All Star Comics 's cover art for
All-Star Comics #36 (August 1946). Art by
Alex Ross The Justice Society of America first appeared in
All Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940–1941) written by
Gardner Fox and edited by
Sheldon Mayer during the
Golden Age of Comic Books. The team initially included:
Doctor Fate,
Hour-Man (as his name was then spelled), the
Spectre, the
Sandman, the
Atom,
Flash,
Green Lantern, and
Hawkman. Because some of these characters (the Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman) were published by
All-American Publications rather than DC Comics,
All-Star Comics #3 is the first inter-company superhero title, as well as the first team-up title. Comics' historian
Les Daniels noted that: "This was obviously a great notion, since it offered readers a lot of headliners for a dime, and also the fun of watching fan favorites interact". The JSA's adventures were written by Gardner Fox as well as by
John Broome and
Robert Kanigher. The series was illustrated by a legion of artists including:
Martin Nodell,
Joe Kubert,
Jack Kirby,
Harry Lampert,
Joe Simon,
Alex Toth,
Sheldon Moldoff,
Carmine Infantino,
Joe Giella,
Win Mortimer,
Bernard Baily,
Frank Giacoia,
H. G. Peter,
Jack Burnley,
Lee Elias,
Irwin Hasen,
Bob Oksner,
Paul Reinman, Everett Edward Hibbard, and Bernard Sachs. The first JSA story featured the team's first meeting, with 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. An in-house rule explicitly laid out on the last page of
All Star Comics #5, reprinted on page 206 of
All Star Comics Archives Vol. 1, required that whenever a member received his or her own title, that character would leave
All Star Comics, becoming an "honorary member" of the JSA. Thus, the Flash was replaced by
Johnny Thunder after #6, and Green Lantern left shortly thereafter for the same reason. For this reason,
Superman and
Batman were established as already being "honorary" members prior to
All Star Comics #3. How these two heroes helped found the JSA before becoming honorary members was not explained until
DC Special #29 in 1977. Hawkman is the only member to appear in every JSA adventure in the original run of
All Star Comics. Unlike the other characters who had their own titles, she was allowed to appear in the series, but only as the JSA's secretary from #11 onward, and did not actively take part in most adventures until much later in the series. She was excluded from the title because of the same rules that had excluded the Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, and Batman from the title, though in #13 it was claimed she had become an active member. '' #3 (Winter 1940–1941), the first appearance of the JSA. Art by E. E. Hibbard. A
fan club for the team called the "Junior Justice Society of America" was introduced in
All Star Comics #13 (Oct-Nov 1942). The membership kit included a welcome letter, a badge, a decoder, a four-page comic book, and a membership certificate. By
All Star Comics #24 (Spring 1945), a real-world schism between National Comics and All-American Publications—a nominally independent company run by
Max Gaines and
Jack Liebowitz—had occurred, which resulted in the Detective Comics, Inc. (National Comics) heroes being removed from the title. As a result, the Flash and Green Lantern returned to the team. With issue #27 (Winter 1945), National Comics bought out Max Gaines' share of All-American and the two companies merged to form Detective Comics, Inc. Gardner Fox left the series with issue #34 (April–May 1947) with a story that introduced a new super-villain, the
Wizard. The
Injustice Society first battled the JSA in issue #37 in a tale written by Robert Kanigher. The team's second female member
Black Canary first helped the group in
All Star Comics #38 and became a full member in #41.
All Star Comics and the JSA's Golden Age adventures ended with issue #57, the title becoming
All-Star Western, with no superheroes. A good amount of artwork has survived from an
unpublished All Star Comics story titled "The Will of William Wilson" and has been reprinted in various publications from
TwoMorrows Publishing. The explanation for the team's disappearance, and the inactivity of most of its roster after the early 1950s, was first given in
Adventure Comics #466 ("The Defeat of the Justice Society!", December 1979) by writer
Paul Levitz, which explained that most of the Society chose to disband and retire rather than appear in front of the Joint Un-American Activities Committee, which demanded that they unmask themselves. The chairmanship of the Justice Society mostly resided with Hawkman, although initially the Flash, and later Green Lantern, took turns leading the team. For a brief period in 1942, they were known as the Justice Battalion, as they became an extension of the armed forces of the United States of America during World War II. It was later explained that the reason the JSA did not invade Europe and end the war was because of 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. In the 1980s, it was established that the JSA had a loose affiliation with the
All-Star Squadron. The All-Star Squadron's adventures were set in the 1940s, and were considered to have happened concurrently with the Justice Society's in a
retcon. The headquarters for the JSA was a hotel suite in New York City initially and, after the war, the team settled on a
brownstone building in
Gotham City, and later in
Civic City. The Gotham City brownstone remained unoccupied until years later when the team was active again. The headquarters used in the 2000s was a brownstone in
Morningside Heights.
The Silver Age Having successfully introduced new versions of several characters (the Flash, Green Lantern, etc.) during the late 1950s, DC tapped industry veteran, and former Justice Society writer,
Gardner Fox to create a new version of the Justice Society. Editor
Julius Schwartz, influenced by the popularity of Major League Baseball's National League and American League, decided to change the name of the team from Justice
Society to Justice
League. In
The Flash #123 (September 1961) "The Flash of Two Worlds", the Silver Age Flash meets his Golden Age counterpart, Jay Garrick who, along with the rest of the original Justice Society, is said to inhabit an alternative universe. This historic meeting thus became one of the classic DC comics of the Silver Age.
Fan letters on the pages of following issues were wildly enthusiastic about the revival of the original Flash, both from older fans who remembered the old JSA tales, and younger fans eager to learn more about these new heroes. Further meetings occurred in
The Flash #129 "Double Danger on Earth" (June 1962), and
The Flash #137 "Vengeance of the Immortal Villain" (June 1963).
The Flash #129 contains the first mention of the JSA in the Silver Age, and refers directly to their last adventure in
All-Star Comics #57, while in
The Flash #137 the JSA re-form. and
Murphy Anderson. These stories set the stage for "Crisis on Earth-One" (
Justice League of America #21, August 1963) and "Crisis on Earth-Two" (
Justice League of America #22, September 1963), a two-part tale where the Golden Age Justice Society teams up with the Silver Age Justice League to combat a team of villains from both worlds. The following year, the two teams of heroes worked together to stop an evil version of the Justice League from another alternative Earth (
Justice League of America #29, "Crisis on Earth-Three", August 1964). These stories became the first in a long series of team-ups of the two supergroups, an annual summer tradition which continued until 1985. As well as the annual Justice League of America appearances, members of the JSA guest-starred in other titles over the next several years: the Golden Age Atom in
The Atom #29 and #36, and the Golden Age Green Lantern in several issues of
Green Lantern. In addition, a number of the characters appeared in team-up stories in issues of the DC titles
The Brave and the Bold and
Showcase, while the Spectre was given a solo run in the latter which led to his own series. Some JSA members during this period, residing on "Earth-Two", were portrayed as middle-aged versions of their younger, contemporary "Earth-One" counterparts; the "Earth-Two" characters' portrayal as older than their counterparts eased incorporation of the existing fictional history of the Justice Society of America into newly written stories about the "Earth-Two" characters.
The Bronze Age '' #69 (Nov.–Dec. 1977). Art by
Al Milgrom and
Jack Abel. The JSA's popularity 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 lasted until #74, with a brief run thereafter in
Adventure Comics #461–466, but it had three significant developments: it introduced
Power Girl in
All Star Comics #58, chronicled the death of the
Golden Age Batman in
Adventure Comics #461–462, and, after nearly 40 years, it finally provided the JSA with an origin story in
DC Special #29. The
Huntress was introduced in
DC Super Stars #17 (Nov.–Dec. 1977) which told her origin, and
All Star Comics #69 (Nov.–Dec. 1977), which was published the same day. The 1970s run of
All Star Comics was written by
Gerry Conway and
Paul Levitz, and artists included
Ric Estrada,
Wally Wood,
Keith Giffen,
Joe Staton, and
Bob Layton. The series was noteworthy for depicting the heroes as having aged into their 50s. The artwork gave them graying hair and lined faces. It was highly unusual for a comic book to have heroes this old. Most comic books obscured the timelines or periodically relaunched the series to keep the characters youthful. This depiction was a consequence of the fact that the heroes were closely linked to the era of World War II. This became problematic in the 1980s when the heroes would logically be well into their 60s. The explanation given for this by writer
Roy Thomas in
All-Star Squadron Annual #3 is that the team, and several friends, have absorbed energy from the magical villain
Ian Karkull during an adventure in the 1940s that slows their aging process. Meanwhile, the JSA continued their annual team-ups with the Justice League. Notable events include meeting the
Fawcett Comics heroes, including
Captain Marvel, the death of
Mr. Terrific, and the origin of the Black Canary. The JLA/JSA crossovers often involved a third team as well such as the
Legion of Super-Heroes, the
New Gods, the
Secret Society of Super Villains, and the
All-Star Squadron.
All-Star Squadron was a series taking place in the JSA's original setting of the
wartime 1940s. This led to a spinoff, modern day 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. 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 JLA–JSA team-ups ended with the last pre-Crisis teamup occurring in
Justice League of America #244 and
Infinity Inc. #19 during the
Crisis.
After Crisis on Infinite Earths One of Roy Thomas's 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 titled
Young All-Stars. In 1986, DC decided to write off the JSA from active
continuity.
The Last Days of the Justice Society one-shot involved most of the team battling the forces of evil while merged with the
Norse gods in an ever-repeating
Ragnarök-like
Limbo, written by Thomas, with art by
David Ross and Mike Gustovich. Only Power Girl, the
Star-Spangled Kid, the Spectre, and Doctor Fate escaped the cataclysm. A later comic book series,
The Sandman, portrays this scenario as a simulation, created by
Odin in his search for a way to thwart the real Ragnarök. Roy Thomas revised the JSA's origin for post-
Crisis continuity in
Secret Origins vol. 2 #31.
Justice Society of America (vols. 1 and 2) (1991–1993) Fan interest resulted in the revival of the JSA in 1991. An eight-issue
Justice Society of America limited series featuring a previously untold story set in the 1950s was published in 1991. In the final issues of the four-issue
Armageddon: Inferno limited series, the JSA returns to the modern-day DC Universe when
Waverider transported the "daemen" of the interdimensional Abraxis to
Asgard as a substitute for the JSA in the Ragnarök cycle, allowing the team to return to Earth. In 1992, the JSA was given an ongoing monthly series titled
Justice Society of America, written by
Len Strazewski with art by
Mike Parobeck, featuring the original team adjusting to life after returning from Ragnarök. Though
Justice Society of America was intended as an ongoing series, and was popular with readers, the decision was made to cancel the book after the third issue's release. Twelve issues of the new series were ultimately commissioned, though publication itself ended with issue #10. Portions of the remaining two issues originally intended for #11–12, which were part of a planned crossover with
Justice League Europe, were published in
Justice League Europe #49–50. Strazewski, in an interview explaining the cancellation of this series, said, "It was a capricious decision made personally by
Mike Carlin because he didn't like Mike's artwork or my writing and believed that senior citizen super-heroes was not what DC should be publishing. He made his opinion clear to me several times after the cancellation."
Justice Society of America included the first appearance of
Jesse Quick, the daughter of All-Star Squadron members
Liberty Belle and
Johnny Quick, who would go on to be a major figure in
Flash,
Titans, and later
Justice Society comics. Not long after, most of the team was incapacitated or killed in the 1994 crossover series
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. During the battle between the Justice Society and the villain
Extant, the latter removes the chronal energies keeping the Justice Society young. The
Atom,
Doctor Mid-Nite, and Hourman die immediately. Hawkman and
Hawkgirl, who were separated from the rest of the Justice Society after being pulled into the
timestream, merge into a new
Hawkgod being, resulting in their deaths. Doctor Fate dies of the resulting aging shortly after
Zero Hour. Green Lantern is kept young because of the mystical effects of the
Starheart, but loses his ring and subsequently changes his name to Sentinel. The rest of the team is now too physically old to continue fighting crime and retires.
Starman retires and passes on the Starman legacies to his sons, resulting in the creation of one of the new series following
Zero Hour,
James Robinson's
Starman.
JSA (1999–2006) The JSA remained inactive for some time after the events of "
Zero Hour", but the surviving members of the Flash,
Wildcat, and Alan Scott (now going by the name Sentinel) have remained active throughout the DC Universe, having been placed as reserve JLI members, as evidenced in
Justice League Europe #50. The Justice Society was revived as a monthly series called
JSA in 1999 which mixed the few remaining original members with younger counterparts. This incarnation of the team focused on the theme of generational legacy and of carrying on the heroic example established by their predecessors. The series was launched by
James Robinson and
David S. Goyer. Goyer later co-wrote the series with
Geoff Johns, who continued to write the series solo after Goyer's departure. The series featured the art of
Stephen Sadowski,
Leonard Kirk, and
Don Kramer, among others. It featured a story by
Pulitzer Prize winner
Michael Chabon. During the events of
Infinite Crisis, some of the surviving Golden Age characters, such as Wildcat and the Flash, are transported to the new "Earth-Two," as created by
Alexander Luthor Jr., and seem to recall the existence of the original one, albeit vaguely.
JSA: Classified (2005–2008) In September 2005,
JSAs popularity led to a spinoff series,
JSA: Classified, which tells stories of the team at various points in its existence, as well as spotlighting specific members in solo stories. The first arc, written by
Geoff Johns with art by
Amanda Conner, featured Power Girl's origin. The series was cancelled with issue #39 (August 2008).
One Year Later After the events of DC's
Infinite Crisis crossover and the
World War III event chronicled in
52, JSA members Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, and Ted Grant decide to revive the Justice Society.
Justice Society of America vol. 3 (2006–2011) On December 6, 2006, a new series was launched with the creative team of Geoff Johns (writer), Dale Eaglesham (pencils), and Alex Ross (cover art). The beginning of the new series showed JSA veterans the Flash, Green Lantern, and Wildcat choosing members of the new generation of superheroes to train. Continuing a major theme from the previous JSA title, this new series focused on the team being the caretakers of the superhero legacy from one generation to the next. The crossovers between the JLA and JSA began again with "The Lightning Saga" (see below) in
JLA vol. 4 #8–10 and
JSA #5–6 and an epilogue in issue #7.
Justice Society of America Annual #1 (September 2008) featured the Justice Society Infinity, a team continuing from an analogous post-
Crisis Earth-Two. Most of the members of the Justice Society Infinity are original members of Earth-Two's Justice Society, such as the Atom and
Robin (
Dick Grayson), but the Society includes characters that are normally associated with Infinity, Inc., such as
Jade and
Nuklon (
Albert Rothstein). Johns' run as writer of
Justice Society of America ended with issue #26. Following a two-issue story by
Jerry Ordway,
Bill Willingham and
Lilah Sturges took over as writers with issue #29 in July 2009. Another JLA/JSA crossover was chronicled in
Justice League of America #44–48 and
Justice Society of America #41–42 under the
Brightest Day banner. James Robinson, the writer who co-wrote the 1999
JSA relaunch, took over as the book's writer for the crossover while
Mark Bagley illustrated the entire event. After the crossover, Robinson wrote one final issue with artist
Jesus Merino, which dealt with the relationship between Green Lantern and his son
Obsidian. Following the
Brightest Day story arc,
Marc Guggenheim became the new writer with issue #44, and
Scott Kolins took over art duties from Merino. During his first several issues, Guggenheim introduced a number of new characters to the team, such as
Blue Devil and
Manhunter. In issue #49, he expanded the JSA's roster by bringing back all of the JSA All-Stars except for
Magog, who had been killed in
Justice League: Generation Lost, and Power Girl, who had unofficially departed from the JSA during the same maxi-series, as well as the original
Liberty Belle. In addition, Guggenheim introduced a new character named
Red Beetle (a gadget-wielding heroine clad in a red variation of the Silver Age
Blue Beetle's costume), and brought in Ri and Darknight, two Chinese superheroes that he had created for his
Batman Confidential run.
JSA All-Stars vol. 2 (2009–2011) An ongoing series titled
JSA All-Stars debuted with a February 2010 cover date (distinct from
JSA: All Stars, a limited series published from July 2003 to February 2004). The series focused on a second team that formed after the JSA split. Calling themselves the "All-Stars", the group included more of the newer, younger members of the JSA. The roster consisted of: Magog,
Damage, Power Girl, Hourman,
Atom Smasher,
Sand,
Stargirl,
Cyclone,
Wildcat (Ton Bronson),
Citizen Steel,
Judomaster,
King Chimera,
Anna Fortune, and the A.I. Roxy, with Damage and Magog later being killed. DC cancelled
JSA All-Stars with issue #18 (July 2011) because of the events of
Flashpoint, the DC 2011 summer event. As a result of the title's cancellation, writer Marc Guggenheim had all of the All-Stars except Power Girl and Magog rejoin the JSA in
Justice Society of America #49.
DC Rebirth (2011–2017) In the
DC Universe Rebirth one-shot, Johnny Thunder is in a nursing home. He is trying to escape, but Kid Flash Wally West appears to Johnny trying to establish a link to return from the
Speed Force. Johnny admits he threw away the magic pen containing Thunderbolt. In
The Flash Rebirth series, the interaction between Pre-
New 52 Wally West and
New 52 Wally West triggers a disturbance in the Speed Force, which causes Barry to have a strange vision. In the vision, Barry sees Johnny Quick's Speed formula and Jay Garrick's Flash helmet. Johnny Thunder is seen again during the
Button crossover, where he is on a roof shouting for his Thunderbolt and that it is his fault they lost the Justice Society. At the end of the crossover, it is revealed that the Pre-
New 52 Jay Garrick was also stuck in the Speed Force, and Barry is able to momentarily free him. However, when Barry tries to secure him to the universe just as he did to Wally, Jay instead is transported back into the Speed Force in a blast of blue energy. In
Doomsday Clock,
Doctor Manhattan recalls various events in which he indirectly killed
Alan Scott and thus brought about changes in the timeline. On July 16, 1940, Alan Scott was riding on a train over a collapsing bridge, but he survived by grabbing onto a green lantern. He continues his life, eventually "sitting at a round table wearing a mask" and later testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee but refusing to implicate anyone in his employ. On July 16, 1940, again, Manhattan moves the lantern six inches out of Scott's reach so that Scott dies in the train accident and leaves no family behind. At the Daily Planet,
Lois Lane finds a flash-drive showing footage of the Justice Society, who she does not know of. When Manhattan first arrived in the DC Universe, he witnesses the creation of the JSA and each of its founding members superhero personas. In one timeline (Golden Age/Earth-2), Manhattan watches as the JSA wait for the arrival of Superman to formally create their team. This then changes to a timeline (Post-Crisis/New Earth) where Superman was not a founding member and did not arrive until 1956. Curious about the importance of Superman and what would happen if time were to be changed and how it would affect him, Manhattan prevented Alan Scott from becoming Green Lantern. This in turn created the
New 52 Universe, and with it, the creation of the Justice Society of America was erased. When Manhattan undoes the experiment that erased the Justice Society and the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Justice Society appears to help Superman fight the rampaging
metahumans. Afterwards, the Justice Society investigates the
Department of Metahuman Affairs which led to the arrest of those involved. The Justice Society returns in the pages of
Justice League. The League splits up to retrieve fragments on the Totality from the past and future. Flash and Green Lantern are transported to 1941 to retrieve a fragment. They arrive in December 1941 to discover that the Legion of Doom has already travelled to the past and meddled in history, attacking and seemingly conquering the United States. They encounter the Justice Society, much to their surprise, as they are not aware of any superheroes active in the 1940s. However, they begin to develop an affinity for their Golden Age counterparts, and feel that there is an intricate shared history they cannot fully remember. In the fifth volume of
Hawkman following the defeat of Anton Hastor, a deceased
Hawkman and
Hawkwoman are reborn as their Golden Age counterparts, reuniting with their old friends in the Justice Society.
New Justice (2018–2021) In the pages of "
Dark Nights: Death Metal", Justice Society members Green Lantern, Flash, Doctor Fate, and Wildcat were shown to be guarding the Valhalla Cemetery. The password to get in was "Ma Hunkel" where Green Lantern mentioned that she was the first guardian of the JSA's first headquarters. As Superman and his allies prepare for their final fight against both
Perpetua and the
Darkest Knight, Justice Society members Damage, Green Lantern, and Flash were present. In addition, Batman used the Black Lantern ring to revive JSA members Atom, Hourman, Ma Hunkel, and Sandman. At the end of "
Dark Nights: Death Metal", the Justice Society are shown fighting in World War II alongside the narrator of the series
Sgt. Rock. It is explicitly noted that this is 1943 in the DC universe, indicating that they have been fully restored to the timeline.
Infinite Frontier (2021–2023) Dawn of DC (2023–2024) In August 2022 it was announced that following the conclusion of
Flashpoint Beyond, a one shot entitled
The New Golden Age would release in November that year, with heavy ties to the fourth volume of the Justice Society of America series, with
Geoff Johns writing and Mikel Janín providing art. The central storyline also ties in to several limited series like
Stargirl: The Lost Children,
Alan Scott: The Green Lantern,
Jay Garrick: The Flash, and
Wesley Dodds: The Sandman. The first five issues had the Justice Society encountering a
Huntress from a possible future and fighting Per Degaton and his time clones. Per Degaton is defeated and Huntress' possible future is erased with Huntress remaining in the present.
DC All In (2024–present) ==Membership==