What do you think?
Rate this book
Infinity Inc. #1
Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga, Vol. 1
Shunned by their parents and mentors in the Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc. is a team made up of the best and brightest new heroes from the next generation of DC Comics.Collecting a 1980s classic at last, INFINITY INC. follows the adventures of the Justice Society of America’s sons and daughters as they pick up the role of crime-fighters from their parents. Denied membership by the JSA due to a lack of experience, the young cast of Infinity Inc. decides to train themselves – including heroes Power Girl, Huntress, Jade, Obsidian, Nuklon and others. Collects INFINITY INC. #1-4, ALL-STAR SQUADRON #25-26 and ALL-STAR SQUADRON ANNUAL #2
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 12, 2011
5 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Roy Thomas
4,477 books271 followersRoy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.
Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.
Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 12, 2018
Set on Earth-2 pre-Crisis where the Golden Age heroes aged normally. Now they're children are ready to be heroes as well. When they are rejected by the JSA, they go off and form their own team, Infinity, Inc. I really like that the All-Star Squadron crossover issues were included as well. I thought the All-Star Squadron was such a cool concept as a kid, that Franklin Roosevelt gathered all of the heroes to send off in missions during World War II. And then when they created a book full of the next generation of the JSA, I was instantly sold. This generational aspect is something I currently find lacking in DC's current Rebirth universe.
September 22, 2017
It is a real shame that the second half of this story was never collected. It is really a great story. Roy Thomas was at his peak story telling at DC and Jerry Ordway was just hitting his stride artistically. I am also glad that they added the three issues that Infinity Inc appeared in All Star Squadron the World War II based book that was being published at this time. This is a very fun read but to get the conclusion of the story you will have to find copies of the Infinity Inc comic issues 5-10. All in all you cannot go wrong if you want to read what I think of as DC best period. They were publishing a lot of excellent books during this period and it was a great time being a fan.
June 4, 2019
Not considering the actual content for a moment, this is one of the most disappointing collections that DC Comics put out in the '10s — not just a symbol of the incompetence of their collections department, but also their sheer disregard for their fans.
It's a little hardcover, one of the thin, crappy ones produced by both DC and Marvel at the time to try and drive up their profit margins. Except, it's considerably more expensive than most, originally running $40 for less than 200 pages! Meanwhile, it covers just half of the story of "The Generations Saga". Because DC was just then becoming unreliable about releasing a first volume and then screwing their fans by never releasing the rest, I'm sure that I was one of many fans who waited to see the solicitations for V2 before buying V1. I bought it ... and then DC cancelled V2.
So what you're left with is half of a story, that almost 10 years later has never been completed, and never will be, in an overpriced, thin hardcover, not up to the standards of the Deluxe volumes that you'd expect for this sort of Deluxe price. (And the awful thing is that DC still hasn't gotten much better: they still don't know how to put together good collections, and book stores are littered with the corpses of series that they've abandoned part way through the trade collections.)
Anywho as to the story itself: it's slow. This is the introduction of the children of the JSA, Infinity Inc., through their intro in All-Star Squadron to the first first issues of their own comic, which are primarily setup.
The All-Star Squadron comics are the less interesting of the two, and that's because they're largely built around the mystery of who the Infinity Inc. are. So, absent that, it's a bunch of fights between an ever-changing crew of characters, and we actually don't get much sense of who Infinity Inc. are, since they're mind-controlled through half of that. The story gains some depth at the very end as we get the story of Cyclotron and his daughter, but that's after two issues and an annual.
The Infinity Inc. issues are much better, because we get actual characterization of our new group of heroes. But it's focused heavily on origins of the various characters, and that again might have been interesting in the day, but is less so now that we've known these characters for decades. The main "Generations" plot actually is only found in a few pages in the back couple of issues, to be fully explored in the next volume (which never came).
So, this isn't a great start, but I remember the series being pretty great as it gots its feet under it. Hopefully we'll get to see that again some day.
It's a little hardcover, one of the thin, crappy ones produced by both DC and Marvel at the time to try and drive up their profit margins. Except, it's considerably more expensive than most, originally running $40 for less than 200 pages! Meanwhile, it covers just half of the story of "The Generations Saga". Because DC was just then becoming unreliable about releasing a first volume and then screwing their fans by never releasing the rest, I'm sure that I was one of many fans who waited to see the solicitations for V2 before buying V1. I bought it ... and then DC cancelled V2.
So what you're left with is half of a story, that almost 10 years later has never been completed, and never will be, in an overpriced, thin hardcover, not up to the standards of the Deluxe volumes that you'd expect for this sort of Deluxe price. (And the awful thing is that DC still hasn't gotten much better: they still don't know how to put together good collections, and book stores are littered with the corpses of series that they've abandoned part way through the trade collections.)
Anywho as to the story itself: it's slow. This is the introduction of the children of the JSA, Infinity Inc., through their intro in All-Star Squadron to the first first issues of their own comic, which are primarily setup.
The All-Star Squadron comics are the less interesting of the two, and that's because they're largely built around the mystery of who the Infinity Inc. are. So, absent that, it's a bunch of fights between an ever-changing crew of characters, and we actually don't get much sense of who Infinity Inc. are, since they're mind-controlled through half of that. The story gains some depth at the very end as we get the story of Cyclotron and his daughter, but that's after two issues and an annual.
The Infinity Inc. issues are much better, because we get actual characterization of our new group of heroes. But it's focused heavily on origins of the various characters, and that again might have been interesting in the day, but is less so now that we've known these characters for decades. The main "Generations" plot actually is only found in a few pages in the back couple of issues, to be fully explored in the next volume (which never came).
So, this isn't a great start, but I remember the series being pretty great as it gots its feet under it. Hopefully we'll get to see that again some day.
March 18, 2016
Collection of first series of issues of Infinity Inc., a next generation comic book from the 80s to highlight the kids of the Earth-2 World War II era Justice Society of America. Fun read and great to see how the next generation comes along. A casualty of all the machinations surrounding Crisis of Infinite Earths.
May 10, 2016
My love for the old Earth 2 characters knows no bounds, so I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading these stories. They are by no means perfect, but still a lot of fun. I sincerely hope they reprint the rest of the run. In a fair universe, DC would find a way to resurrect these characters. Later iteration of the team and characters just don't cut it.
Read
March 17, 2023Look at the state of them on that cover; 'we've got superheroes at home', the feel of the stand-ins you get in a colouring book or activity pack that couldn't spring for proper characters. This despite being designed by DC veteran Jerry Ordway, and tied to many of the company's longest-standing characters. One of them recently became a multiplex star, after a fashion; two of them play key roles in Sandman. Despite all of which, inescapably ersatz, somehow. Likewise the comic in which they star, transparently trying not only to spin-off from All-Star Squadron by giving that team's kids and such (some hitherto unmentioned) a book of their own, but to get in on the superhero soap opera trend which had made Claremont's X-Men and DC's own New Teen Titans such a hit. But where those books certainly showed that a superteam series could make personality clashes a mainstay, rather than having lots of clean-cut chums fighting crime together, and books like The Boys have since taken that to a whole other level, there remains a big difference between compelling interpersonal drama, and the wearisome arguing of a bunch of chip-on-shoulder arseholes, which is what we get here. And so many of them, too, even before you consider how much of the book sees them bickering beyond their own ranks with the eighties Justice Society, or its even more populous Second World War incarnation, the 'Infinitors' (because yes, unfortunately that's what you get when you need to describe the members of a team with a name this atypical) having made their debut by way of a time travel story. Which may be horribly overcrowded, even after another half a dozen characters literally get a Presidential order to sit it out, but does at least provide some unintentional comedy; when Jade inadvertently calls the original Green Lantern 'Daddy', she attempts to pass it off as 1983 slang, and I thought hey, add another few decades and you might have got away with that. See also, back in the 'present', when the group's oldest member, the Star-Spangled Kid (who hates being called 'Kid' but still calls himself that, because of course he does) tells his new young team that he has a base for them – a film studio in the San Fernando Valley. I bet you do, you dirty bastard. Still, given they had their first team meeting that we see in a McDonald's, beggars can't be choosers. The gags fall flat, I'm pretty sure the pop culture references wouldn't even have worked at the time, and the action scenes are frequently ludicrous, especially when Johnny Quick and the Flash each have to give several team-mates simultaneous piggy-backs to get them around. This is, in short, not a good comic. But at the same time, for those of us who recognise the eighties to nineties as DC's true golden age, there is a certain interest in seeing approaches tested out, pieces which will become important starting to move into place – even if, at this stage, that's more a matter of cracking up at the Psycho-Pirate's incredibly silly power (if he makes a face, you feel the emotion – and yet he never thinks to do 'busting for the loo').
(Having said that about Sandman, I now realise that Fury doesn't even make the cover. Nor, obviously, do either of the black guys, even if one of them is only black by virtue of having shadow powers)
(Having said that about Sandman, I now realise that Fury doesn't even make the cover. Nor, obviously, do either of the black guys, even if one of them is only black by virtue of having shadow powers)
September 14, 2025
Ubilem wreszcie Infinity. I cudu nie bylo. DC znow zrobilo zabawe na 35 bohaterow w podziale na starych i mlodych. Calosc sprowokowana takim fikolkiem ze hej. Coz...
January 24, 2018
This was one of my favorite series reading comics in the eighties and it has aged pretty well. I'm a sucker for Golden Age superheroes and I always enjoyed how the young heroes in this series build on the legacies of their parents (godparents, mentors, etc...) without taking on the exact same name, costume and modus operandi, as legacy heroes too often tend to do. (With the odd exception of Brainwave Junior, who makes the inexplicable choice of taking his name and costume from his supervillain dad and insisting he hates being called "Junior". I'm not sure what that was about.) My favorite moment: when they reprint an entire Golden Age Hawkman story - original art, dialogue and all - as a flashback to establish the backstory for one of the characters.
October 5, 2024
All star #25
“You didn’t think we were going to tell you this issue, did you?”
Originally picked this volume to get a look into this era without really committing to the entire series. And I’m kinda glad I did, but that doesn’t mean I’m not confused in of the context I’ve been dropped in. But I absolutely love how this series is the definition of camp. Random heroes that are “technically” part of the roster showing up just in the nick of time randomly, Alan Scott apparently not recognizing his own kids, comedy from the characters and editors alike. LOL, when tarantula got called spider man!
But from what I’ve been able to understand from the story. There is a villain named ultra humanite, ultra for short, that is not the big white monkey I am used to. And she has taken a few heroes hostage and employed a few more and convinced a few others to make up a group in the name of fighting fascism. But instead is holding the us government hostage and threatening to destroy specific weapon manufacturing locations in exchange for a lot of money.
But for some reason a lot of the heroes that are usually the all stars are on a separate mission and we just have a hodgepodge of heroes like Batman and robin helping out. Also this was my first impression of amazing man, and while I love the cultural aspect of his character that he takes deeply to heart, can he be a bit more helpful? Also when the other team asked the FBI about ultra and they were confused how they knew about that…was that an mk ultra reference?
All star #26
Al right I was a little confused but this issue helped explain it a bit. This collection probably could have been better with one more previous issue from all star if it encompassed the earlier story but brainwave jr helped explain it. All star takes place during war time, infinity inc during modern day. And time shenanigans are afoot due to ultra humanite existing in different bodies throughout the years, and his desire to get out of a phantom like prison zone, and his connection to his past self. Alan Scott didn’t recognize his kids because they simply don’t exist yet, and they are brainwashed so they don’t recognize him. I am curious about a few of the characters origins, as I’m not fully up to speed, I assume that cyclotron has a connection to one of the legacy characters but I’m not entirely sure.
So now we are in a situation where our heroes from the past got swapped for the trapped villains in the future.And now that brainwave jr has helped explain it to the crew, this is culminating into an annual issue to fix everything up!
*Note* I just went back and read the introduction by Roy Thomas and everything makes way more sense. All star is a slight reboot series for the canceled JSA but set during war times. When developing a new series his wife and him had a completely new idea before thinking about the idea of these older members having kids and what that may look like. Very interesting stuff on the creative process for how this came to be. Originally to introduce them they were going to be in a dc presents issue. But would have had to wait months. So instead they slapped them right in the middle of a storyline, being dragged to the past to fight their past heroes and introduce themselves in the same swoop. Pretty creative tbh.
All star annual #2: The Ultra War
“Now, for a moment, all unpleasantness is forgotten: the plots and counterplots of the ultra-humanite and crew…the time-wrenched evil of the secret society of super-villains…yes, even the mayhem and mass murder which are going on, each day, all around the earth, in the name of concepts like fatherland and freedom. A life has been taken; another life, perhaps, may yet be saved. A balance has been achieved, at least for a fleeting instant.”
This was a fairly monumental issue as the JSA/infinity inc come to a head with ultra humanite and their goons. The battles go back and forth as some of the JSA members swap places again with some of their counterparts who were thrown into the void in the last issues. This lead to the infinity inc showing up and teaming up with the JSA members who were left to piece together what’s happening. Which ends up dividing them all to simultaneously take on ultra while defending locations in the three branches of government from the other villains. Pretty quick and effective battles.
But the final battle is almost lost as ultra will do anything to stop the heroes from preventing the brain transport into robot man’s body. And I mean anything. Even holding cyclotron’s radiation poisoned daughter basically captive so that he will do their bidding. But this does lead to the final confrontation as cyclotron sacrifices himself before ultra could kill Superman in his weakened state. Reacting the radioactive particles inside of himself he set himself off and took ultra with him.
One thing I am hugely wondering though, did the 80s villains get sent back to the future with infinity inc, will I find that out in the pages of infinity inc? Brainwave Sr just got away and decided to stop fighting in the middle of everything, and we didn’t see what happened to the others as they were defeated at each branch of the government.
And then the JSA were left to take care of cyclotron’s child and are all chill with Amazing man. Whoop whoop!
Infinity, Inc #1
Hahaha, quite an introduction to these new heroes. Literally breaking down the doors of a JSA meeting and demanding a shot to join the JSA. Then leaving while they deliberate and giving us a rehash of their backstories.
We get introduced to silver scarab, the legitimate son to Hawkman and hawk woman, whose biggest credential is that he has studied at UCLA, and where he developed his super suit made of Nth metal. I don’t really hear much about him nowadays that would be a super interesting character to bring back especially with how much power scaling has been done to nth metal.
We also get introduced to Fury, the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. Who also studied at UCLA, lol. And is dating silver scarab. And has her own slue to Amazonian abilities.
Then there is Nuklon, the god son to Atom, with one of the most interesting backstories that directly plays into the story that unfolded in all star comics. He is the son of the daughter of cyclotron. The baby at the end of the annual that cyclotron died protecting from ultra humanite. The altercation between cyclotron and atom smasher directly lead to atom smasher becoming the atom with new abilities, and his raising of Nuklon with firebrand. Dudes also 7’6.
Then we northwind the godson to hawkman. Remember that one flash comic where hawkman found a hidden city of bird people? No? Yeah I wouldn’t have either. Well hawkman brought an anthropologist to the city and dude immediately decided to get freaky with the bird people, and Northwind was born!
They get called back by the JSA, and are immediately rejected. Too young, too inexperienced, etc. Then jade and obsidian blast in and throw their hats in the ring for joining the JSA. And they announce they are the children of Green Lantern. Why does GL have no recollection of them, or who their mother is, and neither do they? WHO CARES! Just go with it lol. Jade has similar powers to GL but seemingly biographical apart of her. And Obsidian can turn himself into a living, fighting shadow. As the youngsters run off with a new plan, the JSA is left wondering why they didn’t discuss what they were originally there for: ultra humanite and the other villains trapped in the void dimension prison thing that they can’t reach. The issue ends with brainwave, one of the villains supposed to be trapped, attacking. I’ve already read the part that takes place in the past, so this is really where is starts.
Infinity, Inc #2
Obsidian: “I turned his inner eye upon the bottomless darkness of his own soul —and which of us could withstand such a sight?”
This issue really helps put this into perspective for the comic series running together at this time and the difference between earth 1 and 2. This issue followed the young heroes trying to grab a bite to eat at a fast food place in GOTHAM, of all places, which ultimately lead to a scrap with some goons and a pickup by power girl and huntress who went after them last issue. Back at power girls apparent they did a bit of expo dump on power girl and huntress. I’ve always heard that power girl was from earth 2 but actually seeing her describe the same history as supergirl, but just on earth 2, really put things in perspective. Then to see this huntress was Batman and cat woman’s daughter, who avenged their death!? I had no clue.
On the flip side, I honestly cannot blame the JSA for not dealing with these kids tactics of communication. Twice in one day people are just busting down their walls wanting to have a normal conversation. You know? I don’t think they are that crazy for being a bit pissed of and ready to fight if that happens. Then brainwave jr decides to show up disguised as his father, a literal super villain. Worst idea ever lol.
This leads to star spangled kid taking junior with him as at this point the communication skills on either side are pretty bad. Then he leads them to the rest of the heroes from earlier. As they are all young star spangled kid has a great idea for them to form a team. And he already has a name! Infinity, inc. infinity because they can do anything. And inc, because business purposes? Idk.
But then this issue ends with directly leading into the WW2 events we saw earlier. Ultra humanite appearing to junior and taking hold of 6 of the members and ordering them to go back into the past for his bidding, with junior psychically tagging along. And we already know how that ends up.
Infinity, inc #3
Well I got one line to explain my questions from before. Seems that the villains from the crossover ended up back in the dimension they were originally trapped in, whooo!
This was a fun issue that mainly severed to establish the new infinity, inc. Bankrolled by the star spangled kid and his inheritance. Which included inheriting a movie lot, which is an awesome idea for an HQ. That is if they didn’t destroy half of it because something lead Solomon Grundy of all things to seemingly wait for them there and attack them. I really like the page where they are each attacking Grundy in a different way while Grundy’s rhyme is playing out on each panel. It was ultimately northwind with his Feithera technology and jades lantern abilities that were able to keep Grundy off balance and transport him. But is that really the best idea bringing him to Feithera? I know he technically isn’t alive, but that’s a major burden for his SECRET civilization to hold onto.
In other news the JSA was lured, by who they thought was Superman, right into a trap, in a cave, that flooded and supposedly killed them. I doubt that, but am I supposed to know who this random Superman with slightly grey hair is?
Infinity, inc Issue #4
I absolutely love the cover of this issue. The JSA members who drowned in the last issue laying on slabs in a morgue. Unfortunately that story only continues for the final pages and it’s just the infinitors claiming they will find who did it. Most of this issue actually follows the origin of Jade and Obsidian. How once they grew to a certain age of living with their adopted parents they discovered their abilities and control of this abilities then started reaching out to each other. Twin link, I guess? Then they found each other, started training and honing their abilities, and made sure to stalk the JSA using Jade’s abilities to look for the perfect moment to jump into a JSA meeting during issue 1. Then the rest of this issue rehashing the origins of when Feithera first showed up and hawkman came in to save the day from ignorant hunters and a traitor. Honestly didn’t do wonders for this issue and really left the part 4 of the generations story to just continue into the coming issues. Kinda disappointing.
All Star Annual #2 The Justice Society of America
Jerry Ordwau did a great job with his rendition of the first JSA meeting and that’s cool they reprinted an old all star comics page, but geez that is the biggest form of propaganda I’ve ever seen. The JSA members decide to join the army after Pearl Harbor? Not spectre though…cause he is a ghost…lol.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, it’s interesting looking back at how much of a mess things were before crisis on infinite earths. That balancing act between earth 1 and 2 when it came to how old heroes are at what year and how they have interacted. But it is really cool seeing the aged up JSA and the legacy heroes trying to take their place. And the way they were introduced was such a creative use of the different comics running at the time taking place in different eras. What a brilliant way to combine All Star comics taking place in WW2, with the Justice League comic characters, all while forming a new team in their own mainline. I loved a lot of these characters like Jade, obsidian and power girl, and I loved getting more familiar with characters like Silver Scarab and northwind and all of their childhood connections.
“You didn’t think we were going to tell you this issue, did you?”
Originally picked this volume to get a look into this era without really committing to the entire series. And I’m kinda glad I did, but that doesn’t mean I’m not confused in of the context I’ve been dropped in. But I absolutely love how this series is the definition of camp. Random heroes that are “technically” part of the roster showing up just in the nick of time randomly, Alan Scott apparently not recognizing his own kids, comedy from the characters and editors alike. LOL, when tarantula got called spider man!
But from what I’ve been able to understand from the story. There is a villain named ultra humanite, ultra for short, that is not the big white monkey I am used to. And she has taken a few heroes hostage and employed a few more and convinced a few others to make up a group in the name of fighting fascism. But instead is holding the us government hostage and threatening to destroy specific weapon manufacturing locations in exchange for a lot of money.
But for some reason a lot of the heroes that are usually the all stars are on a separate mission and we just have a hodgepodge of heroes like Batman and robin helping out. Also this was my first impression of amazing man, and while I love the cultural aspect of his character that he takes deeply to heart, can he be a bit more helpful? Also when the other team asked the FBI about ultra and they were confused how they knew about that…was that an mk ultra reference?
All star #26
Al right I was a little confused but this issue helped explain it a bit. This collection probably could have been better with one more previous issue from all star if it encompassed the earlier story but brainwave jr helped explain it. All star takes place during war time, infinity inc during modern day. And time shenanigans are afoot due to ultra humanite existing in different bodies throughout the years, and his desire to get out of a phantom like prison zone, and his connection to his past self. Alan Scott didn’t recognize his kids because they simply don’t exist yet, and they are brainwashed so they don’t recognize him. I am curious about a few of the characters origins, as I’m not fully up to speed, I assume that cyclotron has a connection to one of the legacy characters but I’m not entirely sure.
So now we are in a situation where our heroes from the past got swapped for the trapped villains in the future.And now that brainwave jr has helped explain it to the crew, this is culminating into an annual issue to fix everything up!
*Note* I just went back and read the introduction by Roy Thomas and everything makes way more sense. All star is a slight reboot series for the canceled JSA but set during war times. When developing a new series his wife and him had a completely new idea before thinking about the idea of these older members having kids and what that may look like. Very interesting stuff on the creative process for how this came to be. Originally to introduce them they were going to be in a dc presents issue. But would have had to wait months. So instead they slapped them right in the middle of a storyline, being dragged to the past to fight their past heroes and introduce themselves in the same swoop. Pretty creative tbh.
All star annual #2: The Ultra War
“Now, for a moment, all unpleasantness is forgotten: the plots and counterplots of the ultra-humanite and crew…the time-wrenched evil of the secret society of super-villains…yes, even the mayhem and mass murder which are going on, each day, all around the earth, in the name of concepts like fatherland and freedom. A life has been taken; another life, perhaps, may yet be saved. A balance has been achieved, at least for a fleeting instant.”
This was a fairly monumental issue as the JSA/infinity inc come to a head with ultra humanite and their goons. The battles go back and forth as some of the JSA members swap places again with some of their counterparts who were thrown into the void in the last issues. This lead to the infinity inc showing up and teaming up with the JSA members who were left to piece together what’s happening. Which ends up dividing them all to simultaneously take on ultra while defending locations in the three branches of government from the other villains. Pretty quick and effective battles.
But the final battle is almost lost as ultra will do anything to stop the heroes from preventing the brain transport into robot man’s body. And I mean anything. Even holding cyclotron’s radiation poisoned daughter basically captive so that he will do their bidding. But this does lead to the final confrontation as cyclotron sacrifices himself before ultra could kill Superman in his weakened state. Reacting the radioactive particles inside of himself he set himself off and took ultra with him.
One thing I am hugely wondering though, did the 80s villains get sent back to the future with infinity inc, will I find that out in the pages of infinity inc? Brainwave Sr just got away and decided to stop fighting in the middle of everything, and we didn’t see what happened to the others as they were defeated at each branch of the government.
And then the JSA were left to take care of cyclotron’s child and are all chill with Amazing man. Whoop whoop!
Infinity, Inc #1
Hahaha, quite an introduction to these new heroes. Literally breaking down the doors of a JSA meeting and demanding a shot to join the JSA. Then leaving while they deliberate and giving us a rehash of their backstories.
We get introduced to silver scarab, the legitimate son to Hawkman and hawk woman, whose biggest credential is that he has studied at UCLA, and where he developed his super suit made of Nth metal. I don’t really hear much about him nowadays that would be a super interesting character to bring back especially with how much power scaling has been done to nth metal.
We also get introduced to Fury, the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. Who also studied at UCLA, lol. And is dating silver scarab. And has her own slue to Amazonian abilities.
Then there is Nuklon, the god son to Atom, with one of the most interesting backstories that directly plays into the story that unfolded in all star comics. He is the son of the daughter of cyclotron. The baby at the end of the annual that cyclotron died protecting from ultra humanite. The altercation between cyclotron and atom smasher directly lead to atom smasher becoming the atom with new abilities, and his raising of Nuklon with firebrand. Dudes also 7’6.
Then we northwind the godson to hawkman. Remember that one flash comic where hawkman found a hidden city of bird people? No? Yeah I wouldn’t have either. Well hawkman brought an anthropologist to the city and dude immediately decided to get freaky with the bird people, and Northwind was born!
They get called back by the JSA, and are immediately rejected. Too young, too inexperienced, etc. Then jade and obsidian blast in and throw their hats in the ring for joining the JSA. And they announce they are the children of Green Lantern. Why does GL have no recollection of them, or who their mother is, and neither do they? WHO CARES! Just go with it lol. Jade has similar powers to GL but seemingly biographical apart of her. And Obsidian can turn himself into a living, fighting shadow. As the youngsters run off with a new plan, the JSA is left wondering why they didn’t discuss what they were originally there for: ultra humanite and the other villains trapped in the void dimension prison thing that they can’t reach. The issue ends with brainwave, one of the villains supposed to be trapped, attacking. I’ve already read the part that takes place in the past, so this is really where is starts.
Infinity, Inc #2
Obsidian: “I turned his inner eye upon the bottomless darkness of his own soul —and which of us could withstand such a sight?”
This issue really helps put this into perspective for the comic series running together at this time and the difference between earth 1 and 2. This issue followed the young heroes trying to grab a bite to eat at a fast food place in GOTHAM, of all places, which ultimately lead to a scrap with some goons and a pickup by power girl and huntress who went after them last issue. Back at power girls apparent they did a bit of expo dump on power girl and huntress. I’ve always heard that power girl was from earth 2 but actually seeing her describe the same history as supergirl, but just on earth 2, really put things in perspective. Then to see this huntress was Batman and cat woman’s daughter, who avenged their death!? I had no clue.
On the flip side, I honestly cannot blame the JSA for not dealing with these kids tactics of communication. Twice in one day people are just busting down their walls wanting to have a normal conversation. You know? I don’t think they are that crazy for being a bit pissed of and ready to fight if that happens. Then brainwave jr decides to show up disguised as his father, a literal super villain. Worst idea ever lol.
This leads to star spangled kid taking junior with him as at this point the communication skills on either side are pretty bad. Then he leads them to the rest of the heroes from earlier. As they are all young star spangled kid has a great idea for them to form a team. And he already has a name! Infinity, inc. infinity because they can do anything. And inc, because business purposes? Idk.
But then this issue ends with directly leading into the WW2 events we saw earlier. Ultra humanite appearing to junior and taking hold of 6 of the members and ordering them to go back into the past for his bidding, with junior psychically tagging along. And we already know how that ends up.
Infinity, inc #3
Well I got one line to explain my questions from before. Seems that the villains from the crossover ended up back in the dimension they were originally trapped in, whooo!
This was a fun issue that mainly severed to establish the new infinity, inc. Bankrolled by the star spangled kid and his inheritance. Which included inheriting a movie lot, which is an awesome idea for an HQ. That is if they didn’t destroy half of it because something lead Solomon Grundy of all things to seemingly wait for them there and attack them. I really like the page where they are each attacking Grundy in a different way while Grundy’s rhyme is playing out on each panel. It was ultimately northwind with his Feithera technology and jades lantern abilities that were able to keep Grundy off balance and transport him. But is that really the best idea bringing him to Feithera? I know he technically isn’t alive, but that’s a major burden for his SECRET civilization to hold onto.
In other news the JSA was lured, by who they thought was Superman, right into a trap, in a cave, that flooded and supposedly killed them. I doubt that, but am I supposed to know who this random Superman with slightly grey hair is?
Infinity, inc Issue #4
I absolutely love the cover of this issue. The JSA members who drowned in the last issue laying on slabs in a morgue. Unfortunately that story only continues for the final pages and it’s just the infinitors claiming they will find who did it. Most of this issue actually follows the origin of Jade and Obsidian. How once they grew to a certain age of living with their adopted parents they discovered their abilities and control of this abilities then started reaching out to each other. Twin link, I guess? Then they found each other, started training and honing their abilities, and made sure to stalk the JSA using Jade’s abilities to look for the perfect moment to jump into a JSA meeting during issue 1. Then the rest of this issue rehashing the origins of when Feithera first showed up and hawkman came in to save the day from ignorant hunters and a traitor. Honestly didn’t do wonders for this issue and really left the part 4 of the generations story to just continue into the coming issues. Kinda disappointing.
All Star Annual #2 The Justice Society of America
Jerry Ordwau did a great job with his rendition of the first JSA meeting and that’s cool they reprinted an old all star comics page, but geez that is the biggest form of propaganda I’ve ever seen. The JSA members decide to join the army after Pearl Harbor? Not spectre though…cause he is a ghost…lol.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, it’s interesting looking back at how much of a mess things were before crisis on infinite earths. That balancing act between earth 1 and 2 when it came to how old heroes are at what year and how they have interacted. But it is really cool seeing the aged up JSA and the legacy heroes trying to take their place. And the way they were introduced was such a creative use of the different comics running at the time taking place in different eras. What a brilliant way to combine All Star comics taking place in WW2, with the Justice League comic characters, all while forming a new team in their own mainline. I loved a lot of these characters like Jade, obsidian and power girl, and I loved getting more familiar with characters like Silver Scarab and northwind and all of their childhood connections.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2022
This is a still a personal favourite of mine.
I collected all the original individual issues in this book when they came out in the early 80’s. I always loved Earth-2 stories, which was an alternate Earth in the DC Universe where heroes arrived earlier than on our Earth ( called Earth-One). Infinity Inc are next generation heroes, a young group of heroes with connections to the original Justice Society.
By modern standards the story, of a villain called Ultra-Humanite scheming across time, is a little simplistic, a little too straightforward, but those were the tastes of the day. I loved it then, and love it now. Reminds of a my favourite time collecting comics, the early/mid 1980’s.
It’s a shame DC never published the second volume of this, the second part of this story is even better.
I collected all the original individual issues in this book when they came out in the early 80’s. I always loved Earth-2 stories, which was an alternate Earth in the DC Universe where heroes arrived earlier than on our Earth ( called Earth-One). Infinity Inc are next generation heroes, a young group of heroes with connections to the original Justice Society.
By modern standards the story, of a villain called Ultra-Humanite scheming across time, is a little simplistic, a little too straightforward, but those were the tastes of the day. I loved it then, and love it now. Reminds of a my favourite time collecting comics, the early/mid 1980’s.
It’s a shame DC never published the second volume of this, the second part of this story is even better.
July 21, 2025
3.5
The All-Star Squadron issues were definitely a drag to get through but once the actual Infinity Inc started the pace picked up. Seeing the original Earth 2 was very fun, and I liked the backstory of all of the characters. I hope that the book is teenage focused and that in future issues we focus more on their civilian lives.
The All-Star Squadron issues were definitely a drag to get through but once the actual Infinity Inc started the pace picked up. Seeing the original Earth 2 was very fun, and I liked the backstory of all of the characters. I hope that the book is teenage focused and that in future issues we focus more on their civilian lives.
June 25, 2021
Pretty neat story to establish the characters. The main story between JSA & their kids coming into their own roles was engaging. My only issue was the length of the story. It took me weeks to finish it-- so much dialogue!
January 5, 2018
I first read these comics back in 1984 and I instantly fell hard for this team of next generation heroes. A shame volume 2 was pulled from the publishing schedule.
June 18, 2025
A FANTASTIC COLLECTION WITH OUTSTANDING WRITING AND ARTWORK. GREAT CHARACTERS AND DIALOGUE. I WILL BE BUYING THE REST OF THE INFINITY INC. COMICS.
June 30, 2025
Criminally underrated team of legacy heroes; can't wait to see where things go from here! My faves were definitely Fury and Brainwave Junior <3
December 8, 2025
For the entire run. Gonna miss that team
November 27, 2025
Too much exposition of how this team wants to exist, how the team members are related to the old Justice Society of America, how the old JSA met this team, but don't remember it(?), on and on, page after page of discussion, for multiple issues.
The only action is the team crashing a JSA meeting and basically attacking them in a lame-brained attempt to join the team -- because that makes total sense, right? Lots of limp hero vs. hero "fighting", and then more talk-talk-talk-talk-talk about how they aren't able to join the current JSA. Why should they be allowed to? The dumb kids just attacked their parents in the JSA lol!
So many dumb instances of characters acting dumb and endlessly talking to finally getting around to justifying the team's formation: "If we can't get into the JSA, let's childishly whine about it endlessly...., and then maybe talk about forming our own team instead. But only after we talk about scheduling a meeting to then talk about this idea for yet even more discussion...."
It isn't until the end of issue #3 (and very near the end of this hardcover anthology) that they get around to actually acting and fighting like a team against a common foe. You know, like every other superhero team does, right? They are still the AAA Minor League team for the big league JSA, but at least it's a start.
Ugh. Next....
The only action is the team crashing a JSA meeting and basically attacking them in a lame-brained attempt to join the team -- because that makes total sense, right? Lots of limp hero vs. hero "fighting", and then more talk-talk-talk-talk-talk about how they aren't able to join the current JSA. Why should they be allowed to? The dumb kids just attacked their parents in the JSA lol!
So many dumb instances of characters acting dumb and endlessly talking to finally getting around to justifying the team's formation: "If we can't get into the JSA, let's childishly whine about it endlessly...., and then maybe talk about forming our own team instead. But only after we talk about scheduling a meeting to then talk about this idea for yet even more discussion...."
It isn't until the end of issue #3 (and very near the end of this hardcover anthology) that they get around to actually acting and fighting like a team against a common foe. You know, like every other superhero team does, right? They are still the AAA Minor League team for the big league JSA, but at least it's a start.
Ugh. Next....
October 3, 2019
Classic 1980's comics, where there are tons and tons and tons of words on the page and the core data is reiterated every issue, but this is clearly a labor of love for Thomas and Ordway. Thomas so clearly loves the golden age characters and spent a lot of energy on making their next generation - some of them are great characters, others are weaker concepts - in hopes of making Earth 2 a viable playground. The story arc is very well put together, and plays into lots of character development for the original characters.
And then the Crisis happened and Earth 2 went away. I do wonder who had to tell Roy Thomas that while the book was ongoing....
And then the Crisis happened and Earth 2 went away. I do wonder who had to tell Roy Thomas that while the book was ongoing....
March 22, 2025
Why is so little of this series collected?
And why are the very few collections this small and pitiful...?
Infinity Inc, the Teen Titans of the Justice Society, never caught on as much as the actual Titans, or the X-men, which was what Roy Thomas was trying to cash in on...uh...create for our enjoyment.
I like this team and this series, but man, is it frustrating to collect.
I appreciate this volume including the All Star Squadron issues that set up the series, but a volume this sparse with no follow up volumes just feels like DC is taunting us.
And why are the very few collections this small and pitiful...?
Infinity Inc, the Teen Titans of the Justice Society, never caught on as much as the actual Titans, or the X-men, which was what Roy Thomas was trying to cash in on...uh...create for our enjoyment.
I like this team and this series, but man, is it frustrating to collect.
I appreciate this volume including the All Star Squadron issues that set up the series, but a volume this sparse with no follow up volumes just feels like DC is taunting us.
September 4, 2015
This suffers from horribly convoluted plotting and stilted dialogue, but the art is good and it's just fun to see this many super beings together in one comic.
August 29, 2018
Comics needs a certain gravitas added to them; and make it a generational conflict often works. This is as old as Greek myth itself, carried through Shakespeare's plays and told more recently in DC's Kingdom Come and Mark Millar's Jupiter's Legacy.
This is a bit dated, but was definitely an inspiration to a lot of comic writers--and it serves a bit as a way to write Golden Age vs. Newer Age comics. Which can be a fun juxtaposition. It's just a bit frustrating this 10-issue story is broken in to two trades, rather than one ala Watchmen or other stories.
This is by Roy Thomas (who was a bit before my time) but has some CLASSIC art by Jerry Ordway, whose style I still appreciate. It's got the All-Star Squadron who worked for the president, face off their children who are...a bit more carefree.
There's a bit of amazing stuff around this time of DC--it was a golden age, and it celebrated Golden Age characters AND foreward thinking. I.e. New Teen Titans (Judas Contract), All-Star Squadron, Ronin, Thriller, Camelot 3000, Swamp Thing (Moore, Veitch, Morrison/Millar, etc), Sword of the Atom, Ambush Bug, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dark Knight Returns, Mazing Man, Mane of Steel, Legends, Batman: Year One, Watchmen, Fury of Firestorm, The Shadow, Justice League International, Suicide Squad (Ostrander), Flash (Baron), The Question, Blackhawk etc. All during the same period of time.
All pop culture comes in cycles, especially comics--and "with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
This is a bit dated, but was definitely an inspiration to a lot of comic writers--and it serves a bit as a way to write Golden Age vs. Newer Age comics. Which can be a fun juxtaposition. It's just a bit frustrating this 10-issue story is broken in to two trades, rather than one ala Watchmen or other stories.
This is by Roy Thomas (who was a bit before my time) but has some CLASSIC art by Jerry Ordway, whose style I still appreciate. It's got the All-Star Squadron who worked for the president, face off their children who are...a bit more carefree.
There's a bit of amazing stuff around this time of DC--it was a golden age, and it celebrated Golden Age characters AND foreward thinking. I.e. New Teen Titans (Judas Contract), All-Star Squadron, Ronin, Thriller, Camelot 3000, Swamp Thing (Moore, Veitch, Morrison/Millar, etc), Sword of the Atom, Ambush Bug, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dark Knight Returns, Mazing Man, Mane of Steel, Legends, Batman: Year One, Watchmen, Fury of Firestorm, The Shadow, Justice League International, Suicide Squad (Ostrander), Flash (Baron), The Question, Blackhawk etc. All during the same period of time.
All pop culture comes in cycles, especially comics--and "with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews