#631 = JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #1 of 12 by Geoff Johns and Mikel Janin (DC Comics, January 2023) Chapter One: Legends Die Together, Too.
I’m enjoying this series; and I’ll do my best to write about it here without giving too much away.
The debut issue takes place 26 years from now (does Johns mean 2049?) where Helena Wayne (The Huntress, wearing the mask of her mother and the cape of her father) has assembled the JSA and is trying to find the missing Doctor Fate (Khalid Nassour). The JSA, brought together by The Huntress, is an assemblage of children of heroes and villains as well as some ageless members: The Gentleman Ghost, Solomon Grundy, the Harlequin’s Son, Icicle, the Mist, Power Girl and The Red Lantern’s daughter.
The sudden appearance of “The Stranger” at a JSA meeting ends up with JSA no more. Helena almost bites the dust until her mother intervenes. The end result is an unconscious Helena materializing in 1940. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
#632 - 635 = JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #2 - #5 of 12 by Geoff Johns with art by Mikel Janin, Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins (DC Comics, March-October 2023) Geoff Johns pulls from a number of previous DC storylines and incorporates them into the plot, which time-jumps all over the place.
Just as Catwoman was saving Huntress last issue, she gave her a snow globe which has time-transporting powers that enabled her to show up in 1940 where she warns the Justice Society that a villain is trying erase the existence of the JSA from all time-lines. That snow globe is the same one that Batman tried to use to reverse history in the Flashpoint series of some years ago.
Turns out the villain is Nazi crazy Per Degaton, who now has the ability to manifest versions of himself in several time lines at the same time. Yeah, it’s a real head-spinner but Johns manages to make all appear sensible.
There are a lot of cameos and secondary scenes featuring Mister Miracle, Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, the Unknown Soldier, Rip Hunter Time Master and Zatana. There are memorable scenes between Huntress and Batman, and many battles across several timelines before the JSA figures out how to neutralize Per Degaton.
The art is eye-appealing and the story is fast paced and entertaining. Just don’t ask me to explain in detail how the time-travel works. THREE AND ONE QUARTER STARS.
#636 - #637 = JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #6 - #7 of 12 by Geoff Johns and Marco Santucci (DC Comics, November 2023-January 2024) The storyline shifts from the stopping of Per Degaton’s attempts to displace the legacy of the Justice Society with a legion of himself to the formation of the Young Justice Society. Stargirl returns from an island outside of time with dozens of rescued teenage sidekicks from the earliest days of the JSA. I believe these are all made up by Johns, as I’ve never heard of any of them.
The Boom reunites with the Flash (Jay Garrick) after vanishing in 1962 - but he doesn’t recall her at all . . . until he does. Judy Garrick becomes the daughter he never had.
Helena Wayne (Huntress) is still trapped in this timeline and Bruce Wayne sets her up with luxury living quarters in New York City. Kent Nelson’s (Dr Fate) sidekick is Salem the Witch Girl who proves to be troublesome and lays claim to the Helmut now worn by Khalid. There’s also former sidekicks Cherry Bomb and LadyBug, all trying to find their place.
Huntress decides to build the next generation of JSA from these returned sidekicks plus the “redeemed” (former villains or children of villains). The recruiting effort ends with Solomon Grundy, for whom a search begins as the issue ends. That search doesn’t end well in the second part of the story. The short storyline ends with the Legion of Substitute Heroes (Animal Lad, Rainbow girl, Stone Boy) recruiting Dr. Fate *Khalid) to join them in the 31st Century. I kid you not.
Very episodic. Very ho-hum. The change in artists did not aid my enjoyment. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#638 - #642 = JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #8 - #12 of 12 by Geoff Johns with art by Mikel Janin (#8-9) Mikel Janin and Marco Santucci (#10) Marco Santucci (#11), Todd Nauck (#12) - - (DC Comics, February-December 2024)
The final issues of this series seem to try to cram in too much, as if a planned series was cut short and Johns was told to wrap it up. But, being as nostalgic as this book is, Johns perhaps had so much planned he just dumped it into the mixing pot. So, end result is that while this is enjoyable it fails to go in depth into any of these characters and I don’t empathize with any of them. A great back-story for Helena Wayne (Huntress) then goes under-utilized. A revolving door of artists also didn’t help to give the book any consistency. The solo Janin issues are the most visually pleasing.
ISSUE #8 features more recruitment by Huntress. This time it’s Ruby Solo, the Russian daughter of the Red Lantern with the same fiery powers. Michael Mayne a.k.a. The Harlequin’s Son gets into a fight with the JSA in ISSUE #9 until The Legionnaire steps in and asks to join the JSA. He’s from the future and reveals himself to be Mordru, hoping the JSA can change his future and stop him from destroying the 31st Century.
Further recruitment in ISSUE #10 of The Gentleman Ghost results in the crystal ball being broken, releasing the imprisoned fire demon Surtur. The Legionnaire then kills Hawkman in order to transfer his life force into the Ghost so he can defeat Surtur. Huh? Doesn’t matter because Hawkman is immortal and reincorporated shortly after. Right before the JSA can induct Legionnaire into membership the League of Super-Heroes from the 31st Century shows up to demand his arrest.
A big fight between the two teams occurs in ISSUE #11, and then Doctor Fate (Khalid) shows up after he spent time in the 31st Century (another unexplored storyline) and claims there is a traitor in the JSA. Turns out to be the young female Wildcat, who is possessed by Eclipso, until the combined teams manage to trap him inside the Black Diamond.
ISSUE #12 is “Graduation Day”, a “feel-good” wrap up issue with lots of double-page poster-art. Usually, I appreciate Todd Nauck’s work, but his art is on the cartoonish side here. The series finally wraps up with a spotlight on Stargirl and her happy 25th anniversary. (Shouldn’t that be Starwoman by this point?) THREE STARS.
#643-#645 = EYRIE #4 by Mike Hoffman (Mike Hoffman, October 2024) Prior to my picking up EYRIE #1 I was totally unaware of the work of Mike Hoffman. He’s quite prolific and a veritable one-person show. I admire anyone who can put out a monthly double-sized black-and-white magazine, and with a recent distribution deal through Massive/Sumerian publishing it looks like EYRIE is here to stay. However, while there may be a smaller amount of new work here, these are mostly reprints of stories done over the years by Hoffman, many from his own first magazine THE TOMB. On two of the stories here you can see the date stamp of 2010 and 2013 by Hoffman’s signature.
Here’s the good about the art: Hoffman has an appealing art style. While the background in the panels is often minimalistic, his shading and facial expressions/body language are the best features. Here’s the good about the stories: Hoffman often goes for something different. So you don’t see the familiar horror comics tropes here. There’s more creativity on display.
Here’s the downside about the art: while the overall look emulates the style of the old Warren magazines (CREEPY, EERIE, etc) the art lacks the same kind of detail that those books were known for. I’m left wanting a bit more. Here’s the downside about the stories: Hoffman doesn’t always go for a twist ending, but too many of his stories are a little inconclusive or fall flat.
Of the six stories this issue, all but one are scripted by Hoffman. Frequent collaborator Jason Crawley wrote “Tapped Out” about some body-snatchers in London 1890 who create a “bleeder-tap” device to drain blood and make it appear that a vampire was the culprit . . . until they draw the attention of a famous Count.
The other stories deal with saucer-hunters in the New Mexico desert, a future man replacing his deceased wife with a copycat that just isn’t the same (which ends on a depressing note), a strange breathable parasite on an alien planet, and two stories that were a bit preachy with their underlying messages:
“Bee-Witched” has a bit to say about the declining bee population, but in horrific fashion. “I Am A Cyclops” is labeled as a “chillingly truthful tale chronicling the tragic rise and fall of a high school cheerleader and her strange child.” This hints at brutality and abuse without ever showing it and might be a more controversial story if it wasn’t so vague. Draw your own conclusions. Hoffman fails to make whatever point he wanted here, but did succeed in ending on another very depressing note. THREE STARS OVERALL.
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