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"The Wheel of Misfortune!": As the various members of the Justice League perform various super-feats before a public audience, each hero has to face a different superstition, who apparently comes true and causes them to have a bit of bad luck. Witnessing

Justice League of America #6 is an issue of the series Justice League of America (Volume 1) with a cover date of September, 1961.

Synopsis for "The Wheel of Misfortune!"

As the various members of the Justice League perform various super-feats before a public audience, each hero has to face a different superstition, who apparently comes true and causes them to have a bit of bad luck. Witnessing each event is Amos Fortune, who has spent the better part of his life studying luck, and how to manipulate it to his own ends. Having discovered that luck can be manipulated biologically through the "luck gland", Fortune created the Stimoluck device to this end. Having succeeded in his test of these devices on the Justice League, Fortune is confident enough to cash in on his inventions.

While at the Justice Leagues headquarters, the heroes join for their regular meeting where they all discuss their recent bouts with bad luck. With no dire threats presently at large the group decides to answer some mail requesting for the Leagues assistance. Green Arrow, J'onn J'onzz and Flash decide to help a girl who's searching for a hidden family treasure, the only clue to it's location being a riddle based poem. While Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern go to the town of Sand Dune to investigate reports of an invisible thief.

Green Arrow, Manhunter and Flash arrive at the girls home and begin searching her property for the hidden treasure. While they are doing so, Amos Fortune arrives and purchases fence posts on the property, which reveal to have the treasure in it, however since Fortune just bought the posts he claims the treasure as his own. The girl is devastated, however the heroes reveal that while looking for the treasure they also found a priceless painting, as well as fortune in oil and Uranium on the property. Leaving Fortune is puzzled that the Justice League members were able to have extraordinary good luck in finding those unknown treasures.

Meanwhile Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Lantern investigate the invisible thief's handiwork. A castle full of priceless artifacts have been stolen as late, so the League has been hired to try and catch the culprit. Using his power ring to coat the remaining items in the castle, Green Lantern makes it so that he is alerted if any of the items are stolen. When they are later, the JLA goes out to find that the thief is actually a master fisherman who has been casting his line into the castle to grab items. When brought to the secret location where the stolen goods were hidden, they arrive just as Fortune has finished putting them in the trunk of his car. Fortune uses a gas to knock them out, hoping to take them to his lair and find out how they've been able to be so lucky when he's used his device to ruin their luck.

Capturing the other League members as well, Fortune attaches them to his Wheel of Misfortune, a device which will eventually burn out their good luck glands giving them nothing but bad luck. However, Martian Manhunter breaks free and defeats Fortune. When the shocked Fortune inquires as how how the Manhunter was able to break free, J'onn explains that his Martian physiology made him immune to the Stimoluck, and that his recent bout of misfortune as sheer coincidence.

Appearing in "The Wheel of Misfortune!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Amos Fortune (First appearance)
  • Charles Hobart (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • August Jones (Single appearance)
  • Hazel Deeping (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Notes

Trivia

  • Hiram Deeping's treasure clue is an anachronism, with its references to George Washington as a dollar and Abraham Lincoln as a penny. Since Hiram was a gold miner in 1849, he would have written the clue well before 1909, when the first Lincoln penny was issued. A Washington dollar is unlikely as well. While the first Washington banknotes were issued in 1869, they were not widely circulated, and used mainly for transfer between banks. The popular dollars of the late 19th century were silver coins which portrayed a female character called Liberty, and remained dominant well after the common Washington dollar bill was issued in 1923.


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