The Return of ‘Earth-2’ & The Original Justice Society of America

It’s been quite a long while since DC Comics has given FanBoyWonder much cause for excitement but we must admit that our pulse started racing when we spied first the cover then the preview for Justice Society of America Annual #1—on sale in July.

The beautiful Alex Ross cover was like viewing a window back in time—circa 1983—as it shows the Justice Society of America and Infinity Inc.—the heroes of Earth-2—just as we remembered them back in the day.

Here’s The Upshot From DC Comics: "Welcome to Earth-2!" Power Girl has made a life for herself on our world, as a member and chairwoman of the Justice Society of America and as a hero in her own right.

But she's never stopped dreaming of one day returning to her Earth — the parallel world where the members of the Justice Society were the only heroes. Where her best friend was The Huntress/Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman. And where evil was a little easier to fight…wasn't it? As her greatest wish comes true, Power Girl's about to find herself back on Earth-2, surrounded by friends she thought she'd lost forever.

A quick primer about Earth-2 for those of you not yet alive prior to 1985’s universe shattering event CRISIS on Infinite Earths, here’s a quickie explanation lifted (with credit) from Comic Book Resources:

Earth-2 -- or Earth-Two, as it was known -- was an alternate reality Earth and home to the Justice Society of America and many of DC’s Golden Age characters including the Superman of the 1940s and 1950s, also known as Kal-L. Originally, Power Girl was introduced as Kal-L’s cousin and lived in the Earth-2 universe as Kara Zor-L.

Earth-2 was itself restored, in a fashion, in the pages of “52” and with the appearance of the “Justice Society of America Annual” teaser, it would seem the writer has set his restorative sights on Earth-2’s Huntress, the daughter of Earth-2’s Batman and Catwoman.

“Huntress is the reason we are doing this. She’s Batman’s daughter and she kicks ass,” JSA writer Geoff Johns told CBR. “She’s awesome. And it’s a thrill to write her.”

The thrill for FanBoyWonder is seeing that Mr. Earth-2 himself Jerry Ordway will be the issue’s artist. Back in the days of Roy Thomas’ All Star Squadron and later Infinity Inc., Ordway became the single-most artist associated with the heroes of the Golden Age and their next generation Infinity Inc.

Pictured prominently on the Alex Ross cover is the Huntress and Earth-2 Robin. As daughter and adopted son of the Earth-2 Batman, there was no way that they could survive the post-CRISIS universe as Power Girl did.

However, PG suffered a fate worse than death over the years as her origin and her personality were frequently and seemingly haphazardly retro-coned. The only good thing to come out of DC 2005 clusterf**k called Infinite Crisis was restoring Power Girl’s Kryptonian origin as the sole survivor of the multiverse.

Even as we are excited to see Robin and the Huntress of our youth, we also have regretfully concluded that their deaths were necessary. We think that blending the Justice Society into “New Earth” as the predecessors to the Justice League was one of the best things DC ever did—even as DC kept trying to kill off the JSA (see Last Days of the Justice Society and Zero Hour).

As we see the message boards lighting up with the question of “New Earth” JSA vs. Earth-2 JSA, we ask why there has to be a choice. DC restored the multiverse (after a fashion) in 52 so why isn’t there room for New JSA and Justice Society “Classic”?

Place your orders now—Justice Society of America Annual #1, one sale July 30.