Back in April 2018, I looked at the first issue of America vs. The Justice Society (January 1985). The mini-series tells the tale of the JSA being essentially put on trial. Why were they on trial? Well, former member Batman (the story is set on Earth-Two in the old Pre-Crisis multiverse) put out a diary before his death in 1979 [told in Adventure Comics #462 (March 1979)] claiming that the JSA were actually Nazi agents during WWII. This story was a way to recap the JSA's history before the effects of the Crisis on Infinite Earths hit. Remember, the old DC Multiverse was on the way out during this time.
However, there was something darker going on. It turns out that an old enemy of our golden oldie heroes is making a comeback, and the trial is a chance for revenge at the hands of another man that the JSA had never met. So, what more of the JSA's history do we learn? Who is the old enemy? Let's find out as, for my final comic review of 2020, let's look at America vs. The Justice Society #3!
The cover is a Jerry Ordway piece, and I think it's really cool. You got the JSA charging towards the Wizard, who is in a dramatic pose. It's like he's standing triumphant. In the background is Adolf Hitler himself, and the Nazi swastika positioned in a way that makes it look like the Wizard is standing on it. The way the cover has Hitler colored in comparison to the Wizard and the JSA makes it look like he's getting his revenge on the JSA from beyond the grave...and he's using the Wizard to do it. It's a nice touch.
"Hostile Witness"
Writers: Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas
Penciler: Howard Bender
Inker: Alfredo Alcala
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: David Cody Weiss
Editors: Roy Thomas, Janice Race
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano
The story begins with Wonder Woman regaling the court about the villain known as Brainwave. She ends it with a joke that gets the large crowd chuckling. It annoys Senator Hopkins, who calls for order. He also had moved the hearing to a larger venue. It attracted a larger crowd, which leads Starman to cynically note that he's trying to win over voters with this stunt.
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| Giant Spectral Batman Head does not approve. |
Wonder Woman continues her tale, her tale of the time Brainwave was foiled with the help of the girlfriends of the JSA members who cosplayed as the JSA. Yes, you just read that.
Brainwave seemingly fell to his death after that, but was actually saved thanks to the long green smock he wore. He would return when the JSA thought he was dead. He would use special lights to shrink the World's First Superteam to action figure size. They managed to naturally get restored to normal size, and he was foiled by the Thunderbolt. Basically, the genie moved some mines that Brainwave planted. And Brainwave ended up blowing up his home.
...whoopsie. Senator Hopkins has a question. Yeah, ol' Henry King ain't going to be able to sell that property anytime soon. Around that time, the "Justice Battalion" (the name the JSA went by during WWII) had dropped their name and a bunch of super-heroes had disappeared.
Hawkman fields these questions. The reason why the JSA stopped using the Justice Battalion name is a simple one. People got confused by the team having two names, so the War Department basically said, "Yeah, go ahead and drop it." As for the missing heroes, that's a bit more complicated. That's where the Multiverse comes in. A superhero named Uncle Sam recruited a whole group of heroes to try to stop the Nazis from winning World War II on an alternate Earth known as Earth-X. It didn't go so well. Senator Hopkins probably needed to get good and drunk after hearing that.
Hawkman would then recount some of the minor villains they fought during the war, like the King Bee, the Mad Maestro, and the Monster.
They were neither Nazi nor fascist, but they were still royal pains nonetheless. Hopkins has had enough of this. The history lesson is fun and all, but they're getting seriously off-track. The whole point of this hearing is to investigate the Batman Diary, which (if you all remember), accused the JSA of treason during WWII. Dick Grayson is having some struggles with this. He knew Bruce for years. The man was no traitor. He would also not willingly align himself with traitorous people. If the JSA were innocent of the charges, then what does that say about Bruce? Did he really hate his former teammates that much that he would torment them like this years after he died? Well, considering that he was Batman, I would have to say...yes. Yes, he would.
The Sandman offers to answer why the JSA are giving this history lesson. The others are reluctant to let him speak. Remember, Wesley Dodds recently suffered a stroke. But the Sandman is tired of being treated like he is made of glass. He's being accused of treason as well, and he wants to defend himself. He agrees with Wonder Woman that the JSA itself is on trial here.
The members of the World's First Superhero Team have dedicated the last forty years of their lives to this group. They have the right to be heard, and this "history lesson" is meant to be put on the record. The world should know about all the threats the JSA fought.
In the offices of the Capital Globe, John O'Fallon is reading the paper. He's hoping his little surprise witness will turn people against the JSA. O'Fallon is convinced the JSA started the fire that killed his old man, and he's eager to hand them some payback. Another man is watching the proceedings on TV, and is furious. If the Committee won't bring down the JSA, then he will.
Starman testifies next. By 1944-1945, several JSAers had left the group, mainly because the war was winding down. Starman himself was one of them. The group continued having adventures.
The Psycho-Pirate Starman mentioned here was the first one, Charles Holstead. His successor, Roger Hayden, was the more famous incarnation thanks to his heavy involvement in Crisis on Infinite Earths. What did the JSA members who left during that time get up to? Well, Sandman had switched from his fedora, green trenchcoat, and gas mask garb to a purple-and-yellow number that made him look more like a standard superhero.
He had gotten a sidekick called Sandy, and continued adventuring...until he suffered his first heart attack in 1945. Dr. Fate had become a surgeon. Starman had retired because he promised his wife (her name was unrevealed at the time, but post-Crisis, it was revealed her name was Adele Doris Drew) he'd give up the superhero life when they married. Ted Knight was true to his word. Sadly, Adele died a couple decades ago, and Ted took up the superhero life again. Starman #19 (June 1996) would establish she was the mother of Jack Knight.
The Spectre was able to find a way for his human form (Jim Corrigan) to join the Armed Forces, while the Spectre itself was fighting crime on the home front. It's here that the committee decides, "Yeah we need a break". As such, they call for a recess.
It's during this time that Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson meet up. Dick is furious about this whole thing, as he believes that Helena has turned against her father.
And there's also the whole thing with her being willing to reveal that Bruce Wayne was Batman if necessary. You see, when Bats died in 1979, Dr. Fate used his magical powers to make the world think that both the Caped Crusader and the police commissioner just happened to pass at the same time. Helens points out that she wouldn't be defending the JSA if they were guilty. The two argue over the issue, with Dick refusing to consider the idea that maybe Bruce had gone truly insane in his final years of his life. He's going to stand with his adopted father on this one. Meanwhile, the JSA are trying to relax. Trying to.
With the break time over, it's time for Wildcat to testify. He had not joined the JSA himself before 1945. He and Mr. Terrific had dealt with a case involving an isolationist named Dick Amber. And then Green Lantern and Flash rejoined the JSA. The group then dealt with a case involving "The Forgotten Crime". They battled alien metal-eating robots. They also mourned the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who as seen as the man who helped found the JSA. In early 1946, Wildcat helped the JSA with a case involving wounded veterans returning from WWII.
Johnny Thunder speaks next. The next case was a truly odd one for the JSA involving living paintings. They fought Guy Landor, a man from the 25th century who was looking for excitement. The Brain Wave returned and tried to drive the JSA insane with special dreams. It somehow managed to make Johnny Thunder smarter for a while. Yeah, he's not a very bright dude. Then they fought Zor, the globe-being from space. The first Psycho-Pirate tried to take on the JSA again afterwards. And so did Solomon Grundy.
The committee decides it's time to call in a witness with an outsider's perspective: The Wizard.
Gotta give him credit. The man can make an entrance. A.K. O'Fallon is overjoyed. He's hoping the Wizard will finally bring the JSA down and force them to admit they killed his father. The Wizard gives his testimony, and it's an opportunity for the comic to recount his origin. Basically, he was a lowly criminal that learned magic to be a better criminal. The Wizard then recounts how he was the one who got Adolf Hitler the Spear of Destiny, as he felt that the dictator was aware of how magic rules mankind. He then claims he witnessed the JSA swear allegiance to Hitler in November 1940...just like Batman claimed in his infamous diary. You can guess how the JSA reacted to this.
Anyway, during the war, the Wizard had secluded himself away, dedicated to further magical studies. In 1947, he tried to join the JSA as he believed they were super-criminals posing as heroes. He figured "hey, pretending to be heroes must be lucrative, I want a cut". But we all know the Justice Society were the real deal. They overcame his illusions, and he faked his death to flee them. And that's his testimony.
Wonder Woman next tells of the case when the time-travelling villain Per Degaton tried to conquer the world by changing history, particularly the Battle of Arbela.
It would not be the only time Per Degaton would bother the heroes. In 1947, Degaton tried to change the outcome of World War II. The JSA and the All-Star Squadron stopped that. That same year, he tried again. He went to 1962, stole some nuclear missiles from Cuba, and tried to force a U.S. surrender with them in 1942. The Justice League aided the Society and the Squadron in that battle. Every time he was foiled, he would lose his memory of it all and be back to being a lab assistant for Professor Zee. Naturally, all this talk of time travel has got Senator Hopkins...flustered.
Can't blame him, really. Time travel does bring out the headaches. Wonder Woman points out something in Batman's diary. If the original Dark Knight's diary was true, and he really did disassociate with the JSA after December 1941 (when Pearl Harbor happened)...then he would not likely have stood in for the Atom during an adventure involving the Stream of Ruthlessness. She also points out that the Wizard technically actually did commit treason when he formed the Injustice Society of the World and tried to take over the USA.
She next takes us to 1948, and talks about one of the JSA's most bizarre cases ever. A security guard went insane and started imitating various villains throughout history. This case was the first time the original Black Canary worked with the Society. The team then encountered the evil Lorelei and her monsters of the Fairyland. This adventure would spell the end for Johnny Thunder's time in the Society.
Shortly afterwards, the Wizard struck again with a new Injustice Society: Fiddler, Sportsmaster, Icicle, and the Paula Brooks Huntress. And they basically made the JSA into obedient slaves.
Yeah, the Wizard's goals became a lot less lofty, I guess.
The group had another member at the time: Molly Mayne, aka the Harlequin. However, she would end up betraying the Injustice Society and helping the JSA stop them. Yeah, she was a crook, but that was because she wanted to get the attention of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern. Fun fact: They would end up married. At this time though, Alan had no idea who she was. It was here that Black Canary finally got to be a member of the JSA. Well, the Earth-Two one. Her daughter migrated to Earth-One and joined the Justice League, that's a whole thing.
The Wizard tries to flee, but Dr. Fate is basically like "Nope!"
Yeah, this leads Senators Valdez and Phillips to consider striking the Wizard's testimony from the record, as he is the only one to corroborate anything from the Batman Diary...but used the opportunity to make his testimony to flee from the JSA. Hopkins refuses, saying the hearings must continue!
You get the impression from this panel that Hopkins is kind of losing it a bit. Helena points out that the Wizard offered nothing to corroborate his testimony, no proof that the malevolent magician was even in Nazi Germany during WWII. Nor did he offer any evidence that the JSA were there, either. Hopkins adjourns the meeting until tomorrow.
Helena is hopeful after this. The Wizard's escape attempt helped make him look questionable. And it also helped show that Hopkins is trying to do to the JSA what J.K. Fallon tried to do to them back in the 1950s. Wayne suspected that Hopkins was in the pocket of A.K. Fallon. Don't ask me how she'd know that.
Elsewhere, the figure who was watching the proceeding curses the Wizard for letting his ego get the better of him. He's left with no choice now. He was hoping to lay low until tomorrow, but now he has to strike. And who is the man who is hoping to bring about the JSA's downfall?
Yup! Per Degaton is back! And he's going to bring down the Society once and for all!
I liked this issue. The biggest flaw is obviously that it's mainly just a recap of the JSA's adventures up to this point. But that seems to be the point of the story. It's a love letter to those that have followed the JSA's adventures over the years and a bit of a primer as to who they are for those who are new to them. What I will give credit for is that the creatives managed to condense the events of a lot of comics into something that was understandable to read, although it did feel a bit dry to me. And I love this stuff. I did like the storyline between Dick and Helena.
It's pretty clear that Dick is closer to the late Batman than Helena was. It does make sense, as Dick worked with Bruce far longer than Helena had. I mean, like most incarnations of Dick Grayson over the years, he was practically raised by the man. He would have a hard time accepting that his former mentor may have lost his marbles in his final years. Otherwise, I don't get the feeling that a whole lot is going on in this book, storywise. Also, I did wonder how Helena knew about Fallon and Hopkins' connection. She's the daughter of Batman, so maybe she inherited his magic "I know everything" power.
The art here is really good. Bender and Alcala do a fine job with it. Normally, having so many large panels and spread may not be helpful to storytelling. But here, it works very well as the JSA are just mainly recapping their backstory. In fact, a lot of the spreads seem to be homaging Golden Age covers, which again, considering this is a superhero team that first became active just before, and during WWII, is another really good touch. There's also some clever stuff with the panels, like the
If you're a JSA fan, I do think this is worth reading. If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2015 trade paperback America vs. The Justice Society. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off!
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