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Justice Society (collected editions)
JSA: Ragnarok
In the closing days of the second World War, the Justice Society of America prevented the villainous Wizard from unleashing a deadly magical evil upon the world.
But it didn’t prevent him from making a deal with the devil… a deal that may now doom the JSA!
In New York, Mister Terrific barely survives an attack by the Tigress. Across town, Power Girl is grounded by the power of Count Vertigo. In Keystone City, Jakeem Thunder and his magical Thunderbolt face off against Blackbriar Thorn. In Blue Valley, Stargirl feels the power of the Geomancer.
Why have the villains of the Injustice Society of America suddenly declared war?The answer spans the globe, as in faraway Casablanca, a collector of antiquities is murdered by a mysterious woman thief for what appears to be a minor Roman relic. And on a German waterfront, an old man kills a young man to steal a World War I artifact.
These events and others soon point legendary heroes Green Lantern, Flash, Wildcat, and their JSA teammates to the Wizard and a threat they believed they had destroyed in the last days of World War II. But now the Spear of Destiny, the powerful mystical weapon once wielded by Adolph Hitler himself, has again surfaced… bringing with it an evil from out of the JSA’s past and the promise of a fate worse than death! Now Mister Terrific, Power Girl, and the other members of the world’s first super team must break an evil half century old pact… or be doomed forever to a living hell.
But it didn’t prevent him from making a deal with the devil… a deal that may now doom the JSA!
In New York, Mister Terrific barely survives an attack by the Tigress. Across town, Power Girl is grounded by the power of Count Vertigo. In Keystone City, Jakeem Thunder and his magical Thunderbolt face off against Blackbriar Thorn. In Blue Valley, Stargirl feels the power of the Geomancer.
Why have the villains of the Injustice Society of America suddenly declared war?The answer spans the globe, as in faraway Casablanca, a collector of antiquities is murdered by a mysterious woman thief for what appears to be a minor Roman relic. And on a German waterfront, an old man kills a young man to steal a World War I artifact.
These events and others soon point legendary heroes Green Lantern, Flash, Wildcat, and their JSA teammates to the Wizard and a threat they believed they had destroyed in the last days of World War II. But now the Spear of Destiny, the powerful mystical weapon once wielded by Adolph Hitler himself, has again surfaced… bringing with it an evil from out of the JSA’s past and the promise of a fate worse than death! Now Mister Terrific, Power Girl, and the other members of the world’s first super team must break an evil half century old pact… or be doomed forever to a living hell.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Paul Kupperberg
768 books52 followersPaul Kupperberg is a nearly 50-year veteran of the comic book industry as a writer and editor for DC Comics, Archie Comics, Marvel, Bongo Charlton, and many more. He is also the author of more than three dozen books of fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, as well as of short stories, articles, and essays for Crazy 8 Press, Heliosphere, Titan Books, Stone Arch Books, Rosen Publishing, Citadel Press, Pocket Books, TwoMorrows, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 10, 2021
The Justice Society of America had been fighting the good fight for over 65 years. The victories far outweighed the losses, but some of the latter had seen tragic ends to so many of those who had become family. But, as with any strong family, tied closely with the bonds that grow and tighten through adversity and conflict, the next generation of heroes had risen to fill those holes left behind by the fallen. But, while the faces may change, those they fight never seem to. The same Injustice Society (IS) that caused so much conflict and terror in their days of youth and vigor have survived to resurrect those in the early days of the a new century. Unfortunately, just as those heroes have grown in their powers, so have those of the IS. Perhaps chief among those are the powers that William Zard - AKA The Wizard - has seen change and grow from simple parlor tricks and slight of hand, into that of real magic.
Now, the year is 2005 and the conflicts that have raged between the two groups of super-powered beings have reached a new crescendo. A new conflict that will not only see newer stronger abilities, but may in fact, include those of the gods themselves. And how can even the most powerful among those who call themselves heroes stand against the ancient might of those gods? Gods who may bring about the end of the world in a final battle that the ancestors to modern man have identified as RAGNAROK!!!
This book has a rare provenance. Based as a response to the original 1986 classic by Roy Thomas in the titled THE LAST DAYS OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY SPECIAL. That story relegated the JSA to a world of constant battle and conflict in the celestial realm of Asgard in a continually and never ending battle.
Paul Kupperberg was contracted to create a sequel to that story in 2004, Paul delivered the final draft in the next year, but, due to the tragic death of publishing icon Byron Preiss, coupled with the chapter 7 bankruptcy of the publishing house, the story never saw the light of day and lingered only as an urban legend and a digital ghost waiting for rebirth. And just as the JSA eventually saw its rebirth, this story found its way back to reality and the book you have in your hand. Originally proposed to be a 3 book series, JSA: RAGNAROK has currently been released as a stand-alone...and...WOW...what a great book.
Kupperberg has been writing stories of costumed heroes and villains longer than most of his readers have been alive. But, that doesn't mean he isn't still capable of spinning a tale and an adventure that keeps readers both new and old glued to the pages of this story as he breaths life back into those characters and makes them new again. The attitudes, emotions, and drives may be more modern and contemporary but the characters themselves still have that old familiar feeling of our favorites from a golden age that saw some of the greatest 4-color characters of all time.
Here's hoping that, someday, Paul will have the chance to write those remaining two books...or...craft even more stories about these wonderful icons of our younger days.
Now, the year is 2005 and the conflicts that have raged between the two groups of super-powered beings have reached a new crescendo. A new conflict that will not only see newer stronger abilities, but may in fact, include those of the gods themselves. And how can even the most powerful among those who call themselves heroes stand against the ancient might of those gods? Gods who may bring about the end of the world in a final battle that the ancestors to modern man have identified as RAGNAROK!!!
This book has a rare provenance. Based as a response to the original 1986 classic by Roy Thomas in the titled THE LAST DAYS OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY SPECIAL. That story relegated the JSA to a world of constant battle and conflict in the celestial realm of Asgard in a continually and never ending battle.
Paul Kupperberg was contracted to create a sequel to that story in 2004, Paul delivered the final draft in the next year, but, due to the tragic death of publishing icon Byron Preiss, coupled with the chapter 7 bankruptcy of the publishing house, the story never saw the light of day and lingered only as an urban legend and a digital ghost waiting for rebirth. And just as the JSA eventually saw its rebirth, this story found its way back to reality and the book you have in your hand. Originally proposed to be a 3 book series, JSA: RAGNAROK has currently been released as a stand-alone...and...WOW...what a great book.
Kupperberg has been writing stories of costumed heroes and villains longer than most of his readers have been alive. But, that doesn't mean he isn't still capable of spinning a tale and an adventure that keeps readers both new and old glued to the pages of this story as he breaths life back into those characters and makes them new again. The attitudes, emotions, and drives may be more modern and contemporary but the characters themselves still have that old familiar feeling of our favorites from a golden age that saw some of the greatest 4-color characters of all time.
Here's hoping that, someday, Paul will have the chance to write those remaining two books...or...craft even more stories about these wonderful icons of our younger days.
May 9, 2021
Don't let my long reading time dissuade you - I've been trying to read too many books and comics at one time, while also binging TV shows and watching baseball. This novel stems from DC continuity circa 2005, which is around the book was originally supposed to be published. It took me a little to settle into that headspace, but once I did I found the story to be a solid addition to the JSA tradition. This book makes me really want to dive into the JSA reread I've been toying with for almost a year. If you don't know anything about the JSA, this book probably won't do anything for you, but I think JSA fans will dig it.
June 17, 2021
I just finished reading “JSA: Ragnarok” by Paul Kupperberg (2020*).
I put an asterisk by 2020 because this book had been in publishing limbo for fourteen years. Kupperberg wrote the book in 2005 for an intended 2006 publishing date by ibooks, the publisher that at that time had a license with DC Comics to publish a number of tie-in prose novels featuring the DC superheroes. ibooks publisher Byron Preiss tragically died in an automobile accident on July 9, 2005, right as Kupperberg was finished writing the book, and ibooks then declared bankruptcy on February 22, 2006, just as it was about to go to press. It then became stuck in the legal limbo until the author was finally able to self publish the book in 2020.
Now, for those not familiar with the Justice Society of America (the “JSA”), they were DC Comics very first superhero team. Introduced in the pages of All Star Comics #3 (cover dated Winter 1940-41), it initially featured the then current versions of the Flash, Green Lantern, the Spectre, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Hourman (then sometimes dubbed “the Hour-Man”), the Sandman, the Atom, and Johnny Thunder. These were all characters that had their own solo features in other titles published by DC (then two separate but linked publishing companies called Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Publications). Superman and Batman were said to be “honorary” Justice Society members, as well, but were rarely ever present.
Originally only published until 1951, the Justice Society returned in 1961 (I won’t go into all of the specific details here; suffice it to say that 1) it was due to the popularity of the then recently launched Justice League of America book, the spiritual successor of the Justice Society, and 2) that it introduced the concept of “parallel Earths” and “the multiverse” to DC and their readers).
By 2005 (when Kupperberg wrote this book, which he had intended to be book one of a trilogy of JSA novels), the Justice Society was enjoying a bit of a renaissance in its own title, “JSA”, written by James Robinson, David S. Goyer, and Geoff Johns, that ran from 1999 to 2006. It is this version of the Justice Society (a mixture of older original members and younger “legacy” successors) that Kupperberg’s novel features (although it also jumps back several times to 1945 and the original team).
(Well, the original team as rewritten over the course of decades of newly written comics. One thing that might seem quite strange to some, for instance, is the presence of Wonder Woman in the 1945 scenes. But not Diana, the version of Wonder Woman most are familiar with, but instead her mother Queen Hippolyta, who briefly took her daughter’s place and traveled back in time to serve as the World War II era Wonder Woman. Yes, it’s convoluted but that’s what oftentimes happens when you are dealing with characters written by many authors over a long period of time.)
Kupperberg addesses who all of the various characters are and their histories as each are introduced to the reader and does a generally good job doing so. However, it does mean for a *lot* of exposition (kind of like this book review so far), which in turn prevents the plot from progressing at a comfortable flow. Instead, many chapters (which are all very short, only a few pages long) start with one character who reflects on his or her situation and life up to that point before tossing that character into some sort of cliffhanger only to jump to a different character at the start if the next chapter.
The overall plot takes place over two main time periods, the “present” (presumably 2006 or thereabouts) and 1945, and during both time periods the Justice Society is having to deal with their usual foes in the Injustice Society of America (a group of supervillains) and the ISA’s attempts to use the mystical Spear of Destiny and two other powerful relics to become supreme rulers of the entire world.
That’s all I want to give away about the plot here. I think I can safely sum up “JSA: Ragnarok” as a book that fans of the source material (the DC Justice Society comics) will probably enjoy a lot more than those not already familiar with these characters who will likely find themselves having difficulty keeping track of who everyone is.
A few observations. One, I have to wonder if Kupperberg experimented any with the order of how he tell this story. Instead of starting in the present, then jumping back to 1945, then back to the present, etc., I kind of think that the story might have worked a bit better if he had started the novel with the primary 1945 sequence first (introducing us to the World War II versions of the JSA and ISA) and then skipped ahead to the present time frame with its newer versions of the two groups of characters.
Two, Kupperberg does not work ignore one of the Justice Society’s most memorable and status changing stories from the comics (one that proved to be rather controversial with the fans), that of the Justice Society becoming trapped in Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods, fighting, dying, and being reborn again only to go through the same never ending cycle over and over again as a way to keep “Ragnarok” from coming to Earth. This happened in a special one-shot comic book titled “The Last Days of the Justice Society of America” (1986, written by Roy and Dann Thomas). This story was told because, at that time, DC wanted the older superheroes of the Justice Society to be written out of then present DC continuity as DC had just rewritten its overall continuity with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and no longer saw a place for the JSA in it. They instructed the Roy Thomas, who along with his wife Dann had been writing the JSA comics stories for most of the 1980s, to come up with a story doing so. Thomas did not want to kill the characters outright so he instead came up with the trapped fighting in Ragnarok instead which would allow DC to bring back the characters later on if they chose to do so (which they eventually did).
Again, Kupperberg uses this as backstory here. However, he doesn’t touch upon it until very late in the story which I would imagine would make it feel like something coming out of nowhere to a new reader not already familiar with the characters’ history. Something so life changing as having spent what felt like an eternity in an endless cycle of war, death, and rebirth, a nightmare existence in several of these character’s pasts which is only brought up very late in the story (when faced by the same powers and demons once again) seemed a bit off to me.
Lastly, though, ironically enough, the release now of “JSA: Ragnarok” in 2020 actually might benefit from one thing entirely outside of the author’s control, which is the release of the “Stargirl” (a.k.a., “DC’s Stargirl”) television series on the DC Universe streaming service and also on the CW television network in 2020 as “Stargirl” is one of the modern era Justice Society members in the novel, and the “Stargirl” television series is based largely on the 1999-2006 “JSA” comic book series as well as “Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.”, the comic book series that ran from 1999-2000 written by Geoff Johns that introduced the Courtney Whitmore character to readers.
Again, I enjoyed the book because I am a fan of the source material (especially the Justice Society stories of the 1980s but also the later “JSA” run), and I’m very glad that Kupperberg was finally able to see his book come out in print for the rest of us to read. I’m sorry that we will most likely never get to read his intended second and third books in the trilogy.
I put an asterisk by 2020 because this book had been in publishing limbo for fourteen years. Kupperberg wrote the book in 2005 for an intended 2006 publishing date by ibooks, the publisher that at that time had a license with DC Comics to publish a number of tie-in prose novels featuring the DC superheroes. ibooks publisher Byron Preiss tragically died in an automobile accident on July 9, 2005, right as Kupperberg was finished writing the book, and ibooks then declared bankruptcy on February 22, 2006, just as it was about to go to press. It then became stuck in the legal limbo until the author was finally able to self publish the book in 2020.
Now, for those not familiar with the Justice Society of America (the “JSA”), they were DC Comics very first superhero team. Introduced in the pages of All Star Comics #3 (cover dated Winter 1940-41), it initially featured the then current versions of the Flash, Green Lantern, the Spectre, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Hourman (then sometimes dubbed “the Hour-Man”), the Sandman, the Atom, and Johnny Thunder. These were all characters that had their own solo features in other titles published by DC (then two separate but linked publishing companies called Detective Comics Inc. and All-American Publications). Superman and Batman were said to be “honorary” Justice Society members, as well, but were rarely ever present.
Originally only published until 1951, the Justice Society returned in 1961 (I won’t go into all of the specific details here; suffice it to say that 1) it was due to the popularity of the then recently launched Justice League of America book, the spiritual successor of the Justice Society, and 2) that it introduced the concept of “parallel Earths” and “the multiverse” to DC and their readers).
By 2005 (when Kupperberg wrote this book, which he had intended to be book one of a trilogy of JSA novels), the Justice Society was enjoying a bit of a renaissance in its own title, “JSA”, written by James Robinson, David S. Goyer, and Geoff Johns, that ran from 1999 to 2006. It is this version of the Justice Society (a mixture of older original members and younger “legacy” successors) that Kupperberg’s novel features (although it also jumps back several times to 1945 and the original team).
(Well, the original team as rewritten over the course of decades of newly written comics. One thing that might seem quite strange to some, for instance, is the presence of Wonder Woman in the 1945 scenes. But not Diana, the version of Wonder Woman most are familiar with, but instead her mother Queen Hippolyta, who briefly took her daughter’s place and traveled back in time to serve as the World War II era Wonder Woman. Yes, it’s convoluted but that’s what oftentimes happens when you are dealing with characters written by many authors over a long period of time.)
Kupperberg addesses who all of the various characters are and their histories as each are introduced to the reader and does a generally good job doing so. However, it does mean for a *lot* of exposition (kind of like this book review so far), which in turn prevents the plot from progressing at a comfortable flow. Instead, many chapters (which are all very short, only a few pages long) start with one character who reflects on his or her situation and life up to that point before tossing that character into some sort of cliffhanger only to jump to a different character at the start if the next chapter.
The overall plot takes place over two main time periods, the “present” (presumably 2006 or thereabouts) and 1945, and during both time periods the Justice Society is having to deal with their usual foes in the Injustice Society of America (a group of supervillains) and the ISA’s attempts to use the mystical Spear of Destiny and two other powerful relics to become supreme rulers of the entire world.
That’s all I want to give away about the plot here. I think I can safely sum up “JSA: Ragnarok” as a book that fans of the source material (the DC Justice Society comics) will probably enjoy a lot more than those not already familiar with these characters who will likely find themselves having difficulty keeping track of who everyone is.
A few observations. One, I have to wonder if Kupperberg experimented any with the order of how he tell this story. Instead of starting in the present, then jumping back to 1945, then back to the present, etc., I kind of think that the story might have worked a bit better if he had started the novel with the primary 1945 sequence first (introducing us to the World War II versions of the JSA and ISA) and then skipped ahead to the present time frame with its newer versions of the two groups of characters.
Two, Kupperberg does not work ignore one of the Justice Society’s most memorable and status changing stories from the comics (one that proved to be rather controversial with the fans), that of the Justice Society becoming trapped in Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods, fighting, dying, and being reborn again only to go through the same never ending cycle over and over again as a way to keep “Ragnarok” from coming to Earth. This happened in a special one-shot comic book titled “The Last Days of the Justice Society of America” (1986, written by Roy and Dann Thomas). This story was told because, at that time, DC wanted the older superheroes of the Justice Society to be written out of then present DC continuity as DC had just rewritten its overall continuity with the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and no longer saw a place for the JSA in it. They instructed the Roy Thomas, who along with his wife Dann had been writing the JSA comics stories for most of the 1980s, to come up with a story doing so. Thomas did not want to kill the characters outright so he instead came up with the trapped fighting in Ragnarok instead which would allow DC to bring back the characters later on if they chose to do so (which they eventually did).
Again, Kupperberg uses this as backstory here. However, he doesn’t touch upon it until very late in the story which I would imagine would make it feel like something coming out of nowhere to a new reader not already familiar with the characters’ history. Something so life changing as having spent what felt like an eternity in an endless cycle of war, death, and rebirth, a nightmare existence in several of these character’s pasts which is only brought up very late in the story (when faced by the same powers and demons once again) seemed a bit off to me.
Lastly, though, ironically enough, the release now of “JSA: Ragnarok” in 2020 actually might benefit from one thing entirely outside of the author’s control, which is the release of the “Stargirl” (a.k.a., “DC’s Stargirl”) television series on the DC Universe streaming service and also on the CW television network in 2020 as “Stargirl” is one of the modern era Justice Society members in the novel, and the “Stargirl” television series is based largely on the 1999-2006 “JSA” comic book series as well as “Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.”, the comic book series that ran from 1999-2000 written by Geoff Johns that introduced the Courtney Whitmore character to readers.
Again, I enjoyed the book because I am a fan of the source material (especially the Justice Society stories of the 1980s but also the later “JSA” run), and I’m very glad that Kupperberg was finally able to see his book come out in print for the rest of us to read. I’m sorry that we will most likely never get to read his intended second and third books in the trilogy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2022
I had no idea there was a novel about the Justice Society of America, but once I found it there was no way I could prevent myself from reading it. They were huge faves of mine when I was a kid - it only took me two months of reading comic books from age 7 in 1966 to realize there were decades of previous comics, many featuring characters unknown or barely used in the present. The JSA intrigued the heck out of me.
Well, in the ensuing 55 years, there have been a lot of changes. Some members are dead. Some have been replaced by offspring or other inheritors of legacy. The DC universe has been crisised into a new history which renders the familiar multiple earths of my childhood moot.
Kupperberg is a long time comic book writer who came up with an entertaining plot combining action in 1945, with the characters I basically knew, and now, with some I had to familiarize myself with. Including villains and heroes, there are at least a couple dozen characters here, and he makes most all of them seem like individuals on both power and characterization levels. (Of course, a lot of that is just mentioning events which happened in comics I never read.)
It's a breezy, entertaining tale about potential world-ending events which are halted by this crazy-quilt super-team I fell in love with all those years ago.
Well, in the ensuing 55 years, there have been a lot of changes. Some members are dead. Some have been replaced by offspring or other inheritors of legacy. The DC universe has been crisised into a new history which renders the familiar multiple earths of my childhood moot.
Kupperberg is a long time comic book writer who came up with an entertaining plot combining action in 1945, with the characters I basically knew, and now, with some I had to familiarize myself with. Including villains and heroes, there are at least a couple dozen characters here, and he makes most all of them seem like individuals on both power and characterization levels. (Of course, a lot of that is just mentioning events which happened in comics I never read.)
It's a breezy, entertaining tale about potential world-ending events which are halted by this crazy-quilt super-team I fell in love with all those years ago.
November 30, 2020
Finally!!! (And yes, it was worth the wait)
For nearly 15 years I have been waiting to read RAGNAROK, the first in a JSA trilogy of novels. Even though the story works as a complete-in-one tale, already in my imagination I see the JSA trying to figure out how to rescue the Injustice Society, with or without the Wizard, from the clutches of Surter.
While the Magic 8-Ball says "highly unlikely" for the other two books -- neither written -- to see the light of day, I hope that someday DC will look into the possibility of more prose novels featuring the original, and greatest, heroes, the Justice Society of America.
For nearly 15 years I have been waiting to read RAGNAROK, the first in a JSA trilogy of novels. Even though the story works as a complete-in-one tale, already in my imagination I see the JSA trying to figure out how to rescue the Injustice Society, with or without the Wizard, from the clutches of Surter.
While the Magic 8-Ball says "highly unlikely" for the other two books -- neither written -- to see the light of day, I hope that someday DC will look into the possibility of more prose novels featuring the original, and greatest, heroes, the Justice Society of America.
April 11, 2023
Outstanding novel by Mr. Kupperberg. Being he has written comics for decades, his knowledge and talent serves him well. It's amazing how many decades it's taken for the first superhero team of all time to get a novel. My favorite part was reading the thoughts not normally time in a comic book. Like original Green Lantern Alan Scott being afraid of returning to fight Ragnarok. Tidbits like that really make the characters come alive and give insight to decade old characters who you may or may not know. We can only hope there will be more novels. But given how DC seems to feel towards this team, I doubt it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2021
Paul Kupperberg displays solid pacing, characterization, and a good feel for these characters. One warning as pointed out in other reviews, this book was completed in 2006 and was not published at the time. While the book was finally published in 2020, the characters and technology have been kept as though from the JSA comic book series in the early 2000s.
DC Comics have made several changes since then which have impacted the characters and their history.
DC Comics have made several changes since then which have impacted the characters and their history.
September 18, 2021
Gods and heroes
Before all the events and crisis, the annual team-ups of the JLA and the JSA were among my favorite issues. Kupperberg’s story reminds me of how much fun those were.
Classic and newer incarnations of both heroes and villains battle to save the world from a magical threat. The author knows these characters well and does a great job capturing their personalities. We see them in action in WWII and in modern times.
Before all the events and crisis, the annual team-ups of the JLA and the JSA were among my favorite issues. Kupperberg’s story reminds me of how much fun those were.
Classic and newer incarnations of both heroes and villains battle to save the world from a magical threat. The author knows these characters well and does a great job capturing their personalities. We see them in action in WWII and in modern times.
April 9, 2021
The idea was intriguing and I wanted to love it. The publishers really dropped the ball on the editing. There were so many grammatical and spelling errors that I had a difficult time following the action. There was even a point at which The Tigress was referred to as The Huntress whose secret identity is
August 1, 2023
Nice supplement to the JSA comics
I'm a big fan of Geoff John's JSA comic book series. Kupperburg's novel fits in nicely with the latter years of that series.
I'm a big fan of Geoff John's JSA comic book series. Kupperburg's novel fits in nicely with the latter years of that series.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews