Justice Society of America

The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a team of fictional superheroes whose adventures have been published by DC Comics. They're the first such superhero team in comic book history.

Post-Crisis

One of Roy Thomas' efforts to resolve the Crisis-created inconsistencies was to introduce some analogues to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, in a sequel to All-Star Squadron entitled The Young All-Stars (1987 to 1989). The series was dogged by rotating artists and didn't last long.

Related Topics:
The Young All-Stars - 1987 - 1989

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Meanwhile, DC apparently decided that the time had come to write off the JSA from active continuity. A 1986 one-shot issue called The Last Days of the Justice Society involved the JSA battling the forces of evil while merged with the Norse gods in an ever-repeating Ragnarok (written by Thomas, with art by David Ross and Mike Gustovich). Only Power Girl, The Star-Spangled Kid, The Spectre and Dr. Fate survived the cataclysm.

Related Topics:
Continuity - 1986 - Norse gods - Ragnarok - David Ross - Mike Gustovich

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Thomas also revised the JSA's origin for post-Crisis continuity in Secret Origins #31.

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Fan interest, however, resulted in DC bringing back the JSA in the early 1990s, though an 8-issue limited series (1991) followed by a 10-issue ongoing series (1992) could not revive enough interest in the team to keep sales up, and sometime after the latter series was cancelled most of the team was killed off in a controversial 1994 crossover series called Zero Hour. However, the JSA was once again revived in 1999 in a critically and popularly acclaimed series which mixed the few remaining original members with younger counterparts, and which is still being published as of 2005.

Related Topics:
1990s - 1991 - 1992 - 1994 - Zero Hour - 1999 - 2005

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Notable Post-Crisis Appearances

• The Last Days of the Justice Society Special 1986
• Secret Origins vol. 3, #31
• The Young All-Stars, various issues
• The Justice Society of America vol. 1, #1-8 (occurs in the 1950s)
• The Justice Society of America vol. 2, #1-10 (contemporary)
• The Golden Age #1-4 (alternate history story based on the All-Star Squadron set-up, written by James Robinson and drawn by Paul Smith)
• Zero Hour #0-4
• Wonder Woman #130-133 (1940s adventure by John Byrne)
• Sandman Mystery Theatre #1-70, Annual #1 (1940s solo Sandman series written by Matt Wagner)
• JLA #28-31 ("Crisis Times Five," introduces Jakeem Thunder)
• The Justice Society Returns! issues (issues named with various 1940s-era titles, set in the 1940s)
• JSA #1- (still ongoing as of 2005)
• JSA: Classified #1- (still ongoing as of 2005)

New Post-Crisis Members

Most of these members are from the current JSA series. A few heroes have been retconned after the Crisis as having been members (e.g., Miss America as a replacement for Wonder Woman--though it is not clear if this particular retcon is still valid--see below). Others were honorary members at some point but it's not clear whether they became full members (e.g., Johnny Quick or Hawkgirl Shiera Sanders), and they haven't been listed as members in this article.

Related Topics:
Retcon - Miss America - Johnny Quick - Hawkgirl Shiera Sanders

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• Starman VII
• Wonder Woman III (Queen Hippolyta), who was also revealed by John Byrne as having been the Wonder Woman who was a JSA member in the Golden Age
• Sand (formerly The Sandman's sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy)
• Black Canary II
• Hourman III
• Atom Smasher (formerly Nuklon of Infinity Inc.)
• Doctor Fate IV (formerly Silver Scarab of Infinity Inc.)
• Hawkgirl II
• Star-Spangled Kid II (later Stargirl)
• Mister Terrific II
• Doctor Mid-Nite II
• Jakeem Thunder
• Black Adam
• Captain Marvel
• Hourman II (formerly of Infinity Inc.)