All-Star Squadron #12

Availability

• 9.0VF/NMRaw, seller estimate$4.00

Raw books carry a seller estimate, not a third-party grade. Grading is a judgement, so treat the number as our honest read rather than a certificate.

Details

Publisher

DC Comics

Cover date

Aug 1982

Format

Comic

Pages

36

Variant

Direct Edition

Credits

writer

Roy Thomas

penciller

Adrian Gonzales

inker

Jerry Ordway

colorist

Carl Gafford

letterer

John Costanza, Ben Oda

cover artist

Joe Kubert

editor

Len Wein

Story

8 January 1942, speeding down a highway from Pennsylvania to Washington DC, Hawkman divulges to his companions (the Shining Knight & Winged Victory, Firebrand, Johnny Quick, and Liberty Belle) what he saw in the photo in Prof. Napier's house. It was evidence that the evil and very dangerous Doctor Anton Hastor may be alive. Hawkman recaps his origin story, including the part where he killed Dr. Hastor with a crossbow. They arrive at a bustling military base on the east coast, where FDR and Churchill greet them with the news that they've rejected the Axis offer of cooperation against the alien menace. Anton Hastor, in control of the Flying Eye, above the Atlantic Ocean, begins his assault on the United States, after revealing (to Hawkgirl and the Atom) how he survived his previous encounter with Hawkman. But first, there's some gloating, until the Atom lunges at him, and is knocked back with a psychic wave, from Hastor's technologically augmented brain, which now channels brain waves from the myriad of comatose scientists he's captured and contained in “cerebro-capsules” (which fuse the intellects of these geniuses into one vast collective unconsciousness). He also thwarts Hawkgirl's attempt to free Robotman and Commander Steel, then resumes his rant, telling now about the brain trust (Napier, and many others, from America, Britain, Russia, Germany, etc.) that naively developed the flying eye, in order to bring peace to the world, and how he had subverted their goals and used the eye for his own purposes. But then he had encountered Hawkman (whom he now knows to be Carter Hall), and been very nearly killed, but had escaped his burning laboratory through some watery passages, and had hid out for months, nursing himself back to health by “sheer mental effort.” And now the Flying Eye had arrived at the same military base as Hawkman's team, and attacks it with futuristic weapons, inflicting heavy casualties, while Hawk, Quick, Belle, and Firebrand stealthily use a hot air balloon to get atop the giant airship. They are admitted inside, thanks to Hastor's grandiose narcissism, but the villain's brain-wave-siphoning psychic powers are great enough to hold them off, even Johnny Quick. Acting on a complicated hunch, Hawkman uses the sacrificial crystal knife (which is his psychic connection to Prince Khufu) to battle Hastor, on the astral plane. The psychically-augmented Hastor gets the upper hand, but Hawkgirl intervenes, adding her own astral energy to Hawkman's cause. Hastor is defeated and the flying eye plummets toward the building where FDR, Churchill, and the Shining Knight are. Liberty Belle, acting on a complicated hunch of her own, gets Robotman, and then Commander Steel, to psychically take control of the brain-trust, their ship, and especially its engines, and this all happens very quickly. The crash is averted. The blade of Hath-Set joins its former wielder in oblivion, evaporating out of the Hawks' grasp. Hastor is captured alive. The Atom conjectures that the advanced airship will be concealed and the whole story will be classified Top Secret.

Characters

Hawkman (Carter Hall) · Johnny Quick (Johnny Chambers) · Hawkgirl (Shiera Hall)