The Justice Society Of America

Over ten years later, in the pages of The Flash #123 (Sept., 1961), DC's newest character to go by the name of The Flash, Barry Allen, met Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash and a member of the JSA. DC had decided to revive many of the old JSA characters, but using the name only. The characters secret identities, origins, and in same cases powers were vastly different. To explain the two Flashes, Green Lanterns, Hawkmen, Atoms, and even duplicate Supermen, Batmen, and Wonder Women, DC explained that these heroes lived on different parallel Earths. Earth-1 was the world of the Justice League of America and the new versions of the DC heroes. Earth-2 was the world of the Justice Society and the other Golden Age heroes. When DC comics bought out Quality Comics and Fawcett Comics (the Shazam ! characters), those heroes adventures were assigned to Earth-X and Earth-S respectively. There was also Earth-Prime which had only two Super Heroes : Superboy and 'Mazing Man. Earth-Prime was also where all us comic book readers were supposed to live, linked to the other parallel Earths through the stories we would read in our monthly comics.

Confused yet ? Good. So were many readers at that time.

The two Flashes met again in The Flash #129 (June, 1962) and in The Flash #137 (June, 1963). In issue #137, the entire Justice Society showed up and decided to come out of retirement. The membership was then comprised of :

A meeting of the greatest Golden Age and Silver Age Super Hero teams took place just a few months later in Justice League of America #s 21-22 (August/Sept., 1963). This was the first official meeting of the older, Golden Age (Earth-2) Justice Society of America, and their newer counterparts, the Silver Age (Earth-1) Justice League of America. This started a tradition which would last for 23 years, as the JSA guested in the Justice League of America book every year.

For a list of the JLA/JSA crossovers, click here.

In addition to thier crossover adventures with the JLA, the JSA also had their own run in a couple of series in the late 1970's :

All-Star Comics #'s 58-74
The original JSA title was revived from 12/76 through 10/78, and saw the addition of several new team members. Star-Spangled Kid joined in issue 64, as did Power Girl (who first appeared in issue 58). The Huntress, daughter of the Golden-Age Batman and Catwoman, first appeared in issue 69 and joined the team in issue 72.

DC Special # 29
"The Untold Origin of the Justice Society" - The name says it all. The story of how the heroes of the world's greatest super team first met. August/September, 1977.

Adventure Comics #'s 461-466
After their run in All-Star came to an end, the JSA's exploits continued through 1979 in Adventure Comics. Major event of the series : The Golden-Age Batman dies in battle in issue 462. Completists may also want to track down issue 460, which guest-stars the Golden-Age Flash.

Other good related reading material from this period includes :

Action Comics # 484 - The Golden Age Superman marries Lois Lane
Atom #'s 29, 36 - The Golden Age Atom guest stars
The Brave And The Bold #'s 61-62 - Starman and Black Canary
DC Super-Stars # 17 (listed as Secret Origins Of Super-Heroes # 17 on the cover) - First appearance of Batman and Catwoman's daughter, the Huntress
Flash # 129 - Second Silver Age appearance of the Golden Age Flash, first Silver Age appearance of the Justice Society (in flashback)
Flash # 137 - Second Silver Age appearance of the Justice Society, their first Silver Age adventure
Secret Society Of Super-Villians # 15 - Dr. Mid-Nite and the Golden Age Atom appear
Showcase #'s 55-56 - Hourman and Dr. Fate, Green Lantern guests in #55

In addition, the Golden-Age Flash and Green Lantern frequently guest starred in the comics of their Silver-Age counterparts. The Golden-Age Wonder Woman returned as the main character in Wonder Woman for a brief time, pushing out her Silver-Age duplicate. The Golden-Age Superman (joined on one occasion by Johnny Thunder) was a regular character in Superman Family. Also, Wildcat was a frequent partner of Batman in The Brave And The Bold.