In the 1930s and 40s, superheroes were in their "Golden Age," back when Superman had more human proportions and the Justice Society of America had its birth. In the 1950s, the Silver Age of comic book heroes dawned, and a new batch of heroes was born, along with the Justice League of America. In 1961, in FLASH #123, the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) met the Golden Age Flash (Jay Garrick), and everyone learned that there were two Earths: Earth-One containing the Justice League of America, and Earth-Two containing the Justice Society of America. But, there was no way that the paths of these two bands of heroes would not cross - again and again!

This book contains four different story arcs, in which the heroes of the two Earths mix. Overall, I found this to be a great book, with some really interesting storylines. If you are a fan of super-heroes, then this is a book that you simply MUST get! I give this book my highest recommendations!

Here are the story arcs:
Crisis on Earth-One! (Justice League of America #21, 8/63) and Crisis on Earth-Two! (Justice League of America #22, 9/63): When three villains of Earth-One get together with three villains of Earth-Two, they make a plan that will benefit all of them, but leave neither world any safer!

Crisis on Earth-Three! (Justice League of America #29, 8/64) and The Most Dangerous Earth of All! (Justice League of America #30, 9/64): Unbeknownst to the heroes of Earth-One and Earth-Two, there is an Earth-Three, and its super-heroes are super-villains looking for worthy opponents. Will the heroes of the JLA AND JSA triumph? Will they even survive?

Earth Without A Justice League! (Justice League of America #37, 8/65) and Crisis on Earth-A! (Justice League of America #38, 9/65): When Johnny Thunder of Earth-Two meets his counterpart on Earth-One, he loses control of the mighty, magical Thunderbolt. And when the JLA is suddenly wiped out of existence, its up to the JSA to put things right...if they can!

Crisis between Earth-One and Earth-Two! (Justice League of America #46, 8/66) and The Bridge Between Earths! (Justice League of America #47, 9/66): When people begin mysteriously moving between the two Earths, it becomes apparent that something strange is going on. In the void between worlds, the Spectre learns that a creature from an anti-matter universe is heading towards Earth, and if he sets foot on it, both Earths will explode. Can the heroes of both worlds hold thing together long enough to save both worlds?

Here's a great example of something that doesn't stand the test of time. The comics contained in this volume were probably pretty impressive in their time, but by today's standards, these stories are beyond primitive.

The only people who would possibly enjoy this to any great extent are either old enough to be nostalgic for these stories (over 50), or young enough to be easily impressed (under 12).

If you really want to see the JLA at their best, read Grant Morrison's JLA. This old stuff just doesn't hold up.

(The subsequent volumes aren't any improvement.)

I was always a big Marvel fan when I was little, but recently I've been getting more and more interested in DC because of the Infinite Crisis event. I wanted to check out the old Crisis on Infinite Earths, but had heard the story involved a lot of obscure characters on a whole lot of different universes. I figured this book, as well as the other two Crisis on Multiple Earths collections, would get me up to speed. On that front, this TPB was a success. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of these old stories, however. The first two introduce both the Justice League of Earth-1 and the Justice Society of Earth-2. The next two stories deal with Crime Syndicate of Earth-3. Two others deal with Earth-A (where the history of Earth-1 is changed so that villians assume all of the superpowers of the Justice League). The last story deals with the Anti-matter Man attempting to destroy both Earth-1 and Earth-2 (which seems something of a prelude to the Crisis on Infinite Earths). Well worth a check-out.