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A Brief History of the Justice Society
The Justice Society of America, beginning with All-Star Comics #3, has appeared at least semi-regularly since 1940, but between the end of their All-Star run in 1951 and the launch of JSA in 1999, they were generally consigned to guest appearances and/or mini-series and one-shots. That's definitely not the case at present. JSA is a perennial best-seller in many comic shops, and the characters seem poised at the forefront of the DC Universe. "I'm not sure what exactly it is that makes the JSA popular with readers," said the title's co-writer, Geoff Johns, who also scripts The Avengers for Marvel, as well the adventures of JSA member Hawkman. "The characters have a very strong following, and always have, they just haven't had a very large opportunity to be seen on a monthly basis for awhile. I think part of what really works with the current team is the fact that many of the heroes are carrying on the legacies of previous members. They aren't all seasoned veterans, and I think the interaction between the characters is what readers respond to. It's also what makes the team members fun to write. Seeing Alan Scott talking to Stargirl, or Jakeem Thunder and Johnny Thunderbolt. This is what the JSA is to me today. The first super-hero team, carrying on with the help of the descendants of the originals." Despite - or maybe because of - their lasting popularity, the history of the team is deeply entwined with the business side of publishing. Toward the end of 1938, comics pioneer M.C. Gaines entered into an agreement with DC Comics' Harry Donnefeld. Their bargain created a marketing arrangement that presented one public face to two distinct companies. DC and its new counterpart, All-American, both displayed the DC logo on their comics. Advertising cross-promoted the lines in each other's titles, and there was little to distinguish for readers that they were in fact not one company but two. All-Star Comics followed on the heels of DC's New York World's Fair Comics in 1939 and 1940 (precursor of their World's Finest Comics title), particularly the 1940 edition which featured Superman, Batman and Robin on the cover. It's not a huge series of leaps to go from co-cover features to team-ups to a permanent team-up. Regardless of their direct or indirect inspirations, writer Gardner Fox and editor Sheldon Mayer are credited with coming up with the team. Through the DC/AA relationship, they were permitted to choose both DC and All-American characters to populate the comic. They did so, and the Justice Society was born. Lasting longer than many of their superhero counterparts, the JSA lingered in All-Star until 1951 before the title switched to All-Star Western. The characters made their first Silver Age impact on most readers in the '60s when they appeared in Justice League of America, whose own concept was merely a modernization of the JSA. All-Star Comics was revived briefly in the '70s, and there have been various spin-off titles such as All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc., some of which had runs of decent length, but there hadn't really been a successful Justice Society title until JSA hit in 1999. Now even the JLA/JSA crossovers which many collectors treasure from the early days of the JLA have been revived. JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice debuted in December 2002 as an original hardcover. With action figures, PVC sets, bookends, and other comic character collectibles issued in recent years, the JSA is clearly more of a force than anyone would have thought between the original end of All-Star Comics and the team's return in JSA #1. Can you think of another character or group of characters that had toys in the 1940s, then nothing for more than 50 years, followed by successful new toys? That's more than just the power of history - that's a legacy. "Legacy is carrying on tradition, of learning what has come before and why. It's about keeping an ideal alive. In this case, member by member," Johns said. "You can explore this in endless ways. The legacy may have not have been as perfect as one thought, one may not completely understand the weight of legacy, one may thing they have learned all they need to have known. It's really a terrific theme to explore, because we can all relate to it. We are all affected by our past peers and family, and we all have people we idolize." THE PRINCIPLE TITLES All-Star Comics #3-57 (1940-1951) All-Star Comics #58-74 (1976-1978) Adventure Comics #461-466 (1979-1980) America vs. The JSA (1983) Last Days of the Justice Society Special (1985) Justice Society #1-8 (1991) Justice Society of America #1-10 (1992-1993) All-Star Comics Vol. 2 #1-2 (1999) JSA Secret Files #1 (1999) JSA #1- (1999- ) ODDITIES The 1976 revival of All-Star Comics continued the numbering of the original All-Star Comics JSA run even though All-Star Comics had become All-Star Western and ran until #119 in 1961. The JSA appearances in Adventure Comics continued the stories from the '76-'78 All-Star Comics, including the death of Earth II's Batman. The third incarnation of All-Star Comics was comprised of 2 issues, which served as book-ends around a collection of one-shot retro titles including Smash, National and others featuring JSA characters. THE JSA IN JLA The prime venue for keeping the memory of the Justice Society alive throughout the early Silver Age and well into the Bronze Age was, of course, the Justice League of America. The fondly remembered JLA/JSA crossovers were the basis of the Earth I - Earth II continuities that were wiped out in the retro-continuity maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths. The success of the most recent Justice League revamp series, JLA, led directly to the launch of the present JSA series, and the teams once again crossed over, this time in an original hardcover, JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice. Here are the issues of Justice League of America that the Justice Society appeared in: 21,22,29,30, 37,38, 46,47, 55,56, 64,65, 73,74, 82,83, 91,92, 100,101,102, 107,108, 113, 123,124, 135,136,137, 147,148, 159,160, 171,172, 183,184,185, 195,196,197, 207,208,208, 219,220, 231,232, 244
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