JSA #21 review

Behind this peppy cover by Pete Woods is the Search for the Spectre Part 3 of 4, so it’s time for things to really ramp up before the big finale.

We are getting a big finale, aren’t we? Because things don’t really ramp up here. Half the book is a continuation of the dangerous game we might call Pass the Spectre. Last month the Spirit of Vengeance, bereft of a host and so out of control, ‘auditioned’ various Justice Society members and finally landed on Obsidian, who surely has darkness in his soul. This month, his twin sister Jade fights back.

The rest of the book sees us with the younger members of the team, on a quest to find the Spectre’s most successful partner, dead detective Jim Corrigan. Instead they’ve found New God Metron, collector of knowledge, who wants to show the kids the beginnings of the Spectre. A fallen angel named Aztar who was sent to Hell after siding with Lucifer in the war on Heaven, he begged God for Forgiveness.

Metron then immerses Stargirl, Dr Fate, Jakeem Thunder and the new Kid Eternity in more recent events. Darkseid, god of evil, coveted the Spectre’s power and wished to bond with him. But as seen in the DC All In Special, the Ghostly Guardian (well, on a good day) resists, instead putting Darkseid in the picture as to his place in creation, sparking the Absolute Universe. The last they see of Jim Corrigan, he’s chained up in a cell somewhere. Maybe the Moon.

But the Young All-Stars will see Corrigan again, as Metron takes them to Gotham in the early Forties for the rest of the Spectre’s origin.

Back in… forward to 2026, we see the Wrath of God has entered a JSA-er who might just be a great match.

I’m intrigued as to what the Spectre’s mission to Belle Reve might be – is s/he looking for Jim Corrigan’s onetime spiritual advisor Fr Richard Craemer, who used to work at the prison for the worst of the worst? Are they searching for another Louisiana resident, the Alec Holland Swamp Thing? Then again, neither of these would inspire ‘vengeance’. So it must be someone locked up… but who?

The young ‘uns look pretty perturbed to be in a wartime setting. Will they run into any of the Lost Children? Probably not, given how much time this story has left to run, but at least they should soak up some of the atmosphere that made the likes of the Flash, Green Lantern and Wildcat the heroes they are.

The reprise of the war between Heaven and Hell was a bit of a yawn for this Olde Time reader – we’ve seen it in previous Spectre series, Sandman, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Eclipso (probably), ‘Mazing Man (kidding!)… I really can’t imagine this current story needing so much detail. I’m with Jakeem.

Ditto the big chunk of script from the DC All-In Special. While the Spectre-swapping was reminiscent of last issue, at least we got some different details, and the art by illustrator Diego Olortegui and colourist Luis Guerrero is lovely.

Heck, it’s lovely throughout. The bad angels all being dressed as proto-Spectres is a tad weird, I’m used to them being either traditionally angelic, or vampiric as in 1997’s Spectre #60. It makes Aztar being ‘transfigured’ into the Spectre a tad puzzling – he appears exactly the same, just neater. But the scene does look good.

And the spread callback to the DC All In Special is even better.

The scene with Obsidian and Jade is excellent, the type of characterisation I’d love to see more of. I really don’t enjoy the current comics culture in which everyone is a superhero, all the time. Anyone for a Day in the Life issue answering such questions as: Does Stargirl,still go to college? Is Khalid still in the medicine game? How are Alan and Molly getting along?

Writer Jeff Lemire does a decent job with the scenes, there’s a nice rhythm to the issue and the dialogue – laid down by letterer Pete Woods – is fine. And again, there are things I enjoyed this time. But the entirety doesn’t feel fresh enough. Hopefully the conclusion next time will blow me away.