Justice League of America #6

Aug 1961 · DC · 0.10 USD

📊 ~130,092 copies sold its debut month

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“The Wheel of Misfortune!”

★ 1st appearance — Amos Fortune

About this Issue

Justice League of America #6 marks the debut of Professor Amos Fortune, the Silver Age villain whose pseudoscientific obsession with biological "luck glands" and his Stimoluck device would seed one of DC's most durable rogue concepts — eventually growing into the Royal Flush Gang, a card-themed criminal outfit that has bedeviled the League across multiple continuities and media. The story also showcases an early example of Gardner Fox's signature approach to JLA plotting: splitting the full roster into investigative sub-teams, a structural device that defined Silver Age team-book storytelling and influenced how ensemble superhero comics were written for decades. Because the issue arrives just six numbers into the title's ongoing run, it demonstrates how quickly Fox and editor Julius Schwartz were generating purpose-built antagonists for DC's flagship super-team rather than borrowing from established solo-title rogues galleries.

In "The Wheel of Misfortune!", the Justice League faces a bizarre threat when Professor Amos Fortune wields the Stimoluck device to manipulate fate itself, turning the tide of luck against the heroes. With the League plagued by sudden, inexplicable bad fortune, they must outthink a foe who’s always one step ahead—no matter how dire the odds. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, with inks by Bernard Sachs and lettering by Gaspar Saladino, this 1961 classic features a cover by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson.

writer Gardner Fox · artist Mike Sekowsky · inker Bernard Sachs · letterer Gaspar Saladino · cover Mike Sekowsky, Murphy Anderson

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VG) $23

CGC 9.8 · 1 in census $10,601*

CGC 9.6 · 1 in census $4,119

CGC 9.4 · 2 in census $4,119

CGC 9.2 · 7 in census $1,759

CGC 9.0 · 15 in census $686

CGC 8.5 · 18 in census $490

Show all 22 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 23 in census $351

CGC 7.5 · 16 in census $238

CGC 7.0 · 27 in census $234

CGC 6.5 · 28 in census $138

CGC 6.0 · 30 in census $136

CGC 5.5 · 25 in census $136

CGC 5.0 · 30 in census $117

CGC 4.5 · 34 in census $106

CGC 4.0 · 29 in census $91

CGC 3.5 · 24 in census $70

CGC 3.0 · 18 in census $68

CGC 2.5 · 10 in census $57

CGC 2.0 · 4 in census $47*

CGC 1.5 · 2 in census $38*

CGC 1.0 · 2 in census $31*

CGC 0.5 · 1 in census $28*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

Writer Gardner Fox and penciller Mike Sekowsky — the same creative partnership that launched the JLA title just the year before — produced the issue under the editorship of Julius Schwartz, who had overseen the Silver Age reinvention of the JLA from the start. Interior inks were handled by Bernard Sachs, while Murphy Anderson inked the cover over Sekowsky's pencils — a common cover-finishing arrangement in Schwartz's editorial shop at the time. The Grand Comics Database notes that its page count was confirmed against Julius Schwartz's own editorial records, a rare archival verification. The cover composition itself was fashioned as a deliberate visual nod to All-Star Comics #42, tipping a hat from DC's Silver Age team to its Golden Age predecessor.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance and origin of Professor Amos Fortune, created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky, published with a cover date of August–September 1961.
The story is titled "The Wheel of Misfortune!" and centers on Fortune's Stimoluck device, a pseudo-scientific gadget he uses to manipulate the "luck glands" he believes exist in every human body.
Fortune's scheme — using common superstitions (broken mirrors, black cats, spilled salt, walking under ladders, etc.) to trigger bad luck in each JLA member — foreshadows his later role as architect of the Royal Flush Gang, a playing-card-themed villain group he assembles after this debut.
The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is the hero who breaks free and defeats Fortune, with the in-story explanation that his Martian biology made him immune to the Stimoluck's effects.
Batman and Superman do not appear in the issue, consistent with editor Julius Schwartz's early editorial policy of limiting DC's two most prominent heroes so other characters could carry the franchise.
Interior art credited to penciller Mike Sekowsky and inker Bernard Sachs; the cover was pencilled by Sekowsky and inked by Murphy Anderson.
The cover is a pastiche of All-Star Comics #42, consciously linking the Silver Age JLA team book to its Golden Age Justice Society predecessor.
The story has been reprinted in Justice League of America #58, Justice League of America Archives Vol. 1, Showcase Presents: Justice League of America Vol. 1, The Justice League of America Omnibus (2014), Justice League of America: The Silver Age (2016), the Silver Age Omnibus (2020), and DC Finest: Justice League of America: Starro the Conqueror (2026).