Is a Beloved DC Hero’s Legacy Ending Forever?

The JSA are having a tough time of things, and JSA #7 is a snapshot of a team on the brink. Since the return of the JSA, the team has been going through it. Half the team was thrown into a realm of demons and fire to battle Surtur, while the other half of the JSA dealt with a traitor on the team, all thanks to an attack by the Injustice Society.

Things have been hard on the group, and it came to a head with the death of Wildcat. JSA #7 takes readers to the funeral of Ted Grant, a sad affair that sees the cracks in the team’s facade become even more pronounced than before. Wildcat was one of the most important members of the team, and that loss has shaken them to their core.



Luckily, the JSA is all about legacy. While no one can actually replace Wildcat as a human being and a friend, he does have his heroic legacy. There’s no reason for the JSA to go without a Wildcat.

Even before Grant’s death, Yolanda Montez had returned to the Justice Society as Wildcat II, meanwhile there’s also Ted’s son Tommy. Either of them could take up the mantle of Wildcat, but things are more complicated than all of that. It seems that no one wants to take up Wildcat’s mantle now that he’s gone.

No One Wants to Take Wildcat’s PlaceYolanda Montez first became Wildcat during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Ted Grant was injured trying to protect Earth-Two from the attack by Anti-Monitor, and Yolanda decided to don her own Wildcat costume to honor Ted’s legacy. Ted survived Crisis, and Yolanda ended up joining Infinity Inc.

, the Justice Society’s version of the Teen Titans, and fought alongside the team until its end. However, Yolanda would fall victim to Eclipso after Infinity Inc. disbanded.

The former Angel of Wrath killed her and she stayed dead until Doctor Manhattan brought the Justice Society back to the timeline in Doomsday Clock. However, the recent problems the JSA have been having affected her greatly; after Doctor Mid-Nite II disappeared, the team tried to find her and Yolanda ended up killing a member of the group Kobra trying to find out what happened to her friend. Since then, Yolanda has felt that she disrespected the legacy of Ted Grant, and hasn’t worn her costume since.

Even after Wildcat’s death, she still refused to take up his mantle again.RELATED: This Is the Best Team Comic Ever (And You’ll Be Surprised)Then there’s Ted’s son. Ted Grant wasn’t a lady’s man, but he still got around, and this meant that he had a child, a son named Tommy Bronson.

Ted didn’t know about Tommy until he was a teenager and probably wouldn’t have ever met his son if it wasn’t for Vandal Savage. Savage decided that he wanted to destroy the JSA’s legacy, hunting down the descendants of various Golden Age heroes. He found Tommy, and the team scrambled to save the young man.

It was revealed that Tommy had the power to become a were-cat, giving him superhuman physical attributes, and he used this power as a member of the Justice Society, fighting alongside them against foes like Gog, Black Adam, and more. He’d end up joining the JSA All-Stars, a team that composed of the younger members of the team, but would eventually disappear when the Justice Society was taken out of continuity because of Flashpoint. Much like Yolanda, he came back into existence during Doomsday Clock.

However, he also doesn’t want to take up his father’s mantle; even when he was a member of the JSA, he usually called himself Tomcat.With No One to Take Up the Mantle, is Wildcat No More?The fact that neither Yolanda nor Tommy want to take up the mantle of Wildcat is pretty sad. While Wildcat was never the most powerful or important hero on Earth, he had been fighting evil since WWII, and helped train several heroes, including Batman, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan, and many more.

His legacy should be upheld, but it’s looking like neither of the people who could become Wildcat are going to take it up. That said, it’s unlikely that there will be no new Wildcat forever; there’s always been a Wildcat on the Justice Society and DC will almost certainly fill the role. When the Wildcat mantle and legacy does get picked up again, the reality is we’re most likely to see Yolanda in the role.

Tommy is an okay character, as far as it goes, but he hasn’t really appeared in any of the Justice Society stories since Doomsday Clock. Yolanda, on the other hand, has appeared in all of those stories. It’s a much more interesting story for her to become the main Wildcat; she has more to overcome, and with her best friend Doctor Mid-Nite II still missing, there’s a reason for her to at least stay around the Justice Society, which will lead to her becoming Wildcat again.

Who do you next will be the next Wildcat? Sound off in the comments.The post Is a Beloved DC Hero’s Legacy Ending Forever? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

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