JSA / Justice Society of America Appreciation Thread 2022 version

[D.Z]

Not too early to tell when you have others on here with their own speculation headcanon that never comes true.

Superman has nothing to do with the JSA thing i mentioned about.

The previous Superman Jr JL disbanded and failed.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I wish DC would just Captain America them and have that be canon - They go into some kind of limbo in 1951 (maybe Ragnarok, maybe with some of their wives, whatever), come back "20 years ago" (sliding further and further into the future as time marches on) and decide to retire, settle down and have kids, then reemerge later on in life as a team because of some Crisis that motivates them to get back together. That way the Infinitors / Legacies stay young (twenties) and the JSA stays both grounded to WWII and older (late 50s ish) but not unnaturally old.

They really should.

But DC canon has a lot of characters they'd have to 'Captain America'.

The other Golden age heroes who aren't the 7 soldiers, the Injustice Society members like Sportsmaster and Tigress, etc.

[brandnewfan]

Never read any JSA book, and I'm only familiar with a handful of the characters.

To read Johns' run, can I just jump right in or do I need to familiarize myself with anything prior?

[sifighter]

Never read any JSA book, and I'm only familiar with a handful of the characters.

To read Johns' run, can I just jump right in or do I need to familiarize myself with anything prior?

I guess just know some rough history? Like how they came from Earth-2, Crisis on Infinite Earths Happened, they lived here for a while, then a lot of the originals got old or died in Zero Hour resulting in the new kids who showed up in John's 90's to late 2000's run.

Also because of Crisis and Zero hour characters treat it as though they have always been a part of the earth, but that happened to a lot of characters so don't think its just specific to the JSA. A good example is Wildcat having trained Batman to fight.

[CaptCleghorn]

I wish DC would just Captain America them and have that be canon - They go into some kind of limbo in 1951 (maybe Ragnarok, maybe with some of their wives, whatever), come back "20 years ago" (sliding further and further into the future as time marches on) and decide to retire, settle down and have kids, then reemerge later on in life as a team because of some Crisis that motivates them to get back together. That way the Infinitors / Legacies stay young (twenties) and the JSA stays both grounded to WWII and older (late 50s ish) but not unnaturally old.

If you've read some of the JSA threads in the last few years, you'd have seen my preference for this type of situation. As time progresses, the Golden Age characters fall into the realm of too old to exist in the present day. Sure, for some it doesn't matter, but for the bulk of them, they'd be too old to be active at all as the Modern Age started (right now probably about 2000). This gets worse as time goes on.

They really should.

But DC canon has a lot of characters they'd have to 'Captain America'.

The other Golden age heroes who aren't the 7 soldiers, the Injustice Society members like Sportsmaster and Tigress, etc.

And that's a choice that DC needs to make. Granted a 1950's Crisis could have the collected armies of good and evil assembled and all sent into the future. That would simply solve the problem even if the story is very basic and somewhat simplistic.

It's also an excuse to push for an Earth-Two where the Golden Age characters are on an Earth that progresses more slowly, but has changed enough to have a future-retro look to it. None of this is brain surgery. I'm sure many of us could come up with something that would work. DC just needs to defecate or get off the pot and reintroduce their GA characters as active.

[sifighter]

If you've read some of the JSA threads in the last few years, you'd have seen my preference for this type of situation. As time progresses, the Golden Age characters fall into the realm of too old to exist in the present day. Sure, for some it doesn't matter, but for the bulk of them, they'd be too old to be active at all as the Modern Age started (right now probably about 2000). This gets worse as time goes on.



And that's a choice that DC needs to make. Granted a 1950's Crisis could have the collected armies of good and evil assembled and all sent into the future. That would simply solve the problem even if the story is very basic and somewhat simplistic.

It's also an excuse to push for an Earth-Two where the Golden Age characters are on an Earth that progresses more slowly, but has changed enough to have a future-retro look to it. None of this is brain surgery. I'm sure many of us could come up with something that would work. DC just needs to defecate or get off the pot and reintroduce their GA characters as active.

I mean aren't the only ones from WW2 still alive according to Dark Crisis/Present Continuity Alan, Jay, and Ted and only through Magic? Not sure to count Carter and Shayera, they got to reincarnate a bit aside from the Vendetti series.

Most of the current line-up is made up of the original teams kids, grandkids, or people who just happened to get the name. I'm looking at Jade, Obsidian, Powergirl, Atom-Smasher, Stargirl, Cyclone, Yolanda Wildcat, Beth Dr. Mid-nite, Jakeem Thunder, Mister Terrific, Rick Hourman, Jessie Quick, Damage, and newest of all Khalid Dr. Fate

[D.Z]

John Byrne thinks fans can just jump ahead reading the current book of any series and the details get filled in later with words, flashbacks and callbacks.

I think suggesting some trades may work or if any wikis. But the DC wikia is very incomplete and messy.

[CaptCleghorn]

I mean aren't the only ones from WW2 still alive according to Dark Crisis/Present Continuity Alan, Jay, and Ted and only through Magic? Not sure to count Carter and Shayera, they got to reincarnate a bit aside from the Vendetti series.

Most of the current line-up is made up of the original teams kids, grandkids, or people who just happened to get the name. I'm looking at Jade, Obsidian, Powergirl, Atom-Smasher, Stargirl, Cyclone, Yolanda Wildcat, Beth Dr. Mid-nite, Jakeem Thunder, Mister Terrific, Rick Hourman, Jessie Quick, Damage, and newest of all Khalid Dr. Fate

There really aren't that many as you say. But the kids are getting to be a problem as if the parent is now 100 and the kid is in their mid 20's then the parents had them when they were 75 or so. Awkward for the father and near impossible for the mother. DC's had death stories for most of the non-magical, nonpowered JSAers. They could very well rest there and only deal with kids and the long lived original GAers. The kids would be problematic as mentioned before.

A Captain Americaish time jump fixes the age difficulties, although the number of characters can be limited. AS for those who have died, who hasn't died in a superhero funny book? Continuity and history change so much, we could easily have an Al Pratt or an aged Wesley Dodds back.

With DC in constant Crisis event mode, the result never arrives and we never get a steady continuity that is worked with. Is Dark Crisis the event that will finally be the event where the JSA come home?

[MajorHoy]

I mean aren't the only ones from WW2 still alive according to Dark Crisis/Present Continuity Alan, Jay, and Ted and only through Magic? Not sure to count Carter and Shayera, they got to reincarnate a bit aside from the Vendetti series.

Don't forget possibly Wonder Woman (if they stick with that story from issue #750 that showed her at the NYC World's Fair).

As for other Golden Age WWII heroes, Max Mercury (Quicksilver) was one, and do we know if the original Liberty Belle (Libby Lawrence) might still be around? (And is the original Johnny Quick dead or alive?)

[MajorHoy]

But Jon's the sixth one with that powerset, not the second. Don't forget about Conner, Kara Danvers, Karen, and Kenan. Heck, because of Karen, Jon would be quite redundant on the JSA.

Kenan doesn't have Krytonian powers / connections, does he?

[Frontier]

Kenan doesn't have Krytonian powers / connections, does he?

Kenan's powers are more of a chi thing that lets him access the same powerset as Superman.

[The Cool Thatguy]

There really aren't that many as you say. But the kids are getting to be a problem as if the parent is now 100 and the kid is in their mid 20's then the parents had them when they were 75 or so. Awkward for the father and near impossible for the mother. DC's had death stories for most of the non-magical, nonpowered JSAers. They could very well rest there and only deal with kids and the long lived original GAers. The kids would be problematic as mentioned before.

A Captain Americaish time jump fixes the age difficulties, although the number of characters can be limited. AS for those who have died, who hasn't died in a superhero funny book? Continuity and history change so much, we could easily have an Al Pratt or an aged Wesley Dodds back.

With DC in constant Crisis event mode, the result never arrives and we never get a steady continuity that is worked with. Is Dark Crisis the event that will finally be the event where the JSA come home?

As meta as things are these days, it shouldn't even have to be all that limited.

Per Degaton has a plan to alter history to his liking, as the Red Scare settles in. He recruits some of the greatest villains of his era, and scatters them throughout time.

To battle this menace, the Spectre recruits heroes and their families, promising to guide them through time if they fight Degaton's madness.

Boom, done.

[Digifiend]

John Byrne thinks fans can just jump ahead reading the current book of any series and the details get filled in later with words, flashbacks and callbacks.

I think suggesting some trades may work or if any wikis. But the DC wikia is very incomplete and messy.

Yeah, DC Database wiki on Fandom needs some serious reorganising. For example, it has a page for Bart Allen of Prime Earth. That's not New 52 Bart - his page is under his later revealed real name Bar-Torr. It's Bart from Williamson's Flash #50 onwards. Who was New Earth Bart all along, even before the reveal that New Earth and Prime Earth are one and the same! They need to remove that distinction and merge the pages.

Kenan's powers are more of a chi thing that lets him access the same powerset as Superman.

Yeah - though that's a retcon. Originally, it was something to do with the recently deceased New 52 Superman. They had to alter his origin (and Lana Lang Superwoman's) when Superman Reborn invalidated their original origins published less than a year earlier (they ended up giving up on Superwoman and depowered her, ending her book).

Don't forget possibly Wonder Woman (if they stick with that story from issue #750 that showed her at the NYC World's Fair).

As for other Golden Age WWII heroes, Max Mercury (Quicksilver) was one, and do we know if the original Liberty Belle (Libby Lawrence) might still be around? (And is the original Johnny Quick dead or alive?)

Johnny's dead. He died in the 2000s and in Finish Line (the last arc of Williamson's Flash run in which Jesse and Max returned), Barry did ask Jesse about him, but he wasn't even trapped in the Speed Force, he was permanently gone. Libby though, was still around before Flashpoint, appearing as recently as 2007's Justice Society of America #4.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Justice_S...merica_Vol_3_4

[MajorHoy]

. . . Libby though, was still around before Flashpoint, appearing as recently as 2007's Justice Society of America #4.
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Justice_S...merica_Vol_3_4

And as bad as the end of the series was, Libby did also appear as late as Justice Society of America #54:

(last issue before Flashpoint).

[MajorHoy]

One other Golden Age hero seen alive in a DC title prior to Flashpoint was the original Phantom Lady (Sandra Knight), in both the (then) present-day and in flashback scenes in Birds of Prey #14-15.
That two-part story was written by Mark Andreyko.