Elementals in the park – Adventure Comics #463

The Night of the Soul Thief

Adventure Comics #463

Cover Dated: May / June 1979
Released: 8th February 1979

If there was any proof that I read week to week rather than reading ahead is that here we do get an issue that covers some of Helena dealing with her loss, though it does mostly involve punching people. We also get a return to the better team dynamics of Power Girl. Oh and the cover is a total lie nothing like that happens in the comic at all, Vaux is even a third act reveal not that he’s important enough for that to be a big deal!

We start with a cool group shot of the JSA running, with some major capeage before Dr Fate admits that he really doesn’t know where he’s going and takes off with Huntress to track down who gave Jensen his reality-warping powers. One neat little detail is that Helena and Dick are unmasked, but in costume, until the end of this issue. It’s a subtle nod that this is closure for Helena Wayne rather than Huntress solving a murder.

He then takes off with her to be the A-plot. Power Girl show some frustration but Flash sensibly points out that Dr Fate is in the dark as they are. They then have a quick race around the park discussing things out like “real” grown-ups, it’s mostly exposition being dumped (like Wildcat being left behind to recover), but it’s nice to see Kara in a conversation and not another bickering argument. 

We then get a Robin and Green Lantern scene where Dick explains how it’s not quite sunk in about Bruces death for both him and Helena. It also reveals that because they buried Bruce as batman the whole of Earth-2 knows who their secret identities. Which is probably the real reason they’re not wearing their masks right now, but I prefer my theory better!

Dr Fate isn’t faring much better in tracking down the source until he and Huntress see people being attacked by a hydra (the snake kind), though the comic calls it a water elemental and it has such a goofy face like that three-headed dragon meme floating around. The fight goes badly, Helena just has a crossbow and Dr Fate is apparently outmatched, so he surrenders to the creature’s master (unhelpfully with dialogue).

After more racing and conversation Power Girl does what anyone does in a park, at least in the movies, and try’s to buy them both hotdogs. That before a giant flaming creature, a fire elemental is you will, turns up and starts attacking the Gotham Coliseum. Power Girl does the sensible thing and starts punching the monster, with even more playful bickering, before Flash knocks into a fountain banishing the creature. Robin and Green lantern face some very handy tree’s, wood elementals for those keeping counts, struggling a little before Power Girl and Flash turn up to save the day. They don’t have much time to explain before some Earth Elementals turn up giving Power girl more things to punch. It’s not them that take them down but a cloud of poisonous gas (Air at a reach I guess?).

We then get the reveal of the big bad of the comic, Frederic Vaux, who’s offering the JSA up as sacrifices to the demons of chaos. He babbles on about this for almost a whole page, and whilst I doubt anyone was even thinking about the Lords of Order and Chaos in ’79 it’s interesting to think about the connection with later canon. He then begins to remove the memory of heroes existing on Earth-2. Apparently, this bringing of chaos free’s Dr Fate, a champion of Order, from his surrender and he revives the others to battle this villain.

Whilst they fight the elementals again Dr Fate uses the memory of Batman as Gotham’s protector as an anchor to halt the spell. This weakens him so Helena can give a very cathartic punch on the jaw, knocking the villain right out. Failing is not something the Lord of Chaos are big on as they apparently kill Vaux on the spot, or destroy his mind the issue is unclear. With reality still being in flux, Dr Fate does a mystical whammy so that everyone forgets that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person and Helena and Dick can resume their secret identities. 

Yeah, it’s a cop-out but I can’t help but enjoy this issue, probably because we get less of angry Power Girl and a better sense of her as one of the team. In fact, the whole team seem to be generally getting along well, I need at least a little function of my dysfunctional family!