Maybe there should be some mystery to those 'mystery men,' maybe it's enough to keep their memories alive and honor them. They set the standard for all the heroes that followed. That's why we call it the Golden Age. 
Golden Age Secret Files and Origins #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of February, 2001.
Synopsis for "The Dawn of the Golden Age"
Clark Kent is tasked by Perry White to research Lee Travis, the Crimson Avenger, the first masked hero who started the Golden Age of heroes. He visits the elder members of the Justice Society of America to learn anything about the Avenger. Although the Justice Society of America knew of the Avenger, he wasn't actually part of the JSA. He was responsible for inspiring the first Sandman and others afterward to become a hero, partnered with his Asian chauffeur Wing, and became a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Many of these heroes, including the Avenger, debuted during the time America was recovering from the Great Depression and crime and corruption was at an all time high. Though no one is sure what inspired Lee Travis to become the Crimson Avenger or what he was avenging.
Clark, Wildcat, Green Lantern, and Flash decide to visit Johnny Thunder, who seems friendly with the Crimson Avenger. However, Johnny is senile and living in a retirement home, and at first is unable to talk to his guests. But as Clark and the others leave, Johnny begins to recall his meeting with the Avenger.
It all began at the White House where several heroes attended. Johnny is the first person to asked the Crimson Avenger what he was avenging. The Avenger answered that he was avenging the death of a man who hasn't been born yet. After making Johnny keep their discussion a secret, he tells him of his service in World War I and his aimless wandering of the world to make him forget the "evil [he] saw that men could do on each other." His travels ultimately brought him to Nanda Parbat, where he spiritually recovered and was shown the future career of Superman by the goddess Rama Kushna. Superman's deeds and selflessness inspired Lee to rededicate his own talents, and Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday galvanized Lee to spend his life honoring Superman's memory, years before he was even born.
Clark returns to the Daily Planet and reports his limited findings on the Crimson Avenger to Perry. Perry decides it is better that the truth of the Crimson Avenger remains unknown and to focus on keeping the memories of the Avenger and other "mystery men" alive.
Appearing in "The Dawn of the Golden Age"
Featured Characters:
- Clark Kent/Superman (Also in a vision)
- Crimson Avenger (Flashback only)
Supporting Characters:
- Wing (Flashback only)
- Justice Society of America
- Atom (Flashback only)
- Black Canary (Flashback only)
- Doctor Fate (Flashback only)
- Doctor Mid-Nite (Flashback only)
- The Flash (Flashback and main story)
- Green Lantern/Sentinel (Flashback and main story)
- Hawkman (Flashback only)
- Hawkgirl (Flashback only)
- Hourman (Flashback only)
- Johnny Thunder (Flashback and main story) & Thunderbolt (Flashback only)
- Sandman (Flashback only)
- Sand
- Spectre (Flashback only)
- Starman (Flashback only)
- Wildcat (Flashback and main story)
- Wonder Woman (Flashback only)
- Rama Kushna (Flashback only)
Antagonists:
- Doomsday (In a vision)
Other Characters:
- Perry White
- Black Canary II
- Doctor Mid-Nite II
- Stargirl
- Quicksilver (Flashback only)
- Freedom Fighters
- Uncle Sam (Flashback only)
- Black Condor (Flashback only)
- Doll Man (Flashback only)
- All-Star Squadron
- The King (Flashback only)
- Liberty Belle (Flashback only)
- Guardian (Flashback only)
- Red Bee (Flashback only)
- Ma Hunkel/Red Tornado (Flashback only)
- Robotman (Flashback only)
- Shining Knight (Flashback only)
- Steel (Flashback only)
- The Whip (Flashback only)
- Blackhawk Squadron
- Blue Boys
- Little Boy Blue (Flashback only)
- Tubby (Flashback only)
- Toughy (Flashback only)
- Little Miss Redhead (Flashback only)
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Flashback only)
- Lois Lane (In a vision)
- Bloodwynd (In a vision)
- Ice (In a vision)
Locations:
- Metropolis
- JSA Headquarters
- White House (Flashback only)
- Paris (Flashback only)
- Himalayas (Flashback only)
- Nanda Parbat (Flashback only)
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Crimson Avenger Speaks!"
Jonathan Law, journalist of The Daily Globe-Leader, makes an exclusive interview with the Crimson Avenger in November 26, 1938.
Appearing in "The Crimson Avenger Speaks!"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for "Scenes from the Class Struggle at JSA Mansion"
The JSA is hosting a gala at its mansion, honoring its members, but arguments over class differences begin.
Appearing in "Scenes from the Class Struggle at JSA Mansion"
Featured Characters:
Other Characters:
- Guests
- Count Deschamps
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Sentinel"
Greemwich Village, Spring of 1939. Giovanni Zatara is met by occult detective, Doctor Richard Occult. Zatara presume Occult is here to expose him as a charlatan due to hearing of Occult's career of debunking spiritualists and mediums. But Occult assures Zatara that he is no "pretender" as he is employed by an anonymous client to discover those who follow the path of true magic. The real reason he is meeting Zatara is to warn him that the continued existence of true magic is slowly dying in this new age of "science heroes" and costumed adventurers, and he wants Zatara to have the responsibility of insuring that magic survives. A "sentinel of magic" as Occult refers to Zatara's role. Zatara consider the words of Occult's employer but on the condition that he refuses to wear a costume.
Appearing in "The Sentinel"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Justice Society of America
- Atom (In a vision)
- Doctor Fate (In a vision)
- The Flash (In a vision)
- Green Lantern (In a vision)
- Hourman (In a vision)
- Sandman (In a vision)
- Spectre (In a vision)
- Starman (In a vision)
- Thunderbolt (In a vision)
Locations:
Items:
Synopsis for "Show and Tell"
A very young Thaddeus Sivana gives a show and tell in front of his classroom in which he talks about his visit to the 1939 World's Fair. At one exhibit, he sees the workings of a computing machine which gives him ideas of making one to profit off from gambling. While riding on the attraction rides, Sivana thought of creating innovative torture devices. In the World of Tomorrow Pavilion, he saw a lecture about the benefits of prefabricating housing and the vision of a middle-class family; Sivana envisioned his use of prefabrication to creating drones existing solely to provide backs on which to build his empire. But what catches Sivana's interest is an animated cartoon display, which gives him the idea to create a device to control people's minds—as he is now successfully testing it on his entire classroom.
Appearing in "Show and Tell"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Profile Pages"
Appearing in "Profile Pages"
Featured Characters:
Trivia
- In the "INSIDE" of The Daily Globe-Leader mentions an article called "Flash of Hope in Nural-Kurtavia War". This is a reference to the story "Trouble in Kurtavia" in Flash Comics #12.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Justice Society Recommended Reading
- Adventure Comics (Volume 1)
- All-Star Comics (Volume 1)
- All-Star Squadron (Volume 1)
- America vs. the Justice Society (Volume 1)
- Infinity Inc. (Volume 1)
- JSA (Volume 1)
- JSA: All Stars (Volume 1)
- JSA Classified (Volume 1)
- JSA: Strange Adventures (Volume 1)
- JSA vs. Kobra (Volume 1)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 1)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 2)
- Justice Society of America (Volume 3)
- Last Days of the Justice Society Special #1
Links and References
