Summary

• DC's New Golden Age initiative reinvigorates the Justice Society of America for modern audiences, showcasing them as a powerful rival to the Justice League.
• The JSA, originating in the 1940s, is revamped with updated characterizations and morally relevant storylines, elevating their significance.
• With the JSA now established in the DC Universe, they seek a distinct role separate from the Titans, emphasizing uniqueness over sheer magnitude.

Warning: Spoilers for Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6!Move over, Justice League, the Justice Society of America may have made a case to be placed higher on the pedestal of DC super-teams. Over the last year or so, DC Comics has implemented a sort of Golden Age initiative project, showcasing them through three miniseries: Justice Society of America, Jay Garrick: The Flash, and most recently, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern.

With the conclusion of Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6 by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey, it seems more evident than ever who is the superior team between the Justice Society of America and the Justice League. The JSA's popularity was always stunted by the fact that they come from such a dated era, but all three of these miniseries went out of their way to modernize the JSA for current DC readers.

In doing so, these books helped rebrand the JSA to be just as powerful as - if not more than - the Justice League.

Who is the Justice Society of America?

The Golden Age Team's History and Origins

Officially, the Justice Society of America is the first team of superheroes to ever exist in comics. The team made their debut in "The First Meeting of the Justice Society of America" by Gardner Fox and Everett E. Hibbard in 1940's All-Star Comics #3. The original line-up of the team consisted of Alan Scott's Green Lantern, Jay Garrick's Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Spectre, the Atom, and the Sandman. Their origin story wouldn't arrive until 1977's DC Special #29 by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton, where the heroes originally come together to stop Adolf Hitler when he acquires the Spear of Destiny, then opt to remain a team after.

Their popularity peaked during the Golden Era of DC Comics, but as the popularity of superhero comics in general began faltering, DC decided it was time for a change. At the dawn of the Silver Age, DC would create counterparts for some of the JSA - conceiving of Barry Allen for The Flash and Hal Jordan for the Green Lantern - and compiling them into a new super-team: the Justice League of America. The subsequent absence of the JSA would be explained away with them, in canon, existing on Earth-Two, with Earth-One belonging to the JLA.

Things would take an interesting turn following the mega-event, "Crisis on Infinite Earths," which re-incorporated the JSA alongside the JLA when both Earths were merged into one following the arc's conclusion. JSA would be rebranded as a WWII-era team. Still, the JSA's prominence and prevalence would remain stagnant as they would frequently disband and reunite over the years, with their series frequently discontinued and revived. With each revival, though, new like Stargirl would become notable staples of the unit.

How The Current Initiative Successfully Updated the Justice Society of America

Two Years of Rebranding

In 2022, DC embarked on reviving the Justice Society of America once again, this time for an initiative best described as the New Golden Age. This initiative was created to not only update multiple JSA heroes through multiple series, but to permanently change DC's official continuity. The series released under that banner achieved exactly that, even recontextualizing the reasoning for the inclusion of some . For instance, Alan Scott: The Green Lantern revealed that the title character was forced to the team by J. Edgar Hoover, who threatened to publicly out Scott if he didn't cooperate.

A genuine bond would grow from Scott's inclusion, and the JSA would eventually Scott in pushing back against Hoover's threats, as seen in Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6. But that is just one example of how the New Golden Age project successfully added to DC's wider history while simultaneously updating the JSA for modern audiences. As will be discussed further, a big reason why the JSA's popularity has declined is because their characterizations and morals are so rooted in a bygone era. Updating them now is necessary to improve the longevity of arguably DC's most important super-team.

Why Aren't the JSA Already Leading the DCU?

What Puts the Titans Above the JSA?

All things considered, especially given their status as the first super-team in comic book history, one may wonder why the Justice Society of America aren't already the premier team of DC, specifically during its the Titans who have been chosen to lead the DC Universe instead of the JSA.

The current generation of readers are wholly different from the readers who first discovered the JSA in the 1940s, and as such, aren't as invested in their adventures or philosophies.

The JSA is constantly forced into the background for the same reason the JLA replaced them years prior: the JSA became old news. It's a fact that has even been subtly acknowledged within this New Golden Age. In 2022's Justice Society of America #1 by Geoff Johns and Mikel Janín, when recalling the time ed since the JSA first formed almost a century ago, Huntress narrates that "the legacies of the JSA haven't been taken up as quickly by this generation as they have in the past."

The current generation of readers are wholly different from the readers who first discovered the JSA in the 1940s, and as such, aren't as invested in their adventures or philosophies. The New Golden Age exists to take a team created 84 years ago and weave them into modern ethics, politics, and conflicts. It's a tall task on paper, but this project has managed to do exactly that without sacrificing the core base of whom any of these classic characters are.

How Could the Justice Society of America Be Used Going Forward?

Where Does the JSA Fit in the Current Mold of DC?

Now that the Justice Society of America has been molded in a way that fits within the scope of the DC Universe, where do they go from here, especially after their current self-titled ongoing series concludes? With the Titans already leading the DCU, the best approach would be to give the JSA, as a team, a defined role within the DCU that separates them from the Titans. Similarly, the Suicide Squad's role is to investigate covert operations as a team of current/former villains. Their presence is justified when they exist in a way that the Titans can't.

They don't necessarily need to be a bigger or better team than the Titans, just different.

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The Justice Society of America needs a role of their own that distinguishes them from other heroes in the DC Universe. Perhaps that role will become clearer when their ongoing series is over. However that series ends, it could paint a clearer mission as to what kind of missions the JSA can embark on different from what the Titans are doing. They don't necessarily need to be a bigger or better team than the Titans, just different. Alternatively, the New Golden Age initiative project has successfully painted the Justice Society of America in a bigger light than the JLA is right now.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #6 is on sale now from DC Comics.