In hindsight, it seemed like not the right call because it helped to split up the JSA and made them vulnerable when facing the ISA and inadvertently leading to most of their deaths. However, at the time, part of the decision may also have been vengeance and not justice. Do not forget that Eclipso was responsible for the death of Dr Midnite’s daughter which impacted them greatly. They were going off Shade’s word too that this was the only way to stop him. This reminded me of the great and controversial comic series Identity Crisis. One of their villains did something so heinous that the heroes did something they would never have thought to do, wipe a villain’s mind. This came back to haunt them years later as the secrets came out, which we are seeing play out with Courtney’s anger at not being told this secret. At the time they were battling Eclipso, I do not know if they had many supernatural heroes who could have helped them at the time to determine an alternate way, such as exorcising Eclipso first and then trapping him in the diamond. I believe they would have had Spectre, but he may have been in his wrath of God phase so maybe he would have done the same. Alan Scott’s ring brings light and was mystical in nature at that time, so maybe there could have been something there. I just know they were suffering losses, and then a family member was killed, so this may have led to the decision to stop before anyone else gets hurt. Would we be having this conversation if it was just something like Doomsday and not a spirit that inhabits someone innocent?
I have been a huge fan of John Wesley Shipp for a long time as shown in my drawing for the weekly challenge for DC Fan Art Club: Weekly Art Challenge #59 Submission Thread - September 4 - 11, 2021 - JSA! - #11 by ImpulseMaxMercury
I loved the Flash when it was originally on TV and I like that he now represents the earlier generation. His upbeat and positive nature have been perfect. I like that he looks out for all members of the team and treats Pat with respect as well. This goes along with his nature as a father figure. He was in the role in multiple universes, as on Earth-Prime, he was mentor to Impulse. He has appeared as the same character across both shows, so it makes you wonder if in the past on Earth-2, maybe in the final battle with the ISA, he crossed over to our Earth-Prime and had a life there. Then, it could be all tied together across the multiverse. We really do not know much of Earth-Prime’s Jay’s backstory so this could be interesting if this was what happened. My only complaint was that he was only very briefly on the episode and did not have much air time, but that also made sense as the focus was on Starman and their decision to kill Bruce. Of course, having this focus also made me kinda dislike the team’s treatment of Pat as just a sidekick. They did not seem very heroic to me when they kept being condescending to them, even though he had valid points. Did Batman treat Robin that way?