Welcome back to the Society Pages, a column that looks back at the ‘modern’ history of the Justice Society of America. The main thrust of this column is to look at “JSA” and “Justice Society of America,” two ongoing series, written for most of their runs by Geoff Johns.
This week, we’re back to the main event. Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham’s “Justice Society of America” launched at the end of 2006, and the bulk of this summer, we’ll be covering the volume in its entirety.
Written by Geoff JohnsCover by Alex Ross
Penciled by Dale Eaglesham
Inked by Art Thibert and Ruy José
Colored by Jeromy Cox
Lettered by Rob LeighDetermined to rebuild the Justice Society, Green Lantern, Flash and Wildcat initiate a recruitment program, tracking heroes across the world and bringing in the new Starman, Damage, Liberty Belle and more!
It is interesting to pick up this series where we do, as we are past the bulk of the ‘One Year Later’ stories, but are very much dealing with the status quo of that era. Most specifically, this team is anchored by the married couple of Rick Tyler, Hourman, and Jesse Chambers, Liberty Belle. This courtship and marriage all took place in the missing year of the DC Universe, though that is never really established. Normally, this is the type of comic book occurrence that wouldn’t bother the reader too much. However, having been the dude reading every JSA story in publication order, it made me feel like I was going a little bit crazy.
Regardless, the series opens with the three old timers of the team – Wildcat, Green Lantern, and the Flash – debating new team members for the JSA. The lineup that they land on is anchored by legacy characters, both in title and in bloodline. And so, nearly every member of the team has a connection to the Justice Society. And so, the team, at least that we see on page in this issues, is comprised of the three old timers, plus original member Hawkman, Mister Terrific (no relation to original), Doctor Mid-Nite (no relation to original), the Sandman (formerly known as Sandy the Golden Boy, then Sand, sidekick of the original Sandman), Power Girl (cousin of Earth-2 Superman, who was a sometimes JSA member), Hourman (son of the original), Liberty Belle (daughter of the original), Damage (son of the original Atom), Stargirl (step-daughter of Stripesy, using Starman’s cosmic rod), a mysterious new Starman (from the 31st century and has a connection to prior Starmen), and Cyclone, the newly christened granddaughter of Ma Hunkel. Plus, we’ve got Obsidian (Green Lantern’s son) handling security for the Brownstone. The cover to #1/the trade show a few others, but those are not part of the active team, so we’ll leave them for another time.
This lineup is purposely built on the history of the Society, and really doubles down on the mission to train the next generation of heroes. One of the big thrusts of this first arc is that not all of the new members feel the same way about their legacy. Damage is written quite obnoxiously, really dragging home the idea that he doesn’t need the team or want to be a part of his dad’s legacy. This is, in part, because he never knew his father, and part because at a certain point all Damage became was a bitter dude, which is something his early appearances don’t really point to.
On the opposite side of that is Cyclone, who started a JSA Club in her school and clearly has a real desire to join up with the team. Somewhere in the middle of those two is the long-lost son of Wildcat, who can quite literally change into a cat of the wild variety. He’s not officially a team member just yet, but he represents some of the truest legacy on the team.
Dale Eaglesham is one of DC’s most reliable artists, especially in this era. He’s someone who always manages to present classic characters in iconic form, and so for a team made up of DC’s Golden Age icons, Eaglesham gives them the proper stature that they deserve. But Eaglesham can also draw action quite well, too, so it doesn’t turn into a “look at us, we’re iconcs” that some folks, like the cover artist for this book, for instance, sometimes can lapse into. Eaglesham is tasked with drawing some dark, dark stuff, and yet he manages to keep the overall visual tone of the book hopeful.
Continued belowThe plot of this arc is about a group of fascists called the Fourth Reich, led/manipulated by Vandal Savage, wiping out the bloodlines of past members of the Justice Society. We see the family of Mister America, a minor Golden Age hero that debuted in “Action Comics” #1, murdered before he joins them, falling through the skylight at the JSA Brownstone. We see a second attack on the family of Commander Steel, and while the slaughter of Mister America’s family happens off panel, this is all done in plain sight of the reader. It’s gruesome and borderline unnecessary to watch small children flayed by Captain Nazi.
Hawkman shows up and stops the attack, leaving a few of the great-grandchildren alive, as well as one of Commander Steel’s grandsons, Nate, although he is oozed on with a liquid metal by Reichsmark. He’s taken to the Brownstone for observation, and the liquid metal hardened into a new leg for the amputee.
This arc really exists just to set up the new team, and it does that well. With the exception of Jakeem Thunder, who is on the cover to #1 but not featured, this more or less completes the initial incarnation of the crew, and it gives everyone more or less something to do. While this team is not altogether different than the one from “JSA,” the larger roster and more refined focus on legacy, it feels like a statement of purpose.
Next week: the JLA comes to town for a Legion/JLA/JSA Adventure. See ya for ‘The Lightning Saga!’
