Do you like your JSA heroes connected to the past or de aged?

[mathew101281]

I use to think that I wanted earth two to come back, but the way the did it kind of ruined the JSA to me. To me there has always been a sense of legacy in DC comics going to those first Barry Allen Flash comics we're discover that he use to read golden age Flash comics. That sense of the old inspiring the new. That's what I feel the new 52 lacked and no where else does this show more then with Earth 2. To me that sense of legacy is what seperates marvel from DC.

[Vanguard-01]

Connected to the past. All the way.

I really think de-aging the JSA took away so much of the sense of history in the DCU. I loved the idea that there were superheroes in WWII, and that these heroes inspired a lot of the current generation of superheroes. The idea that Superman had heroes of his own that he looked up to was just brilliant.

I will never understand why DC thought that it was so important for the current generation of heroes to be the first generation ever. Exploring the rich history of the DCU and having other heroes draw inspiration from the ones that came before them just makes the current heroes more relatable and more.....human. All of us had heroes we admired growing up. I hear Superman and other heroes had their own heroes to admire? I can relate to them on that one.

[MajorHoy]

WWII and the end of the Great Depression are so vital to what made the JSA special . . . eliminate that, and you have just another generic modern-day superhero group with interchangeable characters who are already no longer "current" and "hip" by the time they see print.

[Jeff Brady]

I am very, very torn on this issue.

On one hand, the sense of history drew me into the DCU. The problem here is that not enough of the "old" characters died off to make room for the new ones as time passed. Jay, Max, and Barry should all be pushing daisies. Wally should be retired, if not close to it.

On the other hand, locking them in to the WW2 era was never the intention; it was spurred on by nostalgia and fan-wankery. It's like the MASH tv show. The Korean War lasted two years, but the series lasted 11. It's a shame that we never really got to see those characters grow & change in the spotlight instead of in the background.

WWII and the end of the Great Depression are so vital to what made the JSA special

I don't believe that to be true at all. If it were, it would also apply to Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, etc.

[thechief]

The JSA should be the past heroes of the world that inspired the heroes of today, much like Superman inspired the Legion.

[jsainfinity]

I have always been a huge fan of the JSA -- ever since since Justice League of America #113 in 1974, when I was 7 years old. It featured an Earth 1/Earth 2 crossover story (""The Creature in the Velvet Cage!”) and a 1940s Justice Society reprint (“The Case of the Patriotic Crimes.”) Every year, I looked forward to the JLA/JSA crossovers, devoured the revival of All-Star Comics and new JSA stories in Adventure Comics in the 70s, loved All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc in the 1980s, and loathed the death of Earth 2 in COIE, and the shabby treatment of the JSA in the COIE aftermath.

Eventually though, I came to love the JSA's legacy status on “Clutter Earth” and loved the work Geoff Johns and James Robinson did in the 90s and 2000s with JSA and other titles, including “Times Past” stories in Starman. But I particularly enjoyed that the JSA legacy continued, and we had Stargirl, a new Dr Midnight, a Rick Tyler Hourman, and a Sandy Hawkins Sandman, among others.

I would love to see the JSA back, with its full history. I'd set it in the present, with mostly a cast of legacy characters, which still gives the option of a miniseries or Times Past stories, telling new tales of the JSA in the 40s, 50s, 60s etc.

If I were going to pick a dream team for a team book set in the present, it would include:

Jay Garrick - Flash
Alan Scott - Green Lantern
Hippolyta - Wonder Woman
Dinah Laurel Lance - Black Canary
Libby Chambers - Liberty Belle
Rick Tyler - Hourman
Kara Zor-L - Power Girl
Helena Wayne - Huntress
Maxine Hunkel - Cyclone
Courtney Whitmore - Stargirl
Michael Holt - Mr Terrific
Carter Hall - Hawkman
Kendra Saunders - Hawkgirl
Pieter Cross - Dr MidNite
Sandy Hawkins - Sandyman
Jakeem Thunder
Al Rothstein - Atom Smasher
Hector Hall -Dr Fate
Todd Rice - Obsidian
Kate Spencer - Manhunter
And I'd find a way t bring back Yolanda Montez as Wildcat

[scary harpy]

On the other hand, locking them in to the WW2 era was never the intention; it was spurred on by nostalgia and fan-wankery. It's like the MASH tv show. The Korean War lasted two years, but the series lasted 11. It's a shame that we never really got to see those characters grow & change in the spotlight instead of in the background.

I am not torn on this issue. Earth 2 is the best possible solution for the JSA.

Outside of Superfriends with Scooby Doo crossovers, the original JSA belongs to history and beloved memories. We can not live in the past.

[BohemiaDrinker]

I love the sense of Legacy DC used to have. But that's not coming back, so I just want the stories to be good.

Nevertheless, I feel that the JSA, if not connected to WW2, should be more experienced than the League. Jay being younger than Barry, for instance, bothers me quite a bit.

[neonrideraryeh]

De-aged. Call me crazy but I'm not interested in seeing a bunch of 90 year old geriatric superheroes. I liked the Earth 2 reboot and I think it had good re-imaginings of characters like Alan and Jay. It's a shame that their future is up in the air what with the whole Worlds End and Convergence stuff happening. Hopefully they survive it. If they do, then hopefully they have their own Earth again because they are always going to be second stringers to the main Earth 0 Justice League members and not considered as important. Them being on a combined Earth with them was I think one of DC's biggest mistakes Post-Crisis; I don't really want to go back to that. In addition, I don't need them to be held back by the WW2 era stuff. In Marvel, the most recent version of Invaders took place in the present and dealt with stuff like Kree and Deathloks, because the writer (who of course also made Earth 2 start off really good as one of the best titles) knew that while remembering the history is alright, you need to tell new stories in the present instead of re-telling more WW2 flashbacks. I much prefer seeing present day Earth 2 heroes in their prime rather than a choice between either more WW2 flashbacks or 90 year old old men running around in tights before some kind of magic thing de-ages them anyway baby Magneto style. The current incarnations of characters like Alan and Jay and Kendra have been great characters that I care about and the best they've been since well... the 1940s. They have a chance to be fresh characters again. That's my two cents anyway.

[colonyofcells]

The best time for comics was the golden age (1930s and 1940s) which was for kids but also found lots of customers in the military, and the golden age had no legacy at all bec. it was the very beginning. I see New 52 as the new golden age and legacies are not needed.

[ekrolo2]

If they're in main cont, de-age them. Even in comic time they'd be almost a century old by this point and I don't buy them being anything but dead or retired by that age. If they're in a separate universe sure keep em the same if you want.

Personally I'm waiting for a modern JSA book set during WW2 itself, now that'd be something worth my time.

[Broddie]

I liked what was done with them in New 52 Earth 2 at the beginning but it's been a hot mess since Robinson left. The concept has unfortunately been brought to the ground now and not explored to it's potential. Which is a shame since it was a more interesting place for the characters than where they were right before Flashpoint when Marc Guggenheim was writing Justice Society of America.

I've been reading comic books since 1987 so I grew up on post-crisis DC. Therefore I'm very much fine with the legacy aspect of the JSA as well. Though I have grown to prefer these characters occupying their own world like in the pre-crisis days. To me personally the ideal version now would be a JSA who occupies their own Earth in the DC multiverse; but also played a key role in the post-9/11 Iraq war in their world which will be a call back to their WWII roots while still modernizing it enough for the more discriminating modern readers.

[Lee Stone]

I prefer them on a separate world that's still in the 30s-40s.
While companies like Dynamite have to license characters like Green Hornet, The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Spider, The Phantom, Flash Gordon and Zorro, DC has countless characters in their natural pulp setting, which they own, just waiting to be used.

[andersonh1]

I enjoyed the fact that the JSA group of characters were almost unique in comics in that we got to watch them age. They had their heyday in the 40s, they retired, they had families, they came out of retirement and we got to see older heroes, children who took up their legacy, and eventually grandchildren. Name another group of characters at DC that have been allowed to have long, full lives like this. It's an aspect of real life that rarely ever gets imported into comics.

I never liked Earth 2's JSA in name only characters. I literally felt no connection to them and had no interest in starting over. It's the legacy version or nothing for me. They don't have to be old men again, but something like the status quo of the 1970s All-Star revival would work for me. Characters like Jesse Quick or Maxine Hunkel could exist in a title like that, so we could still have the children and grandchildren without pushing the JSA past their 50s.

[king of hybrids]

have them in books set in the past; same as hex or demon knights; and have any present day version of the team be made up of their kids/grand kids or legacies.

or, if you absolutely need alan, jay, ted, carter and ma around (or for it to be anyway believable that their kids are early 20's); do what smallville did and set the JSA in the 60s/70/80s (heck, have them reminisce fighting AM in the 80s) and use the unused characters as the WWII team that inspired the JSA as they inspired the JLA