JSA All-Stars #17 The World of Regal!

[pyrotwilight]

superboyprime 

recently posted about an interesting story beat that showed up in JSA All-stars #17 so I decided to grab the issue to see more.

So here's some more story, rather interesting story at that....

 

A very Starman-esque story beat there ala what Jack and Mist were like. 

The Prince, whose narrating this, tells of how the heroes banded around Regal. The group that started as the Justice Society expanded and later became the Justice Guild of Earth. "We didn't just keep the world safe as your heroes do we kept the world wonderful."

 

An interesting story to be sure. But some of the things that really caught my eye was the odd fact that Wonderwoman, Superman and Batman were both shown as members of the Justice Society here. It made me consider this world Prince was from might be an altered version of the Pre-Crisis Earth 2, I sort of considered that a possibility as their was also a brown haired Green Arrow in a splash page showing Regal and the Justice Guild (I mention that since the E-2 Green Arrow was retconned during COIE as having brown hair as opposed to the E-1 Green Arrows blond hair to differentiate the two). Of course they also included Superboy (Conner) and Supergirl as members of the Justice Guild alongside Powergirl and the other Justice Guild Members so while it's a very Earth-2 ish look to it there are a bunch of differences that make it also seem like the modern day DCU. I suppose it could still be said to be an altered E-2 (particularly given that Regal and his Guild apparently stopped the COIE)  but those are some rather big changes there.                     

Comments

[sherkahn]

Why am I feeling like this guy is similar to the Superman of the Tangent world?

[shadowpsykie]

ICON LOOOOOOOOVE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sherkahn]

It's the smirk, the twinkle in his eye.

[citygod]

Seconded on the icon - don't think I've ever seen that photo before. Nicely done!
And could the "tachyon burst from the future" that created Regal be Dr. Hate's "interference"?
(By the way, with a name like Dr. Hate, doesn't that make everyone a bit suspicious?!)

[thokstar]

I got something of a Dr. Manhattan vibe, but Tangent Superman is sort of the same thing.

[retro_nouveau]

WHAT shadowpsykie SAID!!!!!!!!!!!!

And motto, Tangent!Superman sprang to mind at first sight.

[darkblade]

I'm getting more of a Sentry vibe here. Guy who was totally perfect, you don't remember him but he was totally there and was so awesome, too bad you don't remember.

[bruinsfan]

Yeah, basically Triumph v2.0. Wonder if the writer thinks he's being original?

I wish changed past stories like these would leave off characters like the Anti-Monitor that should be outside the effects of alterations to a particular world's history.

[pyrotwilight]

It's a bit more like the events of Kurt Busiek's Trinity than Triumph exactly though I can see what you mean.

It's essentially the story of a lone hero trying to save his timeline which means wiping out the bad one. Only in this case the "bad" one is ironically the universe everyone knows.

[akodo_rokku]

Because Regal looks a lot like him.

[endis_ni]

I may never stop adoring your icon.

[budige_at_home]

It almost looks like he's wearing a pencil skirt in the third panel. Looks pretty good on him. I know its pants, but I like the skirt look, like a business savvy Herc.

[retro_nouveau]

Heh! I stared for at least 30 seconds, I don't know it's pants. Jay has pants, Clark has pants, Alan probably has pants. It will have to be proven to me with more scans that Regal is wearing more than one pant. :)

[junipepper]

Well, now that you mention it -- it does look like a skirt. And he does look pretty in it!

[shadowpsykie]

Dr. Hate is teh Rani!

[shadowpsykie]

if you notice they also havetwo hourmen

[pyrotwilight]

Indeed though one could argue that maybe it's Rex and Rick so it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary. Though that'd make the timeline a bit wonkier since it appears to be an early JSA.

[kamino_neko]

Timeline's already incredibly wonky due to the presence of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and J'onn J'onnz. Rick and Rex both being of an appropriate age to be Hourman during WWII wouldn't be that much further off. (Rex in his late 30s, Rick his late teens. Voilà.)

[halloweenjack]

WW could be Hippolyta, but the others... I'm guessing that it has something to do with the Anti-Monitor being put down before the original Crisis could be seen through.

[bariman]

Maybe one was supposed to be Dr. Mid-Nite?

[cypherfdp]

"Everything you guys accomplished on your own? Hahaha, fuck that, when REGAL was here, he ended WWII.

[thanekos]

At least the defeated Darkseid has a slight air of " Oh, THESE schmucks? Really? "

[misterbug]

He's got a very King Arthur vibe to him, this regal fellow - especially in that he got tricked into fathering a child with one of his arch-nemeses.

[retro_nouveau]

Good call. Diverges before we find out that Dr. Hate is is half-sister and the Prince is responsible for Regal's mortal wound. And that wound looks some kind of mortal, like you could pass a softball through it.

[blackruzsa]

Sad. D:
AGAIN, I wonder how this'll blow over for him. He's legit, but not in their world, I reckon.

[pyrotwilight]

Seems to be the likely answer. Though I must admit Regal sounds/sounded a bit cooler than Prince himself, which is a shame.

[blackruzsa]

Yeah, Regal really struck me as a character too.

[junipepper]

Do you really think he's legit? I can't decide. I tend to think that him being for real would make a more interesting story/resolution than just having him be Fraudulent!FutureMan #712.

[blackruzsa]

This is the DC universe, I THOUGHT I HAD HOPE D8

Well yeah I actually wish he were XD

[retro_nouveau]

I love a trip around a new corner of the multiverse. I could have used 100% less Anti-Monitor, but what are you gonna do. JGA, I love it. Want to know more about Regal's powers. For Clark to be just another of the JSA/JGA and for Regal to beat Darkseid to death, the dial has to be up near 12 now.

Love Clark's S-shield, I don't know if it's brand-new for this universe or if it's an actual golden age variant. Diana's bracers are really, really weak, bleh. Disappointed that Diana and Bruce don't have new logos, or for Bruce at least the original golden age look. I was too busy looking at J'onn being in the golden age JSA to notice the two Hourmen. XD

[retro_nouveau]

Ok, now I see ... altered timeline. Hate them as much as I love parallel universes.

[kamino_neko]

Love Clark's S-shield, I don't know if it's brand-new for this universe or if it's an actual golden age variant.

It's an early version. Not the first he wore (that was a red S on a yellow shield), but the colours weren't consistent until after it fixed on the familiar one. And even then, even aside from deliberate changes like the yellow being replaced with black after his death, it wasn't always consistent.

[recognitions]

I like that the Anti-Monitor's there, actually. It reinforces the bigness that was Crisis, and that it was momentous enough that even alternate timelines couldn't escape its effect.

[dr_archeville]

Is Batman... smiling?

[aaron_bourque]

It's not the end of the world. Batman used to smile often in the years before Frank Miller.