"It's fun and it's cool, so that's all that matters. It's what comics are for, Duh."
Words to live by.
NOTE: Huntress (Helena Wayne version) first appeared in DC Super Stars #17 (November/December 1977).
I've had a soft spot for the JSA and other Golden Age "mystery men" since I was a kid in the '80s. I used to buy DC Who's Who off a spinner rack in a newsstand, and when I got the J-K issue, it blew my mind to see a two-page spread about the Justice Society of America just a page or two after the Justice League of America. I knew the Justice League from the Super Friends cartoon, the Super Powers action figures I collected obsessively, and a hardcover book that came with the story on a cassette called Justice League: The Lunar Invaders.
But there was this whole other team with different versions of Green Lantern, Flash, and Atom, and similar versions of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Hawkman, where they fought Nazis! (I am from a non-practicing Jewish family, so I knew about Nazis being the scum of the Earth ever since I was very young.) I was blown away! Then I found the Last Days of the Justice Society one-shot on a different spinner rack at a drugstore, and it shocked me to see the JSA bravely sacrificing themselves to fight forever to forestall Ragnarok from happening. I couldn't believe it! I hadn't read Crisis on Infinite Earths yet, so I wasn't used to superheroes dying or being written out of continuity. It was nuts, in the best way.
I never forgot the JSA, so I happily bought Len Strazewski's eight-issue Justice Society miniseries set in the '50s, followed by his ten-issue regular series set in the present-day DCU. The old-timey heroes were decidedly uncool then, in the early '90s, so they were mostly written out again in Zero Hour. But this was when I started following James Robinson's Starman, my favorite comic of all time and a love letter to the heroes of the Golden Age. Speaking of which, James Robinson's Golden Age miniseries is a must-read for any JSA fans, and his later Vigilante and Shade miniseries were great too. Sandman Mystery Theatre is another all-time Top Ten comic for me, especially when Matt Wagner and Steve Seagle introduced other Golden Age heroes like Starman, Hourman, Crimson Avenger, and Blackhawk. I collected Geoff Johns' JSA for the first few years too, but eventually fell out of the habit.
It's a shame the JSA has been mostly missing in action for a decade or more, because those characters are too much fun. A good writer like James Robinson can work magic with them, especially in a period setting. But you know what I'm just now starting to read for the first time ever, but it's a SLOG? Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron, from 1981. It's a rough read, like the worst kind of corny, dated Silver Age writing. I was hoping to love it, but there's not much to love.
Last edited by Big Bad Voodoo Lou; 02-02-2021 at 04:54 PM.
Author of the law review article "The Lawyer as Superhero: How Marvel Comics' Daredevil Depicts the American Court System and Legal Practice," Capital University Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2019).
Download it for free at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=3389544
Roy Thomas does have an old school style of writing. He did have some progressive qualities, but those were restricted to characters and relationships rather than his writing style. There may be some on this board who would vigorously defend Squadron, but I'm not one of them. Its appeal for me was the inclusion of many but usually unseen DC Golden Age characters. I will defend Thomas as a true lover of DC's Golden Age characters and a real supporter of the JSA and those heroes appearing at the same time. James Robinson is another writer who is enamored of that era as well and his style is much more modern than Thomas'. Then again, standard have changed since Thomas had much of his work published as well.
It's been a long time since I dug out my All Star Squadron books and read them so I don't quite remember Thomas' writing style. But I'll always be grateful to that book for really helping me get to know the JSA.
Before that, I only knew a handful of the members from those annual Justice League of America crossovers. And usually those issues focused on the newer, younger members plus Hawkman, Green Lantern, and Flash.
AS Squadron helped me get to know so many other Golden Age heroes and I remember really enjoying that book.
I can see your point. Thomas was definitely a man of his times as comic writers go, no matter how creative or influential. It bothers me less, I suppose b/c Squadron was inherently an affectionate look at the past. I took its dated corniness as style feature than as a defect.
Well written message and I agree with you on many of your points (particularly the love for James Robinson's Starman series...One of the best things ever published in comics). BUT (you just knew it was coming, right? LOL) I have to respectfully disagree with you about Roy Thomas and his work on All-Star Squadron, particularly the zenith of the run with issues 19-26 and Annual 2. Roy was firing on all cylinders here, as was his partner in crime Jerry Ordway. I re-read these within the last year or two and they still read like gangbusters. Again, my opinion and I respect your right to not agree with me. Just wanted to thrown in my five cents with a different perspective.
That's fair. I got the black and white Showcase Presents All-Star Squadron TPB as an interlibrary loan, and of course it only collects #1-18, cutting off right before it supposedly gets good! I believe that it improves -- I have two issues left to read, and it is certainly better than it started, but still not to my taste as far as the writing style goes. I'm just glad I didn't buy it, because I know I would never reread these issues. Once was enough, as much as I like (most of) the characters themselves.
Author of the law review article "The Lawyer as Superhero: How Marvel Comics' Daredevil Depicts the American Court System and Legal Practice," Capital University Law Review, Vol. 47, No. 2 (2019).
Download it for free at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=3389544
This turned up in my suggested videos. Gotta say from the other side of the aisle that I'm really interested in this.
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It actually looks pretty cool!
I wish it was 100% about the JSA and Barry wasn't around, but it looks better than DC's recent films.
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