A text feature gave us our first glimpse of something we’d never heard of or suspected: a 1940s superhero team like the Justice League of America called the Justice Society of America.
The Spectre? Dr. Fate? Hourman? Sandman? Weirdly costumed alternate versions of the Flash, Green Lantern, the Atom and Hawkman? Just who were these tantalizing titans, anyway? Time would tell us…
The JSA’s founding members ranged from a crime-crushing ghost who was virtually omnipotent and a man who wielded a wish-fulfilling Aladdin’s ring to a stout, tough-talking matron whose mask was a pot with eye holes.
Also on the lower end of that power scale was a undersized college kid whose power was lifting weights — Al Pratt, the original Atom.
“Anyone who knows the Atom in his 1961 incarnation knows the two characters have nothing in common,” observed Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine. “I have said that DC used the old name, but appropriated the powers of Doll Man. Doll Man had been moribund since 1953, and then the publisher, Quality Comics, was sold to DC in ‘56.”
The Atom’s Silver Age makeover was a more radical revamp than the Flash, Green Lantern or Hawkman’s had been. The 1940s’ origins of the latter characters had been soft-peddled in their titles, but with the Atom editor Julius Schwartz clearly decided that a fuller explanation was in order.
The three-page text feature included background on the original Atom and the JSA, as well as mini-autobiographies on writer Gardner Fox and artists Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson.
“When my long-time editor Julie Schwartz presented me with the task of creating an ‘Atom,’ I began dipping into a memory that stores the faces of almost every movie star and bit player since the 1920s, and I decided on Robert Taylor as a basis for Ray (The Atom) Palmer,” Kane explained.
Mark Engblom observed: Very interested to learn about the support material published in that issue! DC editorial typically held their cards very close to the vest, so it was very unusual (to say the least) to see them selling the Atom revamp so hard! Ironically (judging by length of series alone), the Atom was probably the least well-received of the various JSA legacy revivals, despite all the pomp and circumstance right out of the gate. I still remember, as a kid, learning about the various JSA counterparts to the heroes I was familiar with, and being disappointed to learn the Golden Age Atom was nothing more than a non-powered short dude in a somewhat over-elaborate costume. Yeah, I know, he upgraded in both power and costume later on, but it was still quite the disconnect between the two Tiny Titans.
ReplyDeleteTrue, unlike the Flashes and GLs from Earth 1&2, the two Atoms were very unlike each other. Still, once one got over that, they paired decently in Ray Palmer's comic book once or twice.
DeleteBruce Kanin said: The Golden Age Atom was rather dull, given that his only power was an "atomic punch". Still, it was nice to see him team up with Ray Palmer in the latter's book once or twice.
ReplyDeleteWhat I always found interesting is that there were never team-ups or crossovers, at least in the Silver Age, in which the Earth 1&2 Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Hawkman teamed up. Presumably the editors for the more prominent characters wouldn't allow it.
Paul Zuckerman said: What is interesting is that it was only five years between the disappearance of the JSA and the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash; and for us young readers in 1961, the 10 years since the JSA had folded shop to then was like forever, man. It seemed so very long ago! It's hard to imagine nowadays that one could just start over with a blank slate as they did.
ReplyDeleteVincent Mariani said: Hard to believe that the forgotten JSA had been out of the picture for only a decade at that time.
ReplyDeleteThe Golden Age and Silver Age were separated by the 1950s which had the extremes of EC and its imitators' horror and DC and Dell's wholesomeness.
Fred Marra said:It has to be unbelievable to comic book readers today that, back in 1960/1961 and only ten years after the JSA's finally appearance in All-Star Comics, such characters could be so forgotten.
ReplyDeleteCheryl Spoehr said: The shrinking Atom has always been one of my very favorite super heroes, still is. After a dull start, the stories were great fun, thrilling, and even educational (although the characters The Atom encounters in the "Time Pool" were prettied up for parents and the code). The Golden Age one I could not figure out at all, he never changed size,and seemed to have no powers,yet sometimes he lifted things no normal man could... I am still learning about this one, who is one of my LEAST favorite Golden Age heroes...
ReplyDeleteDwayne Takeda said: I always wonder how much a familiar name has to do with the popularity of a character. Personally, as a kid, i didn't learn about the different Golden age characters until way after i was reading Silver Age comics. The reuse of character names is still going on.
ReplyDeleteVincent Mariani wrote:
ReplyDeleteThe reintroduction of the JSA to a 1960s readership was, for me, an exciting compensation for the seeming failure of the Hawkman revival.
The Atom was an excellent series, but the potential loss of a full blown Hawkman success grated on me. That Joe Kubert artwork was mesmerizing in its departure from the open styles of Infantino and Kane.
Bob Doncaster wrote:
ReplyDeleteThe first JLA/JSA team up made me a life long fan of the JSA
Jim Beyel wrote:
ReplyDeleteNitpicky, I know, but I’ve always thought the two versions of Hawkman were very different as well.
I replied:
Well, they really are. The alien from space aspect brought a whole new dimension to Hawkman.
ReplyDeleteJason Orton asked:
It's interesting that Quality sold to DC in 56 but it wasn't until the 73 that any of them appeared. Any idea why DC sat on them so long?
John Joshua replied:
DC had been publishing Blackhawk continuously after they took it over from Quality.
Julie Schwartz was on record as saying that Elongated Man was created because he wasn't aware (and/or had forgotten) that DC had bought the rights to Plastic Man - so I guess it's possible that the reason DC sat on the Quality superheroes was just that the editors and creators weren't aware that they were available for use.
Francis E McNamara wrote:
ReplyDeleteI got it back then and was thrilled beyond belief. I had no prior knowledge of the JSA. Those were MY personal golden years having been born in 1950.
Bob Bailey wrote:
ReplyDeleteIt was a special time to be a little kid.
Paul Zuckerman wrote:
ReplyDeleteJulie Schwartz had actually teased readers of the JLA with the JSA in the letter columns as old time readers like Roy Thomas would write in and mention the team, until someone asked who was on the team and Julie listed ALL of the members! And then, within weeks apart, Flash 123 and the first Showcase Atom appeared with that reproduction of the JSA's first meeting! Boy, was I excited to see them! There was something about the fact that the characters were old--and characters 12 years from their last appearance seemed virtually ancient to someone who was not even 10 yet.
Julie built the JSA slowly with a real tease in the 2nd Flash team-up--a flashback to the last adventure of the team. And then, a year later in the 3rd team-up, the team actually appeared, although only the Flash took part in the action. All of which led a month or two later to the full-blown revival of the team in JLA 21! Oh man, was that just so exciting to read.
What interested me about the team was that in each of its early appearances, there was a different membership. How many members did the dang thing have after all, I wondered!!!
Guy Colston:
ReplyDeleteNice breakdown of each issue! Thanks, I enjoyed that ☺️.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteProbably my favorites here were Avengers and FF. I was intrigued by stories featuring Hitler doubles. Or was it really him? I did not read any of the non-super hero titles except for Sgt Fury nor did I pick up JIM or TTA but had the others. Most of the stuff still seemed pretty weak, though, to me.
Bob Doncaster:
ReplyDeleteThat text feature was a great little bit of comic history, not readily available back then. I’ve been a JSA fan since their first silver age appearance.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that Al Pratt was just an ordinary guy who trained himself to fight but in the late 40s he developed some super powers with his atomic punch. Interestingly, the Atom had the second most appearances in the original All Star run. Only Hawkman appeared in all 55 JSA stories and the Atom clocked in at 53. Dr. Mid-Nite had the next most amount of appearances, beginning with issue 8 and staying to the end with issue 57. Wonder Woman follows. WW was introduced in All Star 8 but did not join the JSA until issue 11 and stuck around to the last issue, 57. Flash and Green Lantern had the next most appearances. Charter members of the team, Flash and GL both became honorary members when early on they got their own solo titles, but later returned until the end.
Daniel St. John:
ReplyDeleteOne of my first exposures to The JSA...
Wow.!! A whole new mysterious superhero group.!!
What a wonderful surprise lay in the Showcase #34 issue.!!
I loved their handling ... until they destroyed it all in All-Star #58...!! Criminals... and the new, less talented bunch that came in to destroy the legendary JSA...!!
ReplyDeleteMark Engblom:
I’ll never forget my first encounter with the JSA. A friend of mine had purchased a JLA treasury edition, and, at first glance, we thought the back cover was simply a duplicate of the front cover. However, upon closer inspection, we realized that some of the heroes were *subtly different* versions of the familiar icons on the front, or... in some cases, *completely different* characters occupying the spaces of JLA members.
Similar to your account with the Atom house ad promo, this was the beginning of my fascination with the Golden Age/Earth-2 heroes.
As my comment you quoted alluded to, the Al Pratt Atom was probably one of my least impressive “discoveries,“ though Roy Thomas managed to make him a bit more compelling in the Bronze Age “All-Star Squadron” Earth-2-palooza.
Perhaps if he’d originally been played as a sort of “kid mascot” of the JSA (ala Snapper Carr in the next generation’s JLA), he’d have been more tolerable. Seeing him treated as an equal team member with titans like the Flash, Green Lantern and the Spectre(!) defied all logic, even within the already logic-deficient Golden Age of comics. But then again, the buffoonish Johnny Thunder already seemed to fill the role of the comedy-relief punk… but even HE dwarfed the power of the Atom with his magical Thunderbolt being!
Richard Meyer:
ReplyDeleteMissed marketing opportunity for not having more crossovers, considering how well I still remember the original meeting of Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, but I never learned anything about the others except what they looked like.
Joseph Lenius:
ReplyDelete“What is interesting is that it was only five years between the disappearance of the JSA and the first appearance of the Silver Age Flash..." Paul Zuckerman points out something that many either forget or minimize as a hiatus of sorts. Of course, neither was an impact from me, since the all of the original JSA was before I was born, and Showcase #4 hit the stands only about 6 days after I was born.
Cheryl Spoehr:
ReplyDeleteAnd Ray Palmer was named after pulp editor and author Ray Palmer , who was injured as a child and became a hunchback dwarf. I just had my own hunchback fixed with extensive surgery, my heart goes out for him. He was one of the biggest promoters of "Flying Saucers", and often claimed credit for the whole phenomenon.