All-Star Comics #22

In "The Test of Time! [Introduction]" from All-Star Comics #22 (1944), Dr. Mid-Nite brings a young boy to the JSA after witnessing him attacked for his faith, prompting the heroes to confront a crisis beyond their usual battles. When a mysterious woman appears and offers them a chance to fight injustice across history, the team agrees to a trial—each hurled into past eras of persecution, unaware of their present identities, to stand against hatred and bigotry.

In "The Test of Time! Chapter 1," Hawkman finds himself stranded in the stone age, mistaken for a giant bird by a tribe who sees him as both threat and meal. After fending off an attack and a bear, he earns their trust and is named Ga—only to be drawn into a deeper mystery when the tribe prepares to kill an artist who painted a woolly mammoth, believing it to be a real beast. With the artist’s help, Ga must now protect the tribe from the very creature he once thought was only a legend.

In "The Test of Time! Chapter 2," Starman finds himself in ancient Greece in 480 B.C., serving as a Greek soldier in the Strategoi. When he proposes training slaves for battle—despite the generals’ doubts—he takes up the challenge, leading a group into combat where a chance use of his gravity rod turns the tide. As the slaves claim victory and their freedom, their story spreads, igniting a quiet revolution.

In "The Test of Time! Chapter 3," Johnny, stranded in medieval England as a lowly shepherd, endures a brutal flogging before earning an unexpected role as the Baron’s court jester. When the Baron offers him a chance to win favor for the serfs by triumphing in the Knight's Tourney—with help from the Thunderbolt—Johnny rises to the challenge, only to vanish at the moment he’s to be knighted and presented with the Baron’s daughter as his bride.

In "The Test of Time! Chapter 4," Atom finds himself in colonial Salem, where fear of witchcraft runs high. When he discovers a woman named Mother Rathlow trapped in the woods and accused of sorcery due to her knowledge of herbs, he steps in to protect her—disguised as the Atom. As a mob closes in, he tries to reason with them, only to be mistaken for a wizard himself. When he begins to vanish before her eyes, Mother Rathlow is left wondering if he truly is one.

In "The Test of Time! Chapter 5," Dr. Mid-Nite—disguised as the 18th-century physician M'sieu De Nider—finds himself caught between duty and danger in revolutionary Paris, where the fury toward the nobility runs as deep as the bloodshed. As he risks his life to treat a wounded nobleman, he must navigate the volatile streets where fear and vengeance threaten to consume the city, all while trying to keep the people from crossing the line into senseless violence.

In "The Test of Time! Conclusion," the Justice Society of America returns to their headquarters after completing their individual missions, only to be met with a profound revelation: Conscience, the mysterious figure who guided them, unveils herself as the Conscience of Man. She emphasizes that true change comes through education, not force, and with that, she vanishes—leaving the heroes to carry her message. Inspired by a young boy whose personal struggle sparked the journey, the JSA takes her words to heart and begins a new mission: teaching in a school, where their impact is immediate and powerful.