Justice League of America #64
Justice League of America #64 marks the first appearance of the android Red Tornado — a brand-new Silver Age superhero who would become one of DC's most enduring non-human characters, wrestling with questions of identity, sentience, and belonging for decades to come. The issue also served as part one of the annual JLA-JSA summer crossover, a tradition that had been the de facto engine of DC's shared multiverse since 1963, and this installment raised the stakes by introducing a villain-created infiltrator designed to destroy one of those teams from within. Narratively, the story is a direct ancestor of every 'android seeks humanity' arc DC would publish in subsequent decades, and it offered a clever structural twist: the villain T.O. Morrow's own predictive computer guarantees the hero he built to destroy the JSA is the one thing that can defeat him. As the concluding chapter of Gardner Fox's unbroken 65-issue run on the title, it also marks the creative handoff to a new penciller who would define the book's look for the next twelve years.
In "The Stormy Return of the Red Tornado!" from Justice League of America #64 (1968), a mysterious new Red Tornado crashes into a Justice Society meeting claiming to be the original hero—though the JSA remembers Ma Hunkel, the first Red Tornado, who vanished just as suddenly as she arrived. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Dick Dillin with inks by Sid Greene, the story follows this enigmatic figure as he struggles to prove himself when every time the JSA seems poised to triumph, he disrupts the battle, leaving the heroes seemingly dead. After uncovering the truth behind the deception, he turns to Earth-One’s Justice League for help. The cover, penciled by Dick Dillin and inked by Jack Abel, captures the stormy intensity of the moment.
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Writer Gardner Fox — who had himself created or co-created many of the Golden Age JSA members appearing in this issue — scripted the two-part story as the sixth installment of what had become DC's marquee annual crossover event, a tradition editor Julius Schwartz had initiated with Fox in Justice League of America #21–22 (1963). Fox drew consciously on the comedic 1940s 'Red Tornado' persona of Ma Hunkel — a character who had famously barged into the JSA's very first meeting — giving T.O. Morrow's android false memories of being that long-absent member as his cover story. The issue also marked the debut of penciller Dick Dillin, who transitioned directly from his long tenure on Blackhawk with barely a month's gap; inker Sid Greene, whose credits on the series were confirmed against Julius Schwartz's own editorial records, gave the book a clean, expressive line that set the visual template for the Dillin era. The cover was pencilled by Dillin with inks by Jack Abel, and notably depicted no actual Justice League members — only JSA heroes and the new Red Tornado — an irony not lost on contemporary readers who noticed that the book's title team was entirely absent from part one.
Trivia · 9 facts
- First appearance and origin of the android Red Tornado (Silver Age), created by writer Gardner Fox and penciller Dick Dillin, with inks by Sid Greene; cover date August 1968.
- Story title: 'The Stormy Return of the Red Tornado!' — part one of a two-part tale concluded in JLA #65; T.O. Morrow is the villain of both chapters.
- Dick Dillin's debut issue on Justice League of America; he would go on to pencil the title for the next 119 issues over twelve years, until his death in 1980.
- Issue #64 is simultaneously Gardner Fox's penultimate issue on the title — his final script was JLA #65, capping an unbroken 65-issue run that dated back to the series' launch.
- T.O. Morrow, the android's creator, had only one prior comics appearance before this issue — in Flash #143 (March 1964) — making this his second appearance and his first as a JLA-level threat.
- The android's cover identity exploits the real history of Ma Hunkel (the 1940s Red Tornado), who had appeared at the JSA's very first meeting in All-Star Comics; the JSA's awareness of that history is central to the plot's tension.
- The cover features no Justice League members in costume — only JSA heroes and the Red Tornado — a deliberate structural choice for a first part set entirely on Earth-Two, with Batman and Superman appearing only as small logo insets.
- The issue has been reprinted in: Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2 (DC, 2003); Justice League of America Archives Vol. 8 (DC hardcover); and DC Finest: Justice League of America — The Bridge Between Earths (DC, January 2025, collecting JLA #45–72).
- The letters column for this issue included contributions from future comics professionals Martin Pasko, Peter Sanderson Jr., and Bob Rozakis; the letters page was later reprinted in Crisis on Multiple Earths #2.
Cast · 34 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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At one of the Justice Society's meetings, a new Red Tornado interrupts the group, claiming he is the original hero. However, the JSA knew the original Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel), who had entered in on their first meeting then just as suddenly left. They give this new Tornado a chance to show his heroism, but every time the JSA is about to defeat a group of criminals, the Tornado interferes, causing them to "die" in battle. Helpless to stop this, and after he learns it was T.O. Morrow who was behind the JSA's "deaths", he goes to Earth-One to enlist the Justice League's aid.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).