Justice Society of America (vol.3) #9 (2007)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #9 (November, 2007)
"Thy Kingdom Come, Prologue"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Penciller - Dale Eaglesham
Inker - Ruy Jose
Colorists - Jeremy Cox & Hi-Fi
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Michael Siglain
Cover Price: $2.99

It's the weekend... and it seems like I talk about the Justice Society on weekends.  Not something I planned, just something I've noticed.  I guess the old-timers from Earth-2 really put me in a weekend-y mood.

Today we're going to discuss an issue that featured one of my first "jaw drop" moments as a DC Comics fan.  Let's get to it.

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We open up with Power Girl standing at the gravesite of Kal-L... that is, the Superman of Earth-2 who died during (the recently-ended) Infinite Crisis.  The narration keys us into Kara's origin(s)... and suddenly an arm reaches from out of the grave, revealing this scene to be... a dream!  Kara sits up in bed and thinks on it... Kal-L died reminding the heroes what they ought to be, and as Chairwoman of the Justice Society, she will keep his words alive.

The next morning, in Brooklyn... the Justice Society is taking part in a ginormous pancake breakfast at the Fire Station.  It's quite the scene!  The Chief thanks Green Lantern for supplying them with a new fire engine... if you'll recall, the other one hit a wild Vandal Savage.

In the back Citizen Steel is whipping up a massive stack of pancakes while surrounded by children who'd rather pummel each other with the ingredients than make breakfast with them.  He's ultimately successful... and the kids manage to make one helluva pancake.  I mean, it takes like four of them to carry it.  I have trouble making anything bigger than a silver-dollar, how in the world did they flip this thing!  I'm guessing it's pretty mushy in the middle... and burnt around the edges.  Why am I still going on about a pancake?  It's morning, and I'm hungry.  Anyhoo, Power Girl informs the crew that "the fight" is about to begin, and so...

We shift to a boxing ring where Wildcat is about to face-off with... Wildcat!  It's a father and son boxing match for charity... and it's occurring in a ring erected in the middle of the street!  In a somewhat shocking display, Wildcat (the first) teaches his son a lesson in the ring.  I was totally expecting the young "whippersnapper" to totally school his old man... that's usually how these things go.

Ted tells Tom that he's telegraphing his next move with his tail... to which, Tom says he's cheating.  Ted's all, "you think supervillains play fair?".  I have it on good authority that no, no they don't.  We only get one round in (which Ted wins on points) before the fire bell sounds... before we know it, the F.D.N.Y. and the J.S.A. are off to fight a fire... and save some trapped firefighters!

Upon arrival, Power Girl tells Citizen Steel to hang back... since he's mostly made of metal, he'll be of little use in this rescue mission... after all, he'd get far too hot to save anybody.  Inside, the group comes across the dead body of... Goth?!  Oooooh boy... Goth was a bad guy during Devin Grayson's run on Titans back in the late 90's... and was basically Marilyn Manson (his introduction in Titans Secret Files and Origins is literally a tracing of the album cover for Manson's Mechanical Animals!).  He was a rock-singer who could control his audience on sort of an exponential level... like, first he'd control one... then two, two became four, four became eight... and so on.  Anyhoo... he is now dead, with a hole in his chest.

Turns out that much of this heat is emanating from whatever power it was that Goth possessed this time around... it's so powerful that it's effecting Alan's ring... and burning Kara's skin!  At this point Starman has the idea that he might be able to create a black hole... and send the fire into it.  Power Girl makes the executive decision to let him at it... and takes the rest of the group outside, as to not get sucked in themselves.

From outside we see that the fire has been extinguished... and a man begins to lumber through the smoke.  It's definitely not the man anyone was expecting to see, however...

--

And that sound you just heard was the me of ten years ago's jaw hitting the ground.  Having been a post-Crisis kid... actually, having been a Marvel kid, and a post-Crisis teen... I didn't really get to experience a whole lot in the way of seeing multiple (or infinite) Earths.  (Outside of Zero Hour anomalies) I think the closest I ever got to seeing someone who didn't quite belong was during a Superman storyline where WildStorm character Mr. Majestic popped in... so seeing the Kingdom Come Superman lumbering through the smoke was just wild!

It had been hinted that Kingdom Come was going to be folded in via Starman's ravings earlier in the series, but actually seeing that Superman... I dunno, just felt so wrong and right... and really makes you feel like everything is on the table.  I loved it... and, I'm not even that big a fan of Kingdom Come itself!  Though, to be fair... I read it when I had far less affinity (and knowledge) of DC Comics, I'm very likely due a reread.

For the rest of the issue... I love that the Justice Society is taking part in a pancake breakfast/luncheon.  It just seems like something they would do.  While I always look at the Justice League as co-workers, and mayyybe friends... the Justice Society is all about family.  I couldn't see Batman in the back making pancakes unless it's being played for laughs.

The Wildcat/Wildcat bout was fun to see as well.  I was really expecting the younger to dazzle the older with his moves, and was pleased that was not the case.  Too often the younger heroes get the better of the older despite not having nearly the experience.  I was glad to see Ted teach Tommy that experience and tactical prowess actually means something in battle.  His line about the bad guys not playing fair was well taken as well.

Power Girl... gets to make one of her first big decisions as Chairwoman... and, it could be argued that it was a bad one!  I love this!  She has no time to think about options, and allows one of her own to remain in a burning building while trying to concoct a black frickin' hole.  On paper, that sounds like a terrible idea!  They're treating her leadership position as one she will need to grow into... which, not to get too controversial, is definitely not how she would be written had this issue come out today.

Power Girl, despite her pedigree and longevity, has never truly led the team before... it stands to reason that she would make a mistake or two... or make a few questionable decisions.  I appreciate that Alan deferred to her (as he should at this juncture), and really appreciate that her decision was more a lesser-of-two-evils than "the perfect plan".  Now, as luck would have it, the decision she makes to allow Starman to work his hoo-doo was the right one (or was it?)... but it very easily could have went the other way.

The art continues to amaze... I swear I could read an entire book that consists of nothing but Dale Eaglesham two-page spreads.  Somehow when he does it, it never looks like a waste of space or filler.  Just incredible work here!

All this, and we even get to throw a horrible (dated as all hell) villain (literally) on the fire.  What's not to love?  I say it every time we cover the Justice Society... but, ya gotta read this run.  Ya just gotta.  It is available digitally, and has been collected as part of Thy Kingdom Come, Part One (available at a pretty deep discount at InStockTrades).

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Justice Society of America (vol.3) #22 (2009)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #22 (February, 2009)
"One World, Under Gog, Part VII: Thy Will Be Done"
Story/Script - Geoff Johns
Story/Painted Pages - Alex Ross
Penciller - Dale Eaglesham
Inker - Nathan Massengill
Colorist - Hi-Fi
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Michael Siglain
Special Thanks - Mark Waid
Cover Price: $2.99

"Thy Will Be Done"  Okay, folks who had the bet that they'd use that title for this issue?  Oh, all of us?  Well, fair enough.

That's right... after a very long time, we're finally going to wrap up the Justice Society of America spectacular Thy Kingdom Come!

If you need/want to be caught up... maybe use the handy-dandy Search Box to the right that I'd forgotten was even there!  Here's a quick link: Thy Kingdom Come Search.  Hopefully that worked!

--

We pick up right where we left off last issue... Gog's ticked, and is in the middle of taking back all the gifts he'd given.  He decides, however, to give his herald Magog, one more chance to "come around".  He doesn't... but thankfully, by this point the cavalry has arrived!

Gog fights through the onslaught... and proceeds to mocks those he'd just taken from, including Damage.  Remember, he made Damage handsome again... well, not anymore.  At this point, poor begotten Citizen Steel steps to the plate...

... and punches Gog square in the shin!

This is, surprisingly, enough to get the big man off his feet.  The Society swarms!  Cyclone whips up a... er, cyclone to cover the baddie in rocks.  Alan ties him down with green energy, then Magog... er, decapitates him!  Looking at it quickly, I thought for a moment Alan had garroted him with a green-beam! 

Superman-22 hoists the severed head over his, um, head (picture included, because this is a pretty awesome shot).

Then, he and Starman take the head of Gog on a one way trip... to the Source Wall!  All the while, Gog lambastes Superman for leaving his Earth... and dooming it to die.

This makes Superman realize that... Gog's right!  He needs to return to Earth-22... he has to try and make things right.  He has to try and stop the bomb.  And so, using the Multiversal Map on Starman's costume... does just that.

He arrives on the battlefield, just after the United Nations' nuclear strike.  He sees the bodies strewn before him, including that of Kara.

Back on Earth, the Justice Society reconnoiters and licks their wounds.  It looks like most of Gog's "gifts" have been rescinded... Damage is ugly, Dr. Mid-Nite is blind... strangely, however... David Reid is still Magog!

On Earth-22, Superman heads to the United Nations building, and welds all of the exits shut... and he looks to be getting ready to topple the building with all the Delegates inside!  He is stopped by Norman McCay... you know, that old guy from Kingdom Come.  He appeals to Clark... telling him if he goes through with this act, he'll only be proving the U.N. right.  Further, he tells him he must first forgive himself if he has any hope of moving forward.

Superman thinks on it a bit... and realizes the old feller is right.  Just as he comes to this decision, he is reunited with the superheroes who did survive the bomb.

We wrap up our Earth section with Starman returning to the Justice Society and informing them that Superman decided to head back to his own Earth.  But not to worry for him, because Starman already knows that Clark Kent's future... and in just a matter of moments, we will too!

One year later, Earth-22 time, Clark turns Kansas into a memorial for all those lost.  He is joined by Wonder Woman, who gives him a pair of glasses to improve his sight.

Ten years later, the next generation is born.

Twenty years later, his best friend Bruce Wayne passes away.

One Hundred years later, Clark and Diana ship their son off Earth as civilization undergoes something of a... great disaster?  A hundred years after that... it's beginning to look a lot like Kamandi.  And finally... One Thousand years later, the Legion of Super-Heroes takes flight... and they appear to have one very special fan.

--

Now that's one heckuvan ending!  I apologize for being so picture-heavy toward the end there, but, c'mon... not only is it some beautiful work by Alex Ross, it also gives us over a millennia worth of story for the Superman of Earth-22.  It ties just a perfect bow on that timeline/Earth... and is a great way to let us just put it back onto the shelf.

I've said throughout our reread of Thy Kingdom Come that it felt like "decompression done right".  That is to say, there were chapters in which very little seemed to happen, however at the end of each one, I walked away satisfied.  I feel the same way here... and was beyond happy that the ending and epilogue were fit into a single issue.

So often these days we fill an entire extra issue with epilogue-matter.  Sometimes that's the right thing to do... but often it results in some sparse and empty-feeling issues.  I think of recent "epilogue" issues, and remember thinking that the first 2-3 pages were pretty spectacular... but the rest kinda just "happened".  I think if this were to come out today (or from Marvel) the Alex Ross bits would have been a standalone book... with a price tag of at least $4.99.

Enough about that... what of the story?  Well, Gog was dispatched with the quickness.  I feel like maybe they took him down a little too easily.  The entire fight only lasted a handful of pages... which after nearly a year's worth of build-up feels kind of weak.  Not that I wanted this entire book to be a giant (pun!) fight scene or anything... just expected a bit more than this.  Perhaps some emphasis on brains over brawn... ya know?

The real "meat" of the story is the second half though.  We were given some brief scenes of the Justice Society licking their wounds... which is fine, because they'll actually be coming back next issue.  The main focus is squarely put on Earth-22... and it's pretty great.  As mentioned above, this really feels like an Earth that can just be put back up on the shelf and left alone.  If a writer really wanted to revisit it... well, there are a thousand years worth of stories they could tell.  If nobody ever decides to?  Well, that's fine too.

Overall... brevity of fight aside, this was a pretty spectacular issue.  Excellent writing from Johns... and wonderful art from Eaglesham and Ross.  This is the kind of "single issue" I look at and become even more annoyed when I see people dismissively refer to them as "floppies" (can we please stop that?).  Highly recommended... Thy Kingdom Come is must-reading.

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Justice Society of America (vol.3) #10 (2007)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #10 (December, 2007)
"Thy Kingdom Come - What a Wonderful World"
Story/Writer - Geoff Johns
Story/Painted Art - Alex Ross
Penciller - Dale Eaglesham
Inkers - Ruy Jose & Drew Geraci
Colorist - John Kalisz
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Michael Siglain
Cover Price: $2.99

Time for another Society-Sunday... which I wasn't planning on, but if one day, you review Justice Society of America (vol.3) #9, and see sitting behind it in your longbox a cover that looks like this... ya sorta have to give it a go.  I don't make the rules.

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We open at the brownstone with Ma Hunkel showing a bit of uncertainty as to the true identity of their current "house guest" while holding aloft a semi-familiar stylized Superman costume.  Who might she be talking about?  Welllll, inside the conference room sits a man who looks a whole lot like an older version of Superman... not entirely unlike Kal-L of Earth-Two.  This is another amazing two-page spread... just showing the Man of Steel drinking some tea, but there's a feeling of isolation and trepidation that the empty space provides.  Excellent work!

This Superman, we'll just call him Superman... tells the Society's elder statesmen that he saw them all die.  They try and wrap their heads around what's going on... is this Kal-L resurrected?  I mean, that'd be a quick turnaround, even for comics!  Is this Superman from the future?  Wait, did somebody say future... because that's Starman's cue!  He, and several other members, enter as he explains that this Superman is his friend from Earth-52 minus 30... so, Earth-22 then, who he (somehow) ran into while making his way from the 31st Century.

And then... we see Earth-22 in all its Rossian glory.  I mean, as if the art in this book wasn't already bananas-excellent, this just puts it over the top.  It makes you feel like you're holding something special... something that should most definitely not cost only $2.99.

Stargirl turns to Power Girl and asks "what gives?"... following Infinite Crisis, they were led to believe that the multiverse had been wiped out... again... or something, leaving Pee Gee as the sole survivor.  Welp, not exactly, I guess.  Anyhoo, Superman refers to Cyclone as "Red Tornado" and shares with the group that the Justice Society on his Earth disbanded and never reformed... because, ya know... Kingdom Come and Magog.

The Society decides to back off for a bit, and leave Superman to relax... and so, they leave him in the conference room... and lock him in.  Talk about an exercise in futility, right?  Especially when you consider that he can hear you locking the door...

Speaking of super-hearing, the Society chats about their house guest in the hallway.  They worry as the last time an "older Superman" showed his face Infinite Crisis happened.  Power Girl suggests bringing the Justice League in on the case... which isn't the worst idea.  Wildcat questions why they felt the need to leave the room to have this discussion because... ya know, if he is Superman, he can most certainly hear every word they've said.  Inside the conference room, Superman is visited by our security system... Obsidian!  They chat, and Superman scans this Earth... seeing hope.  He sees the Kents, heroes acting heroically, and criminals in jail rather than executed on the street.  Obsidian tells him that hope and learning from mistakes is what the JSA is all about.

We shift scenes to the burnt paint factory from last issue... ya know, where Goth was killed.  Mr. Terrific and Dr. Mid-Nite are investigating and trying to figure out who might benefit from killing some lame rock star bad guy.  Dr. Mid-Nite begins coughing... which he waves off as being from the dust, but we know Chekhov's Cough when we hear it... or something.  The pair leave, and we can see the letters GO carved on a wooden beam.  Hmm...

Back at the brownstone, Superman shares more tales of Earth-22 with Obsidian, when suddenly... his super-hearing picks up a weak and hopeless little voice.  With urgency, he rises... and beats his way through the locked door.  He switches into costume and makes a run for it.  The Society dogpiles him, and Starman increases the gravity.  Initially, this appears to have worked... however, it's not long before Superman shakes them all off and escapes through the roof!

He soars across the city, where we see a young girl just about to step off the top of a building.  Before she can go splat, however, he swoops in and catches her.  With her in his arms he tells her that giving up is never the answer... which is probably something he wishes someone had told him all those years ago.

We're winding down, which means... vignette time.  We hop over to the Batcave where Batman is watching the news of this new Superman... while holding the Kryptonite ring.  In Central City, the Flash and the Flash... er, Wally and Jay are at the Flash Museum looking for the Cosmic Treadmill.  Elsewhere, Choma is being chased through... I wanna say, a sewer (?), and Power Girl is knelt before Kal-L's grave... for reals this time.

We wrap up with the Flashes finding the Treadmill, and Jay revealing that he plans to use it to travel to a parallel Earth... the Justice League arriving to the brownstone... and Chroma being killed by a shadowy figure proclaiming itself to be a God!

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Alright... who wants to hear more of me gushing about the Justice Society?

...

Nobody then?  Okay, I'll get the gushing out of the way early.  This is a great run, and I would say this is must-reading if you're a fan of DC Comics.  The writing is excellent, and the art is insanely good.

There.

So, the issue itself... it's crazy that what we get here feels both like a "down time" issue, and one where so much happens.  We "officially" meet the Superman of Earth-22, and learn a bit about where he came from.  For Kingdom Come fans, this isn't new information... for a guy like me who hasn't read Kingdom Come in almost 20 years, I was glad for the catch-up... and, c'mon now... Alex Ross art in a $2.99 comic book.  I had to double-check the cover price... seems like today (or most definitely across the street/country at Marvel) they'd have tacked one at least a buck for that.

Superman saving the jumper is important... and not just for the act of saving a life.  The Earth he comes from... he lost hope, and exiled himself allowing Gog and the gang to run amok.  On this new-to-him Earth, he sees things like hope... like family.  He sees the Justice Society as a force for good, and perhaps through that drew inspiration to be the best (super)man he can be.  It's not exactly subtle, but it really doesn't have to be.  It's also not exactly breaking any new ground, but again... it really doesn't have to.  A man without hope is inspired... and uses that to be the inspiration for others.

I appreciate how the Justice Society is shown as having different generational tiers of membership.  We see the "big guns" in the old-timers (Chairwoman, Power Girl would have likely been present too, if she wasn't so affected by seeing a man who might be her dead cousin)... there are the young adults who are out and about on Society-business... and then there are the adolescents.  Seeing Maxine not quite know how to conduct herself in front of Superman was great.  I like knowing that a new member of the superhero community can still become nervous (or star-struck) and not be over the top with it.

I really dig how we wrap up with vignettes... this is something that's happened a few times in this series, and really does a lot to make me chomp at the bit for the next issue.  We don't just get a cliffhanger... we get three!  Let's parse 'em out a bit.

The Justice League arrives at the brownstone... which means, we're just about to get a Superman-Superman face-to-face.  That's always a good time.  I even remember being super-psyched when I read the solicit that promised the post-Crisis Superman meeting The New-52! Superman... then being really ticked when they pushed the meeting back a few months.

We get a distrusting Batman fondling his Kryptonite ring... which is fair enough.  Batman is always great as the group skeptic... except for the fact that he's almost always right about everything.

Then, we get Chroma.  Chroma is a villain from... somewhere in the pre-Crisis Roy Thomas corner of the DC Universe.  I can't say that I have a whole lot of interest, but I do appreciate the fact that we're using like an inversion of the bits that started this volume.  Shadowy villain going around picking people off... we opened with Vandal Savage trying to chop down heroic "family trees", now we have another taking down B-list baddies.

Overall... I said it before... and I'll say it again (and again, and again), this volume is worth your time.

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DC Nation:

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Justice Society of America (vol.3) #11 (2008)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #11 (February, 2008)
"Thy Kingdom Come, The Second Coming"
Story - Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Penciller - Dale Eaglesham
Inkers - Ruy Jose & Drew Geraci
Colorist - Alex Sinclair
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Michael Siglain
Cover Price: $2.99

Things that start with S and end with Y... Saturday and Society!  Yeah, that's pretty weak... but let's read some JSA anyway.

--

We pick up with Flashes Wally and Jay getting ready to hop on the Cosmic Treadmill to use it to cross into another dimension.  Wally is confused, thinking that the Multiverse was erased... and, even now, it's weird to read that the characters actually know that that happened.  Anyhoo, they manage to cross into Universe 2--, which perhaps we can assume to be Universe-22 (home of the Kingdom Come Earth), the Treadmill begins to break apart and they find themselves surrounded in complete blackness.  They reverse course and return to the Flash Museum before the Treadmill goes to pieces.

We shift scenes over to the brownstone where the Justice League have arrived and the Kingdom Come Superman is undergoing a whole bunch of tests.  He's wrapped in Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth, and Lanterns Hal Jordan and John Stewart are ring-scanning.  It's deduced that he actually is who he saws he is...

Alan Scott turns to Superman (our Superman) to get his opinion... He says he's definitely telling the truth.  He doesn't even need to analyze him... he just knows.  Unfortunately, the Supermen don't get any one-on-one time.  KC Superman appreciates that, and comments that this Justice Society learns from mistakes, just as Obsidian told him last issue.  The Hawks and Dr. Mid-Nite talk off to the side, and observe how the last time a grey-haired Superman showed up, he damned them... while this one blesses them!  The compare it to the "Second Coming", which Mr. Terrific poo-poos with the quickness, as he's Atheist and likely doesn't want confounding variables of faith included in his data, which is fair enough.  Obsidian pops his head in to suggest he respect the beliefs of others.

Finally, Batman pipes up... (about time, right?) and says that their next task is to find a way to send this Superman back home.  He turns to Starman, suggesting that the black hole he opened in the paint factory also acted as a wormhole... and if it could go one way, it ought to be able to go the other.  Starman says he'd need a Map of the Multiverse to accomplish something like that.  Wonder Woman asks the question... does KC Superman even want to return to Earth-22?  Well, turns out... it's moot.  KC Superman informs the heroes that his Earth is gone.

We shift scenes to join Power Girl.  If you guessed she'll be sitting at Kal-L's grave... you've been paying attention!  In a neat bit, she uses her x-ray vision to peer into the graves... where she sees the bodies of her cousin and his wife.  I suppose that's proof positive that this other grey-haired Superman is definitely not Kal-L.

We jump ahead to the Justice Society flying over New York City.  We also see KC Superman standing in the crowd below.  A brief flashback shows Maxine and Courtney presenting him with his mended Superman costume... which is really fun.  In just two panels, Johns was able to show us the difference between Maxine and Courtney insofar as comfort level around supers.  Superman overhears some hub-bub over on Ellis Island, and knows this is a job for... well, him!

Over on Ellis Island, we meet Judomaster (Sonia Sato) as she fights off some Eastern-themed supervillains, Seppuku, Kamikaze, and Kung the Obake.  Green Lantern asks if Ms. Sato is any relation to the original (Charlton Comics) Judomaster, Rip Jagger.  Thankfully, she's not!  However, Jagger's old sidekick Tiger is the leader of this crew of baddies.

As the battle rages, Mr. Terrific explains that she has the power to... not get hit, which is convenient.  Unfortunately for her, there is a loophole.  While she cannot be attacked head-on, she can take damage from an attack that isn't directly at her... case in point, the sumo-sized Kamikaze exploding himself!

It looks like Kamikaze's power is to explode his upper half, then reforming to do it all again... which is exactly what he decides to do!  That is, of course, until Superman arrives and threatens to throw chunks of Kamikaze all across the globe.  In the distraction, Judomaster lands a well-placed kick.

As the dust settles, the authorities arrive with the intentions of arresting Judomaster.  Damage pipes up and tries to get the officers to back off.  Hourman and Liberty Belle are proud of "their boy".  As the Justice Society leaves, we can see that Tiger has watched the entire event unfold from the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

Back at the brownstone, Superman approaches Power Girl to try and iron things out.  He knows that she's uncomfortable with his presence, but vows that he will do whatever he can to make it so they are as close to being a "family" as possible.  Kara looks incredibly touched... I mean, this is just a beautiful panel.  I give Eaglesham a ton of credit on his excellent two-page spreads, but ho-lee cow, this is a gorgeous Power Girl.  You know exactly what she's thinking and feeling... it's just amazing.

We wrap up picking up another thread from last issue.  We're in the sewers where "God of Crayola" Chroma was killed.  The FBI are out in full-effect, alongside a special helper... Mr. America?!

--

Another really good issue of Justice Society... though, I gotta say I was a little bit let down.

When last issue's "next issue blurb" promised Superman meeting Superman, I was hopeful that we'd get a bit of a chat.  We don't get a single scene of the two paired off, and (our) Superman only gets like two lines of dialogue.  That bummed me out.  Seems like such a missed opportunity... though, to be fair, I haven't read this since it hit shelves, and there may yet be a conversation between the two yet to come.

I dig seeing Judomaster, as post-Crisis the original (and Tiger) showed up in the All-Star Squadron.  Makes sense that this character would gravitate toward the JSA.  I haven't finished my All-Star read-through, so I'm unsure if the Tiger heel-turn happened there, or if this is actually in reference to that unforgettable The L.A.W.: Living Assault Weapons miniseries... nah, couldn't be.

I've mentioned a couple of times already how much I appreciate Maxine being treated like the newbie that she is.  I love that she gets flustered in front of Superman... I mean, who wouldn't, right?  I also like that hanging around supers is old-hat to veteran Courtney Whitmore.  Neat little two-panel scene that shows us so much of both of their personalities without being overblown or "precious" about it.

Speaking of short bits that say so much... Mr. Terrific telling Hawkman and Hawkgirl to leave religion out of their postulation makes perfect sense without being condescending.  Clearly, being an Atheist/Agnostic, Holt wouldn't want issues of faith being brought in to confound his theories... which, if we take ourselves out of comic books where Gods regularly visit the the mortal realm, makes a bit more sense.  What Michael said didn't come with any vitriol, scorn, or superior tone, it was just a statement.  I also appreciate Obsidian imploring him to respect the beliefs of others, so that they will respect his.  Without digging too deep, something tells me this scene would've been written a bit differently had this issue been released in 2017... or by Marvel.

I mentioned the art during the synopsis... but, man it's ridiculously good.  That one panel of Power Girl where she's somewhere between smiling and bawling... just so damn powerful.  Dale Eaglesham is a true master, and brings so much to this book and these iconic characters.  I know it'll never happen, but if/when we ever get our JSA Rebirth comic... a Johns/Eaglesham team... even for just the opening arc.  Maaaan.

Another JSA book I wholeheartedly recommend.  Besides a missed opportunity between the Supermen, I was more than pleased with what this issue gave us.  Wonderful writing, amazing art, awesome characters... what more could a fan want?

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