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.
Last week, I mentioneed how surprised I was that Kingdom Come Superman (KCS) was the opposite of what you usually see in stories like this; usually, a character prefers his home to this alien place, and wrecks havoc upon it. But here, KCS wanted to be a part of this world. In many ways, the awakened god Gog is the same as KCS. Instead of a raging, forgotten deity, he is saving lives and helping others. The inversion of the norms is just one of the things that makes ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ so interesting.
Written by Geoff JohnsCover by Alex Ross
Plotted by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross
Penciled by Dale Eaglesham, Fernando Pasarin, and Jerry Ordway
Inked by Ruy José, Drew Geraci, Prentis Rollins, Rebecca Buchman, John Stanici, and Bob Wiacek
Colored by John Kalisz, Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi Design, and Jeromy Cox
Painted by Alex Ross
Lettered by Rob LeighThe Kingdom Come Superman continues to crusade against evil, alongside his new Justice Society teammates – but is he the only one who can stand against the threat of Magog? And what are Gog’s true motives?
Call me a cynic, but I spent so much of these issues waiting for the other shoe to drop, both from KCS and, eventually, from Gog. Issue #13 spends a ton of time showing us both how KCS and ‘our’ Superman are birds of a feather, and also how well he fits in here. This could easily have devolved into a ‘well, on my world’ type of conversation, but it never does. Geoff Johns does a really nice job of connecting these characters in meaningful and heartfelt ways, while not seeming like it is too forced or unnatural.
And since KCS has been preaching a ‘Gog leads to Magog which leads to warring heroes’ message, when Gog attacks in issue 14, it seems like everything KCS says is coming true. Gog is quite powerful, and manages to whip some of the JSA rather quickly. Part of this, as Hawkman will allude to in a future issue, is due to the team being entirely too large right now to be functional. There’s over 20 JSAers in the battle and, while they need the manpower, the team isn’t really operating at peak efficiency.
The battle with Gog takes up almost two full issues, and while there are some interesting moments, it feels a bit decompressed, especially compared to the pace that Johns had been keeping the book thus far. There’s a weird moment where Alan Scott flies in dressed almost exactly in the armor/costume he wears in “Kingdom Come.” Since this ends the issue, I wasn’t sure if it was a cliffhanger for more “Kingdom Come” characters showing up in this event or just a case of Alan thinking like Alan, despite the different Earths. It’s the latter, but when even his hair changes, it seems like the book being too cute by half.
Issue #16 is where we really get to meet Gog, the god, not the human using the powers of a god. It is also where Fernando Pasarin takes over the art duties, and while Pasarin has had a bit of a glow up lately, there’s a noticeable drop-off between his work and Eaglesham’s. Not that Pasarin’s work is terrible by any means, but it’s coincidental that his work feels more grounded and less majestic than Eaglesham’s, because Pasarin is tasked with drawing a literal god come to Earth.
As I mentioned in the opening, Gog continues KCS’s surprising approach to visiting a new world. Gog essentially shows up and wants to help. He is happy to see the heroes defending the ‘regular’ folks, and says that he is there to protect the protectors. But more than that, over the next couple of issues, Gog takes it upon himself to ‘cure’ a number of JSAers. Damage’s face, scarred by Zoom during “Infinite Crisis,” is restored. Also restored is Doctor Mid-Nite’s vision and Starman’s sanity.
Continued belowGog goes on a march across Africa, helping cure people’s illnesses and gathering followers everywhere he goes. The JSA calls in the JLA, and both teams are suspicious, but optimistic, about what Gog is doing. They tend to believe that his intentions are true, but there are so many examples of folks appearing one way and then showing their true colors shortly thereafter. Issue #17 ends with Gog declaring that he will eradicate war, and the question of how he will do that is a good one that goes unresolved, at least for this issue.
But before he does that, Gog attempts to ‘heal’ Power Girl by sending her home; and so, despite them believing it was gone forever, Gog sends Power Girl to Earth-2. The “Justice Society of America” Annual #1 follows PG to Earth-2, and it seems, initially, like it is almost too good to be true. Kara is reunited with Helena Wayne, Sylvester Pemberton, and other Earth-2 staples, and everyone is relieved to see her.
That is, until another Power Girl shows up, claiming that she is the ‘real’ Power Girl. Don’t you hate it when that happens?
Jerry Ordway illustrates this annual, and he’s able to perfectly capture the last days of Earth-2, in part because he was drawing these characters as part of “Infinity, Inc” directly pre-‘Crisis.’ While the ‘flashbacks’ to the prior issues don’t exactly look right from under Ordway’s pencil, the vast majority of the book words wonderfully and evokes a very specific time in comics. If you’re a fan of that era, this will sing; if not, it may look a little too dated.
There’s a lot of fun in this issue; I love the idea of the ‘Justice Society Infinity,’ a joining of the JSA and their kids into one team. It’s nice to, after such a long time, take a visit back to a bygone era. And, with the intrigue of the two Power Girls, there’s the beginnings of doubt being sewn for Gog’s intentions. Did he rally send Kara back to her prior home? Or is it something more sinister?
We’ll find out in a week. See ya then.
