Justice Society of America #3 (June, 1991)
"Vengeance from the Stars! Chapter 3: Dead Air"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Penciller - Mike Parobeck
Inker - Rick Burchett
Letterer - Janice Chiang
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Editors - Brian Augustyn & Mike Gold
Cover Price: $1.00
Had so much fun yesterday, I figure why not take another look at the 1991 Justice Society of America limited-series? I have a feeling this one is going to give all new meaning to "rings and arrows".
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We open... well, the same way we did last issue. Alan Scott is delivering the news of the intermittent blackouts via GBC news. He is more than a little bit irritated when the network's emergency back-up generators go on the fritz and they lose air. Like, I don't wanna say he goes full-on "we'll do it live!" but he does throw a little fit. Gotta wonder though, if there is a city-wide power outage, who is he hoping will even see the broadcast? I dunno. Anyhoo, the GBC staffers are then alerted to a bright light coming in from the window... and when they check it out, they find out the reason for the generators losing their juice... Sagittarius has struck!
And so, Alan slips into his office so he can "Lantern-up".
Outside, Sagittarius is in some sort of odd state of nirvana... just sucking up all the energy. Alan arouses the constellation construct with a caffeinated one of his own. Sag' doesn't appreciate being bothered while he, uh... feeds? So a fight is on.
In the alley down below we revisit Black Canary being walloped by the blackjack.
Then... the GBC staffers run right by shooing the nogoodniks, the kayoed Canary... and Solomon Grundy out of the way so they can shoot the Green Lantern/Sagittarius bout for the news. You couldn't ask for a more aloof group of geeks!
In the sky above, Lantern and Sagittarius continue their energized brawl. When Sag' goes to nyoink an arrow from his quiver, Alan recognizes the pose (and the design on his "outfit"), and identifies the baddie as the constellation Sagittarius.
We jump back to Ted Knight's Observatory, where our shadowy big bad is on the phone with the nogoodniks who kayoed the Canary. It's clear this is all connected... the baddie suggests coming at Green Lantern with wood... because that's his weakness. Ted, nearby in a wheelchair, promises that the Justice Society will still win the day.
Back in Gotham, Lantern manages to wrap Sagittarius up in a construct-straitjacket. And so, the archer transforms into a giant eagle... which, I didn't know he could do (I guess it has something to do with the Symbology... which I remain clueless on).
Alan ensnares the big bird in a construct cage... just long enough for Solomon Grundy to hurl a (wooden?) phone booth right at him!
Alan is smashed from behind by the booth, which messes with his concentration... dissipating the bird cage. The Sagittarius Eagle then sucks up the rest of the GBC generator juice.
The nogoodniks plop Alan down next to Canary... but that's not good enough for Grundy. He'd like to kill Green Lantern straight away. Thankfully, the Sagittarius Eagle has other ideas... and takes off with the heroes.
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After revisiting this issue it's suddenly a little bit more clear as to why this hasn't (to my knowledge) been collected. Things happening concurrently in subsequent issues... might not make for the clearest trade-reading experience. Actually, considering the way DC Comics used to mutilate stories for trade collections back in the 1990's, I'm almost glad this didn't get collected! Could you imagine how this might've been reworked? What might've been omitted? Yikes!
I think this issue gave us a little bit more "meat" than last... though, it was largely also just a fight scene. We got some added "flavor" with the goofball GBC staffers, which was pretty cool. We also get a bit "more" from our shadowy big bad. All in all, I felt a bit more momentum this time around.
I think what a lot of folks will notice straight away is the JSA debut of Mike Parobeck. I gotta say, his talents were completely wasted on me the first time around. I really didn't go for the animated style... I think I felt like it came across as "cheap"... like Archie or something. Ehh, no accounting for an early-90's X-Men kid's tastes, right? In revisiting this, I've really found an appreciation for his work. It's just beautiful... and really makes this team stand out from everything else that was on the shelves. There's definitely a "retro" feeling here... but not in an "old fashioned" kinda way... ya know? It reminds me of old "pop-art" advertisements. The same way something like the Fallout games do.
Overall... this was a good time, and I'd even go so far as to say that it made me appreciate the issue that came before even more as well! Most definitely worth a read.
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Justice Society of America #2 (May, 1991)
"Vengeance from the Stars! Chapter Two: The Sack of Gotham"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Artist - Grant Miehm
Letterer - Janice Chiang
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Editors - Mike Gold & Brian Augustyn
Cover Price: $1.00
Lookit that... our #Action100 endeavor is going so well, we can afford to take a day or two off from looking at Action Comics! At this point I wasn't expecting to be on schedule, much less ahead of it!
How's them for "famous last words"?
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We open with a report from GBC's Alan Scott, wherein he informs all of the Gothamites within earshot that there have been intermittent power outages throughout the city. Since we've already read the issue that comes before this, we know that these "outages" are most definitely not limited to Gotham City. We meet up with a crew of nogoodniks who figure, while the gettin' is good... they may as well loot! Unfortunately for them, the Canary's already on the case!
After a few pages of clunk-y fighting (hey, that's their sound effect, not mine!) she manages to kayo the baddies. Before she can take her leave, however, she overhears a news briefing about a robbery-in-progress at the Gotham Museum of History.
She arrives on the scene and finds an overturned police car. After helping an officer to his feet she enters... and comes across a very much dead security guard. Vowing to bring his killer(s) to justice, she heads into the Treasures of Ancient Egypt exhibit. Inside, a trio of wise guys are attempting to hoist the Crown of Cheops... Cheops is apparently how the Greeks referred to the Egyptian King, Khufu. Well, now we know.
Canary lunges in, and attacks with a butt-thump! Okay, it's more likely some sort of swinging kick, but c'mon... if that's not a butt-thump, I don't know what is. Then again, I'm really not sure what a "butt-thump" might be to begin with. Let's just move along.
Canary grabs the crown and manages to give the geeks the slip. As she admires the collected crown, the real threat of the issue lumbers into the scene... Solomon Grundy!
We shift scenes over to Ted Knight's Observatory, where he is still being held against his will by... somebody. The bad guy tosses a phony beard onto a desk... then picks up Ted's Star Rod. Heading outside, he points the Rod toward the stars... and summons himself another constellation. This time, Sagittarius!
Back in Gotham, Canary and Grundy have one heckuva "go round". They both get their "licks" in, and the advantage shifts back and forth. The struggle continues until Canary manages to monkey-flip Grundy out a window and into the alley down below.
She follows him down... and it looks like Solly might've been playin' possum! He grabs her and tosses her into a wall. He goes to mount her, however, she manages to grab a pair of garbage can lids... and she pulls the ol' "cymbal" crash maneuver.
At the point, more police have shown up on the scene... and they open fire at Grundy. This is, of course... futile. He flips their car just as he (presumably) did the other. He is then distracted by a light from above... then again, so is Dinah. She's preoccupied long enough to be beaned in the brain by a blackjack.
We wrap up by seeing what was so distracting up above... why, it's Green Lantern in the heat of battle with Sagittarius!
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This was... a fight scene. I quite enjoyed it, but at the end of the day... it was still a fight scene.
The only reason that might be a problem is... I mean, what can one really say about a fight scene? It was well done. Howzat for an "analysis" segment?
I struggle with finding a way to really "heap praise" on this... however, I also struggle to come up with even a single complaint. I suppose we could look at that in and of itself as a "net positive" and move along.
I feel like this series (so far) is a case of... If you already know and care about these characters, you're going to really dig this. If you have no investment in these characters, this won't rock your socks... and it probably won't change your mind. It's been forever-ish since I last read this series to completion... so, my opinion may change on that.
Though, I must say... if this was the first JSA I ever tried to read, I don't think I'd come back for the next issue... there just isn't enough there. I mean, that's a pretty "ehh" statement.. but I'd definitely recommend the later JSA series as a "gateway book". I feel like, after reading that, you'll likely have a greater appreciation for this run.
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Justice Society of America #1 (April, 1991)
"Vengeance from the Stars, Chapter 1: Beware the Savage Skies!"
Writer - Len Strazewski
Artist - Rick Burchett
Letterer - Janice Chang
Colorist - Tom Ziuko
Editors - Brian Augustyn & Mike Gold
Cover Price: $1.00
Taking a break from out #Action100 endeavor to take a look at some good ol' comics-comfort food.
It's hard to explain... but, I'll give it a shot. For whatever reason, reading the Justice Society reminds me of Christmas (not that I have to look all that hard for things to remind me of Christmas... by the way, there's only 290 days until Christmas as I write this). Maybe it's nostalgia... maybe it's the feeling of family. Not sure what it is... but, well... it is.
Anyhoo... today, we're going to read the (first ever) Justice Society of America #1... from 1991? I know... it surprised me too. Heck, I've researched it a bunch, and I'm still not completely convinced that this is the first #1!
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We open in 1950 during a the Mount Pride Observatory for a press conference where Ted Knight is about to speak.. The proceedings are interrupted by a wacko with an "End is Near!" sign. Being the affable fella he is, Ted allows him to speak. He warns about the "Savage Skies" and offers Ted an aged star-map for his perusal before running off.
Later, we rejoin Ted at the Observatory's telescope. He's handing it over for use in a project the following day, and figures he might as well take his last few looks through it. He decides to use the old coot's star-map as a guide... and boy, does he get an eyeful!
We jump ahead one week... and arrive back at the Observatory alongside the Flash, Jay Garrick. Ted tips him off about some of what's gone on... and asks him to check out the Boulder Dam. He fears that whatever it was he saw among the stars is "eating" their power supply. Jay can dig it, and asks if Ted would like to come along... to which, Ted reveals that he is now confined to a wheelchair!
As Jay runs off, Ted meekly apologizes under his breath. Ya see, he just sent his buddy into a trap. Ted is now, unwillingly, under the control of... somebody.
Moments later, Jay arrives at the Boulder Dam and looks for the person in charge. When he begins to explain the danger, everyone's first thoughts turn to the Russians. As he continues, the workers notice a huge surge of juice in the lines... which ultimately manifests itself into the Greek (I think it's Greek) God, Orion (I think it's Orion)!
Jay hops to, and begins running circles around the giant star-beast, but doesn't manage to slow it down. He then, along with the assistance of the Boulder Dam crew, proceeds to spin a web of power lines between two towers in hopes that this might hinder the beastie.
And... it does! For now, anyway.
Back at the Observatory, Ted celebrates Jay's victory... much to the aggravation of his keepers. They tell him to shut his yap... and we learn that one of the fellas working for the main-baddie is... Solomon Grundy!
The main-baddie sends Knight and Grundy off on "assignment" and flips the television from the news to I Love Lucy (or, Love that Suzy). He then just destroys the set. I feel ya, fella... some episodes of that show are tough to get through!
Back at Boulder, Orion (if that is his real name) has transformed into a giant electrical dog! It proceeds to gnaw its way out of the power-line webbing and takes to re-energizing itself... even, in a pretty funny bit, "eating" on of the Boulder Dam crew!
As Jay tries to maintain order, he is struck on the back with a girder. Looks like this dog might be good at playing fetch... or at least bludgeoning folks with whatever its got in its mouth!
The dog's rampage looks to have been enough to knock out all of the power from here... to Gotham. Lights out, America!
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Fun little adventure here! Not bad at all.
It's funny when I look at the brief early 90's Justice Society runs... among my first thoughts is "Wow, I was sooooo bored by this when I was a kid". I mean, I've told the story on the podcast, but I actually bought Justice Society of America #1 (the 1992 "ongoing" series) off the racks as an "investment". What can I say, 12-year old Chris was an idiot. Or, maybe a "bigger idiot", I dunno.
When I tried actually reading it... it was really nothing I could glom onto. Jay and Alan weren't my Flash and Green Lantern... and I just couldn't get invested. Thought the costumes were goofy... thought the art was too cartoony... just wasn't my bag.
Fast-forward almost a decade later... and I couldn't get enough!
I feel like the main "problem" with these early Justice Society of America series' was that they were hitting the shelves at the same time as Marvel's new adjective-less (Spider-Man, X-Men) books... and Image's... well, everything. I wish I had given these books and these characters more of a chance when I was younger... because there is a lot to like here.
The other problem is... if you don't know these characters already, you're not really going to after reading this issue. I mean, there's a bit of exposition... Ted Knight (briefly) uses the Star Rod. If you were around in the pre-Crisis days, that might mean something... but, if you're 11/12-year old Chris, that doesn't really move the interest-needle.
I feel like I'm just repeating myself at this point. And, I probably am.
Overall... I can wholeheartedly recommend checking this out. It's plenty fun, and very well drawn. If you happen to be reading this in 1991... and currently are a pre/early-teen, you may not get as much out of it. This issue is available digitally... but doesn't appear to have been collected.
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