Should the Justice Society exist in the main DCU?

[Myskin]

Using your Captain America example- look at Peggy Carter. She was Cap's girlfriend (or one of them) before he went into the ice in 1945. Originally he was thawed in the 1960's and it fit that she could still have an active role in stories. Her younger sister could believably be Cap's current girlfriend. But as time moved on and Cap's de-icing became the 1970's then the 1980's and by now is probably well into the 21st century it becomes harder to maintain that part of the story. Soon it will make no sense that Peggy is even alive when Cap defrosts and Sharon is getting further removed from even knowing Peggy personally.

Now Peggy in Captain America is easily removed and sidelined, but if we want the JSA to have legacies of the Infinity Inc type the problem is a bit more complicated. Either you need the JSAers to have legacies "frozen" with them or "defrost" the JSA earlier to allow time for them to have direct influence. If you want a Jade or Jesse Quick who are currently active and with closer ties to the JSA than Barry/Wally or Hal they can't be kids born in the 1940's who lived through the intervening years.

Sure they can't. But the "frozen" thing allows for a more expanded period of time between the disappearance of the characters and their return. I mean, they can put Jay in the limbo in the 1950s and have him back in the 1980s. Or the 1990s. or the 2000s. Or, in the case of Alan Scott, they can have him stay a bit younger because of internalized powers or something like that. For the most part, they are all non-issues.

I kinda agree that the situation is a bit more problematic for some of the members of the cast (villains, wives, and so on), but I really cannot see this but an opportunity to create stories. In fact, that's exactly what they did in series such as JSA or Starman or Hourman - which were rather successful, or critically acclaimed, or both for a very long time. In those series, some of the old characters died. Some of them retired. Some of them ended in dimension X, some of them changed, and some of them had nephews.

The point is... Theoretically speaking, most of the objections to the concept of Legacy may have some good points. But when you take into consideration how the stories were tangibly written, it's very difficult to argue that, for the most part, the writers were very skillful at circumventing all of the obstacles and using the idea to build something interesting and well done which COULDN'T be done with classic major characters: creating stories which were focused on the concept of unforgiving, relentless time, or family. That's a pretty great achievement - and it is one the reasons for the JSA series to last so long.

[twincast]

To be perfectly honest, I don't see how WW2 is inherently crucial to the JSA to begin with.

Anyway, I'm really torn on the poll question: On the one hand, there are several problems with having a JSA on the same Earth as a JLA (which have been exhaustively stated*). But on the other, I did really like having a second (and yes, secondary, but to be honest, on a meta level they'd be no less so on a secondary Earth) superhero community mostly but not completely separate from the JL/TT group that also felt very different, to boot.

*Personally, I still consider all the current Kryptonians overpowered (of all the later additions, I'd only keep flight), but Superman most definitely deserves to be the first public superhero. That said, it's beyond ironic that a Clark Kent Superboy could only work logically in a world that already had superheroes flying around.

[Batarang]

I voted -The classic JSA should exist on the main Earth.- I hope you mean Geoff Johns JSA by that lol

[Sacred Knight]

They most definitely should be on their own Earth.

But they most definitely will be on the main Earth.

[Jadeb]

The problem isn't that having a mentor diminishes the character. It's that having the mentor and legacy side-by-side is hard to maintain without one of them being diminished. Either you have Batman as the better hero and Nightwing presented as "Batman-lite" or Jay Garrick as the guy who inspired the more impressive Barry/Wally. Most writers lack the ability to give us a balance where both sides of the legacy come across as having some advantage. (Or at least lack the ability to do this on a monthly basis in the limited number of pages comics give us).

Nightwing is a good example -- he's not Batman lite, he's his own person. For other characters, aging is useful for addressing your concern. Jay, as an older man, probably can't keep up with Barry, but his experience and wisdom give him his own advantages (and help define his character and personality).

Having most everyone be a relatively inexperienced newcomer, a la the New 52, seems much more limiting than having characters with similar powersets.

[Ascended]

Not digging through all these pages, but for me personally, I prefer the JSA on their own earth.

Ideally, I'd have the JSA on Earth-2 with all of their history (more or less) intact, so everything from World War II to Infinity Inc to Jack Knight and Courtney Whitmoore, the Geoff Johns series, I'd say it all happened and make minor adjustments as needed, such as saying all those JLA-JSA stories were cross-dimensional, rather than the League just going down the street or whatever.

I'd also keep the original versions of the Trinity there too. They wouldnt have to be the main focus but having the Trinity around doesnt hurt sales, plus it would allow us to explore versions of those characters we'll never see otherwise. Diana as Queen of Themyscria, perhaps with Fury as the new Wonder Woman.....Bruce Wayne as the leader of the League of Shadows (formerly the Assassins until he took a dip in a lazarus put and took control from Ra's)....Superman as a semi-retired widow who owns the Daily Planet and leaves the heroics to Power Girl most of the time....they'd make good supporting cast members who could occasionally take the focus of the action when things get real heated.

A crossover with the main DCU every 18 months to 2 years would be enough, I suspect, to keep the JSA from becoming a secondary title that "doesnt matter" to the continuity-wanking folk, and sales on Earth-2 were pretty solid under Robinson and only went south when the quality dropped, so I dont think that alternate universe aspect of the JSA is much of a hurdle. Spider-Gwen and other titles make it work for them, no reason the JSA cant.

I'd likely also include other characters on Earth-2 who weren't connected to the JSA originally. The Freedom Fighters are obvious. Shazam seems like he'd be a good fit, and with Superman in retirement he could be the big alpha hero. Plastic Man.....perhaps even the Charlton characters (except Beetle, cant have Beetle without Booster), and I think some characters from WildStorm would fit nicely as well, mainly Planetary, though the Daemonites and Kherbium could be well served by not having to compete with the GLC for the cosmic corner of the world.....

[Lightning Rider]

Did people dislike Volume 2 of JLA and Volume 3 of JSA going on at the same time after iC? They each had plenty of independence, each of their stories made the featuring team seem like whatever they were doing was paramount, but there were also occasional cameos and events that crossed the two over, and neither felt cheapened, at least to me. I felt like there was more than enough room on one Earth.

[Dreaded Porcupine]

I would love to see Wesley Dodds the classic Sandman return on any earth. He always looked so cool wearing his gas mask and his suit. Have been pulling Earth 2 but not enjoying it as much as I used to enjoy the classic JSA.

[Robotman]

I think they should be on their own earth for all the reasons already stated by the OP. Plus the Flash tv show has just introduced millions of new fans to the concept of Earth 2 and the multiverse.

They most definitely should be on their own Earth.

But they most definitely will be on the main Earth.

From all the comments from Didio, Lee, and Johns you can tell the JSA will definitely be on Prime Earth. Superman is no longer the first superhero (hell, it's not even the real Prime Earth Superman anymore it's Pre-Flashpoint Superdad), the JSA goes back to being the geriatric B Team, and they add yet another Green Lantern and Flash to this reality.

[Tommyboydalton21]

Do we even need ww2 involved at all? I don't even think Captain America is absolutely tied to it.

[warzon]

The JSA should be on EARTH 2.

[Lee]

Either present day Earth 2 (a 2016 with a 1940s flair, like the Flash TV show) or a 1940s main universe. So they're either in a different universe than the Justice League, or a different time period than the Justice League.

It's when the JSA and the JL co-exist in the same time and place that it all seems kind of redundant.

Pre-Flashpoint, the age thing became increasingly problematic. The JL crew were always in "the present" but the JSA had their origins rooted in the 1940s. So Clark Kent and Barry Allen stayed young men, whilst Jay Garrick and Alan Scott got older and older and older. If DC decide to reboot the Justice Society in the present day, but keep the ties to the 1940s, the Captain America/Austin Powers approach is the easiest way to do it. But then, would it be too repetitive to have so many "man out of time/stranger in a strange world" characters at once? And what about the kid characters like Jade? And how do you make Power Girl work?

It's a tough nut to crack.

[Robotman]

The people from another time period fish out of water thing is going to get old really. There's going to be an entire team of superheroes blown away by a smart phone.

[Ascended]

Either present day Earth 2 (a 2016 with a 1940s flair, like the Flash TV show) or a 1940s main universe. So they're either in a different universe than the Justice League, or a different time period than the Justice League.

It's when the JSA and the JL co-exist in the same time and place that it all seems kind of redundant.

Pre-Flashpoint, the age thing became increasingly problematic. The JL crew were always in "the present" but the JSA had their origins rooted in the 1940s. So Clark Kent and Barry Allen stayed young men, whilst Jay Garrick and Alan Scott got older and older and older. If DC decide to reboot the Justice Society in the present day, but keep the ties to the 1940s, the Captain America/Austin Powers approach is the easiest way to do it. But then, would it be too repetitive to have so many "man out of time/stranger in a strange world" characters at once? And what about the kid characters like Jade? And how do you make Power Girl work?

It's a tough nut to crack.

I think you just let them age out, but keep a few around who, for whatever reasons, are either long-lived or immortal.

Jay and Allan could easily still be active, with their powers extending their lifespans. Wildcat too if you go the 9 lives route. Im sure a few others would work.

Then you have a few of the characters who were on the younger side still alive but well beyond retirement age, and rely on legacies and kids/grandkids for the rest.

Generous use of flashbacks can keep everyone around on panel even if they're no longer young, active, or alive.

Perhaps someone has even become a ghost and sticks around that way. Might be an interesting twist for Sandman or something (especially with the Endless connection to build off of).

Now, the passage of time becomes a problem, but you can easily say something like "Allan Scott retired as Green Lantern during the McCarthy era, and laid low for X amount of time before going active again." or otherwise work in a period of non-action that can fit a sliding time scale, much as we keep extending the amount of time Steve Rogers was in the ice.

[Lightning Rider]

I remember Wally saying something like "Too many magical adventures for me to keep track of have kept him young/around" in Secret of Barry Allen.