Justice Society of America #31 – Review

By Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges (writers), Jesus Merino (artist), Allen Passalaqua (colorist)

The Story: The gigantic JSA cast is in the brownstone where Wildcat and Magog have thrown down their gloves. No one manages to break it up until everyone is reminded that Mr. Terrific is dying on the operating table and needs blood. Jay Garrick obviously gives blood fastest, so he starts trying to rebuild the security system so that he can see what happened to Mr. Terrific. Everyone is shocked with what he finds. In the meantime, the villains who were out to get the JSA last issue are licking their wounds (some literally) and regrouping. Back in the brownstone, a philosophical thrown down occurs, no less heated than the opening of the book, accenting the fractures in the team. Something has to give; and what does will surprise you.

What’s Good: Merino and Passalaqua deliver some fine art in this issue. Merino seems equally comfortable drawing dynamic action scenes, wrinkled clothes, evocative expressions or trickier light effects. Each panel has something to keep the eye lingering and the choice of camera shots either propels the story (see the page 1 fight between Magog and Wildcat), cranks up a sense of momentum (see the blood donor scene) or evokes a mood (see the villain interrogation page or the page where Flash sits down with King Chimera).

Willingham and Sturges also delivered the goods. The story was told entirely through art, dialogue and monologue and the amount of different voices these two writers had to produce, so that most of the characters had their moments to shine, was astonishing. In almost every character, I think they got the voices, tones and cadences right. Willingham and Sturges revealed at San Diego Comic Con that they were laying the groundwork in the JSA book to break the team into two books. You can see some of their handiwork here and I can guess already where some of the divides are going to happen. DC has two great podcasts of the panel and interview where they talked about it (http://www.dccomics.com/media/podcasts/DCComics_2009-07-26_Spotlight_on_Bill_Willingham_at_SDCC_2009.mp3 and http://www.dccomics.com/media/podcasts/DCComics_2009-07-23_JSA_The_Great_Society_at_SDCC_2009.mp3). A final good thing is that it’s a bit of a relief to be able to read a DC book right now that isn’t staggering under twice its weight in super-powered zombies.

What’s Not So Good: I said that Willingham and Sturges got most of the voices right, especially the key players driving the plot. However, they hit some tiny notes in the dialogue, like in the operating room scene and in the interrogation of Mr. Terrific’s  attacker. However, these were minor moments that didn’t detract too much.

Conclusion: Willingham and Sturgess promised us lots of tension and lots of conflict and they are delivering with the help of Jesus Merino. I’ll be back for issue #32, when I expect that the fractures in this oversized team start to break open at the same time as the team of villainous bounty hunters hits them again.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Justice Society of America #29 – Review

by Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges (writers), Jesus Merino (art), Allen Passalaqua (colors), and Rob Leigh (letters)

The Story: The Flash finds a mysterious black egg and it’s up to Mr. Terrific to figure out what it is.  Meanwhile, two new members are introduced to the team, and  a massive battle erupts, and there’s a betrayal in the brownstone.

What’s Good: Willingham and Sturges obviously have something of a handle on the retro-quirkness of the JSA, and they seem to be having the time of their lives writing this book.  From Cyclone embarrassing herself, to mysterious mind control, to a super brawl involving thirty odd characters, this book is a blast.

That brawl is the centre of the book, and it seems that rather than being overwhelmed by the sheer number of characters in the JSA, Willingham and Sturges add even more characters, embracing the mayhem that results.  It’s total chaos, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun.

That said, the use of the Flash as as narrator speaking in the past tense is a smart move, as it does create some sense of order or control over the book, tying things together and providing something of a framing structure.  It also serves to further deepen the mystery.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cliffhanger ending as well.  It’s a solid and effective twist due to Willingham and Sturges pulling the trigger on a betrayal far quicker than might be expected.  The “mind controlled” betrayer also gives off a really neat oldschool/pulp vibe in truly cheesy fashion.

Jesus Merino serves to be a great fit on art and turns in a workmanlike effort.  He furthers the retro feel of the JSA, but I pity him for the sheer number of characters he’s being forced to draw on every page.  Somehow, Merino’s drawings maintain the same high level of quality throughout the book, never cutting corners ( I especially like how he emphasized all the characters’ different body types).

What’s Not So Good: Willingham and Sturges realize that there are far too many characters in the JSA and rather than try to negotiate this, they gleefully divine in and make it even more chaotic.  As a result, if you’re looking for deep, individual character moments, you’re not going to get that.  Furthermore, there’s a good chance that your favourite character doesn’t get off more than a single line of dialogue.

I suppose that making “pure fun” the sole goal of a comic book is something of a double edged sword; while JSA #29 is certainly entertaining and action-packed, it’s also not even remotely close to being deep or complex stuff, content to please on a totally superficial level.  The plot is similarly simple stuff (all of the JSA’s villains team up in a well-planned ambush) that I can only hope will show more nuance than this issue suggests.  It’s just a bit hard to believe that the team can be in any true danger from what seems like a” by the numbers” badguy team-up.

The biggest difficulty though is that Willingham and Sturges aren’t yet fully comfortable with the characters.  Some of the voices sound a bit off and it’s strange that the leaders of the team don’t actually seem to be leading when the JSA heads into battle, with Power Girl and Magog being afterthoughts.

Conclusion: Despite it’s simplicity and some minor growing pains, it’s a fun book.  Geoff Johns fans need not panic.

Grade: B –

-Alex Evans