JSA has brought back the first heroes of the DC Multiverse in a big way. The JSA is one of DC’s greatest teams, a group of heroes that have been fighting evil since the days of World War II. They’ve faced many foes over the years and are currently in battle with the Injustice Society, a group of villains who have bewitched them since the beginning. Things have gone bad for the team in this latest conflict. Wildcat was killed fighting in Surtur’s Realm, where the core of the team was pulled. Meanwhile, the rest of the Justice Society was dealing with a traitor in their midst. The two sides of the team have come back together, but things are looking worse than ever for the team. JSA #8 takes readers back to World War II, as the team is called in to help against the last superpowered Nazis. The JSA was mostly forced to sit the war out in the US because of the Spear of Destiny, a powerful magical artifact.
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The Justice Society have faced many threats over the years, but the Spear of Destiny might be their greatest. The Spear of Destiny is one of those real world legends that was brought into the comics, and was eventually used to explain how a team like the Justice Society — who had Doctor Fate, empowered by the Lord of Order Nabu, and the Spectre, the literal Angel of Vengeance, on the team — didn’t end World War II right away. It’s an interesting piece of DC history.
Hitler Used the Spear of Destiny to Nearly Destroy the Justice Society
If you are at all familiar with Christianity, you’re familiar with the Spear of Destiny, but if you aren’t here’s the skinny. The Spear of Destiny was a spear held by a Roman soldier guarding the cross that held Jesus Christ. The soldier stabbed Jesus in the side with the spear. It became one of those artifacts that everyone wanted to get their hands on in order to prove the Crucifixion, and there have been many of them “found” over the years. The Nazis were obsessed with finding artifacts like the Spear of Destiny, and this was added to the comics. It appeared in the DC Multiverse in 1977’s Weird War Tales #50, and would become a major part of the Justice Society’s origin in DC Special #29, a story titled “The Untold Origin of the Justice Society”. In DC continuity, the Spear of Destiny had the power to control the minds of anyone with superpowers, and Hitler wanted to lure the heroes of the United States so he could take control of them. On top of that, he used it to summon a bunch of Valkyries (yes, yes, using a Christian artifact to summon Norse shieldmaidens makes no sense, but if you’re looking for sense, don’t go to pre-Crisis DC).
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Hitler sends his Valkyries and a bomber force against Washington D.C., with the heroes of the United States called into action by FDR. They do their best against the Valkyries, but the day isn’t saved until Earth-Two Superman gets involved in the battle. The heroes learn of the power of the artifact, and stay out of Europe throughout the war. This became a key part of DC history — even the Elseworlds classic The Golden Age incorporated a variation of this idea into its story — and the Spear of Destiny would continue to show up all over the DC Multiverse from then on. Villains would try to get their hands on it, magic users would want it for their magic, stuff like that. It’s been the bane of the Justice Society’s existence for decades, and its return in JSA #8 is a reminder of how important it is to DC history. The Spear of Destiny wasn’t actually the major threat of the story — what Johnny Sorrow and Wotan wanted to use it to summon was. However, the Spear is very important to the Injustice Society’s modern day scheme, keeping its reputation as the greatest threat the Justice Society ever faced.
The Spear of Destiny Could Mean Finally Mean the Death of the Justice Society
The Justice Society have faced off against the worst foes imaginable. They played a key role in the battle against the Anti-Monitor, helped tackle Darkseid, fought against Extant, and basically took on threats that other teams wouldn’t be able to deal with. Even among that illustrious group, the Spear of Destiny was always one of the most powerful things they’ve ever faced.
The Spear is back, as part of a special machine created by the Injustice Society. It’ll be interesting to see how the whole thing is going to play out, since the Injustice Society is playing for much bigger stakes than usual. The Spear of Destiny has a dark fate, and hopefully the JSA can stop it.
JSA #8 is on sale now.
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