Huntress, Wildcat and the other one – All-Star Comics #71

All-Star Comics #71

This whole story involves one scene of Power Girl, in her symbiotship having another Kryptonian life in Showcase #98. If you somehow missed it you can read it here.

This isn’t really an issue about the JSA it’s a way to introduce Helena Wayne, aka Huntress of Earth-2. It would be easy to skip this one and see how long the new Karen Star lasts, but Huntress is important to Power Girl and they become besties that lasted to the early 21st century. (Not always the other Huntress, but things will get complicated before she shows up.) So it’s worth looking at this introduction, and we get some Wildcat as well so a bonus!

So we get the three, oh yeah Star-Spangled Kid is here as well, trapped in a baseball stadium surrounded by the bad guy’s, Strike Force. They’re in a standoff when bold as you like Huntress pulls out her mini crossbow and starts fighting the villains. Wildcat and Kid join in even though they’ve just met Huntress and have no idea who she is right now. Wildcat and Huntress get a page to show their coil fighting moves, whilst Star-Spangled Kid gets shot in the back. And I have no dislike for the kid, it’s just not his finest moments. And as if I planned this the next page has him taking a blast from a massive laser cannon, whilst the other two run off to solve the plot.

Swinging away Wildcat presses his summon JSA button, y’know the one we’ve seen all the time before, we get Garrick being all sciency, Dr Fate holding off the next plot before disappearing into an ominous shadow. Back at the JSA they checked all the light of summoned JSAers wondering where everyone is, and we get a splash page showing what everyone else is busy doing – including our one appearance of Power Girl. In between we get Huntress revealling to Wildcat that she is Helena Wayne, daughter of Batman and Cat Woman, though she only gets a mention as the dead mother because apparently she’s a Disney Princess! 

Meanwhile, Star-Spangled Kid has been captured and locked into an energy-draining device and the leader of the Force is revealed as Arthur Pemberton! Apparently, he’s a nephew of Star-Spangled Kid, who gave up his fortune to become a superhero. I did not know this but there it is! Seems he’s been held for a ransom of One Million Dollars! Not sure if old Arthur knows they’re related it’s a little unclear, after all the Ransome is to the JSA, not the family.

Between them, Huntress and Wildcat work out that the baddies are hiding out at the racing stables on the outskirts of Gotham, nice to see she’s inherited the detective side of the family. They then burst in and but up the goons and free the Star-Spangled Kid, who after recovering get’s to punch out his own relative. He then quits the team for a while to sort out his family stuff.

And finally, we get a frame of Carter and Shiera being menaced by a shadow…

Y’know even Power Girl isn’t in this one it’s not terrible, it’s not amazing but it’s okay. As always there’s this shuffle of props in the background and we get things set up ready for the next issue when we’re getting the team back together.