StoryStory"You are cordially invited to attend the first bi-monthly meeting
of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.....Attend or Die!"
Editor/Writer:Gerry Conway
Artist:Pablo Marcos
Embellisher: Bob Smith
Cover Art: Ernie Chua, signed, dated 1975
Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness) - A traditional Flash adversary
who first appeared in Flash #117. Last seen in Flash #227.
Appears next in Flash #242.
Captain Cold (Leonard Snart) - A traditional Flash adversary who
first appeared in Showcase #8. Last seen in Flash #226.
Copperhead - A snake-based villain who first battled Batman and
Wonder Woman during his last appearance in Brave and the Bold #78.
Appears next in issue #3.
Gorilla Grodd - A traditional Flash foe who first appeared in Flash
#106. Last Seen in Super-Team Family #3.
Manhunter (Paul Kirk) - A clone of the original Golden Age hero.
First appearance of this clone. Previous clone last appeared in Detective
#443.
Mirror Master I (Samuel Scudder) - A traditional Flash adversary
who first appeared in Flash #105. Last seen in Flash #241.
Shadow Thief (Carl Sands)- A tradition Hawkman adversary who first
appeared in Brave and the Bold #36. Last seen in Justice League
of America #111. Appears next in Justice League of America #139.
Sinestro (Sinestro of Korugar) - A traditional Green Lantern adversary
who first appeared in Green Lantern #7. Last Seen in Flash
#222.
Star Sapphire II (Remoni-Notra of Pandina. Sometimes as Camille/Debbie
Darnell as revealed in Justice League of America #174) - 1st appearance.
Not to be confused with the original Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris, I: Green
Lantern #16) or the Star Sapphire of Earth-2 (I:All-Flash #32).
The Wizard (William Zard of Earth-2) - a long time for of the Justice
Society of America in Earth-2 who first appeared in All-Star Comics
#34. Last seen in All-Star Comics #66.Teamed with the above character
as the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Appears next in issue #3.
Unnamed bank guards at a New York Jewelry Store
Unnamed gorillas of Gorilla City
Davidson, a henchman of Copperhead
Unnamed butler at the Sinister Citadel - secretly an agent of Darkseid,
appears next in issue #3
Unnamed guards at government outpost in San Francisco Bay
This story introduces the Sinister Citadel, a skyscraper in downtown
San Francisco. To the outside world, this sctructure is known as Loman
Building. This building is the official headquarters of Secret Society
and contains living quarters, an arsenal, a medical center, costume design
and repair, computer and library facilities as well as extensive laboraty
facilities. A schematic of the building is provided on page 7.
Star Sapphire as introduced in this story is portrayed as having a heavy
French accent. This accent disappears by issue #4. No explanation is ever
given.
The story opens with several villains being summoned by a unique invitation.
Captain Cold and the Mirror Master are summoned while performing joint criminal
operations in New York City, while Grodd is liberated from his holding
cell in Gorilla City. Copperhead is liberated from prison by the Society
and provided with a new and improved uniform. Sinestro is summoned from
space and along with the other members, the first meeting of Secret Society
of Super-Villains convenes.
Once all the villains are present, the Justice League of America (Superman,
Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Green Lantern) apparently burst through
a wall in the conference room. The villains engage the heroes in battle
only to discover that they are merely android duplicates of their adversaries.
As this realization dawns, Manhunter appears and introduces himself as
a substitute host for the Society's first meeting. He discloses that the
Secret Society has been financed by a mysterious benefector who requires
that each member of the Society prove him or herself to be worthy of membership.
Grodd and Copperhead are selected as the first initiates.
The objective of Grodd and Copperhead is to steal a sphere of protected
plutonium from a government lab in San Francisco Bay. While Grodd occupies
the guards, Copperhead infiltrates the facilities and retreives the sphere
from an armed scientist. As Grodd prepares the getaway, Copperhead runs
to catch up. One of the defeated guards manages to get off a single shot,
wounding the fleeing Copperhead and he drops the sphere. Exhorting his
disgust of Copperhead's incompetence, Grodd abandons his fellow member
to be taken into custody by the authorities. Upon reporting back to the
Citadel, Grodd and his fellow members are assured that the Society has
ways to insure that Copperhead will not betray them. When Manhunter is
asked to reveal the benefactor, his only reply is silence.
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