him.

There's a couple of completely meaningless stuff while Dragon careens through the time stream; you'll thank me for skipping it. Also, wasn't this thing supposed to be in color?

Anyway, eventually we hit... an apology and a summary of the five missing pages that didn't make the deadline. It says they'll print the missing pages in a future issue, but I couldn't find anything. Long story short, the Earth-B Blitz and Dragon head to the past before the era is erased, and meet Venus and Ultiman in the 70s. Also, Venus and Ultiman are dating or something; man, that's prescient, huh?

70s Venus? Obviously this business is nearly finished, then. Venus and Ultiman take Dragon to the moment of the Time Being's creation to stop him once and for all; the Brave and the Bold style Knight Watchman/Dr. Weird team-up from the end of #12. However, they're too late, and the Time Being starts wrecking everybody and everything. Oblivia shows up, too, to finish off Dragon with her kiss of death... until the Blitz pushes her into the Time Being. Her kiss erases him from existence, ensuring the universe's safety.

With that settled, Dragon has equipped himself with another Time Bomb (lifted from Grandfather Clock, no doubt) and heads back to his own time, with some stops along the way. Oh, and Venus takes Oblivia away to the Godrealm to get her help.

Here's where the cover comes in; back at the End of Time, Dragon finds, well, nothing, no sign of the Time Being's existence. He did it, he changed history... and before he can finally get home, he's attacked by the Pantheon of Heroes, as he's obviously their archenemy the Timebomber.

Dragon handles everything they throw at him until he sees Clone Boy and is momentarily floored. This gives the Pantheon the opening they needed to bring him down, and they're ready to lock him up and throw away the key once they do. Brain Boy and Tele Girl analyze him back at Pantheon HQ; it turns out that he's considered a great villain based on records of him fighting the RTA and the Badge. He's sent to trial, where he is found guilty because there is no one who can corroborate his "Time Being" story.

That is, until Ultigirl and Thunder Girl interrupt the trial, coming from the past to tell how they know Dragon's a good guy. Ultiman always told his daughter about how Dragon was a great hero, and Thunder Girl's memory was unaltered by the time shift because of her magic power source. Unwilling to doubt Ultiman's word, the judge changes the verdict to Not Guilty. Dragon is sent back home via a "time bubble" invented by Brain Boy, and finally defeats the Wicked Worm-possessed Mighty Man before hitting a bar with his cop buddies. The end... or is it?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that really is the end of this storyline, if not the Time Being himself, because I'm close enough to positive that he never showed up again, ever.

I do know that this isn't the last time Big Bang crossed over with Savage Dragon, though; members of the RTA were present at the wedding of Barbaric and Ricochet in SD #41, and would meet Dragon again in the Wildstorm-severing Shattered Image event. 

It all started with the Big Bang! Part 10 (Issue #14)

I'm skipping around a lot, but get real, this is the mind-bending conclusion to the Savage Dragon crossover.

As you may recall from last time, Dragon has a "time bomb" strapped to his chest, which can explode again and again, taking him to a different time with each kaboom. This is a convenient device for the superhero comic theme, as it allows him to explore the various eras of comics.

Dragon's lot is a sad one, though he knows an end does come when he meets Venus in the 1970s -- how long until then, however, no one can say. Also, it's so weird to see Kirby-style Ultiman like that. Kirby didn't draw Superman a lot, did he?

However, despite this, the story opens with Dragon popping back to Chicago on the very day he was taken by the Society of Evil Minds. But it's... different. Not his Chicago at all; he goes to the police station and nobody, not even his partner Alex Wilde, recognizes him.

That's when the cops call in the National Guardians to deal with this green monster. Who are the National Guardians?

Evidently this is the 90s of Earth-B specifically. Check out that gloveless Ultiman and the Earth-B Beacon. I don't get the third guy, though.I guess that makes sense, Binana had input on Grandfather Clock's time machine, no doubt it can travel between the worlds, too. Ultiman does recognize Dragon, but from a warp Dragon hasn't taken yet -- to the 1930s. Apparently they had some serious altercation, because Ultiman's been waiting nearly 60 years to pop Dragon in the mouth again.

There's more; Venus went back to the gods in '57, and Ultiman is married to Lori Lake, not that Arlene woman seen last issue. Or, she was, until she died in childbirth. I'd feel sorry for Dragon if he weren't being so slow on the uptake here, though I don't know how familiar he'd be with alternate universes in the first place.

A blow from Ultiman coincides with the bomb exploding again, sending him, funnily enough, to meet 1930s Ultiman. Dragon doesn't realize he's in a different time at first, probably because the art style changes are imperceptible to him. He doesn't get it until Ultiman mentions only getting his powers last week. Oh, and naturally there's the requisite Action Comics #1 homage, though in a somewhat novel move it's Dragon hefting the car.

Yeesh, you know, I never realized how uneven Dragon's proportions normally are until I saw this relatively realistic version.

Dragon thinks the time stream may have been corrupted after the last time he met Ultiman. Er, the last time he met Ultiman and they were friends, that is. Probably something to do with the temporal paradox caused by the two Grandfather Clocks in the Brave and the Bold segment that closed out the last issue. Speaking of, you may remember that Dragon got a hold of a remote to control the time jumps at the end of the issue, but being stuck in Earth-B means that hasn't been helpful. Anyway, their fight continues until Dragon's had his fill; he activates the time bomb without bothering to set it, landing in a US Army camp in 1952 Korea. 

An Army nurse talks to Dragon, and soon reveals herself to be Venus. Again, Earth-B Venus

That's a crappy excuse to get retired, at least old Ultiman got sick and lost his powers. Not gonna lie, this is the least eventful jump yet, and possibly ever. They just talk, really, I don't feel like I understand Venus' deal in the 50s any better.

She hears him out, and realizes what must have happened -- Binana can probably send Dragon back to his own world, and with the Earth-A/B time difference, he'll have the knowledge to do so in 1944, which is where (or when, I guess) he heads next. There (then), a trip to the hair salon for Molly Wilson proves to be a trap set by Dr. Binana, who apparently knows her civilian identity and, judging by the fact that he bound her arms, the "must touch ring to necklace" caveat of the Thunder Girl transformation. That's where Dragon comes in.

He frightens Binana into submission and frees Molly as insurance, watching her turn into Thunder Girl. I mentioned before that it's not much of a transformation, but Thunder Girl clearly looks taller and more muscular than Molly in this story, so whatever. Binana does some pretty funny sniveling to TG, so great is his fear of Dragon.

So they force Binana to let Dragon use his world hopping device, but Binana secretly pulls the plug halfway through sending Dragon home. This causes Dragon to be split between the worlds, literally. This ties into a Blitz story; The Silver Age Blitz and his sidekick Cyclone are headed to Earth-B for a wedding, that of Golden Age Blitz Mack Snelling and his pseudo-sidekick Speed Queen.

I should mention that Cyclone's relation to the Blitz isn't made very clear, but whatever. Anyway, as they vibrate their molecules to Earth-B's frequency, they get interference from Dragon blocking the way. 

The Earth-B Blitz sees his other half, and heads to Earth-A to investigate, but Dragon vanishes before he gets the chance to help. A mysterious force sets off the Time Bomb, sending him back to Earth-A in full... in 1965! There, he lands in the secret HQ of BADGE, based on SHIELD, which is one of a scant handful of Marvel-inspired things in Big Bang in general, including the original Badge and his Rookies. Wait, wasn't the Badge an Earth-B character? Eh, whatever.

BADGE, the Bureau for Advanced Defense and Global Espionage, is headed by the original Badge's former sidekicks Bobby and Trooper; Trooper was crippled in an accident at some point and is strictly an administrator, but Bobby is his top field agent. Oh, and they're brother and sister, in case you were wondering. 

Dragon's just trying to make sense of where he is, but can't get a moment's peace because all the BADGE agents think he's some spy or monster after the Infinity Orb. He even knocks out Bobby when she comes after him. It doesn't get much better when the Badge himself shows up. And he's throwing his shield now, having essentially gone full Captain America because the Guardian wasn't relevant in 1965.

Dragon has no clue what the Infinity Orb is, (though you and I know it's basically the Cosmic Cube), but some creep shrouded in darkness uses the confusion to steal it for himself. The bad guy flees into the time stream, and Dragon gives chase, hoping to be pulled by the other guy's wake. See, he recognizes the voice as that of the mysterious dude who saved him from the half-and-half Earth A/B thing a minute ago, and wants answers. The Badge, grabbing his leg, comes with him out of concern for the Infinity Orb.

Things don't go so great; Dragon thinks it's because he didn't set a destination, but he winds up in a crazy place with the chronometer reading all zeros. And then the time bomb and remote just turn to dust. Also, the Badge was killed on arrival, and turns out to have been a robot the whole time.

That's when he meets the end of time's inhabitants: the Time Being (Lord of Time) and Oblivia (the End of Everything). I don't think they're especially direct counterparts to anyone -- the Time Being is kind of a Kang/Watcher I guess. The Kirbyesque art in this segment is, really authentic looking, by the way, and I kind of wish Kirby Dragon happened more often.

The Time Being is the guy who took the Infinity Orb; by his reasoning, its power was never meant for mortal hands, in which it would only bring destruction and misery. He also fixed the Earth A/B mix-up, as it was causing a disturbance in the time stream. In any case, the Time Being offers to send Dragon back to his own time via his Time Tunnel, and invites him to look around his palace while he gets that ready. Dragon soon discovers something seriously weird while looking for a bathroom, though -- the Infinity Orb sapping power from several unconscious (or even dead) Ultimen. And on that note, we're done for now, with Part 3 coming in Big Bang #18. In color, no less!

It all started with the Big Bang! Part 9 (Issue #12)

Skipping more issues BECAUSE I CAN. Also, I kind of wanted to get to this, the start of a Savage Dragon crossover, right away. I'm no massive fan of Dragon, I've read little of his comic, but I watched the cartoon as a kid, I enjoy what I've read of it, and I think I understand Dragon's character more or less.

Similar to the Knights of Justice origin issue, this one comes with a pre-packaged gimmick, and as such it's a really goddamn amazing comic. Basically, Dragon warps back and forth between various eras, and his encounters in those eras are based on the comics that were around at the time. Each story has its own art style, too.

The story gets underway with a secret meeting of the Society of Evil Minds, the equivalent of the Monster Society of Evil. Its members include Hy Q. Binana, Cortex, the Wicked Worm (who survived his bisection in BB #1 and is now, uh, two worms), and two new guys: Baron Brain and Dr. Nirvana, Mighty Man's archenemy. The art here is really emphasizing the Sivana angle for not just Binana and Nirvana, but also Cortex

So this is taking place on Earth A, with Binana still able to travel between the worlds at his leisure. Although I guess this takes place before the Criss-Cross Crisis storyline. Of course, I have to wonder why he would bother at all if their plan couldn't affect Thunder Girl. Anyway, the Wicked Worms ask if this is about some stock market scam, and while cursing himself for missing that obvious idea, Binana says he's after more than money -- he wants to take the strongest, nastiest creatures from the future and use them to crush their heroic foils. And for starters, Officer Dragon looks like just the type. Looks like, of course.

To that end, Knight Watchman baddie Grandfather Clock has devised, uh, something like a time machine, sort of. See, this is why they need a big monster for the mission; the only thing Grandfather Clock could find that could produce the energy to break the time barrier was a uranium bomb, albeit one that can explode again and again. With the remote control, the Society of Evil Minds can send him to any time they like. 

As it turns out, Dragon is fighting Mighty Man because MM is possessed by the Wicked Worm (who is actually thousands of worms at  this point), and the Wicked Worm deliberately lured Dragon to a certain location to get him to jump on the time bomb.

Yeesh, is Dragon hairy. You know he's not a reptile? Erik Larsen told me on twitter so you know it's true. anyway, 1963 Mighty Man shows up to blow the SoEM's good time, and Dragon drops a bomb on them when they order him to do their dirty work: Mighty Man is a good friend of his, he's a police officer, and they're all under arrest. These guys are so racist, just because he's green he's the bad guy. He also explains why he was fighting Mighty Man in the future, because of course that came up.

In a panic, Binana splits for Earth B, while Grandfather Clock hits the remote to send Dragon back to his own time. The remote is broken in the explosion, meaning his time jumps are random from here on. Oh, man, this is the best Quantum Leap/Savage Dragon crossover since that fanfic I wrote.

Dragon arrives, seemingly, just a few years later, where the time bomb explosion chips away part of the "Coolidge Dam", a possible disaster that is naturally responded to by the Round Table of America.

Some items of note: Hummingbird, Mr. Martian, and Mike Merlin all put in their first appearances in this story. Hummingbird is sort of Hawkman and kind of the Atom; Mike Merlin is Snapper Carr with a bit of Zatanna (and after a magic sex change, full Zatanna as Ms. Merlin); and Mr. Martian is, duh, the Martian Manhunter. Anyway, the RTA fixes the dam up like new, and I discover that I hate Mike Merlin. Seriously, Snapper Carr is awesome, this guy is insufferable, even with amazing magic powers.

Dragon is saved by the Atomic Sub, and attacks Mr. Martian as soon as he comes to. The RTA has Mr. Martian's back, but Dragon mentions a Martian invasion in 1996, which I guess is a reference to the movie Mars Attacks! and the comics Image published that tied into it. It turns out htis is '65, so shortly before the Atomic Sub's death, by the way. Dragon tells his story, and the Knight Watchman picks up on Grandfather Clock's involvement immediately, but the bomb goes off seconds later.

Dragon lands in a Golden Age Dr. Weird story, where his explosion causes a house fire. Weird saves the people trapped inside, and goes to fight Dragon, but ends up hearing the guy out.

Dragon explains his predicament, and Weird can mystically tell he's being for real. Luckily, time travel is something he's familiar with; he was a scientist from the future who came back to the past and was killed, and whose spirit can't move on because he hasn't been born yet and thus shouldn't exist. Weird tries to set the time bomb to send Dragon to talk to his mentor, but when it blows, he ends up a little too far in the future.

Dragon pops in just as tryouts start, but Pantheon founders Jupiter Boy, Gravity Girl, and Clone Boy think he's one of the hopefuls and don't realize he needs help. Clone Boy's initially kind of interested in the explosive powers of this "Bomb Boy", but they don't allow people without inborn powers, and he's way too old anyway. 

Next it's 1962, at Midway City's football stadium, where the Midway Monsters are playing the Empire City Titans for the championship. Among the spectators: Reid and Jerry Randall, the Knight Watchman and Kid Galahad. A game winning field goal is shot out of the air by Grandfather Clock, who runs off with the championship trophy and prize money.

The Knight Watchman and Kid Galahad foil him, blah blah, and Dragon bursts into the picture. He yells at Grandfather Clock, who has no idea who he is or what he's talking about since this is before the Society of Evil Minds meeting. The 'misunderstanding' worsens until it's boom-boom time once more.

Yeah, it's the future. Er, the old future, at least; sometime in the 80s. An Ultiman robot brings Dragon to meet an aged, retired, powerless Chris Kelly. The robots do all the work these days, dispatched by Chris from his Command Center to deal with crises. Oh, and he's married and has a kid, and his wife is totally not Lori Lake. Is that why he moved out of the Secret Citadel, because his family couldn't live in a volcano? I just hope he still has his trophies. Anyway, Dragon asks if he can help him out, but Chris says he already has; Dragon made a jump to the 70s and there was some business with Venus that ended with the RTA getting him back to his own time. And, you know, kaboom, he's gone.

Now he's in a Brave and the Bold story. Or, uh, "Free and the Brave"; obviously the 70s, but not quite when the RTA has figured out how to help him. And this story is obviously to be continued in a later issue, as we're running out of pages pretty quick. You know, I once had a conversation on deviantArt with artist Shawn van Briesen about his work on this story, and in particular the Aparo aping.

The Knight Watchman and Dr. Weird are going to break into Grandfather Clock's place to find a remote for the time bomb. When they get there they find nothing... except for two Grandfather Clocks! He's since perfected the time bomb travel thing, you see, and even has the remotes. Both are immobilized by shock and considering how old and fat they are, probably also having heart attacks.

Weird uses one of the remotes to send the traveling Clock back whenever he came from, and tries to do the same to Dragon, who realizes this can't be the end because he hasn't met Venus yet. Throughout this whole story, Dragon's been a real cut-up, commenting sardonically about everything that happens as if he's resigned to the fate of Sam Beckett-but-not-really. This one ends with a classic: "THE END? Only time will tell!"

It all started with the Big Bang! Part 7 (Issue #6)

This is the last color issue of the Image run; almost everything Big Bang self-published after leaving Image is in color. I'm not too happy about that, since obviously colors are way better than no color in Silver Age Superhero fare. Of course, no colors just makes it look that much more like a Showcase collection or something.

Also of note: this is one of the only Big Bang comics to feature just one story. If anything I'm reminded of the Metal Men, as this is an "amazing three-part novel" or "novel-length adventure" that would easily be a huge three-month, 20-title crossover today.

So, okay, this is technically a reprint of a story from the original Caliber Comics run, but whatever. Cover art by Curt Swan, though. I don't see why Golden Age Ultiman doesn't merit a credit on the Knights of Justice side of the cover, or where the Silver Age Knight Watchman is, though.

The Silver Age Beacon first appeared in this story, but the Human Sub had his origin story in Big Bang Vol. 1 #2. Basically, he's Dr. Noah Talbot, an aged scientist who designed a robotic full-body prosthesis that he was forced to transfer his own mind into as he suffered a heart attack. The robot body is powered by "hydro-glycerin" and needs to be submerged in water at least once an hour. His sidekicks are his granddaughter Mora, alias the Moray, and Bubbles, an amphibious chimp with hydro-glycerin for blood.

I'm guessing Swan's pencils for the cover were finished before they decided to change him to the Atomic Sub. Or even before they did the first Human Sub story; the first page has Swan's original art, with a totally different looking Human Sub. Cyclone's also an all-new character, but there's not a lot to say (or know) about him until the Whiz Kids get their own stories.

And see, look, Golden Age Knight Watchman isn't even in this, jeez. 

The story kicks off with the Blitz running late to an appointment at Round Table of America HQ. Apparently he lives in the Southwestern US, because that's where he's coming from. HQ is at "Capitol City" on the East Coast. So he really kicks it into high gear to make it in time, but once he gets through the door of the Hall of Heroes, he sees something so shocking he alerts the rest of the RTA for help. But when help arrives, the Blitz isn't there -- at least, not their Blitz!

As you can no doubt imagine, a fight breaks out, and oddly enough the Atomic Sub seems the most eager to teach the 'phony' Blitz a lesson. Yeesh, take it easy, old timer. Incidentally, the Beacon's powers appear to be similar to her Golden Age counterpart's; that thing in her hand gives off light in different colors, each with its own effect. Kudos for creativity, I think most people would have just given their ersatz Lantern regular construct powers.

The Blitz runs rings around the RTA members, but Ultiman manages to clock him one and knock him out. Almost immediately, Dr. Weird, the Spectre analogue, pops in to say he knows where the "real" Blitz is. From the other heroes' reactions, it looks like they've never met Weird before. 

Naturally, the Silver Age Blitz is at the Hall of Heroes on another Earth, where he's getting manhandled by the Knights of Justice. 

That blast knocks the Blitz right out, as well it should, but as before, Dr. Weird appears before the Knights of Justice. I'm referring to both groups as though they're the full team, but come on, these are abbreviated versions of the KoJ and RTA. 

It turns out Dr. Weird is talking to both groups at the same time, with each group not even knowing the other figures into it (except the Blitzes, I guess). The Beacon says that Dr. Weird is telling the truth, according to his power crystal; I guess he's the truth-detector because he's the only one with any super-equipment akin to WW's lasso. 

Dr. Weird exposits that there are two Earths, which split off from each other in the early 20th century: Earth-A, where it's 1965, and Earth-B, where it's 20 years earlier. He also makes note of the two Blitzes, two Beacons, etc., without really explaining what causes that. So it turns out someone opened a portal that the Blitzes accidentally traveled through, and if it isn't closed soon, both worlds are doomed. Weird has it stabilized for the moment, but can't keep it up much longer, and tells of machines on each Earth that are widening the portal. Both Ultimen independently decide to go give Weird a hand.

Meanwhile, apparently the other members of both teams (and the displaced Blitzes) know where to go to find their machine. I'm gonna go for the No-Prize and say Weird gave them the information telepathically. The KoJ arrive in Paris, where a huge robot gorilla and a crazy looking machine are on top of the Eiffel Tower. The Blitz rushes at the robo-ape, but disappears after it swats him away. While Venus and Thunder Girl distract the robot, the Beacon uses his red force beam to amplify his strength so as to destroy the machine. He does this by simply punching it, causing it to explode. When the dust settles, only Thunder Girl is conscious, and the Beacon is missing.

The RTA head for the Statue of Liberty's torch, which houses their world's portal machine thing. The Beacon is the first to notice it, and I'm having flashbacks to #4, when the Golden Age Beacon fought guys on Liberty's torch.

The Blitz runs afoul of another robot gorilla, identical to the one seen a second ago, and disappears after is blasts him with a ray. The Beacon tosses it into the water with her yellow levitation beam, and the Atomic Sub swims toward it to finish the job. Suddenly, the Beacon vanishes into thin air herself!

It turns out that the Blitzes and Beacons were simply pulled away by Dr. Weird, who needs more power to keep the rift stable. That this happened in conjunction with their fighting the robo-apes appears to be a simple coincidence. The Beacons join hands with their respective Blitzes, and discover that giving their energy to Dr. Weird hurts like crap. The Beacons are forced to sap power from distant stars in order to provide enough for Weird to go on. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious cloaked figure supercharges the Earth A robo-ape, which revives, knocks out the Atomic Sub, and grabs the machine before the Knight Watchman can take care of it. The Knight Watchman decides to call in reinforcements in the form of the Whiz Kids, who find the mystery baddie's lair on Ellis Island easily enough, but run into trouble fighting the robo-ape... until Bubbles starts messing around

After this odd scene, the robo-ape comes to its senses and knocks Bubbles into Kid Galahad, who accidentally crashes into the machine, sending both of them... somewhere when it explodes. That "somewhere" was Earth B, where they're met by Venus and Thunder Girl. Thunder Girl sees Bubbles' costume and realizes who's behind all this, and resolves to go to Earth A via the still-intact device in order to stop them.

Meanwhile, on Earth A, the big bad guy is holding both worlds hostage with the device, which is really more of a bomb and seems to be okay after colliding with Kid Galahad and Bubbles. At some point the Knight Watchman and Atomic Sub showed up.

Suddenly, Thunder Girl bursts through a small explosion, having traveled via the device as mentioned previously. She grabs the villain, revealing him to be her archenemy Dr. Binana, the talking chimp. Binana says he created the portal to plunder both worlds, but is willing to settle for destroying them both! After Binana activates the bomb, which is of course on a timer, the Atomic Sub grabs it, flies over the sea with his jetpack, and tries to bury it as far underwater as he can. Shortly after he leaves, the Knight Watchman gets word from Kid Galahad that they've disarmed the bomb on their end. This eliminates the threat to both worlds, as without the second bomb this is just any old bomb.

However, the Atomic Sub couldn't get far enough away from the explosion in time, and died trying to save two worlds. Everyone is automatically returned to their home Earth... except for Thunder Girl, who remains on Earth A. Dr. Weird says this has to do with her power source and origin, as she's a mystical being of two souls and whatever. We end on a somber note, with funeral proceedings dedicated to the Atomic Sub -- even on Earth B, which he'd never set foot on.

It all started with the Big Bang! Part 6 (Issue #5)

You know, I was reading Hero Hotline when I realized I have this thing with alliteration.

Is it significant that the Silver-Age Blitz looks sort of like Prof. Zoom? Probably not. I have to say I'm impressed that they came up with a lightning motif and logo that didn't look anything like the Flash's. Also, is it me or did they tone down the purple on the Knight Watchman's costume since the last time he was on a cover?

Anyway, this issue's all about origins -- the origin of the Blitz, of the Golden Age Ultiman, and of the Knight Watchman

At a Monte Carlo raceway, East German Formula-1 racer Helmut Schlechtmann, seen in the car above, curses the success of American driver Jimmy Travis. With Travis' latest victory, he's now headed for the championship race against Schlechtmann, who isn't sure he can win. Luckily, he thinks, he's left little to chance. 

During their race, Schlechtmann runs Travis off the road. Travis discovers his steering column's been tampered with as he careens towards a mountain, but manages to stop and crawl away unscathed. However, the car's in no shape to continue the race. Travis is upset, but realizes there's nothing he can do about it -- which is when he sees a door on the ground, uncovered and unlocked by his driving. Inside, he discovers some secret Nazi lab (in Monte Carlo?)

Meanwhile, American mobsters, hired by Schlechtmann to finish off Travis, arrive on the scene -- turns out he expected Travis to survive hurtling towards mountain rocks in a racecar. Back in the lab, Travis quickly deduces (based on the label on that costume case) that whatever scientists were working here, they were trying to create super-humans. He checks out those test tubes and sees that they're all busted and empty except one labeled "Blitz-Geschindigkeit".

Outside, one of the mobsters accidentally drops his gun, which goes off when it hits the ground. Travis is startled by the noise and accidentally spills the contents of the test tube on himself. It starts to burn through his racing suit, which he takes off in a panic. Deciding to investigate the gunshot he heard, he puts on the "ubermensch" costume. That's when the mobsters get the drop on him. As they take aim, Travis desperately rushes to stop them -- and sees that the formula gave him "Blitz-Geschindigkeit", lightning speed! He dispatches them quickly enough, and one of them mentions Schlechtmann. Travis, or the Blitz, realizes what's going on, and that he can still win the race.

He rushes to Schlechtmann's car and disassembles it at lightning speed, like in the first page, leaving him wrapped up in his own car's parts.

The Blitz then pushes his own car for most of the length of the race, before heading back to his hotel room for a new racing suit, pushing it across the finish line, and jumping into the driver's seat before anyone can see he wasn't driving. Cheating? Yeah, but you can't say Schlechtmann deserved to win it. The police take away the mobsters and Schlechtmann, and Travis is left with a new second career in mind...

Moving on to a short two-page Ultiman origin story, we see Chris Kelly driving home, rejected by the draft board for his poor eyesight, when his car is struck by a meteor! The meteor turns him into the Ultimate Human Being, who pledges his services to the government and armed forces.

I find it fairly interesting that Ultiman is a government agent, and it's hinted that his identity isn't secret here (strictly speaking; there might be a Golden Age Carl Kelly).

Anyway, is it me or is anyone else more interested in the Knight Watchman's origin? I've been reading about him in just about every issue so far, it's time I found out what his deal is, you know? All we really know about him is that his real name is Reid Randall and he lives with his mother and nephew.

Well, flash back to when Reid was an Olympic hopeful and college student living away from home. Called back to Midway City by news that his brother Ted had been hospitalized, Reid consoles his mother, who reveals that the family garment business is in peril. Ted had fallen in with a bad crowd and racked up gambling debts -- and now the mobsters he owes want to take over their business. The beating was a warning, and it only stands to get worse from here.

Across town, at the hospital, Ted is comforted by his wife Janet and son Jerry. Later that night, he's visited by a gangster, who starts leaning on him a little harder to hand over the family business. That is, until Reid shows up.

Reid and Ted reminisce about the old days, like when they were teased at school because their dad made women's clothes. He says this is just like that -- they faced off against bullies almost every day, and can do the same now. 

Later that week, Reid joins Ted's wife and son in seeing his brother home. Unbeknownst to them, however, henchmen working for mob boss "Gentleman" Mac Duggin are lying in wait, preparing to strike. Jerry decides to ride home with Reid; Ted remarks that Reid is Jerry's personal hero, with Janet adding that Ted is Reid's. Reid drives ahead, as he's stopping for ice cream on the way, but Ted's car explodes the second Janet starts it.

Man, is it me, or is this a lot more complicated than Batman's origin? Parents shot, layabout millionaire, superstitious lot, bat through window, BAM, Batman. Anyway, soon Reid visits the graves of his brother and sister-in-law, vowing to bring their killers to justice and to take care of Jerry just as Ted always took care of him. Meanwhile, "Gentleman" Duggin decides that if killing her son won't get the old lady to turn over the factory, he'll start arranging "accidents" around the factory and her home, and sends her a letter to that effect. 

Reid consoles his mother again, who says that her late husband, her knight in shining armor, would know what to do.

Ah, there's the "bat through window" moment. Reid sees gangsters staking out their house in shifts, and thinks he can make them act if he pretends to head back to school by packing his bags and getting in a cab. That night, he's proven right as the gangsters break into the factory and start wrecking it, until interrupted by a mysterious shadowy figure - the Knight Watchman! His costume's kind of different here, with a much darker blue (or black?) cowl-and-undies, no shield symbol, a gray bodysuit, and much like first appearance Batman, purple gloves. Using the physical prowess that made him a multiple sport star, he easily trounces Duggin and his goons. There's a really great exchange where Duggin tries to offer the Knight Watchman money or a job, but the Knight Watchman somberly states that Duggin owes him much more than he could ever pay.

This feels kind of Silver-Agey, despite being based on GA Bats (what with the different costume and all) -- if anything I'm reminded of Daredevil #1, where Daredevil finds and defeats his father's killer by the issue's end.

Finally, we're on to a short four-pager with Silver Age Ultiman, who shows a contest winner his Secret Citadel. There's a nice continuity nod to #3 by way of a shot of Robot #1's grave. Naturally there's a giant dollar bill and a rubber apatosaurus, because it's not like they did those Batcave things last issue. There's also a "City of Atlantis" that fits in an oversized fishbowl like Kandor. Oh, and a "Hall of Secret Identities" featuring statues of his Round Table of America teammates; I'm hoping he doesn't show the kid that one.

We also learn about SA Ultiman's origin (a little more, at least) -- Chris Kelly was an astronaut in whose space capsule was hit by a radioactive meteor. The other astronaut inside died, and Chris was very sick for a long time, but upon overcoming his illness he was the Ultimate Human Being! 

I probably mentioned this before, but that power source strikes me as a deliberate reference to Silver Age Ultraman, a human astronaut who got his powers from space rocks and becomes more powerful from further exposure. Also, take note of the costume differences between Golden and Silver Age Ultiman -- well, it's gloves mostly right here, but as we saw last issue Golden Age Ulti later added a belt to his ensemble. Also, the "no undies" look is obviously a little funny these days, since that's what Superman himself is wearing.

It all started with the Big Bang! Part 5 (Issue #4)

Back with more Big Bang! This issue is gonna be a real treat for me, because this issue is based on an early JSA story that I happen to have actually read.

Just over half of those are familiar faces to readers of the Image series - Ultiman, Thunder Girl, and the Knight Watchman. The rest (and you can figure out who is who pretty easily) are Venus, the Blitz, and the Beacon, ersatz Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern respectively. 

Dr Stellar, obviously the Starman of the KoJ, wonders how the team came to be. The Knight Watchman lays the background by saying it all started when scientists from around the country were headed to the Great Minds Summit in Washington, D.C. The Blitz takes over from there, and it becomes clear that this issue's gimmick is just like the earliest JSA stories -- the heroes don't really work together, but they tell of adventures that are connected in some way. Naturally, each segment is handled by a different writer and artist. I wish they had a Hawkman guy, since Golden Age Hawkman had unusually detailed art for its time and I'd love to see something in that style.

Now, if I'm remembering correctly, the Flash section of the JSA story I'm thinking of involved fighting a shark, so one can only hope it's something half as cool as that. 

Anyway, the Blitz is secretly newsreel reporter Mack Snelling, who was on his way to cover the summit via the powerful train Super-Chief. A freak landslide nearly causes a horrible crash, but Snelling clears the way with time to spare as the Blitz, and soon discovers it was a Nazi assassination attempt on one of the train's passengers, engineer and auto magnate Hank Fort.

An interrogation reveals that this was part of a larger plot to sabotage the Great Minds Summit. The Blitz heads back to Super-Chief, no doubt reasoning that if there's more trouble at the conference he should be there (and that arriving before the train he was on previously would probably blow his identity).

The Beacon takes the story from there. He'd read about the Great Minds Summit in the paper back in NYC, when he was on a ferry to Ellis Island. Due to some trouble at the Statue of Liberty, they had to turn back, but naturally this looked like a job for the Beacon. It turns out there's some kind of DEATH RAY coming out of Lady Liberty's torch, blasting boats as they pass. The Beacon does rescue work to ensure that nobody dies, using the light from his miner's cap to escort people to life rafts and seal holes in hulls. 

Golden Age Green Lantern's powers were so nebulously defined as to be nearly limitless; I remember a story in Batman Black and White where he mentioned he quit the superhero game because he felt too powerful, and Gotham needed a hero, not a god. The Beacon is more like Space Ghost, in that his light fires different beams for different occasions -- a tractor beam, a heat ray, that sort of thing.

After turning the culprits in, the Beacon meets with the captain of the ship he saved, as well as a notable passenger, famous inventor Tom Ettleson. The Beacon escorts Ettleson's car to Washington to make sure he arrives safely, and that's when his part of the story ends and the Badge's begins.

This seems as good a time as any to mention that Rookies, Bobbie and Trooper, are nowhere to be seen -- implicitly this takes place before their first appearance. 

This is all introduced in a clumsy enough way that I'd have trouble describing it succinctly, so the gist: the Badge, staking out a local slum, meets a man who falls unconscious and is taken away in an ambulance by a rude German medic. Various clues reveal the man's identity as Dr. Reinstein, a famous scientist bound for the Great Minds Summit, and that he had been drugged. The Badge also guesses that the German medic is evidence of a Nazi plot. He commandeers a police bike, catches up to the ambulance, and jumps onto its roof, forcing the driver to crash.

Citizen's arrest? So he's not really cop? Well, I guess the Knight Watchman isn't a real knight, either. The Badge frees Reinstein from the ambulance, but one of the Nazis steals Reinstein's briefcase, which contains a top-secret formula. The Badge does something I didn't really expect him to for some reason -- he throws his shield, nailing the Nazi thief in the back. The Badge then accompanies Reinstein to the summit to guarantee his safety.

On to Thunder Girl, who, like the Blitz, was already on her way to the summit in her secret identity. In this case, it was with her friend Dr. Eureka and his colleague Dr. Igorski, in their latest invention -- an electric gyrocopter. They're accosted by a massive Nazi zeppelin, housing soldiers open fire on them. Molly turns into Thunder Girl, who covers the scientists' escape and takes care of the blimp with a simple hairpin.

See, that was simple. These are three page stories, that Badge one was so dense and overwritten (although that might have been intentional for all I know, that's kind of the point of Big Bang). Anyway, she naturally follows the copter to Washington.

The Knight Watchman's story begins as his wrist-mounted "Watch-Alert", which is evidently like the Bat-Signal crossed with Jimmy Olsen's signal watch, goes off just after he's finished his nightly patrol. Dr. Igor Eisner, a friend of the Knight Watchman's who appeared in a previous story, reports a break-in at his lab -- by Nazis, as you can no doubt imagine.

After reaching the scene in the Watchwagon, the Knight Watchman fights his way through Eisner's home to discover the scientist isn't there. It turns out he's being transported to Germany. Thinking quickly, the Knight Watchman rifles through Eisner's inventions to find a rocket pack he'd tested just a week ago

He soon finds them, rowing out to a U-Boat. Attacking the U-Boat with a grenade, the Knight Watchman scares its crew into submerging, leaving Eisner's captors literally high and dry. Eisner is rescued, and naturally the Knight Watchman accompanies him to the summit in case there's any more trouble.

Venus takes over. It turns out she's literally the goddess Venus. So, she was in Philadelphia (which might be her normal stomping grounds), escorting the French chemist Madame Furie to the summit. Furie looks little like the real Marie Curie, who was kind of emaciated; instead she looks like Wonder Woman's Golden Age pseudo-sidekick Etta Candy.

Venus and Furie are visiting the Liberty Bell at the moment, where they're surprised by a Nazi spy known as the Temptress. Via a weirdo gun, the Temptress gets the Liberty Bell to ring, a sound so cacophonous it knock Venus and Furie right out. When Venus comes to, she sees Furie being taken away by the Temptress (and she was also chained to the bell and stuff, but frees herself pretty easily). Incapable of catching the Temptress' car, she instead summons Pegasus.

It's pretty lucky that Furie wasn't injured in the crash, huh? That's the second time our heroes have endangered an innocent by deliberately provoking a car crash. Venus and Furie head to the summit atop Pegasus afterwards. Dr. Stellar, clearly regretting that he ever asked, tries to be like "Oh wow so it was the Great Minds Summit, that's great, see you later", but Venus passes the story on to Ultiman.

I was kind of bored of the formula, so it's good to see Ultiman changing it up -- he was already in Washington at the President's request, to serve as bodyguard to Winston Churchill. Churchill takes the time to see the Washington monument shortly before the summit is to begin. However, once he's inside, a steel door slides shut! Ultiman tears through it easily, but then the Washington Monument shoots out of the ground, because it's been turned into a rocket!

Ultiman finds the culprit, who is remote-controlling the rocket and plans to crash it into the White House to demoralize the Allied Forces. Naturally, Ultiman easily overcomes him and smashes his equipment, but this leaves the rocket unguided and it starts flying into space. Ultiman manages to save Churchill by grounding the monument in a really silly way.

Okay, so the conference is finally set to begin. All's well, right? As if. Nah; at the Smithsonian, the evil Henry Hyde reveals himself as the mastermind behind the whole thing. Born in the UK, Hyde was a brilliant scientist whose work was ignored due to his physical deformities. He moved to the USA, and was crushed when he wasn't invited to the Great Minds Summit. He swore he'd sabotage it and force the Allies to recognize his genius once and for all. And he still thinks he can, using his Anti-Matter Raygun to give life to the Smithsonian's exhibits!

Though "pandemonium results", Hyde's anger causes him to overload the gun, which blows up in his face, killing him. With the gun destroyed everything reverts to normal. One of the attending scientists realizes there's been some mistake -- he was mailed Hyde's invitation as well as his own, meaning Hyde did all this for nothing.

Despite this tragic development, the heroes are lauded by those in attendance, including Churchill, who compares them to the knights of his country's past. The seven of them band together as a force for good -- the Knights of Justice!