Geoff Johns and Mikel Janín's new Justice Society of America series is just around the corner, with The New Golden Age one-shot set to debut. Johns will similarly write the one-shot with artwork from Jerry Ordway, Steve Lieber, and Diego Olortegui. While the new Justice Society series will see the return of familiar faces like Jay Garrick's The Flash, Alan Scott's Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, Power Girl, Stargirl, Yolanda Montez's Wildcat, and Beth Chapel's Dr. Midnight (or Mid-Nite if coinciding with her TV counterpart), the new series will also see the return of Helena Wayne's Huntress as confirmed by Johns.
While Helena Wayne has been back from post-Crisis limbo since 2006's Infinite Crisis (by GeoffJohns and Phil Jimenez), she's also only existed on some version of Earth-2 and not on the main DC Earth. This was the case when she appeared in 2008's Justice Society of America Annual #1 (by Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway) as part of the "Thy Kingdom Come" story arc. This was also the case when she was rebooted for the New 52, despite residing on Earth-0 for a while. With the Infinite Frontier era being about embracing all of DC's history, Helena Wayne's appearance in the new Justice Society series strongly suggests this version will be native to Earth-0. Given Johns' own history with the character and "The New Golden Age" storyline, strong evidence suggests she'll be based on the pre-Crisis original.
Helena Wayne Debuted in DC Super-Stars #17
Prior to 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths (by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez) destroying the DC Multiverse and reformatting it into a single shared universe, Helena Wayne was created as an Earth-2 character in 1977 by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, and Bob Layton. Earth-2 was the home of DC's Golden Age heroes and stories and Helena was conceptualized as the daughter of the versions of Batman and Catwoman who originally appeared in the comics from 1939 to 1954. As such, she made her debut in DC Super-Stars #17 and had a cameo appearance in All-Star Comics #69 (by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton), both of which were released on the same day.
Helena's backstory is detailed in DC Super-Stars #17 in a story called "From Each Ending... A Beginning! The Secret Origin of the Huntress" (by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton). The story established that Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle retired their costumed identities in 1955 and married that year. Their daughter Helena was born two years later and enjoyed a normal upbringing. It wasn't until her mother was killed as a consequence of being blackmailed by a former henchman that Helena took up her family legacy. Instead of becoming another Batwoman or Catwoman, however, Helena became the Huntress as a way of honoring her family legacy and establishing her own identity. During her first outing as the Huntress, she captured the henchman who got her mother killed.
Helena Wayne Was a Main Character in All-Star Comics' Relaunch
After giving herself closure on her mother's death, Helena operated as the Huntress in secret to avoid being noticed by her father, who was by this time working as Gotham's police commissioner. When the JSA villain Psycho-Pirate exploited Bruce's grief to take over his mind, Helena worked behind the scenes to stop her father from arresting the JSA for crimes they weren't responsible for. Shortly after this near brush-in with her father, Huntress assisted Wildcat and Star-Spangled Kid on a case involving the latter's villainous nephew and the Strike Force.
The Strike Force case forced the Star-Spangled Kid to retire from the JSA to get his life back in order, which allowed Huntress to join the team as a full-time member. Once she started working alongside the Justice Society, Huntress became a main character in All-Star Comics, then later Adventure Comics. During this time, Huntress met her best friend, Power Girl, and fought other JSA villains like the original Huntress, Paula Brooks. She also fought against new villains like Bill Jenson and Frederic Vaux, both of whom got her father killed.
Helena Wayne's Solo Stories in Batman Family and Wonder Woman
By 1978, Huntress became a breakout character, which allowed her to appear in other non-JSA comics like Batman Family -- a series that featured the solo stories of Earth-1's Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. Huntress met the Earth-1 versions of Batman and Catwoman in Batman Family #17 (by Gerry Conway, Jim Aparo, Bob Rozakis, and Don Heck) and started appearing in her own solo stories by Batman Family #18 (by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton). Huntress was the only Earth-2 character to be featured in a Batman title that primarily featured the Earth-1 versions of the Batman characters.
Following the cancelation of Batman Family as a result of the DC Implosion, the majority of Huntress' solo stories took place as a backup feature in Wonder Woman. These solo stories established that Helena Wayne worked as a lawyer by day and operated as the Huntress by night, effectively replacing her father as the protector of Earth-2's Gotham. During her solo cases as the Huntress, Helena Wayne battled her own villains in the form of Franklin Gresham, Lion Mane, the Crime Lord, the Earthworm, Dr. Tarr, and Prof. Fether. She also fought iconic villains like the Thinker, Solomon Grundy, and the Joker.
Helena Wayne Huntress Appeared Regularly in JSA/JLA Crossovers
By the early 1980s, Huntress became popular enough to appear in the annual JSA/JLA crossovers, where she got to battle both Earth-1 and Earth-2 villains. She even, at one point, fought other multiverse villains like the Earth-3 Crime Syndicate in a major storyline taking place on the pages of both Justice League of America and All-Star Squadron. This same storyline was also the first time the Huntress traveled to the 1940s to help stop Per Degaton from permanently altering Earth-2's history by making himself world dictator -- a feat he was only able to accomplish with help from the Crime Syndicate.
Helena Wayne Was a Co-founder of Infinity, Inc.
In the years leading up to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Huntress began cementing herself as a Justice Society heroine by becoming one of the co-founders of Infinity, Inc. -- a new team that was sponsored by the Star-Spangled Kid. This team is composed entirely of the children and successors of the older Justice Society heroes such as Fury (Wonder Woman's daughter), Silver Scarab (Hawkman and Hawkgirl's son), Jade and Obsidian (Alan Scott's children), Nuklon (Al Pratt's godson) and Northwind, the latter of whom is a friend of the Hawks. While both Huntress and Power Girl continued to work with the Justice Society after the team's formation, they still occasionally interacted with the Infinitors on special occasions.
Helena Wayne Defeated Per Degaton in America vs the Justice Society
Just before the start of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Helena Wayne helped prevent one major time crisis on Earth-2, once again involving Per Degaton. Since the latter was imprisoned in Gotham at the time Bruce was police commissioner, the former Caped Crusader wrote a false diary accusing the Justice Society of war crimes during World War II. This naturally got the attention of the press and the US government, leading to the events of America vs. the Justice Society (by Roy and Dann Thomas, Rafael Kayanan, Rich Bucklerm, Jerry Ordway, Michael Hernandez, and Howard Bender).
As the Justice Society is forced to defend themselves in a public senate hearing, Helena Wayne represented the team as their lawyer, and together, they unearthed the truth of the JSA's history, all leading up to them stopping Per Degaton's latest scheme. Since the premise of "The New Golden Age" is centered on the displacement of JSA legacy heroes, there's a very strong chance the events of America vs. the Justice Society are informing Helena Wayne's role in the new storyline. The fact that Per Degaton was already teased as the main villain in 2021's Stargirl: Spring Break Special (by Geoff Johns and Todd Nauck) makes this even more likely.