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Wasn't there another Huntress (or two) in the DC Universe - one who was a super-villainess married to the Sportsmaster, the second who was once in the Justice League?

Secondly - so how did Lyta and Hec die?

I'm EXTREMELY disappointed by Hec and Lyta's fate.

I've had a major soft spot for Lyta since INFINITY INC # 27... or was it 28? Too lazy to check. It's the issue right after COIE, with Lyta's overwhelming depression in the wake of her parents' fate causing Brainwave to obliterate her memories of them, without her permission. It was his way of helping, but ultimately I look at it as his first step towards his eventual madness and turn to evil.

Much of the issue is told as a flashback stry, featuring an adventure Lyta, Hector, Albert and Rick had when they were children.

Possibly my all-time favorite single comic book.

Lyta and Hec deserve better than JSA # 80.

LAM, the original Huntress was a Wildcat villain in the 1940s, who later married an Alan Scott villain, the Sportsmaster. This Huntress was later retconned to being Paula Brooks, who was a member of the Young All-Stars as Tigress. Their daughter, Artemis, is now the second Tigress.

As for Hec and Lyta, pick up a copy of JSA #81 and see. Or do you mean the first time they both died?

JSA has been one of my favorite titles since issue #1 but I loved Hec and Lyta I have a huge soft spot for all the Infinitors I still hate what they did to Beth and Yolanda. I would rather they stripped them of their powers and let them retire happy some where. For the first time in years I don't know if I want to read JSA anymore....

Amen! You know, I don't hear anyone saying "Gee I think having a disembodied Nabu as Dr Fate is really cool". Everyone seems to be upset about Hec. Are you listening, DC?

Um, to preserve penguin unity, I will remian silent.

Thanks, Rockhopper -

1) I recall that there was a Huntress (also named Helena) who was a member of the Justice League under Maxwell Lord's proviso. What became of her?
2) Hec and Lyta had died more than once?

1) That's Helena Bertinelli, the post-Crisis Huntress. She's the daughter of a Mafia family who took to super-heroics when she discovered how her family really made its money. She operates out of Gotham City but is not officially affiliated with Batman. She appears regularly in Birds of Prey and is frequently seen in the Bat-books.

2) Hec definitely did - He died in Infinity Inc # 44, then in Sandman # 12, and now in JSA # 80 again. I don't recall Lyta ever dying before, though.

I'm hoping that a good writer comes along and has the JSA rescue Hector and Lyta from the Dream Dimension and back into their bodies and then Hector Hall free of Nabu can then return as Silver Scarab. Right where he belongs in a new Infinity Inc. series to boot.

I am seeing lots of people stating they are dropping JSA. Sadly there are so many comics out there that even a fan fave one day can be dropped for another title. I'm taking a break I wonder if sales drop if they will bring them back?

JSA is one of the FEW DC books I'm still buying. What'll I do if I "have" to drop this one?

All this talk about Hec & Lyta, all I can say is, I didn't even UNDERSTAND what was going on with them the last few issues. All I could see was VERY bad writing, TERRIBLE story structure. Dammit, the focus should have been on Jakeem being possessed-- which, incidentally, I felt came completely out of left field, with no explanation whatsoever-- until the ending-- which made me go, "Oh. So THAT's it." But the WHOLE damn time, whenever the book would cut over to Hec & Lyta, my feeling was, "WHAT the F*** is going on here?" A friend who also reads the book simply told me, "It's a different writer." Yeah-- and some guys do get paid to write that badly.


Regarding INFINITY INC.... Roy Thomas has long been pissed about the bad treatment his characters have gotten by other writers... as well as the fact that HE's not the one handling them these days, period. But it should not be forgotten... ROY started this whole "tradition" of endless, meandering, interminable soap-opera (to the almost total exclusion of actual "plots"), AND, he was the one who started F****** up their lives, turning them into incoherent messes, and KILLING them off needlessly! I only read the last year or two of INFINITY INC. a few years ago... and I was horrified at how BAD the book became. From Todd McFarlane (terrible storytelling, terrible drawing) to Michael Bair (my GOD! --when someone THAT talented can't save a book, you KNOW you're in trouble!) the book was a disaster and picking up speed.


You know, there must be a reason I enjoyed the recent issues of JSA illustrated by JERRY ORDWAY so much...!!!


So-- are we gonna start seeing "real" covers again anytime soon? These static, sombre "pin-up" shots all look the same to me!

I believe when Paul Levitz's storyline starts, the cover motif will change. So in about two months.

profh0011, I don't blame the writer as much as DC editorial. The writer was told to fit the deaths of both characters in the story arc...along with everything else.

I agree with you that is was horrible. I also agree on Roy Thomas has complicated things with his own writing. I notice his early stuff at Marvel was really good and then it just get complicated. And his DC stuff also get complicated. Lots of retcons.

I finally picked it up today.

Awwww...a warm-and-fuzzy moment - at last!

It's not exactly warm and fuzzy, but I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Keep at it!

"I also agree on Roy Thomas has complicated things with his own writing. I notice his early stuff at Marvel was really good and then it just get complicated. And his DC stuff also get complicated. Lots of retcons."

Roy has long been obssessed in a fanboy way with trivia and has based too many comics on trying to "fix" or "explain" seeming inconsistencies that seemingly NOBODY but obsessive fanboys would ever have noticed or cared about.

On top of that, he's also obsessed with historical and cultural trivia, letting it get in the way of simple, clean storytelling... and he has a "stiffness" in much of his dialogue that always makes me think he's trying to do Shakespeare (the same exact way all late-model STAR TREK revival/sequel series have been written... AUGH!!!)

But I DO love-- really love-- SOME of his work. This includes, in particular, his 2nd run on X-MEN (with Neal Adams), both his runs on DR. STRANGE (the 1st with Gene Colan & Tom Palmer-- decades ahead of its time; the 2nd with Jackson Guice, Geoff Isherwood, and some others in between-- a real surprise from him at the time, especially as I felt it was THE BEST DAMN THING Marvel was doing at that time), and of course, CONAN, which, to me, NOBODY else in the comics has ever really "got" right.

Hey, I try to be fair...!

I agree 100% with everything prof has said...and usually jump in his worship of Engleheart (and Stern) and all those Marvel guys who "got" it there for a while.

Back to JSA. Hec still deserved better. He made a great Dr. Fate. I'm getting over it but if they bring back Kent Nelson...i may freak out. Not cool.

I think the next Dr. Fate will be all new.

I hope so. I really don't like this disembodied Nabu thing.

"Hec still deserved better. He made a great Dr. Fate. I'm getting over it but if they bring back Kent Nelson...i may freak out. Not cool."

So, how many wanna go lynch Keith Giffen for having needlessly killed Kent Nelson & Inza in the first place??? One of the few genuinely "immortal" heroes where you didn't have to worry about the decades flying by and his getting old... and unstable "I'm missing the part of my brain that says NO" Giffen bumps him off, accompanied by some of the UGLIEST art DC ever published at that time.

Okay, I know, it's a bit overdue to be kvetching about that...


I thought turning Hector Hall into the new (newest) Dr. Fate was supposed to be one of those "making up for countless mistakes of others" turns. WHY do they HAVE to keep F****** with things like this? (The last DR. FATE mini-series not sell as well as hoped perhaps???)

"I agree 100% with everything prof has said..."


Gee, thanks... You know, I do "get along" with Roy (via a lot of e-mails, mostly about ALTER-EGO) so I TRY to be polite in my honesty.

As a big Doctor Mid-Nite fan, I'm pissed off that it looks like we're at the end of the Alex Ross covers without him getting the treatment. Unless the covers we're seeing in the Previews aren't the real ones for upcoming issues. Mid-Nite, Fate, Wildcat and Power Girl appear to have gotten the shaft.

JSA #81 Though the Star-girl sub-plot about her father involves a good dose of coincidence, it was well-rendered. LOVED seeing Liberty Belle again as a more vital woman. Maybe the tolling of the bell takes away the effects of aging, as well as giving Libby her powers? Wonder if she'll be part of the new FREEDOM FIGHTERS? I don't recall seeing speculation that the 'Spirit of America' was suspected to be the source of her abilities? Would the same apply to Miss America? Maybe they'll both appear in the FF-- along with the most obvious manifestation of the Spirit of America-- Uncle Sam.

Jesse Quick and Hourman continue to percolate. I'm surprised there wasn't more personal stuff addressed, since a different creative team'll be taking over for six (at least) issues next month. And One Year Later falls in those months...

I so don't care about Star Girl. Can't say why exactly, but I'm never into it when she's front and center. The new S.T.R.I.P.E. looks like a second-rate "Big O". Let's hope it gets redesigned when it gets rebuilt.