Monday, June 13, 2011

JSA - Resting... but not gone?



As I touched on in my previous post, no mention was made of the JSA. Well, someone has mentioned them. DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio said on his Facebook page, "AS for JSA, we have decided to rest this concept while we devote our attention on the launch of the three new Justice League series. As for other characters and series not part of the initial 52, there are plenty of stories to be told, and we're just getting started. best, DD"

So, no ongoing JSA series as part of the re-launch, or immediately following it seems. However, hope springs eternal. In response to people saying they would miss them on the very same page, DiDio says: "who said we weren't going to see the characters?"

I'd love to see them show up in DC Universe Presents or perhaps as supporting characters. I don't need to see them still in tights fighting crime (though I wouldn't mind...), but it would be nice not to have their contribution ignored. They were the first super-team, and a respectful nod would be nice to see.

I grew up loving this team. I remember reading an old comic at my grandfather's house with these characters who I didn't know. And loving it. Not to mention their classic cross-overs with the Justice League. It somehow made them special. I'll take a moment of silence for the team, but am going to try to remain positive on how this re-launch moves forward.

2 comments:

Reay said...

I readily admit I get my League and Society mixed up. Never really followed either, try as I might to get into at least the JSA stories (as mentioned previously, not an easy task, as there would inevitably be a challenge for them whose full meaning could only really be appreciated to those who knew the bad character/situation/event/problem from 20+ years ago).

I'm a bit surprised that either team has existed for any length of time, really. Be curious to hear what viable threats could actually be offered to a group that includes, for instance, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Batman, and Green Lantern (to name just a few) let alone enough to keep the team together for decades.

Just_A_Rat said...

Well, back in the Bronze Age of Comics, (about 1970 - 1985 or so) the threats were of several forms to engage the JLA:
Alien-of-the-Month, many of whom were seen once or so, also some great characters like Despero came out of this time.

Some excuse for why people who shouldn't be able to can stop the JSAL, like for instance the JLA/JSA crossover where several of DC's historical characters, like Jonah Hex and Viking Prince took down the members of those teams because they were imbued with "temporal energies."

Back in the Golden Age, the standard for much of the JSA's adventures was that there were several things to be done, and they would split up and do them. Also, the JSA typically had several basically non-powered members - and I am mixing time frames and continuities here - (Wildcat, Sandman, Dr. Mid-Nite, Mr. Terrific, the Atom, Black Canary, Batman, Huntress, Robin) and some of the most powerful characters in the history of comics (Spectre, Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt)so splitting up made it easier to have stories that they could all participate in the adventures.

I do think that your point is why a lot of writers have played with the composition of the team. It is hard to write credible threats to a team featuring DC's biggest guns month after month. But when done well, it is a thing of beauty.