21Six.net

I’ve said before, many times, I’m a huge fan of the Justice Society of America. I think it could even be said that I like them more than the League. Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and the rest of them have a kind of, well, goodness about them that emanates through the entirety of the book and brings out some of the best aspects of the characters. The best way I can explain it is to paraphrase a line from the deluxe edition of Batman: Year One in the specials section.

The artist was talking, and, with a modified image of Action Comics #1, with “Tautology” replacing “Action”. The artist said that he appreciated the heroes of the Golden Age– those of the Justice Society– because they were inherently Good. They were always on the side of justice, and righteousness. They did good things because they were good. And there’s a certain quality of this tautology that’s admirable. They did these things just because they were good, and people should do good things.

You stopped really seeing that in the 90s.

Anyway, these characters also have a presence about them that the League doesn’t. Sure, you have The Big Three: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and these people are the kinds of people who are looked up to, and admired. But the JSA are the people that even the League looks up to and admires. Alan Scott alone has enough tenure as a superhero to merit someone of the likes of Batman using him as a consult, or conceding to him.

But, anyway. I’m here to actually talk about a specific story arc.

After the JLA/JSA crossover story arc “The Lightning Saga” which saw the return of The Flash III, Wally West, and his children into mainstream continuity, Johns apparently decided that the best course of action would be to make one of the most epic stories that JSA has seen in recent memory. I’m also taking into consideration that Johns wrote a large portion of the previous JSA incarnation, and that it, too, was an amazing book.

Basically, what happens is, Star Man (or is it Starman?), who was/is part of the Legion of Superheroes, wound up in mainstream DC, Earth-1. This Starman was eccentric, schizophrenic, and just odd enough to make people uncomfortable. He wound up joining the Justice Society and having the The Lightning Saga, then stayed behind to help things out. Starman talks about a multiverse, and he accidentally stepped into another universe, one where the earth was blown to Kingdom Come. Earth-22.

During a fight with the rest of the JSA, Starman accidentally opens up a rip in space/time and out pops a Superman. His clothes are ripped, and he looks strikingly familiar. Starman knows him too. Says he’s a friend.

This Superman is Superman. There is no doubt about it. But he’s the Superman from Earth-22, the universe that bears a striking resemblance to Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come. Superman was pulled from that universe the moment after the bomb hit from the book. He is angry, bitter, and depressed. But he’s still Superman.

They talk to him, and they learn about who he is, and the other universes. Power Girl, still very distraught from the death of her cousin during Infinite Crisis, finds this new Superman unnerving, and leaves. Superman-22 talks about the events that lead up to what happened on his planet, basically telling everyone the plot of Kingdom Come in a manner that only serves to add more to the tragedy of it all.

However, as I said, he is Superman. And, as they lock him in a room, to discuss just what to do with him, Superman-22 hears a voice that causes him to become upset. Since he’s significantly more powerful than Superman-1, he manages to break down the doors and even defy Starman’s powers in an effort to reach this voice. This voice which belongs to a young girl, who is depressed and wishes to die. She jumps off of a building, but is caught by him.

Things continue on in a rather nice manner, though Power Girl is still rather bothered by Superman-22′s presence, and Starman continuously tries to vouch for the man, even though he’s still rather deep in his schizophrenia.

Then one day they hear of “Gog” who comes and starts attacking people, and, when he isn’t attacking people, worshiping a statue of a face he sees in a cave, where he seems to be getting powers. Superman-22 and the others eventually defeat him, but Superman-22 is worried because he knows that after this man will come Magog, and subsequently the horrible events of his own world. And this world he desperately doesn’t want to have that happen to.

But Magog doesn’t come right away. Instead, we learn that the man, who looks like Gog from The Kingdom is not the true Gog. Instead, the man was merely a servant, a harold, of the Galactus-looking Gog that was actually the face in the face. It is, by deduction from my poor descriptors, a large large man-thing. Gog seeks peace, and worship. And apparently that’s all he wants.

Superman-22 is suspicious, but some of the other members of the team are simply waiting and seeing. He has done no direct harm, to anyone, yet, and the Society is cautious in these sorts of things.

They continue to recruit, even gaining a descendant of the president who allowed the JSA to come into being. But, during a battle that takes place near Gog, he is ravaged and all but dead. In a moment that makes Superman-22′s heart sink, this man becomes Magog.

Other members of the team are, too, given new things in an effort to show that Gog is peaceful and only wants what’s best for them. Power Girl, who has been so lonely and depressed since the death of Kal-L and Lois Lane of Pre-Crisis Earth 2, has been “sent home” to a world that looks strikingly similar to the one she came from. He gives Dr. Mid-Nite his natural sight back. He lets Citizen Steel feel again. He even fixes Damage’s face.

But, these things are not without their own problems. Power Girl, now sent to a Pre-Crisis world that resembles her own… notices that this universe has already compensated, and brought with it a Power Girl of its own. She isn’t needed. This isn’t her home. The Superman and Lois of this world are missing, though apparently not dead. The Justice Society of America is now Justice Society Infinity, an amalgam of the JSA and Infinity, Inc. An excellent use of the JSA’s constant impact and legacy, by bringing with it all of the children and grandchildren of the original heroes– including some original heroes that were dead before (such as Al Pratt, the original Atom).

The JSI feels that this Power Girl is a fraud of sorts, and they seek to remove her, while at the same time, she continues to look for people she is familiar with her in own JSA, including Mr. Terrific II, Michael Holt. Holt is not Mr. Terrific in this world, Holt is merely a scientist, but a deeply religious scientist who found himself in a situation similar to the one in The Spectre v3, but with one major difference: Corrigan wasn’t there to stop him, no, instead he simply saw someone else who was going to do it, and had a change of heart. Now the staunch atheist, in this world, is religious in that.

And, of all things, his wife is alive.

Power Girl eventually makes her way, via a portal, to her previous universe, but the JSA ends up also going through, and they all end up in this new Earth-2 or whichever it is. They meet themselves, and they all talk.

In a heartbreaking moment, Mr. Terrific sees the wife of the other universe’s Michael Holt. The woman who he almost killed himself because he missed her so much. They all, however, treat each other cordially, and eventually that part gets returned to somewhat normal.

Damage, however, finds that the his healed face has given him no reason to wear a mask, so he doesn’t, and takes pleasure in the fact that he’s an attractive man. To the point that he’s become incredibly vain and problematic at it.

Dr. Mid-Nite finds that his medical work has actually become LESS effective, because before this, he could use his modified vision to note minor temperature changes or anything else, and work accordingly.

Double-edged sword and such.

Things work to a close as they learn that Gog is actually taking so long to do everything because he wishes to merge himself with the planet and eventually sap it of all of its energy, before eventually just killing it outright. The JSA isn’t about to stand for that, and they move in, in an attempt to stop him before he does any more damage.

Gog is obviously not pleased, and begins his retaliation. He removes the “blessings” he made on the various members of the JSA, including blinding Dr. Mid-Nite again, re-damage…Damage’s face, and even going so far as to haunt Mr. Terrific with his dead loved ones.

He also removes the “blessings” from Magog, before Citizen Steel decides to step in and punch Gog onto the ground, and Gog is eventually defeated.

Everyone is back to… something that is almost normal, but not quite. We’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen in the subsequent issues, to see why the man didn’t revert to who he was before he was Magog, or if Dr. Mid-Nite has his previous sight back, or any of the other things. But, considering, it’s probably safe to make assumptions.

Also, Starman sends Superman-22 back to his original world, at the exact point he left it, immediately after the bomb detonated. We see, after this, flashes from the Kingdom Come-esque world, and the main world. It goes beyond, even, the graphic novel and tells us what happens after that. We see an aging Superman, enjoying life, and mourning the loss of his friends, including The Batman.

It’s a beautiful story, really. And I figure this is more than enough textual-fellatio for me to counteract all of the other crap I’ve said about Geoff Johns on this website. I’m gonna hate it when he leaves, because I don’t think anyone else can really capture the spirit of characters, in these longer, drawn-out story arcs like he can. You don’t really get it that often, so I can’t really make that statement in good faith.

But just seeing what all Johns has done with the Green Lantern mythos since Rebirth leads me to believe that this man is probably one of the best out there, and I’m horribly, horribly jealous of his talents as a writer.

I just can’t wait to see the repercussions of all of the things that’ve happened in these 12? issues or so. Beautiful story, plenty of moments to make me really sympathize with the characters. I mean, Michael Holt is one of my favorite characters, as well, I saw him become who he was in The Spectre.

Great story. I can’t even begin to do it proper justice. Infinitely better than Ultimate Power and some of the other crap crossover stuff that’s been out in the past few years. If you haven’t read JSA for a while, for whatever reason, you should definitely pick these issues up. It’s stopped now, at issue #22, but you should be reading the series anyway. Because it’s Geoff Johns, and sometimes that man knows what he’s doing, and does it well.