Whatever Happened to the Perisphere and Trylon

A central mystery in the history of the Justice Society was its short-lived satellite headquarters, secretly designed by the sinister Eliminations, Inc. which sought revenge of the heroic team's defeat of its forebearer, the Binary Brotherhood. Retrofitting equipment from their Flying Eye craft, which the Binary Brotherhood brain trust developed as a subterfuge for an alien attack, in order for the adversarial nations of World War II to unite together. When members of the Justice Society of America accompanied by those of the All-Star Squadron thwarted their misguided plan for world peace, the Brotherhood as Eliminations, Inc. formed a plan to strike back at their foes. In order to accomplish this, they used a historic headquarters where both teams met until 1945.

On Earth-One and Earth-Prime, like Earth-Two, the Perisphere and Trylon were the centerpieces of the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City. By 1940, both structures had falled into disrepair, and were soon after scrapped with the metal being used for the war effort... at least on other Earths. On Earth-Two, perhaps due to superior construction techniques (given that technology on this world was decades ahead of their parallel planets in a number of ways), both building remained until the spring of 1942 when the All-Star Squadron claimed both as their new base of operations. However, once this team dissolved in 1945 at the conclusion of the war, the question remained... whatever happened to these two landmarks?

Again, on other Earths in 1949, the next World’s Fair took place in Haiti. However, on Earth-Two, that year's World’s Fair took place in the midwestern metropolis known as Civic City. There, both buildings were transplanted to that city's designated fair grounds, and were still there the following year in 1950 when disasters struck this burgeoning burg. The sinister Diamond Men from below Earth-Two rose to the surface, both through a notable local geyser and a deep lake within the city's bounderies. On hand to deal with and defeat the Diamond Men were the Justice Society, although one of the subterranean race's incursion into Civic City seemingly toppled the Perisphere and Trylon.

However, the following year in 1951, the Justice Society were lured into orbit above Earth-Two by a mysterious benefactor, who claimed to have bequeathed them a satellite headquarters, specifically designed by his organization. This turned out to be a death trap, one which the seven Society members were able to escape, after which Green Lantern transported the satellite back to Earth. He and his teammates then brought its creators... Professor Ivo and his Eliminations, Inc. cohorts to justice. However, a subsequent congressional hearing into the activities and secret identities of the Justice Society caused the heroes to retire from their costumed crusader for the next twelve years.

Interestingly, the size, shape and dimensions of the JSA satellite mirrored that of the former Perisphere, originally of New York and then of Civil City. It seems that this was one and the same structure, modified by technology incorporated into the Brain Trust's Flying Eye from nearly a decade prior. While its counterpart Perisphere on Earth-One was melted down into scrap metal, it is quite likely that some of this material formed the basis of the Justice League's satellite which they designed in the late 1970s. Like the Perisphere/satellite of Earth-Two, the League's satellite would eventually be destroyed by an attack by an alien race, although their attacker came from another world… the Martians! As for the satellite/Perisphere, it was last seen brought back to the surface Earth-Two by Green Lantern, possibly also turned to scrap metal.