Untold Teamup Tales of the Justice League & Justice Society

As evidenced by the existence of an unaffected future for the Legion of Super-Heroes, Brane "Batman" Taylor, Bilbat"Captain Marv", and a Kamandi... there were multiple 30th century timelines set apart from one another. These heroes' realities remained separate and distinct from one another. Their realities... Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-S and Earth-A.D... where each their own unique location within the Mulitverse. As previously ascerted, this proves that a future timeline existed and was thus spared from the cross-contamination of a merged post Crisis on Infinite Earths singular universe, which itself would repeatedly reboot and readjust itself.

With this in mind, we can hypothesize additional untold tales of those 20th century heroes, including several annual teamups between the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America. These involved additional teams, on both their own worlds and alternate Earths. This harmonizes with the pattern they set for decades, when the JLA and JSA encountered the Crime Syndicate of Earth-Three, the Lawless League of Earth-A, the Seven Soldiers of Victory of Earth-Two, the Freedom Fighters of Earth-X (and formerly of Earth-Two), the Squadron of Justice of Earth-S, the Legion of Super-Heroes of Earth-One, the New Gods of an adjacent Earth-One reality, and the All-Star Squadron of Earth-Two.

What were some of these teamups? Thanks to the inventive mind of Multiverse historian David Stepp, we get a glimpse into some of these amazing adventures:

• The League and Society teamup with Sentinels of Justice of Earth-Four to defend that world against an incursion by the Crime Champions, a gang of villains originally consisting of Earth-One's Chronos, Felix Faust and Doctor Alchemy and Earth-Two's Icicle, Wizard and Gambler. Evidentally, this sinister six expanded their roster to include Sentinal adversaries the Ghost, Doctor Spectro, Punch and Jewelee. To combat this, JLAers Batman, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado as well as JSAers Atom, Hourman and Starman are joined in the fight by Sentinal members Captain Atom, Nightshade and Blue Beetle as well as their ally the Son of Vulcan. The result of this confrontation undoubtedly proved better for Earth-Four than had the Crisis' "Villain War", which left portions of that world in environmental chaos unleashed by the costumed criminals and their mammoth sentient toxic weapon of war, Chemo.

• The Justice Society journeyed to Earth-One to assist the Justice League and the League's next generation protégées, the New Teen Titans, versus the malevolent Brother Blood and his Church of Blood from the nation of Zandia. Sebastian Blood possibly snatched the Powerstone, prompting the intervention of the JSA. Thanks to the intervention of these three titanic teams, led by New Teen Titans' leader Dick "Robin" Grayson and Justice Society member Dick "Nightwing" Grayson (although why the younger Dick reverted to his Robin alias rather than remain as Nightwing is unknown).

• Sinestro uses his ability to mentally manipulate others (which he has formerly used in a Brave and Bold tale when he controlled the Oan Guardians of Earth-One’s Universe while disguised as one of their own... and later when he exerted mind-control over his fellow Korugarians) to coerce select members of the Green Lantern Corps into becoming his second Sinestro Corps. Apparently, he sought to succeed where he had years earlier failed, when cloning himself a dozen time into the first incarnation of the Sinestro Corp when he and his minions invaded Earth-Two. The Justice Society's involvment in this tale indicates that Sinestro brought over these Corps men and women to Earth-Two for a repeat incursion into that world, one thwarted by the JLA and JSA led by Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Alan Scott of those respective teams.

• In a two-part crossover, the Time Trapper recruits fellow temporal thieves the Lord of Time of Earth-One and Per Degaton of Earth-Two to ensnare the majority of the Justice League and Justice Society in a time trap in the 30th century of Earth-Two. In part two, the remaining Leaguers and Socialites journey to the 30th century of Earth-One to recruit the aid of the Legion of Super-Heroes from that era in helping them battle their old foe Trapper and his cronies, but end up settling for the Legion of Substitute Heroes who help them after defeating the Legion of Super-Villains sent by the Time Trio to thwart them.

• Finally, the Justice Society individually face off against the Crime Society, a version of the Crime Syndicate but from a different world than that of Earth-Three. This Crime Society is modeled off the Justice Lords, a team of renegade superheroes who took the law into their own hand, administering their perverted form of authoritarian justice upon President Lex Luthor and his criminal minions on their world. This Crime Society would undoubtedly have invaded Earth-Two, just as the Crime Syndicate had invaded that world and Earth-One several years earlier. Perhaps the Justice League later became involved, aiding the Society as they had versus the Syndicate.

• These are just a few examples of potential probable plotlines involving the Greatest Heroes of Earths One and Two in a future unobstructed by the calamity that fell upon the Multiverse during the Crisis on Infinite Earths!

Sinister Supervillain Squad of Hub City

The sinister Squad was a one-time assemblage of antagonists founded by the Manipulator, a corrupt corporate seeking power to dominate his world. To that end, he has enlisted the aid of Iron-Arms, Fiery-Icer, the Banshee as well as the Madmen.

Following their initial appearance unopposed, the Squad drew the attention of their World’s Greatest Heroes, the Sentinels of Justice. These Sentinels were the second incarnation of this heroic team, following the adventures of Helio, Mentalia and Brute who were the group’s original members.

The new Sentinels were the fantastic four of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Question and Nightshade. Like their counterparts of Earths One, Two and S (the Justice League, Justice Society, Squadron of Justice), the Sentinels “dark mirror” followed a long line of opposing opposite numbers, just as Injustice Gang, Injustice Society, and the Monster Society of Evil. 

However, the Squad members doppelgängers were far more successful than the Squad themselves. While Ironarms and Fiery-Icer were only occasional annoyances of Captain Atom, Metallo/Metalo and Captain Cold/Icicle were persistent pests of the Supermen, the Flash and Green Lantern. Although Banshee was a two-time failure, Ragman and Rag Doll were like him tied to the circus life with specialized suits and skills. The menacing Madmen were more street-level thugs than the Jokers and the equally numerous Secret Society of Super-Villains.

Terrific Trios: Flying Furies & Mighty Mites

Within both the Justice League and Justice Society were informal sub-groups, where likeminded members formed close bonds with one another. Examples of these included Green Lantern and the Flash, and the World’s Finest Team of Superman and Batman. Then was also a terrific trio, the flying furies Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and their pal the Atom.

On Earth-Two in 1940, Al “Atom” Pratt and Carter “Hawkman” Hall were founding members of the Justice Society of America. Decades later on Earth-One, Ray “Atom” Palmer and Katar “Hawkman” Hol were the second and third members inducted to the Justice League of America following its founding. Early adventures of these dual duos later included Shiera Hall and Shayera Hol aka  Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman, respectively.

Another triumphant triad on Earth-Four were the first to call themselves the Sentinels of Justice. These  included the gliding guy Helio, mind-over-matter maiden Mentalia, and powerful paragon Brute. Originally a musical group, these lads and lass were given devises allowing them to either defy gravity or gain superhuman strength. After a series of adventures, they apparently retired, and later the Sentinels of Justice consisted of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade and Question.

On Earth-S, the dynamic duo of Bulletman and Bulletgirl… their world’s Hawks… never had occasion to meet their planet’s version of the Atoms, Captain Kid/Courage. Instead, another trio in the Lieutenants Marvel filled that role as predecessors of the later incarnation of their world’s premier team, the Squadron of Justice.

Crime busters: Charlton Copycats

Two obscure worlds with equally obscure heroes, known as Earth-Four and an Earth in an adjacent Earth within the Watchmen Universe. Their parallel are remarkable!

The preeminent teams of each world, the Sentinels of Justice and the Crimebusters, did not have long tenures. Their members mostly operated separately or in smaller teams as fabled "Action Heroes"..

For instance, Captain Atom and Nightshade had a budding romance that blossomed during their adventures as had Doctor Manhattan and Silk Spectre. 

Other dynamic duos such as Blue Beetle and Question handled more street level crime as had Niteowl and Rorschach.

Then there were those who worked mostly on their own... the cerebral athletes Thunderbolt and Ozymandas a prime example... as were weapon wielding warriors such as Peacemaker and Comediante. 

These champions were the latest to don colorful costumes, and were preceded by an earlier generation birthed during the Second World War. Perhaps most notable of those first heroes were the original Blue Beetle and Niteowl who inspired their successors directly and others by example.

Other golden age gladiators of good, such as Earth-Four's Judomaster, Tiger, Captain USA, Superguy, Green Spider and Yellowjacket mostly did their own things.

Conversely, the longest lasting leagues of legends in the Watchmen realm... the Minute-Men... assembled such golden oldies as Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice, Dollar Bill, Moth, Silhouette and the first Silk Spectre into a tenuous team.

Joining them. were the first Niteowl and Comedinate, and combined were longer lasting than the original Sentinels of Justice composed of Helio, Mentalia and Brute that took orders from federal agent Sarge Steel for a brief period of time during the modern age of manhunters.

The Other "S" Teams of Justice: Why didn't they last?

Earths S and Four were the more in conspicuous parallel planets to the more famous Earths One and Two. Unlike those latter two, the former two consisted of superheroes who mostly operated on their own or with their familial sidekicks. Think the Marvel Family...Judomaster and Tiger... and more whom we will now consider. Nevertheless, on occasion the greatest champions of each Earth banded together as had Justice League and Justice Society.

On Earth-S, Captain Marvel banded together with the three Lieutenant Marvels and labeled their quartet as the Squadron of Justice, and decades later six more heroes formed a second Squadron to fight alongside the League and Society. This was their only known adventure.

On Earth-Four, three young heroes in Helio, Brute and Mentalia used special devices to fight the forces of evil as the Sentinels of Justice. Later, a quartet led by Captain Atom adopted this same moniker for a single chronicled tale.

Yet what caused the Squadron and Sentinels to only be temporary team-ups? For the heroes of Earth-Four, their was a tension between its members due to their differing ideologies... from a government agent... an alien princess... a corporate magnate... and a ruthless journalist. For the heroes of Earth-S, their was mutual respect that bound these heroes into lasting friendships, although their cases took them in different directions that consumed their time and energy.

Connected the Charlton Characters and Costumed Crusaders

Unlike on other parallel planets, the characters of Earth-Four... also known as the Charlton characters... operated mostly on their own detached from one another. When first integrated into the DC Multiverse, a handful of them appeared to battled heroes from Earths One and Two while themselves under the mind control of Psycho-Pirate during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Among these were the quartet known as the Sentinels of Justice, consisting of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade and the Question. Alongside them, Peacemaker also appeared during this battle, as well as Peter Cannon aka Thunderbolt. A fifth costumed crusader from the distant past, in Judomaster, also materialized into the present due to affects of the Crisis.

This was the first occasion where the latter three were shown as contemporaries of the main "Action Heroes", as they had been called. Missing was Son of Vulcan, who appeared after the Crisis with them.

Some years prior to this, there were connections chronicled with other notable individuals of this world. For example, Nightshade as a little girl was trained in karate by an adult Tiger, who had himself been the child sidekick of World War II hero Judomaster! An so, the heroine was a third generation superhero due to the tutelage of her master and his master before that!

And during those early days of that tragic war decades prior, Judomaster faced his arch-enemy in the Nazi agent known as the Smiling Skull. After his government collapsed and his cause had ceased to be, the Skull later engaged in criminal activities which brought him to the attention of government agent Sarge Steel, whom he would repeatedly face. 

And some time after he had dealt with the Skull, Sarge Steel became involved in a case involving the original Sentinels of Justice, with its members Helio, Brute and Mentalia. While it has not been officially confirmed, it is believed that this first incarnation of the Sentinels during the 1960s inspired later heroes in Captain Atom's team which we've previously encountered. And of course, that team's Blue Beetle was tied to his two predecessor Beetles.

Other heroes also existed on this world, although crossovers were not a regular occurrence. On one occasion, Blue Beetle and Peacemaker teamed up with three established heroes known as Superguy, Captain USA and Green Spider of whom not much is known.

Like the Fawcett Earth-S universe that existed in a parallel plane of existence to it with its Squadron of Justice, Crime Champions Club, and Marvel Family, it was a decidedly more divergent continuity from the more main stream Earths.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Tremendous Trios Triumph!

The Lieutenant Marvels were an early edition to the Captain Marvel mythos, in fact they predated the more famous addition of Captain Marvel Junior by only a few months. Three young men also named Billy Batson, one from the Brooklyn, one from the west and one from the south, met their more famous contemporary Billy Batson the radio host. During a confrontation with Doctor Sivana, the quartet of Billy's learned that they all possessed the powers of the original Marvel, only the three had to call upon such powers in unison. Not to easy to get three distant Billies together given their geographic distances and all.

We previously considered the Sensation Sentinels (of Justice) early this past year. Three young musicians are bequeathed devices by a dying Russian scientist with the intent of protecting humanity. As Helio, Mentalia and Brute. Instead of a Tall, Fat, and Hill version, we have the dashing leader, the beautiful blonde and the muscular guy. All standard stereotypical fair for comics of those times.

While the Sentinels had strength, flight and mind-over-matter abilities dolled out between the three, the Lieutenants had strength, flight, etc granted to each one. Neither team was very enduring, having but a handful of adventures. While the Sentinels were originally known by their folk music handle of the Protesters, the Lieutenants went by the handle of the Squadron of Justice. Turns out, other teams of heroes would borrow those names later on both Earths. But these titanic trios were the first to do so.

Team-Up Tuesdays: The "S" Teams of Justice

When you think superheroes you think super-teams, which help to define the individual members in the context of their fellow teammates. While there are more prominent teams in the cosmos, for our purposes here today we center on two with significant parallels.

The Squadron of Justice from Earth-S was recruited by Shazam when he and his Marvel Family were left powerless by ancient adversary King Kull. Formed out of sheer necessity, some of these previously joined forces in another team during the 1940's known as the Crime Crusaders Club. Surviving into the modern day thanks to the bumbling machinations of Doctor Sivana, these still youthful heroes joined forces to stem the tide of Kull's villainous hordes on three Earths including their own Earth-S. And then they faded back into retirement aside from scant appearances thereafter.

Remarkably, there was an earlier Squadron of Justice that consisted of Captain Marvel and his three Lieutenant Marvels of Fat Marvel, Hill Marvel and Tall Marvel that operated during the 1940's.

And the progenitor of the modern incarnation of the Squadron was Captain Marvel Junior's known as the Crime Crusaders Club. However, that Club was more of a meeting of Junior, Minute Man, Bulletman and Bulletgirl solely for the purpose of recounting their latest cases and occasionally team up to handle social issues rather than criminal threats. Thus, the Crusaders filled the role that the Seven Soldiers of Victory had on Earth-Two. The vast majority of teamup tales on Earth-S were of the Marvel Family, that world's version of the Justice Society satellite team Super Squad of the Justice League unofficial affiliate of the Super Friends... both of which like the Crusaders operated out of their respective worlds' Gotham City.

The Sentinels of Justice on Earth-Four formed also on one occasion, although there was a hint during their first appearance that they previously met up, and battled a crime lords super-armored forces to save criticial solar technology. The next appearance of this team was during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when their initial membership of four expanded to included three more drawn towards the presence of heroes arriving from two other Earths, the same two from whom the Squadron met earlier!

The Squadron's membership constituted Ibac, Spy Smasher, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, as well as allies Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior (and, of course, the team's founder Mercury who brought them all together under Shazam's suggestion). The Sentinels membership originally comprised Captain Atom, Nightshade, Blue Beetle and the Question with later allies Peacemaker, Thunderbolt and a time lost Judomaster joining forces with them.

Alas, the history of each was fleeting at best. But the potential for both was sky high!

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In 1954, aspiring comic book publisher Charlton purchased the rights to several prominent characters from the expiring Fawcett Comics, such as Ibis, Golden Arrow and Lance O'Casey. In 1980 and 1985, DC Comics purchase Fawcett's Marvel Family then Charlton's Action Heroes, and the two were linked once more, now on parallel Earths, Four and Shazam.

Twice-Told-Tales: Majestic Multiverse Myths

The Multiverse holds various Twice-Told-Tales, some chronicled, many left to the imagination. And all tied in to the nature of the cosmos in the DC Universe. This is only natural considering that they all originated from the Earth-One cosmos, when the Malthusian known as Krona unleashed cosmic forces while attempting to view the dawn of creation. As a result, his universe was cloned an infinite number of times to become with countless positive matter and one Anti-Matter Universe of Qward. Undoubtedly the main universe that mirror Krona's own was Earth-Two which seemed to be twenty years ahead of Earth-One due to exhibiting a slower vibratory rate. This may be due to the fact that Earth-One existed for untold eons prior to the other universes, and as such this is a way for all universes to stay in sync.

From Earth-One's universe was spawned the imperfect clones that would become the Bizarro race migrated to a world that Superman remodeled into a square planet at its inhabitants' decree. Several years after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the Multiverse was transformed into a single matter and anti-matter universe, another Crisis reignited the Multiverse due to the machinations of Alex Luthor from Earth-Three. Not only was his world recreated, but so was Earth-Zero which mirror the Bizarro Earth of Htrae, alluding to the possibility that the planet which the Bizarros migrated to was actually not in their own universe but a parallel one, accessed by a wormhole Superman used when he first ventured there. This world had a twisted nature, wherein the Bizarro League mirrored the evil sensibilities of the Lawless League from Earth-A and that of Earth-Three with its Crime Syndicate, with sinister counterparts of superheroes.

Then there were the seemingly peripheral planets that didn't seem to resemble Earth-One's Justice League of America and Earth-Two's Justice Society of America, yet had heroes of equal measure. There was, for example, Earth-S that like Earth-Two debuted superheroes in the golden age of the 1940's, and Earth-Four that for the most part had their superhero explosion in the modern age like Earth-One. Then there was the initially hero-less worlds such as Earth-Prime and Earth-X, although they eventually would have their own versions of costumed crusaders. And, lest we forget, just as their was a heroic Justice Alliance of America on Earth-D there was also a Freedom Brigade on Earth-Twelve that were also erstwhile imitators of the League and Society that were more well known. This doesn't even include Earth-666 where Marvel's mightiest reign, nor Earth-MLJ that are published elsewhere....