By Geoff Johns, David S. Goyer, Stephen Sadowski, Michael Bair & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-739-9
Following hard on the heels of their successful revival of the industry’s first super-team, the assorted creators hit the ground running and began expanding the roster and finding bigger and bolder cataclysms for the multi-generational army to combat.
The Justice Society of America was created in the third issue of All-Star Comics (Winter 1940/1941), an anthology title featuring established characters from various All-American Comics publications, by the simple expedient of having the heroes gather around a table and tell each other their latest adventure. From this low key collaboration it wasn’t long before the heroes joined forces to defeat the greatest villains and social ills of their generation.
Gathering issues #6-15 of the monthly JSA comicbook in one mighty tome, this volume begins with the official relaunch of the team in ‘Justice. Like Lightning…’ (illustrated by Marcos Martin & Keith Champagne) as the veteran members Flash, Sentinel and Wildcat assume the role of mentors for both current and future champions only to be attacked by a demented super-human named Black Adam. The bombastic battle serves to introduce some very far-reaching plot threads as the new incarnations of Doctor Fate, Hourman and Hawkgirl journey to ancient Egypt to solve the mystery of the Black Marvel’s madness, before the second major story-arc of the series begins.
In ‘Darkness Falls’ (art by Stephen Sadowski & Michael Bair) Sentinel’s troubled son Obsidian, haunted by his own powers, seemingly goes mad and attempts to drag the world into a supernatural realm of dark despondence. Naturally there’s more to the mess that might first appear, and when the new Doctor Mid-Nite appears it’s not long before the black tide begins to turn…
The epic concludes in a savage battle for the ‘Black Planet’ and Wildcat then takes centre-stage for a magnificent solo stint against the entire Injustice Society in ‘Wild Hunt’ – the best “Die Hard†tribute ever seen in comics.
Beginning with ‘Split’ (by Bair & Buzz) the next extended saga pits the team simultaneously against serpentine super-terrorist Kobra and the time-bending villain Extant (who killed many of the original team in Zero Hour) forcing the still largely untested JSA to divide its forces between a world in peril and a continuum in crisis.
‘The Blood-Dimmed Tide’ concentrates on the anti-Kobra contingent but their swift victory is spoiled when the sole survivor of the other team appears to bring them into battle against Extant in ‘Time’s Assassin’, ‘Chaos Theory’ and the spectacular ‘Crime and Punishment’ wherein reality is stretched beyond its limits, the gates of the afterlife are propped open and more than a few dead heroes return…
Complex and enthralling, these super shenanigans are the very best of their genre, filled with wicked villains and shining, triumphant heroes, cosmic disaster and human tragedies, always leavened by optimism and humour.
As such they’re simply not for every graphic novel reader, but if you can put yourself into the head and heart of a thrill-starved ten year old and handle the burden of seven decades of history, these tales will supercharge your imagination and restore your faith in justice…
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