Origin
First things first – there would be no Justice League without writer Gardner Fox. The DC legend – whose other credits include Sandman, Hawkman, Flash and Batgirl – worked with Sheldon Mayer to create the spiritual ancestor of Justice League: the Justice Society of America. This was the first ever team of superheroes in comics, having first appeared in All Star Comics #3 in 1940. For historical DC context, Superman was created in 1938, Batman in 1939, and Wonder Woman in 1941. For comparison, Fantastic Four did not debut in Marvel comics until 1961, while the X-Men and the Avengers both made their first appearances in 1963.
The Justice Society of America originally comprised Doctor Fate, Hour-Man, Spectre, Sandman, Atom, Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, and the comics worked on the rule that any character gaining their own title would go from being an ‘active member’ to being an ‘honorary member.’ For this reason, Superman and Batman were always held as ‘honorary members’ – the later DC Special #29 (1977) finally having established their role in the founding of the team – and Wonder Woman featured as the team secretary, initially prevented from participating in Justice Society missions.
The original Justice Society of America run ended in 1951, but its absence was soon felt. Creator Gardner Fox was invited to reintroduce the superhero team, re-branded as Justice League of America, and he did so with artist Mike Sekowsky. Debuting in The Brave And The Bold #28 in 1960, the re-imagined team earned their own title by the end of that year, and has continued in print intermittently ever since.
The arrival of the Justice League of America in 1960 began a 24 month period that would see DC transition its catalogue from the ‘Golden Age’ to the ‘Silver Age’ – a change that would see the revival of the Justice Society of America, and the introduction of an ongoing narrative device that would pay creative dividends for decades to come. With The Flash #123 in 1961, DC had its first Flash – Jay Garrick – meet the next Flash – Barry Allen – in a storyline that established alternate universes in the realm of DC comic books. In this new set-up, the Justice League of America existed on ‘Earth One,’ and the Justice Society of America existed on ‘Earth Two’ – something that eventually gave rise to the epic 1985 limited series, Crisis On Infinite Earths.
