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Justice Society of America

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Justice Society of America
File:Classic JSA.jpg
A classic Justice Society line-up
Cover to The Justice Society Returns. Art by Dave Johnson.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAll-Star Comics # 3 (1940)
Created byGardner Fox
Sheldon Mayer
Sheldon Moldoff
In-story information
Base(s)JSA Brownstone

The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a team of superheroes whose adventures have been published by DC Comics. They are the first such superhero team in comic book history and were created by editor Sheldon Mayer, writer Gardner Fox and artist Sheldon Moldoff.

History

The Golden Age

The JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3, during what is now called the Golden Age, and was essentially a sales gimmick, featuring several characters from various DC Comics publications in order to increase their exposure. There was a rule for the first few years of the group's history that whenever a member received his own title, he would leave the book. Thus, The Flash left after #6, Green Lantern after #7, and so forth. Superman and Batman were never full members, but were "honorary" members and appeared in a handful of issues.

All Star Comics is also notable for featuring the first appearance of Wonder Woman, in #8. Unlike the other characters who had their own titles, she was allowed to appear in the book, but only as the JSA's secretary, and did not actively take part in most adventures until much later in the series (a fact sometimes seen as chauvinistic today).

The early JSA adventures were written by Gardner F. Fox and illustrated by a legion of artists including Sheldon Moldoff, Jack Burnley, Jack Kirby and Joe Kubert. The first JSA story featured the team's first meeting, a framing sequence for each member telling a story of an individual exploit. In the next issue, the team worked together on a common case, but each story from there on still featured the members individually on a mission involving part of the case, and then banding together in the end to wrap things up.

By All Star Comics #24, a real-world schism between DC Comics and All-American Publications — a nominally independent company run by Max Gaines and DC partner Jack Liebowitz — occurred so that no DC heroes would appear for a time. As a result, the Flash and Green Lantern rejoined, and other heroes departed. The two companies would eventually merge, but the JSA roster would remain mostly the same for the rest of the series.

All Star Comics and the Golden Age adventures of the JSA ended with #57, the title becoming All-Star Western, with no superheroes. While Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman continued to have their own adventures, most of the characters lay dormant for several years during the slump in superhero comic books in the early to mid-1950s.

The chairmanship of the Justice Society mostly resided with Hawkman, although initially the Flash and later Green Lantern took their turns at leading the team during it's early stages. For a brief period from 1942 to 1945, they were known as the Justice Batallion, as they became an extension of the armed forces of the United States of America during World War II. It was later revealed that the reason the JSA didn't invade Europe and end the war prematurely was due to the influence of the Spear of Destiny which caused the JSA's most powerful members to fall under the control of its wielder, Adolf Hitler. The JSA also had a loose affiliation with the All-Star Squadron, of which each of its members were a part, as both teams were the brainchild of American president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The headquarters for the JSA was initially a hotel suite in New York City, and after the war the team settled on a brownstone building in Civic City and later in Gotham City. For a very brief period, the JSA was provided a satellite headquarters, much like their later day counterparts the JLA; however this turned out to be a deathtrap orchestrated by a crooked senator's henchman from Eliminations, Inc. The Gotham City brownstone remained unoccupied until years later, when the team once again was active.

Golden Age Members

In order of appearance, and including issues of All-Star Comics in which each member appeared.

File:JSAgoldenage pre-Crisis.jpg
The Golden Age roster of the Justice Society of America.
Art by Alex Ross.

The Red Tornado (# 3) - although sometimes depicted as a member, was never granted official membership. Hawkgirl and Sandy in the Golden Age stories chronicled in recent years have been shown as associates (if not members, per se) of the team.

The Silver Age

Many of the characters were revived in different forms during the 1950s and early 1960s. Then, in Flash #123 (September 1961), the Silver Age Flash met his Golden Age counterpart. The rationale for this was that the two existed on parallel worlds in what came to be known as the Multiverse. The Silver Age Flash and his team, the Justice League of America, lived on "Earth One", while the JSA lived on "Earth Two" (this despite the fact that superheroes arose on Earth Two twenty years before they did on Earth One). Earth One was so named because the Flash from its world crossed into the second world, discovering it. Later, the Golden Age Flash informed his counterpart that the inhabitants of his Earth do not refer to their own planet as "Earth-Two" except when discussing it with the JLA.

Finally, in Justice League of America #21 (August 1963), the Justice Society emerged fully to team up with the Justice League to combat a team of villains from both worlds. This marked the beginning of annual summer team-ups by the two supergroups, which endured until 1985, and which included a number of notable events in JSA history, such as Black Canary leaving to join the Justice League, the return of a Golden Age group of heroes dubbed the Seven Soldiers of Victory, and the creation of a team called the Freedom Fighters composed of several one-time Quality Comics heroes.

At the time, the JSA also occupied a unique position in comics in that they had aged since their early appearances, now being middle-aged -- and often wiser -- versions of their younger, contemporary counterparts.

Notable Silver Age Appearances

New Silver Age Members

The Modern Age

The JSA's popularity gradually grew until they regained their own title. All-Star Comics #58 (January-February 1976) saw the group return as mentors to a younger set of heroes (briefly called the "Super Squad", until they were integrated into the JSA proper). This run only lasted until #74, with a brief run thereafter in Adventure Comics #461-466, but it had three significant developments: It introduced the popular character Power Girl (All-Star Comics #58); it chronicled the death of the Golden Age Batman (Adventure Comics #461-462); and, after nearly 40 years, it finally provided the JSA with an origin story in DC Special #29. This run was mainly written by Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz, and artists included Wally Wood, Joe Staton and Bob Layton.

A series taking place in the team's original setting of the wartime 1940s called All-Star Squadron featured the JSA frequently along with several other Golden Age superheroes. This led to a spin-off, contemporary series entitled Infinity, Inc. which starred the children and heirs of the JSA members. Both series were written by noted JSA fan Roy Thomas and featured art by Rich Buckler, Jerry Ordway, Todd McFarlane and others.

Meanwhile, the JSA continued their annual team-ups with the Justice League. Notable events included meeting the Fawcett Comics heroes, including Captain Marvel, the death of Mr. Terrific, and an explanation for why Black Canary hadn't aged much despite debuting in the 1940s. A particularly popular JLA/JSA team-up came in #195-197, in which the two teams had to contend with a reformed Secret Society of Super-Villains, lavishly drawn by George Pérez.

File:JSAgoldenage post-Crisis.gif
The post-Crisis version of the JSA's Golden Age roster.

In 1985, DC retconned many details of the DC Universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Among the changes, the Golden Age Superman, Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman ceased to exist, and the Earth-One/Earth-Two dichotomy was resolved by merging the multiverse into a single universe. This posed a variety of problems for the JSA, whose history -- especially in the 1980s comics -- was strongly tied up in these four characters. The resulting confusion led to seemingly more time spent trying to resolve the problems than tell good stories, and soon both All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc. were cancelled.

The JLA/JSA team-ups ended during the Crisis with Justice League of America #244.

Notable Modern Age, Pre-Crisis Appearances

New Modern Age Members

Post-Crisis

One of JSA's most powerful line-ups as of JSA # 50.
Art by Carlos Pacheco.

One of Roy Thomas' efforts to resolve the Crisis-created inconsistencies was to introduce some analogues to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, in a sequel to All-Star Squadron entitled The Young All-Stars. The series was dogged by rotating artists and didn't last long.

Meanwhile, DC apparently decided that the time had come to write off the JSA from active continuity. A 1986 one-shot issue called The Last Days of the Justice Society involved the JSA battling the forces of evil while merged with the Norse gods in an ever-repeating Ragnarok (written by Thomas, with art by David Ross and Mike Gustovich). Only Power Girl, The Star-Spangled Kid, The Spectre, and Dr. Fate survived the cataclysm.

Thomas also revised the JSA's origin for post-Crisis continuity in Secret Origins #31.

Fan interest, however, resulted in DC bringing back the JSA in the early 1990s. An 8-issue Justice Society of America limited series telling an untold JSA story set in the 1950s was published in 1991. In the final issues of the 4-isse Armageddon: Inferno limited series, the JSA returned to the modern-day DC Universe when a primitive superpowered tribe volunteered to substitute for the JSA in the Ragnarok cycle, allowing the team to return to Earth. A subsequent ongoing series was cancelled after 10 issues, and most of the team was killed off in a controversial 1994 crossover series called Zero Hour. James Robinson's series Starman, however, brought new attention to the JSA legacy. The JSA was once again revived in 1999 in a critically and popularly acclaimed series which mixed the few remaining original members with younger counterparts, and which is still being published as of 2006. Presently, it is unknown what, if any, changes will occur after Infinite Crisis, with the reappearence of the Golden Age Superman also known as Kal-L.

Notable Post-Crisis Appearances

File:JSAnewseries.jpg
The new roster presented in JSA Secret Files & Origins # 1.
  • The Last Days of the Justice Society Special 1986
  • Secret Origins vol. 3, #31
  • The Young All-Stars, various issues
  • The Justice Society of America vol. 1, #1-8 (occurs in the 1950s)
  • The Justice Society of America vol. 2, #1-10 (contemporary)
  • The Golden Age #1-4 (alternate history story based on the All-Star Squadron set-up, written by James Robinson and drawn by Paul Smith)
  • Zero Hour #4-0 (this series was published with numbering in reverse order, reflecting a "countdown")
  • Wonder Woman #130-133 (1940s adventure by John Byrne)
  • Sandman Mystery Theatre #1-70, Annual #1 (1940s solo Sandman series written by Matt Wagner)
  • JLA #28-31 ("Crisis Times Five," introduces Jakeem Thunder)
  • The Justice Society Returns! issues (issues named with various 1940s-era titles, set in the 1940s)
  • JLA/JSA: Virtue And Vice (first modern JLA/JSA team-up)
  • Infinite Crisis #4
  • JSA #1-87 (still ongoing as of 2006)
  • JSA: Classified #1- (still ongoing as of 2006)

New Post-Crisis Members

Most of these members are from the current JSA series. A few heroes have been retconned after the Crisis as having been members (e.g., Miss America as a replacement for Wonder Woman--though it is not clear if this particular retcon is still valid--see below). Others were honorary members at some point but it is not clear whether they became full members (e.g., Johnny Quick or Hawkgirl Shiera Sanders), and they haven't been listed as members in this article.

File:Jsa sfo2.png
Until recently the JSA official line-up. Cover to JSA Secret Files & Origins # 2.

Awards

1965 Alley Award for Strip or Book Most Desired for Revival.

Trivia

  • The first two issues of All-Star Comics were anthology issues featuring separate stories of mostly the same heroes.
  • Hawkman is the only member to appear in every JSA adventure in the original run of All-Star Comics. The Atom missed two issues.
  • The entire original run of All-Star Comics has been collected in hardcover volumes in DC's series of Archive Editions.

Justice Guild Of America

A Justice League two-part episode called Legends pays homage to the Justice Society with a team of imaginary comic book superheroes in a perfect world. The team was called the Justice Guild of America.

After a fight with Lex Luthor: Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter ended up in a parallel Earth in a town called Seaboard City. The city itself is an ideal town (In a 1950s style).

The story was originally going to feature the Golden Age style versions of the JSA (Living in Earth-2 rather than being residents in the Justice League Earth), however, DC Comics rejected the idea as they clashed with the JSA's portrayal in the modern comics. Timm and company were still given the ok to have a psuedo Justice Society. Early name ideas were:

  • Justice Battalion Of America/JBA
  • Justice Squadron Of America/JSA

Members are:

  • The Streak resembles the Jay Garrick/Flash
  • Tom Turbine resembles the Atom and Superman
  • Green Guardsman resembles Alan Scot/Green Lantern
  • Catman resembles Wildcat and Batman
  • Black Siren resembles Black Canary
    • The JGA tombstones reveal Green Guardsman and Black Siren's name respectively to be Scott Mason and Donna Vance.

Their enemies, The Injustice Guild are different version of The Injustice Society:

  • The Music Master resembles the Fiddler
  • The Sportsman resembles the Sportsmaster
  • Dr. Blizzard resembles the Icicle
  • Sir Swami resembles the Wizard and Sargon the Sorc

It's revealed that the reason for the city being perfect was due to Junior JGA member Ray Thompson. During 1945, Seaboard City as well as the Justice Guild were destroyed in an atomic explosion. Ray recieved Psychic abilites as a result. He chose to recreate the city and the Justice Guild (The citizens, however are real). It is discovered when Martian Manhunter gains odd reading from Ray. In the process Ray's true form is revealed (Similar to Brainwave). The Justice Guild sacrifice their existance to aid the Justice League. Afterwards the JGA disappear, and Seaboard City returns to it's ruined state with the citizens agreeing to rebuild. The league returns home with the help of a device Tom Turbine built (powered by Green Lantern).

  • The episode is dedicate to Gardner Fox.
  • Legends is an overall adaption of the Silver Age team ups between the Justice League and Justice Society.
  • The episode is highly based off The Flash #123 (Flash Of Two Worlds) and Justice League Of America #21-22 (Crisis On Earth 1 and 2).
    • John Stewart/Green Lantern read comic books of the Justice Guild as a kid.
    • Martian Manhunter speculates that the Justice Guild writers gained a glimpse of their world due to their dreams piercing the dimensional barrier.
  • Ray Thompson is based of JSA writer Roy Thomas. The original script to Legends has Ray calling himself Brainwave, but is taken out since they couldn't have the JSA characters appear directly.
    • During the episode, Ray would pair up with Catman. As a result spoofing Batman and Robin from the sixties TV series. Coincidently, Batman had been airing on Nick At Nite, when Part 1 premiered.
      • The idea of Ray's special ability is based off of Rick Jones summoning the Golden Age heroes in the Avengers Kree/Skrull War.

Appearances in other media

Many members of the current incarnation of the JSA have been featured in Justice League Unlimited, including Atom Smasher, Stargirl (with STRIPE), Sand, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite and the second Hourman. Stargirl and Mr. Terrific were the two with the most exposure; Stargirl had a speaking part in at least two episodes, while Mr. Terrific took over Martian Manhunter's job of manning the Watchtower. A version of Power Girl appeared as Galatea, and Jay Garrick appeared in an issue of the (non-continuity) JLU comic (his helmet can be seen in the episode "Flash and Substance").

References

  • Roy Thomas, The All-Star Companion (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2000)

See also

External links

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