If Hal Jordan can be considered the most famous Green Lantern, he was not the first human to bear the name. That title belongs to Alan Scott, the Green Lantern of the Golden Age.
A selfless and dedicated man, Alan Scott could only become a role model for others and inspired other men to take up the fight. Even though he serves as an inspiration for many Green Lanterns, Alan Scott always holds himself to a higher standard than anyone else.
Though Alan Scott has never been a member of the Green Lantern Corps, he was a founding member of the Justice Society of America. With or without other superheroes, Alan Scott always fought to protect others and choose to make his emerald glow a sign of hope and a source of inspiration for decades…
Almost nine years after the end of the original JSA comic book run, DC Comics introduced another team of Super Heroes in The Brave and the Bold #28 (dated March 1960) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky. It was viewed as a modernization of the Justice Society but with a new name chosen by editor Julius Schwartz who thought that a “‘Society’ meant something you found on Park Avenue”. He went with “League” instead–because of the popularity of the baseball leagues.
The first Justice League team was composed of Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman, but also of Superman and Batman, even if they were mostly absent from the League’s early adventures (it was thought that they would quickly become overused if they appeared in too many titles). Soon, the team would welcome Green Arrow, the Atom, and Hawkman.
The Justice League comics became a hit. As the years passed, the roaster of superheroes changed a little, the DC Universe became more connected and events were organized like the famous annual crossovers with the Justice Society.
Batgirl. One of the most quintessential allies of Batman. Originally created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff, the initial incarnation of the character first appeared in Batman #139 (April 1961), presented as a female counterpart to our famous superhero. Under the costume at the time was Betty Kane, the niece of Kathy Kane (aka Batwoman) but the character simply disappeared in 1964. Batgirl was reintroduced in 1967, with Barbara Gordon under the mask, destined to become the more iconic Batgirl.
Batgirl is a crime-fighter in Gotham City who regularly appeared in Detective Comics, Batman Family, and several other books produced by DC until 1988. Barbara Gordon decided to retire from crime-fighting, before seeing her whole life being transformed by the Joker. It changed Barbara Gordon’s trajectory and at the same time, Batgirl’s trajectory. In 1999, in the storyline “No Man’s Land“, Batgirl is back in action as the mantle is finally assumed by someone else. It’s not long after that that Batgirl headline, for the first time since her introduction, her own title.
Throughout the years, several characters have held the mantle of Batgirl, from the most famous Barbara Gordon to our favorite trained assassin Cassandra Cain. Discover all the Batgirls with the following guide.
The Justice Society of America is the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Launched during the Golden Age of Comic Books, making its first appearance in All Star Comics #3 (Winter 1940-41), the JSA was conceived at DC Comics by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox–Everett E. Hibbard was the artist on the title.
The original members of the Justice Society of America were Doctor Fate, Hourman, The Spectre, Sandman, Atom, Flash, Green Lantern (Alan Scott), and Hawkman. For a good decade, they were quite popular, but the team didn’t survive the post-war disinterest in superheroes in comics. Their adventures ceased with All Star Comics issue #57 (March 1951), but it was not the end for the JSA.
During the Silver Age, multiple members of the Justice Society of America were revamped and the team became the Justice League (see our JL reading order for more about that). At one point, the original JSA resurfaced, but this was on what became known as Earth-Two (the JL being on Earth-One). With a multiverse annual team-up with the Justice League, the JSA stayed alive and well for two decades–and even got a spin-off. Then, there was the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths that put an end to the JSA (and Earth-Two) for a time.
This didn’t last as a revival of the JSA happened in 1991. The old characters returned, but not in the past. But that didn’t last, a tragedy (an editorial one) occurred, the JSA disappeared, but was not forgotten.
In fact, the team was constantly present in the new Starman series by James Robinson (following his JSA: The Golden Age Elsewhere miniseries). This title led to another, a new JSA series. The team stayed active until the New 52 era, then disappeared again. The Rebirth era reestablished its place in the continuity though, but it was not until Geoff Johns came back to relaunch the title during the Infinite Frontier/Dawn of DC era that the Justice Society regained a bit of staying powers.
Written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo, Batman: Endgame is a crossover storyline from 2014 – part of the New 52 era. It’s about the return of The Joker after his disappearance at the end of the “Death of the Family” story arc. It’s an exploration of the violent dynamic between Batman and the Joker.
Here is the official synopsis: He is Batman’s greatest enemy, his deadliest threat, his opposite number. His bloody-minded madness is exceeded only by his twisted genius. He is the Clown Prince, the Pale Man, and his crimes turn the world into one big, sick joke. But today, the joke is over.
As The Joker plays his endgame with the Batman, citizens, villains, and heroes alike must survive his deadly antics and come to terms with who The Joker is and what he means to them.
What to read before Batman: Endgame?
Scott Snyder presented Batman: Endgame as a conclusion of the Joker story developed previously in the Zero Year and Death of the Family storylines. To know more about this era and the Batman stories leading up to Endgame, take a look at our Batman by Snyder and Capullo Reading Order.
The Joker: Death of the Family
Collects the tie-in Catwoman 13-14, Batgirl 13-16, Suicide Squad 14-15, Batman and Robin 15-16, Nightwing 15-16, Detective Comics 15-16, Red Hood and The Outlaws 15-16, and Teen Titans 15-16.
Created by television producer William Dozier, editor Julius Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox, and artist Carmine Infantino, Barbara Gordon first appeared in the pages of Detective Comics #359 published in January 1967 as Batgirl. As she was the by-product of the Adam-West Television show, following a request by Schwartz who wanted a new female counterpart to Batman, she was introduced into the television series in September of that same year, in the season 3 premiere of Batman.
Barbara Joan Gordon is the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon and one of the most female iconic vigilante super-hero in the DC Universe. She began her career as Batgirl, working close to Batman and the first Robin. Quite a popular character during the Silver era thanks to her presence in the media, Barbara has a tumultuous history, filled with violence and tragedy but also reinvention and successes and love.
Following the events of Alan Moore’s Killing Joke, where the Joker paralyzed her from the waist down with a gunshot, Barbara lost everything and was changed forever. After that, Barbara reinvented herself as Oracle (created by Kim Yale and John Ostrander in the pages of Suicide Squad). Behind a computer, Babs as Oracle became one of the most valuable assets to Batman and other DC superheroes, using her above than normal intellect, eidetic memory, and hacking talents to fight crimes. She became one of the most emblematic characters for disabled people, regarded as a symbol of empowerment.
So, it was controversial when DC decided, as part of The New 52 relaunch, that Barbara had finally recovered from her paralysis following a surgical procedure and returned as Batgirl. The character was still affected by posttraumatic stress disorder and had difficulty asking for help. Barbara Gordon is as much Batgirl as she is Oracle, and now, she embodies her two vigilante identities.
As both Batgirl and Oracle, Barbara Gordon has gone through a lot and has one of the richest histories in the Batfamily. And to know more about it, here is a Barbara Gordon reading order:
Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, Green Arrow made his first appearance in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His real name is Oliver Queen and, with his sidekick Speedy, he fights crime in his home city of Star City – or Seattle at some point. He doesn’t have superpowers. Like Marvel’s Hawkeye, he is an extremely skilled archer, but he’s more like Bruce Wayne than Clint Barton, because Oliver Queen is a wealthy businessman and owner of Queen Consolidated.
He is one of the rare Golden Age heroes who survived the 1940s and 1950s without a lot of alterations and entered the Silver Age without much trouble and he even joined the Justice League. That said, he was seriously retooled at the end of the 1960s by Neal Adams and Dennis O’Neil. He then lost his money and became an advocate for the underprivileged with a lot of left-wing views to express. At that time too, his teammate Black Canary became a love interest and his friendship with Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) became iconic – also, that’s when it was revealed that Speedy was addicted to heroin! Strangely enough, Green Arrow had to wait until the 1980s to be the star of his own series. And then came the Crisis on Infinite Earths that led to a retcon.
In 1987, Green Arrow came back with a series for a mature audience. No more gadgets and Star City. Oliver Queen moved to Seattle where he was faced with a lot of violence. Written and illustrated by Mike Grell, this series was not fully integrated into the DC Universe. That changed when Grell stopped writing. Green Arrow quickly found a place alongside the other heroes, and also discovered a son!
Dead for a few years, Green Arrow was revived in 2001. He then picked up his bow to again fight crime in Star City. He faced horrors, got married, and a lot more as each crisis (and relaunch of the DC Universe) changed the course of his life. Also, The CW TV Adaptation led DC Comics to introduce new elements to the story (mainly the character of John Diggle).
As his past was revisited and his relationships with his sidekicks and Black Canary were explored, Green Arrow evolved through the years (more than 80 now!).
Robin. The Boy Wonder. Batman’s sidekick. Originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson, Robin is the alias for Batman’s crime-fighting partner in the DC Comic Universe.
The initial incarnation of the character first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), just one year after Batman’s debut. As there was rarely a Batman published story without the Boy Wonder, Batman and Robin became known as the Dynamic Duo or The Caped Crusaders.
As Batman is a dark and brooding hero with a personal vendetta against crime and injustice, Robin is a more light-hearted, joyous, and spontaneous character. The two characters complement each other, and together, they created one of the most iconic comic book partnerships.
Robin began to live his own short adventures as soon as 1947, published in Star Spangled Comics (we will have to wait until 1992 for Robin to have his own title). He would also be a founding member of the superhero team Teen Titans (in 1964), and since then, Robin is almost always part of the team.
Throughout the years, several characters have held the mantle of Robin, from the most popular Dick Grayson to our favorite little brat Damian Wayne. Discover all the Robins with the following guide.
The Suicide Squad as we know it today wasn’t always like that. First created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru in 1959 in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #25, the first incarnation of The Suicide Squad was a team of good guys with a scientific edge led by Rick Flag Jr. They faced monsters and nuclear bombs. It didn’t last long, and we will not talk about it more here.
The Suicide Squad, as we know, was introduced by writer John Ostrander (with Len Wein) and artist John Byrne in the pages of the Legends miniseries in 1986, the first major DC Universe crossover after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. This governmental team controlled by the morally ambiguous Amanda Waller is really called Task Force X and is composed of supervillains like Blockbuster, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Enchantress. Rick Flag Jr. is still the leader. The team is sent on “suicide” missions—sometimes, everybody is not coming back.
From 1987 to 1992, John Ostrander wrote the Suicide Squad ongoing series with the help of Kim Yale, and art by Luke McDonnell and John K. Snyder III, among others. It lasted 66 issues. After that, the Squad didn’t retire but only guest-starred in other titles for a while. A new ongoing was launched in 2001, written by Keith Giffen, with art by Paco Medina. The members changed quickly and Sgt. Rock became the squad leader (the members changed regularly).
As part of DC New 52 continuity reboot in 2011, The Suicide Squad was once more relaunched—this time by Adam Glass, with art by Federico Dallocchio and Ransom Getty. Amanda Waller built a new team around Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark. This series concluded after 30 issues, but the Suicide Squad came back rapidly after that. In fact, it never really went away since.
Created in 1992 by Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle as a plot device in Detective Comics #647-649, Stephanie Brown is a DC Comics superheroine considered part of the Batfamily. She is first introduced as the vigilante Spoiler, had a brief stint as Robin, and has also taken the mantle of Batgirl.
Before the New 52 reboot, Stephanie Brown had a difficult life, one that had some similarities with Jason Todd’s. Her mother was a drug addict and her father was the third-rate villain known as Cluemaster. It was in order to stop him that Stephanie Brown became the vigilante named Spoiler (as she was trying to ‘spoil’ things for her abusive father), starting out with little training, relying on her determination and natural agility. She lived in poverty and didn’t have a great track record when it comes to her love life.
Initially seen as an amateur, Spoiler’s tenacity caught the attention of Tim Drake/Robin II, with whom she developed a romantic relationship–though she didn’t know his real name for a long time. Stephanie’s relationship with Batman was a difficult one, a sort of reflection of the way some people at DC Comics seemed to perceive her–leading us to some mistreatment of her character.
During the DC New 52 era, Stephanie Brown’s story was rewritten, her past and her relationship with Batman were way less harsh and complicated than it has been before. In the subsequent reboots of the DC line of comics, she remained part of the Bat Family, sometimes questioning Batman’s methods but ultimately establishing herself as a valuable ally.
Right now, Stephanie Brown is protecting Gotham City as one of the Batgirls, alongside Cassandra Cain, while being guided by Oracle/Barbara Gordon.
The following is Stephanie Brown’s reading order to discover all her adventures.
