JSA	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Sheldon Mayer and Gardner Fox (original team); James Robinson and David Goyer (new team)

TEAM DATA

Former Members:
Base of Operation: New York City
First Appearance: JSA Secret Files #1 (August 1999)
Creators: Sheldon Mayer and Gardner Fox (original team); James Robinson and David Goyer (new team)

OVERVIEW

The group of heroes who form the current JSA were brought together originally for the funeral of the original Sandman, Wesley Dodds. From here, they became involved in the search for the child who was destined to become the new Doctor Fate. After the successful completion of this adventure, many of those involved decided to band together once more as a force for justice. These included original Justice Society members along with the descendants, either literally or in spirit, of various other members of the original team. Since that point, they have saved the world on a number of occasions, faced some terrible moral dilemmas and had many changes in their line-up. Through it all, they remain the heroes that the others look to for inspiration.

HISTORY

The funeral of Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman, brought together many of his former colleagues and other heroes who uphold the legacies of those who had died fighting the good fight. The ceremony was interrupted by the Sons of Anubis, animated Egyptian corpses, and then by a dying Fate whose warning was echoed by Scarab, who told the heroes that they were needed in order to prevent the Dark Lord from gaining control of the newest incarnation of Fate. The heroes split up into groups to track down the newborns who could be the fate-child; each met opposition until they found one child guarded by a winged woman. Assuming she was hostile, they were proven wrong when the Dark Lord, Mordru, wrested the child from her, making his way to the extra-dimensional tower used by the bearers of the Fate legacy. Here he was opposed by Scarab and the new Star-Spangled Kid, who had been left behind when the more experienced heroes went off on their missions. They were able to prevent him from gaining control of the new Fate child who was revealed, upon instantly reaching maturity, to be a reincarnation of Hector Hall, the Silver Scarab.

The adventure over, the heroes decided to remain together as the new Justice Society, with old-timers Flash, Sentinel and Wildcat forming the core of the team. Another Golden Age hero, Sand, was nominated as chairman of the group, which set up shop in Wesley Dodds' old brownstone in New York City. Alongside these long-standing Society members were Atom Smasher, Black Canary, Hourman, Starman and the Star-Spangled Kid, along with the new Doctor Fate, and Hawkgirl, who they had encountered in searching for the fate child. Wonder Woman opted to be a reserve member only, in order to concentrate on her duties as ruler of Themyscira, while Starman was soon called away to a crisis in Opal City.

The brownstone was equipped with state of the art technology including a security system derived from the helmet used by the Thinker. Immediately after making their formation official and holding a news conference, the JSA found themselves in conflict with Black Adam, a fight which injured Wildcat, meaning that he was left behind when the rest of the team headed out to Milwuakee to deal with Obsidian, the son of Sentinel gone rogue. During the course of this encounter, the team met Doctor Mid-Nite, who was soon offered membership, which he would soon take up. Meanwhile, back at the brownstone, Wildcat found himself fighting numerous villains who had teamed up as the new Injustice Society, come, though he did not know this, to steal something called the King of Tears. Soon after this, the group learned that the original Starman had died protecting Opal City, leading the current bearer of the legacy to retire after just a few more adventures with the JSA.

The whims of fate now led the Society to ever more exotic locales - to the planets Apokolips and Myrg and then to the timestream where they did battle with Extant, the murderer of several old-time members of the original Justice Society. Atom Smasher, who had just lost his mother to Kobra's terrorist activities, stepped in to end the threat of Extant forever, swapping the villain's place in the timestream with that of his mother, meaning that Extant died in her place. This event shook the membership up a little, as Hourman and Atom Smasher both took leaves of absence to contemplate the actions they took (or didn't take) and Dr Fate went in search of his wife, Lyta Hall, who he discovered to be still alive, yet under mystic attack from Mordru. However, Dr Mid-Nite and the new Mister Terrific had by now arrived to swell the ranks.

With the team hardly having time to draw breath, the Injustice Society attacked again. Led by Johnny Sorrow, they planned to use Golden Age hero Scarab as a conduit to bring the King of Tears to this reality, realising it from the vial where it had been contained for several decades. The Society was struck from within as the Thinker re-created himself from their security system, but they also had help from Black Adam, who had been co-opted to the Injustice Society against his will. The group also had assistance from the Spectre and young hero J.J. Thunder.

During the battle with the King of Tears, Hawkgirl had begun to act very strangely, and soon discovered that she was not who she thought she was. As the angel Zauriel informed her, she was no longer Kendra Saunders, but a reincarnation of the original Hawkgirl, Sheira Hall. Scarcely had she learnt this than she was whisked away to the planet Thanagar. Rejoined by Atom Smasher and Dr Fate, several of her colleagues followed her to Thanagar, where they witnessed the return of Carter Hall, the original Hawkman, and helped to overthrow the tyrant Onimar Synn. The return of Hawkman put both Sand and Hawkgirl in quandaries, which, along with antagonism between Atom Smasher and Black Adam, plus the increasingly odd behaviour of Dr Fate, began to put pressure on the team. Sand thought he should perhaps relinquish the chair of the Society to Hawkman, and Hawkgirl found herself as the unwilling object of Hawkman's affections - they may have been lovers in past lives, but she had no intention of becoming so in this life.

Having had a prophetic dream warning him that hard times were ahead, Sand got the chance to demonstrate his fitness to lead the JSA when he was asked to organise the heroes in an assault on the ship of the dread Imperiex during the crisis known as Our Worlds At War. The Society, along with a band of other heroes with connections to the Golden Age, were totally successful in their mission, freeing the people of the planet Daxam from enthralment to Imperiex and destroying his ship with no loss of life. However, on their return they found that Hippolyta, Wonder Woman, had died protecting Athens, another sad loss for the team.

The tensions that had been simmering now came to the boil as Atom Smasher and Black Adam came to blows, and Sand and Hawkgirl shared an unwise and unexpected kiss. This kiss was witnessed by Hawkman, who challenged Sand on his leadership of the Society. A vote was held, and Mister Terrific was elected chairman, much to his surprise. Even more surprising, only a few minutes later, he and a number of other Society members were whisked away to an unknown destination by one of his T-spheres.

In their absence, old timers Flash, Wildcat and Sentinel helped Black Canary and others in controlling the outbreak of super-villains infected by the Joker with his insanity serum, leaving only J.J. Thunder and the Star-Spangled Kid at the brownstone, along with the JSA museum's new curator Alex Montez. While they tangled with Solomon Grundy, the others were forced to battle each other at 'the House', an underground establishment where super-villains paid to watch death matches between heroes pumped full of aggressors. However, they were all able to escape their fates, the experience even healing the rifts between Atom Smasher and Black Adam, and, to a certain extent, between Hawkman and Sand. Shortly after the return of these heroes, Black Canary announced she would be leaving the JSA, with Power Girl taking her place on the team.

The team was then rocked once more when the Ultra-humanite used Johnny Thunder to gain power over the thunderbolt, Yz, wresting control from Jakeem Thunder, its current bearer. Remaking the world in his image for several months, various heroes connected to the Justice Society - including Captain Marvel, Power Girl, a new Crimson Avenger, Sand, Hourman II and the villainous Icicle - led the fight against him. As part of the plan to defeat the Ultra-Humanite, Johnny Thunder sacrificed his life, merging with the thunderbolt, before the world was put back to rights. Jakeem Thunder, Hourman and Captain Marvel joined the ranks of the JSA, while Doctor Fate went searching for his missing wife.

As ever, the team continued to battle menaces as diverse as Johnny Sorrow, Despero and Vandal Savage (the latter in ancient Egypt) before a dark group of villains set out to usher in an age of blackness and chaos. Kobra engineered his release from prison, leading to a split in the team, Atom Smasher and Black Adam disgusted with the others for their pacifistic attitude. Mordru then tricked Doctor Fate and gained control of his power, while Obsidian and Eclipso also attacked members of the Society and their new ally, Dove, revealed as the mother of Doctor Fate's current incarnation. With the aid of many reserve members and the departing soul of Arion, these foes were defeated. Mordru was imprisoned in the Rock of Eternity, Obsidian's evil was exorcised, and the JSA's curator, Alexander Montez, gained control of Eclipso's power. Victory was not without its price, however, as Sand disappeared into the bowels of the earth, far out of his team-mates' reach.

Tensions between the JSA and its allies began to show, as Black Adam recruited a number of heroes who would take a more direct line of action. Alongside Atom-Smasher, Northwind, Brainwave, Nemesis and Alex Montez, he killed Kobra and destroyed the Council before over-throwing the dictator of his homeland, becoming its ruler.

The Justice Society stand as a shining example of what heroes should be, particularly the 'old guard' who even the JLA look up to.

[To be updated...]

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of JSA in chronological order click here