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Summary
Warning : spoiler for Justice Society of America ( 2022 ) # 9 forrader !
As theJustice Society of Americadoes its secure to helpthe send away protégés of heroes and scoundrel alike , they have come across a quiet but arresting revealing , one with major implications forGreen Lanternlore . In trying to apprehend the legacy anti - hero Harlequin ’s Son , the JSA discovers that Oa ’s Guardians have inadvertently had a major influence on Earth ’s technological evolution .
Justice Society of America ( 2022)#9 – written by Geoff Johns , with art by Mikel Janín , Jordie Bellaire , and Rob Leigh – finds the JSA continuing to enter former villains at the behest of a time - displaced Huntress . While they do their best to invoke to Harlequin ’s Son , he proves unwilling to get together , leading Power Girl , Stargirl , and Salem on a wild rooftop chase while bedeviling them with illusions .
As he flee , Harlequin ’s Son triumph that " most of the phantasy - casting tech all the super - villains use today was pull off from [ Harlequin ’s ] original glasses,“reveling in the ability he has inherited from his female parent , Molly Mayne .
The Martian Manhunter is one of Earth ’s neat hero , yet his name has a shocking connection to classic Green Lantern scoundrel .
The legacy of Harlequin , Molly Mayne , is intricately tied with that of Green Lantern and the Manhunters .
The Surprising, Long-Lasting Legacy Of An Old-School DC Villain
Molly Mayne, AKA The Harlequin
As ‘ The Harlequin ’s Son , ’ Michael is a talented acrobat and thespian , allowing him to pair his stagecraft with his mother ’s trick drinking glass for idea - boggle results .
The bequest of Molly Mayne – Harlequin – is intricately tie with that of Green Lantern and the Manhunters . As one of the original villains ( and later , wife ) of Green Lantern Alan Scott , Harlequin made her introduction inAll - American Comics ( 1939)#89 as an athletic crook with a pair of glasses capable of vagabond " spellbinding illusions . " These eyeglasses were afterwards retconned into being a gift from the Manhunters inInfinity Inc. ( 1984)#46 , explain how Molly , a secretary at the meter of her supervillain entry , could get her hands on such unbelievable engineering .
Molly ’s bequest and chicken feed returned inThe New Golden Age(2022 ) with a splash Thomas Nelson Page dedicated to the character ‘ The Harlequin ’s Son’as a precursor to the ‘ Lost Children ’ arc . In Huntress ’s alternating timeline , Molly ’s son Michael assume his female parent ’s drinking glass to pursue vigilante justice and afterwards became a appendage of the JSA.As ‘ The Harlequin ’s Son , ’ Michael is a gifted acrobat and thespian , allowing him to partner off his stagecraft with his mother ’s deception eyeglasses for mind - boggling results – althoughJustice Society of America ( 2022)#9 will be the first clip that reader have seen him in action .
TheAll - American Comics ( 1939)#89 news report ' The Harlequin ' , is by Robert Kanigher and Irwin Hasen;Infinity Inc. ( 1984)#46 is by the squad of Roy Thomas , Dann Thomas , Vince Argondezzi , Tony de Zuñiga , Liz Berube , and Jean Simek .
Before The Lanterns, The Guardians Of The Universe Created This Dangerous Faction
The Manhunters, Explained
Many noteworthy characters have been revealed or retconned to have ties to the Manhunter cult , including Molly Mane : her glasses were intended as a bribe to help inscribe her into the sect .
However , it is the Manhunters who are the key to the Harlequin ’s glasses – and , therefore , the entire Harlequin lineage . earlier a vigilante uniting of two 1940s characters antecedently name ‘ Manhunter ’ ( Paul Kirk and Rick Nelson ) , the total ‘ Manhunter ’ indistinguishability was retconned inJustice League ( 1960)#140 - 141 to be the android precursors to the Green Lantern Corps , robotic servants of the Guardians designed to patrol the existence with exemption from emotion , coalesce with the physical strength the Guardians lacked . After the Manhunters rise up ( afterwards retconned to let in the slaughtering of an full blank sector ) , the Guardians cast them into exile .
The Manhunters would go on to become major opposition of the late seventies and 1980s , featuring inJustice League ( 1960),Infinity Inc. ( 1984 ) , andMillenium ( 1988 ) . These titles reveal that after their banishment , the Manhunters seed themselves across the galaxy to imprint revenge cults and strike back against the Guardians . Many notable character have been let on or retconned to have ties to the Manhunter cult , including Molly Mane : her field glass were intend as a payoff to help recruit her into the sect . This means that Harlequin ’s glassesare Manhunter – and therefore Guardian – technology .
Millennium ( 1988)is by the team of Steve Englehart , Joe Staton , Ian Gibson , Carl Gafford , and Bob Lappan .
Harlequin’s Son Is Just One Of Many Villains Using Her Technology
When recontextualized through the lens of the Harlequin ’s Manhunter technology , Doctor Light and Mirror Master ’s superpower make perfect sense as a byproduct of the Guardians . This connection also fundamentally transfer how reader understand the deep chronicle of DC ’s vast universe .
As DC has expose , the trickle down of Guardian technology to the people of Earth has had major implication , in no small part because of who the Harlequin ’s Son incriminate of pull off his mother ’s technology : Doctor Light . As a former S.T.A.R. Labs research worker , Doctor Light ’s accomplishments are nothing scant of legendary ; he is able to manipulate hard - light , project effect - fields , holograms , teleport , and drain photonic Energy Department to empower himself . Justice Society of America ( 2022)#9 impute these breakthroughs mostly to reverse - applied science the technology in Harlequin ’s glasses .
Another similar light - and - illusion free-base villain is Mirror Master . One of the Flash ’s more notorious Rogues , Mirror Master ’s call to fame is his Mirror Gun , which gives him entree to the Mirror dimension , admit him to travel through reflective surfaces . Additionally , this domination of expression allows him to make convincing illusions and wreak havoc with luminance - based powers , bending them to his own advantage . If these baddie ' power sound familiar , it is because they are directly from the Guardian ’s technology , and form the ground of the powers of the Green Lantern Corps .
cook hard - lighting is the basic function of a Lantern Ring construct , and lead handwriting - in - deal with create holograms . While teleportation or dimensional travelling is admittedly something of a stretch , the Lantern Ring is open of transportation system over vast distance , often on interplanetary level . When recontextualized through the lenses of the Harlequin ’s Manhunter technology , Doctor Light and Mirror Master ’s power make perfect sense as a spin-off of the Guardians . This connexion also basically changes how readers understand the thick history of DC ’s huge cosmos .
The Guardians Have Changed Crime On Earth Forever
This stunning mountain range of technological development drastically upend the traditional knowledge of the Green Lanterns , and DC in general , and demonstrate the outsize influence the Guardians have had on Earth – even by accident .
The ripples go even further , as S.T.A.R. Labs is the chief technological hub of DC ’s Earth . With these breakthroughs having been developed through S.T.A.R. Labs , it follows that at least some of what Doctor Light educate would have been incorporate into S.T.A.R. Lab ’s worldwide body of work . This means that , through Harlequin ’s meth , the Guardians of Oa have in all probability , if unwittingly , had a major influence on the focal point of all of Earth ’s technology , introducing light - based tech to the satellite far in cash advance of when man may have educate it of course .
To sum up : the Guardians developed the Manhunters , who went rogue . As part of the Manhunter ’s cause against the Guardians , they developed cults and power them with Manhunter / Guardian applied science . When one of these furore attempted to enrol Molly Mayes , they render her the illusion glasses that permit her become the Harlequin . The glasses were subsequently studied by S.T.A.R. Labs , giving ascending to villains like Doctor Light and Mirror Master , and jump - starting Earth ’s Light Within - based technology . The clarification of this stunning chain of technological development drastically upends the traditional knowledge of theGreen Lanterns , and DC in ecumenical , and showsthe outsize influence the Guardians have had on Earth – even by accident .
Justice Society of America # 9is available now from DC Comics .
Justice Society of America # 9 ( 2024 )
