WARNING: The following contains spoilers for “Justice Society: Past Is Prologue” from Stargirl: Spring Break Special #1, by Geoff Johns, Bryan Hitch, Alex Sinclair and Rob Leigh, on sale now.
Courtney Whitmore is back in a big way after previously being seen at the start of the year at the start of the Infinite Frontier, where she teamed up with her stepfather Pat Dugan to save the day as Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. In Stargirl: Spring Break Special #1, she and her stepdad rejoined the classic Golden Age team the Seven Soldiers of Victory to protect the space-time continuum.
And while the reunited Seven Soldiers are successful in thwarting the machinations of the Clock King this time, an even bigger threat looms on the horizon, Per Degaton, and his plans for revenge could give the original DC superhero team, the Justice Society of America, a reason to come out of retirement and step into the modern DC Universe.
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In the special, the Crimson Avenger alerts the Seven Soldiers of Victory that the Clock King is resurfacing off the coast of South Carolina with one of Per Degaton’s crashed time-traveling ships. Despite being seemingly abandoned, the vessel contains enough chronal energy stored within to make it incredibly dangerous in the Clock King’s hands as he begins to summon monsters and bend time back to the Seven Soldiers’ last fateful skirmish against him. And as Stargirl and Red Arrow turn the tide of battle and defeat the Clock King, the supervillain is immediately confronted by an angry Per Degaton after he retreats to safety.
Per Degaton berates the Clock King for interfering with his plans and tampering with his property yet again, reminding him it was the Clock King’s reckless use of his time travel that brought Green Arrow and Speedy back to the Golden Age, inadvertently complicating Degaton’s plans with the Emerald Archer’s time-displaced presence. While the Clock King apologizes profusely, Degaton recruits him for a revenge mission against the Justice Society of America and announces his plans in a spread that includes shots of the WWII, Earth-2 and modern versions of the Golden Age team.
Created by John Broome and Irwin Hansen in 1947’s All Star Comics #35, Per Degaton was a member of the Time Trust, an organization that developed time-travel as a means to help the United States during World War II. However, he betrayed them, stealing the technology for himself. Degaton’s plans to drastically alter the course of history are constantly thwarted by the Justice Society and the All-Star Squadron, with Degaton forming a bitter feud with the Golden Age superhero community, joining the Injustice Society on several occasions to attack the heroes. While Degaton’s activities and history with the Justice Society at the start of Infinite Frontier are unknown with the revisions to reality, the supervillain clearly has an ax to grind with the JSA, likely recalling a string of defeats at their hands.
While several members of the Justice Society have been seen since the start of the Infinite Frontier era, the team as a whole has been conspicuously absent so far. If there was ever a threat big enough to get the veteran heroes back together, Per Degaton would certainly be a worthy foe. And since the glimpse of Earth-2, complete with Helena Wayne version of the Huntress, Degaton’s plans might extend to the reborn DC Multiverse. The supervillain has previously displayed the ability to travel to alternate worlds through his ill-gotten technology, and those ambitions could return as he seeks to subjugate all of reality to his time-traveling will. After this issue reunited the Seven Soldiers of Victory to deal with the Clock King, the Justice Society may very well reassemble to take on the might of Per Defaton.
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