Generations
Infinity Inc #1
Cover Date: March 1984
Released: 22nd December 1983
New Year, new team! Welcome to 2022 to those who are reading along live.
And in my perfect timing, the book starts on Christmas Eve with a meeting of the old JSA. Not just the one I’ve been following in All-Star’s but the classic JSAers as well, which makes sense as the point is about handing the torch over between generations.
Talking of we start with the JSA having a meeting on Christmas Eve (and yes I appreciate the irony of being just a week or so out), far from the lean team from the end of All-Stars or the now gone team-up this is the full team of Gold, Silver and Bronze age characters. This will be important soon enough. It seems that some threat has bought the team together on the 24th to plan a way to stop the person involved.
Into this meeting burst four new heroes, teenagers if Alan Scott’s comments are anything to go with, offering to help the JSA with the current threat. Right now we don’t know who they are but this is the 2/3 of the core Infinity Inc team. Some of the heroes, including Power Girl square up with the new heroes, whilst the others just complain about how old they feel or how familiar they all seem to be. Helena finally convinces Diana to round them up with her lasso with one of them revealing that Wonder Woman is her mother. We then learn Fury is Lyta Trevor, daughter of Wonder Woman, Nuklon is Albert Rothstein, godson of the Atom, Northwind godson of the Hawkman and Silver Scarab is Hector Hall son of the Hawkman.
The elder heroes first chastise the younger heroes about them getting involved in the hero business, before going back and forward on whether to accept their help. After laying out that most of their villains are imprisoned in limbo the elders hustle the youngsters out to discuss what to do with them. Not having much else to do but wait we have a chance to go over some origin stories. Like how Hector remet Lyta at UCLA, the first meeting as a kid, and Lyta lived for a while in Paradise Island before going to a school where her 7 1/2 ft height drew a lot of attention.
The two then decided to form a super team together. We then cut to Nuklon who talks about being the grandson of the Atom and Terri, whose father was the villain Cyclotron. His dad was lost in the Vietnam war and his mother was a scientist, though it seems he inherited the Atom strength and durability in that dubious comic book kind of way. He gets asked to join the team by the two and give himself the very recognizable mohawk.
Finally, we get the Northwind talking about he’s from a hidden city of bird people and hatched from an adorable little egg. But we’ve not got time for any more back story as the adult are about to give a decision, Hawkman giving the deciding vote as they’re deadlocked seven to seven (it’s left for the reader to decide who voted for which, I suspect considering Kara and Helena voted to allow them to join). Before that, we get the eleventh-hour appearance of Obsidian and Jade, the children of Alan Scott, though he remembers nothing about them.
Even though the kids aren’t allowed to join the JSA Power Girl off of her own back, along with her girlfriend Huntress, and leave the JSA behind despite Star-Spangled Kid trying to stop them. In case you don’t remember all three of them were those that came into the JSA through the Bronze Age issues of All-Star Comics we’ve been reading along with, which I’m sure isn’t a coincidence.
With end the issue of the reveal of the villain for this story, Brain Wave, a villain with a long history with both the JSA and Power Girl herself!
Whilst it’s a little heavy-handed in both dumping a load of backstories and playing up the generational themes of the story, it’s a pretty solid set-up for the team going forward. And at least at this point Power Girl is a big player in helping the kids out, echoes of how it wasn’t that long that she was the newcomer and outside of the team. But that’s all for later issues!
⋅ Writers: Roy Thomas / Dann Thomas ⋅ Pencilers: Jerry Ordway ⋅ Inkers: Mike Machlan ⋅
⋅ Colourists: Anthony Tollin ⋅ Letterers: John Costanza ⋅ Editors: Roy Thomas ⋅
⋅ Writers: Roy Thomas / Dann Thomas ⋅ Pencilers: Jerry Ordway ⋅ Inkers: Mike Machlan ⋅
⋅ Colourists: Anthony Tollin ⋅ Letterers: John Costanza ⋅ Editors: Roy Thomas ⋅