The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in All Star Comics #3, making it the first team of superheroes in comic books. Its original members were Doctor Fate, Hourman, the Spectre, Sandman, Atom, the Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman.
Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam, is a superhero in American comic books originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics. Artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker created the character in 1939. Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2, published by Fawcett Comics. He is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a boy who, by speaking the magic word "SHAZAM!", is transformed into a costumed adult with the powers of superhuman strength, speed, flight, and other abilities. The character battles an extensive rogues' gallery, most of them working in tandem as the Monster Society of Evil, including primary archenemies Black Adam, Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind. Billy often shares his powers with other children, primarily his sister Mary Batson and their best friend/foster brother Freddy Freeman, who also transform into superheroes and fight crime with Billy as members of the Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family or Shazamily.
Starman is fictional superhero in the DC Comics Universe and a member of the Justice Society of America. He is the son of the original Starman, Ted Knight. Created by James Robinson and Tony Harris, he first appeared in Zero Hour #1.
Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book miniseries published in 1996 by DC Comics under their Elseworlds imprint. It was written by Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Alex Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea.
The Golden Age is a 1993 four-issue Elseworlds comic book mini-series by writer James Robinson and artist Paul Smith. It concerns the Golden Age DC Comics superheroes entering the 1950s and facing the advent of McCarthyism.
The Crime Syndicate are teams of supervillains from one of DC Comics' parallel universes where they are the evil counterparts of the Justice League. The original team was specifically known as the Crime Syndicate of America and is sometimes abbreviated as CSA. This first superpowered Crime Syndicate team appeared in Justice League of America #29 in August 1964. The primary successive incarnation, known as the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, first appeared in the 2000 JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel.
Courtney Elizabeth Whitmore, known as Stargirl, is a superhero created by Geoff Johns and Lee Moder who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character's name, appearance, and personality were patterned after Johns' 18-year-old sister Courtney, who died in the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
The Seven Soldiers of Victory is a team of fictional comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Leading Comics #1, and were created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin. The team was a short-lived assembly of some of the less famous superheroes in the DC Universe who have made occasional appearances since their Golden Age debut.
The Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family, are a group of superheroes who originally appeared in books published by Fawcett Comics and were later acquired by DC Comics. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and artist Marc Swayze, the team was created as an extension of Fawcett's Captain Marvel franchise, and included Marvel's sister Mary Marvel, their friend Captain Marvel Jr., and, at various times, a number of other characters as well.
Amazing-Man is the name used by four fictional characters published by DC Comics. The first three are African-American superheroes and are members of the same family. The first Amazing-Man debuted in All-Star Squadron #23, and was created by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway. The second Amazing-Man debuted in Justice League America #86, and was created by Dan Vado and Marc Campos. The third Amazing-Man debuted in Justice Society of America vol. 3 #12, and was created by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham. The fourth Amazing Man debuted in OMAC vol. 3 #2, and was created by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen.
Bulletman and Bulletgirl are fictional superheroes originally published by Fawcett Comics.
"Alias the Spider" is a superhero feature from the Golden Age of Comic Books that appeared in Quality Comics' Crack Comics for nearly three years, starting with issue #1 in 1940. He was created by writer-artist Paul Gustavson.
The Squadron of Justice was a name used by two superhero teams of characters who originated from Fawcett Comics. Each team only made one appearance in a single story.
Mister Mind is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of Captain Marvel. Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics, the character made a cameo appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures #22 before making his full first appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures #26. Mister Mind is a two-inch alien caterpillar of high intelligence with telepathic powers who usually carries out his villainous plans through an organization called the Monster Society of Evil. The Society made its debut in Captain Marvel Adventures #22, and the resulting "Monster Society of Evil" story arc continued for two years in Captain Marvel Adventures, ending with issue #46.
The Monster Society of Evil is a supervillain team created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. It is led by Mister Mind against their mutual enemy Captain Marvel. The team is significant as one of the first supervillain teams in comics to contain villains that a superhero had fought previously; prior to this, supervillain teams were composed of villains created just for that storyline. In fact, the Monster Society consists of every major enemy Captain Marvel had ever faced.
Countdown: Arena is a four-issue American comic book mini-series published by DC Comics. Written by Keith Champagne with illustrations by Scott McDaniel, it was released over four weeks in December 2007.
DC Universe: Legacies is a 2010–2011 ten-issue comic book limited series written by Len Wein and published by DC Comics. It details the perspective of an admirer of superheroes in the DC Universe from the Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern eras of comic books.
The 1940s were an essential time for DC Comics. Both National Comics Publications and All-American Publications would introduce many new featured superheroes in American comic books in superhero comics anthology tales like More Fun Comics, Adventure Comics, Detective Comics, Action Comics, All-American Comics, Superman, Flash Comics, Batman, All Star Comics, World's Finest Comics, All-Flash, Star Spangled Comics, Green Lantern, Leading Comics, Sensation Comics, Wonder Woman, Comic Cavalcade and Superboy that would be a staple for the comic book company. Examples of the superheroes include the Flash, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt, Spectre, Hourman, Robin, Doctor Fate, Congo Bill, Green Lantern, Atom, Manhunter, Doctor Mid-Nite, Sargon the Sorcerer, Starman, Johnny Quick, the Shining Knight, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, Tarantula, Vigilante, Green Arrow and Speedy, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Sandy, the Golden Boy, Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Air Wave, Guardian, Robotman, TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite, Liberty Belle, Superboy and Black Canary. These characters would later crossover in superhero team titles in the 1940s such as the Justice Society of America and the Seven Soldiers of Victory helping pave a way to a shared universe of the publication company. Other used featured characters outside of superheroes included kid titular heroes like the Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos. Later Western heroes would be used such as Johnny Thunder, Nighthawk and Pow Wow Smith.
