The Justice Society of America headlines its first monthly ongoing series in years this November, courtesy of writer Geoff Johns and artist Mikel Janín.
Justice Society of America #1 features a bevy of longstanding JSA heroes -- including the original Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman -- as they team up to defeat an unusual enemy who has disrupted temporal history. The Time Masters, DC's defenders of the time stream led by Rip Hunter, are also teased to make an appearance. A preview of the cover of Justice Society of America #1 also shows Huntress -- presumably the Helena Wayne version originally from Earth-Two -- standing in front of her forebears.
"There will be familiar faces re-joining the team, like Jay Garrick and Alan Scott, as well as long-lost members returning, like Beth Chapel and Yolanda Montez, and a new Golden Age legacy hero first hinted at in the end of Flashpoint Beyond," Johns said. "Mikel Janín is doing the work of his career on this."
What Is The Justice Society Of America?
The Justice Society of America is DC's first superhero group. The team debuted in 1940's All-Star Comics #3, and the starting members of the roster were the Atom, Doctor Fate, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkman, Hourman, Sandman and the Spectre.
As the decades passed and comics entered the Silver Age, several of these heroes were re-created for a new audience -- Barry Allen, for instance, became the Flash, soon surpassing his predecessor Jay Garrick in popularity. To differentiate the Silver Age characters -- who banded together in their own heroic collective dubbed the Justice League -- from their Golden Age counterparts, DC introduced the concept of the multiverse to their stories. Earth-One was designated as the home of the Justice League, while Earth-Two became the world of the Justice Society. Frequent crossovers, kicking off with The Flash #123's "Flash of Two Worlds" meant that the heroes from both Earths often met.
DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot of 1985 destroyed the multiverse and combined all Earths into one, retconning the Justice Society as older superheroes who came to the defense of America during World War II. Later reboots would continue to de-age the Justice Society or see certain members mentoring new protégés -- for instance, Wildcat's goddaughter Yolanda Montez, who returns in the new series.
The Justice Society's history was largely wiped away with DC's New 52 reboot of 2011, and the team's last series ended that year. The JSA returned during 2019's Justice League "Doom War" arc and, even more recently, the team appeared in Dark Crisis #3, offering their experience and knowledge to help Jon Kent form a new superhero team in the aftermath of the Justice League's apparent demise.
Justice Society of America #1 is written by Johns, illustrated by Janín, who also provides cover art, and features variant covers by Yanick Paquette, Joe Quinones, Jerry Ordway and Steve Lieber. The issue goes on sale Nov. 22 from DC Comics.
Source: DC