Sentinels of Society
by Bob Gough and Steve Johnson
The first super-hero team is now the latest super-hero team: the Justice Society of America, the very first superhero team in the history of comics, has returned. Starting With A Bang -- And Some Deaths
If you liked the Justice Society of old, you'll like the new guys. If not, or if you never heard of them, you might still give them a try: they're written by James Robinson, the greatest writer to tackle the Golden Age since, well, the Golden Age, his 1940s Elseworlds series starring the first Green Lantern (Alan Scott, now known as Sentinel), Manhunter, and Johnny Quick.
In this debut issue, the veterans, children and grandchildren of the JSA gather at a funeral for Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman. At the funeral, they discover that a mysterious force has slain Jared, the inheritor of Dr. Fate's artifacts, and wants to make sure there won't ever be another Dr. Fate! The new JSA is plunged into a murder mystery and a confrontation with the Sandman's final enemy, the Dark Lord!
There are lots of hints of future storylines as well. We get to see Obsidian, one of the children of Alan Scott, and get an idea of just how far he's sunk since his glory days. If he doesn't become a major villain, he'll definitely be someone's henchman one of these days.
And Sandy Hawkins, the former sidekick to Sandman, seems to have inherited Sandman's prophetic nightmares, which aren't exactly a blessing. He goes by "Sand" these days, wearing an updated version of the Sandman's trench coat and gas mask, but JSA Secret Files #1 claims he's "no longer a carbon-based life form!" Sure, he was transformed into a living sandstorm monster a while ago, but he got better, didn't he?
And besides, how did Ted Grant, the Wildcat, get nine lives? What does Hourman mean when he says he IS Rex Tyler, the original Hourman, who died in Zero Hour #3? There are a lot of hooks in this first outing, enough for a year of stories.
First, though, the JSA (they're not really the new JSA; it's more like when the Avengers would add and lose members, but still be the same team. Hey, two of these guys were there on Day One!) will have to find and protect the newest recipient of the legacy of Dr. Fate. Opposing them is one of the most powerful sorcerers in all of the DC Universe: the Dark Lord (whom the clues all point to being Mordru, the Legion of Super-Heroes' longtime foe, who gave the Legion more trouble even than Darkseid!). Scarab, one of the only super-heroes produced for the Vertigo line, is there to help them.
The New Lineup
This month's JSA includes plenty of new members:
Jack Knight, the reluctant heir to the Starman mantle;
the new Hawkgirl, the grand-niece of original Hawkgirl Shiera Saunders;
the new Star-Spangled Kid;
the daughter of the original Black Canary;
Atom-Smasher, formerly Nuklon of Infinity Inc. and godson of Al Pratt, the Atom;
Hourman, the 853rd century android with Rex Tyler's DNA;
and Sand, the former partner of Wesley Dodds, the Sandman.
Plus, there's a new Doctor Mid-Nite and Mister Terrific out there waiting to join.
Anchoring the team are the survivors:
Sentinel (formerly Green Lantern),
Jay Garrick (the first Flash),
Hippolyta (the first Wonder Woman and the current WW's mother),
and Wildcat.
A combination of the Speed Force and mysticism has kept them alive all these years.
But will this new team survive? Three of the new JSAers have their own titles--Starman, Hourman and Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.--and several appear regularly in other titles. That's certainly a plum position for the JSA, and one the team hasn't enjoyed since the '40s. Moreover, at least two of the supporting series are top-notch, with Starman winning awards regularly, and newcomer Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. might turn out to be cool, too.
The team's dynamics are also resilient. The JSA, unlike any other DC team except for perhaps the Doom Patrol, is a family. Linked by blood ties and lengthy friendships that span generations, the team may bicker, even fight, but they will stick together. You don't need to stretch to see why 10 superheroes were in the same place at the same time. Drawn together, appropriately enough, by a funeral, the JSA launches into combat naturally with all of the ferocity of a threatened pack of lions.
Sixth Time's The Charm
We've been here before. Since disappearing from All-Star Comics with issue #57 (the title became All-Star Western with #58), the "swell bunch of guys" (as Johnny Thunder dubbed them) reappeared in their own title five times in the past three decades (All-Star Comics in 1976, America vs. the Justice Society of America in 1985 and The Last Days of the Justice Society of America in 1986, Justice Society of America in 1991, and again JSA in 1992).
Guest-appearances in Justice League of America, The Flash, All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc. as well a stint as a running feature in Adventure Comics helped keep the memory of the JSA alive.
It never seemed like comicdom's first super-team could ever catch up with the group that replaced them. Kicked around by many a DC editor over the years, the team has been slung back and forth like a yo-yo; they're old, they're young, they're old again, they're young again.
Owing its most recent revival to the success of JLA and Starman, JSA may be in the historically best position it's ever been to survive, however.
The JSA has always been seeking out youth to re-invigorate its ranks. In its 1976 incarnation, the Justice Society of America saw its first major re-vamp with the addition of the Super-Squad: Earth 2's Robin, Power Girl (who was Earth 2's Supergirl) and the Star-Spangled Kid (kept as young as he was in the '40s due to an unscheduled time trip). None of them survived the destruction of Earth 2 in the Crisis on Infinite Earths very well.
Infinity Inc. lasted four years, recounting the mishaps of the children of the Justice Society. Most went mad, lost their place in history, suffered breakdowns or turned evil. The Young All-Stars also fell victim to the post-Crisis infanticide.
Justice League of Society
Inevitably this family will visit its close cousins, the JLA. The JLA, an association of independent equals like the knights King Arthur's Round Table, doesn't have the cohesiveness of the JSA, but possesses the sheer power to overcome many threats. Sure, Batman can order them into cooperative maneuvers to fit any situation, but they are much more individualistic than the JSA.
If the teams were ever to clash (as has been their history over the years), a natural match-up would be this:
Black Canary vs. the Huntress (In the post-Crisis continuity, Canary helped form the JLA but the Huntress who wasn't Batman and Catwoman's daughter was never in the JSA);
Hawkgirl vs. Zauriel (since he's the Hawkman substitute);
The Flash vs. the Flash;
Sentinel vs. the Green Lantern;
Wildcat vs. the Batman (who he trained to fight in the current continuity);
Hippolyta vs. Wonder Woman (no grape leaves for you on Mother's Day);
Hourman vs. the Martian Manhunter (flight, super-strength and vision powers are shared by both);
Atom-Smasher vs. Superman (no contest);
Starman vs. Orion (cosmic energy vs. the Astro-Force); and
Star-Spangled Kid vs. Plastic Man (just because the kid should fight the weirdo).
After that bit of fun, they'd all realize it was a terrible mistake -- Mr. Mxyzptlk's fault, or something -- and resolve to meet every year.
Writers James Robinson and David Goyer have a great opportunity here to right some wrongs committed on the JSA. They're starting behind the runners' blocks but they're off to a real fast start.
Here's hoping -- because they've got a great history to uphold.