JSA #17 review

Now this is a great JSA issue, from Dave Johnson’s Hexaptych cover segment right through to a back-of-book bonus. We’re nearly at the end of the six-part reimagining of the Justice Society of America’s origin and, foundations laid, it’s fun all the way.

Not that Alan Scott is having a great time as we rejoin him after the climax of last issue, which saw businessman Walter Baze revealed to be dead, his body usurped by the Ultra-Humanite. Taunted by the villain as just another weak human, Alan reveals the power of the Green Lantern… and the villain unveils his plan.

Alan defenestrates the Hitler fan but the bad guy’s psionics allow him to float and continue ranting, bragging about his superiority. Which is when more heroes arrive on the scene.

After blasting Hawkgirl and Hawkman, Ultra-Humanite vanishes into the building, sneaking away via a secret door. Meanwhile, Atom and Wonder Woman, who have also been tracking subversives around Gotham, arrive at the Starco building, and find Flash and Johnny Thunder already there.

Elsewhere in the building, Ultra-Humanite catches up to lackeys Cyclotron, Satanna and Sportsmaster, and we finally learn why they’ve been stealing beasts from the wild.

There’s another sub-basement – this is one very secretive building – and that’s where Hourman and Sandman are trying to free a manacled man named Will Everett.

And there’s more. And you should read it, because it’s terrific stuff. Writer Jeff Lemire lays out more of his story and plugs the characters into it in entertaining ways. Watching the disparate heroes react to one another is loads of fun, with my favourite moment being an exchange between Wonder Woman and Flash. It’s also great to see a bit of tension between the bad guys – it seems pretty obvious Cyclotron will realise what an idiot he’s being, and turn on Ultra-Humanite, but we’ve been there back in the All-Star Squadron days so perhaps Lemire will zag instead of zig. And Ultra-Humanite is a fine orator – nuts, and evil, but eloquent and entertaining.

Seeing the heroes who will become the JSA starting to work together is great, and artist Gavin Guidry brings Lemire’s script to life with dynamic layouts and subtle character work. For example, that page with the arrival of the Hawks – the perspective as Hawkman swoops in, the weight as Ultra-Humanite is punched near out of the panel, the power pulse pushing the heroes back, enhanced by the clever colouring of Luis Guerrero. The green glow in the scene with Will – the future Amazing Man – is pretty terrific too.

Steve Wands is one of the best letterers in comics and his work here is good – I did spot a misspelling, but these things happen… editor Marquis Draper should’ve caught that one. But, who knows what pressure everyone is under, overall I loved this comic.

And you know what helped? A four-page preview of the JSA series’ next storyline, ‘The Search for the Spectre’, which concludes with a couple of returning members. I have no idea why it’s here, there’s a whole issue of the current ‘Year One’ story to go, and surely the preview should be in other books, but what the heck, it was a nice surprise.

Lemire writes, regular fill-in artist Joey Vazquez draws, and I’m really looking forward to reading more.

For now, though, my attention is thoroughly grabbed by this Forties sortie which will likely conclude, next issue, with Ultra-Humanite getting his newly hairy ass whupped… it’s not his conversational skills that are getting that gorilla a seats on the plane.