JSA: Justice Be Done


by James Robinson and David S. Goyer (W) and Scott Benefiel, Stephen Sadowski and Derec Aucoin (A)

Published by DC Comics. Cover price $14.95. Originally published as JSA 1-5 and JSA Secret Files 1

The Plot: With the recent relaunch of Justice Society of America, I thought I’d take a look at the last time the series was relaunched and then collected in JSA volume 1: Justice Be Done.

This was before Geoff Johns got his hands on the team-up of geezers and teens, when writer James Robinson was fresh off reviving interest in the JSA from his work on the Starman series. Teaming up with screenwriter David S. Goyer (Blade I, II and III; Batman Begins), the duo picked up the pieces of the JSA after the Zero Hour decimation.

The series begins with the death of Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman. His old teammates and descendants of those who couldn’t be there gather at his funeral, where the plot begins to unfold. Jay Garrick swears he catches a glimpse of Kent Nelson at the service (the original Dr. Fate). Then Fate, the current bearer of Dr. Fate’s artifacts, shows up to the funeral in time to die. After a battle with some Egyptian zombies who also crash the party, a fellow named The Scarab shows up to inform our heroes that the end of the world is coming and only the JSA can stop it.

The rest of the book is the ensuing adventure, the introduction of the villain, and the team saying “Aw shucks, I guess we work so well as a team, we might as well make it official.”

The positives: As shown by the nature of their company-wide crossovers, DC loves their history, and this book is full of it. It’s quite action-packed, never dull, and gives all the characters an opportunity to define themselves. It also quite obviously sets the stage for these heroes, brought together by fate (no pun intended), to band together to form a new Justice Society of America.

The art is nothing flashy (again no pun intended), but it’s reliable enough to tell the story and not detract from what’s going on.

The negatives: One thing I always hate about books with age-defined characters is how often writers go out of their way to date them. JSA is full of that. Star-Spangled Kid is dropping Backstreet Boys references, because she’s a teenager. Sand makes numerous references to pop culture figures of the 40s, because he’s a man out of his time. Some of these people are old and some are young – we get it. Growing up, I knew my grandparents were quite a bit older than me, and they knew I was younger than them, but we didn’t have to make clashing pop-culture references to prove it to each other.

The writing is super-hero cliche at its worst sometimes. Convoluted situations, ridiculously expository dialogue, and characters that just really push the limits of lameness at times. But when viewed in the context of what this is – a revival of the first team of superheroes – it’s a little more forgivable.

And while its appreciation for DC history is a plus, it can sometimes be overwhelming when characters that last made appearances in the 1940s are referenced like they’re current stars.

The grade: C+. In some ways, I felt a little dumber for reading this book, but at the same time, I do have to give it credit for setting the stage for the return of the JSA. One could, however, easily start reading the series after Geoff Johns took over and not be the least bit lost. I would probably just recommend it for completists.