Those who’ve seen Superman know that she’s part of the new James Gunn-ified cycle of DC movies. But, do YOU know about Kendra “Hawkgirl” Saunders? Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of JSA Secret Files #1 awaits!

JSA SECRET FILES #1

Writer:  David Goyer/James Robinson/Steven Grant
Penciler: Scott Benefiel/Aaron Lopresti/Louis Small/
N. Steven Harris/Sergio Cariello/Roger Robinson/
Eddy Newell/Steve Sadowski/Alex Maleev/Frank Cho
Inker: Mark Propst/Michael Bair/Jordi Ensign/
Kevin Nowlan/Mick Gray/Wayne Faucher
Colorist: John Kalisz/Tom McCraw/Digital Chameleon
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Editor: Peter J. Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $4.95
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $20.00
Release Date: June 16,1999

Previously in JSA Secret Files: The first superhero team both in-universe and out, the Justice Society of America was getting somewhat long in the tooth by 1986. In order to deal with the issue of age, the JSA was shuffled off into a pocket dimension where they were doomed to endlessly fight Asgardian warriors to stave off the Norse Ragnarok. “Endlessly,” by the way, meant about six years, after which they were freed, returning to action just long enough for Zero Hour to disrespect and/or murder a number of the Justice Society heroes. As the new millennium neared, a number of legacy heroes, including a new Starman, a new Doctor Mid-Nite, the android Hourman, Courtney “The Star-Spangled Kid” Whitmore, and another carrier of the mantle of Mister Terrific, emerged. But a real revival of the Justice Society required one more death.

Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman, has spent fifty years cursed with waking nightmares, but his most recent ones have been the most apocalyptic of all. With the help of his friend Speed Saunders (a two-fisted adventurer first seen in Detective Comics #1 in 1937, disappearing by 1941), Wes has a plan to stave off the end of the world, one which hinges upon finding a child somewhere in the world… a child born with the reincarnated mystical prowess of Doctor Fate! The Sandman’s last battle is short-lived, as he ends up being thrown to his death by a mysterious magician who also seeks the power of Fate. The presence of the long-missing Speed Saunders here is the key to an important part of Wesley’s plan, a young woman contemplating her own fate on a butte in West Texas.

Meet Kendra Saunders! And, apparently, her abs and underboob, one of several moments of the issue that remind us that 1999 was a time when comics were still chasing the “Bad Girl” art trend. Michael Bair’s Black Canary on the cover is another example of this. Another hallmark of the ’90s is retconning new relationships, seen not only in the long-term friendship between Dodds and Speed, but also in the revelation that Speed Saunders and Shiera Sanders, the Golden Age Hawkgirl, were cousins. (Shiera’s branch of the family changed their name to avoid an ancient curse on their lineage, because why not.) That Hawkgirl’s death during Zero Hour left her costume and antigravity wings to Speed, who trained Kendra to take her place.

I mean, he didn’t seem to train her very well, but he did train her. Fortunately, before we get a loving closeup of a nineteen-year-old smashed into pulp on the rocks, the new Hawkgirl remembers that she has wings!

The few still-living members of the Justice Society (Speed Force-empowered Flash, Starheart-imbued Green Lantern, immortal Wonder Woman, and as-yet-inexplicable Wildcat) put together a funeral for The Sandman, inviting the legacy heroes and retired friends, all the while wondering what horror is coming for the JSA. You and I know that it’s Mordru, but that’s still a ways off. The issue also gives us our first real “Hero Shot” of Kendra Saunders in action, including the wrist wraps that end up being an important part of her backstory.

This issue leads directly into the JSA’s own solo book, wherein we discover that Kendra might possibly even be a reincarnation of Shiera, but here all we really know is that she’s a girl and sort of a hawk, and her mask rules. JSA Secret Files #1 features Who’s Who pages for the rest of the JSA as well, featuring some just plain AWFUL art, as well as one of the final appearances of Jared “Fate” Stevens, the worst legacy ever, earning 3 out of 5 stars overall. The early issues of this Justice Society feature a number of Goyerisms, inexplicable grimdark nonsense that never entirely goes away, but this one skirts around much of that in its scene-setting. In truth, this should have been a subplot in the first three issues of Justice Society of America, but it makes for an okay read nonetheless.

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