All-Star Squadron #53 is an issue of the series All-Star Squadron (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1986.
Synopsis for "Worlds in Turmoil"
Nyola calls on the power of the Aztec rain god, Tlaloc, allowing her to cast lightning down at prisoners from the wall of a prison. The heavy rain also allows Ramulus to grow giant vines to enter the prison himself, who disbelieves that she actually called in these storm clouds. Mr. Mind’s Mindtripper soon flies in to demand a guard show him where a certain prisoner is and Mr. Who runs in to his Solution Z to grow into a giant and rip the cell door off its hinges. Suddenly, Superman flies in to punch him back, knocking over Mr. Who’s glasses and tearing up Ramulus’ tendrils with ease. Nyola calls down more lightning to strike Superman, knocking him into the cell door again and one of Ramulus’ vines heads into the cell to find its resident. Superman decides the flying microphone is the one in charge and Mr. Mind, knowing better than to tussle with the Man of Steel, teleports all five members of the Monster Society of Evil away… The guard tells Superman who it was that escaped… and Superman is just as confused why they’d want him of all people…
Back at their new hideout, the rest of the Monster Society of Evil are confused to say the least that they have rescued… the Dummy, an apparently-living dummy who Mr. Mind likes because he resembles his favorite radio “star,” Charlie McCarthy. The Dummy asks how he intends to conquer the Earth (especially considering even the Axis Powers aren’t doing that well a job of it,) but Mr. Mind is rather confident in his abilities. The Dummy offers they make a “few” suggestions (like not fighting superheroes and changing their name,) but Mr. Mind decides he doesn’t want any more suggestions from him, revealing his true form only to the Dummy. Nyola and Ramulus are equally pensive about not actually seeing their new leader and the Dummy quickly meets Mr. Who.
Superman soon heads to the Trylon and Perisphere where he finds Winged Victory is there and is reminded that Gernsbeck runs the place like a butler after Robotman fixed him up. He heads in to find that among the All-Stars assembled are Hawkgirl, Hourman, Shining Knight, Sandy the Golden Boy, but also now Tarantula, Amazing-Man, Robotman and even Dr. Occult, the Psychic Detective! Hawkgirl points out the rest of the JSA seem to now be missing, including (but not limited to) the Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Thunder, Starman, the Sandman, the Spectre and the Mighty Atom! Further, when Hawkgirl got to the JSA brownstone and found the Monster Society of Evil there and Oom the Mighty teleported Dr. Fate to the dark side of the Moon. Even worse, Firebrand followed a mysterious woman named into an energy vortex and Green Lantern, Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle followed her into a hole in the sky and disappeared too. Tarantula offers that Hourman, due to not wanting to use his Miraclo pills, should stay behind to watch the base (though Rex is a little bitter about it.) Soon enough, Robotman kicks on the Communi-Screen to find the Crimson Avenger is ready with the rest of the Seven Soldiers of Victory at his place, but things are coming through heavy static. Shining Knight decides to fly there personally to warn them and Sandy decides he’s going with Hawkgirl. Robotman offers they try to find more and offers the ones they haven’t tried calling: Sargon the Sorcerer, Mr. Terrific, Batman, Wildcat, the Flash, Manhunter, TNT and Dyna-Mite, Zatara, Air-Wave or their rarest member, Earth-Two Aquaman. Soon enough, the others head off to try to stop the Monster Society, not even aware of the Crisis on Infinite Earths that has dragged away Firebrand. At the Perisphere, Hourman stands alone…
Meanwhile, Mr. Who decides he’s not as keen on Mr. Mind’s plan of complete conquest and that they mostly just want money and reveal that Oom the Mighty has returned, claiming that he’s managed to kill Dr. Fate and will crush Mr. Mind as well, destroying his Mindtripper the second that the Dummy reveals he stole the Red Moonstone of Yzgartyl with some kind of dark magic and they throw it out of a new hole in the roof. However, Oom easily knocks aside the Dummy and declares he’s running the Monster Society of Evil! He quickly renames it the “Society of Oom”… and immediately the rest of them find Oom also only wants to conquer Earth instead of robbing anywhere. Mr. Mind escapes into another glowing portal created by Harbinger traveling between dimensions, racing past Green Lantern, Liberty Belle and Johnny Quick to arrive in a world he sure hopes doesn’t have any super-heroes… not realizing that he’s already back home on Earth-S…
The three heroes soon find that they certainly don’t seem to be on Earth exactly… and Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle are suddenly swallowed whole into a blinding white light. Green Lantern finds his green rays have no effect on this nothingness… and Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle soon find that one of the same “sky-holes” is where most of the All-Star Squadron members went like Tarantula, Amazing-Man and, mostly confusingly, also Green Lantern. This seemingly older Green Lantern notes that these heroes of the past don’t quite get that Harlequin is his wife of some years. Tarantula is unnerved to find villains like Deathbolt and Star Sapphire are there, only for Harbinger to interrupt and begin telling them a great story along with her companion, Pariah. Some time after this, they head out to Earth-One’s July 1985 to try to save people from a giant tornado that shoots lightning out of it. Johnny Quick finds he can’t exactly both fly and create a counter-wind to undo a tornado, though a different-speaking Dr. Fate says it’s fine. Wildcat, meanwhile, is struck by red lightning while trying to help a civilian and being attacked then by a spiraling beam of energy. Liberty Belle, on a nearby rooftop, finds that Johnny Quick has fallen too far for her to see him anymore, so she decides to use her sonic powers to try to help Wildcat and Tarantula uses his Stickum from his Webgun to drag him closer, warning that he could still be filled with electricity. Tarantula asks where Johnny is, but Liberty Belle doesn’t know as Amazing-Man saves Johnny by grabbing some rubber bands from a trash can to become rubbery to bounce the Flying Speedster to safety. Nearby, Zatanna, the Thunderbolt and Dr. Fate team up to destroy the lightning tornado and Dr. Fate says whatever caused it crashed in a billboard nearby. A similarly-older Flash arrives and says that the tornado was caused by none other than… the Red Tornado! Green Lantern appears and says that Harbinger has said that he, Power Girl, Johnny Quick and three villains, Deathbolt, Star Sapphire II and Per Degaton, need to team up to stop something important and Johnny kisses Liberty Belle before he has to leave. Liberty Belle thinks on if this can be solved, maybe it’ll all go back to normal and all they can do is to keep on fighting...
Appearing in "Worlds in Turmoil"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Batgirl
- Black Canary
- Black Lightning
- Blue Beetle
- Captain Comet
- Cyborg
- Elongated Man
- Geo-Force
- Green Arrow
- Harbinger
- Harlequin I
- Jade
- Jericho
- John Stewart
- Justice Society of America (1985 version)
- Katana
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Martian Manhunter
- Nuklon
- Pariah
- Red Tornado II
- Supergirl
- Swamp Thing
- Superman
- Yolanda Montez
- Zatanna
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Gernsback
- Winged Victory
- Cyclotron
- Tlaloc (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Monitor's Satellite
- Mr. Mind's Mindtripper (Destroyed)
Concepts:
Notes
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Justice Society Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- All-Star Comics (Volume 1)
- All-Star Squadron (Volume 1)
- America vs. the Justice Society (Volume 1)
- Infinity Inc. (Volume 1)
- JSA (Volume 1)
- JSA (Volume 2)
- JSA: All Stars (Volume 1)
- JSA Classified (Volume 1)
- JSA: Strange Adventures (Volume 1)
- JSA vs. Kobra (Volume 1)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 1)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 2)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 3)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 4)
- Last Days of the Justice Society Special #1
