Degaton defeated, the Justice Society members can take a breather. Well, at least from fighting mad metahumans – they’ve still got a lot on their plate. Namely, more than a dozen teenage heroes who were lost in time and forgotten by history. They’ve been rescued by Red Arrow and Stargirl and, unable to return home for timely wimey reasons waved away by Hourman, they need to make new lives in a world they never made.
(Sorry, I hate that phrase. It’s dumb, but proved irresistible.)
One of the kids, The Boom, looks to have it easier than most. Even before she was kidnapped from her Sixties life she was a time traveller, visiting her dad Jay Garrick, The Golden Age Flash, in the Forties and learning the hero game. Superheroing being what it is, though, Jay is still around eight decades later, still vital. The time tampering meant he and wife Joan had forgotten they even had a daughter.
Elsewhere in New York, another father-daughter meeting is a little more awkward. Helena Wayne, the Huntress of the future and daughter of Catwoman and Batman, is stuck in 2023, and needs somewhere to live.
Elsewhere, Salem the Witch Girl is back with her mentor, Dr Fate. Well, not quite. The Helmet of Fate is the same, but the wearer is different.
In a desert, Cherry Bomb, the Human Bomb’s power-packed sidekick, is being tested by JSA legacy member Dr Midnite.
And Stargirl, who’s making it her mission to help the Lost Children find happiness, has taken Red Bee sidekick Ladybug to her old home.
Dan the Dyna-Mite and Quiz Kid, protégés of TNT and Mr Terrific, and John Henry Jr, forbear of Metropolis stalwart Steel, are having mini-adventures of their own as they dip their toes into a whole new century.
And Huntress is sharing an idea with Power Girl.
‘The most loyal of them all’? Longtime JSA readers might be able to guess which villain/potential hero that one is, but he doesn’t look like a shining knight on the final page splash.
We’ll likely see how he gets on next time. For now, I’m thankful for a good old-fashioned day-in-the-life issue checking in with the Lost Children, a few JSA-ers, and setting up future stories. Every vignette has entertainment value but the one that affected me most was the Ladybug scene – writer Geoff Johns and artist Marco Santucci perfectly capture the sadness and confusion she’s feeling.
My other favourite scene was current Dr Fate Khalid Nassour explaining to Salem what she’s missed in terms of Nabu’s Chosen, especially that mean comment as regards Inza Nelson – Salem is spiky, but she’s hurting too. (Mind, given we get all the Fates laid out, it’s odd there’s no reference to the legacy Red Bee from Freedom Fighters, Jenna Raleigh.)
The reunion between Jay and Judy is a treat, reminiscent of the one between Wally West and Barry Allen in DC Universe Rebirth #1 but with an aftershock for the world. I can’t wait to see Judy back with mother Joan.
The only thing I’d change here would be the presence of the new Huntress, I understand what her deal is but she’s still too darn confusing. She’s close to Power Girl based on a relationship they have in a vanished future? Surely this should be a one-sided friendship… and why is Karen not mentioning that there’s already a Huntress in Gotham?
Filling in for regular artist Mikel Janín, Santucci brings a terrific energy to proceedings. He captures the characters superbly, matching their emotions to John’s’ script and nailing the story beats. I prefer his homage to the iconic All-Star Squadron #1 cover to Janín’s not bad cover reinterpretation, while a double-page ‘hero shot’ of Stargirl and the featured Lost Children is perfect, with the title treatment by always excellent letterer Rob Leigh adding to the joyfulness. And Ivan Plascencia’s colours underline and illuminate the action, with some especially nice work in terms of facial shading.
This series has suffered notorious delays, but issues as good as this make me forgive how annoying it is when a book so regularly fails to hit its schedule. Justice Society of America #6 is the DC Universe at its best.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
If I never seen another cover with photos scattered on it while the OGs stand around it, I will be a very happy man. It’s soooo overdone and creepy at this point in history.
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Creepy? That’s an interesting reaction.
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Now this is more like what I was hoping the series would be. This issue gave us a look at a variety of characters and potential stories. I may be in the minority, but I even prefer Santucci to regular artist Janin. For me, there’s a little more life and energy in Santucci’s illustrations than there is in Janin’s perfectly sculpted figure work.
I agree that the inclusion of Huntress remains a bit of a head scratcher. I can see what Johns is going for. It looks like he wants to recreate as much of the Earth 2 experience on the current DC Earth (prime? 1? 0? What are we calling the main DC earth?) and that means a Huntress that is the daughter of Bruce and Selina, a good friend of Karen (*not* Paige) Starr… but I’m not sure this was the way to do it. It’s causing Donna Troy and Hawkman levels of confusion with regards to the number of different versions of the character that have shown up in the last ten to fifteen years. Johns is usually the one straightening these messes out. It’s weird to see him creating one. I mean… it could be that he’s got a big plan that’s going to reveal itself over time. I’m willing to see where it goes.
But here’s hoping that the remainder of the series continues in this vein. I’m pumped to see that it looks like the new retro characters are going to be the focus for the next story. I’m totally cool with that!
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I could certainly get behind Santucci as regular penciller, his work really does seem better suited to this comic. Janin suits the slick, spy heroes.
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I really wish Santucci would become the regular artist, too, since I also prefer his work to Janin’s. Unfortunately, Santucci has said on FB that he’s only drawing this issue and the next one. Possibly he was assigned these two issues by DC in order to give Janin time to catch up? Although DC isn’t talking, a lot of readers have been guessing that Janin is the reason why this series is running so late.
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Late to the game here but enjoyed the issue. Still, this all feels “off” to me. As I’ve said before, Johns is writing this book as if the Justice Society has been published all these years, when in fact the title ended in 2011 right before the New52 relaunch and he’d left it quite a bit before then. So it does feel a bit … odd … to just expect us to go with the flow. Although we’re comic fans and most likely anyone reading this has already done their homework with back issues…
Also Huntress reminds me of when Johns included the future Starman back in the last relaunch back in the mid-2000s. And even the introductory storyline really isn’t that dissimilar from how that mid-2000s run started (someone killing the descendents of Golden Agers) or how the very first JSA launched in the late 1990s with someone killing magic users.
I guess what I’m saying is it’s great to have the team back in its own title, its great to have Johns at the helm again, but can I really say he’s bringing something fresh here? Am I mainly on board for the nostalgic rush? It’s kinda the same formula he’s employed before, even down to this new generation of “Young JSAers” introduced in the Stargirl mini.
I am also very curious where this all leads after the 12 issues are over since apparently this is still a limited series.
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That’s a great observation as regards the similarities between this launch and the earlier one. I’d missed that.
I don’t know if I need him to bring something fresh so much as continue for a while and finish some stories and subplots.
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