DCU Comic Book Reviews

JSA #65

Out Of Time, Part I

November 2004

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Don Kramer

Inks by Keith Champagne

Cover by J. H. Williams III

Synopsis

In Khandaq, 5 weeks ago, Rick Tyler (aka Hourman) was injured with a cut across his abdomen.  He activated his wrist band and teleported to the time point where his father Rex Tyler wass waiting an hour before he re-joined the past and died in the battle against Extant.  Rick gave his father the hourglass and sent Rex back to Khandaq while Rick remained in stasis.  In the present, Rex has finally confronted his wife (who thought he was dead) with what happened to their son.  Their conversation, however, is interrupted to be Tyler, the android Hourman from the future.  He is there to take Rex to the time point to save Rick.  First, they go to the JSA; they will need Dr. Mid-Nite, Mr. Terrific, and the Flash.  At the time point, Dr. Mid-Nite is able to successfully operate on Rick just as the hour is over.  However, Rex must now join the battle against Extant.  Before he can, Rick decides to take his father’s place! 

Review

In my previous review I complained how the story veered of in some many directions with so many plots and characters that it made it difficult to become emotionally invested in the story.  this is emphatically not the case with this issue.  Johns has crafted a story that is about Rex and Rick, about father and son, about being a hero that absolutely captivated me to the point where I was shocked that Rick made that leap (I had expected the android Hourman to do it, but I guess that’s why there are cliffhangers in comics).  Granted, I know little about the history of either Hourman, but really the story is less about super hero continuity (like the last couple of issues) than about a father and son and a husband and wife trying to connect to each other.  Rex is the typical workoholic father and husband who realized too late that while he as working he missed out on the best partso fl ife:  his family.  This type of story is universal.  From the conversation between husband and wife to the anguish between father and son at the end, I cared about the story and the characters and their motivations for what they are doing.

This is the type of story that benefits the JSA.  True not all of the characters are involved, but Dr. Mid-Nite plays an important role to the Tyler family saga and the brief appearance of the rest of the JSA, including the newly returned Sand, worked well as a cameo. 

I highly doubt that it would take roughly 50 minutes for the type of surgery that Dr. Mid-Nite performs.  Don’t these things usually take hours?  But, you gotta love the deus ex machina from the android Hourman that allows Rick to recover so quickly from such a surgery.  -- Review by MRB

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