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.
Today, we’re tackling a few successful, and a few less successful, stories featuring a small cadre of JSA characters. It may surprise you which characters had the best featured stories. We will also be looking at the fallout from One Year Later and, somehow still, the Rann-Thanagar War in “Hawkgirl.”
Written by Steve Englehart, Tony Bedard, and Scott BeattyCover by Jerry Ordway
Penciled by Tom Derenick, Scott McDaniel, and Rags Morales
Inked by Mark Farmer, Doug Hazlewood, Andy Owens, Michael Blair, and Don Hillsman II
Colored by I.L.L.
Lettered by Rob Leigh, Ken Lopez, and Travis LanhamContinuing the events of JLA CLASSIFIED #25, we catch up with Amos Fortune as he teams up with the Gambler! Their first game: kidnapping Wildcat. It’s up to Star Girl to rescue him, with some help from Gypsy and Vixen!
This batch of “JSA Classified” starts with a Wildcat/Stargirl story that seemed to start in media res. I wasn’t sure if this was just poor writing or what, but no, it turns out, only noted by the solicit I had to pull for the above section, that this is the second half o a story began in “JLA Classified.” I did not read that story, though I thought about it, because it was only tangentially related to this, and I was able to glean all the information I needed from the “JSA” issues.
Essentially, as we’ve seen at least once already in “JSA,” a villain (in this case Amos Fortune) kidnaps heroes and, through brainwashing, makes them fight one another to create a gambling ring. The story involves a lot of Vixen trying to shame Stargirl for, I guess, not being her? Vixen and Stargirl have no real past interaction, and when you read just the “JSA Classified” issues, it is hard to understand why Vixen is acting the way she is. However, taken in the context of this being parts 5-8 of a larger story changes everything. I am not sure why the cover dress, or first page, wasn’t amended to reflect this fact, but it would’ve helped a pretty unmemorable story, perhaps, feel a little more substantial.
The best story of this batch is a two part Hourman/Bane story which, if you had that on your bingo card, congratulations. Tony Bedard pens the story, which is about Bane trying to get even with the Tylers for their production of Miraclo, which eventually became adapted and synthesized into Bane’s Venom. Bane also gets furious at Rick Tyler for saying that the only way out of addiction is to admit your weakness. This is dumb comic bookery, but super, super fun dumb comic bookery.
It is especially fun because Scott McDaniel’s art is striking and vibrant, giving each page an edge that allows the reader to feel the seriousness of what is happening, but never loses the bonkers action or crazy visuals of a giant in a luchador mask trying to kill father and son superheroes. This story also works because it bridges two distinct areas of the DC Universe – the JSA and Gotham – in a really satisfying and natural way.
The next two-parter is a Doctor Mid-Nite story by Scott Beatty and Rags Morales. This story works pretty well, and harkens back nicely to some of the first Pieter Cross appearances, in terms of tone. This story is all about Pieter as a doctor and, specifically, the doctor for the metahuman world. This feels like a good opening arc for a Mid-Nite ongoing that could focus more fully on that idea, but it is only two issues long.
The issues do also feature a ton of side characters, most of whom are j-list heroes and villains who don’t pop up in too many places. But hey, that’s fun, and is a good use of this book’s format. Rags Morales does some nice work here, and captures the body modification stuff in all of its creepy glory. While I preferred the Hourman story, this one is a close second for this run.
Continued belowThe last “JSA Classified” arc for the week ties into “Hawkgirl,” and was collected together, so we’ll talk about it as one big story.
Written by Walt SimonsonCover by Walt Simonson
Illustrated by Walt Simonson, Joe Bennett, and Renato Arlem
Colored by I.L.L. and Alexa Bleyaert
Lettered by John Workman and Rob LeighCollecting HAWKGIRL #57-60 and JSA CLASSIFIED #21-22! The evil Blackfire has made her way to Earth to eliminate Hawkgirl — as she did Hawkwoman — bringing the Rann/Thanagar War very close to home! And worse…Hawkgirl has evidence that Blackfire has already killed Hawkman.
The Rann-Thanagar War was a big deal around the time of “Infinite Crisis” for a few reasons, and it influenced the cosmic side of DC, specifically, the Hawk stuff, for the better part of a year. In both the “Hawkgirl” and “JSA Classified” issues, both written by Walter Simonson, we see the fallout of that war on the Hawks, and what it means for the greater cosmic DC books.
“Hawkgirl” #57-58 tells a somewhat standalone tale, as Blackfire has sent her minions to Earth to kidnap and kill Hawkgirl. Spoiler alert: they fail. Joe Bennett illustrates these issues, and does a perfectly cromulent job with the action, which includes Kendra realizing that prolonged exposure to Nth Metal – she thinks – has granted her some minor superpowers, including the ability to levitate. This ability allows her to avoid being hung for treason (by an alien, don’t ask) and escape her captor.
Issues #21-22 of “JSA Classified” and issues #59-60 of “Hawkgirl” tell a story of Blackfire’s attempt to kill both Hawks, in part by convincing them that the other is dead, and how Carter’s weird behavior both saves the day for the Hawks and also, seemingly, destroys their love. Kendra is, obviously, frustrated and upset that she has not heard from from Carter in a year as he stayed on Rann to attempt to end the war. Carter can’t understand this, because he’s as emotionally available as a stump of wood.
That said, there is some good action here, and the Hawks prove to be a good crimefighting pair, if not a good romantic pair, and the sense is clear that this was given to Simonson to, essentially, put a pin in their love story for the time being. Simonson and Renato Arlem handle the art duties for these books and, while isn’t Simonson’s best work of his career, it is solid. The “JSA Classified” issues feature a lot of the elements that made his “Thor” run memorable, specifically, his fantastic composition of action sequences.
But Arlem’s artwork is really hard to enjoy, both for its muddled visual style and also the extreme horniness that is on display constantly. There is no reason to show Kendra in a thong lying like a pinup on her bed when she’s lost in thought, but Arlem does just that. It’s gross and adds nothing to the story.
Next week, we close the book on both of these titles, and begin a short hiatus until the end of May. See ya then!
