The Department of Justice: Canada!
During the wonder years (1965-1985) at National Comics, they decided to make a team of there biggest name characters much like they did during the Golden Age of comics (1939-1945). More on that team later.
In the Department of Justice: Canada comic book, Private Atomic (Son of the Golden Age Private Atomic) was given the chance to form a team of Super Heroes which would be loosely connected to the Canadian government. The name of the group would be The Department of Justice: Canada or DoJ:C for short. The team did missions that the other parts of the government would not touch for one reason or another. The team was based in a retrofitted mountain cavern, called the Justice Lair, in upper Manitoba. In the first couple issues (#1-6), Private Atomic traveled Canada & the U.S. to gather the heroes he thought would make good members for the team. Most of the other people Private Atomic went looking for accepted.
The first foe the DoJ:C fought was Clamo the Destroyer in DoJ:C #8. After 10 years, Bright Light took over the leadership of the DoJ:C after Private Atomic left to do other things. Private Atomic did return & joined the team on certain missions. Bright Light passed on leadership to Bestman when he went to College. He returned to the team after he graduated or dropped out (It was never said which in the comics). Other leaders have been Aquarian, Nite Owl & Ok Woman.
A major event in the DoJ:C comics was when Bestgirl died slipping on a cosmic banana peel during the Mega Mini-Series, Problem with a Whole Lot a Planets. The peel was part of Auntie Mom-A-Tor's master plan to destroy the universe. Auntie Mom-A-Tor was stopped & that series helped reform the entire universe into one nice little package, it stripped away many of the alternate dimensions that had been cluttering the NC universe. Some characters from the other dimensions (Most notably were The Batalion of Justice: Canada) came to the main dimension. No one seemed to notice that they weren't there before.
The DoJ:C series ended shortly after "Problem", in the comics they said they disbanded because of a nasty battle with the Canadian Government. The last story-line was called "Death of a Friend". During the storyline, the DoJ:C were dealing with the death of Bestgirl. Her death drove wedge between the members of the group, they started to feel that it just wasn't worth it being super heroes or a team anymore. Bestman retreated to his arctic hideaway with Ok Woman. While the rest of the team just slowly faded away into the background.
The members made cameos in the other NC books, nothing really worth telling about. By the end of the book, most of the storylines were bad & no one was reading them. So, they cancelled the book. Canary did go on to star in another comic, Birds who Attack. Ok Girl showed up a few years later as a member of a teen super hero group, The Young Teen Brigade. In 1989, NC tried to bring back the DoJ:C but with there heroes of the time but it didn't work. Readers of the old comic wanted there line-up & new reader were really interested in the team anyways.
I feel the original DoJ:C comics were the best comics around during the time I read it. Some of the stories still hold up years later. Some of the most beloved story-lines were when the DoJ:C found an Alternate universe. Two Beloved universe were which Alter-Earth & Earth-Evil. But, some story-lines were just plain silly (The DoJ:C as Babies, The Merged Members story-line entitled "Half the Members, Double the Trouble", The Ego story-line to name a few).
The DoJ:C was retooled in the late 90's by Morris Grant, mostly known for his independent comic book work. His line up was much like the original line up but with slight costume & attitude changes. His version did seem to click with the comic reading public. I do not have the Grant versions of the DoJ:C listed on this page. If you are looking for them, you'll have to go somewhere else.
The Department of Justice:Canada main line up:
Left to Right:
Aquarian (Roman Mack), Bestman (Ko'el), Bright Light II (Kyle Stewart), Elastic Lad (Eel Digny), Nite Owl (Name Unrevealed), Ok Woman II (Empress Dana), Private Atomic II (Nataniel Palmer), Quickstep II (Larry North), The Venusion Hunter
Friends of the Department of Justice: Canada:
Left to Right: Bestgirl (Cari Xor'El), Canary (Dinah Grayson), Kid Quickstep (Jesse Allen), Ok Girl (Cassie Troy), Laurie Langstrom (Bestman's Girlfriend), Calvin Elliot (Bestgirl's Boyfriend)
The Batalion of Justice: Canada!
National Comics started in the 1930's and at the time (Golden Age of comics) they had created Bestman, Nite Owl, Ok Woman, Quickstep, Dr. Coincidence, Condor, etc. The Battalion of Justice: Canada was created also this time. It was orginially a marketing ploy of having all the major heroes in one book. But, soon It became a beloved comic book by millions. By the end of WWII, super hero comics became less and less popular. So, NC started making other types of comics (War, Western, Romance, etc).
Then, in the 60's super heroes started to become popular more again. NC started doing new stories with a slightly altered versions of Bestman, Dark Stranger, Ok Woman and Aquarian. They revised such heroes as Quickstep & Bright Light. They also created new heroes like the Venusian Hunter. Thus began the Silver Age of Comics. The Department of Justice: Canada was created at this time. The DoJ:C never made mention to the BoJ:C. The DoJ:C's Quickstep had read some Quickstep comics when he was kid. So, when he got powers, he used the name.
One big problem was brought up, the fans of the Golden Age missed their Quickstep, their Bright Light, their Bestman, etc. But, it turned out to be not such a problem for NC, they just created Alter-Earth. Alter-Earth was an alternate universe were all the Golden Age NC Characters lived. There were some changes to the characters but not many. (Age was the biggest change amongst the characters. Canary had grown up & was a heroine in own right. Nite Owl had semi-retired). On Alter-Earth, time moved differently than on Earth-Prime (The name for the Earth where the DoJ:C lived). It was the 1960's when the two teams first met, but on Alter-Earth it still looked like the 1940's & they seemed to age more quickly then there Earth-Prime counterparts. With having 2 Earths, the Golden Age heroes could visit the Silver Age heroes with no problem. Even thought it did cause some confusion with having 2 versions of the some heroes.
And so, a tradition was started. Every summer for three decades, The heroes from Alter-Earth & Earth-Prime would meet. They would try to have a nice get together, but some villain would always get in the way & the heroes would have to go off & fight! This annual get together happened untilProblem with a Whole Lot a Planets merged the Earths and their histories. So, after "Problem", The BoJ:C's membership did not include anyone who was on the DoJ:C.
The Batalion of Justice: Canada main line up:
Left to Right: Bestman (Ko'l), Bright Light I (Harold Scott), Canary (Dinah Grayson), Captain Cosmic (John Knight III), Condor (Carter Grey Jr.), Mid-Day (Rich Terry), Minute Man (Tyler), Mr Perfect (Mike Sloane), Moderate Mammal (Grant), Dark Stranger (Name Unrevealed), Ok Woman I (Hippilotta), Private Atomic I (Al Palmer), Professor Coincidence (Kent Hall), Quickstep I (Jay Chambers), Sleepwalker (Wes Hawkins), The Spook
Friends of the Batalion of Justice: Canada:
Left to Right: Crimson Whirlwind, Jimmy Lightning, Jimmy's Magic Light Being, Black Falcon, Lady Black Falcon
All Micro Heroes are put together by Me. Felis made the base for Moderate Mammal, Robert Bradley made the base for Professor Coincidence & Dennis made the Male/Female Spacer's. Also, If you see something that looks like you made may have it, it may be.
Begone ! Return to the depths from which you came !
