My JSA fix...

[Lee Stone]

The Justice Society of America is the oldest and longest lasting organization of super-heroes in history, and one of the greatest.

In November 1940 a British secret agent acting on behalf of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked the Crimson Avenger, Flash and Green Lantern to go on a secret mission to Scotland. There the three heroes fought Nazi forces who had established a base in Scotland to support a planned German invasion of Great Britain. The heroes were captured and were brought before Adolf Hitler in Berlin. However, Doctor Fate and Hourman, who had also been asked to serve on this mission, arrived in time to prevent the three heroes' deaths. All five super-heroes then pursued Valkyries whom Hitler had summoned to attack Britain.

Then Hitler ordered his naval invasion of England to begin. Doctor Fate magically brought Atom, Hawkman, Sandman and Spectre to England, where they defeated the invading forces. The nine super-heroes then joined forces against the Valkyries, whom they pursued to Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, Hitler had sent an advanced bomber plane to attack Washington, but it was destroyed by Commander Steel. Together, Commander Steel and the Atom thwarted the Valkyrie leader’s attempt to assassinate President Roosevelt. The Valkyries returned to Valhalla, their mission for Hitler having failed.

Roosevelt told the ten assembled super-heroes that he wished they could continue as a team. Commander Steel suggested the name for the team, and the Justice Society of America held it’s first meeting on November 22, 1940.

Until more recent times, Commander Steel and the Crimson Avenger acted only as honorary members. The Flash was the first JSA chairman, but he soon stepped down to honorary membership and was succeeded as chairman by Green Lantern. Johnny Thunder joined the Society in Flash’s place.

Green Lantern stepped down to honorary membership, and Hourman left the Society. They were succeeded by Doctor Mid-Nite and Starman.

In December 1941 the JSA disbanded, and several of the members joined the armed forces in their secret identities. However, only a few weeks later, the Justice Society members returned to civilian life and regrouped under the name of Freedom Force with several other U.S. sanctioned heroes, to take orders during the war from the U.S. War Department. Phantom Lady, a member of Freedom Force who was also secretly Starman's cousin, remained with the JSA when it reformed in 1943.

In 1944 and 1945 Doctor Fate, the Sandman, the Spectre and Starman all left the JSA for differing reasons. Wildcat and Mr. Terrific joined the JSA for one case, and the Flash and Green Lantern returned to active membership. In 1948, Johnny Thunder left the Society and was replaced by Liberty Belle.

In early 1951, the head of a group called Eliminations, Inc. lured the JSA members to a satellite in outer space, where he tried unsuccessfully to kill them. The JSA captured the man, who proved to be an agent of a foreign power. The Justice Society was then subpoenaed to appear before the Joint Congressional Un-American Activities Committee, headed by Senator O’Fallon, whose members wrongly suspected that the JSA was in league with the captured spy. When O’Fallon demanded the Justice Society members reveal their secret identities if they wanted to be considered "good Americans," the JSA members refused and went into retirement.

Commander Steel eventually did comply with the government and joined the Freedom Fighters. Crimson Avenger was killed in action shortly after the hearing. The Voice summoned Spectre and Dr. Fate for an undisclosed purpose and they have not been seen since.

When a government group, Task Force X, was formed to arrest any masked heroes, the remaining JSA members came together once more and voted unanimously to fake their own deaths to protect their friends and family.

Making one last public appearance together the plan was compromised when Task Force X captured Johnny Thunder. Seeing there was no other alternative, he had his Thunderbolt remove the JSA members from reality and ordered him to leave Johnny and never to return until hope for a brighter future was assured. One effect of this was that everyone except Johnny forgot the JSA had ever existed.

Unknown to Johnny, the Thunderbolt now resides with his great-grandson, Jakeem, patiently awaiting orders to bring the JSA back to reclaim their status as the original super-hero team and continue their fight for justice and liberty.

Members of the Justice Society, other than Johnny Thunder, at their last meeting (and currently in limbo): Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hourman, Liberty Belle, Mr. Terrific, Phantom Lady, Sandman, Starman and Wildcat.
Also present was Hawkgirl, who was sent to limbo with Hawkman.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:
I swapped the following:
Crimson Avenger for Batman.
Commander Steel for Superman.
Phantom Lady for Wonder Woman.
Liberty Belle for Black Canary.

And I removed the All-Star Squadron entirely since there would now be far fewer heroes.
With Freedom Force being a smaller US sanctioned version of All-Star Squadron, that stands in for the JSA's time as the Justice Battalion, giving Phantom Lady the perfect means to swap teams and take Wonder Woman's place when the JSA reforms.
And her place in Freedom Force would then be taken by Miss America.

In addition, Wing would also take Robin's place.

Also, since they joined the JSA after 1951, this would in effect remove Power Girl and Huntress from the JSA, seeing that there was no Superman, and Huntress has found more success as Helena Bertinelli in recent years.
The current Earth-2 would be destroyed and Power Girl would come to Earth-0 as the lone survivor.
Maybe after some time, Stargirl, Black Canary, Power Girl and the Helena Bertinelli Huntress could join the newly returned JSA.

I had Steel and Crimson Avenger left in the past to keep the final line-up as close to the iconic team as possible. Phantom Lady could have stayed in the past, as well, choosing to move and change her name before their last meeting took place.

[colonyofcells]

I would not claim that the justice society is the oldest. The greek argonauts and the knights of the round table are probably older. Maybe dc should also do titles about the super heroes in the argonauts and the knights of the round table. For the golden age trinity, I am ok with replacements like Iron Munro, Helena Kosmatos Fury and a batman like Flying Fox.

[Lee Stone]

I would not claim that the justice society is the oldest. The greek argonauts and the knights of the round table are probably older. Maybe dc should also do titles about the super heroes in the argonauts and the knights of the round table. For the golden age trinity, I am ok with replacements like Iron Munro, Helena Kosmatos Fury and a batman like Flying Fox.

Most of the text in the piece was taken from the Who's Who entry for the JSA.

I simply omitted the paragraph that detailed them having their aging slowed, stopped at the 1951 congressional hearing and added the last five paragraphs to tie it into what's been revealed in Rebirth thus far.
And subbed in the replacement heroes for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Black Canary.

I chose to use Crimson Avenger, Liberty Belle and Phantom Lady because they were actual Golden Age heroes. Crimson Avenger was actually DC's first masked crime-fighter.
Phantom Lady had been retconned to be Starman's cousin at one time, so she was a logical choice to replace Wonder Woman.
Especially since I was concerning myself with a JSA that had been out of commission since 1951, and it wasn't necessary to work in the Infinity, Inc. Fury as a descendant of a JSA member.
Commander Steel was chosen because almost every company had a flag-wearing hero in the Golden Age... Captain America, Shield, etc. And putting him in the Golden Age would make him a logical stand-in for Superman.
And Liberty Belle solves the problem of Black Canary.

While Iron Munro, Fury and Flying Fox are good characters, they're not what I would consider legendary enough to fill the shoes.

[colonyofcells]

Commander Steel is a bit too recent and was invented during the Bronze age as a Captain America clone.

[Lee Stone]

Updated the image.
Seems I left out Atom and Spectre.

[allstar77]

Funny, I was planning a rewrite of JSA history -- just for myself, mind you. Anyway, I had FDR contemplating Crimson Avenger and Steel!

I'd be happy if Iron Monroe, Fury, and Flying Fox were used. And keep the original origin intact. Never liked the revision and Spectre whining over FDR. I always thought Roy Thomas overused Roosevelt.

[Lee Stone]

Funny, I was planning a rewrite of JSA history -- just for myself, mind you. Anyway, I had FDR contemplating Crimson Avenger and Steel!

I'd be happy if Iron Monroe, Fury, and Flying Fox were used. And keep the original origin intact. Never liked the revision and Spectre whining over FDR. I always thought Roy Thomas overused Roosevelt.

Heh... great minds and all that.
:-)

I set it up to where Steel was left in the past because he did comply with the unmasking and was pretty involved with the government. And Crimson Avenger died (mirroring Batman's death) shortly after the hearing.
Originally, I had Phantom Lady staying in the past, also. Which would only leave Liberty Belle as the only replacement on the team when they went into limbo. But I finally chose to keep her with the others because the JSA has always been pretty short on females and I think she just fits so well.

[allstar77]

I like your ideas. I like the Liberty Belle substitution. This kinda reminds me of a recent Alter Ego article suggesting the dozen more or less of the original All-Star had rotating guest stars.

I'm waiting to see what's coming up. There's so many versions of the JSA and its members now, I've kinda been choosing my favorite bits and pieces lately to come up with an outline so I can enjoy it all. If I can keep it all straight in my head, who cares if it's official or not!

[Dataweaver]

My preferred substitute for Wonder Woman is Queen Hypollyta. Not necessarily as Wonder Woman, mind you; I'd be fine with her dressed in traditional Thymescrian garb/battle gear and having no official codename (being called “Queen Hypollyta” or “Polly” by those who know who she is, and “the Amazon” by everyone else).

Superman and Batman's involvement with the team up through 1951 was minor enough that dropping them entirely would arguably be as small or smaller a change than bringing in substitutes for them.

Also, two Rebirth-related nitpicks:
1) According to Wally, the Justice Society was a covert team; the JSA's operations need to be recast in that light.
2) Johnny's confession carries the implication that the impetus for his wish was the HUAC hearings: that is, the JSA didn't go into retirement after the hearing; they vanished from the hearing due to Johnny's wish.

[Lee Stone]

My preferred substitute for Wonder Woman is Queen Hypollyta. Not necessarily as Wonder Woman, mind you; I'd be fine with her dressed in traditional Thymescrian garb/battle gear and having no official codename (being called “Queen Hypollyta” or “Polly” by those who know who she is, and “the Amazon” by everyone else).

Superman and Batman's involvement with the team up through 1951 was minor enough that dropping them entirely would arguably be as small or smaller a change than bringing in substitutes for them.

Also, two Rebirth-related nitpicks:
1) According to Wally, the Justice Society was a covert team; the JSA's operations need to be recast in that light.
2) Johnny's confession carries the implication that the impetus for his wish was the HUAC hearings: that is, the JSA didn't go into retirement after the hearing; they vanished from the hearing due to Johnny's wish.

Hippolyta would be fine...
I mainly went with Phantom Lady because she's arguably the second most popular Golden Age heroine, mainly due to Fox Features' "Good Girl Art" version keeping her in print, these days mostly in AC's Men of Mystery reprints.
And I always thought the Sandra Knight-Ted Knight connection was a good idea.

#1 is easy... Spectre or Dr. Fate simply erased any footage of the team in action.

As for #2, I could reword the details to have Steel leave during the trial, siding with O'Fallon, and have Crimson Avenger killed just prior to the trial instead of after.

[Jim Kelly]

I think DC is better off to let Wonder Woman (Diana) exist during the 1940s. The movie is going to backdate her much further than that and DC is always trying to make their continuity fit with the movies and the TV shows, so it's only a matter of time before this continuity is fixed.

In the meantime . . . WW didn't have a lot of involvement with the JSA during the war years. Her main role was as secretary--and she signed the official documents as "Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)." Diana Prince was a separate person--Wonder Woman assumed her identity--but she would still exist in the 1940s. However, as Wonder Woman never took her place, suppose that the real Diana Prince became a secretary with the war office and was attached to the Justice Battalion to work as their war secretary and as their liason to the Military Intelligence Corps. After the war, Diana Prince might've become a secret agent--a so-called "Wonder Woman."

The Fox version of Phantom Lady doesn't belong to DC and they can't use her stories (well being in the public domain, they probably could but maybe that would confuse their copyright/trademark for the Quality version of PL) and, in any case, those Fox stories were all post-war--so I don't see where the JSA gains much by using her as WW substitute.

However, I understand the desire to retroactively introduce more active female participation in the team's cases. Now ALL-STAR COMICS only came out four times a year initially and then only six times a year after that. So, if the team gathered every month, we're missing six to eight stories for every year they were together. That's more than sixty adventures and I could see that there could have been several guest-stars--if not new members--that took part in those secret cases, which would allow more roles for all of the DC, Quality and Fawcett women from that period.

[Lee Stone]

I think DC is better off to let Wonder Woman (Diana) exist during the 1940s. The movie is going to backdate her much further than that and DC is always trying to make their continuity fit with the movies and the TV shows, so it's only a matter of time before this continuity is fixed.

In the meantime . . . WW didn't have a lot of involvement with the JSA during the war years. Her main role was as secretary--and she signed the official documents as "Diana Prince (Wonder Woman)." Diana Prince was a separate person--Wonder Woman assumed her identity--but she would still exist in the 1940s. However, as Wonder Woman never took her place, suppose that the real Diana Prince became a secretary with the war office and was attached to the Justice Battalion to work as their war secretary and as their liason to the Military Intelligence Corps. After the war, Diana Prince might've become a secret agent--a so-called "Wonder Woman."

The Fox version of Phantom Lady doesn't belong to DC and they can't use her stories (well being in the public domain, they probably could but maybe that would confuse their copyright/trademark for the Quality version of PL) and, in any case, those Fox stories were all post-war--so I don't see where the JSA gains much by using her as WW substitute.

However, I understand the desire to retroactively introduce more active female participation in the team's cases. Now ALL-STAR COMICS only came out four times a year initially and then only six times a year after that. So, if the team gathered every month, we're missing six to eight stories for every year they were together. That's more than sixty adventures and I could see that there could have been several guest-stars--if not new members--that took part in those secret cases, which would allow more roles for all of the DC, Quality and Fawcett women from that period.

True, the Fox version did nothing more than to keep the "idea" of the character alive, but it did help spark interest in her Golden Age Quality incarnation in new readers.
However, she did have her own feature in Police Comics from #1 thru #23, garnering her more solo stories than Black Canary in the Golden Age.
Of course, Liberty Belle had more than both of them combined.

[allstar77]

I still like Iron Monroe, Flying Fox and Fury, but I could go with Hippolyta. I could go with Crimson Avenger and Steel, but as pointed out, Superman and Batman only participated in a couple adventures -- most importantly the origin -- why couldn't the guys today have time traveled and participated in the origin?

[Jim Kelly]

Quality had several stand-out female characters--but not that many were from the union suit set.

Betty Bates, Lady Law, had an impressive run in HIT COMICS from No. 4 (0ctober '40) thru 65 (July '50), the final issue. Created by Bob Powell, she was drawn by a star-studded list of artists. The Justice Society could have used a lawyer, so I can see them putting Betty Bates on retainer. And given Gardner Fox was a lawyer himself, I can imagine him making good use of her in the JSA adventures.

[Jim Kelly]

Another woman who could stand in for Wonder Woman, also with roots in Quality Comics, is Lady Blackhawk. Of course, Zinda wasn't introduced in BLACKHAWK until after it became a DC book, but "The Blonde Bomber," in MILITARY COMICS No. 20 (July '43), according to Wikipedia,

featured a story about a woman who attempts to become the first woman member of the Blackhawks, who looks, sounds and behaves much like Zinda Blake, although she does not divulge her name, and never calls herself Lady Blackhawk. In the story, she flies to Blackhawk Island, declares herself part of the team, and helps the Blackhawks on a mission behind German lines. Ultimately, she rescues Blackhawk himself. Some[who?] say that this is Zinda Blake's true first appearance, but this has never been official.

She's a good fit for the Wonder Woman role, because she has the airplane, the connections to the military (or paramilitary) and the Blackhawks have an island, just like the Amazons.

I could see her, after being rejected by the Blackhawks, going next to the Justice Society. And her connection to the Blackhawks would allow the two WW II teams to meet in an untold story.