The Last Days of the Justice Society (July 1986)

In the DC Universe, the Justice Society of America were the first generation of costumed superheroes. At a time when unfathomable evil encircled the Earth, this group of costumed champions stood up against it, and continued to fight crime and villainy in the years afterward. But even the World's First Super-Team's adventures have to come to an end one day. In 1986, it seemed like we'd see the last of the JSA forever. 

When the Crisis on Infinite Earths hit, the remains of the original DC Multiverse were consolidated into one unified Earth. This included the JSA's original home in the Multiverse: Earth-Two. With that, DC Comics had felt that there was no more need for any more adventures of the World's First Super-Team. Roy Thomas (who had essentially been the main chronicler of the JSA's adventures during the 1980s) came up with the story that would "retire" the JSA. It was a story he was very sad to write. 

So, was the Justice Society's final adventure allow the team to end their time together with a bang or a whimper? Let's find out in my look at The Last Days of the Justice Society!

The cover is a Dave Ross and Mike Gustovich piece, and I think it's pretty neat. It depicts the heads of Hawkman, Power Girl, Spectre, Star-Spangled Kid, and Dr. Fate looking down at a destroyed city and the presumably dead bodies of their comrades. Hawkman looks really furious as he is seemingly staring at his own dead body. No idea what Fate is thinking. And it's pretty funny to see the Earth-Two versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman among the bodies as this came out not long after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which removed them from DC canon.

"Last Days of the Justice Society"
Writers: Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas
Penciler: Dave Ross
Inker: Mike Gustovich
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: David Cody Weiss
Editor: Roy Thomas
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins in Berlin on Thursday, April 12, 1945. The Second World War is winding down in the European theater. The German capital city is burning from the bombs. A Reichminister Speer has come to the bunker of Adolf Hitler, on the orders of the Fuhrer himself. 

Hitler has heard about the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt over the BBC, and he sees it as a miracle. Twelve years earlier, Heinrich Himmler had drawn up Hitler's horoscope on the day he became chancellor. Hitler sees the death of Roosevelt as a repeat of the Miracle of the House of Brandenberg. Basically, with Roosevelt dead, Hitler believes the Allies will fall apart and the Nazis will win the war. But even if that doesn't happen, well...the madman has a way to ensure that the world will burn.

We next jump forward about 40 years into the future, in the United States. We join the JSA as they are holding a funeral. 

They're mourning those they have lost over the years. The Earth-2 Batman, dying in 1977. They also honor his wife, the Earth-2 Catwoman. She wasn't a JSA member, but she had given up her life of crime and changed her ways. They honor Terry Sloane, the original Mr. Terrific. They also say goodbye to the Earth-2 Superman and Wonder Woman. As Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 showed, Superman went off to a "paradise dimension" with his wife Lois Lane-Kent and Superboy-Prime, and Wonder Woman went to Olympus with her Earth's Steve Trevor. The funeral is for the most recent losses the JSA suffered: The Earth-2 Robin and Huntress (Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman). They died in Crisis #12. 

The JSA have come to a decision. They now live on a merged Earth full of heroes. Their children are active as the superteam Infinity Inc. They also still have other legacies in the Beth Chapel Dr. Midnight, the Yolanda Montez Wildcat, and the Rick Tyler Hourman.

If you ever watched the Stargirl TV series, you may be familiar with them. And I can understand why the show just gave Beth and Rick Charles and Rex's costumes. As such, the JSA feel that well...their time is over. There's no need for them as active superheroes anymore. So, they're going to disband and retire. Hawkman, the group's chairman, asks if there are any objections. And it just so happens one JSAer does object.

Who is this lone standout? 

It's the Spectre, last seen during the Crisis. And he looks like he'd been through six Hell in a Cell matches back to back. The ghostly hero claims he is dying, and collapses into his arms. The original Dr. Midnite, Charles McNider, looks him over. Thing is, McNider is a really good doctor, but the Spectre is the ghost of a decades-dead man. He's also the literal Wrath of God. He wasn't trained for THAT in medical school. Spectre grabs Dr. Fate, and gives him a message.

Man, that message must've blown a mind or two.

With his delivery complete, the Spectre seemingly dissipates, becoming mist in the wind. The sorcerer got the message in the form of a series of images. The JSA gather around Fate, and he shows them the events of April 15, 1945...the day the entire JSA attended the funeral of Franklin Roosevelt. As they leave the funeral, they notice that the sky...has seemingly gone mad.

"Oh God, Heimdall got drunk again."

The Earth is shaking, and it's got everyone quaking. All of the JSA members that can fly go up to take a look, but get repelled back. Hawkman points out that this...never happened that day. Fate explains that...it did. Back to the flashback! The JSA is visited by the new President, Harry S. Truman. Truman alerts the JSA that the weirdness with the sky...it's far from local. It's happening all over the world. The Spectre has used his higher powers to determine that whatever this is, it came from Berlin. 

The JSA head out to Germany, despite one big issue. You see, at the time, the comics established that Hitler had gotten his grubby paws on the Spear of Destiny. The Spear, aka the Holy Lance or the Lance of Longinus, was used to pierce Jesus's side when he was crucified. It gave the Lance immense magical power, and Hitler used it to make sure the JSA couldn't attack Germany directly. If they tried, the Spear would make some of their most powerful members (like the Spectre and Superman) into Hitler's thralls. 

As a result, due to their vulnerability to magic, Wonder Woman, Dr. Fate, Superman, and the Spectre have to stay back. The rest of the JSA fly deeper into Berlin. Starman's Gravity Rod detects a massive energy source...and it's coming from a bunker. He flies to scout the area...

Yeah, superhero costumes at the time tended to not be bulletproof. Flash tries to zip him to a hospital, but ends up getting a bullet to the back. The rest of the JSA rush in. Dr. Midnite uses a pair of his "blackout bombs" to make the soldiers retreat, but not before Atom and Mr. Terrific get some lead. Sandman gets grazed. Batman tries to use an explosive to break down the door, but it doesn't help much.

Hourman uses his strength to wrench the door open, but there's a machine gun nest waiting for him. The Man of the Hour gives the Nazi soldiers the door, but also gets a fatal dose of lead for his trouble. The injured Sandman stays behind to man the machine gun. The sky starts raining fireballs all over the world. The JSA go deeper into the bunker...and another member bites the dust as Dr. Mid-Nite gets shot. The surviving JSAers make their way to a heavily-guarded chamber.

Hawkman, Batman, and Wildcat charge in, but they're too late. Hitler completes his spell, and the Spear of Destiny unleashes a wave of destruction that destroys the Earth. "But wait!" You may ask. "If the world was destroyed in 1945, why are the JSA still alive in 1986? Heck, why does the world still exist in 1986?!" Well the energy wave Hitler unleashed is kind of like the anti-matter wall from Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's been making its way to the 1980s, destroying everything in its wake. The present-day JSA see cracks in the sky, and Dr. Fate transports them back in time. Back to 1945! Cue the Huey Lewis!

The present-day JSA find themselves back in the bombed-out Berlin, a few minutes before Hitler unleashed the full power of the Spear of Destiny. The heroes witness Hitler completing the ritual. Now again, if Hitler did destroy the world in 1945, the Earth should have no longer existed since then. So how did this whole temporal mess end up happening? Well, it obviously should not have. This was the fault of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. In issue #10 (January 1986), the Spectre struggled with the Anti-Monitor, and he ended up out like a light from it.

With the Spectre KO'd, his magical energies went wild, going all over space and time. Some of that magical power went into the Spear, and basically hypercharged it. They can't stop the Spear's destruction on Earth. The JSA has to go to the realm of the Gods. They have to go to Asgard. It's kind of funny that the Spear of Destiny, an artifact of Judeo-Christian mythology, is connected to the Norse pantheon.

It's here our heroes spot a ship.

It's Naglfar, a ship made of the fingernails of the dead. Hey, Justice Society! Just call in Skurge the Executioner! He'll wreck it for ya! He's done it before! Accompanying the ship is the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent. And the ship is followed by Surtur, the fire-giant. Ragnarok is here, and it can't be stopped. But the JSA are determined to fight to stop it.

However, they can't directly step in, as this is not their realm, but the realm of Asgard. So how can they help? Well, Green Lantern and Dr. Fate have that covered. They combine their mystical powers (Alan Scott's ring is magical in nature), and the JSA merge with the gods. Starman merges with Heimdall, Flash with Frey, Green Lantern with Thor, and so on. The World's First Super-Team naturally races into battle. Fash takes on Surtur, but the fire monster easily disaptches him. Permanently.

Went out in a hot Flash. Get it? Yeah, I'll shut up...

As a certain video game series would say: "Surtur Wins. Fatality."

The battle on the plain of Vigrid begins. Back on Midgard/Earth, Hitler tries to activate the Spear's power, but finds he can't get the magic to work. The JSA continue battling the hordes of Ragnarok, their fates tying into the Eddas. Wildcat dies facing Gorm the watchdog, like Tyr (Norse God of War) does in the myths.

Starman and the Star-Spangled Kid engage Loki. Ted blasts his head off, but Loki's sharp-haired head is able to fatally stab him. Green Lantern and Johnny Thunder engage the Midgard Serpent. The Serpent is able to easily kill Johnny thanks to a venom blast. The original Lantern is able to beat down the Serpent with a giant Thor construct. With its dying breath, the Midgard Serpent blasts Green Lantern with venom...and Alan Scott dies after staggering nine steps, like Thor in the Eddas. Hawkman and Hawkgirl engage Fenrir and get consumed. It seems you can't fight fate.

The battle ends, with most of the JSA dead, and still there's Surtur left. However, Dr. Fate has another surprise. Here in Asgard, death doesn't quite stick. As such, he's able to revive the JSA to engage the monstrous fire being.

Out on Earth, WWII comes to an end as normal. The Allies win, and Hitler takes his own life, his last plan to scorch the Earth with the Spear of Destiny utterly failing. The Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl try to leap in to help, but Dr. Fate sends them away, saying that they're still young. Yeah, ol' Sylvester Pemberton isn't exactly a spring chicken. Fate prepares to join in the battle himself, but gets a visit from...the Spectre?!

But isn't he dead? Well, not really. The Spectre is the Wrath of God. And as such, he can't "die" in the way people think of dying. But the Spectre's day, like the JSA's, is done. He will stay and help vanquish Surtur. This sacrifice will help ensure that the Earth isn't destroyed. As such, he sends Fate back to Earth. Star-Spangled Kid, Power Girl, and Dr. Fate find themselves back at the funeral site from earlier, in front of a confused Infinity Inc. 

Infinity Inc. is comprised of the JSA's children and legacies. As such, they're naturally hit hard when they learn of the heroes' fate. But Fate assures them that they will overcome this loss, as they sacrificed themselves to ensure that the universe still continues on. The story ends with Dr. Fate looking down at a group of chess pieces that resemble the JSA. Who knows where they came from.

This comic was...kind of alright. The whole story does come off as a bit convoluted to me to be honest with you. The big final battle is the best part of the entire comic. It was rare to see a team of superheroes be slaughtered like this in comics at the time. 

When you think about it, what the JSA go through here is pretty horrific. They get killed, revived to fight Surtur...and they have to repeat it. Over and over again. All to make sure the universe doesn't get wrecked. And it's likely that the other superheroes (including their own children) are completely unaware of it. It's very tragic, in the vein of an opera. 

It's also neat seeing the Earth-Two Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman in one last story before the changes to the DCU's history in Crisis on Infinite Earths removed them in favor of their younger former Earth-One counterparts...even though they don't really do much. Yeah, their presence felt superfluous.

As for the art, well...the word "rushed" is the word I'd best use to describe it myself. It does feel like it was churned out rather quickly in places, like the artist had no time to really make some spectacular art. It does have a good sense of storytelling to it at times, so that's something going for it.

Naturally, you couldn't keep a group of old heroes like this away for long. In the 1992 miniseries Armageddon: Inferno (Part of the Armageddon 2001 event), the JSA are brought back from the never-ending Ragnarok they were trapped in. In The Sandman #26 (May 1991), it was revealed that the JSA were actually trapped in a simulation of Ragnarok created by Odin to prevent the real thing from going down. Their return led to a short-lived early-90s series that was cancelled due to editor Mike Carlin's dislike of the idea of DC publishing a comic about old superheroes. 

However, it would still not be the end for them. They would get another series in 1999, which lasted to 2006. This series dealt heavily with the theme of legacy. They would get another series from 2006-2011. And then the New 52 hit, and well...I have no idea anymore.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2017 trade paperback The Last Days of the Justice of America. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, get vaccinated, and wear a mask! Join me next time when we take a look at the birth of a brand-new X-Men team...