What do we really know about the JSA?


Justice Society of America--Secret History

Editor's Note: This article is the first in a series dealing with the Justice Society of America, the first--and many say greatest--of all teams of "real-life superheroes."

The Mystery Men
In the years just prior to American involvement in World War II cities all over the nation witnessed a bizarre flourishing of flamboyantly-costumed vigilante crimefighters. Believed to have been inspired by the popular pulp-fiction heroes of the day, these “mystery men,” as they were called, patrolled city streets at night, setting upon hoodlums and interfering with all manner of illegal activities. Police and civic leaders in most cases disapproved of their actions. Many members of the general public, however, regarded them as heroes.

The first scattering of “mystery men” appeared in the northeastern United States in 1938 and 1939. The widespread publicity garnered by these early examples inspired numerous copycat vigilantes. By the end of 1941 between two and three hundred of these mystery men—and several “mystery women—had appeared. Though most regions of the country could boast at least a few of these distinctive vigilantes, the heaviest concentrations were in the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region.

They were not called mystery men for nothing. All of them appear to have gone to considerable lengths to conceal their identities. Overall they were remarkably successful at this. Only five out of hundreds were ever unmasked—and these were all exposed early in their careers.

"Super" Heroes
Inevitably the mystery men became the center of all manner of wild rumors and speculation. Some were said to possess superhuman powers. Some were reportedly ready and willing to eliminate criminals permanently. In reality none was ever proven to possess superhuman powers. And while many of them were accused of using unnecessary force in subduing suspects, only Chicago pharmacist Robert Benton, known as “The Black Terror,” was ever definitely proven to have used deadly force, claiming three known victims before his own death in a 1941 shootout.

The sensationalist press of the day fueled speculation by dutifully reporting many of the wildest rumors to a mass readership. For their own part the mystery men seem to have welcomed their larger-than-life image. Some are believed to have encouraged exaggerated stories of their exploits as a way of intimidating potential criminal adversaries.

The stories grew still further as pulp periodical publishers began using them as the inspiration for the exploits of comic-book characters. Some publishers went so far as to create fictional adventures of real-life mystery men. The best-known and most successful of these was based on New York City’s Batman vigilante, though even he was eclipsed in popularity by the entirely fictional Superman. The exploits of these comic-book adventurers often exceeded even the wildest claims made for their real-life counterparts. In the long run they became the perennially popular science fiction and fantasy figures known as “superheroes.” The popularity of these fictional characters has done as much to make problems for would-be chroniclers of the real-world mystery men vigilante phenomenon as the mystery men’s own obsessive secrecy.

A Mysterious Press Conference
In late 1940 all major news outlets in New York City received anonymous notices announcing that a new team of mystery men calling themselves the Justice Society of America would hold a press conference the following evening at 432 Fourth Avenue in Manhattan. Most recipients of the notices ignored them as crank missives. Only the “New York Daily Bugle” sent anyone to cover the event.

The reporter dispatched to 432 Fourth Avenue that evening was a young cub named G.F. Foxe. An equally new staff photographer named Martin Nodel accompanied him. “I think they sent Mart and me because they didn’t believe it would be worth any of their more experienced guys’ time,” Foxe recalled many years later. “Boy, were they wrong! Getting sent on that ‘fool’s errand’ turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to either of us.”

As reporter and photographer stood outside the nearly deserted office building, well after normal business hours, they were blinded by a green flash. When their vision cleared they saw six costumed figures standing in front of them. The six briefly introduced themselves, announced that they were joining forces in the battle against crime, posed for photographs, and disappeared in another flash. Behind them they left a business card bearing the words “Justice Society of America.”

It was the first of what would be many appearances.

In this second article in our series we profile the Justice Society's charter members and early history.

Justice Society Rising

Founding Members
The six charter members of the Justice Society of America were all established mystery men. “Established” in this case meant that they had made more than only one or a small handful of appearances; most mystery men appeared only briefly before fading into obscurity. The founders of the JSA had all established reputations in their respective hometowns.

Although the team had no officially acknowledged leader, Hawkman emerged as their most frequent spokesman. Decked in an avian mask that appeared extravagant even by mystery man standards, Hawkman operated mainly in New York City, sometimes in the company of a partner calling herself Hawkgirl. Hawkman wielded a sling and a mace as weapons. Both the head of the mace and the stones hurled by Hawkman’s sling were made of hard rubber. Hawkman is believed to have adopted these nonlethal weapons after nearly killing an early adversary with a hard sling pellet.

From Philadelphia came the Flash. Clad in a costume that recalled the swift Roman god Mercury, the Flash was rumored to possess superhuman speed. In reality he seems to have employed a unique martial arts style that kept his opponents disoriented and took advantage of his remarkable reflexes and reaction time.

The Spectre hailed from Boston, wore an eerie cloak, and spoke in an oddly hollow-sounding voice. Rumored to possess great magical powers, he claimed to be a ghost on a mission of vengeance against evil. Careful study of newspaper accounts of the Spectre’s exploits suggests that he was actually a clever user of psychological manipulation and stage magic. He never appeared by daylight. Fellow JSA members adopted a coy position on whether they believed their teammate was actually a ghost.

Green Lantern, another New Yorker, carried a device shaped like a small railroad lantern. Bright pulses of greenish light from this “lantern” served to blind and disorient his opponents. Like most mystery men he was also skilled at unarmed combat.

From Chicago came the Sandman, who wore a hat, trenchcoat, and gas mask. He used a “gas gun” to discharge tear gas and, occasionally, a sleeping gas which inspired his name.

The final charter member, the Atom, was another New York City-based mystery man. Also known as “Mighty Mite,” he was notably short of stature, but compensated with great strength and formidable fighting skills. He wore a simple cowl and short cloak and was most often reported in the vicinity of Columbia University.

Early Battles
Within a month of that first press conference the JSA were instrumental in smashing a major drug ring operating in Brooklyn. Dealers and their enforcers affiliated with the ring suffered several painful and humiliating public defeats in street altercations. At the same time law enforcement officers received a wealth of information through anonymous tipsters and gang members who turned state’s evidence after being intimidated into testifying.

The following month, while develops continued in the drug ring case, the JSA battled and defeated the Yancey Street Gang, one of New York’s most notorious bands of hooligans, in a nighttime rumble. This and several similar actions are credited with helping to break the hold of gangs over the Yancey Street neighborhood. The “Daily Bugle’s” reporter/photographer team of Foxe and Nodel were able to be on hand to document these fights thanks to regular anonymous tips. The “Bugle’s” circulation rose dramatically in the wake of this coverage, and Foxe and Nodel soon received promotions.

As the months passed the JSA made additional appearances in New York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia, striking drug rings and other sorts of criminal gangs. They also held additional press conferences. “By now the papers were taking them seriously,” Foxe recalled. “We started having competition at the shows in New York. But they helped Mart and me scoop the others now and then. I think it was their way of thanking us for being the first to interview them.”

Controversy--And an Unexpected Endorsement
By the summer of 1941 the whole country was talking about the JSA. They were credited, not always accurately, with a wide array of heroic acts, from thwarting hijackers in Pennsylvania to rescuing children from a burning tenement in Chicago. As historian R.W. Thomas later remarked, “There were hundreds of stories about the JSA’s acts of derring-do. People had them doing more things in more places than ten times their number could have handled. They might be reported in multiple cities on a single night. Then there were the completely impossible tales, like the claims that the Spectre had made bad guys disappear forever into thin air.”

While the public generally supported the JSA’s actions and lionized them as heroes, many figures in law enforcement denounced their activities as lawless and setting a bad example for others. Several editorials worried that they would inspire a dangerous wave of copycat vigilantism. In fact the year 1941 brought as many new mystery men as had the previous three years.

In September that year Federal Bureau of Investigation chief J. Edgar Hoover stunned the nation by announcing the FBI’s endorsement of the JSA. “These young men are examples to the nation in their determination to involve themselves personally in our efforts to rid society of its criminal elements,” Hoover said. “While we would not wish others to emulate their particular hazardous methods, we would commend their example to law-abiding citizens wishing to do their part.” Hoover subsequently appeared in photographs with Hawkman, the Flash, and Green Lantern. Incredibly, the loudly-costumed vigilantes had won a kind of official status.

In this third article of our series we follow the JSA's through America's entry into World War II.

To Arms

New Members
The Justice Society of America recruited two new members in the course of 1941. The first new recruit was also the team’s first female member. Known as Wonder Woman, she appeared in the Washington D.C. area wearing a red, white, and blue costume vaguely reminiscent of an American flag. One of only a very few female mystery “men,” Wonder Woman was a skilled martial artist and carried a lasso with which to entangle her opponents.

Meanwhile in New York City a new vigilante appeared under the name of Dr. Mid-Nite. Like other costumed vigilantes he had a gimmick weapon in the form of “blackout bombs,” smoke bombs that blinded his adversaries with dark fumes. Dr. Mid-Nite was granted entry into the group in late October. “Just in time for Halloween!” Hawkman said when making the announcement. Dr. Mid-Nite would also prove the last member admitted before the United States entered World War II.

Heroes on the Home Front
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor the JSA issued statements announcing their unqualified support for the American war effort. “This will be a difficult war, and a long one,” the statement read. “We hope all Americans will stand united and do their part. We certainly will. In the months to come you may see less of us as we find different ways to serve our country. We’d like to think that there will be less work for us to do in fighting ordinary criminal behavior. Even if you’ve got a record you can still turn over a new leaf and become a patriot!”

Members of the JSA stepped up the number of public appearances they made, both individually and in groups. They appeared on recruiting posters, made public service announcements, and participated in war bond drives. They even consented to make brief radio talks and newsreel appearances, something they had never done before. They did not, however, ever appear in front of large crowds, and they continued to avoid broad daylight.

“The fact is, when you got up close to them and got a good look at them they by and large tended to be pretty unprepossessing ,” Foxe said of them. “I mean, you could tell they were well built and in good shape, but they weren’t giants or anything. They were just guys in funny-looking outfits. They knew that letting the general public get too close a look at them would spoil the magic, so to speak. They didn’t want to do that. And we in the press didn’t want to either. Especially not in wartime. People needed their heroes.”

As they became more active in public relations, the JSA’s members were reported less often fighting crime. Rumor had it that they had a role in breaking up spy and saboteur rings. In reality they seem to have played no role in Allied anti-espionage efforts. “In all my research into the JSA’s wartime activities I was unable to find evidence of their doing much more than helping to break up a few minor black market rings,” R.W. Thomas writes. “It was a bit disillusioning to learn that my childhood heroes had not done anything more dramatic to help win the war. I wanted to imagine them fighting whole battalions of Nazis and sweeping the Japanese from Pacific islands. Really, though, what could we expect? They were only a handful of mortals in a very big war. Their work to help build morale and cooperation on the home front was a genuine service in itself.”

Wartime Attrition
The JSA’s members did not only serve on the home front. As the war progressed they began disappearing one by one. The first, ironically enough, was recent arrival Dr. Mid-Nite. In mid-1942 the other members announced that Dr. Mid-Nite had left the JSA to join the armed forces in his other identity. “Dr. Mid-Nite is preparing to give his all for our country, if need be. In the months to come he will doubtless show himself a greater hero than any of the rest of us. As for us, each of us stands ready to do as he did, if and when the point comes that we can be of more service to our country overseas than we are here.”

The members continued to depart. In 1943 the Atom left, “to do some vitally important war work.” Later that same year the JSA announced that the Sandman had enlisted. In early 1944 it was announced that the Spectre had “moved on to a different level of doing his part.” This was widely believed to be the JSA’s way of letting the public know that their allegedly otherworldly member had joined the military.

The others continued to make occasional morale-building appearances and statements, insisting as they did that they were, in their own secret identities, also contributing to the war effort in various ways. In late 1944, a few months before his death, President Franklin D. Roosevelt mentioned the Justice Society of America’s contribution in a broadcast. “Like all of us I have only limited knowledge of just who these remarkable men and woman are. But I believe we can be rest assured that they have, in their own special ways, done as much for our nation’s war effort as any. They are, as they have been for the past four years, a worthy example to us all.”

In our next article we will follow the Justice Society of America into the postwar era--and the controversy that some say nearly destroyed them.

In this article we deal with the Justice Society of America's activities after the war, including the controversy that dogged them in the early 1950s.

The Postwar JSA

Peacetime and New Members
The Justice Society made no appearances together for the better part of a year after the end of World War II. Then, in June of 1946, they called one of their nighttime press conferences at 480 Lexington Avenue in New York City. All of the JSA’s members were present, except for Wonder Woman and the Spectre. Wonder Woman, they announced, had left the JSA in order to start a family. As for the Spectre, he was, they said, “the greatest hero of us all, the one who gave the most for his country. He has gone to his rest, and our nation is grateful for his sacrifice.” This, it was believed by many, was a reference to the death during the war of the man who had had the Spectre’s identity.

The JSA went on to state that, unfortunately, evil remained in the world despite the defeat of fascism. “Crime has resumed its activities. And so, it seems, must we. “

The JSA’s activities in the postwar era resembled those of the busy first year or so of its existence. As before they targeted criminal organizations with a combination of physical force and what appears to have been behind-the-scenes information gathering on behalf of the police. As before members were active either individually or in groups. Their overall level activity was, however, somewhat lower than it had been in the early 1940s. Indeed, apart from two or three appearances with the rest of the group at press conferences Dr. Mid-Nite does not figure in the news stories of the time at all. The Atom and the Sandman made relatively few appearances as well.

The JSA’s most active member was a new recruit who joined in 1946. This was Wildcat, a scrappy figure who wore a black outfit with a vaguely feline mask. Wildcat had first appeared as a solo mystery man back in 1941 and 1942, before disappearing for the duration of the war. In the postwar JSA he was to be seen front and center in all of the team’s operations.

In 1947 the JSA welcomed a new female member. This was the Black Canary, a dark-garbed woman whose forte was the martial arts. Her first recorded exploits took place in New York City only a few months before she joined the team.

The Emerald Archer
The JSA’s next, and last, new member joined the following year. This was the Detroit-based vigilante known as Green Arrow. Green Arrow had first appeared back in 1941. He was noted for his use of a bow and arrows equipped with nonlethal stun tips. That year he joined a short-lived team of Great Lakes area-based mystery men known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Following this team’s breakup in 1942 Green Arrow made a few more solo appearances before disappearing for the duration, presumably while performing military service.

After the war Green Arrow became active again. Upon joining the JSA he became highly active, appearing at all of the JSA’s public interviews and taking part in all known JSA operations. He liked to speak in press conferences. “To be honest, the guy shot off his mouth a lot,” G.F. Foxe said. “You could tell sometimes that he spoke out of turn or said things the others did not necessarily want him to say. They were diplomatic in smoothing over his blurts, but I got the impression that there was some tension between him and the others.”

In one 1950 solo statement to the press Green Arrow condemned the House Un-American Activities Committee’s and Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist stances. This would have been controversial enough at the time. When challenged on his statements by members of the press, Green Arrow went on to denounce the new war in Korea as “an imperialist adventure conducted on behalf of moneyed interests who got fat off of profiteering in the last war and don’t want the profits to stop.” In effect, Green Arrow’s remarks suggested that he harbored left-wing sympathies of his own.

America vs. the Justice Society?
Green Arrow was swiftly denounced in the press for his statements. Editorials in several newspapers called upon the other members of the JSA to expel him. Senator McCarthy and others in Congress took up the call. “If they do not deal promptly and decisively with a member who expresses such treasonous sentiments,” McCarthy said, “it will seriously call into question their own patriotism.”

Shortly afterward the JSA did just that. In a conference Hawkman, the Flash, and the Green Lantern announced that the JSA had voted unanimously to expel Green Arrow, effective immediately. “We apologize to the American people for allowing a man capable of saying such things into our ranks,” Hawkman said, “and wish everyone to know that we in no way endorse any of the statements that he has made on his own.”

Since the 1970s several writers have claimed that the suspicions raised by Green Arrow’s statements resulted in pressure from Congress and the FBI that forced the JSA to disband. In fact their action in expelling him seems to have satisfied Green Arrow’s detractors. The FBI’s Hoover publicly pronounced himself satisfied that they had dealt adequately with the problem. No further questions were raised about the JSA in Congress. What is more, the JSA remained active for the better part of a year without Green Arrow—or, it was noted at the time, Black Canary.

However, in the course of the year 1951 their activities dwindled and finally ceased altogether. The individual members of the JSA also stopped making solo appearances in their respective home areas of operation around this time. Of America’s mystery men on the Batman in New York City continued, making appearances as late as 1955. After that the era of the mystery men seemed at an end.

But this would prove only a temporary pause. The following decade would witness a notable revival of costumed vigilante activity. It would also see the return of the Justice Society of America itself.

Is this something you're writing, Daphne, or are you copying and pasting this from somewhere?

In this article we examine the latter-day career of the Justice Society of America, and some of those whom they inspired.

The "Silver Age"

New Heroes
During the late 1950s a New York City-based costumed vigilante calling himself the Martian Manhunter began battling gangs and other criminals in the manner of the old mystery men. In early 1961 a new vigilante calling himself the Flash emerged in Philadelphia. The new Flash had a different costume from the original, but used a similar fighting style and was also rumored to possess superhuman speed. The new Flash told witnesses and the press that he was not the original, only an admirer who had been inspired by stories of the original’s adventures that he had heard in his youth.

In late 1961 the two Flashes appeared together in a joint press conference. Journalist G.F. Foxe, who was personally invited to attend, quoted the original Flash as stating that, while he had no connection with the new vigilante, he considered him a worthy successor. Both Flashes subsequently made a number of appearances around the Philadelphia area.

Other new vigilantes also appeared around the nation. Many of these “superheroes,” as they were now called after their fictional counterparts in the comics, took the names of the mystery men of the 1940s. In addition to the new Flash the 1960s saw a new Hawkman (complete with Hawkgirl), Green Lantern, Atom, Wonder Woman, and Spectre. Some superhero watchers began to speak of a “Silver Age” of superheroes, in contrast to the “Golden Age” of the early 1940s.

The Justice League of America
In 1963 all of these except the Spectre (whose exceptionally brutal methods were widely condemned, and whose references to himself as a divinely-appointed messenger of vengeance led some to question his sanity) teamed with the Martian Manhunter to form a new superhero team called the Justice League of America. In an initial press nighttime press conference, held at 909 Third Avenue in Manhattan, the JLA stated that they “intended to follow in the tradition of public service begun by the Justice Society.”

Soon the new JLA was joined by a resurgent Justice Society of America. The original Hawkman, Flash, and Green Lantern, together with Wildcat and, on occasion at least, the original Atom and Sandman were all active. They were noticeably less active than the newer and younger vigilantes of the JLA, but did make a number of appearances as individuals and as a group.

“It was like the old days again,” Foxe reminisced. “There were constant stories and reports floating around about superhero activity, wild yarns about the stuff they did, the whole nine yards. All the big-city papers reestablished their “long-underwear beat” reporters. Except for the “Daily Bugle.” For some reason Jameson couldn’t stand the superheroes. He thought they were frivolous and distracted time from the serious civil-rights reporting he believed ought to be a priority. Me, I loved working with the superhero freak show. So I left the “Bugle” and moved across town to the old “Daily Planet.” Stayed with them as their superhero man until they folded in 1977.”

The Turbulent Late '60s
In the late 1960s segments of public opinion began to turn against the costumed vigilantes. Members of the youth counterculture, some of whom felt that they had been unfairly harassed by the vigilantes, began denouncing them as closet fascists who used their professed admiration for law and order as an excuse for violent repression against the powerless elements of society. On at least two occasions public appearances of the JLA were confronted by picketers.

A desire to build bridges with the counterculture may explain the JLA’s startling decision in 1969 to admit Green Arrow and Black Canary to their ranks. Both Green Arrow and Black Canary claimed to be the originals, not “silver age” imitators. Green Arrow had appeared off and on throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, usually targeting heroin distribution gangs and protection rackets. In their public pronouncements Green Arrow and Black Canary had increasingly expressed sympathy with members of the counterculture and their efforts to find alternatives to what they considered a corrupt and stifling mainstream society.

“It was an uncomfortable fit,” Foxe recalled. “I remember one meeting where the JLA and JSA appeared together. You could almost cut the tension with a knife! Both the original and the new Hawkmen seemed especially to have trouble even getting near GA and the Canary. I think the JLA assigned their Green Lantern to serve as a kind of partner to them—they were both based in the Great Lakes region at that time. I think they both tried, but they didn’t get along all that well.”

Last Years
In 1973 Green Arrow and Black Canary left—or, depending on the account one reads, expelled from—the Justice League of America. After issuing statements denouncing their former teammates they disappeared from view. The rest of the JLA remained active. In later years they had a number of other members, such as the Red Tornado and the Blue Beetle, who stayed for various periods.

The old Justice Society of America continued to make appearances on occasion. “Rumor had it that the JLA and JSA used to get together once a year during the summer,” Foxe said. “I remember several occasions where they teamed up to give some street gang or other a good kicking. Our readers loved it when that happened!”

The JSA’s last appearance was in 1979. The JLA remained at work on into the 1980s, sometimes accompanied by the JSA’s Wildcat, who seems not to have retired at the same time as his other contemporaries. In 1985 their appearances dwindled. By the following year they had ceased. A new generation of costumed vigilantes took the stage.

But the world had still not yet heard the last of the Justice Society of America.

It's mine. After I wrote that "Batman Mysteries" series a while back I started wondering whether the "Daphneverse" had its own JSA as well. Turns out they did!

I'm enjoying this visit to the Daphneverse.
I hope to travel there often.
It's a most pleasant place.

Thank you, Tommy! That means a lot.

In this installment of our series we examine how former members of the Justice Society of America broke their decades-long silence to talk publicly about their careers as mystery men.

Heroes Tell Their Story

The End of the Heroic Era
The apparent final retirement of the JSA in 1979 did not end speculation about the team. During the 1980s journalist R.W. Thomas published a series of popular articles about them. Collected under the title The All-Star Squadron (a popular 1940s nickname for the JSA), Thomas’ chronicles were noteworthy for his claim that the JSA was actually created under the auspices of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in an effort to co-opt the mystery man vigilante phenomenon into the service of the federal government’s New Deal. In a sequel, America Versus the JSA, Thomas speculated that Roosevelt’s successor, Harry S. Truman, disbanded the team under pressure from members of Congress who had lost faith in the JSA’s loyalty in the wake of the Green Arrow scandal.

In the early 1990s, after the retirement of the JSA and its successors, the Justice League of America, a new wave of costumed vigilantes appeared. In numbers these “real-life superheroes” almost rivaled the “mystery men” of fifty years earlier. But they met with a very different reception. This time there were complaints about the widespread violence and brutality of the methods employed by many of the new vigilantes. Although some claimed that they were no more prone to the use of excessive force than the “Golden Age” mystery men had been, they were without question much more violent in their methods than the great majority of the superheroes of the 1960s-early 1980s had been.

By 1993 the situation had reached a point where there were calls for state and federal authorities to take action against them. The activities of New York’s “Azrael Batman” that year significantly strengthened these calls. In 1996 Congress passed the Keene Act, based on an earlier statute passed by the New York State legislature, outlawing all costumed vigilante activity. By the end of the year costumed vigilantes had all but disappeared nationwide.

The Heroes Speak Out
Two years later the nation was stunned when three former members of the JSA published The Justice Society of America: Our Own Story. The book’s primary author, retired Columbia University Professor of Archaeology Carter Hall revealed that he had been the original Hawkman. Hall credited his academic mentor, legendary Marshall College archaeologist-adventurer Professor Henry Walton Jones, Jr., as his inspiration in undertaking an adventurous career of his own. His girlfriend and future wife Shiera Sanders had joined him in some of his exploits as Hawkgirl. Their son, Hector Sanders, had later become the second Hawkman.

Co-author Jay Garrick, the founder of a small electronics manufacturing business in Philadelphia, had been the Flash. It was Garrick who had initiated contact with Hall to suggest the creation of a team of mystery men. Garrick was also the first JSA member to resume his vigilante career in the early 1960s in an effort to serve as a mentor to the new “superheroes” of that era. Garrick would not say who had become the second Flash, but insisted that it was nobody with close personal connections to himself.

The third author, Alan Scott, was a former civil engineer who later became head of a public television station in New York City. The original Green Lantern, Scott had helped to manage the JSA’s media career through contacts that he developed with New York area journalists. Scott also professed no personal connection with his “Silver Age” namesake.

The three former JSA members denied that the JSA had been created by the Roosevelt Administration, as Thomas had claimed. Nonetheless, Thomas was substantially correct in saying that Roosevelt had taken advantage of the JSA by giving it a kind of quasi-official status. “Hoover was initially very hard to convince,” Hall wrote. “But the President finally won his and the FBI’s support over. Over time we earned a measure of trust from Hoover and developed a strong working relationship. The FBI made good use of some of the intelligence we gathered on criminal activities around the country, and did us some favors in return.”

The FBI’s support came in especially handy in during the 1950 Green Arrow scandal. “We did some real soul-searching there,” Hall recalled. “On the one hand all of us were thoroughly disgusted by what Green Arrow had said. On the other, most of the team did not much admire Senator McCarthy and felt that things had gone too far in that area. There were a couple of members who worried that action against Green Arrow would look like suppression of free speech on our part. In the end, though, we arrived at a unanimous decision to expel him. Most of us did not feel that his subsequent history did anything to suggest that we had done the wrong thing.”

Hall and his co-authors denied that the Green Arrow scandal had anything to do with the JSA’s subsequent first retirement. “Hoover backed us up strongly after we expelled Green Arrow. As far as everybody whose opinion mattered was concerned, we had redeemed ourselves. We were under no pressure to cooperate further or disband.” So why had they disbanded? “We were tired. We weren’t kids any more—we had families, and careers. It was time to devote more of our time to our other responsibilities.”

"Senior Statesmen"
A decade further on, the emergence of a new wave of “superheroes” prompted the retired JSA members to reconsider. “Jay was the first. He made a point of going back into action in order to meet the new Flash. He liked what he saw, but he was also concerned that the new generation would re-make some of our own old mistakes. I remember well his words to me at the time: ‘Cart, we’re the senior statesmen of this whole movement. We have a duty to this new generation to help them.’”

And so the members of the JSA reunited and became active again. “Of course we couldn’t do everything we used to do. We had all stayed exceptionally fit for our age, but we were hardly getting any younger. We made enough appearances and did enough intelligence gathering to keep our hands in and let everybody know that we were still around.”
Most of all, the members of the JSA tried to mentor their successors, both individually and as a group. Hall spent a great deal of time working with his son Hector, the second Hawkman, despite his strong initial reluctance for Hector to follow in his footsteps. Most other former JSA members who had “Silver Age” namesakes eventually formed good relationships with them. “Then there was Wildcat, of course. Nobody ever tried to imitate him. I don’t suppose anybody else ever truly could have, with any success. He was popular with the young folks, though.”

Much as they enjoyed their continued activity, and their relationship with their successors, the JSA members knew that they could not go on forever. In 1979 they held one final meeting in which they decided to disband. “By then we were just about pushing retirement age, for Heaven’s sake! It was time to hang it up. We decided to go quietly. The future of “superheroing” was in good hands, we thought. But that’s another story, I’m afraid.”

In addition to telling their own stories, Hall, Garrick, and Scott described the careers of several fellow JSA members. It is to their stories that we turn in our next article.

In their book The Justice Society of America: Our Own Story former JSA members Carter (Hawkman) Hall, Jay (Flash) Garrick, and Alan (Green Lantern) Scott gave an inside view of the JSA’s history. In addition they spoke of several deceased fellow members of the JSA.

The Roll Call of the Deceased

The Spectre
The Spectre was James Corrigan, a police officer in Boston, Massachusetts. “Jim’s uncle was a carnival magician who taught him a lot about stage magic,” Carter Hall wrote. “Jim got the idea of using his skills as an illusionist as a kind of psychological warfare against criminals. He used to say that they were `a cowardly, superstitious lot.’ He actually had a number of Boston-area hoods believing that if they ever ran into him their immortal souls would be forfeit! I met colleagues of his on the police force—who knew nothing of his secret identity—who swore that tales about the Spectre scared some kids straight.”

During World War II Corrigan remained on the police force, but chafed at remaining stateside dealing with black marketers while there was a war on. In 1944 he resigned the force and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He became a lieutenant in the Sixth Marine Division and served with distinction during the Okinawa campaign in the closing months of the war against Japan. In May 1945 Lt. Corrigan was killed in action. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

“That was what we meant when we said that the Spectre was `the one who gave the most for his country’ at that postwar press conference,” Hall said. “He and tens of thousands more like him were bigger heroes than any of the rest of us ever dreamed of being.”

The Atom
Born Albert Rothstein in Brooklyn, Albert “Al” Pratt’s upwardly family changed their surname when he was a boy in an effort to distance themselves from their Jewish heritage at a time when anti-Semitism was still common. According to Hall, “Al’s parents pushed him to excel in everything—both in sports and in academics. He was determined not to let his short stature keep him from impressing everybody with his physique.”

Hall met Pratt at Columbia University. “I was a graduate student in archaeology; he was an undergrad with an interest in physics. But we shared a common love of sports and used to see each other a lot at the games. Later we learned that we had a common interest in vigilante activity as well. When Jay Garrick and I started talking about forming a team Al was the first one I thought about inviting to join.”

Upon his graduation in 1943 Pratt, by now a highly promising student in physics, was recruited into the top-secret Manhattan Project and worked on the world’s first nuclear weapons. “What he did has never been fully declassified. Apparently he spent a lot of time in close contact with nuclear isotopes. Shortly after we disbanded in 1979 he had the first of what would be several bouts of cancer. He fought it valiantly off and on for many years. It finally claimed him in 1994.”

Dr. Mid-Nite
Dr. Mid-Nite was, remarkably enough, an actual medical doctor, Dr. Charles McNider. “Despite his education, he was something of a fan of pulp magazines and their heroes,” Hall wrote. “They inspired him to create a costumed identity and fight crime for kicks.”

The JSA’s final prewar recruit became the first to leave to join the military, in 1942. As a military surgeon he rose to the rank of captain and served near the front lines during the Allied invasion of Normandy. In July 1944, while visiting a frontline aid station, McNider was caught in a tragic “friendly fire” incident in which Allied aircraft accidentally bombed their own lines. McNider was struck in both eyes by flying debris and suffered permanent loss of sight.

“That’s when Chuck showed what a real hero he was. No longer able to treated wounded bodies, he began treating wounded minds as a counselor for newly disabled veterans. He carried on with that sort of work for the rest of his working life. He was especially popular with men who had suffered disfigurement, since they knew he would not judge them by their appearance.

“After the war Chuck insisted on appearing with the rest of the JSA at a couple of press conferences. Outside of that he was no longer active as a vigilante. So far as we know—I wouldn’t have put it past him to keep trying! He really was amazing—he learned to play the piano, he developed this remarkable `echo-locating’ ability to help himself get around. I can remember seeing him walking down the street one day swinging his cane around his wrist as if he didn’t have a care in the world. A casual observer would have been hard-pressed to tell that he was blind.”

Dr. Charles McNider died in 1994, at the age of seventy-eight.

Wildcat
The product of an impoverished working-class background, Ted Grant was a talented amateur boxer who made several appearances as a mystery man vigilante in the early 1940s. After Pearl Harbor he entered the Army and served in the First Division, seeing extensive combat in Tunisia, Italy, and France. He was wounded twice.

After the war Grant had difficulty adjusting to civilian life and resumed his career as a mystery man. It was then that he joined the JSA. “Ted had a lot of anger and emotion locked away inside him. Working with us helped him to channel all of that into a constructive outlet. Some disturbed veterans turned to alcoholism or other vices. He became a fighter in a worthy cause.”

After the JSA disbanded for the final time in 1979 Grant remained active as a vigilante, occasionally working with the Justice League of America. During one such operation in 1985 a blow to the head caused the aging Grant to suffer a debilitating stroke that left him confined to a wheelchair. “It was heartbreaking to see him that way,” Hall recalled. “He tried to maintain a good attitude to the end.”

Ted Grant died in 1994, the same year as Al Pratt and Charles McNider. "That was a very bad year for us," Hall wrote.

Wow! Just wow!

I'm sure it would please the librarian in you to know that reading your articles
caused me to read history and news articles about the real world
that parrallel the times you employ.
No matter how hard I try to remain ignorant you have forced me to learn.

Please continue this series and point me to any others I might have missed.

I really enjoyed this, Daphne. Thanks!

Kevin, I almost hate you!
When I looked at the Index and saw that this thread and her other DC Superhero fiction thread were updated,
I could not contain my excitement that Daphne had written more entries.
But ..... all it was were your comments.
Like I said, I almost hate you.
Almost, because how can I hate someone with such good taste in reading?

And now, by submitting this post, here and in the other thread, I'm inviting someone else
to hate me for the same reason!
And the world goes round and round.