Here’s my pitch for a first issue of a brand-new Justice Society of America series…
We start off in The Speed Force… Jay Garrick has no idea how long he’s been trapped there; after all, seconds; minutes, days and months all blend into one in this place. However, he is aware that some being (or possibly beings) have tampered with the world. He also knows that while Wally believes that they had only stolen 10 years from everyone, in reality; it’s so much worse than that.
An entire generation has been stolen. Decades of tradition and heroism have been snuffed out in the blink of an eye. Why? Jay honestly has no idea, maybe the force behind this has some vendetta against the heroes of earth; maybe they want to examine an alternate history but for whatever the reason; Jay knows that he can’t let this being tinker with time, space and reality like it’s some toy…he knows he must escape!
But therein lies a problem: speedsters need a connection with someone in order to escape the speed force; to keep themselves from fading into it and the mysterious force behind the alterations to reality has erased every connection that Jay once had. His wife Joan is now a spinster, his friends have lived lives without ever knowing each other; let alone him and even Barry Allen, his successor; failed to recognize him even after he saved both Barry and Batman from falling into the timestream. At this point, Jay Garrick is about to resign himself to his fate and drift into the nirvana provided by the speed force.
Just then, he hears an elderly voice calling out, “Cei-U.”
Jay’s eyes widen in shock as he says, “Wait! What was that?”
“Cei-U.” The old and tired voice says again, the words echoing through the speed force and it’s a voice that Jay recognizes.
“I-it can’t be! He’s dead! I saw him die!” Jay exclaims
“Please.” The old voice cries in sorrow, “Please bring them back. Bring my friends back!”
And for the first time in a long while, with a smile on his face; Jay begins to run.
Capital City…
Alan Scott has lived a good life. Back in the late thirties, he built Capital Communications from the ground up and even as technology advanced from film to digital; CC has kept up with the times. Even in an age of superpowered men and women, of psychotic clowns and bat-themed vigilantes, information is still vital. Tonight is the wedding rehearsal for his son, Todd and his daughter, Jennifer Lynn-Hayden has flown in from California just for this but as Alan is about to step out of his office; his attention turns to an antique that lines his desk.
A green train lantern. The blonde-haired man can’t recall buying such a strange object or where he bought it, maybe on one of his travels to China and whenever he looks at the lantern; oddly enough, his right ring finger twitches; though why it does so is unknown to him.
Seattle…
If you take one look at Ted Grant, you might only assume that the man is in his mid sixties instead of his mid nineties. Many believe that the reason for his fit shape is due to his boxing. Even after retiring from playing the sport professionally, Ted has continued his daily routine well into his twilight years.
Currently, Ted is in the middle of his routine by punching a sandbag; a few years ago, he would have called his buddy Al Pratt to box with him. Unfortunately, however; Al died of a heart attack about 3 years ago. Naturally, this is still a huge blow for Ted; since Al is one of the few friends of his that was still around. The ravages of old age have taken most of his buddies and Ted is the only one left. This is a thought that does not make the boxer very happy.
Keystone City, the Good Life Home for the Elderly…
Johnny Thunder’s life has been hell for the last few decades. Everyone around him believes him to be crazy since he rambles on about supposedly lost heroes and how their becoming lost is all his fault. He has since been committed to this place, The Good Life Home for the Elderly; where the nurses keep constantly trying to up his medication.
But he isn’t crazy, for the past few decades; Johnny has been trying to bring his friends back. Back in the sixties, the government was threatening him and his friends to retire; lest they be branded as traitors to their country. In order to save his friends, Johnny had called upon his genie; the Thunderbolt and wished that everyone would forget about the JSA.
Unfortunately, it was only after the wish had been granted that the former hero realized how badly he’d messed up. He attempted to find his friends but none of them recognized him and shooed him away, believing that he was simply a nutcase; he then tried to get help from other heroes from his generation but was met with the same results.
Not only have his friends forgotten their careers as heroes but the entire world has forgotten that they ever existed. Johnny then attempted to summon the Thunderbolt again and undo his wish, only to find that his powers were gone as well and since then; he has attempted to summon the Thunderbolt but to no avail.
But hope had returned to the old man when a mysterious young man covered in lightning appeared to him and told him that he needed to find the Justice Society and that’s what he’s been doing nonstop for the past 3 months, only stopping to eat; sleep and take care of himself.
Tonight is no exception as he sits on his bed, his arms around his knees as he continues to say the magic word, “Cei-U! Cei-U! Please, I’m sorry!” The old man cries out, not a spark coming from any corner of the room. Johnny collapses in despair, whispering, “Please.”
And suddenly, there erupts a large burst of lightning that makes Johnny jump from his bed. He recognizes this as a similar situation to when the young man in yellow visited him but this one is different; as the being that starts to form is a man of his age.
“Johnny!” The man in lightning shouts before holding out his arm and urging, “QUICK! TAKE MY HAND!”
“Again?” The old man questions, his eyes widening in shock, “It’s happening again!”
“Hurry!” The man exclaims as blue lightning starts to zap him, “They know I’m here! They’re trying to keep me in the speed force!”
“W-who?” The scared old man asks, only to get a yelp of pain in response as the man starts to fade away but in an instant; Johnny remembers who this man was. He runs towards the man in the lightning, faster than he has run in the past 50 years and grabs his arms; calling out the man’s name, “JAY!”
Johnny pulls with all his might and the man in lightning bursts forth, fully manifesting into the physical world. Johnny lands on his behind and looks up, tears of joy falling from his eyes and a smile forming on his face; standing above him as a man about his age with fading brown hair that has some flecks of gray, blue eyes; wearing a skintight red shirt with a massive lightning bolt on the front of it, blue pants, red boots with gold wings on the sides and a silver helmet with gold wings that brings to mind the god Mercury.
“I’m back.” Jay whispers to himself as he looks over his hands, “I’m back!”
He then picks up Johnny and gives his old friend a hug, saying, “You did it, you crazy kid!”
“I did it? I did it!” Johnny shouts as he hugs his friend back, more tears of happiness flowing down his face, “I fixed everything!” he says in jubilation.
Just then, the sound of banging on the door to Johnny’s room can be heard as one of the orderlies shouts, “Mr. Thunder! What the hell is going on in there?!” before breaking down the door and much to their confusion; Johnny Thunder is nowhere to be seen. A few blocks away from the retirement home, Jay Garrick has used his speed to get the 2 of them to the top of a nearby building.
“Jay, I’m so sorry.” Johnny says, getting Jay’s attention, “I didn’t mean for all this to happen.”
This just confuses the old speedster, who asks his friend, “What are you talking about?”
Johnny explains, “Back in the sixties, when McCarthy and his committee were cracking down on us; I… I used Thunderbolt. I wished that the world would just forget about the JSA and they did,” Johnny’s jovial mood quickly gets replaced by a more somber one as he continues explaining, “Everyone did. Alan, Wesley; Ted, Kent; Dinah. Even the Seven Soldiers and the All-Stars forgot. They forgot they were heroes, forgot they were friends and the world turned sour.”
He then falls on his knees and begins to weep, “It’s all my fault.”
“No it isn’t,” Jay says, offering a comforting hand to his friend; telling him, “You didn’t change the world, Johnny.”
“I…but… my wish…” The old man says in confusion.
Jay then tells Johnny, “Listen, I’ve been trapped in the speed force for who knows how long and I remember how the world was and how it changed; trust me Johnny, you didn’t change anything.”
“I didn’t?” Johnny asks, wiping away his tears, “Then…who did?”
“I don’t know but what I do know is that they’re starting to make their next move,” Jay says; standing up at staring at the night sky as lightning strikes through the clouds. He tells Johnny, “Wally was the first one to break through and that started to change everything, then Superman merged the histories of the old and new timelines together and they know that.”
He turns back to his old friend, telling him, “We’re going to need everybody for what comes next. The world needs the Justice Society of America once again.”
And hearing this once more makes Johnny smile, after decades of guilt; decades of isolation, he feels a new sense of hope once more as he simply says, “It’s about damn time.”
But what the two of them haven’t realized yet is that they’ve once more altered the world. The moment that Jay re-materializes in this world, a shockwave echoes across the timeline. In Ohio, a young historian stops in his tracks as he suddenly recognizes an exhibit dedicated to his grandfather. In New Mexico, Ted Kord suddenly recalls how he got the scarab when his mentor Dan Garrett died to protect him. In Washington DC, Courtney Whitmore recalls the man who gave to her the cosmic staff and in Seattle, Ted Grant looks through a locker at the end of his gym, revealing a worn-out black catsuit.
All over the world, old men and women start to remember their lives and their loved ones begin to remember as well. None more so than Alan Scott, who feels a slight headache before looking down at his right hand and seeing a green lantern-shaped ring appear on his middle finger. With a smile on his face, he approaches the lantern on his desk and picks it up; he then places the ring to the lantern, causing the mystical green energy to shine forth as he begins to say an oath for the first time in decades, “And I shall shine my light over dark evil, for dark things cannot stand the light! The light of… The Green Lantern!”
As he says this, a bright green fire spreads over Alan Scott but it does not burn him; instead, it begins to make the man younger and a new outfit begins to replace his usual attire. An outfit consisting of a dark purple cape with green inner lining, red boots; green pants, a brown belt; a red shirt with an emblem of a green lantern in a yellow circle and a green domino mask covering his face. With this transformation complete, Alan feels a new sense of life shining bright as the emerald light that surrounds him.
And in an undisclosed laboratory, a red-haired scientist is observing the mask of Johnny Sorrow. When the former Suicide Squad member was captured by the combined forces of the Justice League and the current Suicide Squad; she became part of the team tasked with uncovering the otherworldly mysteries of the mask and right now, the mask is saying something with glee: “The Society is lost no more.”
To be continued in JSA issue 1!
Preview for the Next Issue: THE FIRST SUPERHERO TEAM IS BACK! Jay Garrick, the first Flash; has returned to the DC universe and the first-order of business is rebuilding the Justice Society of America! Alan Scott, the Golden age Green Lantern! Ted Grant a.k.a. Wildcat and many more! But old enemies have also returned and have begun targeting the JSA. Will Jay and Johnny be able to bring their friends together before it’s too late? Find out in “Let Justice Prevail!” Part 1!
As for who to write this series, if Geoff Johns wants to come back then awesome; great; love it, I’m down! And like all comics, every writer must be paired with an artist so in terms of who I would pick to do the art for this book; I’d 'personally like to see what Rafa Sandoval could do on this series.
