SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS (1976) DARKSEID, MANHUNTER AND MORE

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist comic book post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the early stories of a 1970s DC Comics series.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS Vol 1 #1 (Jun 1976)

Title: Attend – Or Die

Villain Roster: Captain Cold, Sinestro, Gorilla Grodd, Copperhead, Mirror Master, Star Sapphire II, the Wizard, Manhunter III, Shadow Thief and Captain Boomerang

Comment: “What are we, some kind of Secret Society of Super-Villains?” (Had to be said.)

Synopsis: Captain Cold and Mirror Master pull off a large jewel robbery and while dividing up their loot they get an invitation to join the title “Society” at a place called the Sinister Citadel in San Francisco.

Identical invitations are received by the supervillains called Gorilla Grodd, Copperhead, Sinestro and others. Everyone but Catwoman accepts. When they are all assembled in the aforementioned Citadel they meet the new woman using the Star Sapphire nom de guerre. They also meet their butler, Carstairs.

Suddenly, the Justice League members burst in and attack, but the villains fight and destroy what turn out to be robotic duplicates of the League. The costumed Manhunter III enters the room and tells the villains they passed their initiation by wiping out the robots. He calls himself a representative for their anonymous “host.”

NOTE: Their host is really Darkseid, as will be made clear soon. This third person using the Manhunter alias is one of the “evil” Paul Kirk clones whose organization the Council was thwarted by the lone “good” Paul Kirk clone, who also destroyed all the evil clones. (Paul Kirk was the original Manhunter from DC’s 1940s comic books.)

        Though claiming to be one of the evil clones, Manhunter III wears the good clone’s red costume, not the blue ones worn by the evil clones. This basically gives away the twist that this Manhunter will work to undermine Darkseid. They should have just kept things simple and said that this actually was the good Paul Kirk clone and that he secretly survived the explosion that wiped out the Council’s headquarters.

At any rate, Manhunter explains their secret benefactor’s plan is to have a team acting in opposition to the Justice League and others of their kind. He then gives Copperhead and Gorilla Grodd a mission from the benefactor to steal a plutonium shipment.

The pair succeed in the theft, but police gunfire seriously wounds Copperhead and causes the plutonium to fall into the Pacific Ocean. Gorilla Grodd abandons Copperhead to the cops and returns to the Sinister Citadel. Manhunter is disappointed but calls an end to the day’s activities.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS Vol 1 #2 (Aug 1976)

Title: No Man Shall I Call Master

Villain Roster: Manhunter III, Captain Cold, Sinestro, Gorilla Grodd, Star Sapphire II, Mirror Master, Hi-Jack and Mantis

Heroes: Captain Comet and Green Lantern

Synopsis: Captain Comet, an old DC Comics superhero that they had not used since Strange Adventures #49 (Oct 1954), at last returns to Earth after spending all his time since then exploring outer space.

Oddly, though, he apparently never learned about the Green Lantern Corps because when he sees Earth’s Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) fighting the supervillains Gorilla Grodd and Hi-Jack he mistakenly thinks the Lantern is the villain. He helps them defeat Green Lantern and they encourage his mistaken impression that they are the good guys.

NOTE: “Hi-Jack” is the name being used by Jack, from the Royal Flush Gang. Normally he would go by Jack of Clubs or Jack of Diamonds, etc. but to use the weapons of all the suits at once he changed his alias to Hi-Jack. I would have just gone with “Knave”.

Captain Comet is taken to what the two villains call simply “the Citadel” and introduce him to the rest of their team, which they shorten to just “the Secret Society” to maintain their ruse of being heroes.

They induct him into the Society, and that night and the next day or so he dons civilian clothing and drives to his family’s old home in Midwest City. While visiting the graves of his mother and father, who passed away while he was off in space, Manhunter reveals himself and tells Captain Comet he followed him.

Manhunter tells the captain his origin and how he’s the last surviving Paul Kirk clone but is a good guy. He’s infiltrating the Secret Society which is an evil organization. Captain Comet says his own telepathic powers already told him that, and he too is planning on bringing the Society down from the inside.

NOTE: I will say again I don’t know why DC Comics didn’t just have this Manhunter be the same one from the Manhunter series earlier in the 70s. Sure, it’s unlikely that he could have survived the explosion that destroyed the Council’s headquarters but such unlikely survivals are just par for the course in superhero tales.

Suddenly, Manhunter and Captain Comet are attacked by Mantis, one of Darkseid’s superpowered henchmen from his home planet Apokolips. He and Manhunter have met previously and Mantis attacks him and Captain Comet to kill them both since he heard them planning to betray Darkseid’s plans for the Secret Society.

After a lengthy battle in night-darkened Midwest City, Mantis has drained all his energies for the moment and flees. Manhunter and Captain Comet, having saved each other’s lives during the fight, trust each other more.

A day or so later, back in San Francisco, Manhunter has Captain Comet, Scarlet Sapphire, Gorilla Grodd and Captain Cold accompany/ fly with him in a Secret Society hovercraft to one of Darkseid’s underground facilities, this one near Fisherman’s Wharf.

The villains are creeped out by the huge embryonic creatures that Darkseid has forming in transparent tubes and all the high-tech weaponry in the place. Manhunter, choosing his words carefully to continue his pose as a villain, tells the others he has learned enough about their benefactor to know they need to betray him and stop his plans.

Manhunter shows them videos of Darkseid to demonstrate his power. He tells the Society that Darkseid’s plans include the devastation of the Earth, thus jeopardizing their own pursuit of criminal wealth. The villain is running other supervillain groups on planets around the universe, so Earth means nothing to him.

Mantis and a squadron of armed, uniformed lackeys burst in and attack the five Society members. Manhunter, Captain Comet, Grodd, Star Sapphire and Captain Cold defeat Mantis’ troops but Mantis himself then defeats Gorilla Grodd and Captain Comet.

He gives the others a choice: surrender or die.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS Vol 1 #3 (Oct 1976) 

Title: War for Earthdeath

Villain Roster: Darkseid, Kalibak the Cruel, Star Sapphire, Captain Cold, the Wizard, Gorilla Grodd, Hi-Jack, Sinestro and Captain Boomerang

Heroes: Manhunter III, Captain Comet and Green Lantern

Synopsis: From his throne room on Apokolips, Darkseid and his evil son called Kalibak the Cruel observe on viewscreens as Manhunter, Star Sapphire and Captain Cold refuse to surrender to Mantis.   

As the battle among them goes on and on, Mantis reminds the Secret Society members they will be nothing but slaves and he will be their ruler if Darkseid decides to spare the Earth. 

Captain Cold gets taken down by Mantis, at which point Star Sapphire flies herself and Manhunter out of the entire installation. Manhunter wants to fly the Society hovercraft they came in back to their HQ and rally the other villains to attack Mantis.

Star Sapphire refuses, pointing out that she is just in it for the money. She flies off to find a superhero to take on Mantis since heroes foolishly risk their lives for free.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, Mirror Master and Captain Boomerang are in civilian clothing at a McDonald’s, where they casually converse then commit the petty crime of vanishing with their fast food order rather than pay for it.

Back at the Sinister Citadel, the pair chow down on their burgers and fries while Sinestro, the Wizard and Hi-Jack/ Knave are served a turkey dinner by the butler Carstairs. Eventually, Manhunter arrives and informs them about the others being captured and about Darkseid’s plan to either destroy the Earth or enslave all of them.

The Wizard is from Earth-2 so he and the alien Sinestro whisper to each other that they don’t care about the fate of the Earth, but they’re willing to play along for now to see if the Secret Society leads to bigger and better things.

Manhunter rallies Captain Boomerang, Hi-Jack/ Knave, Mirror Master, and the coy Sinestro and Wizard to the hover-craft so they can go attack Mantis. Reading it in 2025 you get a definite “Suicide Squad before Suicide Squad” feel from the proceedings.

Meanwhile, Star Sapphire encounters Green Lantern, who is still scouring San Francisco for Gorilla Grodd, Hi-Jack and Captain Comet. They fight it out while the Lantern reminds her that he defeated her predecessor (Carol Ferris) plenty of times in the past.

Their dogfight above the city is a stalemate, but Star Sapphire convinces Green Lantern about the threat posed by Darkseid and his lackeys. He lets her lead him to the underground installation she just escaped from.

Back with the other Secret Society members, they surreptitiously penetrate Mantis’ subterranean lair, where they defeat the villain’s troops and free Captain Comet, Gorilla Grodd and Captain Cold. 

Mantis attacks the Secret Society while the Wizard and Sinestro hold back, intending to side with whichever side wins. Ultimately, the Society members win out but Mantis escapes. Darkseid has seen enough and tells Kalibak the Cruel to join him in traveling to Earth to crush the Secret Society’s rebellion.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS Vol 1 #4 (Dec 1976)

Title: When Thieves Fall Out

Villain Roster: Darkseid, Kalibak the Cruel, Star Sapphire, Captain Cold, the Wizard, Gorilla Grodd, Hi-Jack, Sinestro, Captain Boomerang and the Black Racer

Heroes: Manhunter III, Captain Comet and Green Lantern

Synopsis: Back at the underground installation, the triumphant Manhunter, Captain Comet, Hi-Jack/ Knave, Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, Gorilla Grodd and Captain Cold call out Sinestro and the Wizard for merely standing by during the battle with Mantis and his men.     

A fight soon breaks out. Sinestro defeats Grodd and Manhunter while the Wizard defeats Captain Boomerang and banishes Hi-Jack/ Knave to limbo. The two escape back to the Sinister Citadel.

Star Sapphire and Green Lantern arrive at the underground lair but get separated when Mantis, still lurking nearby, attacks the hero. While getting blasted by the energy from the Lantern’s ring, Mantis is able to leech onto it and force GL to keep firing until his ring has depleted its charge and he collapses.

Having absorbed all that energy and added it to his own, Mantis is so intoxicated with power that he brags he has surpassed even Darkseid. Bad timing, since Darkseid and Kalibak the Cruel have just arrived on the scene. The ruler of Apokolips sends Kalibak into the underground installation to deal with the others while he punishes Mantis.

Down below, Kalibak takes on Star Sapphire, Manhunter, Gorilla Grodd, Mirror Master and Captains Comet, Boomerang and Cold. He defeats Star Sapphire and Captain Cold, then is attacked by Grodd. Their destructive battle leads them outside and spreads around San Francisco.

Mantis tries to destroy Darkseid but soon realizes he is being toyed with by his master and poses no real threat to him. Elsewhere, Kalibak eventually forces Grodd to say he surrenders and will now serve Kalibak. Then Grodd strikes Kalibak from behind, rendering him unconscious.

Back with Darkseid, Mantis drops to his knees and is begging for forgiveness, saying he has completely exhausted all of his energies. Darkseid taunts him that he should have saved his strength for what he faces now.

Darkseid points to the sky and Mantis is terrified to see flying toward him on skis is the Black Racer, the cosmic being who is like a Grim Reaper to those from Apokolips and to their heroic enemies the New Gods.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS Vol 1 #5 (Feb 1977)

Title: Endgame

Villain Roster: Darkseid, Kalibak the Cruel, Star Sapphire, Captain Cold, the Wizard, Sinestro, Captain Boomerang and the Black Racer

Heroes: Manhunter III, Captain Comet, Green Lantern and Hawkman

Synopsis: Sadly, after all that quality buildup, this series again switched writers in mid-stream. I glossed over the previous change but this one’s too rushed and clumsy.   

The issue picks up right where the previous one left off. The Black Racer is about to prey upon Mantis, who pleads for mercy from Darkseid.

Suddenly Manhunter, Star Sapphire, Mirror Master and Captains Comet, Boomerang and Cold emerge from the underground installation and attack Darkseid. That ruler of Apokolips merely waves off the Black Racer (obviously the new writer did not want to bother pursuing that story element), then tells Mantis to redeem himself by defeating the Secret Society once and for all. Obviously the new writer forgot that Mantis had exhausted all his energies last issue.

NOTE: Wondering what happened to the banished Hi-Jack or to Gorilla Grodd, who is still somewhere in San Francisco after his triumph over Kalibak the Cruel last time around? The new writer doesn’t care and it won’t be until issue #8 when Grodd returns only because another writer change kicks in.

At any rate, after a lengthy battle, the Secret Society members defeat Mantis yet again. Darkseid announces he will now destroy the rebellious Society himself but chickens out (!?) when Manhunter attacks him, saying he is going to kill the ruler of Apokolips.

Even though Manhunter has no true superpowers, Darkseid inexplicably decides to flee in a Boom Tube, his teleportation devices. Manhunter, completely out of nowhere given the history of the Paul Kirk clones, claims they have all been created with explosives inside.

Manhunter leaps into the Boom Tube with Darkseid, a being far more powerful than Superman, yet who is supposedly destroyed along with Manhunter when he sets off his body’s deus ex machina explosives. Needless to say, this was just a rushed bit of business to flush away the Secret Society’s ongoing storyline and start fresh.

Darkseid would turn out to have survived (well, duh) but Manhunter would stay dead, which is another reason DC should have just had this Paul Kirk clone be the same one from the early 70s Manhunter series. Sacrificing himself against Darkseid would be more important than sacrificing himself against the Council.

Less than half of this issue has been devoted to hurriedly sweeping away the Darkseid storyline. Next, Captain Comet pulls himself and Green Lantern (who was defeated by Mantis last issue) out of the wreckage from the explosion. No one else is around.

Those two heroes fly to the Justice League satellite, where Captain Comet explains his past and says he wants to finish off whatever is left of the Secret Society himself, since it’s “personal.” Because this is a comic book, they agree to let him.

Well, except for the need to contain Sinestro, who has grown bored and disgusted with the Society back at the Sinister Citadel. Using his power ring the villain tries to topple the Citadel skyscraper over onto San Francisco, killing thousands of innocent bystanders.

Hawkman and Captain Comet arrive from the Justice League satellite. Captain Comet sets the Sinister Citadel back in place, then he and Hawkman defeat and capture Sinestro.

*** Rambling storylines and inconsistent writing would plague the Secret Society of Super-Villains series until it was canceled with its 15th issue. For a few issues the Creeper infiltrated the team and helped bring down a few villains, as covered previously here at Balladeer’s Blog.

*** Last weekend I broke down the Silver Surfer/ Black Racer/ Gaard riffs and in-jokes HERE.

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