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Post by johnreiter902 on May 5, 2020 1:53:09 GMT
So, after the JSA escaped Ragnarok and defeated Loki, Odin granted all the heroes present a wish.
I've been going through the stories, trying to piece together what each of the heroes present wished for. I think I have it all figured out, but I would love it if the authors in question would correct me if I got it wrong.
Huntress - for Alfred to be rejuvenated (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Wonder Woman - for Amazons to be able to leave Paradise Island Johnny Thunder - for Daisy to be rejuvenated (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Sandman - for Dian to be rejuvenated (The Sandman: Season of Mists)
Superman - that he and Lois could have children (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath)
Green Lantern - that his childrens' true identities would be secret again Hawkman - for natural wings (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Wildcat - for Irina to be rejuvenated (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Flash - for Terry Sloan to live again (Showcase: Thor: A Thunder God Among Us)
Dr. Mid-Nite - for Myra to be rejuvenated (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Atom - for Mary to be rejuvenated (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Hourman - for Rick to have innate superpowers (Justice Society of America: Ragnarok Aftermath) Spectre - for his family to be restored to life (The Spectre: Lingering Spirit)
Dr. Fate - for he and Inza to have children (Doctor Fate: Children of Fate)
As far as I know, the only ones whose wishes we have not yet seen are Power Girl, and Red Robin. I suspect that one of them wished that they could have children.
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Post by DocQuantum on May 5, 2020 3:45:13 GMT
Good work! I’m not sure about all of these, but you may be onto something. Did you mark down where the references can be found for each?
With Power Girl and Red Robin, the boons granted would have been way back at the end of 1985, and a couple of months before they began their relationship, so I’m not sure they would have been thinking that far ahead. Kara was never a feminine woman in the maternal sense, though that may develop later on. Dick was always practical, and he may have anticipated things would escalate with him and Kara soon, but that doesn’t seem like something he would have asked Odin for.
Would he have simply wanted to continue the good fight beyond his actual years? I know people joke about his looking younger than he is, and he certainly looked quite young in the All-Star comics in the 1970s, but in the Infinity Inc comics and in Crisis he was looking much older. He seems to be on the younger side again, and I can’t recall if an in-story explanation was ever provided. Perhaps Odin gave him back the vitality he needed to become an independent hero once more.
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Post by jonclark on May 5, 2020 4:37:58 GMT
It is interesting that so many of the boons dealt with rejuvenation (Huntress, Johnny, Sandman, Wildcat, Dr Midnite, Atom) or children (Superman, Green Lantern, Dr Fate, Hourman, Spectre). Diana's wish related to her "sisters" and Flash's related to a deceased JSAer's resurrection. Seems like everyone but Hawkman had a wish that involved family in some shape or form.
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Post by starskyhutch76 on May 5, 2020 4:48:42 GMT
Richard Grayson was becoming known as the Dick Clark of Gotham before his wedding. When Merlin sent enchanted gems as a wedding gift, exposure to them gave him yet another boost of vitality. When it happened, he groaned with the realization that even more rumors would make the rounds of him having work done ahead of marrying a much younger woman.
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Post by DocQuantum on May 5, 2020 4:59:21 GMT
Right, now I recall.
Still, I wonder if his boom could be related to the other aspect of vitality I mentioned— the will to keep fighting the good fight. It certainly seemed that he had been more or less semi retired at several times in the past before he started again after the Crisis.
Maybe his unspoken wish was to be more like his mentor, the man he looked up to most in the world. And the boon was granted on that unspoken wish to be like Bruce Wayne, Batman, and carry on the fight for justice..
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Post by DocQuantum on May 5, 2020 5:16:07 GMT
As for Kara, after Crisis she was terribly hurt by her cousin Superman, and remained so for quite a while. I think the underlying reason was her feelings of abandonment, which is understandable given her history of losing her parents as a baby and having only false memories of childhood and adolescence. Clark and Lois were effectively the only real family she’s ever known, and her relationship with them has always been complicated by Kara’s defensiveness and wanting to be her own woman.
So I wonder if John could be partly correct after all. Maybe Power Girl’s unspoken wish was to have a family of her own. She and Dick started dating soon after, and were married two years later. She may not have realized it at the time, but this could all be leading toward having her own children and thus finally a real family. She’s just never been self-aware enough to have voiced this aloud.
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Post by Dave B on May 5, 2020 6:23:49 GMT
The Spectre's family came back to life in a story by Cat and had nothing to do with Odin. Jim Corrigan had to once again become the Spectre's host. Later stories put Jim in charge of the Ghostly Guardian and I have a story I have been meaning to tell about the repercussions because the Corrigan Family being brought back to life by the Voice.
Dave
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Post by dans on May 5, 2020 10:55:15 GMT
Maybe they decided to save their wishes until they found something they wanted enough to have it granted by a wish, that would be impossible by their own efforts.
I wonder what Odin would do if someone wished for 'good luck'?
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Post by johnreiter902 on May 5, 2020 11:56:38 GMT
The Spectre's family came back to life in a story by Cat and had nothing to do with Odin. Jim Corrigan had to once again become the Spectre's host. Later stories put Jim in charge of the Ghostly Guardian and I have a story I have been meaning to tell about the repercussions because the Corrigan Family being brought back to life by the Voice. Dave I read that story, "Lingering spirit" and it specifically states that Odin was involved in bringing his family back, as a payment of his boon. This is the scene.
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t bring my family back.” Corrigan bowed his head in grief.
Elsewhere, a benign figure watched through his own means. “Don’t be so sure, Jim Corrigan.”
“Odin, can you do this? Doesn’t this fall out of your purview?”
“I was able to negotiate something, my dear. I owed the Spectre a boon, and what better gift than the lives that he and his alter-ego hold dear? He will find them at home, completely unaware of tonight’s events.
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Post by johnreiter902 on May 5, 2020 12:45:23 GMT
Good work! I’m not sure about all of these, but you may be onto something. Did you mark down where the references can be found for each? I did the best I could to track down the references, and then added them. I cannot remember which story it was where we learned Green Lantern or Wonder Woman's wishes, but I remember reading them. |
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Post by johnreiter902 on May 5, 2020 12:47:10 GMT
Right, now I recall. Still, I wonder if his boom could be related to the other aspect of vitality I mentioned— the will to keep fighting the good fight. It certainly seemed that he had been more or less semi retired at several times in the past before he started again after the Crisis. Maybe his unspoken wish was to be more like his mentor, the man he looked up to most in the world. And the boon was granted on that unspoken wish to be like Bruce Wayne, Batman, and carry on the fight for justice.. You may be onto something there. If he wished to be like Batman, maybe it was his boon that led him to become a mentor to Jason Todd, the same way Bruce was a mentor to him. |
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Post by starskyhutch76 on May 6, 2020 11:08:03 GMT
Right, now I recall. Still, I wonder if his boom could be related to the other aspect of vitality I mentioned— the will to keep fighting the good fight. It certainly seemed that he had been more or less semi retired at several times in the past before he started again after the Crisis. Maybe his unspoken wish was to be more like his mentor, the man he looked up to most in the world. And the boon was granted on that unspoken wish to be like Bruce Wayne, Batman, and carry on the fight for justice.. You may be onto something there. If he wished to be like Batman, maybe it was his boon that led him to become a mentor to Jason Todd, the same way Bruce was a mentor to him. |
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Post by lawrenceliberty on May 6, 2020 16:38:49 GMT
Is Terry Sloane alive now as himself or is he reincarnated as Michael Holt? While I like M. Holt, I'd rather have Terry back as himself? Is it possible Michael is secretly a pawn given memories Terry had by futuristic Mr Terrific foe Black Borax for some sinister reason and the original Mr. Terrific is missing but now alive somewhere?
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Post by johnreiter902 on May 6, 2020 19:36:54 GMT
Is Terry Sloane alive now as himself or is he reincarnated as Michael Holt? While I like M. Holt, I'd rather have Terry back as himself? Is it possible Michael is secretly a pawn given memories Terry had by futuristic Mr Terrific foe Black Borax for some sinister reason and the original Mr. Terrific is missing but now alive somewhere? Terry Sloan is reincarnated as Michael Holt. However, he still has all his memories from being Terry Sloan. It was Odin's decision, to give him a chance to prove himself worthy after his death, which was caused by him not trusting his fellow heroes. |
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Post by dans on May 6, 2020 21:50:29 GMT
I don't think Odin's wish would be activated by an 'unspoken wish', I haven't read the story for years so I don't know whether there is any real reason to believe this or not, but it seems like a way to waste a wish, or even to have negative consequences come of a wish that was supposed to be a boon. I think Odin the All Wise would have foreseen the possibility and made some kind of positive trigger to activate the wish.
Another thing I don't remember is, was there some kind of size limit on the outcome of the wish? Very few of those wishes directly affect more than one person. Where is the hero wishing to end all diseases (or maybe just one specific disease), or alleviate poverty, or end war?
If Dick and Kara and the Spectre haven't actually used their wishes yet, maybe they can use them for something a little more wide reaching?
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