JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice

July 30, 2005

JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (DC Comics)
by David Goyer, Geoff Johns & Carlos Pacheco

For superhero neophytes, here it is in a nutshell — the JSA were the first superhero team ever. These days it is comprised of elder statesmen like the original Flash, Green Lantern and Wildcat guiding younger second-generation heroes like the new Star-Spangled Kid and Mr. Terrific. The JLA made up of the current superhero top dogs, featuring Superman, Batman, the current Flash and GL and the like. In this tale the two teams gather for what they hope will become a Thanksgiving tradition, only to have their celebration thrown into turmoil when members of the two teams are possessed by the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. (You’ve heard of `em, right? Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Pride, Envy and Greed?) The possessed members dispatch their teammates and go on a rampage, leaving the others to try to free themselves, save their friends and find out who’s behind this madness.

While a knowledge of DC Comics continuity helps, it is by no means a necessity to read this book. Goyer and Johns have written brilliant interpretations of the JSA for years now, and in this book they prove they can handle the JLA as well. Not only that, they can balance the two teams, giving each hero his or her moment in the sun, and utilize and develop not one, but three villains (not counting the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man) in a story worthy of the best these teams have to offer.

The artwork by Carlos Pacheco is brilliant. Superman looks strong, Captain Marvel looks innocent, every hero and heroine is perfect, and the double-page spread near the climax of the reunited heroes storming into battle is something I’d frame and hang on any wall.

This book is the best these heroes have been treated in years. Here’s hoping Goyer, Johns and Pacheco grace us with another one soon.

Rating: 9/10

JSA All-Stars (2003 Series) #7

November 2, 2003

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Fair Enough & The Strange Case of Mr. Terrific and Doctor Nil

Today’s Mr. Terrific finds a painful secret from his past. In a second feature, the brother of the original Mr. Terrific tries to live in his sibling’s shadow.

Writer: David Goyer, Geoff Johns & Michael Chabon
Pencils: Dave Ross & Michael Lark
Inks: Anibal Rodriguez & Michael Lark
Colors: John Kalisz
Letters: Ken Lopez & Michael Lark
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: John Cassaday, Mark Lewis & David Baron
Publisher: DC Comics

JSA All-Stars has been, for the most part, a chance to dig a little into the lesser-developed members of the Justice Society. Until now, the backup features starring the original versions of the characters have been, for the most part, nice, but not a feature.

That changes in this extra-large issue featuring an expanded backup by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon The main story, about today’s Mr. Terrific, is just as good as the other features have been, letting us in on secrets that I imagine will be picked up on in the regular JSA title. This time, though, it’s the backup that shines.

Chabon, who I’ve been a fan of since his novel Wonder Boys and who permanently became a favorite of mine with the prize-winning novel about the Golden Age of comics, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, takes us back to the days of Terry Sloan, the first Mr. Terrific. Chabon shows us what it is like to live in the shadow of, as Ned Sloan himself says, “the world’s most competent human.” The story reads like an old-fashioned potboiler, a detective novel with pictures. Gotham Central artist Michael Lark is the perfect choice for this story, with a style that’s not polished like a lot of today’s artists, but is gritty enough to tell this story exactly how it should be told.

I am looking forward to next month’s conclusion to this miniseries, but this issue, more than that, just whet my appetite for Chabon’s own comic book, The Escapist, coming up from Dark Horse.

Rating: 9/10