All-Star Comics #39
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAll-Star Comics #39 closes a chapter of Justice Society history by serving as Johnny Thunder's final appearance with the team during the Golden Age — a soft passing of the torch as Black Canary, the character who would eventually replace him on the JSA roster, also appears in the same issue. The story introduces DC's first sustained look at 'Fairyland' as an actual fictional location — a fairy-tale realm populated by Lorelei, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, and other folkloric figures given DC-universe coordinates — making it an early experiment in blending superhero adventure with mythic fantasy. Several Fairyland characters introduced here reappeared decades later in Infinity, Inc. #50, showing the story had a quiet but real connective thread into the Bronze Age. As one of the penultimate Golden Age issues before the JSA stories began their fade toward the series' 1951 cancellation, #39 captures the creative restlessness of late Golden Age DC: genre-mixing, roster reshuffling, and a willingness to send costumed heroes somewhere genuinely strange.
In "The Invasion from Fairyland! [Part 1]," Johnny and the Justice Society of America are thrust into a whimsical yet perilous realm where fairy tale magic runs wild. With the Wishing Ring in hand, they battle a dragon, free the Good Fairy, and venture into the Dark Castle, only to face Lorelei’s enchanted bucket trap and a series of bizarre transformations. Written by John Broome and illustrated with lively flair by Irwin Hasen, this classic tale features dynamic art and a surreal twist on familiar legends, with cover art by Hasen and Joe Kubert.
In "The Invasion from Fairyland! [Part 1]," Sally Barnes, wrongly accused of witchcraft after claiming to have gained the "Voice of the Lorelei" in a dream, finds herself in peril as the Justice Society of America steps in to clear her name. With only 24 hours to prove her innocence, the JSA and a hidden observer, Slicer, race to uncover the truth—venturing into the hidden realm of Fairyland, encountering Rapunzel, battling an ogre, and facing the deadly enchantment of the Lorelei, all before a Wise Woman’s intervention breaks the spell.
In "The Invasion from Fairyland! Part 2," the JSA races against time to save Sally from the deadly grip of the Lorelei’s curse, tracking the sorceress to the Dark Castle where a trap awaits—crafted from a magical doe and a bucket of water that turns heroes to toads on contact. With Wonder Woman, Black Canary, and Dr. Mid-Nite leading the charge, they brave the City of Witches to claim the Cap of Knowledge from the Magic Well, unlocking the final clue to foil the villain’s scheme.
In "The Invasion from Fairyland! Part 3," Johnny, armed with the Wishing Ring, rescues GL and Hawkman from a dragon’s clutches and reunites with the Good Fairy, who guides them to the Dark Castle. There, they uncover Lorelei’s enchanted bucket trap, narrowly avoid it with Gl’s ring, and begin restoring Cinderella and others to their true forms—only to face Lorelei and Slicer head-on. When Lorelei’s magic wand switches the JSAers’ body parts, Wonder Woman seizes the wand, and in a twist of fate, Lorelei touches the bucket and transforms into a toad—before turning five JSA members into animals.
In "The Invasion from Fairyland! Part 4," the Justice Society of America, restored by GL’s Power Ring, races to stop the Lorelei’s dark plan as she unleashes chaos upon Gotham City, wielding the Philosopher’s Stone and the Voice of the Lorelei. With the portal between Earth and Fairyland closing, the heroes face betrayal from Slicer—now transformed into a dog—and must confront the final, desperate stand before the realms part for a millennium.
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The script for 'The Invasion From Fairyland!' was written by John Broome, a prolific DC staffer who would go on to co-create the Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern, while the art — both pencils and likely inks — was handled by Irwin Hasen, who also painted the cover (colored by Jack Adler). The issue went on sale December 22, 1947, despite its February–March 1948 cover date, placing it in a period when DC editorial under Robert Kanigher was actively transitioning the JSA line-up away from Johnny Thunder in favor of Black Canary, a campaign Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino had been building since Flash Comics #86 (August 1947). The simultaneous appearance of both characters in #39 — Johnny in his JSA swan song, Black Canary as an active participant — makes the issue a hinge point that was almost certainly deliberate editorial choreography rather than coincidence.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Story title: 'The Invasion From Fairyland!' (38 pages); script by John Broome, interior art by Irwin Hasen; cover art by Irwin Hasen, colored by Jack Adler.
- Johnny Thunder's final appearance as a Justice Society of America member during the Golden Age — his JSA tenure ended here after years as the team's comedic everyman.
- Black Canary appears in the same issue, actively participating in the adventure alongside the JSA, foreshadowing her formal membership in All-Star Comics #41.
- First appearances of multiple Fairyland-based characters: the sorceress Lorelei, the two-headed ogre Gallifron, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, the Wise Woman, Sally Barnes (the human conduit), and the villain the Slicer.
- First appearance of Fairyland itself as a named DC location — described as a realm that aligns with Earth once every thousand years for a 24-hour window; the DCU Guide notes it may be retroactively connected to Neil Gaiman's Dreaming.
- Several Fairyland characters (Lorelei, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, the Wise Woman) reappeared in the Bronze Age in Infinity, Inc. #50, confirming the issue's quiet canonical footprint.
- Reprinted in DC's All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 9 (2003), making it accessible to modern readers in the hardcover archive series.
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Reprinted in All Star Comics Archives #9 (2003)
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