Art by Jesus Merino
Plot: We find the JSA ambushed by a collection of super villains aimed at annihilating the entire team…except for Stargirl. However, with the return of a DC hero favorite, Dr. Fate, the team has the fire power to put a wrench in the bounty hunting plans of the super villain team. The team now comes back to discover Mr. Terrific on the ground bleeding and almost dead. The JSA now faces a major splintering in leadership as Magog and the first Wildcat butt heads on how things during the battle should have been handled.
My Thoughts: I love how old school this title feels. The battle scenes are solid and the dialogue between characters is superb. My favorite part of this issue is the return of Dr. Fate. All of his corny, monologging and menacing speeches felt so powerful and right and made me wonder how much better this issue could get, and it most definitely does get better. We find Magog and Wildcat at each other’s throat at whose ideas better serve the team in this day and age. It’s the classic tale of the old (Wildcat) vs. the new (Magog).
In the meantime, we have two mysteries that certainly have my interest. The first is the mystery behind King Chimera and how American Boy was hypnotized into stabbing Mr. Terrific. I’m sure it is made to look as if King Chimera was the source behind American Boy’s hypnosis, but I know there’s got to be more to it than that. The second is Stargirl and why the team of super villains refused to harm her during the battle with the JSA.
Jesus Merino seems to be an admirable artist as well. I would even say he is up there with Lee, Benes and Quietly. But I would want to see him do more work before I make a final judgment on where he might rank among the comic book art gods.
A negative aspect about this issue is how predictable it seems to be. The super villain team has members in it to counter a specific JSA member. We’ve seen this mostly in books like Justice League, X-Men, etc etc. Now this fact doesn’t cause me to lose interest in the story, but I do think it might be a downer for a lot of avid DC readers. But again, this helps to boost the old school feel to the JSA title, which of course I love!
The book is good, even in its predictability. I love that Dr. Fate is back, even if it is a younger, less experienced one. And some great mysteries are starting that show a lot of potential in producing some good stories.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Next Month: Justice Society Of America #31
Magog and Wildcat square off as the team traitor involved in the attack on a fellow JSAer is revealed! It all leads to greater tension and permanent rifts within the most storied Super Hero team of all time! Clearly, this was an inside job, and though they may not realize it now, the damage to the group is deeper than any of them suspects.
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