Story: "The Dawn of the Golden Age" (22 Pages)

Credits:

John Ostrander (plot, script)
Cliff Chiang (pencils, inks)
Tom McCraw (colors)
Jamison Services (color separations)
John Costanza (letters)
Tony Berganza (edits)

Feature Characters:

Clark Kent
Sand
Sentinel (also in flashback)
Flash I
Wildcat II (last four teamed with Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Dr Mid-Nite and the Star-Spangled Kid as the JSA)
Johnny Thunder II (between JSA #1 and #29; also appears in flashback)
Crimson Avenger I (in flashback preceding Secret Origins Vol. 2 #5 and between Leading Comics #13 and 14)

Supporting Characters:

Perry White
Rama Kushna (in flashback)

Guest Appearances:

Black Canary II
Star-Spangled Kid II
Hawkgirl II
Doctor Mid-Nite II (teamed with Flash, Sand, Sentinel and Wildcat as the JSA)
Guardian I
Liberty Belle
Robotman I
Hawkgirl I
Hawkman I
Shining Knight II
Atom I
Dr Fate I
Amazing Man I
Commander Steel
Tarantula II
Hourman I
President Roosevelt (latter thirteen in flashback only)

Comment: In addition to those characters in attendance at the White House 'do' remembered by Johnny Thunder, various characters are seen in reminiscence only, taking no part in the events of the story, and are not listed above. However, for the sake of completeness, the following are depicted: Wing, Starman I, The Spectre, Hippolyta, Black Condor, Quicksilver, Dollman, Uncle Sam, the Blackhawks, King, Red Bee, The Whip, Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys and Red Tornado I.

Synopsis:

Journalist Clark Kent has been working on a piece on the Crimson Avenger, probably the first costumed 'mystery man' of the Golden Age of super-heroes. He covers everything up to his heroic death, but his editor, Perry White, is not satisfied and wants to know how and why the Crimson Avenger started - what was the Avenger avenging? Kent begins his investigation by speaking to the 'elder statesmen' of the JSA who, though they are able to offer recollections of various other old-timer heroes, from Sandman to the ridiculous Red Tornado, know little of the Crimson Avenger save that he used to pose as a criminal to infiltrate gangs. The Flash recalls that Johnny Thunder actually seemed friendly with the Crimson Avenger, but Thunder is gradually succumbing to Alzheimer's and gives no indication that he's even aware of the others' presence at his bedside.

After the heroes are gone, Thunder does indeed recall a conversation he had with the Crimson Avenger while at the White House. The Crimson Avenger said that his service in the first great war scarred him horribly and that he went to the Himalayas to die. However, he was rescued by the servant of the goddess Rama Kushna and spent some time in the city of Nanda Parabat. Here he was somehow rejuvenated, and saw a vision of a great, Super man who could perform wondrous deeds and who died in a reporter's arms after saving the world from a rampaging monster. And so Lee Travis became the Crimson Avenger, avenging the death of a great man far into the future, hoping in so doing to avert his death.

Second Story: "Scenes from the Class Struggle at JSA Mansion" (4 Pages)

Credits:

Tom Peyer (plot, script)
Peter Grau (pencils)
Claude St. Aubin (inks)
John Costanza (letters)
Tom McCraw (colors)
Tony Bedard (edits)

Feature Characters:

Sandman I
Doctor Mid-Nite I
Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
Dr Fate I
Hawkman I
Hawkgirl I
Starman I
Johnny Thunder II
Flash I
Spectre I
Atom I
Hourman I

Other Characters:

Count Deschamps
Hooty (Doctor Mid-Nite's owl)

Synopsis:

A gala in honor of the Justice Society, which some of the guests find a trifle...odd. Some members of the JSA are also finding it difficult, being unaccustomed to fine dining - how do you eat a lobster anyway? And those 'posher' members of the team discuss the others, whether they are perhaps adequately 'refined.' Just as Doctor Mid-Nite expounds his thoughts on the matter, a gala guest brings him an uneaten lobster as a gift for his owl, as 'the smell of him has quite devastated my appetite.' Mid-Nite fumes and Green Lantern can barely contain his mirth at the exposure of their own lack of 'refinement.'

Third Story: "The Sentinel" (3 Pages)

Credits:

Peter Gross (plot, script, pencils, inks)
Comicraft (letters)
Tom McCraw (colors)

Feature Characters:

Doctor Occult
Zatara

Synopsis:

Zatara, the stage magician, is stopped on the street by a man who asks him if he believes in magic. It is Dr Occult, who has become known for exposing fraud mediums and the like. However, he has not come to expose Zatara as a fraud, but to tell him that he knows that he is a true magic user, one of the few. Occult is concerned at the way in which magic has been cheapened, and asks Zatara to safeguard magic's future by becoming a costumed adventurer, but one who is open about being a magic user. Zatara says he will consider Occult's words, but for now, he has a stage show to perform in.

Fourth Story: "Show and Tell" (2 Pages)

Credits:

Jason Hernadez Rosenblatt (plot, script)
Jamal Igle (pencils)
Rodney Ramos (inks)
John Costanza (letters)
Tom McCraw (colors)

Feature Character:

Sivana

Synopsis:

1939: A young Thaddeus Sivana has visited the New York World's Fair and has learnt of the many wondrous applications of modern technology. He has figured out how to control people's minds through animation techniques and is just trying it out on his classmates, to his teacher's horror.