StoryStory"Captains Cataclysmic"
Editor:Jack Harris
Writer: Bob Rozakis
Artist: Rich Buckler and Bob Layton
Letterer: Milton Snappin
Colorist: Jerry Serpe
Cover Art: Buckler and Coletta (signed)
Captain Cold - appears next in Justice League of America
#139
Star Sapphire II - appears as Debbie Darnell. Appears next in issue
#8
The Wizard
Funky Flashman
Captain Boomerang - Appears next in Flash #254
Copperhead - Last seen in issue #3
Captain Stingaree(Karl Courtney) - A Batman adversary who first
appeared in Detective #460. Last seen in Detective #462 -
Appears with the above villains as the Secret Society of Super-Villains.
Appears next in Detective #526
Lex Luthor - Seen only in shadows. Last seen in The Joker
#7.
Captain Comet
Green Arrow - appears next in Justice League of America #139
Black Canary - Last seen in Detective #464. Appears next
in Justice League of America #139.
Hawkman - Appears next in Justice League of America #139.
Captain James Carone and his 3 fellow NASA astronauts
Elderly woman who assaults Adam (Captain Comet) Blake
Captain Timothy Nolin of the S.S. Sunset and passengers
Jeff Peppard, captain/quarterback of Eastern division All-Star Football
team
Debbie Darnell makes her first appearance in this issue. Though it is
never revealed in the series, Darnell was a guise for the Star Sapphire
as revealed in Justice League of America #174. Her true purpose
in assuming this identity was never revealed.
Jack Harris becomes the third editor of the series in this issue.
The issue opens with Captains Boomerang, Stingaree and Cold taking off
in a boomerang spaceship, presumably from San Francisco. Shortly thereafter,
the three villains make an unscheduled arrival at Space-Lab, Earth's first
permanent habitable satellite. They surprise the crew of Space-Lab and
engage in a brief melee. Meanwhile at the JLA satelite, Captain Comet is
recounting recent events for Hawkman, on JLA monitor duty. As the alarm
sounds, Hawkman informs Comet that Space-Lab has just been invaded by three
of his former compatriots. Taking off quickly, Comet arrives in time to
meet the three villainous captains. As the battle begins to turn against
them, Captain Stingaree takes a hostage, Captain Carone of Space Lab. Unwilling
to risk the hostage, Comet seethes as the villains make their escape.
After tending to the other astronauts, Captain Comet returns to Earth and
assumes the guise of Adam Blake. After being accosted for trying to help
an elderly woman cross the street, Adam is "picked up" by Debbie
Darnell, a young woman who invites him back to her apartment. While the
Captain is distracted, the three criminal Captain sail alongside the S.S.
Sunset, a luxury liner and board her. The three stage a daring act of high-seas
piracy, robbing the passengers and kidnapping the captain of the ship.
Meanwhile at the Sinister Citadel, Funky Flashman and the Wizard discuss
the future of the Society. Flashman ridicules the actions of the 3 captains
as "bad P.R." and assures the Wizard he will be the master of
the new Secret Society, an initiation to begin as soon as he gets through
watching the afternoon football game. In Star City, Green Arrow is preparing
to do precisely the same thing with Dinah Lance, only to have his afternoon
disrupted by a visit from Captain Comet. Comet has explained that he needs
the two JLAers aid in tracking down his quarries, but Green Arrow scoffs
with disinterest. Black Canary, however, agrees to accompany the Captain.
As the two depart, Green Arrow loses TV reception at a rather oppurtune
moment.
As the game commences, the ball is intercepted by a boomerang and Captains
Cold, Boomerang and Stingaree charge the field. Easily defeating the football
players that rush to intercept them, the villains are jarred by the sudden
appearance of Captain Comet and Black Canary. As the tide of battle turns
against the Captains, Stingaree takes the captain of the football team
hostage. Learning his lesson from the last time, Comet moves quickly and
disarms Stingaree, freeing the football captain. Stingaree gloats that
the heroes will never find the other two hostages in time, even as his
comrades warn him of Captain Comet's telepathy. Snatching the location
from Stingaree's mind, Comet and Black Canary race to a cold storage facility
where the two hostages are held prisoner, tied to a metronome. The heroes
free the captains, pondering why the villains bother with such bizarre
and complex crimes.
Back at the Sinister Citadel, Flashman gloats that the three villains have
reaped a just reward, even as Copperhead returns to the Sinister Citadel.
His arrival surprises Flashman and the Wizard, but not so much as the identity
of his mysterious guest. The guest, hidden in the shadows, claims the Society
is a secret no more and he has arrived to assume leadership.
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