Welcome to the Society Pages, a new 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. But before we can get into that book, we’ve got some homework to do.
A few notes on the process I’ll be taking for the next year or so:
– We will cover every major JSA story from the late-90s on, but not every comic to feature a JSA member. There isn’t enough time in the year for that.
– Despite it being my favorite comic of all time, as well as the impetus for some of the JSA revival, we won’t be covering “Starman” in this, aside from potential crossovers. I plan on doing a series like this on “Starman” in 2021.
– That said, some miniseries, and even ongoings, will be pulled in. This is more about personal preference and interest, but I hope to keep the series more or less JSA focused.
– After today’s Wednesday edition, this will be a Sunday column going forward.
For the next few weeks, we will be looking back at how “JSA” came to be, and so we need to rewind to 1977, to get the origin of the JSA, as published in “DC Special” #29.
DC Special #29Cover by Neal Adams
Written by Paul Levitz
Penciled by Joe Stanton
Inked by Bob Layton
Colored by Anthony Tollin
Lettered by Bill MorseFeaturing the origin of the Justice Society of America! In the midst of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt calls together some of the greatest heroes in the world to help battle against the Axis Powers!
The origin presented for the JSA in this issue is quite simple: Hitler was going to invade England in 1940, but a British spy came to the United States and got President Roosevelt to send superheroes instead of soldiers over. Like many DC stories about Hitler, the Spear of Destiny, aka the Holy Lance, is a MacGuffin, and one that will affect the other two ‘big’ JSA stories from the era.
The lineup introduced here is made up of Batman, Green Lantern, the Flash, the Atom, Dr. Fate, Sandman, Hawkman, Hourman, The Spectre, and Superman. I am sure this is not the first time that the JSA’s origin has been told, but it is told in a nice, concise manner, with all the important information being put out there. This is the type of story that Paul Levitz would continue to tell for decades at DC: really informative, rich stories that work better as historical documents than some of his peers’ work.
This origin would also very much come into play, along with the Spear of Destiny in the future. If there weren’t literal years between them, I actually would have guessed that this issue was produced to facilitate “America vs the Justice Society,” as the origin of the JSA isn’t really all that important. The origin story doesn’t really teach us anything new about anyone on the team, or even the team itself; it simply sets the events in one place, both in terms of a published work, and in terms of a timeline.
Speaking of “America vs. the Justice Society,” let’s dig into this hilariously weird book.
America Vs. the Justice SocietyCover by Jerry Ordway
Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas
Penciled by Rafael Kayanan, Rich Buckler, Jerry Ordway, Michael Blair, and Howard Bender
Inked by Alfredo Alcala and Bill Collins
Colored by Adrienne Roy and Carl Gafford
Lettered by David Cody WeissFollowing the end of World War II, Batman accuses the Justice Society of America of collaborating with the Nazis, which leads to a Congressional investigation that could mean disgrace for the JSA!
So, I had written about this book in the past, and while as a title it is a really weird read, for preparing me for this project, it is sort of the perfect book. Due to the structure of the book, with the JSA being on trial, they essentially recap their entire existence from 1940 to 1985, with every major story getting a few panels.
Continued belowNow, most of those stories aren’t going to impact future JSA tales at all, but I feel far more prepared than if I had jumped in at any #1. Plus, I got to see this panel again, one of the unintentionally funniest things I’ve ever seen in a comic:
That brings us to the book that would, essentially, set the JSA on the course it continued on straight through “Flashpoint,” and established the JSA as the World War II heroes of Earth-1.
Crisis on Infinite EarthsCover by George Pérez
Written by Marv Wolfman, Robert Greenberger, and Len Wein
Penciled by George Pérez
Inked by Dick Giordano, Mark DeCarlo, and Jerry Ordway
Colored by Anthony Tollin, Tom Ziuko, Carl Gafford, and Tom McCraw
Lettered by John CostanzaThis is the story that changed the DC Universe forever. A mysterious being known as the Anti-Monitor has begun a crusade across time to bring about the end of all existence. As alternate Earths are systematically destroyed, the Monitor quicklyassembles a team of super-heroes from across time and space to battle his counterpart and stop the destruction. DC’s greatest heroes, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman, assemble to stop the menace, but as they watch both the Flash and Supergirl die in battle, they begin to wonder if even all of the heroes in the world can stop this destructive force.
Obviously, “Crisis on Infinite Earths” is one of the most important comics of all time, and one of the two or three most essential DC series ever published. Its effects are felt all across comics every week, and its direct effects on DC continuity are still being felt. It is also a book I’ve read a couple of times, but am always surprised by for a few reasons on each re-read.
This time, I was reading it with a lens on the Justice Society aspects, as I was reading it for this column. And…there really isn’t that much. Sure, there are the machinations that can lead to the the streamlined Earth, but aside from two key characters, most of the JSA is just part of the muscle battling the Anti-Monitor.
The first character to get a spotlight is Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash. While there is nothing all that illuminating about Garrick here, his presence is a required one, both because of his status as the first Golden Age hero to appear in the Silver Age, and as part of the Flash Family. He is a steadying hand throughout the back half of the book, both to Wally and to the heroes in general.
The other is Yolanda Montez, the ‘new’ Wildcat. Ted Grant, the original Wildcat, is paralyzed while saving a child, and his goddaughter, Yolanda, takes up the mantle. Sort of like with Garrick, Montez’s role is relatively minor, but it signals the status quo of the JSA shifting to a younger generation. That generation, “Infinity Inc” is a fascinating read that, again, I’d like to tackle sometime in the future. But not here.
But more than anything else, “Crisis” is essential to this project because it establishes that, yes, the JSA were on the ‘main’ Earth, and therefore will continue to be a part of DC books going forward. Oh wait, Roy Thomas has something to say about that.
Continued belowLast Days of the Justice Society of AmericaCover by Mike Gustovich and Dave Ross
Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas
Penciled by Mike Gustovich
Inked by Dave Ross
Colored by Carl Gafford
Lettered by David Cody WeissGreen Lantern, the Flash, Starman, the Atom, Doctor Fate, Power Girl and the rest of the JSA were once the celebrated champions of Earth-2. But then came the Crisis, a cataclysm so great that it reached across realities, destroying all parallel worlds and leaving only one Earth.
The Universe was saved, but the Justice Society was left in a world that is already filled with other heroes. But just as the team is on the cusp of disbanding, they receive a dire message from the Spectre, sending them on perhaps their greatest mission ever…
The universe is in jeopardy, and to save it the JSA must journey back in time to the heart of Hitler’s Germany. If they fail, all they fought for in the Crisis could be lost once more.
Often times, we talk about “Crisis of Infinite Earths” as the agent of change for the entire DCU. But, much like “Flashpoint” or the “DC Universe Rebirth Special,” it is really what came afterwards that did all that heavy lifting. Sometimes, it meant ignoring “Crisis” to tell a story, and other times, “Crisis” was used as a magic wand to wave across all of continuity to do whatever a creator wanted to do.
“The Last Days of the Justice Society of America” is essentially a post-script to “Crisis” where the JSA was put on the shelf for as long as DC so desired. Like so many JSA stories at this time, it again involved Hitler and the Spear of Destiny, and it involved every living JSA member at the time.
While certainly more of a story than “America Vs,” “Last Days” feels like three stories stitched together. There is the funeral of Dick Grayson and Helena Wayne of Earth-2, which acts as the disbanding of the current JSA. There is the change in the timeline that the JSA needs to fix (less than a year after “Crisis” was supposed to simplify things, and already time travel is used as a retcon device), which leads them to stop Hitler from conquering the world. And then, there is the revelation that this battle can never end, and that these original heroes are basically in purgatory, fighting the same creatures for all eternity to keep the world safe.
While it is understandable that telling stories for aging superheroes is tough, why did DC decide to keep them around, post-“Crisis,” only to instantly shelve them? The story is very convoluted, and has multiple moments where heroes are presumed dead, only to not be what they appear. This is pretty much the safest possible execution of a story like this, where nothing really happens in a permanent sense, but the JSA is packed up until someone thaws them out.
Which I will do, on Sunday. Thanks for reading.
