By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
The season premiere of The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow on Oct. 13 introduced the Justice Society of America. If you said, “Who?” – well, you’re in for a treat.
Superhero teams are a commonplace today, with Avengers, Justice Leaguers and, yes, Legends popping up all over movie and TV screens. But the JSA were the very first (and possibly best) superhero team in comics, premiering in the winter of 1940 and running until 1951.
The original membership consisted of The Atom, Doctor Fate, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hourman, Sandman and The Spectre. The philosophy of the time was that any character who had his own title was in danger of being overexposed, so Superman and Batman – and later Flash and Green Lantern for a time – were only honorary members. Conversely, characters that were deemed not popular enough were sometimes cashiered. Replacement characters included Black Canary, Doctor Mid-Nite, Johnny Thunder, Mister Terrific, Starman, Wildcat and Wonder Woman.
Appearing in the episode "The Justice Society of America" on “Legends of Tomorrow” Oct. 20 are (from left) Sarah Grey as Stargirl, Kwesi Ameyaw as Dr. Mid-Nite, Patrick J. Adams as Hourman, Dan Payne as Obsidian, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen and Matthew MacCaull as Commander Steel. Photo: Katie Yu/The CW © 2016 The CW Network, LLC.
Some of that may sound familiar. But don’t be fooled – these were the first characters to bear those names, and they’re not who you think they are. Green Lantern, for example, was a broadcaster named Alan Scott, who had a magic ring. The Atom was a college student named Al Pratt, a short guy who was an unusually good brawler. Flash was college student Jay Garrick, who gained super-speed from “hard water fumes.”
All of these characters (except Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) had already lost their individual series by the time the last JSA story appeared in 1951. But we know their names because DC Comics launched a second wave of superheroes in the late 1950s that re-used many of those names for new characters with new powers and origins. So we got a new Flash in 1956, a forensic scientist named Barry Allen. A new Green Lantern appeared in 1959, this one a test pilot named Hal Jordan. And so forth.
And, as you might have figured out by now, we got a new Justice Society in 1960, populated by these new heroes and updated with the baseball-friendly name the Justice League. Returning the favor, Flash and Justice League of America comics established in the early 1960s that the Justice Society still existed, too – only on a parallel world called Earth-Two.
The JSA has been part of the fabric of the DC superhero universe ever since. Sometimes they’re on the same Earth as the Justice League, sometimes they’re written out for a time. But every so often a new series starring the JSA appears, often introducing another batch of super-characters somehow related to those aging (or dead) heroes who first gathered in 1940.
And it’s usually a blast. Not only is the JSA the first super-team, it is arguably the most successful. Commercially, it outlasted contemporary groups like the Seven Soldiers of Victory and the All-Winners Squad. In story, the group is usually depicted with the older, super-competent heroes – veterans of hundreds of super-battles and university-threatening crises – teaching the ropes to their kids, grandkids, successors, legacies and hangers-on.
That competency is what’s going to be on display on Legends of Tomorrow in the Oct. 20 episode, according to Marc Guggenheim, an executive producer on the show and former Justice Society writer for DC Comics. “We realized very early on that the JSA essentially were like this funhouse mirror to hold up to the Legends, to show how screwed up the Legends are by showing them a team that isn't screwed up at all,” he said in an interview with moviefone.com. “We just thought there would be a huge amount of fun to be had by watching the Legends interact with a superhero team that actually does it right.”
Two modern members of the Justice Society transplanted to the past in the Oct. 20 Legends of Tomorrow are Stargirl (Sarah Grey) and Obsidian (Dan Payne). Photo: Katie Yu/The CW © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The Legends crew meets the JSA at their height in World War II, thanks to the time-traveling premise of the show. But don’t expect to see a faithful rendering of the original wartime team. Guggenheim told moviefone that he picked a diverse group of characters with a broad mix of super-powers, but one also suspects that the differences in the movie, TV and comics universes play a part.
For example, Hawkman – a founding member of the JSA – has already appeared on Legends, and was killed, resurrected and written out. Versions of Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are busy elsewhere. Another founding member, Dr. Fate, made a memorable turn on Smallville (which is not connected to the current show, but still).
Guggenheim and company played mix-n-match with six relatively fresh characters from the dozens of who have been members of the Justice Society over the last 76 years. We don’t yet know what powers they will have (if any) on the TV show, nor what their back stories are. But here’s who they are in the comics:
* Commander Steel didn’t actually exist in 1940s comics, but was retroactively added to DC’s wartime heroes in the 1970s. Hank Heywood was a mortally injured soldier who was repaired in Six-Million-Dollar-Man fashion, and fought fifth-columnists on the home front with enhanced strength and durability. Two of his grandkids were augmented in modern times in similar fashion, although one of them is dead. The TV version is played by Matthew MacCaull.
* Doctor Mid-Nite: Dr. Charles McNider was a physician who was struck blind in an accident, but discovered he could somehow see in total darkness. He would blind enemies with “blackout bombs” – some sort of smoke bomb – which gave him the advantage, since he could see through it. He had a pet owl named, of course, Hooty. White in the comics, he is played by black actor Kwesi Ameyaw on TV.
* Hourman was chemist Rex “Tick-Tock” Tyler, who discovered the “Miraclo” formula that could enhance his strength and speed for an hour. (And yes, he kind of advertised his time limit to the bad guys, didn’t he?) In recent years Tyler’s dependence on Miraclo has been depicted as an addiction because, you know, drugs are bad, um-kay? If Miraclo sounds familiar, it’s because it may have been the inspiration for “Mirakuru” on Arrow. Hourman is played by Patrick J. Adams.
The Justice Society of America debuted in All Star Comics #3 in 1940, with founding members (clockwise from bottom left) The Atom, Sandman, The Spectre, Flash, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern and Hourman. Copyright DC Entertainment Inc., courtesy comics.org.
* Obsidian: Todd Rice was introduced in 1983, the biological son of Alan “Green Lantern” Scott and supervillain Rose “Thorn” Canton. He somehow inherited the power to merge with his own shadow, control darkness and perform other shadow-related feats. Rice is openly gay, and has a super-powered sister, Jennie-Lynn “Jade” Hayden, who doesn’t seem to have made the TV cut. A modern character, he’ll be transplanted to WWII on TV, and is played by Dan Payne.
* Stargirl is another modern character who also appeared on Smallville (played by Britt Irvin). In the comics, she’s the latest successor to astronomer Ted “Starman” Knight, who invented a “Gravity Rod” in the 1940s that drew power from the stars in order to fly, repel bullets and project bolts of force. Her secret ID is high school student Coutney Whitmore, who is the stepdaughter of Pat Dugan, who was the crimefighting partner of the Star-Spangled Kid, another Starman successor. On TV, actress Sarah Grey is wielding the modern version of the Gravity Rod, the Cosmic Staff.
* Vixen was introduced in 1981, a model named Mari Jiwe McCabe who discovered a magic totem – created by the African spider god Anansi – that allows her to mimic the powers of any animal. She has an animated show on CW Seed, and the same character has guest-starred on the live-action “Arrow” (played by Megalyn Echikunwoke). She is also being transplanted into the past for Legends, but it’s easy to see how: The magic totem has been around for centuries, so it surely existed in the 1940s. And given that the WWII character’s name is Amaye Jiwe (played by Maisie Richardson-Sellers), it seems likely she’s related to the modern character.
It’s too bad we won’t see the more powerful members of the JSA – Dr. Fate, Flash, Green Lantern, Spectre and Wonder Woman – but I’m sure what we will see is superheroics done right. They’re part of “The Greatest Generation,” after all.
Reach Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), the Internet (captaincomics.ning.com), Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or Twitter (@CaptainComics).
Replies
"university-threatening crises "?
Crisis on Infinity University?
I saw this by accident and thought it was pretty good.
Nice write-up, Cap! I thought it was a fun episode -- the highlight was the undercover scene/fistfight in the Nazi-controlled bar. I loved watching Ray physically unable to make himself salute Hitler, even though their cover depended on it. And Stein picked a great song from the future to sing, claiming it was an "original." I mean, it's no "Johnny B. Goode," but you gotta know your audience.
Except for Stargirl they all look alike. I'm surprised she's not wearing black like everyone else. Superheroes need colors.
I actually wrote this before the episode, which I have yet to see. I may have more to say afterward!
Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) said:
Oh, sorry for the spoilers!
I don't care about Spoilers, and never have. No worries!