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.
But I will be re-reading reprints, or availing myself of online information where reprints don't exist, of 14 of the 17 Golden Age characters who launched or appeared in All-Star Comics #3-57. Those characters include:
- The Atom: All-American Comics #19-46, 48-61, 70-72; All-Star Comics #3-26, 28-35, 37-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Flash Comics #80, 82-85, 87 89-95, 97-100, 102-104; Comic Cavalcade #22-23, 28; Sensation Comics #86.
- Black Canary: All-Star Comics #38-57; Comic Cavalcade #25; Flash Comics #86-88, 90-104.
- Doctor Fate: All-Star Comics #3-12, 14-21; More Fun Comics #55-98.
- Doctor Mid-Nite: All-American Comics #25-102; All-Star Comics #6 (text story), 8-57.
- The Flash: All-Flash #1-32; All-Star Comics #1-7, 10, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties)
- Green Lantern: All-American Comics #16-102; All-Flash #14; All-Star Comics #2-8, 10, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Green Lantern #1-38.
- Hawkman: All-Star Comics #1-57, Big All-American Comic Book, Flash Comics #1-104, Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
- Hourman: Adventure Comics #48-83, All-Star Comics #1-7, New York World's Fair Comics [#2].
- Johnny Thunder: All-Star Comics #2-4, 6-35, 37-39; Big All-American Comic Book; Flash Comics #1-91; New York World's Fair Comics [#2]; World's Best Comics #1; World's Fair Comics #2-3; Flash Comics miniature (Wheaties).
- Mister Terrific: All-Star Comics #24, Big All-American Comic Book, Sensation Comics #1-63.
- Sandman: Adventure Comics #40-102, All-Star Comics #1-21, Boy Commandos #1, Detective Comics #76, New York World's Fair Comics [#1-2], World's Finest Comics #3-7.
- The Spectre: All-Star Comics #1-23, More Fun Comics #52-101, a single panel in More Fun Comics #51.
- Starman: Adventure Comics #61-102, All-Star Comics #8-23.
- Wildcat: All-Star Comics #24, 27; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-2; Sensation Comics #1-90.
The obvious exceptions here are Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. Superman and Batman, called "honorary members" in the text, appeared twice in All-Star Comics, but I don't plan to re-read all their adventures from 1938 to 1951. They are peripheral at best to the Golden Age JSA, and would overwhelm the discussion through sheer volume. This problem extends to Wonder Woman as well, who appears in four titles in the Golden Age (Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade, All-Star Comics). I'll re-read and report on her JSA adventures, but like Batman and Superman, I'll just note her solo stories in passing with a summary that I'll grab somewhere online. That will keep the discussion abreast of any major developments, like new supervillains, in Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman stories.
Here are their Golden Age adventures:
- Batman: All-Star Comics # 7 (cameo), 36; Batman #1-63 (February-March 1951); Batman 3-D #1; Detective Comics #1-169 (March 1951); New York World’s Fair Comics [#2]; World’s Best Comics #1, World’s Fair Comics #2-50 (February-March 1951).
- Superman: Action Comics #1-154 (March 1951); All-Star Comics #7 (cameo), 36; New York World’s Fair [#1-2]; Superman #1-69 (March-April 1951); Superman 3-D #1; Superman at the Gilbert Hall of Science; Superman Miniature; World’s Best Comics #1; World’s Fair Comics #2-50 (February-March 1951).
- Wonder Woman: All-Star Comics #8, 11-22, 24-57; Big All-American Comic Book; Comic Cavalcade #1-29; Sensation Comics #1-102; Wonder Woman #1-46 (March-April 1951).
Fortunately, Jeff of Earth-J is already doing a re-read of the Golden Age Superman. Jeff isn't doing a re-read of all Batman books, but he is compiling "The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told," by which he means "all of them." Recently he's begun re-reading other major Bat-villains, which he discusses in Riddler - Prinze of Puzzles, The Crimes of Two-Face and Catwoman: Nine Lives of a Feline Fatale.
I should note that my methodology changed over time, as realities required. For instance, I initially lumped books together by cover date, but complications ensued for books without them, like quarterlies and specials. As the number of quarterlies and their importance increased, I ended up going by on-sale dates as the primary organizational tool. (Which aren't available for all books, but that's a lesser devil than chronologically misplacing Batman or All-Star Comics). Initially I only included mention of others strips in anthology books if they were of some importance, like Slam Bradley, but eventually I started including all of them. Here and there I would try to improve the format. And so forth. In some imaginary "someday" I'll go back through and make them all consistent.
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 a Luke Blanchard post in what amounts to an outline for this discussion. But I'm sure I've left out tons, especially stories I don't have or can't find, which may be at hand in your collection. I hope folks will do re-reads of stories 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!
Replies
Both Europe and the United States referred to the war as "The Second World War" in 1939.
It wasn't officially called "World War II" until September 1945.
I used the narration from DC Special #29. The story is told from a post-WWII perspective (1977), so what's your problem?
No problem, I was just curious what the war was called in 1940 and it was indeed called a World War before America joined in, which what the objection was about.
That would be accurate, at least, for a story that involves American heroes.
And yes, I failed to mention Africa, despite having a sister-in-law from Morocco.
I like that. As an editor, I like to make things accurate with the fewest number of changes, so as to retain the writer's "voice."
BONUS!
JSA #13
January 2026
On-sale date: Nov. 5, 2025
By Jeff Lemire and Gavin Guidry (22 pages)
I liked the issue, although some of the chronology doesn’t line up, according to my memory. But I don’t remember very well some things that re-ordered those events, like the “Past Times” issues of James Robinson’s Starman. I also tend to ignore New 52 in its entirety, although some elements (like Alan Scott being gay) survived into Rebirth.
All I can do is raise flags about things that don’t seem to fit the timeline I remember, and see if any Legionnaires can explain them.
I do want to compliment Guidry’s art, which is clean and clear. It reminds me a bit of the late Mike Parobeck, whose work on Justice Society of America #1-10 (1992 series) I loved.
The opening pages establish that the story is set in “Summer 1940” just as Hitler launches the “Battle of Britain” (according to in-story newspapers). In our world, that would be July 10, 1940. That places this story four months before DC Special #29/Secret Origins #31.
There are two unseen people having a conversation about difficulties looming on the horizon, related in captions. We don’t know who they are. Dr. Fate and Spectre do not appear in this issue, so that’s my guess so far. Their conversation ends on the last page, predicting that these men and women will be pulled together by tragedy to face “true evil” and become "a society." “They seem so — so human,” says one of the participants, lending weight to my Spectre/Fate theory. OTOH, one of them says, “Of course I do. We all do.” If it’s just two beings, he wouldn’t say “all,” so maybe I’m off base.
That’s a mystery for the future. Here’s our cast, and how their stories play out in issue #1:
Panel 1: Al Pratt is walking city streets, where newspaper boys shout about the invasion of Britain. A later panel establishes that he is keeping up with drug-related crime. (Which is why he got a newspaper.)
He changes to Atom and bursts in on some criminals in Gotham’s East End. One of the newspaper articles also referenced the East End, so Atom is apparently operating in Gotham City, not Calvin City. Has this been retconned? He discovers that the criminals are actually Nazis, and they are holding a rally on Aug. 4. I think we can expect he will attend, and not be in a good mood.
The discovery of Nazi material coincides with one of our unseen conversants saying “true evil.” Probably not a coincidence.
Panel 2: Two men announce a contract between Tyler Chemical and Starco. A later panel establishes one of the men as Rex Tyler, and that he is suspicious of Starco. The other has a double chin, but could be Ted Knight. I rather doubt it, but TBD.
First, it should be noted that in 1940 Adventure Comics, Rex Tyler is a flunky at Bannerman Chemical, not the head of his own company. As far as I know, Tyler Chemical doesn’t come into existence until after Hourman’s last Golden Age story and before his Silver Age re-introduction. Has this been retconned?
Tyler changes to Hourman and breaks into Starco. There he finds Sandman, who has also broken in, because he had a dream of dying in this building. Hourman and Sandman know each other, and know each other’s secret identities, which seems like a retcon to me. We don’t know what they find, but their last panel has glowing green, man-sized test tubes full of liquid and … something.
Panel 3: Jay Garrick is depicted teaching a college chemistry class. A later panel establishes that he is a teaching assistant at Midwestern University in Keystone City. He is dating “Joanie.”
Garrick is accosted by a stranger on the way home from class. The young man says he’s Johnny Thunder, and that he knows Jay Garrick is The Flash. He says he knows because he has a magic genie in his pen that told him. Garrick tells him to keep his wild stories to himself. He never changes to Flash in this story.
Carter Hall and Shiera are on an expedition to find the Lost Temple of Feithera. Feithera wasn’t discovered in Golden Age comics until Flash Comics #71 (May 1946), so let’s hope they don’t find it. As Infinity Inc. fans know, a Feitheran was a member of that team.
Carter says the map to Feithera was given to him by Kent Nelson. There is no indication that Hawkman knows who Kent Nelson really is.
“Kent used to be one of the most ambitious and, frankly, cutthroat archaeologists I knew,” he says. “Professionally, I could barely keep up with him. He was always a little odd, but he was adamant about giving me this map.” He also addresses Shiera as Hawkgirl, but does so in quotes, as if it’s a pet name or a joke.
Suddenly Carter is shot in the shoulder with an arrow. Shiera dons her wings and helmet (she evidently really is Hawkgirl) and goes after the shooter. It turns out to be Sportsmaster. She chases him but falls into a trap, where a woman addresses her as “Mrs. Hall” and knows about her reincarnation.
This is all new to me. Sportsmaster first appeared in All-American Comics #85 (May 1947) and wasn’t originally a Hawkman foe, so Hawkgirl recognizes him about seven years too soon.
Hawkgirl didn’t originally appear until All-Star Comics #5, and that was a one-off. She became Hawkgirl officially in Flash Comics at the end of 1941.
Also, as far as I know, Carter and Shiera didn’t marry until the Golden Age/Silver Age hiatus — like most of the JSA members who got married. So she shouldn’t be “Mrs. Hall” yet.
Page 4: Alan Scott mees a college friend named Gordon at a Gotham City restaurant. (My nose remains out of joint that they didn’t keep Green Lantern in a different city than Batman, specifically Capitol City.) Gordon’s company outbid Alan’s for a subway project, but Gordon is being financed by Starco and starts babbling about how big and terrible it all is and that they have no chance.
It should be noted that Gordon asks Alan if he can keep a secret, and Alan says pointedly, “We both know I can.” So Gordon knows Alan is gay, and may be gay himself.
Anyway, Gordon goes home to rest. Alan decides to check on him, but find him stabbed to death in his apartment. Alan changes into Green Lantern.
So there’s issue #1! Lots to chew on, there!
I read JSA #13 (a.k.a. "Year One: Chapter I"). I found it to be very "21st century," not only in terms of storytelling but in tone as well. In one way it's like the DC version of Spider-Man: Torn in that the writer takes advantage of decades of continuity to add "foreshadowing" and "verbal irony." And I did not even try to make it jibe with actual continuity. It was okay, pretty much exactly what I was expecting, as a matter of fact, but I was hoping for more. I won't be buying any more issues, but I look forward to reading about them here.
I gotta say - this was OK, but not overwhelmiing.
Johnny Thunder keeping the Thunderbolt in a pen is a Grant Morrison device from Flash #134 (F'98) where Johnny was first revealed to have Alzheimer's disease. And that was a plot point just to "transfer" the T-Bolt to Jakeem Thunder! Before that, there was no pen!
Kent Nelson and his career as an archaelogist was a retcon in the Golden Age! Suddenly Doctor Fate had a real identity and an occupation. And that would altered later on!
I read JSA #13 (a.k.a. "Year One: Chapter I"). I found it to be very "21st century," not only in terms of storytelling but in tone as well. In one way it's like the DC version of Spider-Man: Torn in that the writer takes advantage of decades of continuity to add "foreshadowing" and "verbal irony."
I wouldn’t want them to try to mimic the Golden Age type of storytelling. It wasn’t very good!
And I did not even try to make it jibe with actual continuity.
You’ve said before that you consider each new #1 to be a new parallel world, or words to that effect. This probably qualifies.
I don’t expect it to line up perfectly, either. But I want to be aware of where it doesn’t, because later writers are going to consider it canon. For example, we now have Hawkgirl beginning sometime before July 1940. In fact, given that we only saw one set of wings, Lemire might be establishing that Hawkgirl started before Hawkman. Perhaps he joined the JSA instead of her, because they were concerned about public perception. It was a man’s world, after all. Or maybe Lemire will establish that the hawks joined as a couple.
It was okay, pretty much exactly what I was expecting, as a matter of fact, but I was hoping for more. I won't be buying any more issues, but I look forward to reading about them here.
I gotta say — this was OK, but not overwhelming.
I found it good enough — better than current Avengers and Justice League Unlimited, both of which I’m dropping. So I’ll try to keep y’all in the loop. Hey, we haven’t even gotten to our villains yet! (Rooting for Wotan and Zor!)
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