Adventure Comics, Vol. 1

Justice Society of America: "Only Legends Live Forever! (Part 2)": A man named Bill Jensen, armed with inexplicable power scales the top of the Gotham Towers where he single-handedly defeats the Justice Society of America. Jensen screams that he wants to avenge himself against Commissioner Bruce Wayne, whom he believes framed him in order to further his own career. When Wayne learns of the situation, he has little choice but to come out of retirement and operate as Batman one last time. Swinging to the top of the tower, he catches the Flash, whom Jensen had hurled from the rooftop. He rests him on a ledge, then scales the tower to confront Jensen. The other JSA members continue fighting him, but even the combined might of Green Lantern and Doctor Fate cannot stop him. Batman approaches him, and Jensen turns his power against him. He continues to struggle forward until both combatants are locked in a violent embrace. Jensen's power sears away Batman's mask, and he realizes that this is the man he has sworn to destroy -- Bruce Wayne. Driven to even greater fury, Jensen's power burns out of control, consuming both men. The Batman, one of the first and most infamous of Mystery Men... is dead. In the following days, Bruce Wayne's body is laid to rest next to the grave of his wife, Selina,[1] and his parents. His daughter Helena speaks with Dick Grayson about the future of the Batman legacy. Helena solemnly states that only "legends live forever" The Flash: "The She-Demon of the Astral Plane!": Barry Allen notices Iris leaving the Picture News building to meet another man. The man is Jake Forrest, Iris' old college sweetheart. Jake is now a para-psychologist and enlists Iris' aid in assisting him with an experiment dealing with astral projection. Barry is immediately distrustful of Jake and follows them to Central City University as the Flash. He then decides to respect Iris' privacy and returns home. At their house, Barry sees a wraith-like image of Iris and realizes that something is wrong. He races to the University, changes back to Barry Allen and consults with Forrest. He learns that something is threatening to sever the spiritual cord connecting Iris' astral self to her corporeal body. Barry leaves and moves at super-speed until he can match the frequency needed to enter the astral world. Exploring the strange terrain, he discovers that a monstrous She-Demon plans on taking possession of Iris' body. The Flash rescues Iris' astral self and returns it to her body. Iris awakens, but has no memory of what had transpired. Deadman: "The Sins of the Father": Alexi Kronsky confesses to his daughter and the other circus performers, that after his wife died in Russia, he perfected his "encephalopathic transmogrifier", a helmet that can transform thoughts into solid matter. He transformed the device into a giant wooden elephant, and hid it in Hill's Circus when they were performing in Russia. He continues to say, that he escaped the Soviet Union and came to America, where he offered to sell the device to the famous Mr. Solomon. Instead, Solomon took him prisoner and offered to free him, if he told him the device's location. He was able to escape his imprisonment and run to the circus. Also hearing the conversation, are Solomon and his men who have been hiding outside. They storm into the circus trailer with guns and attempt to recapture Kronsky and take the "elephant." But the performers, with the help of Deadman, rebuff them. Kronsky transforms the wooden elephant into the actual helmet again, wears it, and uses "his thoughts" to kill Solomon and his thugs, while declaring, "I have the power--and that is more than enough!" Wonder Woman: "Voyage of the 'Sorcerers Lost'": Queen Hippolyte, on Paradise Island, shows Wonder Woman an enchanted ruby and tells how the ghosts of three famous magicians consulted with the goddesses Aphrodite and Athena and were persuaded to give it to the Amazons for safekeeping. But Sargon the Sorcerer, sometimes super-hero, sometimes super-villain, wishes to gain the ruby for himself, and manipulates a man and a woman into going towards the island to recover it. Wonder Woman tries to stall them, but the woman takes the gem and gets it to Sargon, who ends up within the enlarged gem. Wonder Woman uses her magic lasso to free Sargon from the gem, which explodes. She reveals that the jewel, a twin of Sargon's Ruby of Life, was causing his evil ambitions, and he is now free of its influence. Aquaman: "Executive Action!": After breaking into one of Universal Food Products' installations in Atlantis, Aquaman obtains proof that U.F.P.'s atomic reactors, which supply energy to their equipment, are heating up the seas and threatening to boil Atlantis alive. But when he presents his evidence to Vulko, Aquaman is told that this is already known, and U.F.P. and Atlantean scientists are laboring on a solution to the problem. The sea king's protests are in vain. Later, Aquaman infiltrates U.F.P. again, overhears its head, Mr. Amos, admitting that Atlantis's farmlands will be laid waste through overproduction in a year, but that by that time they will know how to do underwater farming on their own. Aquaman is captured, but fights his way out. When he goes to Vulko again with the new information, Aquaman is again rebuffed, and Vulko orders his guards to put Aquaman under arrest.