BLACK ADAM versus JUSTICE SOCIETY

Thunderstruck (DC)
Where: JSA #27 When: October 2001
Why: Geoff Johns How: Rags Morales

The Story So Far...
In ancient times Teth-Adam was considered a champion, but the Black Marvel has a long road to walk if he's to undo centuries of damage and restore his reputation as a hero.

Submitting himself to the Justice Society of America, Black Adam begins probationary tenure with the heroic ensemble -- but not everyone is convinced he should be there.

As Captain Marvel pays a visit to vouch for his predecessor, tensions are boiling over with Atom Smasher, who believes Black Adam will inevitably turn on the group like every other villain who attempts to reform.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Black Adam 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Terrific 5 (Professor)
Speed: Captain Marvel 5 (Super-Human)
Stamina: Black Adam 6 (Generator)
Agility: Sand 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Black Adam 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Stargirl 6 (Mass Destruction)
Total: Black Adam 34 (Super)

Black Adam is the ancient champion of Shazam, who gains the stamina of Shu, the swiftness of Heru, the strength of Amon, the power of Aten, and the courage of Mehen, when he speaks the wizard's name and receives his magic lightning!

The Justice Society are: Sand, Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Hawkgirl, Doctor Mid-Nite, Star-Spangled Kid, and Atom Smasher, with Captain Marvel.

The JSA have Black Adam outnumbered, but they don't particularly have him out-gunned. The Black Marvel has gone toe-to-toe with Superman and only Atom Smasher gets close to matching his incredible strength!

The enlarging strongman is generally in a lower class than Black Adam, but we saw him handle himself relatively well when Atom Smasher led the Suicide Squad against the Black Marvel Family, many years later, in 52 #34.

Fortunately for the JSA: Captain Marvel has come calling! With his own godly gifts supplied by SHAZAM, he's every bit Black Adam's equal, enduring his own battles with Superman, and besting the likes of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, an all-star Monster Society of Evil, and Neron corrupted Justice League.

Black Adam had the help of Brainwave when he defeated Captain Marvel some years later in Hawkman #24. This time the dynamics are very different, and it's Captain Marvel who has the entire JSA to back him up! Will it be enough?

The Tape: Justice Society & Captain Marvel Ranking: Black Adam (#22)

What Went Down...

Black Adam has Atom Smasher by the throat as Captain Marvel makes his entrance into the JSA brownstone.

"I heard you were seeking salvation, Black Adam. That you were looking to prove to the world that you've changed your ways. I came to vouch for you[,] but a bit of advice -- Don't choke potential teammates."

The Black Marvel releases his grip, blaming his impulse on the temper of the mortal Theo Adam. He apologises to his teammate, who preemptively responds in kind -- delivering a giant-sized uppercut he'll be sorry for later!

Adam explodes through the glass ceiling as he's launched into the night sky!

Atom Smasher knows he's made a bigger mess of things as Captain Marvel takes flight to pursue his fellow. He meets an enraged Black Adam in mid-flight -- cutting off his furious path back to the JSA brownstone.

The powers of SHAZAM collide in spectacular fashion as the strength of Hercules meets the might of Amon-Ra!

The Captain maneuvers himself to wrap a mighty bicep around Black Adam's throat and hold him back. He compels his comrade to reject the influence of Theo, but the anger incited by Atom Smasher's insult is great!

The Justice Society arrive on the scene just in time to see Black Adam power through Captain Marvel's hold and torpedo dive Atom Smasher!

Team chairman, Sand, draws his sleep gun and orders Atom Smasher to subdue the probate, with Hawkgirl looming in support holding a spear.

Atom Smasher leans in to Black Adam and pins an arm over his shoulder, while shoving Captain Marvel out of the way.

In the ensuing chaos, Black Adam's out reaching hand grabs Sand's gun and crushes it -- unleashing a bursting cloud of sleep gas that stuns Atom Smasher and Hawkgirl!

Wildcat darts around the room, questioning Black Adam's loyalties, as Doctor Mid-Nite looms behind the peril. The query appears to snap Adam out of his rage and pause him in introspection, but the zipping of two of Terrific's T-Spheres around his face renew his aggravation.

Sand commends the tactical potential for beaming holograms directly into Adam's eyes, but Mister Terrific finds himself unable to command his T-Spheres to execute the strategem!

He can only speculate the lightning storm and rain raging overhead is disrupting communication channels. It leaves his T-Spheres autonomously whirring around Adam as he bats Wildcat and Mid-Nite away with each hand.

With imminent threats dealt with, Adam sets his scornful sights on Sand and Mister Terrific.

Slamming his hands together -- Black Adam unleashes a shockwave that launches Sand and Terrific flying through the air!

While Stargirl spurs Captain Marvel to rejoin the fray -- Adam looms over Sand, cast in shadow by the lightning cracking behind him.

Whatever the Black Marvel's intentions for the Chairman may've been, they go unfulfilled as a spiked mace smashes into the ground at his feet, and Hawkman descends from the storming skies to declare: "This fight is over."

The Hammer...

The authoritative word of Hawkman helps bring Black Adam out of his rampage, but the intervention of the former-chairman only creates further divisions as he appears to undermine the leadership of Sand.

Inter-personal dynamics are criss-crossed all over this battle, with Hawkman returning from a night's flight after witnessing Sand kissing Hawkgirl, and Black Adam's admission to the JSA creating tensions with Atom Smasher, and his well meaning old rival Captain Marvel.

Atom Smasher echoes the expectations of readers who'd doubt the long-term viability of Black Adam as a hero, but the twist in their relationship comes when Atom Smasher actually sees things Adam's way, joining him in his attack on Kobra, and subsequent conquest of Khandaq.

To the uninitiated: JSA might've seemed like an attempt to capitalize on the late-nineties magic of JLA, but the 1999 collaboration between David Goyer and Geoff Johns had so much more to offer, laying the groundwork for significant foundational storylines that continued under Johns throughout the next decade!

Black Adam arguably became a minor sensation with his nineties revamp in Power of Shazam, and lingering appearances in various nineties DC Comics events -- but it was his return in JSA that began the ascent to breakout superstar!

Stories running through JSA, 52, and a Black Adam mini-series, minted the once obscure Captain Marvel villain into a full-fledged icon destined for the big screen, but for a while there, JSA was also the best place to find Captain Marvel himself.

DC seemed to effectively lose confidence in Captain Marvel as a viable property throughout the 2000s, leaving JSA to carry the flag in the ensemble series after Power of SHAZAM was cancelled in early '99. It was then in issues like JSA #27, and the Black Reign crossover of Hawkman #24, that fans could again see the two Marvels renew their seemingly settled rivalry.

Issues like these highlight the absurdity of emerging reports that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson blocked Captain Marvel from appearing with the Justice Society on the big screen, but there's a lot more to the JSA than was seen in the movies.

Once everyone has calmed down, the team decides to resolve their leadership issues with a vote, which installs Mister Terrific as the new Chairman.

An exciting new role for the genius successor to Terry Sloane's legacy of fairplay, which at least sidelines any issues brewing between Sand and the returned Hawkman, but comes at a time when his trademark T-Spheres have been infiltrated by a similar device controlled by Roulette!

The infiltration was the real reason Terrific's devices weren't responding during today's featured fight! The mistress of competition sent her drone to whisk the team away for more adventures in the next issue.

I very much intend to take a closer look at that adventure some time in the future. There are a few different sessions with Roulette that are surely right up our combat-loving alley, and I look back upon this period of DC Comics, and its revival of classics like JSA and Hawkman with great fondness. A time when Geoff Johns mastered intuitively fusing the old with the new alongside artists like Rags Morales.

As for today's contest: Although Hawkman brought proceedings to a relatively peaceful conclusion, you can clearly see that Black Adam had the best of the Justice Society. A majority of the team was subdued. A win's a win.

If you'd like to see more from the characters featured in today's entry you can follow links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

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Winner: Black Adam
#19 (+3) Black Adam
#40 (--) Captain Marvel
#51 (-3) Hawkgirl
#369 (-186) Wildcat
#429 (-48) Atom Smasher
#430 (-23) Sand
#653 (-108) Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
#654 (-110) Doctor Mid-Nite (Pieter Cross)
#27 (--) Hawkman [+1 assist]
#100 (+3) Stargirl [+1 assist]

SOLOMON GRUNDY versus STAR-SPANGLED KID & JAKEEM THUNDER

Kids (DC)
Where: JSA #29 When: December 2001
Why: Geoff Johns How: Peter Snejbjerg

The Story So Far...
As junior members of the Justice Society of America: Courtney Whitmore and Jakeem Williams were supposed to have a quiet Halloween night in at JSA Headquarters. Instead, trouble finds them when more than the local trick or treating kids come knocking...

Solomon Grundy has been poisoned by The Joker and is more crazed than ever before! Running amok through New York City, he arrives at the JSA's doorstep -- but the depleted senior ranks are already on mission to contain the army of Slab inmates unleashed by The Joker!

It's up to the new Star-Spangled Kid and Jakeem Thunder to face one of the JSA's oldest enemies alone. Joker venom has made him scarier than ever, but that isn't the only thing worrying Courtney: He also killed her predecessor!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Solomon Grundy 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Stargirl 2 (Average)
Speed: Thunderbolt 7 (Light Speed)
Stamina: Thunderbolt 6 (Generator)
Agility: Thunderbolt 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting: Solomon Grundy 3 (Street Wise)
Energy: Thunderbolt 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Thunderbolt 37 (Cosmic)

Solomon Grundy is one of the quintessential recurring DC villains. He can show up just about anywhere, at any time, with his demeanor ranging from a murderously rampaging beast -- to a deviously sinister super-villain.

During Infinity Inc #51, Grundy was a love-smitten simpleton who was coerced into murdering Sylvester Pemberton, then known as Skyman.

Pemberton's equipment was subsequently retired to the custody of former sidekick Pat Dugan, whose step-daughter, Courtney Whitmore, inadvertently stumbled upon the gear and chose to become the new Star-Spangled Kid!

Trained and assisted by her step-father; the eventually renamed Stargirl wields both the Cosmic Converter Belt of the Star-Spangled Kid, and the Cosmic Staff invented by Starman, and previously used by Jack Knight. The former grants her enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and energy projectiles that disrupt electrical impulses and the human nervous system. The Cosmic Staff allows her to fly, create force fields, and command devastating energy blasts!

Jakeem Thunder inherited his super-powered legacy when Jay Garrick gifted him a pen that secretly contained the magical being Yz. Better known as The Thunderbolt, the 5th dimensional genie previously served Johnny Thunder when he said the magic word "Cei-U", but now resides within Jakeem Williams' pen!

This is our first time seeing Jakeem Thunder in action, but Stargirl has had two outings with the Justice Society of America. In JSA #64 she ventured into the Dream World to help recover Sanderson Hawkins.

More notably, she had a later encounter with Solomon Grundy in JSA #65, where the undead behemoth was able to snatch her by the ankle and show signs of remembering previous encounters with the Star-Spangled Kids. In that fight it was Sanderson Hawkins who came to the rescue to put Grundy down!

At his most vicious we've seen Solomon Grundy tear the jaw of Killer Croc in Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy. He was able to withstand the combined efforts of Hawkman, Hawkgirl & Monolith in Hawkman #33, as well as the powerful blows of Bizarro in Solomon Grundy #2. He even punched a hole through The Demon before succumbing to hellfire in Solomon Grundy #2!

Stargirl should be able to give Solomon Grundy a run for his money, but her relative inexperience, and the psychological history of her legacy, may pose barriers. The magical powers of Thunderbolt should make quick work of the behemoth as long as Jakeem can direct them. Let's see what happened...

The Tape: Justice Society Ranking: Solomon Grundy (#142)

What Went Down...
A thunderous earthquake is followed by the sudden crash landing of the Statue of Liberty's head outside the JSA brownstone! Museum curator Alex Montez wonders who would've painted it white with a red smile -- until an equally pale fist reaches down to clobber him on top of the head!

Laughing atop the decapitated monument stands Solomon Grundy!

The hulking villain hoists a stunned Jakeem Thunder by the scruff of his shirt and snatches his magic pen out of its pocket. Grinning he says he'll write a letter to ma, but the only delivery is Star-Spangled Kid's boot to his jaw!

The flying kick launches Solomon Grundy across the street and down the steps of a nearby subway entrance!

The blow also freed Jakeem Thunder from the clutches of the maniacal zombie. He refuses The Kid's offer of help as he gets to his feet, but softens when she reveals Solomon Grundy's role in killing the original Star-Spangled Kid.

The younger hero is ready to charge the subway to take Solomon Grundy down, but a dull rumbling tips SSK off to the oncoming threat of a counter-attack. She dives to tackle Jakeem to the ground -- narrowly avoiding an airborne train!

Star-Spangled Kid knows they should wait for help from the JSA, but her eagerness to take a shot at payback is equaled only by Jakeem's desire to reclaim the pen that contains his friend - The Thunderbolt.

Tentatively, the two junior heroes descend into the darkened subway.

The power is out, but on the platform the bantering teammates can see juvenile graffiti scrawled across the walls. The words 'HA HA HA JSA SUCKS! GRUNDY RULES!' seem to lead down the pitch black train tunnel, but the pair quickly discovers its a simple act of misdirection to lure them into a trap!

Solomon Grundy appears from the shadows behind Jakeem laughing and clutching his magic pen! Star immediately leaps to his rescue!

The Stargirl launches at Grundy with a charging shoulder, following it up with a devastating uppercut that knocks out one of Grundy's teeth, and a volley of shooting stars that embed in his chest and drive him into the concrete wall!

Grundy wraps his massive palm around the Star-Spangled Kid's neck, laughing about the tickle of her attacks. She knows his dead flesh isn't affected by her nerve-numbing stars and compels Jakeem to run.

Instead Jakeem jumps on Solomon Grundy's back and weaponizes one of the villain's own spray cans! Paint blasts Grundy's eye! In his desperation to wipe blinded eyes, Grundy releases the magic pen -- but he also swats Jakeem aside!

Blood dribbles from his mouth as he realizes his pen has slipped through a grate. While he tries to reclaim the magic artifact, Solomon Grundy contemplates killing his second Star-Spangled hero. He holds the Stargirl's head like a basketball and presses it into a wall, reveling in his past murder.

Grundy places a second hand over The Kid's head as she feebly threatens to kill him. The zombie laughs about making her like himself -- dead -- unaware of the lightning spark that arcs between Jakeem's outstretched finger and his magic pen! They're reunited and with a simple click The Thunderbolt is released!

Jakeem commands his faithful genie to burn Solomon Grundy from the inside out. A wish the crackling Thunderbolt is all too glad to grant!

The pink dynamo streaks into a stunned Grundy's mouth. Within moments light begins to blast from inside the ashen zombie's eyes and ears as he clutches helplessly at his throat and burns from the core!

Jakeem checks on Star while the Thunderbolt emerges from the still grinning, smoldering corpse of Solomon Grundy. It collapses into a pile of ash, "Back to the swamp with you, beast!"

The Hammer...
A good team effort gives Thunderbolt the chance to deliver a finishing blow with extreme prejudice! It wouldn't have happened without the diligent efforts of Star-Spangled Kid and his master Jakeem Thunder!

Solomon Grundy may've been burned to a crisp, but as we've seen time and again -- the deathless zombie will rise once more from Slaughter Swamp to spread his unending curse of terror! Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday!

JSA #29 is all around a fantastic issue. I would highly recommend seeking it out to anyone remotely interested. I would also strongly suggest reading it in print, if you can.

Peter Snejbjerg does an incredible job on art duties, but I would also heap massive amounts of praise upon colorist John Kalisz, who does an outstanding job building mood and atmosphere with palette and tone. Sometimes those colours just don't translate to digital.

This is also the Geoff Johns who made reading DC Comics in the 2000s such a pleasurable experience. It's a script that scratches a lot of different itches from different angles, intuitively drawing together disparate references to create a wonderful whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

On a basic level the issue functions as an enjoyable rite of passage story in the tradition of Uncanny X-Men #143. Courtney and Jakeem are stuck home alone and forced to face a terrifying, overwhelming threat. In doing so, they mature as heroes, learn more about each other, and strengthen their bond.

The issue is satisfying on that level, but as with many Johns projects of the time, digging a little deeper will enhance everything with grander context and meaning. Inherent in this series is the simple fact that everything, including both junior JSA members, has direct legacy ties to heroes of the early 1940s.

Stargirl (as she was later renamed) and Jakeem Thunder are strong examples of developing intuitive new legacy characters. They draw from the original Star-Spangled Kid and Johnny Thunder, respectively, but growing into their roles, rather than simply supplanting them, is a big part of the story.

The reader is given ample opportunity to meet these new heroes as they're introduced in different series. Through a natural development process, each also becomes more distinctively realized through lived experience -- like this fight with Solomon Grundy -- and their natural involvement with other characters, such as the enduring JSA members who have become mentor figures.

It's debatable whether attempts to revamp the original Star-Spangled Kid for a modern 1980s audience were successful. "Skyman" had some nostalgic charm, but mythologizing his death in a 1988 issue of Infinity Inc, rather than undoing it, was arguably the strongest way to galvanize his legacy, and build something new from it. As part of Stargirl's backstory, it immediately creates a natural link with Solomon Grundy, enhancing both characters, and the fabric of the DCU.

We haven't even addressed the fact that this is also a banner event tie-in for Joker: Last Laugh! The contextual links go backwards and forwards, people!

To some degree Last Laugh is an unnecessary imposition, but the story uses the high concept of Joker infecting villains to simply add colour to the issue. It gives Solomon Grundy an excuse to be a little bit creepier and weird than usual. His full page entrance, laughing on top of the Statue of Liberty's decapitated head, is almost worth the tie-in all on its own!

The event and its flair also place the issue in time, which can be nice. It breaks up the monotony, and infuses the sudden appearance of the antagonist with a bit more meaning. The imposition of the event really helps sell the story, which comes at a time when much of the Justice Society has been take captive by Roulette, and forced to compete in an underground fight club.

Again I would stress that all of this extra information merely serves to enhance the issue. You should be able to quite happily read JSA #29 without being particularly concerned with any of it. You'll pick up the sense that there's more to the story than what's happening presently, but it isn't overly important, or distracting. This is a wonderful Halloween issue unto itself.

If you'd like to get a good look at the entire issue yourself, but aren't able to find the single issue, you can find it collected in JSA Vol. 3: The Power of Legacy or JSA Omnibus Vol. 2.

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 battles with more on the way! You can discover more by following links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured smackdown in order of publisher, series, and issue number.

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Winners: Thunderbolt, Jakeem Thunder & Stargirl
#97 (+101) Thunderbolt [+1 kill]
#95 (+47) Stargirl
#339 (new) Jakeem Thunder
#146 (-4) Solomon Grundy

JUSTICE SOCIETY versus SANDMAN
Waking the Sandman Part Two: Night Terrors (DC)
Where: JSA #64 When: October 2004
Why: Geoff Johns How: Jerry Ordway

The Story So Far...
In the 1940s Sanderson Hawkins was adopted by wealthy socialite Wesley Dodds; also known to citizens of New York City as the crime-fighting mystery man, the Sandman! Hawkins would soon find himself involved in Dodds' clandestine operation, eventually leading to accident that would turn him into a horrible silicon monster! Dodds placed his ward in suspended animation in an effort to protect both Sandy and the world from his mistake.

Resurrected in the modern era, Hawkins is cured, and inherits the JSA Brownstone and leadership of the team in a new age. Alas, Hawkins' time for this world was brief, and when the forces of Mordru, Obisidian and Eclipso unite their powers, Sand perishes in a heroic sacrifice to protect the Earth from multiple earthquakes -- or so it seemed! Forces far beyond this dimension had other ideas, and so, Sandy Hawkins enters a state of suspend animation once more, waiting to be woken from his nightmarish dreamstate...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Brute 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Dr. Fate 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Sand 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Sand 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Hawkgirl 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: Dr. Fate 7 (Cosmic Power)


- The Justice Society of America are: Dr. Fate, Lyta, Flash, Stargirl, Hawkgirl, and Brainwave.

During the Golden Age of superheroes in the forties, many of the heaviest hitting heroes united to form a powerful syndicate of heroism called the Justice Society.
Among the well-known founding members were; Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Sandman, The Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, and the Atom.

Despite an ebb and flow through time that has seen the team maintain varying degrees of activity, they have endured to the modern day. Extending the JSA's lifespan is a new "legacy" policy which allows the inclusion of new members related to former members, by blood, or by inheretence of power.

- In the 1940s Sanderson Hawkins finds himself orphaned, his only living relative, a well-to-do woman about town, Dian Belmont. Eventually Hawkins finds himself adopted by Belmont's boyfriend, Wesley Dodds, a wealthy sociallite who secret prowls the streets as the clandestine mystery man - the Sandman!

Sandy joins Dodds in his war against crime as "the golden boy," but in an accident involving one of Dodds' experimental weapons, Sandy finds himself transformed into a horrible silicon beast after being bombarded with radioactive silica particles. Hawkins lay in stasis for decades until, in the modern era, his humanity was restored by his ward, but not without a strange twist. As a result of his ordeal Hawkins could now manipulate silicon matter, and transform his physical form into sand particles. He adds these fantastic new powers to the arsenal left to him by his mentor, adopting the crime-fighting handle: Sand!

The Math: Sand (Avg) Justice Society (Ttl) Ranking: Hawkgirl (#86)

What Went Down...
While one-half of the Justice Society makes the arduous trek deep into the Earth to find the lost body of Sand; the other half of the team, by means provided by Dr. Fate, travel into Sand's psyche, where they find themselves trapped in the plane of the Dream Dimension!

Sand attacks the Society with no apparent recollection of their identity, using his influence over the Dimension to divide the team through savage sandstorms!
Dr. Fate and Lyta find themselves unable to help their fellows as the all-too-familiar reveals the machinations at work.

The Flash finds himself separated with Brainwave, who had recently recovered from possession at the hands of Mr. Mind. The pair find themselves the first target in Sandman's strategic assault, but Brainwave is able to use his mentallist abilities to freeze the confused hero in his tracks.

Believing the JSA to be another of a series of absurd obstacle thrown against him in the Dreaming; Sand exerts his will over the dimension to overpower Brainwave's commands, summoning enough will to reach for a tiny whistle...

The whistle beckons the true architects of the Dream Dimension - Brute and Grom! The pair of creatures, known well to Dr. Fate and Lyta, have been responsible before for the imprisonment of Sandmen, all a part of their scheme to control their own piece of the Dreaming as a means of creating their own Dream King! They gladly lend their assistance to the beseiged Hawkins, who remains thoroughly under their spell.

His hand forced, the Flash is the first to retaliate, but his super-speeding efforts are for naught as the Sandman shifts his body to a particle array. He reforms, unleashing a devestating attack on the elder statesman, who he instead beleives to be little more than a villain-of-the-week!

Grom launches his disgusting body at a slightly bewildered Hector Hall, confused by the familiarity expressed by the creature. His partner, Lyta, however, remembers their ordeal in the Dream Realm quite well, as she finds herself beseiged by Brute, who also remembers. Lyta exerts her strength on the aptly named creature, while Hall blasts his opponent with magical energy, and begins to slowly recall the memories of another life.

Stargirl and Hawkgirl double team Sand with a diving assault, giving Brainwave another opportunity to sift through the fog of Hawkins' manipulated mind. While they hold him down, Hawkgirl removes her cowl in a bid to appeal to romantic feelings Sand developed during his tenure as JSA chairman. The gambit pays off.

Meanwhile, Glob recalls the tortures of the last time they programmed a hero as their own personal Sandman. Hector Hall's inherited cycle of reincarnation proved to be their undoing, earning the attention of cosmic entities like Death!
The nightmare creature enforces it's sorrow with suffocating results, as Fate succumbs to Glob's aptly oozing body.

A surprise ambush from Lyta sees Glob torn asunder!
She then turns her Amazonian fury to Brute, whose strength proves futile beneath the heel of the powerful Fury. Freed, Dr. Fate is finally able to stamp his will on the battle, condemning the two imps to a lifetime of torture in a prison of children's dreams. In doing so; Sand is freed!

The Hammer...
Brainwave is able to untangle Sandy Hawkins' mind from the web of deceit spun by Glob and Brute, putting the finishing touches on a nice Justice Society victory! For you fantasy leaguers, make a note: Flash, mostly ineffective, only picks up the assist. Awww.

Backstory: Last month we had a poll to let you choose between movies and teams. You chose movies, and we took a look at some of the characters who'll be hitting screens in feature films. With that out of the way, we're jumping into team talk! We already talked a bit about the Invaders in a sorry excuse to talk about one of my favourite books of the past few years [New Invaders #1]; and now, to balance the books, the JSA!

You might be wondering what possessed me to pick this issue as our JSA spotlight. Honestly, I was asking myself the same question when it dawned on me just how much baggage comes along with this story. See, if you somehow missed it, this isn't the first time Glob and Brute have pulled a stunt like this.
Before his most recent resurrection, Hector Hall was the manipulated guest in the Dream World, where the nightmare creatures hoped to foster their own Dream King. All of this stuff, which happened in Infinity Inc, but ties directly into Neil Gaiman's work with Morpheus, and other characters in that tangentially related mythos of the other Sandman. The goth one. Yeah...

Frankly, it's all a bit too garbled for my liking, but I foolishly thought I could combine this fight with the battle to rescue Sand's physical form, to make for a rankings super-spectacular. A double feature, however, was not to be, and you'll have to wait a while to see what happened to Powergirl, Green Lantern, and the rest of the gang.

I started by complaining about the history associated with this otherwise simple issue. I mean, really, it's a two-parter about Kirby-inspired camp in a pocket dimension. It might be a mouthful to describe, but it's a pretty simple scenario of biff, pow, and thwarting evil! Of course, here in lies the brilliance of Geoff Johns and the inherent charm of the Justice Society's far reaching history in the DC Universe.

One can almost imagine Johns holding his breath as he maticulously performs micro-surgery on the convolutions of the DC characters. He makes it look easy, as he deftly streamlines Hawkman's many histories, passes this definition on to the mortally damned Hector Hall, and skims across the surface to finish it off with a seemingly throwaway allusion to Hall's fatal past. All in a day's work, and satisfying sequential story, for Geoff Johns, master of all he surveys!

For those of you who keep tabs on the site, you'll already know he's been on top of the creator top ten for quite some time. It's a position that will only further with this review as his unassuming dominance of the site, and comics, continues.

Johns' legacy is seemingly already secured. With defining runs with Flash, JSA, Hawkman, and in particular, Green Lantern; his mark on history is secured.
Just as he has provided [re]defining moments in the lives of characters, so too has Johns had an influence over the DC Universe as a whole, putting his best foot foward with intense involvement in projects like; Infinite Crisis and 52.

This was supposed to be a discussion about the Justice Society, but with Johns, it's just so hard not to spiral off into so much more. It's this penchant for association and unfolding story that makes Johns, and DC comics right now, so very involving. As much as Countdown to Final Crisis has earnt it's share of detractors; I think we will one day look back on this era of the weekly series and regard DC's display of editorial cohesion with awe. Johns has been key to that, being perhaps the most immediately influential member of the 52-four [w/ Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid].

As a guy who's been around reading comics for a fair while, one of the most fascinating elements of this evolution has been the reversal of roles.
While writers like Johns have spent the last decade and a half crafting a more engaging sense of the DC Universe, the folks across the street, who were once far better known for the Stan Lee model of asterix marketing [why was it always Thor flying overhead?..], seemed to crumble to the demands of individualized stories.

By now the horse has to be well and truly dead, but the message I constantly find myself coming back to is what I regard as perhaps the single most valuable asset of comics as a medium: the implications of longevity -- continuity!

JSA provides not only contemporary reference for the work of writers like Geoff Johns; but the very spirit of what it means to have history in the fictional realm. So few other mediums can claim to have the depth of fiction that comics do, with some of these characters' histories spanning the full sixty years!
I can understand and empathise with the negative association some have come to have about so-called "continuity," but all too often this replaces the cold indifference of fact. Absurdist theories, particularly those surrounding DC comics for some reason, have a way of permeating through the fanboy culture, and yet, even the most chic of geek finds himself ultimately counter intuitively going down a path to loving their own piece of history.

I can't pretend I'm making any kind of profound statement here, or even something you haven't heard time and time before. I just hope that this, the 400th official post on the Infinite Wars, can be one staunchly advocating the value of persistence and history.

When I started reading comics, I was looking back as much as I was looking forward. Maybe societal changes have made us lazy, but there's no reason to see the back issues as a chore. Why, a back issue is just a comic you didn't buy!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4.5

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JSA versus SOLOMON GRUNDY
Out Of Time: Part 1 (DC)
Where: JSA #65 When: November 2004
Why: Geoff Johns How: Don Kramer

The Story so far...
During the Golden Age of superheroes in the forties, many of the heaviest hitting heroes united to form a powerful syndicate of heroism called the Justice Society.

While the team recovers from their defeat at the hands of former ally and new ruler of Khandaq, Black Adam; they enter into a battle against time as Rick Tyler lies dying in the Timepoint: A place in space that will exists for only an hour's worth of external reference.

While the android Hourman from the future does his best to aid the original Hourman, Rex Tyler, and Dr. Mid-Nite in saving Rex' son; the rest of the Justice Society must respond to another rampage by the undying creature called Solomon Grundy!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Powergirl 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Terrific 5 (Professor)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Solomon Grundy 6 (Generator)
Agility: Sand 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Hawkgirl 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Green Lantern 7 (Cosmic)


- The Justice Society of America are: Green Lantern, Flash, Dr. Mid-Nite, Stargirl, Hawkwoman, Mr. Terrific, Sand, and Powergirl.

During the Golden Age of superheroes in the forties, many of the heaviest hitting heroes united to form a powerful syndicate of heroism called the Justice Society.
Among the well-known founding members were; Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Sandman, the Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, and the Atom.

Despite an ebb and flow through time that has seen the team maintain varying degrees of activity, they have endured to the modern day. Extending the JSA's lifespan is a new "legacy" policy which allows the inclusion of new members related to former members, by blood, or by inheretence of power.

- The true origins of Solomon Grundy are unclear, but it is widely believed he is the spirit of wealthy merchant, Cyrus Gold, who is said to have been murdered in the late 1800's and dumped in Slaughter Swamp. Rising from the marsh, Grundy becomes an undead force that would come to menace Batman, Green Lantern, and both the Justice Society and Justice League.

Grundy possesses superhuman strength and endurance, and a penchant for returning from even the most fatal of scenarios. His personality is seen to shift after many of these lethal experiences, usually with minimal higher brain functions, reducing him to a lumbering and disgruntled monster.

Due to his marshy origins at Slaughter Swamp, Solomon Grundy has been seen to possess the ability to negate the Green Lantern's ring by way of it's weakness for things made of wood. This is presumably due to the bark and debris from the bog that saw his formation.

The Math: Justice Society Ranking: Hawkwoman (#84)

What Went Down...
While Rex Tyler reunites with the android Hourman in order to save his son's life in the Timepoint, a majority of the rest of the team is in Central Park, New York, where Solmon Grundy has returned for another rampage.


Grundy's old foe, the Green Lantern, attempts to talk the rampaging monster down. Grundy responds by wrenching a tree from the ground, using it to capitalize on the Green Lantern ring's only weakness -- wood!

Having already flung the rest of the team around with his brute strength, Grundy grabs Stargirl by the ankle, taking her as a pleasant trinket for future use.
Sand emerges from the battlefield, coming to Stargirl's rescue with a harpoon gun, which he fires with expert marksmanship, shooting it into Grundy's open mouth.

With Grundy anchored, Sand stuffs his sleepgas gun in the monster's mouth, letting the paralyzing gas seep directly into his maw. The notoriously powerful Solomon retaliates quickly with an overhand blow that sends a quake through the earth.

Sand recovers swiftly, turning his own earth-manipulating powers to a similar offensive, sending a focused tremor into Grundy's immediate vicinity. The move is sufficient to level Solomon Grundy, putting an end to his warpath.

The Hammer...
We come into this fight with the action already underway, so I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to the rest of the team and assume they were of some assistance, but Sand gets full credit for another Solomon Grundy defeat. One of many that have been sitting in my go-to pile for quite some time.

It's just now dawning on me that this is going to be a very short entry. That's maybe a convenience since I'm trying to maintain daily updates through February, and that can get tiring, but on the other hand, I like to draw some sort of quantity-based distinction between normal entries, and quick fixes.

I'm not sure it really matters. DC coverage has been something that's demanded attention here on the Infinite Wars, and the JSA characters were among the most glaring omissions from the first two years.

Over the past five years I've probably enjoyed DC's creative directions far more than Marvel alternatives, despite some historic sense of loyalty to the House of Ideas [showing up in the Marvel bias on the Infinite Wars].

He appears quite regularly in our DC representation and it takes but a glance at the top ten creators to recognise that Geoff Johns is one of the most dominant writers to contribute to the big two over the past few years. His work on titles like Hawkman, Flash, and of course, JSA, made up a sizable portion of my conversion to the DC Universe, making good use of a wide variety of historical references in each.

If One More Day is the current measure of the very worst possibility; then Johns' talent for appreciating and utilizing characters that might otherwise be dismissed, succeeds in ever way OMD didn't. Likewise, new characters, particularly extensions to the JSA legacy, are a very positive feature of Johns' crafting of the brand even in current 2008 issues.

It sounds like naive arrogance to say I have an "affinity" for the Golden Age characters, but there are certainly a lot of characters I'm very fond of. Sandy Hawkins, featured here as the uber-Sandman successor, is one of those great I wish we could see more of, because if there's a flaw in the JSA model, it's the sheer number of characters!

I haven't had an opportunity to check out JSA: Classified, but without estimating the quality of the stories, it's a great opportunity to showcase these fantastic characters! I wouldn't want to call them under appreciated, given the success the JSA title attained around this issue, and the core influence the characters have had in the DC Universe. That might have cooled off a little as books like 52 push the successes of more modern characters, but that influence is still there.

I've really enjoy the intergration of these characters into other well associated corners of the DC Universe. Characters have mentored others in combinations both obvious, and inspired. Jay Garrick joins the speesters of the Flash; Alan Scott's association with the Green Lantern has grown, despite being notable for not being part of the Corps; Mr. Terrific succeeded Alan Scott as a leader in Checkmate; and Wildcat has been intergrated into Catwoman's corner.

JSA, even more so now, sort of embodies DC's great strength.
They've killed Superman and they've broken Batman's back, but a few black times aside, DC are the company that don't throw anything away. The company and it's properties seem endear that respect, and even if it's commanded by over zealous editorial edicts known for their interruptions, it's worked in the long run.

This reverence is seen throughout Johns' growing catalogue, and I suppose his relationship with DC is a big part of what's made him an industry powerhouse.
I've just remembered that there was another reason I wanted to talk about this issue, and it actually connects with Johns' current work on Booster Gold.

We've seen in the past that resonance between projects is not only possible, but likely. Johns maintains a consistency throughout his work that contributes a sense of reality to the universe in which he works, and JSA establishes a lot of rules and conceits of the way he treats time travel. That's not to say Booster Gold won't form it's own thesis dependent on the requirements of a story, but here, dealing with the Timepoint created to give Rick Tyler one hour with his father before he dies fighting the villain, Extant.

Though not pertinent to the feature fight, I have to lament on the central story, which sees a concession granted to time travel that references writing in fiction. Because, as Rick and Rex Tyler soon learn, an Hourman dies fighting Extant, but much like a well written retcon, it depends only on dressings and appearances.
Just to spoil the story for you, Rex Tyler returns to active duty with the JSA when he is replaced by an alternate who only appears to be Hourman. Food for thought for those reading Booster Gold, where Booster has been told he cannot save Blue Beetle due to the inevitabilities of time and space.

We talked a lot at the end of 2007 about the importance of reflecting contemporary movements on the Infinite Wars. The tenuous connection this issue has is the current issues of the relaunched Justice Society of America, which currently sees Johns reaching the epitomy of his use of history, drawing upon the alternate Earth from the Kingdom Come universe! Featuring those issues, or reviews of Kingdom Come, would be the obvious thing to do, but as a cash strapped reviewer, that isn't very likely.

Actually, y'know, I don't want to cast aspersions about the status of our humble blogsite, but you know what would be cool? Imagine if DC and Marvel were to get behind the notion of a fighting sports league of their characters and added me to the 'review copylist' to deliberately sponsor their characters. I'M JUST SAYING -- that would be cool. And it's not like I'm not doing my part to sell the stuff... DC, Marvel... Come and find me!...

I had a looong night, readers. This post is hitting turbulence that threatens to throw it completely off the rails, and self-referencial claims to review copies are probably the epitomy of that. I should probably wrap things up before I start weeping about lost loves!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 5

Finding yourself looking for a jumping on point? JSA is available in a wide series of trade paperback collections, and while this might not be the ideal starter, it's going to give you a crash course introduction to the Hourmen! I'd be very surprised if you didn't find yourself attached to them after this story! The trade contains this, and the following story.
Head over to Amazon where you can buy this, and many other trades, all while supporting Secret Wars on Infinite Earths (if you use the provided links to PURCHASE)! Amazon: it's not just for the ladies! Yay!