Jeff Lemire On That Shocking Last Page Twist In ‘JSA’ #1, And How It Leads To A “Huge” Story For The Whole DCU

For most of the page count of today’s debuting JSA #1, you’re getting your classic Justice Society story. There’s some romance, some action, and a ton of characters — including ones from the classic team, as well as the younger members of Infinity Inc. That is until the last few pages of the issue, which twist everything around.

Spoilers past this point, but after spending all issue pushing back against the team, and particularly his sister, Jade, it’s revealed that the hero Obsidian isn’t who he says he is. He’s actually Johnny Sorrow, one of the biggest, baddest villains in JSA history. And not only that, the Injustice Society has reformed with a membership that could make any superhero team tremble.

“When you have a team that’s as huge and powerful as the JSA, you’ve got to have to have something that can counter that,” writer Jeff Lemire told Comic Book Club on the reveal. “So for me, it was really fun to build this, an evil version of Obsidian, something that corrupts everything. What’s great about the JSA, this sense of legacy and history is there, but the flip side of it, where it’s evil and dark… It’s a lot of fun.”

In the issue from DC Comics, which features art by Diego Olortegui, we hit the ground running with the classic JSA missing, and Infinity Inc. protecting the world in their stead. Later, we catch up with Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, the Hawks, and others at the Tower of Fate, fighting an impossible army. How they got there, and why they can’t get back is TBA. So did the Injustice Society have something to do with it? Particularly as they’ve got one of their members masquerading as Obsidian?

Lemire isn’t ready to reveal all just yet, but as he tells it, the bad guys’ plans will unfurl over the first year of issues… And beyond.

“The Injustice Society, their plan is pretty huge and pretty far-reaching, and it’s going to play out across the first 12 issues,” Lemire continued. “It’s a pretty big storyline, the first year. [There are] a lot of smaller stories within that, but the Injustice Society’s plan will take root in the first six issues and then come to fruition. And the next six issues, it’s going to have pretty huge implications for not just the JSA, but the whole DC universe. [It’s going to] be a pretty big story.”

JSA #1 is now on sale in comic book shops everywhere.

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