All-Star Comics #15
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAll-Star Comics #15 marks the debut of Brain Wave (Henry King Sr.), the psionic supervillain who would become the Justice Society of America's most persistent Golden Age antagonist and later a founding member of the Injustice Society. The issue is also notable for sidelining the male JSA entirely and putting Wonder Woman — normally confined to her 'secretary' role — in the position of driving the plot, organizing the heroes' girlfriends into a makeshift squad to crack the case. This makes it one of the earliest examples in superhero comics of a supporting female ensemble taking the narrative lead, even if through the period-dated framing of the women dressing as their male counterparts. Brain Wave's introduction established a template for the cerebral, mind-powered antagonist that would echo through decades of JSA storytelling.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Introduction," the Brain Wave uses his mind-bending powers to materialize the Justice Society of America and trap them at Sharktooth Bay, recalling how his ability to conjure people from thought was born out of greed. With Wonder Woman and her girlfriends in danger, he attempts to exploit their emotions by projecting illusions of their boyfriends—only for Wonder Woman to break free and witness the Brain Wave’s final, desperate leap from the tower. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Joe Gallagher, with a cover by Frank Harry, this 1943 All-Star Comics issue delivers a classic pulp-style mystery with a twist of psychological suspense.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Introduction" from All-Star Comics #15 (1943), Wonder Woman finds the Justice Society absent from their usual meeting, each member leaving only a note citing urgent, secret missions. With the team scattered and a crisis unfolding, she enlists the women closest to them—each dressed as her lover’s heroic alter ego—to take up the fight and uncover the truth behind the chaos.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 1," Hawkman investigates a series of mysterious disappearances linked to a flash of light, leading him to Big Tiny—a man who believes the Feathered Fury is working for a sinister force known as The Brain Wave. With Tiny’s reluctant cooperation, Hawkman sets out for Sharktooth Bay, where a hidden tower holds the key to the strange phenomenon.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 2," Dr. Mid-Nite, his owl sidekick Hooty, and an amateur sculptor are baffled when their statues begin to move—only to uncover a shocking truth through the crooked Hunky Pollak: a mysterious force known as the Brain Wave is turning thoughts into real, living forms.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 3," Johnny’s disastrous Naval Officer Candidate School exam leads him to the suspicious Morrison Museum, a private collection masquerading as public. When the museum’s statues—Caesar and others—come to life before his eyes, the Thunderbolt arrives to restore order, only to find the ghostly figures vanished. As Johnny digs deeper, he uncovers hidden gems and the truth behind the theft, unraveling a mystery that’s as baffling as it is thrilling.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 4," former ballplayer Johnny Spartan struggles with lingering fear at the plate after a past injury, until a mysterious stranger offers a cure—only for it to backfire in ways that disrupt the game itself. When the Atom steps in to investigate a pattern of missed plays that seem too convenient, he uncovers a hidden scheme tied to gambling and deception.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 5," the Sandman’s haunting presence returns to plague wealthy men with terrifying dreams of blackmail and disappearance. When the nightmares escalate, Wesley Dodds and Sandy Hawkins suit up to uncover the truth behind the haunting visions—before the dreamer becomes the hunted.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 6," Edwin Ackerman wrestles with nightly phantoms that plague his sleep—until strange, tiny beings appear, even to Starman, pleading for him to halt his atomic work. When Ackerman recalls a childhood friend, Henry King, who once conjured companions from thin air, Starman begins to suspect a deeper connection, leading him toward the mysterious Brain Wave at Sharktooth Bay.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 7," the Spectre tracks a series of eerie, smoke-wreathed robberies, linking them to strange psychic phenomena reported by the Psychic Research Society in Boston. As he closes in on the truth, he races to confront the mysterious mind behind the crimes—the enigmatic Brain Wave—whose hidden tower looms at Sharktooth Bay.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Chapter 8," fanatical racketeer Gregory is haunted by the ghosts of his victims, driving him to seek redemption. Fleeing threats from those who would exploit his past, he turns to the enigmatic Dr. Fate in a lonely tower, hoping for salvation—and Fate, with quiet certainty, agrees to help.
In "The Man Who Created Images! Conclusion," the Brain Wave, a criminal with the power to conjure people from his mind, holds the JSA captive at Sharktooth Bay, driven by a past fueled by greed. As he targets Wonder Woman and her girlfriends by projecting illusions of their loved ones, the heroes must fight through the mental traps before the Brain Wave’s final, desperate act.
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The issue was written by Gardner Fox — the architect of the JSA concept and co-creator of many of its members — and edited by Sheldon Mayer, who had shepherded the series since its inception. Rather than a single artist, each chapter was illustrated by a separate Golden Age talent handling his assigned hero's solo segment, a workflow typical of the era's anthology JSA format; credited interior artists include Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Gallagher, and Stan Aschmeier, with the cover drawn by Frank Harry. The story's framing device — eight JSA members each sending Wonder Woman an apologetic letter rather than attending the monthly meeting — is a creative variation on the series' established anthology structure, unifying the solo chapters under a single villain before he was even fully named.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of Brain Wave (Henry King Sr.), created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Joe Gallagher — cover-dated February 1943.
- Brain Wave possesses the psionic ability to materialize realistic mental images and control them; the issue provides a backstory for how he developed and exploited these powers.
- Wonder Woman, serving as the JSA's secretary, drives the framing narrative: she organizes the heroes' girlfriends (including Inza Cramer, Dian Belmont, Doris Lee, and Peachy Pet) into a team that investigates Brain Wave's scheme while the eight male members are incapacitated.
- The story title is 'The Man Who Created Images'; the eight chapters are each narrated through the letter a different JSA member sends to Wonder Woman explaining his absence from their monthly meeting.
- Brain Wave apparently dies at the issue's conclusion by leaping from his Sharktooth Bay tower, but returns in All-Star Comics #17 — revealed to have survived — where he uses a shrinking ray to reduce the male JSA members to eight-inch height.
- Interior art is divided among multiple Golden Age artists — Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Gallagher, Stan Aschmeier, and others — one per hero chapter, reflecting the anthology production model of the period. Cover art is by Frank Harry; editor is Sheldon Mayer.
- The issue has been reprinted in All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 4 (DC, hardcover, collects #15–18) and in DC Finest: Justice Society of America – The Plunder of the Psycho-Pirate (collects #13–24); the introduction to the Archives volume was written by James Robinson.
- A Post-Crisis retcon of this story appears in Starman Vol. 2 #69, substituting Hippolyta for the Earth-Two Wonder Woman (then erased from continuity) and correcting a script error that implied Doris Lee and Clarice Winston knew the secret identities of Starman and the Spectre respectively.
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Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives #4 (1999)
Key issues in All-Star Comics
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