The Eagle (Alfred Pennyworth)

Amateurs made Batman nervous. There were exceptions — including, he'd grudgingly admit, Batwoman — but generally the would-be crimefighters who'd used Gotham as their launching pad were more trouble than they were worth. Particularly those with hidden agendas. Even now, Deadshot weighed heavily on the Dark Knight's mind.

All of these thoughts ran through Batman's head on a summer evening in 1959 (BATMAN # 127, art by Dick Sprang and possibly written by Bill Finger). While making an appearance at the Gotham Book Fair, he and Robin had leaped into action to prevent the Joker's theft of the proceeds but found themselves locked in an armored car instead. In the darkened interior, the Dynamic Duo watched in astonishment as the reinforced metal doors crumpled before them. of course, they must have thought, Superman was paying one of his frequent visits to Gotham.

Not quite, they soon learned — unless the Man of Steel had taken to dressing like a bird. the stranger was covered head to toe in an orange/tan feathered costume, complete with sharpened claws on his hands and feet and a beak to match, brown tufts on his forearms and calves, a feathery brown cape, and a red chest icon displaying the United States' noble symbol. "I must conceal the secret of my REAL IDENTITY, gentleman, but you may address me as the Eagle. With my unusual powers, we can battle against crime side by side."

With the Dynamic Duo bringing up the rear, the Eagle pursued the Joker towards some of Gotham's ubiquitous giant props, in this case gargantuan replicas of books such as "Treasure Island" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood". Escaping the heroes through a passageway in "Doorway To Laughter", the villain cackled that "there's nothing like losing yourself in a good book!"

If Batman and Robin had been surprised by a new hero muscling into their team, they were completely thunderstruck to find him waiting for them in the Batcave. the Eagle was Alfred Pennyworth!

While cleaning the Batcave's trophy room, the butler had lost his balance and become entangled in the wires of a super-weapon confiscated from "Doc" Cranium. the weapon, in turn, fired a bolt of energy into a crystalline space artifact contributed by Superman. the crystal reflected the force back at Alfred and the end result, he declared, was that "I'm INVULNERABLE! I can LEAP hundreds of feet and LIFT a ton. You WILL accept me as a third member of your team, won't you?"

Alfred had always aspired to be a crimefighter, even going so far as to borrow Batman's costume early on and masquerade as the Dark Knight (1944's BATMAN # 22). and Batman had to acknowledge that he'd benignly supported such activities by asking his trusted friend to impersonate him on multiple occasions (BATMAN # 55, 87, 94, 117, 120). What else could he say but yes?

The following morning's encounter with the Joker seemed to fulfill all of Batman's misgivings. Displaying the grace of his namesake, the Eagle soared into the air towards the rogue's perch on a podium. Unfortunately, he overshot the Clown Prince of Crime, leaving evidence of his passage in two successive billboards. Even as the Joker was climbing to the safety of a helicopter and Batman and Robin were swinging towards him, the Eagle was attempting to salvage his first attempt by using super-strength to tear a giant net from the billboard he'd just damaged. Instead of snaring his target, the Eagle only succeeded in tangling his partners in the webbing.

Undeterred, the Eagle promised "an amazing example of super-strength coupled with super-ingenuity" as the Joker and his gang fled the Museum of Egyptology. Blocking the underpass on the escape route with a looming bronze statue of Anubis, the Eagle swooped in to knock the villain out cold. Ominously, the Joker laughed off the blow and responded with one of his own that rendered his opponent senseless. Diving into the fracas with a pair of chariots, Batman and Robin deflected the Joker and company's barrage of spears and left the entire gang sprawled on their backsides.

His powers now evaporated, Alfred took a degree of satisfaction in that evening's Gotham Globe, which played up the Eagle's role in the capture. "I guess I WAS pretty good, after all. A little more experience and I might have surpassed you and Robin."

"No doubt about it, Alfred," Batman smiled. "Lucky for us, you lost your powers."

Whatever Alfred's failings as a super-hero may have been, he was a truly good man and a selfless friend, facts that were proven beyond a shadow of a doubt only five years later. In 1964, taking the force of a falling boulder meant for Batman and Robin, Alfred Pennyworth gave his life for his friends (DETECTIVE # 328).

A medical examiner had confirmed that Alfred was dead and yet, against all reason, the noble butler was discovered days later in a state of semi-consciousness within his refrigerated crypt. the intervention of an eccentric scientist saved Alfred's life that night ... and unintentionally gave birth to the butler's dark side while he tried to restore his health. In possession of an impressive complement of psionic powers, the strange albino-like being declared himself the Outsider, sworn enemy of Batman and Robin (DETECTIVE # 356).

Did dormant super-energy in Alfred's body pull him back from the jaws of death — and perhaps influence his transformation into the Outsider? the 24-hour career of the Eagle may have been more significiant than anyone realized.

El Dorado

See the JLA Appendix

El Dragón

Alter Ego: Miguel Rodriguez
Occupation: Adventurer
Known Relatives: None
Team Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Unrevealed
First Appearance: The Super Dictionary #nn (1978)
Height: ~ 6 ft. 1 in. Weight: ~ 190 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History: El Dragón is as brave as his namesake. He uses his mental control over all things electrical to wage a never-ending battle against crime.

Weapons and Powers: El Dragón has mental control over things that use electricity.

Comments: El Dragón was born in May. He is single, and owns a pet parrot. El Dragón appeared in The Super Dictionary, published in 1978 by Warner Educational Services, Inc. and Holt, Rinehart and Winston on Canada, Ltd. (ISBN 0-03-043756-3). The character of El Dragón is copyright (c) 1978 by Warner Educational Services, Inc.

The Elementals

On a June morning in 1978, four enormous jewels were sighted in and around the United States — a ruby near the Gotham City Police Station, an emerald atop Metropolis' Galaxy Building, a diamond outside New York City's United Nations and a sapphire on a beach near Aquaman's sanctuary.

As each location's resident super-hero stepped forward to investigate, the gems opened to reveal strange beings. Superman, for instance, found a hooded man in brown calling himself "the Gnome — master of Earth." The Gnome possessed super-strength, magnetic powers, the ability to phase through solid matter and, most significantly in this case, the gift of transmutation — which he used to convert the emerald into Kryptonite.

Elsewhere, Aquaman was facing a woman in a blue/green scaled costume who called herself the Undine and possessed total command of any water body. Learning that the Sea King would not be harmed by a crushing wave of water, the Undine caused the ocean to recede from his presence instead. Aquaman's invocation of Proteus' name led the water elemental to transform herself into a gorilla. "Like many other sea deities, I share his shape-shifting abilities."

In New York, Wonder Woman clashed with a blonde woman in light blue known as the Sylph. In addition to the power of flight and control of the wind, she also commanded lightning and could become "as intangible as air."

And finally, in Gotham, Batman was menaced by the fire-wielding female in a scaled red costume. Though hampered by a costume that blocked her power ("That stupid Overlord! He has given me a fire-proof costume which my flame cannot penetrate!"), she managed to hold the Dark Knight at bay with unrelenting bursts of fire emitted from her eyes and mouth.

Rushing to the rescue were Robin, Wondertwins Zan and Jayna and their alien monkey Gleek. The Salamander was doused by Zan (in the form of a wave), the Gnome was rendered unconscious by Robin's gas pellets and the Sylph was hypnotized by Jayna (in the guise of an Exorian bird known as the Thrib). Elsewhere, Gleek distracted the Undine with his elastic tail while Aquaman summoned help from the creatures of the sea. The water elemental picked up the telepathic command herself and immediately called a truce. "I read your thoughts — enough to detect the way I had been deceived — when told you were a villain."

The four elementals were brought to Gotham's Hall of Justice, where Batman recognized them as four members of the nouveau riche whom he and fellow millionaire Sandor Fane had played host to the previous evening. The Gnome, brown-haired token male in the group was Arden Chemicals' founder Grant Arden ("I've lost track of your patents," joked Bruce), the blonde Sylph was singer-songwriter Jeannine Gale (whose "Bright Day" release had just become her sixth gold record), the red-headed Undine was author Crystal Marr (with four best-sellers — including the new "Ice In August" — to her credit and another, "Requiem For A Fallen Sparrow," on the horizon) and the raven-tressed Salamander was "the nation's leading couturiere" Ginger O'Shea (owner of the Gotham-based Chez O'Shea, first mentioned in SUPER FRIENDS #6).

After Bruce had said his goodbyes and left the table, the conversation turned to Fane's recent discovery of a manuscript believed to have been written by 16th Century alchemist Paracelsus. "In those days, it was believed that there were only four elements — earth, water, air and fire. Paracelsus wrote of spirits which inhabited these elements — gnomes in the earth, undines in the water, sylphs in the air and salamanders in the fire." In Fane's newly-exhumed document, the alchemist "claimed he had found ways of summoning elemental spirits!"

Fane offered to demonstrate the technique for the quartet, who unwittingly found themselves serving as hosts for four elementals. Those beings picked up the story before the assembled Justice Leaguers. "We are elemental spirits who now co-habit the bodies of four humans. We were given these forms by one called Overlord, who told us you were evil-doers we should destroy. We know little of your human affairs in our realm. We believed him. And thus we came near to losing our chances to gain souls."

"We live 300 years ... then Sylphs turn into mist — Undines into foam — Gnomes into dust — and Salamanders into ash. You see, there are ways for elementals to obtain souls — if they can first gain material bodies. Yes — by marrying a human — or doing good over a long period. Thus we felt that by becoming heroes and battling evil, we could succeed."

Released from the elementals' control, the four Gothamites were unanimous in their anger at Sandor Fane (revealed as the Overlord) and their opposition to becoming costumed crimefighters. Even Jeannine Gale, who'd met the League in 1977 (SUPER FRIENDS #4) and even written a song in their honor for the annual Justice League telethon (#5), wanted no part of it. "We WORKED to get where we are," Crystal pointed out. "We have the careers we WANT — and super-heroing is OUT!"

Superman admitted that they might not have a choice in the matter. "Those spirits can take over your bodies any time they want" and they couldn't necessarily be exorcised. Ultimately, the League managed to convince the quartet to accept at least a trial period of cohabitation with the spirits in order to have their revenge on Sandor Fane. "Look," said Grant, speaking for the group, "we won't like it, but we can put up with these parasites — for a while anyway."

"WE won't be the super-heroes," added Ginger. "Not really" (SUPER FRIENDS #14, by E. Nelson Bridwell, Ramona Fradon and Bob Smith).

The Elementals took ownership of their super-powered personas by junking the impractical Overlord-created outfits in favor of four toga-style costumes of Ginger's own design. The Salamander wore orange, the Undine green, the Sylph blue and the Gnome black. A unifying triangle belt emblem with slight permutations appeared on each costume. Chemist Grant Arden added that "I had to come up with fabrics our ... er ... alter egos could wear without tearing them to pieces with their powers."

The Undine explained that Grant "made my costume mostly of water — which he tells us is used in many man-made fabrics. And that means it is under my control — I can change its shape even as I change mine. When I change identities, I can turn the costume into Crystal's clothing. This one outfit can be used as her entire wardrobe."

"And mine is flame-proof," the Salamander added, "but porous, allowing my fire to go through it without harming it. It's also quite elastic ... for when I use ANOTHER of my powers."

The Gnome's "uniform is made of metallic threads, so my powers work on it. When I pass through this stone wall, the fabric does, too — with ease."

The Sylph's "costume also is made of a common ingredient of modern fabrics — air! And of course, it responds to my powers — and becomes invisible and intangible as air when I make Jeannine's clothing visible and tangible. You see, I wear TWO outfits at once — but only one at a time can be seen and felt."

And with that, the Elementals were ready to take on the Overlord. Sandor Fane, meanwhile, was in a panic over the fact that the Elementals had revealed his true identity to the League and were certain to track him down. Manipulated by his scheming Underling, the Overlord opted to unleash four simultaneous element-themed preemptive strikes and boasted to the Justice League that they would be unable to stop them.

In Texas, the Overlord had set his sights on the Wayne Petroleum Complex, a deliberate slap at Bruce Wayne, whom he'd learned was bankrolling the Elementals. The Sylph used her powers to unleash a blizzard on the site and stop the oil that was flooding the complex while Robin defeated the villains who were intent on setting the fuel ablaze.

Meanwhile, Aquaman was rushing to his native Poseidonis, now threatened with flame of a different sort — the legendary Greek Fire that burned when it reacted with water. With the Undine diverting the water currents away from the Atlantean city, Aquaman dealt with the men who were pumping the fire into the sea.

In the skies above Paradise Island, Wonder Woman and the Amazons launched a desperate attempt to save their home from a carefully-directed meteor shower. They were joined by the fiery Salamander, who momentarily transformed into flame and rematerialized as a giant, her costume remaining intact. Now she found it "simple enough to burn them — even vaporize them — in my hands."

The Elemental most in tune with the soil of Earth found himself in the uncomfortable position of being off-planet as he and and Superman joined forces to defend the JLA satellite. The structure was being rocked by solar winds and only the Gnome's magnetic powers kept it from plunging out of orbit or, alternately, into the sun. While the Gnome literally held the fort, the Man of Steel discovered another satellite of unknown origin that was manipulating the solar winds AND directing the meteor shower towards Earth. "Must have cost him millions of dollars and months of preparation," Superman thought as he drew back his fist, "for something I can wreck with one punch!"

Elsewhere, The Batman and the Wondertwins were approaching an ancient castle that Sandor Fane had brought to America as part of his collection of medieval artifacts. The Dark Knight was convinced that the Overlord was using the structure as his base. The battle ended with surprising ease. While the Wondertwins (transformed into a triceratops and Jack Frost) defeated Fane's knights, Batman pulled the would-be conqueror from his throne.

Lost in the confusion was the Underling, who secretly smirked that he'd been running the show from the start. "I had the ideas — but not the money to carry them out. That's why I needed Fane — and used him, while pretending to be his servant. He TRUSTED me — and I spent his money to build an organization — FOR MYSELF. I've transferred the bulk of his wealth to MY secret accounts. He's practically penniless now. And," he concluded, placing Fane's crown on his head, "I am the Overlord!" (SUPER FRIENDS #15, by Bridwell, Fradon and Smith)

With their female plurality, the Elementals were a unique super-team in 1978 and, frankly, in most years before and after. Still, despite E. Nelson Bridwell's expressed desire to revisit the characters, the quartet never appeared again. The ongoing saga of the Overlord (which continued in issues #25, 39 and 43) seemed to be heading for a climax when SUPER FRIENDS was cancelled and the Elementals would have been logical players in the inevitable wrap-up. Evidently, though, the reluctant super-heroes decided to pass on the opportunity to fight crime, leaving the job to more experienced metahumans like Superman and Wonder Woman.

Element Girl

Element Girl Stats:
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Hair: Green (as Urania: Blonde)
Eyes: Black (as Urania: Blue)

Element Girl was originally Urania "Rainie" Blackwell, a U.S. espionage agent who successfully infiltrated the European crime syndicate known as CYCLOPS (mentioned above in Mikishawm's "Queen Bee" biography. Unfortunately, the unsecure Urania fell in love with and married the leader, the terrorist codenamed Stingaree. She was spurned by the man she fell in love with, and volunteered for a mission to expose herself to radiation in an Egyptian temple. This action was duplicating the process by which a man named Rex Mason became Metamorpho, the Element Man.

Like Mason, Urania became an elemental being, looking almost exactly like the freakish Metamorpho (except for getting long green hair instead of Rex's baldness). Shocked by her new appearance, Urania sought out Metamorpho's help in defeating Stingaree and CYCLOPS. (METAMORPHO (Vol. 1) #10, January-February 1967)

Following this incident, Urania adopted the codename "Element Girl" and hang out with Metamorpho from time to time. Noted mostly for being inactive in the background (METAMORPHO (Vol. 1) # 11, March-April 1967), or getting kidnapped by the evil Professor Zorb and turned against her allies (METAMORPHO (Vol. 1) #12-13, May-August 1967), she nevertheless acted as a full-fledged heroine against such menaces as the midget Thunderer, who actually managed to split Metamorpho and Element Girl into three beings apiece. Luckily, a teenage genius put them back together. (METAMORPHO (Vol. 1) #14-15, September-December 1967).

When Metamorpho was tried, sentenced, and executed (obviously, it didn't work) for the murder of a Wally Bannister (Sapphire Stagg's former husband), Element Girl was there to save him. Together, they then encountered Algon, an ancient Egyptian elemental like themselves, after which they went away to free Metamorpho from the false murder charges. (METAMORPHO (Vol. 1) #16-17, January-April 1968).

Shortly after this, the METAMORPHO series was cancelled, and the storyline remained unfinished. When Metamorpho next appeared, teaming up with the Batman in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Vol. 1) #101 (April-May 1975), he was free from the murder charges and Element Girl was nowhere to be seen.

Fact is, she wouldn't be seen for another twenty-two years. Metamorpho himself appeared from time to time, in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, WORLD'S FINEST, ACTION COMICS, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, in the mid-80s as a member of the OUTSIDERS, and still later in JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE, but no writer seemed to want to bring Element Girl back. Neither did she show up in CRISIS ON INFINITE EARHTS, HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE, or even WHO'S WHO, where such obscure parties as Automan, Claw the Unconquered, and Chris Kl-99 appeared.

Enter the Sandman. Just like yours truly, Neil Gaiman always had a soft spot for many of the lesser-known characters in the DC Universe. In SANDMAN #20, he taught us what happened to Rainie. She had developed romantic feelings towards Metamorpho, but Rex only had eyes for his Sapphire. Heartbroken, Urania had a breakdown, and spent many years completely alone, abandoned by her employers and afraid to interact in society, because of her freakish appearance. She considered suicide, but couldn't do it — a metamorph's greatest curse is that he or she is virtually immortal. No temperature, no poison, no known force on Earth can kill them.

However, Death of the Endless felt Rainie's despair, and comforted her. She herself couldn't give Rainie the peace she wanted, but she pointed out that one of her kin, Algon, had actually died (in METAMORPHO #17), so eternal peace was not impossible. Death then helped Rainie get into contact with the Egyptian Gods that had granted her her powers in the first place.

Rainie looked into the face of the sun god Ra, and finally made her peace with the Gods. She was transformed into dust and claimed by Death. (THE SANDMAN (Vol. 2) #20, October 1990)

After her death, Element Girl finally got her own Who's Who page in the loose-leaf format WHO'S WHO IN THE DC UNIVERSE #10, June 1991, featuring art by Colleen Doran and Malcolm Jones III.

Recently, she had a retrospective one-panel cameo, showing her interacting with Metamorpho, in SILVER AGE SHOWCASE #1, July 2000.

I think those are actually all of her appearances. I know Rex mentioned her in an issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE, but can't remember when.

The Emerald Eye of Ekron

The Emerald Eye of Ekron claims to have existed "for an incomprehensible time span" (LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (current) #120). "Were you but PART of a greater creature once, some prehistoric incarnation of the Green ?" the Emerald Empress once asked the orb (LSH (1984 series) #58).

The Eye was (re)discovered during an alien race's archaeological expedition in the late 20th Century (Earth-time) and, en route back to the aliens' planet, it killed the entire crew. The deaths may have been an accident. When discovered by L.E.G.I.O.N. member Garryn Bek, the Eye was sending an electrical charge through one of the victims in a futile attempt to revive him. In any event, Bek was selected by the Emerald Eye to be its new host (L.E.G.I.O.N.#11-12). The Eye soon developed an affection for Bek's wife, Marij'n, and allowed both to channel its power (#17). After taxing its energy to the limit in order to expel the Computer Tyrants (in a humanoid vessel known as Mister Starr) from the planet Talok VIII, the Eye vanished (#22) and the residual energy housed in Garryn Bek was exhausted soon after (#26).

During the 28th Century, the Emerald Eye of Ekron was the subject of a fierce civil war on the planet Venegar. The legend of its power still tantalized natives such as the Empress more than two hundred years later (LEGIONNAIRES #37).

By the 29th Century, the Eye had been enslaved by Mordru, who regarded the orb as a mere object of power rather than a sentient being. After Mordru's defeat (LEGIONNAIRES #48), the Emerald Eye eventually found itself in the possession of the centuries-old Scavenger. Late in the 30th Century, it was freed from its containment box during a clash with the Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH (current) #74) and established a bond with Shrinking Violet for an extended period of time (behind the scenes in LEGIONNAIRES #31 and explicitly in LSH (current) #83 through LEGIONNAIRES #50).

It eventually resurfaced, gathering the Empress, the Persuader, Tharok and Validus to unite with it as the new Fatal Five. Rather than relying on his union with human hosts, the Eye (displaying its speech capabilities) sought to strengthen its own abilities by serving a host, "one with simple aims and strong desire." He chose the Empress (LSH #120).

Origin possibilities:

1) THE WIZARDS OF EKRON:

The origin of the Emerald Empress of Earth-One was recounted by Jim Shooter in ADVENTURE COMICS #352:

"Venegar was the site of the long-dead Ekron civilization, whose astounding scientific secrets were all lost ... until" a native named Sarya discovered them in the mid-30th Century. Thanks to "an ancient map," she was able to locate the Crypt of the Eye. Resting on a green pedestal was the Emerald Eye of Ekron.

"The Eye possessed nearly unlimited power. To Sarya, it was a means of fulfilling her ambitions. ... It took only a few hours for Sarya to seize power and become the Emerald Empress. But her tyranny caused the people (of Venegar) to rise in rebellion." Observing that "even the Emerald Eye can't cope with so MANY super-weapons," Sarya fled into outer space and began looting space merchants to help bankroll the army she intended to gather. With the Eye behind her, the Emerald Empress became "the most wanted female criminal in the history of the universe."

The facts that the Eye might be sentient and that it used human beings as hosts were revealed in Sarya's final appearance (Paul Levitz's LSH (1984 series) #57-58). As the conflict with the Legion escalated, Sarya became a host for the globe's power, "burning with the energy from the Emerald Eye." The transformation was not without its price. "I've absorbed so much of your power these past few days, I can FEEL the change in my body," the Empress told the Eye. "I'm fading. You're killing me you silent monster — and you won't EVER let me die, will you ?"

When the Eye wouldn't grant Sarya the death she craved, the Empress approached Sensor Girl. "I know MORE of the Eye than you might DREAM, Sarya — for Orando is STEEPED in the magic of old, and I know the LEGENDS of Ekron — of wizards whose own magic CONSUMED them." Observing that "what the Eye cannot see, it cannot possess," Sensor masked Sarya and the world from the Eye. With a feeble "bzzzt," the Emerald Eye went black and Sarya withered into a crone and collapsed into a cloud of dust (#58).

Leland McCauley later formed a new Fatal Five, complete with an Emerald Empress (Ingria Olav) that he'd selected and provided with the Eye (LEGIONNAIRES #4). Olav, however, proved to be an unskilled coward and she was slain by the energy of a second Eye (#5), one that had selected Cera Kesh to be its mistress (#3-4). "Sadly for you," Cera told McCauley, "eyes comes in pairs" (#5). After convincing McCauley's Eye to align with her, Cera flew into outer space with plans to revive the Fatal Five. "The two Eyes BELONG together. They were MEANT to serve a single master ... The Emerald Empress" (#6).

Any details that might have been provided in regard to the Wizards of Ekron and the pair of Emerald Eyes were abandoned when the 2995 line of continuity was scrapped in the wake of ZERO HOUR.

2) KRYPTON:

While the Emerald Eye could be momentarily immobilized by a number of different external options, its only INTERNAL weakness was Kryptonite! In some manner, the radioactive rock played havoc with the Eye, rendering it virtually motionless (ADVENTURE #352) or leaving it dazed (SUPERBOY & THE LSH #247). Curiously, the Eye was capable of synthesizing K-radiation for offensive purposes without any ill effect (SUPERBOY & THE LSH #231 and LSH #303). Could the Emerald Eye be a lost artifact from Superman's home world ?

3) THE GOLDEN EYE OF EFFRON:

Effron was a mystic from the other-dimensional kingdom of Veliathan who clashed with Superman and Green Arrow twice in the early 1970s (WORLD'S FINEST #210 and ACTION #437) and, in an unrecorded duel, Superman and Batman. In the latter, the heroes confiscated the mage's hypnotic Golden Eye, an over-sized, oval-shaped eye that vanished from the Man of Steel's Fortress (SUPERMAN #268) and ended up, in miniaturized form, on the forehead of a would-be super-hero. Corrupted by power, the wizard refused to give up the power even after slimy green fallout from the magical energy began to blanket Metropolis. Luring the mage into space at a high rate of speed, Superman stopped short, came up behind him and grabbed the wizard. He stopped ... but the eye kept rocketing forward into deep space. The would-be hero regained his senses once the link with the Golden Eye was broken (SUPERMAN #273).

The similarities (Effron/Ekron; the parasitic aspect of the Eye; the emerald fallout; the last glimpse of the Eye speeding into space) are enough to make an argument for a possible connection.

4) THE LUCK LORDS and PENELO:

Both the beings of Penelo (GREEN LANTERN (second series) #159-160) and the trio of Luck Lords on Ventura (LSH (1984 series) #44-45) possess pupil-like heads. Any connection beyond that is purely speculative. Reader Andrew Capraro's suggestion that the Emerald Eye was linked to the Luck Lords was greeted by Paul Levitz as "an interesting suggestion" (LSH #62's letter column).

5) THE GREEN GLOB:

The Green Glob was a sentient emerald wraith that served as the catalyst in a series of stories in TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #83-98, 100, 102-103. In 1991, Gorilla Grodd captured the Glob ("some sort of cohesive plasma. Invisible, odorless, intangible, yet an almost LIMITLESS source of energy") and used it to alter reality (ANGEL AND THE APE (second series) #3). Grodd's grandson, Sam Simeon, attempted to "interface" with the Glob, which represented itself as three green objects, two green plates with a green globe sandwiched between them. The orb had a gaping hole in its center to simulate a lantern effect but, in something of an optical illusion, it sometime resembled a green eyeball.

The entity, Sam learned, was an early creation of the Guardians of Oa, one of a series of "undetectable machines ... incredibly powerful machines ... capable of warping the very nature of reality ... a teaching machine (that) temporarily warp(s) reality in order to teach a lesson."

Sam hoped to convince the Green Glob to heal the heroine Dumb Bunny, whose neck had been broken by Grodd, but the entity refused. "I cannot perform counter to my programming. Once a lesson has been learned, the fabric of reality must be restored."

"But ... I ... I wish to learn what a permanent change would do to your programming."

Pausing, the Glob replied, "Acceptable. It is done."

Suddenly, the green orb began to pulse and enlarge, repeating, at progressively higher volume, "I have transcended my programming!" Shrieking, "I AM FREE!", the Green Glob vanished in an emerald burst of energy (A&A #4). Its present whereabouts are unknown.

Is it possible that the Emerald Eye is one of the orbs created by the Guardians, one which, like the Green Glob, has "transcended its programming ?"

APPEARANCES:

THE EMERALD EYE (Earth-One):
Adventure Comics #352-353, 365-366, 378
Crisis On Infinite Earths #10
Legion of Super-Heroes (1979 series) #269-271, 299 (behind the scenes), 301 (behind the scenes), 302-303; (1984 series)21, 24-26, 53-54, 56-58
Superboy #198, 215, 219
Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #231, 246-247

THE EMERALD EYE (Earth-2995):
Legionnaires #2-6

THE EMERALD EYE (current):
L.E.G.I.O.N. '90 (et al.) #11-17, 19-22
Legion of Super-Heroes (current) #74, 76 (behind the scenes), 83-84, 120-121
Legionnaires #31 (behind the scenes), 33-34 (mention), 36-37 (mention), 39 (behind the scenes), 40-41, 45, 48-50

Evil Eight

As he was brought into custody, the Bounty Hunter assured the Fairfax police that he was going to reveal a spectacular story. Before he could utter another word, the assassin was gunned down by a robotic orb known as the Pupil. The Master did not tolerate betrayal (ADVENTURE COMICS #484, by Marv Wolfman, Don Heck and Dennis Jensen).

Within two weeks, the shadowy Master had gathered another eight operatives. His targets were the mysterious string of super-beings that had popped in Fairfax over the last few months. The Master insisted that were only two people behind the multiple heroes. Addressing his operatives, he announced, "I KNOW they are the same, for I know their SECRET — they possess the mystic power-dials. Dials I have been searching for — ever since I KILLED the man who created them. And you — my Evil Eight — you will help me FIND those dials ... and then help me CONTROL the world, as well!"

Who were the Evil Eight ?

  1. Covered in varying shades of green armor (with a red visor and belt), Arsenal declared that "no matter WHERE (his enemies) hide, I got me a weapon that can blow 'em straight ta kingdom come!"
  2. Chondak was a super-strong blue ape whose brain was visible in a clear dome.
  3. The woman with reddish-blonde hair had a crimson costume covering her torso, an orange cape and golden bracelets, necklace and belt. She was the Familiar. "Whatever I TOUCH, I can BECOME. This plumbing pipe is made of steel ... now, so am I."
  4. Ice King was capable of manipulating cold in a variety of ways, sending out blasts of frigid air and solid ice darts and well as travelling through the air on ice sleds. The bare-chested villain wore a silver helmet and blue and silver pants.
  5. Imagine Wolverine in his orange costume — with a wolf's head and hairy pelt covering most of his head and chest and the leftovers making up gloves and boots. This was the feral K-9. "I move like the wild dog whose blood I share. And I lust for your death ... like the man-killing wolf."
  6. Dressed in a black body suit covered by a white jacket and boots that climbed up his thighs, the reddish-brown haired man was a somewhat demented acrobat dubbed Maniak.
  7. Primarily outfitted in white (with a red cape and black face), Phantasm could turn himself immaterial and was capable of summoning demonic entities to attack his foes.
  8. The hulking Piledriver seemingly possessed steel arms and a matching torso along with long purple hair and red pants. "There ain't nothing I can't smash!" he boasted.

The heroes behind the "H" dials, Chris King and Vicki Grant, won their first skirmish, using the powers of Gravity Boy and the Hummingbird to defeat Chondak and Ice King. A second battle against the entire group left Chris and Vicki (as Blast Boy and Hydra) frozen in an iceberg, courtesy of the freed Ice King. The marauders' plan to steal an ion cannon was a success!

On orders of the Master, the members of the Evil Eight planted ion couplings at strategic locations throughout Fairfax in anticipation of a full-fledged takeover the following morning. With the push of a button, the city was sealed in a force field, "an incredible, unshatterable ion curtain." Within hours, the Justice League of America had been called to the scene but even the combined might of Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern failed to make a dent in the violet dome.

The heroes on the interior — now known as Electrostatic and Hyptella — evaded a tree trunk tossed their way by Chondak and the ghosts conjured by Phantasm. A fierce attack by K-9 left Electrostatic reeling but Hyptella seemed to have the lupine villain under her mental control. Smashing the ground with his fists, Chondak sent out "ripples of pure power ... shock-waves which cause the ground to fairly tremble." The staggering force was enough to knock the heroes unconscious.

Imprisoned by the Master, Electrostatic and Hyptella were stunned at just how much knowledge he possessed regarding their "H" dials. Aware that they would revert back to their normal forms within an hour, the villain simply needed to wait until that moment to take the talismans for himself.

Turning away from his captives for a moment, the Master placed a phone call to President Reagan, demanding "Fairfax as my own independent country." Advised that the resident heroes of Fairfax might yet pull off a miracle, Reagan stalled the terrorist, insisting on at least ten minutes to weigh his options. "Sighh ... nothing like THIS ever happened in my movies."

While the Master had been on the phone, Hyptella unexpectedly changed back to the smaller form of Vicki, quickly freeing Electrostatic, whose own electrical powers opened their cell before he reverted back to Chris. After that, the kids played a game of cat and mouse, evading the Evil Eight for an hour until the dials recharged. In the interim, they watched the Familiar touch a steel pipe and become a gleaming metal woman — and dodged the explosive darts fired by Arsenal.

After an agonizing sixty minutes, the kids became Lumino and Sonik, now able to project constructs of light and sound. Arsenal was taken down by Lumino's powers and the Familiar was sealed in a cage of solid light. Transforming herself into a being of the light, the villainess seemed triumphant until Sonik blasted her with "a shrieking wail ... a horrible, ear-shattering scream." The remaining sextet quickly fell behind their allies. With the exception of Piledriver, who resurfaced in 1998's JLA #18 (now sporting blonde hair), none of the eight rogues ever reappeared.

As the Evil Eight were taken into custody and the ion dome shut down, Lumino found a note from the now absent Master: "I know your secret, and one day I shall return to make that secret my own" (1981's ADVENTURE COMICS #485).

The Evil Eight were created by Roger Banham (Arsenal), Stephen Cappiello (Maniak), Marshall Ferguson (Ice King), Nelson Jimenez (Chondak), George Longley (K-9), Sixto Miguel (Phantasm), Ben Stillwell (The Familiar) and David Wile (Piledriver). The heroes were conceived by Gilbert Fein (Blast Boy), Karl Heitmueller (Lumino and Sonik), Christopher Kraska (Hyptella), Stephen Moore (The Hummingbird), Jeffrey Odenweller (Gravity Boy), Alicia Shing (Hydra) and J.P. Thill (Electrostatic). Putting it all together were writer Marv Wolfman, penciller Carmine Infantino and inkers Dennis Jensen, Frank Chiaramonte and Larry Mahlstedt.

The threat of the Master continued to loom in the background of Chris and Vicki's lives over the next several months as he menaced them from behind the scenes over and over again (ADVENTURE #488, 490; NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY #28, 35-37, 42-45). In one key adventure, Chris and Vicki joined forces with Superman to discover the source of the Master's seemingly endless supply of super-powered minions. From the Bounty Hunter and the Evil Eight onward, they'd all been clones, created using technology from the DNA Project and Simyan and Mokkari's Evil Factory (1982's DC COMICS PRESENTS #44).

A final clash with the Master's army culminated with the capture of Chris, Vicki and their cartoonist friend Nick Stevens, whose creations were somehow being manifested as the duo's heroic identities (NAOS #46-48) . Incredibly, the Master no longer remembered why he'd sought the dial. At that moment, a being known as the Wizard appeared, used a third dial and merged with the Master. In their place stood Robby Reed, the hero who originally dialed "H" for hero! (#49, plot by E. Nelson Bridwell, script by Bob Rozakis and pencils by Howard Bender)

During a battle with the villainous Shirkon, Robby found it necessary to become two people and dialed "D-I-V-I-D-E." He became both "the Wizard — filled with all the power of good magic" and an evil scientific genius that was Reed's double. The evil Reed commanded the dial to "H-I-D-E." The dial vanished...and with it, the memories of (Reed's) previous life." (NAOS #49). The dial reappeared on the parallel world of Earth-32 with the lost memories housed in an addled duplicate of Reed (PLASTIC MAN (second series) #13).

Meanwhile, the evil Reed (as the Master) gained access to the DNA Project (SUPERMAN FAMILY #194) and began creating his army of villains. To combat these marauders, the Wizard created two new "H" dials (NAOS #45) and arranged for two youngsters named Chris King and Vicki Grant to find them and become super-heroes themselves (LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #272). In a subsequent confrontation, the Master erroneously became convinced that he'd killed the Wizard (NAOS #45).

Ultimately, the Wizard located the original "H" dial and restored Robby to normal. Exhausted, Reed proclaimed himself retired from the super-hero game and presented his dial to Nick. "Obviously my good side saw a strength of character in ALL THREE of you — and since YOU are the one whose ideas became the heroes, you deserve to become those heroes too! Good luck ... all of you" (NAOS #49). "And then there were three!"

Executrix

1982: Star City was in turmoil thanks to strikes and dissension among its city workers. The situation was being aggravated by a conglomerate of white collar criminals and Green Arrow had learned that the mastermind was Machiavelli, a charismatic would-be politician with ties to the mob. The Emerald Archer had reckoned without Machiavelli's bodyguard, however. The flame-tressed assassin wore a red costume with long white boots and announced that "it's MY job to stop you ... if you intend to make yourself a pest." Pulling out "a pair of hand-held, high-tech, pinpoint-accurate lasers," the Executrix made it clear that she meant business.

Green Arrow leaped for cover behind an overturned table that was soon shredded by the onslaught of deadly beams of light. Crawling amidst his scattered arrows, GA spotted his "reflector-signal arrows. I normally use them to reflect sunlight ... and flash an occasional morse code S.O.S. ... but they've just been drafted for military service." The assassin's lasers bounced off the polished arrows, destroying her weapons in the process. With the Executrix pinned to the wall with half a dozen arrows ("You — you wouldn't hit a woman, would you ?"), the Emerald Archer learned the details of Machiavelli's scheme and prepared to expose him (DETECTIVE COMICS #523-524, by Joey Cavalieri, Irv Novick and Ron Randall).

The Executrix, after escaping from a Star City holding cell, went back into business, selling her services to those who could meet her price. By 1985, she'd altered her costume, retaining the red and white color scheme but exposing more flesh and pulling her darkened hair into a knot on her head. Rather than rely on a single weapon as she'd done with Green Arrow, the Executrix added a variety of pieces to her arsenal, ranging from a rifle to an assortment of knives and daggers to more "outre weaponry" that was only hinted at.

Her latest target was Ron Page (WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #313) , a whistle-blower who threatened to expose a cost-cutting move at Metrosteel that had resulted in tragedy. "A new, cheaper process in making steel ... also turns steel brittle, so that it shatters after a short while." Page revealed the details to a Daily Planet reporter but the Executrix murdered him before he could file the story.

Superman and Batman agreed to watch over Page until the story was publicized but the Executrix managed to capture him while on a train. Immobilized by sleep gas, Page was dragged to the Gotham City Bridge, where the villainess planned to throw him to his death. The Batman arrived but found himself held at bay as long as the Executrix was holding a knife to her hostage's throat.

Leaning against the bridge, both kidnapper and hostage suddenly fell backwards as the rail — manufactured by Metrosteel — began to crumble. Page grabbed onto the fragile rail while the Executrix clutched at his jacket, screaming, "This isn't happening! This wasn't supposed to happen! Save me!" As Batman pulled Ron to safety, the woman in red plunged into the river. "Fitting," the Dark Knight said. "You can call it justice."

"YOU might call it justice, Batman," noted Superman, bursting from the water with the unconscious Executrix in his arms, "But DEATH doesn't fit MY definition of the term" (WFC #314, by Cavalieri, Stan Woch and Alfredo Alcala).

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