Now that Black Adam has an official trailer and release date, fans have already begun to speculate about the various plot elements of the film. And there’s a lot to unpack. With faces such as Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Cyclone, and Atom Smasher all making appearances, it might be hard to understand how all these players fit in the game. So, to explain what’s going on, let’s talk about the Justice Society of America.
Here’s what it is from the comics, who’s in it, and what we might be able to expect in the film.
The History of Justice Society of America in the comics
Decades before twitter campaigns and hashtags were started in the name of bringing the Snyder Cut to the masses, we saw a different, albeit similar, group of heroes team up for justice. Batman, The Flash and a Green lantern (named Alan Scott) were called in by the government and asked to join together to take out a Nazi stronghold. As we could have guessed, they got captured, and Dr. Fate (along with Hourman) came to the rescue. This is where you need to stay with me because from here on out, it gets a little convoluted.
So, Hitler then uses a mystical sphere to summon an army of Valkyries, which also pulls Hawkman, Sandman, and The Atom in—with Spectre and Superman coming in at the last second. They prevail. And after successfully coming together to defeat a common enemy, the group of heroes decide to officially form an alliance. Of course, Superman, being Superman, is the one to lay the foundation for the team, and thus, The Justice Society of America was formed. The JSA for short.
In our world (that will make sense in a minute), the JSA was first seen in the year 1940. All of the heroes from the impromptu first mission attended the meeting (save for Superman and Batman as they left to take care of the crime back in their cities). The meeting marked the first time in comic history that a group of heroes created an official team, and willingly decided to work together. After getting to know each other, they were thrust into their first on-the-books mission, given to them by the FBI.
Wonder Woman and The Injustice Society
Shortly after debuting in All Star Comics #3, Wonder Woman also made her debut. Her power and immense battle prowess made her a shoe-in for the team, and so, the JSA asked her to come on board as their…secretary? Hold on, let me check my notes because that’s not—oh wait, it is…um. Well, fortunately, they realized very quickly that that wasn’t it, and she would soon go on to complete missions of her own. She would prove to be a major asset when the team going against villains aptly named the Injustice Society aka The Injustice Society of the World—so dramatic. Plus, her typing skills were probably super on point. Women CAN have it all.
Anyway, the Injustice Society consisted of villains such as Wizard and Brain Wave, but alas, that would be the least of their worries. A decline in comic sales in the 1940s caused the cessation of stories about the JSA. However, there needed to be a reason in the DC Universe as to why the team stopped working together. In the spirit of tradition, this story is almost as convoluted as how they got together in the first place.
All Good Things Must Come to an End
One day the team was directed to go to space where, to their surprise, they found a floating base that someone had apparently built for them but, as you can probably guess, it was a TRAP. Once they freed themselves, they took the spy to the authorities. Then, they were forced to testify before Congress and the JSA weren’t believed when they said they had no knowledge of the spy. The heroes were asked to unmask themselves in a show of good faith, but they refused and decided to disband instead.
Once the team was out of the picture, alliances like the Justice League rose to fill the very noticeable void, but it was later revealed that the JSA lived and operated in a completely different world than the one that housed the JL. This was only discovered after a team of villains found a way to travel between the two earths and the JSA teamed up with the Justice League to defeat them. This broke open the concept of the multiverse and opened the door for the JSA to return to many crossover and solo stories. While they couldn’t necessarily compete with the Justice League, fans welcomed them back with open arms.
The Big Screen
They would go on to step outside of the comics and feature in a number of animated shows and films—the most notable of which is Stargirl. Years after the team is destroyed by the Injustice Society, a group of young adults used the items they left behind to become heroes. This is an amazing resource to use if you want to familiarize yourself with the JSA before Black Adam is released. Hopefully, the film will give us a bit of background into the characters before anything major happens, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
(Feature Image via DC Comics)
