Book of Doom: Justice Society of America #10

First off, I misspoke, or miswrote, or just plain screwed up in my preview for this week’s Book of Doom. That gray-templed Superman is the Superman of the Kingdom Come universe, not Kal-L of Earth 2.

But he is a sign of reviving a past storyline, and Justice Society of America #10 is the beginning of the sequel to Kingdom Come.

Decent stuff, but it’s still really just in the introductory stages. What was more important to me in this issue was a tiny bit of synchronicity.

For what I believe is the first time, Doom DeLuise noticed something intriguing in Countdown. Also this week, in Death of the New Gods #2, we started to see more of the reasoning behind these New Gods’ deaths and get more hints about what might be causing it.

So what particularly caught my eye about this issue was that tiny little subplot had some unseen character tracking down and killing someone (I don’t have the issue in front of me). I have a feeling that this is connected with the New Gods and they way in which they are dying. I also have a feeling that this it wasn’t a coincidence that both Death of the New Gods #2 and JSA #10 came out this week. It just seems like that convenient timing that peppered the countdown to Infinite Crisis.

It was a good enough opening chapter, but I was most pleased by how things are starting to come together a little bit – or at least enough to sort of start reminding me of the excitement leading up to Infinite Crisis.

Here’s Fin Fang Doom:

The multiverse really hasn’t been used to it’s fullest since DC brought it back in May. It’s mostly been used in the disappointing Countdown, its myriad of unnecessary spin-offs and the craptacular JLA/JSA crossover “The Lightning Saga.” Justice Society of America #10, the first part of “Thy Kingdom Come,” is the first time I think I’ve actually been glad to have the multiverse back.

And surprise, surprise, Geoff Johns is the brains behind it. I thought Johns went through a bit of a slump after he finished Infinite Crisis (of course, IC was kind of a tough act to follow), but he seems to be back in full force now with JSA, Booster Gold, the Sinestro Corps War and his newest arc on Action Comics kicking all kinds of ass. Seeing Geoff Johns back on top makes me even more disappointed that Grant Morrison is the guy handling Final Crisis.

I’m not sure how much Alex Ross contributed to the story, but the three pages of artwork he contributed were just unbelievable. I don’t think the world of Kingdom Come should ever be illustrated by someone else. There’s a fine line between expanding upon the mythos of an amazing story and exploiting a story for the short-term gain, and hopefully DC will stay on the right side of it. Keeping part of the original creative team on board is a good sign. Having Alex Ross attached to this project gives it a certain amount of credibility it just wouldn’t have otherwise.

Amazingly, Ross may have been overshadowed by the fantastic artwork of penciller Dale Eaglesham. Eaglesham’s been a huge part of why this latest incarnation of Justice Society has worked so well. This issue, he manages to take it up a notch. His Kingdom Come Superman looks like Kingdom Come Superman, but Eaglesahm does it without mimicking the style of Alex Ross. Even without the costume, you can tell this is specifically the Superman that Alex Ross painted and not the Superman of New Earth or Earth-2. That takes some frickin’ talent. I don’t think so-called “superstar artists” like Michael Turner or David Finch would be able to pull that off.

So this is two Books of Doom in a row that I actually enjoyed quite a bit. This doesn’t bode well for the next one.

Doom DeLuise actually lied to you in his gimmickless review, as he didn’t bother sending his thoughts on this issue. Maybe that can be his gimmick – he tells one blatant falsehood, and you the reader get to figure out which statement it is!