DCU Comic Book Reviews

JSA #78

Lost and Found, Part 1

December 2005

Written by Keith Champagne

Pencils by Don Kramer

Inks by Keith Champagne

Cover by Alex Ross

Synopsis

In Salem, Massachusetts, the JSA have found Dr. Fate’s tower.  Inside, they find Dr. Fate’s helmet, but not Hector Hall.  Sand Hawkins decides to put on the helmet in an attempt to contact Nabu.  Meanwhile, in the fifth dimension, Thunderbolt and his friends are in the middle of a war.  In the Rock of Eternity, Shazam tells Captain Marvel that the Spectre is coming closer.  After Marvel leaves, Mordru attacks Shazam and then escapes the rock just as the Spectre arrives.  Meanwhile, Hector and Lyta Hall and lost in the mountains when they are attacked by a number of strange creatures.  In Dr. Fate’s tower, Nabu leads the JSA to the fifth dimension.  Only some make it through the portal; the rest are stopped by Mordru.  In the fifth dimension, they find Thunderbolt who tells them is world has become a battleground...and Jakeem is the cause of it all.

Review

When I reached the splash page of Mordru standing over Wildcat, I thought I had reached the last page of the comic.  Silly me.  This issue seemed much longer than it really was and a large part of that has to do with the fact that I am not at all interested in Jakeem or Thunderbolt.  This is a character that I have never liked and as such I am not that invested in following the JSA in their search for him.  Personally, I wouldn’t mind if he remained missing. 

Despite these reservations, I actually liked a lot of this issue because while some of it may not interest me, there is a lot going on.  From Nabu returning to Hector and Lyta, to Mordru, and to Jakeem, this is not a case decompressed storytelling.  Some of the material I am interested in and I am curious to see what Mordru is up to now that he is free.  And the final scene with Jakeem standing over Johnny Thunder, holding him down with a dog leash, was creepy. 

What I find interesting is that with the excitement and buzz over Infinite Crisis, I am not that interested (to a small degree) in any stories that don’t seem to be substantially connected to the mini-series.  This may seem like contradiction, but I am also not that interested in pointless tie-ins, like the previous JSA stories.  Essentially, I guess what I am saying is that until the crisis is over, most books will be treading water before they can address the aftermath of these big events. -- Review by MRB