JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
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The Silver Age through the 1970s |
History of the Justice Society
Original text written by Scott Stephen Moore
It began in late 1940, when DC Comics (then known as All-American Comics) created a new comic book series called All-Star Comics. All-Star included several stories, each featuring a different popular costumed character of the time such as Flash, Hawkman and Green Lantern.
With its Winter 1940 issue, number 3, All-Star's format changed. Writer Gardner Fox decided to combine all its primary characters in a single story, but not to stop a crime spree or to save the world — these heroes met for dinner.
Though humble, this beginning was a comics first: the super-hero team.
The Golden Age Years
Top row: Dr. Fate, Hourman, Sandman, Atom
Bottom row: Green Lantern, The Spectre, Hawkman
Those in attendance at the first meeting of the Justice Society included: The Flash (Jay Garrick), the Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hourman (Rex Tyler), the Atom (Al Pratt), the Sandman (Wesley Dodds), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson), and the Spectre (Jim Corrigan)
Two others decided to crash this dinner party: Johnny Thunder and the original Red Tornado. Johnny was allowed to stay as the official JSA "mascot"; the Red Tornado remained only briefly, as an embarrising tear in her costume necessitated a hasty retreat.
The Flash served as the JSA's first chairperson. (#3-6) When his duties in Keystone City became too great, he resigned. Johnny Thunder took his place as a full member, and Green Lantern became the second chairperson. (#7)
Green Lantern served an even shorter tenure as chair and soon left as well. He was replaced in the JSA by Dr. Mid-Nite (the blind Charles McNider). Hourman also took a leave of absence (later revealed as a foray with the new Freedom Fighters [All-Star Squadron #31]) and was replaced by the original Starman (Ted Knight). Hawkman became chairperson after G.L. (#8) and remained in the post for many decades.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt called upon all America's costumed adventurers to form an All-Star Squadron in service of their country. The members of the JSA joined the Squadron, but they were soon drafted into a higher service. On December 9, 1941, they formally disbanded so that all members could join the armed forces. (#11) They soon formed a special task force called the Justice Batallion. (#12)
The team's first female member — Wonder Woman — also became one of their most notable. Wonder Woman was in fact the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta. She came from the future, having traveled back in time with the Flash (Jay Garrick). (Wonder Woman v.2 #130) After they completed their mission, Jay returned to the future, but Hippolyta elected to remain with the JSA. (#133) Having trained for millennia in the arts of war, but used them only in practice, Hippolyta was more than ready stand and fight for America in the war.
During the war, only a handful of others joined the JSA. Among them were Mr. Terrific (Terry Sloane) and Wildcat (Ted Grant), (#24) and more regularly, the Black Canary (Dinah Drake [#38]). And although she was never officially inducted as a member at this time, Hawkgirl (Shiera Saunders) assisted the team on many missions. (#5, 8, 15)
The Justice Society retired in 1951, during the age of McCarthyism, because they refused to let the US Government know their secret identities. Many of the team members settled down and started families during this time. Many of their children would eventually become heroes in their own right and would eventually form the Super Hero team Infinity, Inc.
The Justice Society made some of their most relentless enemies during this time, including: Brain Wave (#?), the Psycho Pirate (#23, 32), Solomon Grundy (#33), the Wizard (#34), Per Degaton (#35) and rival team who would return in many forms over the years, the Injustice Society. (#37)
The concept of All-Star
Comics was to promote the company's secondary characters in an anthology format.
Any character who starred in their own series was deemed ineligible for inclusion
in All-Star. For this reason, Batman and Superman were not members.
Likewise, when Flash and Green Lantern were given their own comic books, they
"left" the JSA to become reserve members. The Golden Age Hawkman starred regularly
in All-Flash Comics, but was
never awarded his own series.
The flipside was also true: if a character lost its supporting role in another book, he also lost his spot in the JSA. Hourman's "leave of absence" marked the end of his strip in Adventure Comics.
In the original DC multiiverse, defined in 196?, the Justice Society was said to have inhabited Earth-2.
All-Star Comics #8 was the first appearance of Wonder Woman. She did not join the JSA until issue #12. In current DC continuity, this (Earth-2) Wonder Woman no longer exists. Instead, most of her adventures have been assumed by the modern-day Wonder Woman's mother, the Amazon Queen Hippolyta, who traveled back in time and stayed to join the JSA in 1942.
Also in original (Earth-2) continuity, Batman and Superman were twice cited as members. They appeared in All-Star #7 (1941) and # (194). Their involvement was understandably light, given that each starred in two other comics at the time.
The Justice Society appeared in every issue of All-Star Comics from issue #3 (Winter 1940) to #57 (Feb. 1951). With issue #58, the title was changed to All-Star Western.
The Silver Age through the 1970s
Meeting of the Flashes from Flash #123 (Sept. 1961)
Over ten years later, in the pages of The Flash #123 (1961), DC's newest character to go by the name of The Flash, Barry Allen, met Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash and a member of the JSA. DC had decided to revive many of the old JSA characters, but using the name only. The characters secret identities, origins, and in same cases powers were vastly different. To explain the two Flashes, Green Lanterns, Hawkmen, Atoms, and even duplicate Supermen, Batmen, and Wonder Women, DC explained that these heroes lived on different parallel Earths. Earth-1 was the world of the Justice League of America and the new versions of the DC heroes. Earth-2 was the world of the Justice Society and the other Golden Age heroes. When DC comics bought out Quality Comics and Fawcett Comics (the Shazam! characters), those heroes adventures were assigned to Earth-X and Earth-S respectively. There was also Earth-Prime which had only two Super Heroes: Superboy and 'Mazing Man. Earth-Prime was also where all us comic book readers were supposed to live, linked to the other parallel Earths through the stories we would read in our monthly comics.
Confused yet? Good. So were many readers at that time.
The two Flashes met twice again (Flash #129, 1962; Flash #137, 1963) In the second, the entire Justice Society showed up and decided to come out of retirement. The membership was then comprised of:
- The Atom (Al Pratt)
- Dr. Mid-Nite (Dr. Charles MacNider)
- The Flash (Jay Garrick)
- The Green Lantern (Alan Ladd Scott)
- Hawkman (Carter Hall)
- Johnny Thunder
- Wonder Woman (Diana Prince Trevor)
A meeting of the greatest Golden Age and Silver Age Super Hero teams took place just a few months later in Justice League of America #21-22 (August/Sept. 1963). This was the first official meeting of the older, Golden Age (Earth-2) Justice Society of America, and their newer counterparts, the Silver Age (Earth-1) Justice League of America. This started a tradition which would last for 23 years, as the JSA guested in the Justice League of America book every year.
+ Series and prominent appearances from this period:
- All-Star Comics #58-74: The original JSA title was revived from 1976-78, and saw the addition of several new team members. Star-Spangled Kid joined in issue #64, as did Power Girl (who first appeared in #58). The Huntress, daughter of the Golden-Age Batman and Catwoman, first appeared in issue #69 and joined the team in #72.
- DC Special #29: "The Untold Origin of the Justice Society"-The name says it all. The story of how the heroes of the world's greatest super team first met. August/September, 1977.
- Adventure Comics #461-466: After their run in All-Star came to an end, the JSA's exploits continued through 1979 in Adventure Comics. Major event of the series: The Golden-Age Batman dies in battle in issue 462. Completists may also want to track down issue 460, which guest-stars the Golden-Age Flash.
+ Other JSA features from this period:
- Action Comics #484: The Golden Age Superman marries Lois Lane
- Atom #29, 36: The Golden Age Atom guest stars
- The Brave And The Bold #61-62: Starman and Black Canary
- DC Super-Stars #17 (listed as Secret Origins Of Super-Heroes #17 on the cover): First appearance of Batman and Catwoman's daughter, the Huntress
- Flash #129: Second Silver Age appearance of the Golden Age Flash, first Silver Age appearance of the Justice Society (in flashback)
- Flash #137: Second Silver Age appearance of the Justice Society, their first Silver Age adventure
- Secret Society Of Super-Villians #15: Dr. Mid-Nite and the Golden Age Atom appear
- Showcase #55-56: Hourman and Dr. Fate, Green Lantern guests in #55
In addition, the Golden-Age Flash and Green Lantern frequently guest starred in the comics of their Silver-Age counterparts. The Golden-Age Wonder Woman returned as the main character in Wonder Woman for a brief time, pushing out her Silver-Age duplicate. The Golden-Age Superman (joined on one occasion by Johnny Thunder) was a regular character in Superman Family. Also, Wildcat was a frequent partner of Batman in The Brave And The Bold.
Infinity, Inc. and the First Crisis
The 1980's were an all-around miserable time for the world's greatest super team. In March of 1984, several super powered childen of JSA members crashed a Justice Society meeting, demanding to be admitted as new members. They were rejected, as the majority of members felt they were still too young. The JSA's children left and formed their own super hero team, Infinity, Inc., and were joined by several of the JSA's newest members: Star Spangled Kid (later known as Skyman), Power Girl, and the Huntress. This caused some hard feelings between the JSA and Infinity, Inc. for awhile. (Infinity, Inc. comic book series).
In January of 1985, the JSA were put on trial for treason against the USA, based on evidence obtained from the Golden Age Batman's diary, which he left in the care of a friend before he died. It turned out the allegations were actually part of a complex code Batman used in his diary, and the JSA were exonerated (see the four issue limited series America vs. the Justice Society comic book).
Almost right after that farce came the event known as The Crisis On Infinite Earths, where a being known as the Monitor attempted to either destroy or collape all parallel universes into a single universe. All alternate realities were wiped out save five, each with a different "Earth" : Earth-1, home of most of the DC Universe, Earth-2, home of the JSA, Earth-S, home of the Fawcett Comics characters, Earth-X, home of the Quality Comics heroes, and Earth-C, home of the Charlton Comics characters. These five Earths were eventually merged into one, with the history of that Earth being rewritten. Some new characters came into existance, while others disapeared from memory and were never know to exist in this new worlds (see the twelve issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths comic book).
During the Crisis, Robin and Huntress died, the Golden Age Superman and his wife, Lois Lane Kent, were trapped in another dimension, and The Golden Age Wonder Woman and her husband, Steve Trevor, were transported to Olympus to live as gods. History forgot all these great heroes, their esistance remembered only by those who fought in the Crisis. Robin and Huntress were laid to rest in a private cemetary on the Hall Estate, owned by the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
As a result of the new Earth's history, Power Girl was no longer Superman's cousin, but grand-daughter of Arion, Lord of Atlantis. Lyta Trveor, the Fury, was no longer the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, but instead became the daughter of a previously non-existant heroine, the Golden Age Fury. Since there was no Golden Age Wonder Woman in the new continuity, the JSA's Golden Age secretary was revealed to be Miss America, the old Quality Comics heroine who was also a member of the Freedom Fighters. It was later revealed that there was indeed a Golden Age Wonder Woman in this new Earth's history, but it was Queen Hippolyta, the current Wonder Woman's mother, who time travelled back to fight alongside the JSA for awhile.
As if this wasn't miserable enough, while attending funeral services for the Huntress and Robin, the JSA was brought into an inter-dimensional conflict in Limbo and forced to fight the great monsters of Norse Mythology for all eternity. Trapped in Limbo were Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman, Starman, Wildcat, Johnny Thunder, Atom, Sandman, and their associates Hawkgirl and Sandy The Golden Boy. Of the active members at the time, only Spectre, Dr. Fate, Power Girl, and the Star Spangled Kid managed to avoid Limbo. Power Girl and the Star Spangled Kid went on to join Infinity, Inc. (Last Days of the JSA)
+ Features from this period:
- DC Comics Presents #25: "Whatever happened to Hourman?"
- DC Comics Presents #29: "Whatever happened to Dr. Mid-Nite?"
- DC Comics Presents #30: "Whatever happened to the Golden Age Atom?"
- DC Comics Presents #42: "Whatever happened to the Golden Age Sandman?"
The JSA — After the Crisis
After being trapped in Limbo back in 1985, the JSA's old HQ in Gotham City (home of Batman), was converted to a museum in thier honor. Seven years later, the JSA was freed from Limbo in the event known as Armageddon Inferno. During the time they were gone, Infinity, Inc. had disbanded, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl had become grandparents, but lost their son (their son Hector was the costumed hero Silver Scarab, but also operated under the name Sandman for awhile). The child's mother was Lyta Trevor Hall, the heroine known as fury, daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor (pre-Crisis), or the Golden Age Fury (post-crisis, her foster mother was Miss America), depending on which continuity you follow.
From 1992-1994 the team remained active. The set up a headquarters in Gotham City again and faced some old enimies such as the Ultra-Humanite and Kulak. Johnny Quick hung out with them for awhile, as did his daughter Jessie Quick. Johnny Thunder adopted a second daughter, Kiku (his first adopted daughter, Peachy Pet, invented frozen yogurt during his stay in Limbo-he returned from Limbo to find out his family was now extremely wealthy). Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, spent alot of time with Jessie Quick, Bart Allen (Impulse), Wally West (the current Flash), and Max Mercury (the Golden Age Quicksilver from Quality Comics) helping train some of the younger heroes.
The JSA was at the top of their game again...and then came Zero Hour. In a battle with the villian Extant (who had previously been the hero named Hawk, and a member of the Teen Titans), Atom, Hourman, and Dr. Mid-Nite were slain, Wildcat suffered a heart attack, and the rest of the team was aged well past their prime. The JSA officially disbands. For awhile, only Sentinel remained partially active. Starman retires to his observatory, passing the heroic title first to his son David, who is killed in the line of duty, and then to his son Jack, the current Starman who will eventually join the reformed JSA.
Wildcat eventually regains his youth, as does the Flash, and they resume their costumed careers. Flash even travels back in time to the 1940's with Wonder Woman's mother, Hippolyta, who remains in the past for awhile as the Golden Age Wonder Woman. But there is still no JSA.
In early 1999, the Justice League is reunited with the still-surviving JSA members in an adventure based around the origin of Johnny Thunder's mystic Thunderbolt. When the adventure is over, a young boy, J.J. Thunder is in control of the Thunderbolt, and the stage is set for a new JSA...
+ Features from this period :
- Justice Society Of America #1-8 (1991): Set in the early 1950s and staring Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern, Starman, and Black Canary. Fan response to this limited series led to...
- Green Lantern #19 (1991): A portion of the soul of Alan Scott (The Golden Age Green Lantern), left behind in his magic lantern, confronts the current Green Lanterns and seeks their aid in finding where the JSA has disappeared to. Again, overwhealming fan response led to...
- Armageddon Inferno #1-4 (1992): The return of the JSA from Limbo to current DC continuity. Yet again, overwhealming fan response led to...
- Justice Society Of America #1-10 (1992-93): The JSA reestablishes itself as an active superhero team. Poor Sandman has a heart attack in issue one. Too much excitement, I guess. Through this series we see the return of Johnny Quick, the first appearance of his daughter Jessie Quick, the return of Hourman II (son of the Golden Age Hourman), get introduced to Kiku Thunder (Johnny Thunder's new adopted daughter).
- Darkstars #6-7 (1993): The Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl guest star.
- Zero Hour: Crisis In Time #0-4 (1994): Yet another attempt to "off" the JSA by DC's writers. Hourman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Atom are killed, Wildcat has a heart attack, Hawkman and Hawkwoman are merged into one being, and the rest of the JSA is accelerated into old age. Fortunately, most of DC's writers have ignored the "accelerated into old age" part.
- Batman And Wildcat #1-3 (1997): Wildcat in a fist fight with Batman! And holding his own!
- Green Lantern & Sentinel #1-3 (1998): The Golden Age Green Lantern, now known as Sentinel, teams up with the current Green Lantern. Also features Sentinel's children from Infinity, Inc.-Jade and Obsidion.
- Catwoman And Wildcat #1-4 (1998): Another Wildcat adventure, due to the popularity of Batman And Wildcat.
- JLA #28-31 (1999): A reformed JSA (Flash, Sentinel, Hippolyta/Wonder Woman, Wildcat, Spectre, and J.J. Thunder) teams up with the JLA to stop an imp from the 5th deminsion.
- All Star Comics #1-2, Adventure, All-American, National, Sensation, Smash, Star-Spangled, and Thrilling Comics #1 (1999): A nine part story set in the 1940's, meant to reintroduce people to the Golden Age JSA before their return as a modern team.
JSA for a New Millenium
Flying: Sentinel, Hawkgirl II. Running: Wildcat, Sand, Star Spangled Kid
II, Starman VII,
Flash, Black Canary II, Atom-Smasher, Hourman III
Art by Alan Davis
After most of the remaining JSA members (Hippolyta, Spectre, Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat and the Thunderbolt) teamed up with the Justice League (JLA #28-31), they considered sticking together in order to train up-and-coming heroes. Many of these newcomers held ties to Justice Society members and other Golden Age heroes.
Several months later, Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman sacrificed his life in Tibet. (JSA Secret Files #1) At his funeral, the remaining JSA members and several of their associates (Star-Spangled Kid II, Hourman III, Starman VII, Atom Smasher, Black Canary II, and Sandy The Golden Boy), were attacked by a group of undead monsters known as the Sons of Anubis, who were seeking the relics belonging to the late Dr. Fate. (JSA #1) This led the heroes on a quest to find the infant who was destined to become the new Dr. Fate.
This group was joined by Hawkgirl II (Kendra Saunders, granddaughter of Speed Saunders, and grandniece of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl) as the new , the team managed to locate the infant (#2). That child was accelerated to maturity and became the new Dr. Fate (JSA #3), who turned out to be the reincarnation of Hactor Hall (previously known as the Silver Scarab and, briefly, the third Sandman, son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl). The heroes decided to reform the JSA and use the former Wesley Dodds' mansion as thier new base of operations.
Since the reformation of the JSA, Hippolyta/Wonder Woman III has returned to the Amazons, preferring to act as a reserve member. Sand (formerly Sandy The Golden Boy, the reorganized team's first new chairman) and Hourman III have met the new Mr. Terrific II (Michael Holt) (#5), who may become a member of the team in the future. Dr. Mid-Nite III, who battled alongside the JSA against Obsidian (son of the Golden Age Green Lantern) (#7-9), is now a full member of the team. Hippolyta/Wonder Woman III has since become a reserve member and the Golden Age Starman, Ted Knight (the new team's science advisor), has passed away. Ted's son, Jack, the seventh to bear the name Starman, retired soon after.
Nearly a year and a half after reforming, Captain Marvel's former enemy, Black Adam, has begun hanging around with the team (#20), apparently hoping to be offered membership. He assisted the team in thier mission which returned the original Hawkman to life (#23-25), and has been considered a reserve member. Mr. Terrific was recently elected the JSA's latest chairperson. (#27)
Building a Society... a Kingdom?
to come
Appearances / References
See Fanfare for a details on the Justice Society/Justice League Team-Ups Also read a list of Golden Age Reprints
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For a ful list, see Fanfare > JSA in Print > Ongoing and Limited Series |
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