Comic books made an appearance on Alcatraz Monday night, and luckily, they weren’t as difficult to identity as the one that showed up on that 1975 episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show. Jorge Garcia’s character, Dr. Diego “Doc” Soto, owns a comic book store, so I assumed we’d see comics as stage dressing in the background, but in the latest episode, a couple of issues had starring roles.

In the opening scene of the third episode, “Kit Nelson,” a child killer sneaks into a bedroom and spirits away one of two brothers … but not before we see what the kid must have fallen asleep reading.

I couldn’t quite make out the pictured hero or the logo, so at this point I had no idea whether this was a real-life comic or one supposedly created by Garcia’s character, who in addition to owning the shop, also happens to be a writer and artist. But later on, after the kid is [spoiler alert!] rescued, Garcia visits him and brings along some comics to cheer him up.

“I saw you were missing 12, 27, and 35,” says Garcia, to which the kid replies, “No way! This is awesome!”

And Garcia hands him this.

Aha! Now that I was able to make out the Justice Society of America logo, I could identify the comic from the earlier bedroom scene as JSA #42 (October 2010), and the one in this final scene as JSA #12 (March 2008).

Once I identified the comics, I’ll admit I was a bit surprised by the choice of title. As much as I love that supergroup, I guess I don’t think of it as a one that would be a favorite of a little kid. I’ve always thought part of the appeal of the Justice Society was the nostalgia factor, since they’re the heroes of a previous generation. But who knows? Maybe the kid just had more sophisticated tastes. (Or maybe that theory of mine is a bunch of hooey.)

Think Alcatraz was trying to tell us anything by this choice of title? For now, I’ll assume it was a random pick. But as future comics show up—and considering Garcia’s profession, I assume they will—I’ll keep my eyes out for a pattern.

But what do you think?