Injustice Society

The Injustice Society (also called the Injustice Society of the World) is a group of fictional supervillains in the DC Comics Universe. They are the main antagonists of the Justice Society of America.

History

Injustice Society I

It is unknown under what circumstances the Injustice Society was formed. The group first appeared in the second half of the 1940s, led by the Wizard and planning to take over America. Fragmenting into individual efforts, the ISW launched strikes are government facilities around the nation, each with his own private army of convicts due to five jailbreaks engineered by them. In additional to furthering their primary aims, the villains were each assigned to capture a member of the JSA in anticipated resistance. To ensure that the JSA showed up, the villains notified the heroes of their plans. In due course, Hawkman was captured by Vandal Savage at an airport which the criminal army had surrounded, and Dr. Mid-Nite was apprehended by Degaton who was attacking the Washington Monument. The Flash fell victim to his long-time foe, the Thinker at the Governor's house where the Thinker was broadcasting fake demands by the Governor to make the armed forces stand down, due to invisible wires, and the Atom was snared by the Gambler. Green Lantern arrives in Uthorium Town just as the armed forces are closing in on the criminals that control the city. Suddenly, the town disappears in a flash of light. G.L. begins a search for the criminal army, when he discovers the town has re-appeared a few miles away, and the felons are looting uthorium from a lab. The Emerald Crusader zooms in for the attack, when the Brain Wave appears on the scene, opening a canister of uthorium in his presence. Blinded, G.L. forms an energy bubble for protection while Brain Wave and his men finish their job. Recovering later. Green Lantern discovers a radioactive trail left behind by the uthorium and follows it, discovering some of the thugs with an invention called the "Mirage-Thrower," which fools the Army tanks into crossing a frozen lake which really isn't frozen. G.L. saves the tanks and men, then follows the trail to discover Brain Wave inside a weird glass box. Firing his power ring at it, the ray bounces back, knocking the Emerald Crusader off a cliff, apparently to his death! Hearing of Degaton's capture of Dr. Mid-Nite in Capital City (evidently meant to be based on Washington), Wonder Woman and Johnny Thunder left the JSA HQ to intervene, only to be captured themselves. The JSA were held by a will-deadener beam, put on "trial" before Judge Thinker with the Wizard as Prosecutor and sentenced to death, but it was then revealed Green Lantern had disguised himself as the Thinker, his ring saved him at the last moment, and he captured the Thinker. He freed the others, and they defeated the Injustice Society, with the Wizard being caught by the Junior Justice Society.

Injustice Society II

The second formation appeared in the late 1940s attempting "patriotic crimes", where they stole national monuments, hoping the American people would vote for the best crime allowing that person to become the leader, and succeeding in erasing the Society's memories after capturing them by the Sportmaster knocking them out with one of his bombs, but Harlequin turned against them and with Black Canary restored the Justice Society's memories, though a post-hypnotic impulse restores the JSA to their mindless states when they hear fingers snapping, causing them to be recaptured. But their memories are restored again after they are placed in a death chamber, leading to Black Canary becoming a proper member.

Injustice Unlimited

During what some described as the "anti-costumed-hero mania", (as chronicled in the DC mini-series Legends [1986]), the Wizard gathered both old comrades and new super-criminals into a new Injustice Society which he called "Injustice Unlimited". The adventures of this incarnation were written in the pages of Infinity, Inc. #32-37 (1987) and #51-53 (1988). Indeed, the criminal group seemed to be a mirror image of Infinity, Inc., which itself was an offshoot of the Justice Society. Later, this team returned to the original name.

Injustice Society III

Johnny Sorrow appears in late 1999, as the leader of the new Injustice Society (consisting of the Icicle, Blackbriar Thorn, Count Vertigo, Geomancer, Killer Wasp, and the Tigress). Together they storm the headquarters of superhero team Justice Society of America, although JSA member Wildcat defeats them all (destroying Blackbriar Thorn) despite still recovering from a broken arm and the attack initially being launched while he was in the bath, with the exception of Sorrow, who uses the diversion to steal an unknown artifact.^[1]

Sorrow returns with a larger version of the Injustice Society (having also recruited Black Adam after removing a brain tumour, Shiv, Rival, and the Thinker) to distract the JSA while he summoned the King of Tears, an other-dimensional entity. However, the Flash was able to send him to another dimension.^[2]

Injustice Society IV

The demon Legacy (actually Wizard in disguise) formed another version in the JSA All-Stars mini-series.

The new team again confronted the JSA. Unknown to the JSA, their job was just to stick teleportation disks to the old-timers. Legacy then teleported his successful team away. Legacy is then later, "killed" by the Spectre.

Injustice Society V

The Injustice Society resurfaced again in November 2005, in the pages of JSA Classified. A major plot was to kidnap Star Girl and to face off against the JSA All Stars.^[3]

Membership

Original team

• Wizard - An illusionist and powerful sorcerer.
• Brainwave - A metahuman with great psionic powers.
• Gambler - A master of disguise and weapons.
• Per Degaton - A time-traveler with access to advanced technology.
• Thinker (Clifford DeVoe) - A former district attorney and enemy of Flash.
• Vandal Savage - A ruthless caveman given immortality thousands of years ago.

This formation included the following additional members:

• Fiddler - A criminal who uses specially made violins.
• Sportsmaster - A crook who uses sport-themed weapons.
• Tigress (Paula Brooks)
• Icicle (Joar Mahkent) - A scientist who invented a gun that drastically lowers temperature.
• Harlequin (Molly Mayne) - A villainess with hypnotic goggles.

Later members

• Shade - He was an additional member when a third formation formed during a team-up between the Justice Society and the Justice League, but later in the comic Starman he is shown in a flashback assisting a Golden Age incarnation of the Society. His actual time of joining is unknown, but he was a member during the Golden Age. He had a cane which enabled him to cast darkness.
• Solomon Grundy - A superstrong undead foe of Green Lantern joined a fourth formation led by the Icicle.

Injustice Unlimited

• Wizard
• Fiddler
• Shade - Crook with cane that casts darkness
• Artemis
• Hazard
• Icicle (Cameron Mahkent) - Son of first Icicle with freezing powers

Later members

These members were recruited after the Wizard was believed dead and both the Fiddler and the Shade were imprisoned.

• Dummy - Sentient ventriloquist's dummy
• Harlequin (Marcie Cooper)
• Solomon Grundy

Johnny Sorrow's team

Johnny Sorrow's team. Art by Alan Davis.

• Johnny Sorrow - A former thief whose face kills nearly anybody who looks at it
• Count Vertigo
• Icicle (Cameron Mahkent)
• Geomancer
• Tigress (Artemis Crock)
• Blackbriar Thorn
• Killer Wasp

Later recruits included:

• Rival - A foe of the Golden Age Flash who developed a formula to endow himself with speed nearly matching that of the Flash
• Black Adam - A rogue Marvel Family member with powers from the Egyptian Gods. He was sent after Wildcat, but betrayed the team.
• Shiv - Shiv is the daughter of the supervillain Dragon King. She had a grudge against Stargirl.
• Thinker (A.I.) - An artificaal intelligence version of the first Thinker which spied on the JSA

Legacy's team

• Kestrel - supervillain created by M’Shulla and Gorrum of the Lords of Chaos to either subvert Hawk (of Hawk and Dove) to the forces of evil or to kill him
• Rag Doll
• Tigress (Artemis Crock)
• Icicle (Cameron Mahkent)
• Solomon Grundy
• Shiv

Present formation

The fifth version of the Injustice Society. Art by Joe Bennett.

The Injustice Society resurfaced again in November 2005, in the pages of JSA Classified, composed of:

• Icicle (Cameron Mahkent)
• Tigress (Artemis Crock)
• Rag Doll (Peter Merkel, deceased)
• Thinker (A.I.)
• Solomon Grundy
• Wizard
• Gentleman Ghost
• Johnny Sorrow

The Injustice Society resurfaced once more, this time in a plot to kidnap Star Girl and to face off against the JSA All Stars. The team was composed of the following members:^[4]

• Johnny Sorrow
• Tigress (Artemis Crock)
• Icicle (Cameron Mahkent)
• Wizard
• Killer Wasp
• Geomancer
• Shiv

In other media

Television

• An alternate version of the Golden Age Injustice Society appears in the Justice League episode "Legends". The group calls itself the Injustice Guild, and opposes the Justice Guild of America (an analogue for the Justice Society). Its members are the Music Master (patterned after the first Fiddler), the Sportsman (patterned after the first Sportsmaster), Dr. Blizzard (patterned after the first Icicle), and Sir Swami (patterned after the Wizard). When some of the Justice League members end up in their dimension, Music Master was the first to encounter them and escape the fight. Upon hearing this, Sir Swami suggest to the other members that they hold a contest to see who can pull off the most spectacular crime with the winner being the one to think of a plot to destroy the Justice Guild. Each one did a crime that was based on the elements. Sir Swami broke into the Seaboard City Museum to steal the Fabled Flame of Rasputin. Music Master broke into the Museum of Flying to steal a priceless antique flyer. Sportsman hijacked a truck containing the trophy for the Seaboard City Clay Corps Championship. Dr. Blizzard stole the new fountain that the Mayor of Seaboard City was cutting the ribbon to. When the Injustice Guild made it back to their hideout and revealed their heists, Dr. Blizzard won the contest when he made it back with Flash and Black Siren frozen. Dr. Blizzard led the Injustice Guild members into robbing the Seaboard City Mint by blimp with Flash and Black Siren tied to the outside. When it came to the confrontation, the Justice League and the Justice Guild freed Flash and Black Siren and defeated the Injustice Guild.

References