Justice Guild of America

Justice Guild as shown in the Justice League series

The Justice Guild of America is a superhero team featured in the Justice League animated series two-part episode "Legends", an homage to the Golden Age Justice Society of America, and to a degree the Silver Age Justice League of America.

Synopsis

At the climax of a fight between the Justice League and a giant robot remote-controlled by Lex Luthor, it falls over, threatening to crush Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and J'onn J'onzz. In trying to stop the robot, Flash creates a tornado-like vortex just as the robot's energy core explodes, transporting the four heroes to Seaboard City, an idyllic 1950s locale in a parallel Earth.

There, they meet the Justice Guild of America members Tom Turbine, The Streak, the Green Guardsman, Black Siren, Catman, and their sidekick/mascot Ray Thompson. They first fight when Green Lantern and Flash stop a robbery by Justice Guild enemy Music Master and the Guild mistakes them for thieves. After the Streak sees Flash save Ray from pieces of a falling building, he realizes the League aren't criminals and stops the fight. The Justice Guild were comic book characters on the Justice League's Earth about whom Green Lantern read as a child. He claims without the comics, he may not have his ring today, as the comics taught him what it means to be a hero. J'onn J'onzz hypothesizes that the JGA writers had a subconscious link to their Earth during flashes of "inspiration" which were actually psychic memories of the Justice Guild's exploits; this is a nod to the explanation Gardner Fox provided for the JSA/JLA link in his September 1961 story Flash of Two Worlds in which the Barry Allen Flash of Earth-One encounters Jay Garrick, his Earth-Two counterpart. They help the JGA fight a group of their enemies called the Injustice Guild of America, who are based on Golden Age DC supervillains, consisting of Music Master, Sportsman, Sir Swami, and Doctor Blizzard. The IGA engage in a scheme to pull off a series of crimes based on the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire as part of a contest to see which of them can pull off the best crime related to those elements, and by doing so will lead the IGA in their next criminal activity. Doctor Blizzard wins when he takes Flash and Black Siren as hostages, and leads the IGA in robbing the Seaboard City Mint and escaping by blimp. The IGA are defeated by the JL and the IGA and are handed over to the police.

Meanwhile, Hawkgirl discovers graves of the JGA, prompting her and Lantern to probe deeper into inconsistencies found in the "perfect" Seaboard City, such as how some, if not all dangers in it happen to come from out of nowhere. The two question the driver of the local ice cream truck about their suspicions, but he only responds to their questions with unspecific answers before driving away. They go to a library, where they discover that all the books on the shelves have blank pages, and going to the basement, they find a brick wall behind the basement door. After Hawkgirl smashes through it, they find a battle-scarred subway tunnel, and an old newspaper (dated to the same day as the final Justice Guild comic). The newspaper’s headline reveals that the Justice Guild had been killed in a nuclear war which destroyed Seaboard City forty years prior, causing the Justice Guild comic book to be cancelled on the Justice League's Earth.

Hawkgirl and Lantern show this knowledge to Flash, J'onn and the JGA; shocked, the JGA deny that their existence is nothing more than an illusion. J'onn suspects Ray Thompson is the key to the bizarre state of this reality. Ray denies knowing anything, but J'onn makes a telepathic link with him, causing him to reveal his true form: a disfigured mutant with reality-warping abilities that he used to recreate his destroyed town and resurrect the Justice Guild, making it look like the nuclear war never happened. Angrily, Ray goes on a rampage and tries to kill the JL, while distracting the JGA with a giant red robot. The Guild heroes are initially unsure of what they should do because they know that defeating Ray will undo the illusion and everything in it, including themselves. Ultimately, they decide to stop Ray, reasoning that if they could sacrifice themselves to save their world once, they could do it again. The Guild attack Ray, overwhelming his powers and ending the illusion. Subsequently, the city's residents are freed from the illusion, thanking the League for giving them a future. The League then returns to their own Earth using a space-time machine created by Tom Turbine before his death and powered by Green Lantern's ring.

Back on his own Earth, John Stewart ponders of how much the JGA comics meant to him when he was young and the impact the comics' cancellation in 1962 (the year the actual Guild died) had on him. He remarks to Hawkgirl that the JGA taught him the meaning of the word hero, a commentary on the bright, optimistic Golden and Silver Age's contrast to the Bronze and Modern Age's grittiness and angst.

Members

Among the members of the Justice Guild are:

• Streak (voiced by David Naughton) — The leader of the Guild who possesses super-speed and wears a football helmet.
• Cat Man (voiced by Stephen Root) — A cat-themed member of the Guild who is a master martial artist. He additionally has a Cat-Cycle and sidecar, and possesses a grappling hook and gauntlets with retractable claws.
• Green Guardsman (voiced by William Katt) — He wields a power ring which can create a variety of hard-light constructs. His ring is ineffective against aluminium.
• Tom Turbine (voiced by Ted McGinley) — The team's brains, he is a genius intellect specializing in nuclear physics and meta-physics. He possesses a button-activated turbine belt and thick metal wristlets and anklets, which grant him flight and super-strength.
• Black Siren (voiced by Jennifer Hale) — The only female member of the Justice Guild, who takes it upon herself to handle the household chores and duties. She is often paired with Cat Man on missions and it is implied that they are also romantically engaged.
• Ray Thompson (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris) — The team's mascot. After the Justice Guild died during a nuclear war that destroyed his own world, Ray survived and became exposed to the radioactive fallout that mutated his DNA, giving him psychic powers that he used to recreate what he had lost. When the Justice Guild found out their existence was a fake, they fought back and overcame Ray's powers, undoing the illusion and everything in it.

Injustice Guild

A group of super-villains whose goal is to eliminate the Justice Guild and rule the world. They make their headquarters in a cave somewhere outside of Seaboard City. Among its members are:

• Sir Swami (voiced by Jeffrey Jones) — The Injustice Guild's leader, a turban-wearing man with powerful magic derived from his magic wand. Swami proposed a contest to see who can pull off the perfect crime related to the four elements of nature. He tried to steal the Flame of Rasputin, a jewel with power over fire, but was stopped by Green Lantern and Streak. He later assisted Dr. Blizzard in his scheme which also ended in failure. It is unknown if he survived the war or is just a projection of Ray's mind.
• Music Master (voiced by Udo Kier) — A member of the Injustice Guild. He possesses an accordion that emits high intensity sound waves. He was the first member of the Injustice Guild to encounter the Justice League. He tried to steal a priceless instrument, but was thwarted by the League. When Sir Swami proposed a contest to see who could pull off a crime related to the four elements, Music Master chose air and stole a replica of the Wright brothers' glider plane. Hawkgirl and Green Guardsman gave chase but Music Master escaped with the plane. He was eventually defeated by both The Justice League and Guild. It is unknown if he survived the war or is just a projection of Ray's mind.
• Sportsman (voiced by Michael McKean) — A member of the Injustice Guild who uses sports equipment to commit crimes. When Sir Swami proposed a contest to see who could pull off a crime related to the four elements, Sportsman chose earth and stole a tennis trophy. He escapes capture and is eventually defeated by both the Justice League and Guild. It is unknown if he survived the war or is just a projection of Ray's mind.
• Doctor Blizzard (voiced by Corey Burton) — A member of the Injustice Guild. He possesses a special doctor's light-reflector that gives him ice powers. When Sir Swami proposed a contest to see who could pull off a crime related to the four elements, Doctor Blizzard chose water and planned to steal a new fountain during its dedication by the mayor. Flash and Black Siren intervened, but Doctor Blizzard froze them and took them to his hideout where he won the contest. Since he won, he got to pick their next move. He chose to rob the Seaboard City mint, then escape by blimp with help from his teammates. Cat Man single-handedly took down the entire Injustice Guild and foiled their plot. It is unknown if he survived the war or is just a projection of Ray's mind.

Homages

• Bruce Timm has commented that Ray Thompson is based on both Roy Thomas, who collaborated on the animated series, due to his famous admiration of the Golden Age comics, and science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury, because many of Bradbury's stories deal with nostalgia compared to the harshness of the present.
• The idea of Ray's special ability is based on Marvel Comics' Rick Jones summoning the Golden Age heroes in the Avengers' Kree-Skrull War, a story written by Roy Thomas.
• The Justice League staff originally intended to use the Golden Age Justice Society of America, but access to the characters was denied by DC Comics as Paul Levitz felt the story as written disrespected the JSA and the characters' portrayals clashed with the post-Crisis JSA's portrayal in current comics. However, Levitz agreed to a compromise: the producers could change the names and designs just enough to make the team not quite the JSA, but still get the point across.
• Members of the Justice Guild were intended to reflect:
  • The Streak resembles the Golden Age Flash. His role as leader of the Justice Guild mirrors the Flash's role as the first chairman of the Justice Society.
  • Tom Turbine is primarily an homage to the Golden Age Atom, possessing a similar color scheme, belt, and profession. His energy-charged punches reference the Atom's Atomic Punch, a power he acquired later into his career. The alliteration of Tom Turbine's name is also an homage to 'Atom Al', the nickname used to bully Al Pratt for his stature and which inspired his Atom moniker. Turbine also shares some of the Golden Age Superman's facial features.
  • Green Guardsman resembles the Golden Age Green Lantern, with his ring not working on anything associated with aluminum is an homage to Alan Scott's ring not working on wood. He also shares his first name, Scott, with Alan Scott's surname.
  • Catman is a combination of Wildcat and Golden Age Batman with the personality of Adam West's version of Batman from the 1960s live-action TV series. He is not to be confused with the villain Catman, whose alter ego was Thomas Blake. However, the real name of the Justice Guild of America's Catman is T. Blake which is an homage to the Batman villain.
  • Black Siren resembles the Golden Age Black Canary. The name given on her tombstone, Donna Vance, is similar to that of the original Black Canary Dinah Drake Lance.
• JGA enemies the Injustice Guild were modified versions of the Injustice Society:
  • The Music Master is an homage to the Fiddler.
  • The Sportsman is an homage to the Sportsmaster.
  • Dr. Blizzard is an homage to the original Icicle.
  • Sir Swami is an homage to the Wizard.
• The episode is dedicated to Gardner Fox, who was a prominent writer of both the Golden and Silver Age era and co-created both the JSA and JLA. He also wrote the first DC comic to feature the Multiverse, Flash #123, "Flash of Two Worlds".

In other media

Arrowverse

Elements of the Justice Guild are seen within the Arrowverse:

• The Streak is seen in the first season of The Flash as an early alias for Barry Allen / The Flash of Earth-1.
• Black Siren is seen in the fifth and sixth seasons of Arrow as the initial alias of Dinah Laurel Lance of Earth-2.

External links

• The Justice Guild Of America
• Legends - Episode Info
• Earth 2.5 timeline
• Justice Guild of America at DCAU Wiki