Justice Society Volume 1

Justice Society, Vol. 1 by Paul Levitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Justice Society members are feeling their age in these post WWII adventures, partly because of new members Star-Spangled Kid, the now adult Robin, and Superman's cousin, Powergirl!

I stumbled on this volume at the disappointing comic convention I went to not too long ago. I have some ragged copies of a couple issues in this run in a tote in the basement but I decided to snap it up anyway.

+This volume collects All-Star Comics #58-67 and DC Special #29. The stories are from 1976-77 and are fairly typical of the time period. The JSA battle Brainwave, Degaton, Vandal Savage, and the Injustice Society but most of the tension comes from within. Young upstarts Powergirl and Star-Spangled Kid upset the applecart a bit.

I didn't realize what an indepdendent streak Powergirl had at the time of her creation, much like Ms. Marvel. DC was pushing to do more relevant comics at the time so Powergirl's feminism was probably a product of that. The stories tended toward two-parters, something that slightly surprised me. They were pretty average in quality, although everyone except Powergirl looked like a chump more often than not, especially Wildcat. With all the tension within the team, it felt more like a Marvel book.

The art was good but the rotation of artists hurt it a little. Wally Wood, Keith Giffen, and Joe Staton all took a turn at the helm. I'm not sure which one of them designed Powergirl's costume with the boob window, though. Star-Spangled Kid wielding the cosmic rod and later the cosmic converter belt answered some questions I had from James Robinson's Starman run.

Justice Society volume 1 is an interesting trade that shows there have been a lot of times in DCs past that they just didn't know what to do with the Justice Society. I think Roy Thomas did a much better job with All-Star Squadron a few years later. Three out of five stars.



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