Finally, for this week, we're delving into the Justice Society of America!

I've always had a fondness for time travel and alternative universe storylines, so naturally the JLA/JSA stories from the 60's and 70's caught my attention when I started to collect DC back-issues.  I started out big, right out of the gate, with this one...

...Justice League of America #21 from August 1963.

Aside from having one of the best covers from the Silver Age, this issue is the proper introduction of the JSA from Earth-2 into the modern day DC continuity.  This issue I picked up from the Motor City Comic-Con back in 2013 of $30, and it's a pretty sharp looking low grade book.

I don't really collect the Justice League of America title per se, but do pick up issues from time to time.  With that said, I'm not a stickler for condition on these, and would rather just be able to read the stories.

These three I picked up just recently at my LCS' monthly auctions.  A great collection of covers all around, although that #46 is extra cool with the Batman '66-esque sound effects!  That issue itself is from the summer of '66...coincidence?

Naturally, I followed the JSA into the Bronze Age as well, with the relaunch of All Star Comics.

Not only were the Justice Society back in their original title with All Star Comics #58 from February 1976, but it also features the 1st appearance of the Earth-2 Supergirl...Power Girl!  I picked up this issue about 10 years ago on eBay for a whole fourteen bucks.

Up until recently, the big hole in my collection of Bronze Age JSA were the Huntress issues.  Within the last year, I was able to rectify that, but I did have to pay up for them.  These were issues that I always said I'd get around to sooner or later, as they were more Batman issues than Superman.  Oops.  Oh well, they are mine now...

The All-Star Comics #69 I got off of eBay, while the DC Super-Stars #17 I got from my LCS's monthly auctions.  I kinda felt bad on that last one, as I had to out-bid a father-son collecting team, but it's war out in the auction room...you do what you gotta do!

My favorite run of JSA bronze books are the short run of issues in Adventure Comics from #461-466 from 1979.  Such great stories in those.  In fact, the whole 1970's run of Adventure Comics features some great gems.

Finally, we get the long awaited first appearance of one of my CGC slabs.  I was waiting for a time when I could get proper pics and scans of these, as they are a pain, but this will have to do.  But first, I must set the narrative...

About 5 or 6 years ago, a lady walked in to my local comic shop with a box full of books that her aunt was going to sell at their garage sale.  Lucky for he Aunt, she snagged them before the garage sale started and brought them to my LCS to see if they were worth anything.  Her uncle had passed some years prior, and these were his original owner book from the early 1940's.  Needless to say, it was a wise decision on her part, as they did a lot better with their books in an auction than they would've gotten at the garage sale.  I think they ended up getting close to $10k for her box of books that were underneath the basement staircase for decades.

Unfortunately for me, there were no Superman books in the bunch, so I had to set my sights elsewhere if I wanted a piece of this collection.  Included in the batch were some great early Batman and Detective Comics with the 1st Alfred and early Penguin issues.  There was also a Green Lantern #1 in sharp VG condition.  But what caught my eye was the collection of All-Star Comics that he had.  My memories a little hazy, and I seem to have misplaced my auction catalog from that event, but he had at least 5 different issues from #5-12.  There was no #8, or at least it was never made available in the sale if it was there...who knows, maybe my LCS owner is sitting on that one still?

For my money, I decided to go for All Star Comics #12 from August 1942, as it had a great cover.

Seriously, look at that cover!  Great patriotic stuff, with Wonder Woman front and center, and the rest of the Justice League fanned out behind her.  I ended up subbing this one to CGC last year, and it came back a universal 4.0 grade.  The auction was packed and the bidding was fierce, so in the end I paid close to $400 for this one.  I probably overpaid at the time, but you know how auction fever goes.

I think in the end I'm going to come out ahead, as this is the issue where Wonder Woman is elected as the secretary of the Justice Society.  Word on the street is that Gal Gadot will be assuming the secretary post in the new Justice League movie...fingers crossed!