The Massive, Extravagant, Over-the-top Golden Age JSA Re-read

Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 12:02pm

BONUS!

AUGUST 6, 2026

JSA #22
October 2026, DC Comics Inc., 32 pages
Cover by Pete Woods

"The Search for The Spectre Part Four"
By Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui

Wildcat II, possessed by The Spectre, goes to Belle Reeve to kill Queen Kobra for killing Ted Grant. The JSA arrive and talk her out of it. (That was easy!) The Spectre then merges with Queen Kobra.

Doctor Fate XVII (or whatever number), Stargirl, Kid Eternity II and Jakeem Thunder arrive in what looks like 1940, thanks to Metron. They discover they are in a time loop in a pocket reality, one created by Jim Corrigan so he can live his happiest last days alive over and over. (Sounds like torture to me, but different strokes.) He declines to become The Spectre again. "I served my time, okay? I was The Spectre for a long, long time and there is absolutely nothing that will convince me to do it again." Despite that, the door isn't entirely shut. "Look, there might be a day I want to leave this place. But I'm not ready. Not yet." Not terribly heroic, but OK. The hero usually refuses the call at first in Joseph Campbell. And I'm not sure 1940 to 1986 quaifies as a "long long time," but that's a detail I'm willing to gloss over.

Lemire then adds a new page here of Spectre lore, or perhaps re-writes the whole book, with Corrigan saying that the Spirit of Vengeance chooses its hosts from among those who want to "make things right."

"The reason [The Spectre is] running wild now is because no one it's chosen truly wants to be The Spectre. It's forcing itself on the JSA. See, I wanted to make things right. That's why I fit."

Kid Eternity gets the idea that maybe newly dead Ted Grant would like to make things right, and sure enough, they go back to the present, where he sucks The Spectre out of Queen Kobra. I guess being dead (or heroic) gives him an advantage. Or something. The Ghostly Guardian's green shroud is now a green boxer's ensemble.

The New Spectre Rules

The reason Spectre can force-bond with living people was established in JSA #21, where Metron explicitly says "The rules that had governed Aztar and The Spectre since its creation had been broken" by Darkseid's attempt to forcibly bond with the Ace of Shades in All-In Special #1.

But Corrigan is referring to his own hosting service when he says "See, I wanted to make things right. That's why I fit." if The Spectre can choose its own host, and the only criteria are that the host "wants to be The Spectre" and "[wants] to make things right," then the parameters for being The Spectre are so broad as to be utterly meaningless. Hitler could be The Spectre, since he would certainly want to "make things right" with the Third Reich. Napoleon. Stalin. Pol Pot. Shouldn't there be some element of justice amid the vengeance? Shouldn't The Voice, or some element in DC's established Judeo-Christian hierarchy, have a vote, since this very story reaffirms that The Spectre — excuse me, Aztar — is part of that tradition? And what about Corrigan's own redemption being part of the selection process, per John Ostrander's Spectre series?

Fortunately, Corrigan's glib summary didn't govern The Spectre at any time in the past. I think I can hold to my previous conception of the rules, not whatever Corrigan is saying here (which may be self-serving). And now it's moot, as the rules have been broken, as of All-In Special #1. Does Spectre bonding with Ted Grant re-establish those rules?

My guess is "no," since Ted Grant wasn't as in need of redemption as Jim Corrigan. But I guess that will be for future writers to establish. Whatever the outcome, I sure hope that the criteria for a Spectre host is more than the desire to "make things right."

Unanswered Questions

In journalism, one of the rules is "never bring up a question you don't answer." I would think that applies to fiction as well, because a number of unanswered questions in "The Search for The Spectre" damaged the story for me.

1) Initially, The Spectre wanted Kid Eternity II as a host, and had her trapped in what I'm guessing now is a pocket reality showing an abaondoned JSA HQ. At the time, it made perfect sense. Kid Eternity was dead, and her connection to Keeper would bring her in line with Judeo-Christian hierarchy and values. This is what we understood the rules of Spectre hosting to be. But, as of All-In Special #1, and reinforced in JSA #21-22, we know those "rules" weren't in operation. So why did The Spectre zero in on Kid Eternity? He could have picked anybody, living or dead. This is not explained.

2) Kid Eternity consults the Council of JSA Ghosts (OK, not real name), which includes Kent Nelson, Ted Grant, Rex Tyler, Charles McNider, Wesley Dodds and Al Pratt. The problem for me is that if you're going to show the ghosts of dead JSA members, you shouldn't leave any out, without some kind of explanation. Ted Knight and Terry Sloane are left out, without any kind of explanation! (It's not because they were late additions, because McNider and Knight were, too.) And that's just the Golden Age. What about Sylvester Pemberton? Shiera Sanders? Magog? Eric and Linda Strauss? Nabu? Inza Nelson? Kent V. Nelson? Hector Hall? There are probably others.

3) Why did Metron dump the kids in a pocket reality and disappear? Why was he involved at all? Metron is famous for not getting involved, and no explanation for his involvement was provided. If he was there because a new Spectre was about to be picked, he found a funny time to run off. Which brings me to:

4) The Spectre picking a new host is a cosmic-level event, and should have drawn the attention of the New Gods, the Quintessence, the Greco-Roman gods and an archangel or two. No cosmic-level entities took notice, and their absence wasn't explained.

Takeaways

You can probably tell I didn't care for this story. I hope some of my reasoning comes across as objectively true. But it's probably mostly subjective. Objectively subjective are these points:

1) I said before that if The Spectre isn't going to be Jim Corrigan, it should be somebody new, and not somebody who's already got a lengthy history as a different character. I used as my example Hal Jordan (bad) as opposed to Crispus Allen (good). Ted Grant has been Wildcat for 84 years. You can guess how I feel about him becoming The Spectre.

2) What does Ted Grant add to the mix? Corrigan was a straight, white, tough guy from the '40s. Grant was a straight, white, tough guy from the '40s. If you're going to change things, change things. As it stands, it could just as easily be Corrigan in the shroud, and for my money, it should be.

3) The Spectre in boxing trunks may be the dumbest thing I've seen this year. And that's a pretty high bar.

The Baron > Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 12:46pm

I missed this issue at my LCS yesterday, and now I don't feel so bad.
Philip Portelli > Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 1:21pm

Well, the book is getting canceled so they probably want to tie up all the loose ends.

And Ted Grant is a popular, if unrealistic character, being an over 100 year old punching guy! This way they can bring him back and have him be useful!

btw, I'm ordering the new JSA Origin book next week! I'm a little nervous!

Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 1:51pm

I missed this issue at my LCS yesterday, and now I don't feel so bad.

If you end up liking it, tell me what I missed!

Well, the book is getting canceled so they probably want to tie up all the loose ends.

I read that there was no JSA in some upcoming solictiations or other -- October? November? -- and the speculation was that it's canceled. Do you know for sure? After this issue, I'm actually eager for this series to end. The sooner it's gone, the sooner another series replaces it down the line, with a different writer. I've enjoyed Lemire's work elsewhere, but his JSA is increasingly erratic and poorly thought through.

And Ted Grant is a popular, if unrealistic character, being an over 100 year old punching guy! This way they can bring him back and have him be useful!

I don't find Wildcat any more unrealistic than any other character, especially Hawkman, whose continuity is best not thought about. But that's horse races, as we're both entitled to decide where we draw the line on our suspension of disbelief, and that line is individual to every fan. What I will argue is that WIldcat is the last authentic 1940s common-man voice, and that alone made him, to me, essential.

Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are also from the '40s, but I imagine them with upper class, mid-Atlantic accents, like William Powell. Ted was the last representative of the Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson sort of movie character. Having a "Greatest Generation," dogface-in-a-foxhole voice in the room highlighted to me what makes the JSA unique. When he was killed, I thought it was a thoughtless, reckless move done for shock value. Now that I know it was to clear the way for him to be The Spectre, I dislike it all the more.

So maybe I'll adopt Jeff Lemire's own approach to JSA history, and decide what "counts" and what doesn't willy-nilly. In my JSA, Ted Grant is still mystically stuck at about age 35, still decent in a fistfight but mostly useful for his inspirational training skills, dogged determination and grounded, blue-collar viewpoint. And The Spectre is either Jim Corrigan or some entirely new host, maybe gay, or Black, or female, or non-Christian, or all of the above. Or at least Crispus Allen again, a Spectre whose human host had experienced the sting of racism. That's representative of the Spectre stories I'd like to see going forward: Stories exploring the parts of the human condition that Jim Corrigan, a straight, white guy in a predominantly straight, white guy society, never experienced.

BTW, I'm ordering the new JSA Origin book next week! I'm a little nervous!

You mean "Year One"? We already aired that out here, so you know what's coming. What are you nervous about? It makes some changes I'm iffy about, but for the most part I like it more than DC Special #29. (Which makes me an outlier, I know.)

The Baron > Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 3:00pm

I missed this issue at my LCS yesterday, and now I don't feel so bad.

If you end up liking it, tell me what I missed!

To clarify, when I say I "missed" it, I mean that I didn't see it at my LCS yesterday, and so didn't buy it,. I don't know whether it had sold out by the time I got there (around 5:00 p.m.), or whether they just didn't get it. Your review doesn't make me want to race out to the next nearest store (several towns away) to find it.
Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod) > Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 3:24pm

The most recent solicitations are for October, and issue 24 (Lemire's last) is there. It calls this flashback "the last adventure of the Justice Society," but that could be an in-story description (it's one final secret adventure before the group disbands for good until it regroups in the 90s) or a description of the cancelation of the comic itself. DC hasn't said, so I'm guessing its a cancellation that they're trying to keep quiet about.

I'd rather they carry on immediately with a new writer and an issue #25 -- that's a habit I want to encourage companies to do, instead of restarting with a new #1 every time there's a change of creative team. But we might not know until November's solictations are out in late August.

The Baron August 6, 2026 at 3:46pm

Regarding the Ages of the JSAers:

1)I agree that the mundane, non-powered "Captain Punch-in-The-Face" types should be either dead or really, really old. I read on-line that of the 16.4 million US World War Two veterans, only an estimated 31,000 are left. It stands to reason that only a small number of "mystery men" should be left.

2)I'd even argue that at least some of the JSA "offspring" characters should be re-written to be "descendants" rather than children. To my mind, at least, it's unrealistic that characters like Rick Tyler or Jesse Chambers -whose apparent age would suggest that they were born about the turn of the century - would be the children of World War Two vets. Judy Garrick at least has the excuse of time travel shenanigans.

3)Alan Scott has a magic ring For all we know, he could use it to rejuvenate himself indefinitely. The same for any other magical types.

4)Without even considering the Speed Force, Jay Garrick can't possibly have a normal metabolism, so who knows how long he can live? No idea how Joan is still alive. I dimly remember a story from years ago where the JSAers and their SO's got exposed to Plot Convenience Radiation or some such nonsense that extended their lifespans, so maybe that's still in play.

5)The Hawks constantly reincarnating themselves seems like a continuity nightmare, but it's established, at least.

6)As for Wildcat, I always thought that they should write it that he studied various obscure martial disciplines that extended his lifespan, like the "Ascended Master" types that you run into various "fighting" manga, so he could still be the "1940s street-level tough guy" type while giving vary occasional hints that there's a lot more to him than that. I'd like that better than the "He perpetually has nine lives" nonsense that they've used more recently.

Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 4:50pm

1) I agree that the mundane, non-powered "Captain Punch-in-The-Face" types should be either dead or really, really old. I read on-line that of the 16.4 million US World War Two veterans, only an estimated 31,000 are left. It stands to reason that only a small number of "mystery men" should be left.

I agree -- which, counterintuitively, is why I'm so anxious that we preserve the ones we have left, the ones with a plausible reason to be alive. They're not making any more!

For the record, Wesley Dodds was a nonagenarian when he was knocked off -- about 25 years ago. He was probably the oldest of the post-Crisis JSA, having served as a Navy pilot between the wars. And most of the other punchy types (Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hourman) died in Zero Hour.

2) I'd even argue that at least some of the JSA "offspring" characters should be re-written to be "descendants" rather than children. To my mind, at least, it's unrealistic that characters like Rick Tyler or Jesse Chambers -whose apparent age would suggest that they were born about the turn of the century - would be the children of World War Two vets. Judy Garrick at least has the excuse of time travel shenanigans.

Absolutely agreed. You could say that each has some reason to be so long-lived; Rex has Miraclo and Jade has Green Lantern energy and God alone knows what Obsidian is. But that doesn't explain why they sound and act like college students, and why none have progressed past that point in their lives. They are presented as, and are obviously meant to be, early twentysomethings. It's one of those things that doesn't stand up to scrutiny, like Spider-Man still being in his late 20s.

I never liked Infinity Inc. anyway, so I wouldn't mind if they were all suddenly their correct age and retired. We could be reading about THEIR children in the JSA, and maybe they'd be a little more interesting to me.

3) Alan Scott has a magic ring. For all we know, he could use it to rejuvenate himself indefinitely.

That is the rationale DC provides.

4) Without even considering the Speed Force, Jay Garrick can't possibly have a normal metabolism, so who knows how long he can live? No idea how Joan is still alive. I dimly remember a story from years ago where the JSAers and their SO's got exposed to Plot Convenience Radiation or some such nonsense that extended their lifespans, so maybe that's still in play.

The Speed Force is the rationale DC provides, but the other thing you're talking about is Ian Karkulll in All-Star Squadron Annual #3. A whole host of people got life-extension plot radiation in that issue. I covered it on Page 114 of this thread.

5) The Hawks constantly reincarnating themselves seems like a continuity nightmare, but it's established, at least.

But it doesn't explain why Carter Hall is so long-lived. He should have died decades ago, and been reincarnated by now. Of course, then we'd have to wait for him to grow up. They got around that with Hawkgirl by having Shiera Sanders reincarnated in a recently deceased twentysomething. It doesn't make a lick of sense (that's not how reincarnation works), but we got a brand new Hawkgirl out of it. And it added the plot element that this Hawkgirl isn't in the right "pair" with Carter and doesn't love him. That opens up romance angles for her stories.

So why is Carter Hall alive? Trying to figure that out would make me re-visit all his continuity fixes, and I refuse. So I say it's magic (from Thanagar, utlimately). If anybody knows the "official" reason, let me know!

6) As for Wildcat, I always thought that they should write it that he studied various obscure martial disciplines that extended his lifespan, like the "Ascended Master" types that you run into various "fighting" manga, so he could still be the "1940s street-level tough guy" type while giving vary occasional hints that there's a lot more to him than that. I'd like that better than the "He perpetually has nine lives" nonsense that they've used more recently.

The nine lives thing began in JSA 80-Page Giant #1 (2010). It ties into a Zatara story from Justice League of America #164 (1979), the one that estabished the Homo Magi. King Inferno cast a spell on Wildcat to turn him into an actual cat, and Zatara tried to counter -- transforming the spell into one that made Wildcat long-lived, and established the nine lives business. But you needn't have worried, as the nine lives were exhausted by Crimson Avenger II in JSA #52-53 (2003). But he's still long-lived, thanks to magic. As I said earlier, I'd be happy if he continued at the same age perpetually, due to magic. I'd write his standing age as just past his prime, serving more as an elder statesman and trainer than field agent. But that's just me.

Magic, incidentally, didn't help Kent Nelson. He could certainly have continued into the current day, but he was killed off in 1987. There have been multiple Fates since, most of which I didn't like, but I do like the current one. Who is, of course, a young twentysomething.

Anyway, with Wildcat dead and Jim Corrigan bailing, we're down to three originals in the JSA: Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman. If they ever figure out that Carter Hall should be dead, we'll be down to two.

Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas > Captain Comics August 6, 2026 at 6:43pm

According to a few articles in the DC Fandom wiki, the current Hawkman is a Carter Hall who debuted in 2017 (shortly after the death of post-Flashpoint Katar Hol).

Most of his story is told in a Robert Venditti Hawkman series that lasted for 29 issues and started in mid-2018. In that continuity Carter and Shayera reincarnate as part of an ongoing mission to defeat a conquering extradimensional god. In #26 they defeat that god, presumably for good, and The Presence apparently decides to reward them by stopping the reincarnations while also gifting them very long lives (known to potentially reach towards the 40th century).

Somewhere along the way it was established that a glitch in one of Shayera's reincarnations caused Hawkwoman to be a separate entity from Hawkgirl (Kendra), and apparently all three of them spent some time in Scott Snyder's creation, the Dark Multiverse.

So yes, it is magic. But apparently it comes directly from The Presence, although it seems that there was also a reconstruction of the whole timeline during the 2020 event "Dark Nights: Death Metal" and it caused some time paradoxes that directly affected the Hawks.

If you ask me, it seems a bit too close to the post-Zero Hour status quo for me to feel confortable about the Hawks. But for what it is worth, DC does not seem to be trying to examine their situations from too up close.

Also, we have hints from very recent Superman stories (mostly involving various Superboys) with glimpses of the LSH that there may well be some ongoing flux in the timeline right now, so the Hawks may well change their status quo again in the near future.

Forum 2.0

The Massive, Extravagant, Over-the-top Golden Age JSA Re-read

Replies