Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #31
Published October 1988
Frequency monthly
Cover Price 1.50 USD; 2.00 CAD; 0.60 GBP
Pages 52
Editing Mark Waid

Cover Details

Characters Justice Society of America [Atom [Al Pratt]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Flash [Jay Garrick]; Green Lantern [Alan Scott]; Hourman [Rex Tyler]; Doctor Fate [Kent Nelson]; Hawkman [Carter Hall]]
Genre superhero
Pencils Mike Bair
Inks Mike Bair
Letters Typeset

38 page Justice Society of America story "The Secret Origin of the Justice Society of America"

Characters Justice Society of America [Atom [Al Pratt]; Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Spectre [Jim Corrigan]; Flash [Jay Garrick]; Green Lantern [Alan Scott]; Hourman [Rex Tyler]; Doctor Fate [Kent Nelson]; Hawkman [Carter Hall]]; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Adolph Hitler; The Murder Machine; Nazi spies; Valkyries (summoned by Hitler's Spear of Destiny) (villains)
Synopsis This is a post-Crisis retelling of the JSA's origin, omitting the Earth-2 Batman and Superman appearances from the story itself. Although Batman was easily eliminated, Superman wasn't, because of his last minute rescue of FDR from the Valkyries' attack pre-Crisis. As a result, FDR was killed, but the Spectre was able to return him to life with the stipulation that FDR wouldn't live long enough to see the end of World War 2 known only to the Spectre himself. Things were back to normal, with noone the wiser of FDR's "death" save one.
Genre superhero
Script Roy Thomas
Pencils Mike Bair
Inks Bob Downs
Colors Carl Gafford
Letters Jean Simek
Notes adapted from the story in DC Special (DC, 1975 series) #29 (August-September 1977), but updated to include post-Crisis continuity in which Superman and Batman never founded the team alongside the others.

2 page Secret Admirers letters page "Secret Admirers"

Script Roy Thomas
Letters typeset
Notes Letters from Robert Rochester, Mike Aragona, David Metz and Roger D. Case.