Whatever age they were when Geoff John wrote the title.
Whatever age they were when Geoff John wrote the title.
He's written it several times. JSA in 90s, JSA Classified and Justice Society of America in the 2000s.
The characters themselves... were probably 100 years old. Or close to it.
They fought in World War II. They would have been in their 20s-30s in 1939-1945.
That's what I want, a bunch of centennial heroes fighting the youthful villains of 2018. It's just like World War II. Nazis again!
Last edited by tako; 09-19-2018 at 09:29 AM.
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IMO, the idea of them being shunted to a parallel universe is more important than who actually ends up doing it.
That's about how old the Silver Age JLA members are in current continuity though - at least Superman and Batman.
IMO, it makes sense for them to be at least 20-25 years older than the classic JLA. Old enough to at least theoretically be their parents.
The way I see it, they were in their early to mid 20's when WW2 broke out, and in their mid 30's when they 'disappeared' in 1951. As per my theory, if they spend the equivalent of, say, 15-20 years in limbo, they'd be in their early to mid 50's when they first meet the JLA, and roughly 10-15 years older in the present day, putting them in their mid to late 60's. Of course, they can LOOK a bit younger, but I feel even age-wise, its best if they are pushing 65 and not 100...because in terms of life-experience I'd prefer if they were like parents to the JLA, and not grandparents or great-grandparents.
Take Jay for instance. I feel the Barry-Jay relationship works best if Jay is the same age as Henry Allen (and fans of the CW Flash show know that the show went a lot further than that ) than if he's old enough to be Henry's father or grandfather - even if he only looks sixty-ish.
I feel that none of the JSAers could have been much older than their late 30s when they disappeared in 1951. So if they went into limbo after that, they would be about the same age when they came out of limbo.
Since we know Johnny Thuder's birthday was July 7th, 1917, he must have celebrated his thirtieth birthday on July 7th, 1947. My rough guess how old the birthday party guests would have been on that day is as follows (give or take a year).
Dr. Mid-Nite (32)
Green Lantern (32)
Starman (31)
Hawkman (31)
Flash (30)
Spectre (30)
Batman (29)
Superman (29)
Sandman (28)
Wonder Woman (27*)
Wildcat (26)
Hourman (25)
Dr. Fate (24)
Mr. Terrific (24)
Atom (24)
Black Canary (21)
*Wonder Woman is actually the oldest by hundreds of years, but she assumed the identity of Diana Prince-White, so she's pretending to be the age of that person.
In 1951, these folks would be four years older, so most would be in their thirties but some would still be in their twenties.
True.
But you may come across a problem re-entering them into the DCU if you keep them rigidly attached to real world aging.
Because the present day heroes don't really age in real time.
It would be like mixing oil and water.
Unless the present day heroes start showing signs of aging, or the JSA stop aging, so they're on the same pattern.
"There's magic in the sound of analog audio." - CNET.
Hence, my parallel universe theory, where they do age and experience the passage of time, but not at the same rate as the rest of the world.
In a way, this would parallel one of the ways the Earth 1/Earth 2 split was handled back in the day (once the age-gap between the JLA and the JSA started increasing). The idea was that time was moving slower on Earth 1 as compared to Earth 2. So when Barry and Jay first met, it was 1963 for Jay but a much later year for Barry (let's say, 1975). Closer to the time before COIE, it was the early 1980's on both earths - but for Jay it would have been 20 years or so since he first met Barry, while for Barry it would have been only around 10 years. Ergo, time moved fasted for Jay.
My approach would be a kind of reversal of that, where for the JSA it would have been something like 15-20 years since 1951 and the dawn of the JLA's era, while for the people of Earth 0 it would have been around 60 years.
Late 40s early 50s is fine
This is my preferred choice too. I like them to be a 'little' older than the JLA, but I want Sandman and Dr. Mid-nite and all the others to be physically close enough to Prime to dive into a mob and kick some butt believably. I always preferred the Earth-2 mentality when Alan Scott wasn't some mentor, idol, legacy whatever... but was ANOTHER Green Lantern. Same powers, different weakness, the JSA were more or less contemporaries of the JLA and not just the elders.
Making them too old... just means that they have to come up with goofy crap to both justify AND negate them being so old. See Wildcat's mysterious '9 lives'. Or Speed force or Star Heart or whatever...
But like it or not, that IS kinda the niche that the JSA occupy in the DCU as we know it today.
Back in the 60's, you could have the JSA basically be a parallel universe JLA. But over time, they've grown to become the 'first' superheroes, and the progenitors of DC's heroic legacy. And that's kinda how they are defined, especially in a set-up where they exist on the same earth as the JLA.
True.
However, I feel they are worse off for it. Since Zero Hour, It seems like the only time they want to bring out the classic characters I love is when they want to kill one off or have them pass on their costume to someone else.
The JSA deserve better then that. They are fun and fascinating characters in their own right... I'd like them to be physically viable. If that means keeping them on alternate earths, I'm all for it.
Honestly, that would be a dream come true for me. Have a world for the standard DC characters we know as Earth 1... and an imprint set in an earlier time for Earth 2 that is handled basically like Ultimate Marvel was. Nobody ever really had a problem with an Avengers and an Ultimates book... or 4 regular X-books and an Ultimate X-Men... or Two separate Spider-man books where one is a teenger and the other older... The two universe worked just fine there.... but now every year or two they could have a crossover... Man, I'd be in heaven if they could work that right.
Too old is bad, obviously. Older, not so much. Now some of these heroes, we can accept slower aging. lantern, Flash, Surely fate and Spectre. But even the non-powered heroes could be useful into their mid-50s whether it's detective work or planning or scientific study. This is where the captain America time skip comes in handy. In the sixties, OK, the JSA was older but in their early 40s. Up until COIE, there was always the time works differently on Earth Two and even though they were in their 60s by our count, they may not have been. But now, Johnny Thunder's 101 and it isn't getting better.
Some kind of jump seems necessary in order to make the characters viable in the current day. And that need will only grow with each passing year. (you laugh, but when is the JSA book happening?)
IMO, even the slower aging thing eventually becomes a problem, from a psychological perspective, as I've mentioned in an earlier post.
Sure, Jay may LOOK 50, but if he's actually a 100 year old man, it does change him as a person and a character. He essentially becomes this immortal being who's been around for generations, and who might not be able to relate to Barry and the other JLA members even as a father-figure.
If he is experientially only about 60, then it works better.