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in: Irwin Hasen/Cover Artist, John Broome/Writer, Irwin Hasen/Penciler,
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All-Star Comics Vol 1 35

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"Justice Society of America: "The Day That Dropped Out Of Time"": The Justice Society of America convene at their headquarters only to find a mysterious shield inscribed with a message of thanks to the team in Macedonian. The curious thing is, none of t

Quote1 With the world brought back to the dark ages there's too much injustice for six people to handle! Quote2
— Atom

All-Star Comics #35 is an issue of the series All-Star Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1947.

Synopsis for Justice Society of America: "The Day That Dropped Out Of Time"

The Justice Society of America convene at their headquarters only to find a mysterious shield inscribed with a message of thanks to the team in Macedonian. The curious thing is, none of the members ever recall having seen it, nor how they got it. Wonder Woman uses the Amazons' Magic Sphere to examine the shield. The sphere then shows them the story of a mission that they do not remember.

The Sphere begins with "the change": an event that caused all technology to revert back to the middle ages. The change was caused when Per Degaton, a lowly lab technician, shot his employer, Professor Zee, and absconded with the scientist's newly-developed time machine. Degaton traveled back to 331 B.C., where he supplied the Persians with modern weaponry, enabling them to defeat Alexander the Great in the Battle of Arbela, which in turn caused all modern inventions to vanish from the 20th Century. Degaton, who had been hiding in an arsenal outside of the changed timeline, managed to conquer America handily.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Degaton only injured Prof. Zee, and didn't kill him. Zee got to a hospital, and then summoned the Justice Society to his bedside. He explained what happened, but as he was about to reveal the historical event he believed Degaton altered, the professor was shot again! At that point, several members set out to determine Degaton's origins and intentions, while Johnny Thunder, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern stayed behind to stand guard over the still barely alive Professor Zee.
The Flash visited a time capsule to see if he could recover some penicillin protected from the change. He stumbled onto Degaton and his secret arsenal. Degaton escaped, but Flash returned to the hospital with the penicillin for the Professor.
The Atom searched for Degaton to see if he could find out what historical event was changed. He found Degaton's army in the midst of looting homes and got the drop on them. By chance, he overheard that Degaton changed the outcome of a particularly crucial battle in history to effect the change, only to be knocked out by Degaton's henchmen. After regaining consciousness, he escaped and returned to report what he knew.
Hawkman set out to protect the Mayor of Gotham from Degaton's attack. He saved the mayor and returned him to city hall to help keep order.
Doctor Mid-Nite protected several of the nation's top scientists, fearing that Degaton would attack them to keep them from erasing his technological advantage. Dr. Mid-Nite was captured but escaped with help from the scientists. He then returned the favor by rescuing them from a firing squad.
The individual members all returned to the hospital. By that time, the penicillin had made Zee well enough to talk and he told them of Degaton's interference in the Battle of Arbela. Green Lantern set out alone to restore the timeline and found the villain and Zee's time machine. The Lantern attacked him but was knocked out; Degaton then sent him into the future. When he awakened, Green Lantern discovered he was ten years in the future. Upon being discovered by the rest of the JSA, he learned that they were all outlaws in Degaton's regime because of his failure to complete his mission. Using his ring, Lantern transported the entire JSA back to the fateful battle of Arbela and they successfully tipped the balance of power in Alexander's favor. In gratitude, Alexander awarded them the commemorative shield from the start of the adventure. After being defeated at Arbela, Degaton was sent back to his original point in time with his memory of his time traveling misdeeds erased.

With the timeline restored, the Justice Society no longer needed to go back in time as the change never happened. The JSA thus returned to their own time with only Alexander's shield as a memento.

Appearing in Justice Society of America: "The Day That Dropped Out Of Time"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Per Degaton (First appearance)
    • his henchmen
      • Kale
  • Sultan of Persia

Other Characters:

  • Benson
  • Joe
  • Mayor of Gotham
  • Professor Appleby
  • Professor Braun
  • Professor Staley

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Notes

  • The logistics of using a time machine to alter history are extremely hazy in this story. There is no explanation given as to why changing the outcome of one specific historical event would lead to all modern (at the point in time this issue was published) technology being erased. Nor is it clear why - if Degaton managed to prevent modern devices from ever being invented in the first place - the JSA or anyone from modern times (1945) would remember them having existed at all. Quite conveniently, the JSA's own unique devices - GL's power ring, Hawkman's wings, Mid-Nite's blackout bombs, the serums Flash used to gain superspeed - were not negated by Degaton's time meddling. (Wonder Woman's own devices hail from Amazonian technology / magic that likely predates Alexadner the Great, so at least there is a reason for her equipment to remain intact.) Likewise, how the JSA end up with Alexander's shield doesn't make sense, since their involvement with the battle was erased from history, there would be no reason for them to be awarded it. Finally, there is no cause/effect correlation to defeating Degaton at Arbela and him returning to his original point in time.
  • Despite his memories being erased, Degaton would later remember the events and once again steal Prof. Zee's time machine. He will interfere in history just prior to Pearl Harbor (pitting several JSA villains against them before they "first" encountered them) in a storyline featured in Justice League of America Vol 1 193 and the first three issues of All-Star Squadron Vol 1. In yet another story, he will set free the Crime Syndicate from their interdimensional prison, journey to Earth-Prime and inadvertantly causing a nuclear war to result from the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then challenge the combined heroes of the Justice League of America (from the pre-crisis Earth-I of the 1980s), the Justice Society of America (from the pre-Crisis Earth-II of the 1980s) and the All-Star Squadron (pre-Crisis Earth-II, circa 1942) before being defeated and reverted back to his starting point once again. All three of these adventures are thus removed from canon as they *technically* never happeend.) Finally, Degaton will join the Wizard's Injustice Gang in All-Star Squadron Vol 1 37.



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