Welcome to our re-read of the first and greatest superhero team in comics ... and quite a bit more!
My plan is to re-read and discuss the Golden Age Justice Society of America, which ran from All-Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940) to All-Star Comics #57 (February-March 1951), and is currently being reprinted in DC's "DC Finest" line.
But, as ever, I am consumed by context. What events brought us to All-Star Comics #3? What characters did editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox have available from which to choose? What else was competing in the superhero space? To achieve that context, I plan to start the discussion at the publisher's beginning, when Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson launched National Allied Publications Inc. in 1935. That was the first step toward the Justice Society — and to DC Comics as we know it today.
So before we even get to the JSA, I'll re-read and open for discussion all the solo stories starring JSA members, mostly from DC's Archives and Famous First Edition series. Which is actually quite a lot! (Although not as much as I'd prefer. I want it ALL!) I'll be writing about non-JSA superheroes created by National, Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Comics Inc. too, like Crimson Avenger and Doctor Occult. I'll also be tipping my hat to some non-powered characters, principally those who managed to appear outside their parent title, like Slam Bradley and Hop Harrigan. That means no re-read for the likes of "Bart Regan, Spy" and "Speed Saunders." Sorry, fellas, but I had to draw the line somewhere — before I found myself doing a deep dive into the history of Ginger Snap.
Speaking of drawing lines, I won't be re-reading Superman and Batman. They are peripheral at best to the Golden Age JSA, and would overwhelm the discussion through sheer volume. The volume issue extends to Wonder Woman as well (Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade), but she was a major player in the JSA, so I haven't decided yet if I'll include her solo stories. (And I have quite a bit of time to decide, since the bulk of DC"s Golden Age Archives books consist of material published before Sensation Comics #1.) Fortunately, Jeff of Earth-J is already doing a re-read of the Golden Age Superman.
I should note that I'm comparing ship dates on books that don't have months assigned to covers, like quarterlies and specials, to ship dates on monthlies to figure out where those books should be placed. All-Star Comics #3, for example, is dated "Winter" on the cover, but the on-sale date places it with books with December 1940 cover dates, so that's where I put it..
I've tried to be comprehensive, relying on a variety of sources, from online to reprints to "companion" books. A tip of the cowl to some of Luke Blanchard's posts in what amounts to almost an outline for this discussion. But I'm sure I've left out tons, especially reprints that I don't have or can't find, which may be at hand in your collection. I hope folks will do re-reads of reprints I've left out, as well as comment on what I've written. So let's hear what I've missed Legionnaires — and what you think!
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Ha! "Dad Band." I love it!
Joan and Jay eventually marry, but were childless until New Golden Age #1... That issue established daughter Judy...
Meet Jay Garrick...
Speed generic...
Daughter Judy...
Joan his wife...
That tune was, in fact, going through my head as I typed "daughter Judy."
Meet James Willis...
His boy George John...
Daughter Sarah...
Jane his wife...
That stone is in a town very near to where I live. I cannot be the only one who has seen it and then been immediately infected with the Jetsons ear-worm.
No relation
It's worth repeating that the initial function of the Justice Society and All Star Comics was to see which heroes were popular enough to get their own books which the Flash and Green Lantern were!
Rumors were that Hawkman and the Spectre were supposed to get their own books but the war and paper shortage happened.
And they had high hopes for Starman, too.
As for Flash Comics #1, its three most important characters were all wish fulfillment for young readers: to run fast, to fly and to have your every wish granted.
The Flash and Hawkman had their roots in classical mythology and were both visually striking characters though the art on both would improve.
Jay Garrick was the plucky underdog/college genius who gained the physical prowess he lacked. No longer slow and clumsy, he is now fast and agile (and hopeffully quit smoking). And it was all to impress a girl, a common theme in the Golden Age.
Carter Hall was wealthy though we don't know how. We see him as a blonde Egyptian (which would change thankfully) having a Cecil B. Demille adventure except that he loses! So this "first flight" is his redemption: he saves the girl and destroys the evil villain (who would later return). Hawkman seems to be more like the comic strips of the time for obvious reasons and would have more fantastic adventures for a guy who just flies. But even more than the other heroes, he didn't have a girlfriend, he had a partner.
As for Johnny Thunder, he had one detailed origin for a comic relief character. Granted he must have had a learning disability or something because he seemed protected by an aura of simplicity. He joined the Justice Society because he wanted to. And what Johnny wants, he usually gets, whether he knows it or not!
It's been said that it was easier to take Johnny's "humor" once a year (if that) in the Silver Age than twelve to eightenn times a year in the Golden Age!
In the 90s, Johnny was said to have an illegimate son, Willpower that he had to deny or else it would have "ruined" his career! This always made no sense to me and I'm fine with ignoring it.
The Whip was filler, an easy character to use as a modern Zorro. Indeed in 1940, there would be the film "The Mark of Zorro" plus four movie serials from 1937-1941.
Shiera as Hawkgirl was initially treated as not all that good at being a superheroine. I think the Hawks' later close partnership was copied from the partnership of Bulletman and Bulletgirl.
MLJ's Wizard only looked like a stage magician, and only looked like that at first. He was a super-science hero with super-strength, ESP and (from Top-Notch Comics #7) a blue protective costume. The feature initially had a strong patriotic theme. Later this and the super-science gimmicks were dropped, he acquired a sidekick called Roy the Super-Boy, and took over publishing a newspaper.
I did not know any of this. Thanks, Luke!
In the Mighty Crusaders stories of the 1960s he was depicted as an elderly heel with magical powers. The twist ending of The Mighty Crusaders #4 (1966) turns on his being the same character.
You know, I remember being confused by that plot twist as a boy. For one thing, I didn't know anything about the Golden Age Wizard. For another, I was like, seven years old. In a sense, you've answered a question I've had for 60 years, Luke.
Re the cover of Detective Comics #34, the GCD says Creig Flessel verified the masked character was the Crimson Avenger, but I don't think it is. The only basis for thinking so is his red mask, and the Jim Chambers Crimson didn't wear one: his mask was black. I think it's a crime-in-progress cover.
That would make more sense. Does anybody know why Crimson Avenger went away for seven issues, and came back with a different creative team?
Batman was initially cover-featured on every other issue of Detective Comics. That was briefly the system with the Sandman on Adventure Comics too. There were two consecutive Sandman covers just before Hourman's cover-featured intro. The original Sandman only appeared on a couple of covers after that, but he was featured in a masthead circle until #64 and it's possible DC was thinking of alternating Hourman and Sandman on the covers at the time of #50-#51.
It's an interesting artifact of the time that DC didn't go to superheroes on their covers consistently, despite Superman's success, for almost two years. Not Superman, not Batman, not Sandman. One can only assume sales backed up that decision. And then when sales went up for superheroes, they changed policy to take advantage. But that's just speculation. So much of the Golden Age is just unknown, and unknowable.
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