JSA #1 Review: The Newest Golden Age of DC Comics

The Justice Society Returns! DC Comics has gone All-In on the original superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in the new ongoing series JSA, helmed by writer Jeff Lemire (Green Arrow, Animal Man, Sweet Tooth, Black Hammer) and artist Diego Olortegui (Jay Garrick: The Flash, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, X-23). The Justice Society was the first superhero team to ever grace the pages of comic books in their first appearance from 1940’s All Star Comics #3, although the team was all but forgotten by the 50s. The fact that a new JSA book has hit the stands in 2024 is a monumental achievement in itself.

When 1961’s “The Flash of Two Worlds” in The Flash #123 introduced Barry Allen’s Flash to his predecessor Jay Garrick, the JSA was established to exist on another Earth in the Multiverse. The Justice Society of Earth-2 began a tradition of visiting the Justice League of Earth-1, and after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, the JSA were integrated with the JLA as a singular DC Universe. Since then, the JSA has headlined multiple mini-series, and a renowned ongoing series in 1999 which set the tone for their modern incarnation. While JSA #1 honors and respects everything that came before, Lemire wastes no time launching towards a brand new direction.

The Justice Society Returns to Prominence

Back Again After Years on the Fringes of Continuity

Both the Black Adam film and The CW’s Stargirl TV series propelled the JSA into the wider public consciousness, so it makes perfect sense to reintegrate characters like Yolanda Montez’s Wildcat and Beth Chappell’s Dr. Mid-Nite, both of whom had been relegated to obscurity after their deaths at the hands of Eclipso in 1993 until Geoff Johns resurrected them as part of the JSA that returned to continuity in Doomsday Clock.

Long story short, Watchmen‘s Doctor Manhattan meddled with the timeline of the DC Universe and in doing so, temporarily removed the Justice Society from continuity, which is why the team didn’t exist for several years after Flashpoint reset the DC Universe into the New 52 era. However, writer James Robinson and artist Nicola Scott reinvented the JSA during that time in the Earth-2 comic book series, which was set on a parallel universe, but instead referred to the team as the Eight Wonders of the World.

The 2024 JSA relaunch arrives hot on the heels of the previous run of Justice Society of America (volume 4) by Geoff Johns and Mikel Janin which spun-out of The New Golden Age initiative around the same time as Dawn of DC in late 2022. Several months of delays extended that 12 issue maxi-series across several years, and for a while, the team’s future beyond that book seemed uncertain, despite fans petitioning for more from these legendary heroes. Not only do readers want to read their favorite characters, they also desire a book with a consistent release schedule. One could sense that JSA #1 was crafted to drop whether the previous iteration had already wrapped or not, as the JSA were also further involved in DC’s 2024 event Absolute Power, which set the stage for the current status quo.

As fascinating as the previous run was regarding its time travel narrative surrounding The Huntress aka Helena Wayne, daughter of Batman and Catwoman from a potential future who leads the JSA along with a lineup of mostly reformed villains, the delays and revisions proved frustrating to readers. Solicitations clearly promoted storylines surrounding Eclipso, the Justice Society Dark and Young Justice Society that never came to fruition, aside from a rushed montage in the final two issues.

Lemire and Olortegui both seem more committed to providing readers with consistency in both schedule and storytelling as they hunker down for the long haul as an ongoing series, which should allow them the space and time to relay the exact story that they intend from the start. JSA #1 has the potential to be the book that fans have been demanding for over a decade.

The elder statesmen of the team — The Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, and Doctor Fate — are attacked at their brownstone headquarters by the cult of Kobra, an international terrorist organization that has plagued the DC Universe with constant conflict, usually stopped by Checkmate, Batman and the Outsiders and naturally, the JSA. Only the younger generation of heroes remain unscathed, not present at the time of attack, and seek to identify where the original Mystery Men could have been taken. Jade asserts herself as the new chairman of the JSA in the meantime, though her leadership is not yet earned or respected by her teammates, some of whom have taken it upon themselves to hunt down Kobra without informing the rest of the team.

Tension persists between Jade and her brother Todd Rice aka Obsidian, who leads the proactive faction against several Kobra foot soldiers in an exciting moment where a shadow monster attacks the soldiers. Before revealing itself as Obsidian, the sequence plays with expectations that the shadow entity could be the classic Starman antihero The Shade or Hawkman villain Shadow Thief.

Hourman is particularly upset with his wife, Jesse Quick, for not having open communication, though they are still fresh from the traumas endured during Absolute Power when Jesse temporarily lost her powers only for Rick to abandon her. Jade and Sand also have emotional intimacy issues to solve with each other. As with any great superhero series, the soap opera drama is mixed with action spectacle, although issue #1 leans more towards the former. Readers are dropped into the story after most of the action already happened off the page, prior to the start of the book, but it is likely that the series will fill in the gaps as it progresses.

Elsewhere, the Mystery Men are alive if not exactly well. They find themselves trapped within the Tower of Fate with a horde of orcs, minotaurs and fantasy monsters at the gates. While the Flash attempts to identify an exit from the interdimensional realm within the tower, Doctor Fate focuses on shielding them from the beasts, though Khalid Nassour is still relatively new to the helmet of Nabu, and a shadowy figure disrupts his concentration in a splash page of explosive color as magic is dispersed.

Expectations are teased again regarding the shadow, though likely not Obsidian again in this context. Hawkman and Hawkgirl prepare for an ensuing battle in a sequence that nearly balances out the more interpersonal drama between the younger members. Ultimately, one of the heroes is revealed to be a classic villain in disguise with an aim to usher in the defeat of the JSA at the hands of a newly formed Injustice Society of America, including staple villains like Solomon Grundy, Gentleman Ghost, Wotan, and Johnny Sorrow among a few newer characters like Red Lantern, The Fog, and Doctor Elemental, all recently introduced during The New Golden Age initiative.

JSA #1 Adds Another Chapter to a Storied Legacy

What Is Old Is New Again, Ad Infinitum

JSA #1 places particular importance on the history surrounding comics’ oldest superhero team. Not only do the first few pages include a recap regarding the JSA’s history in World War II, but it reestablishes their place in modern context as well, which is greatly appreciated as it became somewhat hazy in recent years. Creative teams in the past also revisited the events of World War II and the founding of the JSA while looking through a modern lens, such as 1981’s All Star Squadron by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway, as well as 1993’s The Golden Age by James Robinson and Paul Smith, and even the 2021 animated film Justice Society : World War II.

The first arc of the new JSA is titled “Ragnarok” which harkens back to the Armageddon event of Norse mythology, an event which also holds great significance for the JSA. The Last Days of the Justice Society of America one-shot in 1986 pitted the team against the fiery demon Surtur in an effort to stop Ragnarok. The team was successful, but their victory bound them in a state of limbo, trapped in the eternal battle with Surtur, though eventually set free during the events of 1994’s Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! Several members were rapidly aged into their elderly years, and passed their identities to others, which set up the team’s legacy resurgence in the 1999 JSA series.

What sets the Justice Society apart from any other team is not simply that they were the first, but they are also an intergenerational family. Several members remain on the team who fought in World War II, and serve as mentors to the younger generations. Jade and Obsidian are literally the children of Green Lantern aka Alan Scott. Rick Tyler also inherited the mantle of Hourman from his father Rex. Jesse Quick is the daughter of speedster Johnny Quick, once a member of the All Star Squadron, essentially an expanded version of the JSA.

Legacy heroes make up a large percentage of the lineup, such as Jakeem Thunder as the latest weilder of the Thunderbolt, Sand who was the sidekick to the original Sandman, Beth Chappell as Dr. Mid-Nite and Yolanda Montez as Wildcat. Many of these characters were first introduced in 1984’s Infinity Inc., a superhero team book which featured the children of the JSA when their stories were set on Earth-2. Lemire clearly has an affinity for that run in particular.

While every first issue has immense heavy lifting to establish its mandate and tone, JSA #1 is off to a promising start. Lemire has a proven track record as a comics storyteller, both in the independent realm and DC Comics where he contributed to notable events like Justice League: The Trinity War, The New 52: Future’s End, and Dark Nights: Metal. He wrote character defining runs for Green Arrow, Animal Man, and Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. during the New 52, and more recently the fan favorite Swamp Thing: Green Hell, The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage, and Robin & Batman for DC Black Label. Lemire has referred to JSA as a dream project, and he clearly intends to dream big.