Ah, who doesn’t like a homage to All-Star Squadron #1, promising an issue in which the leaders of a Justice Society team picks the latest line-up. Well, it’s a promise that remains unfulfilled here, as there’s nothing remotely resembling such a moment. What we get is the resolution of last issue’s cliffhanger.
But not straight away. This instalment begins a week before the events of last issue, as some of the younger JSAers answer an alert in Opal City.
Outside town, other members reckon they’ve been played.
With some of the Golden Age Starman’s tech presumed taken, and the raid basically signed by Kobra cultists, Obsidian, at the JSA Brownstone with veterans Flash, Wildcat and Green Lantern, wants to get out there and track down the bad guys.
Before the argument can really get going, the latest incarnation of the ISA drops by.
The bad guys attack on a second front, targeting the current Dr Fate for his magical helmet as he relaxes with Jakeem Thunder.
Khalid – Dr Fate – is too slippery, though, and transports all the heroes to the Tower of Fate, outside Salem and outside reality.
Which pretty much brings us to where we came in last time. On the one hand it’s good to see how that story started. On the other, the faffing about with the presentation of events detracts from the reading experience. I was OK with last issue starting in media res, assuming any pertinent details would be dropped in as necessary. But here we start at the very beginning and get all the deets, eventually catching up to the end of #1 and moving forward with the ISA attacking again. What was the point of writer Jeff Lemire starting down the line? The first 15 pages of this comic would’ve sat perfectly in a debut issue.
The argument between Obsidian and Wildcat doesn’t make a lick of sense. How is a small ‘strike team’ any different to the sub-teams which have been part of the JSA’s DNA since their earliest days?
Also a headscratcher, the several references to Dr Fate as a kid – he was a medical student when we first met him in 2015, he’s hardly the peer of Jakeem, who had never seemed more than mid-teens.
So yes, not everything is great… but a lot is. Lemire gives us a nicely balanced batch of characters and brings the bad guys seen at the end of last issue into play. There’s all the action you can want, plenty of character interaction (with slightly less bickering than last time) and we get one of my questions around #1 answered, the whereabouts of Stargirl.
And the art. Oh boy, there are no problems with the art, Diego Olortegui delivers page after page of packed, but never cluttered, visuals that convey every last nuance of Lemire’s script. That opening splash of the floating theatregoers took a lot of work, and Solomon Grundy looks amazing.
The colours of Luis Guerrero add to the excellence of the artwork, with brights and darks judiciously employed to enhance the mood and please the eye. And Steve Wands impresses with his super neat, but far from characterless, choices – and a hand-lettered exclamation on the final page is wonderfully ‘comic booky’.
Back to that cover. As I said, it’s a classic concept (homaged on such books as last year’s Justice Society of America #6, The Coming of the Liberty Brigade and Alter-Ego #32) and I like that artist Cully Hamner has gone 21st century with a computerised table. I know! But goodness me, the style is scratchy… I do miss inkers.
All little problems I have about this comic, though, are forgiven, because the creative team is giving us a high quality Justice Society of America book on a monthly schedule. That makes me very happy
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I was very underwhelmed. I agree with your point that this could all have just gone in issue 1. It doesn’t feel like anything I haven’t seen a hundred times before. At points I felt like I was reading a parody of an early 80s Avengers story; the conspicuous element of characters calling each other by their superhero name felt very Marvel. I do like Sandy’s new look tho.
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Sandy seems to have a car grill on his face. Suits him.
I loved those early Eighties Avengers – except when they featured Fabian Stancowicz.
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I was okay with last issue. I disliked this one a great deal. Khalid is a kid compared to the one-hundred-year-old JSA veterans but the artist obviously did no research past the script. He’s a grown man, not a Teen Titan. The overall tone of this book is conflict and not just against threats but everyone seems angry at everyone else. I wouldn’t like that if the book was called Injustice Society but it’s irritating and wrong to be the biggest characteristic of a JSA book. I have gotten better at not following books I dislike but I rarely drop them mid-arc. The out of nowhere, uncharacteristic rift between Jesse and Rick was bad enough. This was too much. One more entirely (and unnecessarily) negative issue and I’m out. Johns book existed in a vacuum and we all knew nothing in it would be referenced ever again if he didn’t write it but even that felt better than this issue.
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I don’t blame the artist for drawing Khalid so young, he’s likely just going by the references to him in the script – I doubt DC editors these days send out packages of references, and he may not have time to go looking online.
There was definitely less intra-team conflict this time, just a bit of snark. Fingers crossed Lemire cheers everyone up soon.
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Another great review, Mart! I had a lot of the same concerns and you wisely pointed out a couple I’d missed. I should’ve said more good things about the art, because you are right about it 💯!
-Matthew Lloyd
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Thanks very much!
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I thought it was great, but I did question the reasoning behind “starting over.” I hoped there was some timey-wimey reason, but haven’t seen anything yet. That being said, I’m in it for the long-haul. Love me some JSA done right, and this is loads better than anything Geoff Johns did in the last series.
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I hope the random story order doesn’t become a thing with than series.
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I loved it. I thought the first issue was stronger, but this is pretty darn good, too. I understand the confusion around Khalid’s age. But I’ll chalk that up to one or two universe reboots since then. If Raven is now a teenage sweetie pie over in Titans, then I don’t really see any issue with de-aging Khalid slightly.
“The argument between Obsidian and Wildfire doesn’t make a lick of sense”. Agreed. Are we in the 21st century or the 31st? And which version of Wildfire are we even talking about. So confusing. No wonder they’re cranky. I kid, I kid! I know you meant to say Wildcat, but I’m fine with it. Having the team break up into small sub-groups in the forties was just a plot device to accommodate the length of the story and the various artists needed to tell that story. The argument between the two characters here is also just a plot device. Lemire is looking for a way to reinforce the new vs old theme that he’s been playing with and grabs onto Wildcat to do that. It doesn’t seem wildly out of character for him to argue with someone.
I’m happy to see the Injustice Society get a little airtime here, but nametags or ways to identify the characters would not have been welcome. Yes it can be clunky to fit codenames into dialogue, but it goes a long way to establishing who’s who.
And while this issue was lighter on subplots than the previous one, I enjoyed seeing Khalid and Jakeem hang out, and the hints of some kind of banter between Hawkman and Hawgirl. I’m not sure what their current status is, but I’m interested in seeing what’s coming down the line.
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Aha, reboots, that works. I have to say, though, that Khalid was a lot more interesting in his own series than he’s ever been so me.
Wildfire, oops, tweaked. Can you tell I’m missing the Legion?
As regards Hawkgirl, I’m just glad she’s not being written as the utter nutter she was in her recent mini series.
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I think *most* characters are far more interesting in their own book than in a team book. They just have more room to shine and often have a supporting cast. Plus they are often produced by a team invested in that particular character. Whereas, in a team book, it’s harder to grab onto the elements that made them interesting in their own comic.
I mean… who isn’t missing the Legion. I suspect we won’t see them until Darkseid’s Legion becomes more prominent. And that could be a while. Or not?
I couldn’t make it past Hawkgirl’s first issue. Points for trying… but it wasn’t for me.
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Kendra was originally just a weak workaround to use someone besides Shiera teamed with Carter. She was originally barely worth swapping out for her predecessor and usually is scripted as if there were no difference anymore. I blame the cartoon for this character’s persistence.
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Enjoyed issue 1, haven’t gotten to issue 2 yet but intend to. I know Lemire is critically acclaimed. I haven’t read any of his independent books. I tried both his “Frankenstein” and “Terrifics” titles for DC. I loved the concepts and wanted to be a fan of both but wasn’t really into either. “Terrifics” in particular almost read like Lemire was intentionally going for a throwback. In interviews he sounds super enthusiastic about “JSA.” I’d love to hear from Lemire fans about his approach to main stream heroes versus his other projects and if there are significant differences. If “JSA” reads like a retro-“Avengers” title from the 1980s, maybe that is intentional? But to be fair, I’m not sure what else you’d expect? I love the Justice Society and its characters, but at the end of the day, other than totally shaking up the 80-year-old concept so maybe it’s not even recognizable, I’m not sure what else can be done with them other than telling entertainingly solid – but traditional – superhero stories. Team drama and romance and fights with bad guys. And ’cause it’s “JSA” different generations of heroes. If you want to win an Eisner or read Eisner-worthy material I don’t think this is the title to do it on. I’m just glad it’s finally back on the shelves on a regular basis. The last regular Justice Society book fans got was 2011. That may not be long in DC continuity years since none of the members have aged since then but damn it’s a long time in the real world. -Brian
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Great points. What DO you do with the JSA? Lean into what makes them unique, history and legacy. And stick ‘em on their own Earth, but I fear that ship has sailed.
Have a look for Lemire’s 2010-2011 Superboy series with artist Pier Gallo, I enjoyed it hugely! It’s on the DC app.
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As I think I said last month, I like a JSA that snaps at each other. It brings to mind those ’70s issues where I first encountered the group.
Khalid’s age bothered me too. A med student is a much more interesting secret ID then another teenager. I hope that’s clarified or fixed soon.
As for the cover, it strikes me as a double homage. It recalls All-Star Squadron 1 of course, but also, the background is reminiscent of the Days of Future Past X-Men cover, with all the heroes’ statuses listed on their photos.
I’m enjoying this, but I could definitely use some forward progression next time.
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Hey that’s clever, I missed the X-Men nod… boy, will anyone ever bring out a comic with the impact of that X-Men issue? I suppose it helped that we weren’t told everything months in advance back then.
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