Notice! Contains spoilers for Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #33!
When it comes to superhero teams, few are more famous than the Justice League, and their fame is so great that they caught the attention of the Justice Society of America. This led some fans to speculate about a possible rivalry between the two teams, but DC dispelled those rumors once and for all.
Batman/Superman: the best in the world #33 – written by Mark Waid, with art by Adrian Gutierrez – put an end to this rivalry between the Justice League and the Justice Society of America, in a story that showed the feared villain Eclipso escaping from his prison once again and trying bathe the Earth in eternal darkness.
Fortunately, both the Justice Society of America and the Justice League took sides against him, in a fight to save the world that showed how the two teams complement each other, with the latter complementing the former’s legacy rather than supplanting it.
The Original Flash confirms that the JSA never had animosity towards the Justice League
Batman/Superman: the best in the world #33 – Written by Mark Waid; Art by Adrian Gutierrez; Color by Matt Herms; Steve Wands lyrics
In The best in the world #33, with Eclipso’s power of control, he is able to take control of the Justice League. Although they manage to break free from this, Eclipso simply moves into the Justice Society of America, taking control and trying to prey on their insecurities. This leads to some interesting revelations about how the JSA feels about the Justice League – establishing that in the DC Comics canon, the Justice Society does not believe the League steals its spotlight as the more famous team.
Made up of heavyweights like Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Ted Grant, Kent Nelson and several others, the Society has played a vital role in comic book history.
While the Justice League is certainly the most popular superhero team in the DC Universe, they were far from the first. Often depicted operating during World War II, the JSA were some of the first heroes Earth had in the DC canon. Made up of heavyweights like Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Ted Grant, Kent Nelson and several others, the Society has played a vital role in comic book history. These were the first iterations of iconic characters like Green Lantern and Flash, and characters like Dr. Fate have remained some of the most powerful in the universe.
The Justice League didn’t usurp the Justice Society’s legacy, they carried it forward
DC’s long lineage of heroism
There’s no denying that the Justice League has some of the most popular characters of all time. This popularity goes beyond the DC Universe; There are few fictional characters that reach the popularity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. When the Justice League appeared starring the three, it instantly became DC’s flagship team, leaving the JSA aside. It wouldn’t be surprising if this created animosity towards the Justice League from the JSA, but Jay Garrick himself admits that this is not the case.
Comic books often revolve around legacy. Legacy heroes are a whole subgenre of characters in this industry. If it weren’t for characters like Batman, there would be no Nightwing, and if there wasn’t Jay Garrick, there would be no Barry Allen or Wally West. Although it may seem on the surface that huge teams like the Justice League are replacing the JSA or the teams that came before. This is simply not the case. As Jay Garrick himself says, it was the Justice Society of America that lit the ring, but it was the Justice League who picked it up and have been carrying it ever since.
Batman/Superman: the best in the world #33 is now available from DC Comics!