The team of supervillains known as the Injustice Society has been a thorn in the side of the Justice Society of America for many years. Sheldon Mayer and Bob Kanigher introduced the team in All Star Comics #37 (October 1947), featuring the Wizard, the Thinker, Brainwave, Vandal Savage, Per Degaton, and Gambler. The team, which was most prominent during the Golden Age, has surfaced on television as the main antagonists on the new Stargirl show.
The group appeared for the first time in the late 1940s with the Wizard as the leader. With the goal of taking over the US by separating into factions with their own criminal henchmen to attack government facilities. Members were also tasked with capturing members of the Justice Society to stop their interference. In a bold move, the Injustice Society actually alerted the JSA to their plans so that they’d show up and give the villains the opportunity to incapacitate them. Their plan was a success with the Thinker apprehending the Flash at the governor’s house, Vandal Savage capturing Hawkman at an airport, the Gambler nabbing the Atom using invisible wires, and Per Degaton stopping Doctor Mid-Nite at the Washington Monument.
Green Lantern came up against Brainwave, first saving army tanks full of soldiers, then he found Brainwave in a weird glass box. Green Lantern shot his power ring at the box, but the energy bounced back and knocked him off a cliff, apparently to his death.
When Wonder Woman and Johnny Thunder learn that Per Degaton captured Doctor Mid-Nite, they tried to save them but were caught themselves. The Injustice Society dampened their powers and they were put on trial with the Thinker as judge and the Wizard as the prosecutor. Once they were sentenced to death, Green Lantern shocked them all by revealing that he was alive and had disguised himself as the Thinker. His ring had saved him at the last minute and he apprehended the Thinker. When the JSA was free, they defeated the Injustice Society.
The Injustice Society had their second incarnation later in the 1940s, engaging in what they considered patriotic crimes. When the Justice Society reformed during the Silver Age the Injustice Society also returned. In the ’80s the Wizard gathered old teammates with new ones to form Injustice Unlimited. Johnny Sorrow formed a new Injustice Society in ’99 to attack the JSA’s headquarters and attempt to bring forth the King of Tears from another dimension. The team returned again in the JSA All-Stars miniseries and JSA Classified in the early 2000s.
