Secrets behind the comics dept.

[greenygal]

Bear with me, folks, I'm going to indulge in real trivia for a minute here. But I just have to share this one.

One of the joys of old comics and their lettercols is the little secrets they spill from time to time. Today it's SECRET ORIGINS #37, which features mail about the revised Post-Crisis origin of the Justice League of America. As most of the people reading this journal probably know, that initial lineup featured Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, and--standing in for the editorially removed Wonder Woman--the Black Canary. While this required a little surgery on Canary's history, that had to be done anyway due to her having been split into two people post-Crisis (ask about it sometime, if you're in need of a sudden headache). And as the lady was a long-time Leaguer, a founding member of the then-current incarnation of the group, and carried strong links to the League's predecessors, the Justice Society--well, it seems, at least in hindsight, a profoundly obvious choice.

It turns out, however, that Dinah Lance was not the first name that Keith Giffen and Mark Waid (plotter and editor respectively) came up with for their empty slot. No, they were initially thinking of...Miss America.

For those of you who don't happen to be hardcore comics geeks, this doesn't refer to a beauty pageant winner; Miss America is Joan Dale, a minor 1940s heroine who had only been used once or twice since then and had no relationship whatsoever to the JLA. The idea was that at the end of the origin story, she'd sacrifice her life for her teammates and they'd put "America" in the group name in her honor. Um. Well. Yes.

Fortunately this only lasted until Keith and Mark put in a call to Roy Thomas, whose territory the Golden Age characters mostly were, and he politely informed them that he too had plans for Miss Dale, which would be somewhat disrupted if she were to die. So they abandoned the idea.

"The Justice League, starring--Miss America!" Wow. Things we never even knew we missed...

Comments

[caia-comica.livejournal.com]

ROTFLMAO!!!

...There should really be an Elseworld. Or at least a fanfic.

But good god, we are lucky this didn't become canon.

*sends fervent thanks to Roy Thomas*

[ratcreature]

Good grief, Miss America?
...
I also offer thanks to Roy Thomas.

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

Snickers... oh the joy of scary mopments in Comic History!

Y'know...

[chicago-h.livejournal.com]

I share the relief, but at the same time, this story makes me love Waid and Giffen more for two reasons: 1) they dug into canon and came up with this wacky story - and hey, if you have to replace a female character wearing a star-spangled bustier, this isn't so illogical, but more importantly, 2) THEY CALLED AND ASKED. And were ready to drop the idea when someone balked. I often get the sense that current canon suffers a complete absence of this kind of communication.

[badficwriter.livejournal.com]

::confused:: So what did he use Miss America in? The only time I've ever seen her was in the Elseworlds 'The Golden Age'.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

He used her in at least two of the three books he was then writing, Infinity Inc. and Young All-Stars--I'm not sure about All-Star Squadron.

This is a little complicated, but what he wanted her for was to replace the Golden-Age Wonder Woman. Sort of. Exactly in what sense this is so, and what aspects were meant to be hers and what belonged to a new character he created named Fury, are a little unclear to me. Possibly it might help if I read the Miss America SO issue (which is apparently what gave Waid and Giffen their idea in the first place). Anyway, though, the clear bit (inasmuch as any of this is clear) is this: the Golden-Age WW and her husband Steve Trevor had a daughter, Lyta Trevor, who was appearing in Infinity Inc. After the Crisis retconned both of them out of existence, Lyta was in need of new parents. Roy declared that her biological mother was his new character, Fury, who had at some point asked Joan Dale (who married a man called Trevor) to raise the kid. (I don't *think* we ever found out why, or who Lyta's father is, though Roy may have had plans he didn't get to.) So, long story short, Roy wanted Joan around as Lyta's adoptive mother, a role she'd've had difficulty fulfilling as a corpse.

[samy.livejournal.com]

I don't see what's so bad about the idea.

It does make a hell of a lot more sense than the team, for no explainable reason whatsoever, keeping the 'of America' dangling there at the end of the team name.

They're not based in America. They're not all American-born. They don't protect only America. Whytf are they the Justice League 'of America' then?

This retcon would've explained the problem with the legacy nomenclature, and done it quite elegantly. This would have been a good retcon.

I am still glad that, as another poster mentioned, that they dropped the idea because Roy asked them to.

Personally I would have liked to see this, *and* Black Canary combined. Six founding members, five after Joan's death.

[greenygal.livejournal.com]

They're not based in America. They're not all American-born. They don't protect only America. Whytf are they the Justice League 'of America' then?

Currently, because Justice of Society of America fangirl Black Canary tacked it on without asking. (This is a JLA:Y1 retcon. In the Secret Origins story, there's no reason given, although the JSA is explicitly referenced in their discussion of what to call themselves.) They are based in America at that point, though--the satellite wouldn't show up for another eighty issues or so.

To me, this seems like swatting a fly with a hammer--let's introduce a totally unrelated character and kill her off just to explain the name? When one, "Hey, we'd be like the old JSA!" would have done the trick even without Canary? (Flash is in the group, after all. He'd be only too happy to play fanboy and go for tradition, the same way he did with his name.) Plus, the subtext of removing the only female member the group had for years, replacing her with another female character, and then killing that character in the origin story...well, it makes me cringe.

This is, of course, the view from twenty years down the line from someone who "knows" that Canary was a JLA founder. Quite possibly if this had gone according to those initial plans, we'd all be talking about the poignant and meaningful sacrifice of Miss America, and the elegance of her addition to the Justice League mythos. I somehow doubt it, truthfully--see reader reaction to Kid Quantum--but who knows.

I wouldn't mind as much if it was Canary and Miss America, true, but it still strikes me as clunky, and I think all things considered I'm happy that things fell out as they did.

[kidzero.livejournal.com]

This is, of course, the view from twenty years down the line from someone who "knows" that Canary was a JLA founder

I remember reading that when it first came out... I knew Black Canary would be the fifth Beatle - I mean Leaguer ;) - but that didn't mean I had to like it. I didn't have anything against BC, but there didn't seem to be any good reason or removing Supes, Bats, and WW from the JLA. (Okay, the Wonder Woman restart was actually prety cool.)

And when I read that letter a few issues later, I was quite glad they went with Black Canary instead of Miss America. Although I'll give ;em points for creativity... ;)

By the by, is #37 the one with Doctor Light and the Substitute Legion? Truly a classic of modern literature.