Welcome back to the Society Pages, a column that looks back at the ‘modern’ history of the Justice Society of America. The main thrust of this column is to look at “JSA” and “Justice Society of America,” two ongoing series, written for most of their runs by Geoff Johns.
We are back with a check in on “JSA” before finishing up “Hourman” next week and, boy oh boy, was this a fun batch of comics to read.
JSA #26-38Cover by Michael Blair
Written by Geoff Johns and David S. Goyer
Penciled by Rags Morales, Stephen Sadowski, Peter Snejbjerg, Keith Giffen, and Leonard Kirk
Inked by Michael Blair, Christian Alamy, Dave Melkis, Peter Snejberg, Al Migrom, Keith Champagne, and Andrew Pepoy
Colored by John Kalisz
Lettered by Ken LopezWhile dealing with personal issues within the JSA, members Atom Smasher, Black Adam, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite, Sand, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl are abducted by Roulette to participate in her version of gladiator games.
The Ultra Humanite returns! Heroes from around the world – including members of the JSA – are vanishing, and those that remain must forge an unusual alliance with the Icicle to save the day.
Man, this series whips.
A ton happens in these issues, but I’m going to try to be relatively light on the recap, because that could be the entire column. But, among the things established:
– the joining of Black Adam, Rick Tyler and Power Girl
– the chairmanship of Mister Terrific
– the return of the Ultra Humanite
– the status quo shift with Jakeem Thunder and the Thunderbolt
Those are some of the big pillars of these 12 issues, but there is a lot more that takes place, and just about everything sticks the landing. There’s a ton of interpersonal stuff that borders on romance, comedy, familial drama, and tragedy and, again, despite the odds, it all works. One of the major differences between the JSA and the JLA is the much stronger sense of family presented in the JSA, and almost every issue here draws on the ideas of family, either to reinforce it or subvert it.
Visually, we get the best looking issues of the book thus far, due to Peter Snejbjerg doing a handful of issues and Leonard Kirk illustrating the ‘Stealing Thunder’ arc. Snejbjerg really balances the classic origins of the characters with the modern day setting, whereas Kirk’s art is perfectly suited to the most bombastic story yet in the series. These issues see the book firing on all cylinders, and allow the reader to totally envelope themselves in the story.
One of the big themes of the team and the series, but especially here, is legacy. We see Black Adam try to retain his heroic legacy, after years of being considered a truly vile villain. Captain Marvel shows up to help vouch for Adam in a very well written issue. Marvel is, obviously, leery of Adam on some level, but is acting years older than he actually is in his ability to look past Adam’s past to see Teth Adam, not Theo.
Rick Tyler is trying to live up to his father’s Hourman persona, while not entirely sure that this is what he should be doing. The bummer of my splitting up my “Hourman” read through is that Rick’s story was told in the issues that I haven’t read yet, but I picked it up easily enough. Whereas the first twenty five of so issues built up Sand in a really interesting way, I get the impression that Rick is going to be that character for the second third of the book. The new abilities granted him by the Android Hourman give him a lot of interesting opportunities, and the ticking clock of his hour with his father is a device that is sure to eventually pay off.
The arc that brings the various heroes to Roulette’s casino was fun enough, showing some good Atom/Adam moments and a really great chess sequence between Mister Terrific and Dr. Mid-Nite, but it lacked the emotional beats that the second arc, ‘Stealing Thunder,’ had. Though the idea of Roulette being Terry Sloane’s granddaughter does set up an interesting interaction down the road.
Continued belowBut the ‘Stealing Thunder’ arc is the star of this batch of issues. The Ultra Humanite takes over Johnny Thunder’s body, and gains control of the Thunderbolt. This leads to six months of the Humanite controlling the world and the world’s heroes, and gives a small batch of heroes (and a villain) a shot at saving the day. That group of heroes is Captain Marvel, Jakeem Thunder, Power Girl, the new Crimson Avenger, Rick Tyler Hourman, Sand, and the villain Icicle.
Everything about this arc is well done, from the emotional beats of Jakeem both causing and fixing this whole situation, to Sand and Icicle’s uneasy partnership, to the tenacity of Wildcat and Dr. Fate, who we encounter later. It just works; it’s hard to talk about the successes, because there are just so many of them.
The emotional climax of the arc, with Johnny Thunder dying, and eventually being merged with the Thunderbolt, is an emotional gut punch followed by a joyous resolution. Johns and Goyer really know how to tug on the heartstrings, and do so without getting maudlin, which is tricky.
There are two issues that focus on Jakeem, as paired with another character, first with Stargirl, and then with Rick Tyler, and both of these issues are fantastic. Jakeem grows up a lot throughout these issues, but it’s nice to see the writing not shy away from presenting him as both an emotional kid and a truly great hero in training. Jakeem, who recently showed back up in current continuity, is one of the most underutilized characters of the last 15 or so years, and he shines here.
Next week: the conclusion of “Hourman!”
