Why Batman & Superman Were Banned From DC’s First Superhero Team
Despite being the two biggest heroes in the DC Comics roster, Superman and Batman were banned from becoming official members of the publisher’s first superhero team, the Justice Society of America.
Why was that done?
The Justice Society of America first appeared in All-Star Comics #3, written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Everett E. Hibbard, which gathered the team together for a secret meeting in their New York City hotel headquarters. The JSA wasn’t just the first superhero team, they were also the first inter-company crossover because at the time some of the characters were published by All-American Publications and National Allied Publications rather than DC Comics. The team’s founding members included Atom, Doctor Fate, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hourman, Sandman, and Spectre.
But why not Superman or Batman?
According to the team rules printed in All-Star Comics #5, any character who received their own series would be forced to leave All-Star Comics and have their JSA membership downgraded to “honorary” status. Any character who starred in their own series was deemed ineligible for inclusion due the danger of overexposure.
Damn, I wish they still have that RULE to apply today in regular comics. The number of monthly and limited series comics Batman and Superman are in now, being part of a Justice League, a Batman/Superman title, or a trinity (Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman) is over exposure taken to the extreme (especially when the characters are off-world or someplace/story arc where they cannot also be in the JL at the same time.
For awhile, that did happen, and we have the Justice League Europe/International/Dark/etc. and the honorary members would only be called upon when a crisis of extreme level needs to be meet. But ion the last few years, every event has become a potential universal altering event, which just burns out the concept of universal altering event. The crisis is becoming a common event.
Dark Crisis is happening while DC Vampires is happening while Superman is off on War World in his regular comic. This just after Dark Nights Metal/Heavy Metal/No Justice just finished, etc.
Soon, if DC Comics (now just DC) continues on this path and the audit finds serious issues and cuts back HARD, a true crisis/shakeup event will finally be a reality.
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