DC Comics: Two Thousand by Tom Peyer, Val Semekis, and Prentis Rollins

This is a JLA/JSA crossover of what, as far as I can recall, was a new kind. Instead of crossing the two organizations over in the present day, it sees the present-day Justice League facing down the Justice Society in its heyday. It's a bit complicated, but minor Justice League villain T. O. Morrow is using time travel technology to travel from the year 2000 to 1941, where he's providing 2000-era technology in order to boost humanity's technological advancement. This leads to a dystopian 2000 with him in control, so the JLA travels back in time to stop him. Only, in doing so, they reveal the future to the JSA, who realizes this technology the JLA is so desperate to stop from getting out can save lives, and so a different dystopian timeline comes about, thanks to the JSA's alteration of history.

It's just two issues long, but each is triple-length, so the story really has time to breathe. The first issue is mostly told from the JSA's perspective: we know who the mysterious "bat-man" in the shadows is, but they do not. I don't think Peyer wrote much for the JSA outside of this (he did have a story in The Justice Society Returns!), but he does great by them here. Good uses of them as characters, nice grasp of tone, strong sense of what makes them different from a twenty-first-century superhero. I liked that the JSA was horrified of what they saw of the real twenty-first century; Peyer did a great job of mining this for both drama and comedy. (My favorite gag is when the JSA have a laptop and think that when a bomb icon pops up with an error message, that the laptop must be a bomb.) Similarly, Peyer does great by T. O. Morrow, a guy who I'd never given much thought to before, but who here ends up with a fascinating, kind of moving backstory.

The JSA discovers GIFs, circa 2000.
from DC 2000 #1

The second issue broadens the perspective, and also has to take in a lot, and as a result is somewhat weaker: key decisions feel rushed because there's just not the time to do them justice. But overall this is a fun story with great art. It's a shame that it's never been reprinted; the "DC 2000" branding is obviously not very timely anymore, but call it something like JLA/JSA: The Tomorrow Paradox, and it would make a great trade. I'm glad I tracked it down; of the myriad JSA-related publications of the year 2000, this was certainly my favorite.

Two Thousand originally appeared in issues #1-2 of DC 2000 (2000). The story was written by Tom Peyer, pencilled by Val Semekis, inked by Prentis Rollins, lettered by Kurt Hathaway, colored by John Kalisz, and edited by Dan Raspler.

 

This post is thirty-first in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers JSA by Geoff Johns, Book Two. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)
2. The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)
3. All-Star Squadron (1981-87)
4. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)
5. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)
6. Showcase Presents... Power Girl (1978)
7. America vs. the Justice Society (1985)
8. Jonni Thunder, a.k.a. Thunderbolt (1985)
9. Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 7 (1983-85)
10. Infinity, Inc. #11-53 (1985-88) [reading order]
11. Last Days of the Justice Society of America (1986-88)
12. All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant (1999)
13. Steel, the Indestructible Man (1978)
14. Superman vs. Wonder Woman: An Untold Epic of World War Two (1977)
• Wonder Woman: Earth-Two (1977-78)
15. Secret Origins of the Golden Age (1986-89)
16. The Young All-Stars (1987-89)
17. Gladiator (1930) ["Man-God!" (1976)]
    
18. The Crimson Avenger: The Dark Cross Conspiracy (1981-88)
19. The Immortal Doctor Fate (1940-82)
20. Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice (1951-91)
21. Armageddon: Inferno (1992)
22. Justice Society of America vol. 2 (1992-93)
23. The Adventures of Alan Scott--Green Lantern (1992-93)
24. Damage (1994-96)
25. The Justice Society Returns! (1999-2001)
26. Chase (1998-2002)
27. Stargirl by Geoff Johns (1999-2003)
28. The Sandman Presents: The Furies (2002)
29. JSA by Geoff Johns, Book One (1999-2000)
30. Wonder Woman: The 18th Letter: A Love Story (2000)