Bring on the Bad Guys: Robot Duplicates

Membership: Robot Superman, Robot Batman, Robot Wonder Woman, Robot Flash, Robot Green Lantern, Robot Green Arrow, and Robot Martian Manhunter

First appearance: Justice League of America I#13 (Aug. 1962)

Abilities: Exact powers as the originals 

Worst act: Attempted murder

Quote: "I'll allow you to shoot first! But my follow-up arrow will touch you before yours can reach me--and I'll have won!"

Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Well, these guys are different, I'll say that. On the planet Skarn, the life energy of their universe is dying out. This has happened before, so the residents opt to use the same plan they've used before, namely kidnap the champions of a neighboring universe and force them to fight the robot duplicates of themselves, with the loser's universe being one destroyed. 

Snatching the entire league, it is spelled out to the confused heroes. All the heroes are forced, save Aquaman since Skarn has no bodies of water big enough to stage a proper fight. Aquaman is then roped into being the JLA's coach, a role he does shockingly well. 

Seriously, with Aquaman's leadership the JLA manages to defeat the robots and get sent home. 

Although most of his coaching seems to be "Wonder Woman, remember you're an Amazon!"

Bring on the Bad Guys: Doctor LIght

Real name: Arthur Light

First appearance: Justice League of America I#12 (Jun. 1962)

Abilities: Powered suit with various light based attacks

Worst act: Murder, and NOTHING ELSE that will be discussed here. 

Quote: "There is no Justice League anymore, young man! Step in--I want to tell you all about it!"

Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Lord, considered skipping this guy entirely. I mean, for YEARS Doctor Light was basically the Barry Horowitz of DC. A jobber, punching way out of his weight class and getting the utter hell kicked out of him. 

Then some jackass decided that comics had to be grown up and the single dumbest thing DC put out that decade went and made him utterly unusable as a villain or even a concept. "Oh no, he was NEVER really a loser, he was a bad ass! The JLA just mindwiped him and had kids fight him!"

Not sure who comes out looking worse in that situation. His Suicide Squad take was really the best, in that he was a total loser. His luck was the kind where he manages to escape Hell and come back to life...only to suffocate inside his coffin. 

He then escapes Hell once again, only to mistaken for a vampire and shot with a crossbow. 

His first story was a pretty basic. He shows up and when the story starts, is boasting of already taking down the JLA and forces Snapper Carr to write up the caper. He managed to get the drop on Aquaman and with his signal device, lure the JLA and send them to worlds that would render them helpless (i.e. a world of yellow for Green Lantern, fire for Martian Manhunter, etc.). 

He's only foiled because Batman and Superman switched costumes. He then creates duplicates of himself to rob various light related items but team stops him. 

His powers don't seem all that related to light but eh, 1960's. Things were more of a suggestion back then. 

Honestly, killing him off via the Spectre was probably the best thing for him but I have a feeling some fanboy will bring him back. Sometimes dead is better. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Felix Faust

Real name: Felix Faust

First appearance: Justice League of America I#10 (Mar. 1962)

Abilities: Magic

Worst act: Unleashing hell

Quote: "I--Felix Faust! Long have I studied ancient parchments, old palimpsests, the clay tablets of long-dead conjurers! Now that I have summoned you--I order you to reveal the secret of your supernatural powers!"

Created by: Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Another big name, but lord, the kid's already named Faust. Why would you compound on that by calling him Felix?

The JLA was no stranger to magic but Felix here had a very specific goal. He specifically wanted to free three ancient demons from their slumber, so hopefully they would be very cool to him afterwards.

The demons need three specific items to be free, but Felix isn't foolhardy enough to go get them himself. That would be dangerous after all. The crazy thing is, Felix wins. Oh, he gets captured but he techinally frees the demons.

Sort of, the spell won't actually free them until a hundred years pass but still, Felix is doing better than Pete Ricketts. 

This was also first two parter story. Issue 11 focuses more on the three demons lords. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Aliens from Appellax

Membership: Stone-God, Glass-Man, Mercury Monster, Golden Roc, Fire-Lord, Crystal Creature, and Wood-King

First appearance: Justice League of America I#9 (Feb. 1962)

Abilities: Various

Worst act: Transforming people into stuff

Quote: "So your weakness is fire, Man of Mars? Then that's how I shall overcome you!"

Created by: Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Technically this could have been published on the 1st, given this is the first proper origin story of the Justice League, but we'll have it here for completion's sake. 

The aliens here are all competing for the throne of their home world Appellax. They just decided to compete on Earth and change as many people as they can. 

Landing across the globe, each alien attacks the local pop but thankfully a future League member is nearby to stop them. A slight breakdown:

Stone-God (Martian Manhunter)

Glass-Man (Aquaman)

Mercury Monster (Wonder Woman)

Golden Roc (Green Lantern)

Fire-Lord (Flash)

Getting together to see how many meteors crashed to Earth, they discover they all missed one. Rushing to the next one to tackle it, they find themselves turning into trees but thankfully they work together and stop the Wood-King. They next head to Greenland to face the Crystal Creature, but there they find Superman and Batman having already cracked the case. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Pete Ricketts

 Real name: Pete Ricketts

First appearance: Justice League of America I#8 (Dec./Jan. 1962)

Abilities: Finding alien tech

Worst act: Brainwashing

Quote: "I'm here to claim the million dollar prize money for the capture of the Justice League! To convince you I can deliver the goods--I've brought Green Lantern along! As soon as you show me the million bucks--I'll bring the rest of the Justice League here!"

Created by: Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Now, technically the JLA had two appearances before this issue. Superman I#149 is an imaginary yarn and therefore not in canon, while Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane#29 is more of a cameo.

Here a small time hood named Pete Ricketts ends up getting his grubby hands on the Cyberniary, a device that allows one to control a person's mind totally. Which is just laying outside in a garbage pile, as one does. Pete's first idea to test this out on the JLA and when it works, that's when the good ideas dry up. 

Yeah, Pete then decides, since he now as the world's greatest heroes at his total beck and call, why not hire them out to the highest bidder for a small fee? Snapper Carr ends up the saving the day with Dr. Destiny's old gear and Pete ends up in the slammer. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Aliens from Angellax

Real names: Unrevealed 

First appearance: Justice League of America I#7 (Oct./Nov. 1961)

Abilities: Teleportation, shape shifting 

Worst act: Kidnapping

Quote: "I knew you were following me because, when my alien body was changed over into yours, I received all your knowledge! I was thus aware of you scheme to conceal yourself as you swung open the cosmidoor!"

Created by: Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Bit of an odd duck these guys. The whole tale kicks with JLA mascot Snapper Carr and his girlfriend getting kidnapped from a circus. They get rescued, thankfully, but this prompts the team to investigate. The team gets captured, and two of the aliens change themselves into exact duplicates of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, and from there they lure the rest of the team into the future on a while goose chase, all save for Aquaman.

Yeah, Aquaman is the one to save the day. Why were the aliens kidnapping people? Story is a bit vague on that, plus why would they change the JLA to make them mimic a funhouse mirror reflection? Not an awful tale by any means but certainly not a memorable one. 

Bring on the Bad Guys: Professor Amos Fortune

Real name: Amos "Pudge" Fortune

First appearance: Justice League of America I#6 (Aug./Sept. 1961)

Abilities: Luck manipulation 

Worst act: Attempted murder

Quote: "For many years luck has fascinated me! I've made a long study of it, first as a gambler, then as a scientist! I was convinced that if I could learn how and when luck functions, I'd be able to control it!"

Created by: Gardner F. Fox (script), Mike Sekowsky (pencils), Bernard Sachs (inks) 

Ah, this guy. Almost made him my pick for the 22nd. Seriously, this guy starts out by discovering 'luck glands' in the human body. He removes his bad luck ones and pumps up his good luck...and thus decides to take down the Justice League. I'd figure on hitting Las Vegas myself but then again I lack the fashion sense of the professor. 

Of course, his surgery may not have been as successful as he hoped, as during his attempted crime spree he fails to make off with the loot. Still, he persists and manages to capture the team and put them in his Stimuluck device, which will destroy their good luck glands forever!

Thankfully the Martian Manhunter manages to escape. How? He doesn't have any luck glands.

So Martians have no luck?

He'd come back a few more times, usually with luck or card based schemes. He also is responsible for the creation of the Royal Flush Gang, so there's that. Silver Age through and through.