Comic Feature: Last Days of the Justice Society Special (1986)

The Justice Society of America (JSA) was introduced nearly 85 years ago.

A touch over mid-way through that time, in April of 1986 (just over 45 years after their debut, and almost exactly 39 years ago at the date of this posting, for those who care about the math), a comic book was published that was intended to be the very last JSA story.

In 1986, DC Comics had recently finished publishing Crisis on Infinite Earths, a now-legendary story that was intended to both revitalize and streamline their fictional universe. In this new, streamlined, universe, the powers-that-be thought that the Justice Society, a group of superheroes (indeed, the first, ever superhero team) created in the days shortly before America entered World War II... no longer fit. 

For those not familiar with the basics, you should know that superhero comics hit a bit of a fallow period for a few years after World War II ended. While stalwarts such as Superman and Batman continued publication uninterrupted, many characters had stopped seeing new stories printed early into the 1950s. A few years later, when DC decided to have a go at superhero stories again, they took a few of their properties and reimagined them, creating essentially new characters that used the names of older ones. When the original characters eventually reappeared, this was explained by way of parallel earths. The heroes of the 1940s, including the Justice Society, lived on what was called "Earth-Two," while the then-current batch of heroes, who eventually formed what would be called the "Justice League," were on "Earth-One." This allowed for there to be, for example, two different Flashes, two different Green Lanterns, two different Atoms, and so on.... After a few decades of this status quo, DC editorial feared that things were getting too complicated for their young readership to understand, and Crisis did away with the parallel earth set-up in favor of a single universe with a single earth. 

For reasons too complicated to get into here, the JSA wasn't simply eliminated in the Crisis alongside its Earth, although some of its heroes were (especially those Earth-Two heroes having no meaningful differences from their Earth-One counterparts beyond appearing somewhat older). Still, DC was determined to put the JSA out to pasture, and so Roy Thomas, who had written most of the JSA's adventures since the 1970s, asked to be the person to write one, final, JSA story that would send them away.

Because the JSA's history was so closely tied to World War II, Thomas determined that their final fate should be tied into that war, as well. He thus crafted a tale that suggested that the events of the Crisis, which featured a fair bit of time-shenanigans and mystical technobabble, changed history so that Adolf Hitler actually destroyed the world in 1945, and the effects of this destruction were only now catching up to the JSA in 1986. What had happened was that Hitler had gotten possession of the so-called "Spear of Destiny" (the relic that had pierced Christ's side during his crucifixion) and used it to bring about Ragnarök, at the conclusion of which Surtur was to destroy the world by fire (how Norse and Christian religions should be tied together in this way is beyond my understanding). The heroes of the JSA thus have to travel to the past, and from there to Asgard, fighting alongside (and in the place of) the Norse gods, ensuring that the battle of Ragnarök is never lost. In this way, the end of the world in 1945 never takes place, but this victory comes at a cost: the heroes of the JSA must continue fighting in perpetuity, never able to return home.

As far as DC editorial was concerned, that was the end of the JSA, "presumably forever" (as Roy Thomas himself says in a text piece on the inside back cover). Thankfully, this state of affairs didn't last, and the JSA returned to DC continuity a mere half-dozen years later. Since then, later editorial decisions have gone back and forth on whether or not a team of older heroes with ties going back to the second World War can have meaningful currency for today's comic book readers. 

Comics have always operated on something of a sliding time frame. How else could Superman still be fighting for "truth, justice, and the American way" despite having been introduced in 1938? It's one thing to suggest that Superman first arrived from Krypton as a baby in some indeterminate past. It's rather another to tie a character, much less a team of characters, to a specific period in history. In at least one way, however, Last Days of the Justice Society did the JSA a favor. By trapping the JSA in a timeless limbo, current and future writers of the team now always have a convenient way of explaining how heroes who fought in the 1940s can still be alive and fighting today (if perhaps older than the "younger" heroes). In much the same way as Marvel's Captain America spent an indeterminate time after World War II frozen in suspended animation, the JSA fought in the 1940s, at some point had to stave off Ragnarök, and then re-emerged closer to the present day. 

So, it turns out that the Last Days of the Justice Society weren't really the last days, after all. That may have been the intention, but it in fact provided the vehicle to preserve the team for even greater tales yet to come, with new stories continuing to be written for us to enjoy to this day.

This blog post is part of the "JSApril" event, gathering podcasters and bloggers from all over the world to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Justice Society of America. The more pedantic among us (that would be me) will of course note that the actual 85th anniversary of the JSA doesn't happen until November 20th (according to Mike's Amazing World of Comics, a terrific resource for comic book fans), but "JSApril" has a much more memorable ring to it, making it easier for all of us to gather together around the event. I invite everyone to head over to the JSApril event page to see the full list of participants and learn what others have to say about this historic team. Enjoy!