Double-Sized Issue Reviews!

by Thomas LaPorte

*This article includes spoilers from “The New Golden Age #1 (One-Shot)” by Geoff Johns.*

Geoff Johns is once again helming a Justice Society of America series over a decade after concluding his 2006 Justice Society of America run. Prior to the 2006 run, Geoff also wrote a Justice Society run in the 1990s, simply titled “JSA”. This run dealt with legacy and the passing-of-the-torch as Green Lantern (Alan Scott), The Flash (Jay Garrick), and Wildcat (Ted Grant) trained a new generation of heroes. 

While Geoff has been busy with live-action work on the hit CW show Stargirl (a show surrounding the character Geoff created in the image of his late sister, Courtney Johns) the recent cancellation of the series has paved the way for his grand return to legendary comics. 

“The Golden Age”, is a reference to the original period of comics, commonly referred to as the golden age, which lasted from 1938-1956. It was where the original superheroes saw their genesis on the page by the pen of Gardner Fox and other writers and artists. Among those brought to life were the original Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Atom (Al Pratt), Sandman (Wesley Dodds) Hawkman (Carter Hall), Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson), Hourman (Rex Tyler) and Spectre. These heroes would create the first ever superhero team, the Justice Society of America.  

“The New Golden Age” has been a long awaited return for the JSA, while setting the stage for coming narratives, the most intriguing among the buffet is the element of the future. Geoff Johns has a penchant for revitalizing old heroes and focusing on their legacy in the now. Never before has he brought them into the far future. For the first time in comics history, we see a Justice Society existing in the year 3022—existing parallel to the Legion of Super-Heroes! And while a certain character gets murdered (a huge nod to the JSA series from the 1990s and the Smallville tv show), it is great to know the names of our heroes live that far into the future. That the helmet of Fate still searches for hosts. That Obsidian still lurks in the shadows. That green flame continues to light the way.

In fact, something fascinating about this one-shot was its ability to maneuver from one moment to another—past, present, and future without pause. At moments the time jumps felt jumbled, but overall conveyed the sense of a larger web being cast across time and space—something the JSA have been needing but never seemed to quite find: A story without bounds.  

Of course, the talk of the internet has been of a new Red Lantern. This is something jarring—long time fans of DC know Atrocitus was the first red lantern, forging the red power battery out of the blood of the five inversions. Hopefully, this new red lantern will be a “red lantern” in name alone and have no connection to the survivor of the massacre of space sector 666. If this lantern is powered by a red flame as Alan Scott’s is powered by a green flame, then there will no entanglement in the lore. But then again, Johns was the one who created Atrocitus. It’s his lore to play with.   

Most importantly, we witness the return of a long forgotten hero—maybe not too long forgotten, depending on what age of comics you fancy, but the return of a child of two important figures; Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle. That is correct: Helena Wayne, also known as “The Huntress”, has returned to modern DC Continuity! She is not to be confused with Helena Bertinelli, another caped crusader under thr guise of “Huntress”. This return solidifies the relationship between Bruce and Selina. Of course, the plot thickens when Batman is murdered, but who knows if it will stick. (Hopefully, we don’t get kicked in the nuts and find out this is all happening on Earth-2 or an alternate timeline. That would be heartbreaking.)

And Rip Hunter makes an appearance, opening the door to all kinds of time travel and will undoubtedly team up with the JSA in a mission to save the JSA’s future members and original members. 

Overall, this one-shot set up a whole new universe of stories involving the JSA. It is great to know they are back. Geoff is a personal favorite writer of mine, which makes me excited for his return and the story he has to tell. Within the coming story arcs of the JSA, there is great excitement! Make sure to check back when the next JSA issue happens and join my JSA Facebook Discussion Group to talk about the latest issues!