Justice Society of America #38 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Jesus Merino (artist), Jesse Delperdang (inker), Allen Passalaqua (colorist)

The Story: The Fatherland, Part 3: Willingham peels back more of how the American Reich happened via the Darkness Engine that has depowered America’s heroes and villains. In the meantime, Willingham is pursuing his caper plot, with the surviving, depowered heroes getting ready to make their move. Their plan is going to cost a lot of lives, though.

What’s Good: I love stories of heroes having to fix a world gone crazy. A classic of this genre is The Days of Future Past. This story feels a lot like that (concentration camps, high-tech weaponry, persecution, etc). The heaviest hitters in the DCU can’t hit anymore or are dead. It is cool to watch others up step to the plate. Mr. Terrific’s central role in this thread is an awesome example of stepping up. Willingham also has a narrative style that is very forgiving to the new reader, so even though this is part 3 of the arc, the story is very accessible. And he keeps the tension up, with things getting worse and worse for the heroes. And because this is a caper plot, you know that, no matter what, this plan isn’t going to survive contact with the enemy.