Latter Day Justice Society Members

Anna Fortune

Created by Matt Sturges and Freddie Williams II

NAME + ALIASES:
Unrevealed

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice Society of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
JSA All-Stars #5 (June 2010)

APPEARANCES:
JSA All-Stars #5–18

Anna Fortune is the mysterious Victorian-era protégé of Dr. Fate. She claims to have been born 187 years ago (circa 1823), but that she was only 26 years old. She appears to be English, but revealed no other details about her origins, or how she came to be in the 21st century. (#11)

When the Justice Society was in a fight against Johnny Sorrow and the monstrous King of Tears, Anna Fortune stepped from a massive magical portal and joined the battle. Her powers were impressive; she imprisoned the King of Tears inside a gauntlet. But when she was asked to use a spell to heal King Chimera, she questioned whether he was worthy (because she could only use the spell once). Fortune gave no reason for helping the JSA so readily, but dove in to help them pursue Johnny Sorrow, who was holding Stargirl in his Subtle Realms. She navigated successfully, though the spell took ten days' preparation, and re-released the King of Tears. (JSA All-Stars #5) Once there, Anna accidentally brought the Subtle Realms to Earth's dimension. Stargirl soon dispatched Sorrow by killing the King of Tears for good. (#6)

After this, she joined the JSA All-Stars as a regular member. In Parador, Cyclone was critically injured (#8) and Anna conjured a spell to teleport she and King Chimera to safety, in Turkey. (#9) The team took some down time after this case and Anna made a connection with her teammate, Atom-Smasher. (#11)

When the JSA All-Stars were reabsorbed into the larger Justice Society, it is not known whether Anna Fortune stayed with the team.

NOTE: In an interview with Newsarama writer Matthew Sturges teased some of Anna Fortune's background, saying "And her last name is no accident. If there's another character in the DCU named Fortune, but probably in a different way than you might expect." The quote might have been mistranscribed, but he seemed to be referencing the JLA villain Amos Fortune. » SEE ALSO: JSA All-Stars Brings Love, Sorrow, & Action to Young Heroes (18 May 2010)

Darknight

Created by Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Bingham

NAME + ALIASES:
Unrevealed

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
The Zhuguan, Justice Society of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48 (Apr. 2011)

APPEARANCES:
Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48–54

The mysterious hero called Darknight is an unnamed Chinese national. But the first hero to take this name was none other than Bruce Wayne—the Batman. It was during his days before becoming Batman that Wayne encountered a Chinese super-group called the Zhuguan. They offered him a transformative elixir, which he took to become the super-powered Hei An Wushuh, "the dark night." He helped the Zhuguan overthrow the tyrannical Huairen and bring justice to Xinjian province. (Batman Confidential #53-54)

After Bruce left and rejected further dose of the elixir, it's presumed that another man assumed this identity and that he traveled with fellow member, Ri, to the United States to join the Justice Society of America.

A new Darknight appeared along with his fellow Chinese, Ri, answering the Justice Society's call for help in Monument City. (Ri was a member of China's Zhuguan team, and was present when Bruce Wayne became the first Darknight.) (Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48) The Flash invited all these heroes to join the JSA, which Darknight apparently accepted. (#50) No personal information is known about the new Darknight. He remained a devoted member of the JSA and was on hand during their battle against the god, D'arken. (#54)

NOTE: Darknight's creator, Marc Guggenheim, said:

"Before Bruce Wayne was Batman, he was given a new identity that was "Dark Knight" in Chinese. And he was given a costume, which you saw if you read the Batman Confidential arc, was the precursor for his Batman costume. So Jerry Bingham designed this really cool "early" Batman costume. And I thought, what a shame to just let that beautiful costume design go to waste. With issue #48, we get the first official appearance of Darknight, a new character wearing this sort of 'proto-Batman' costume. … The chance to make use of this great costume design and introduce a new Chinese superhero into the DC Universe was just too great an opportunity to pass up."

Red Beetle

Created by Marc Guggenheim and Scott Kolins

NAME + ALIASES:
Sara Butters

KNOWN RELATIVES:
None

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice Society of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48 (Apr. 2011)

APPEARANCES:
Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48-54

No personal information is known about Ted Kord's young successor. Sara Butters wore a costume very much like the Blue Beetle's, and as the Red Beetle she appeared along with a cadre of new heroes who answered the Justice Society's call for help in Monument City. (Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48) The Flash invited all these heroes to join the JSA, which the Red Beetle enthusiastically accepted. She was on monitor duty with Hourman. when Per Degaton broke into their headquarters. (#50)

NOTE: Red Beetle's creator, Marc Guggenheim, teased: "I can't really comment on who she is under the mask, but the character's name is definitely Red Beetle. She is obviously using some Blue Beetle technology and gadgetry."

Ri (日)

Created by Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Bingham

NAME + ALIASES:
Unrevealed

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
The Zhuguan, Justice Society of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Batman Confidential #50 (Jan. 2011)

APPEARANCES:

• Batman Confidential #50-54
• Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48–54

Ri is a Chinese national whose first contact with American heroes was during the days when Bruce Wayne was traveling the world in search of knowledge and skills. While in the Xinjiang province in West China, he came across a place devastated bu a warrior called Huairen ("the villain"). The trail led to a mountaintop temple where he met a whole team of Chinese super-heroes: Ri, a powerful healer; Guanxi aka "power," a telepath and super-strong (Batman Confidential #50); Sudu the speedster; and Dao a marksman. (#52)

Huairen decided to offer Bruce the chance to train with him, but when he's asked to kill a prisoner, Bruce turned on Huairen and was stabbed in the chest. (#51)

This became the impetus for the others—who called themselves The Zhuguan (the League)—to unite against Huarien as well. Ri rushed in to save Bruce from flames and a severed arm and Dao was killed by Huairen. (#52)

Bruce continued to train with the Zhuguan and learned that their powers were granted by an elixir and focused by drawing totems on their bodies. They offered the elixir to Bruce and he accepted, beginning a painful empowerment process. (#53) Bruce emerged as Hei An Wushuh, "the dark night." In the night he gained the power to disappear. They attacked Huairen and Bruce was able to stab the villain, but not before Guanxi was killed. Ri revived Guanxi but was too weak to heal Huairen as well. To avoid killing Huairen, Bruce withdrew the sword and bid Ri to heal him fully when she had recovered. Hours later Bruce began to experience withdrawal from the elixir. Ri revealed that it was a modified form of opium and when she offers him more, he refused. Despite Ri's please, Bruce soon left China. (#54)

Under unrevealed circumstances, Ri traveled to the United States, where she appeared to help the Justice Society. She was accompanied by a new Darknight, who was presumably a new member of the Zhuguan. (Justice Society of America vol. 3 #48) The Flash invited all these heroes to join the JSA, which Ri and Darknight accepted. (#50) Ri soon proved her worth by assisting Dr. Fate and Dr. Mid-Nite in returning Lightning's soul to her body. (#51)

NOTE: Ri's creator, Marc Guggenheim said: "I have to give a shout out to Mike Carlin. [Using Ri] was his idea. … Even though [her introduction] was written five years ago, we were publishing it right when we were planning out these early issues of JSA."

Roxy

Created by Matt Sturges and Freddie Williams II

NAME + ALIASES:
None

KNOWN RELATIVES:
Rick Tyler (Hourman, creator), Hourman III ("brother")

GROUP AFFILIATIONS:
Justice Society of America

FIRST APPEARANCE:
Roxy: JSA All-Stars #2 (Mar. 2010)
Lorna Pemberton: JSA All-Stars #2 (Feb. 2010)

APPEARANCES:
JSA All-Stars #2–18

Roxy is the first artificial intelligence created by Rex Tyler, aka Hourman. She was brought online when Rex began working with a new Justice Society offshoot called the JSA All-Stars. This A.I. had a distinct personality and—unexpectedly— a sense of humor (she joked that within hours she would annihilate all human life). No sooner did she come online did she lead the team to the Injustice Society. She quickly became indispensable to the team and was regarded as a true member. (JSA All-Stars #2)

Her massive analytical capabilities were a godsend when Roxy's teammate, Cyclone, was disrupted by nanites. The nanites created a myriad of Cyclones, and Roxy diagnosed the problem then interacted with them to restore Cyclone to normal. Afterwards, Roxy confided to Power Girl that Cyclone's DNA might have been altered in the process (to Roxy, one person's bones were no more important than another's). (#13)

Roxy's destiny was changed by a visit from her "descendant," the android Hourman (who was from the 853rd century and had also served in the JSA). He arrived from the future, knowing her, with advice. She was suspicious of him, but while she resisted any notion of being more human-like, she was intrigued when he gave her a violin and bade her to learn it. Of course, she'd need a physical body for that.

As fate would have it, one of the JSA's adversaries, Arthur Pemberton, was tending to the brain-dead body of his daughter Lorna. Professor Milo had augmented her body with a force field, weapons systems, and enhanced physicality, but she remained in a coma. The damaged portions of Lorna's brain were replaced with computer hardware. (#14) When Pemberton launched his next attack on the JSA, Roxy found a reference to Lorna, and remembered the Hourman's violin. She threw caution to the wind and entered the body of Lorna Pemberton. (#15) NOTE: Lorna Pemberton was incapacitated by Johnny Sorrow in JSA All-Stars #1 (2010).

"Becoming human" wasn't Roxy's aim. She'd realized that the violin that held the key to defeating Pemberton's elemental monsters, the Puzzlemen. She played a song written by Bach for the express purpose of disintegrating these beasts. Later Power Girl called Roxy on the ethics of possessing a human body. Roxy claimed she didn't care for a human body and that she would "give the body back." (#16) But when Rex Tyler presented Roxy with a new android body, she fled from it in disgust. (#17) Meanwhile the All-Stars squared off against the Prince, a foe who could bend reality. Roxy defeated the Prince by trapping him within his own bomb blast. Her human form was destroyed, but she quickly reemerged, inhabiting the body of Rex Tyler's new robot. (#18)

When the JSA All-Stars were reabsorbed into the larger Justice Society, it is not known whether Roxy stayed with the team.

In the 853rd century, Roxy gifted her violin to Hourman. This was just after his creation, and asked him to deliver it to a specific time in the past. (#16)