10 Things Everyone Forgets About The Justice Society Of America
4. Crisis! (But Only A Little One)
In Flash, Vol 1 #123, it was revealed that the adventures of Barry Allen’s Flash took place on one Earth and those of the older Jay Garrick Flash took place on a separate Earth. Strangely, despite the heroes on Garrick’s world “coming first” chronologically, their Earth was designated “Earth-Two”, with Barry’s Earth was named “Earth-One.”
In the Crisis on Earth-One in the Justice League of America, Vol. 1 # 21, the Justice Society came out of retirement to deal with the new triple threat of the Fiddler, the Icicle, and the Wizard, while on their own Earth, the League was having an unusually hard time with the trio of Felix Faust, Doctor Alchemy, and Chronos. Just as the League nearly had the villains defeated, they vanished. And worse, the Flash was missing. The three Earth-One villains appeared on Earth-Two and their colleagues suggest that they trade Earths to confound the heroes. The plan worked too well and the Justice League was trapped inside their own headquarters. They found Barry trapped between dimensions and he suggests they contact the Justice Society.
In the next issue Crisis on Earth-Two, the combined Justice League and Justice Society were having difficulties with the combined villains who were collectively referring to themselves as the Crime Champions. The teams were divided into pairs and trios to go after various villains, while the two Green Lanterns went to rescue the missing Flashes. Freeing them triggered a fail-safe that trapped the Lanterns, but a plan formulated by Earth One’s Atom had both Emerald Knights shrink to sub-atomic size, and they easily escaped with the super speed aid of the Flashes. The teams departed, taking their respective villains with them to the proper Earth and a yearly team-up became a common occurrence.