DCU Comic Book Reviews

JSA #81

My Heroes

March 2006

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Dale Eaglesham

Inks by Art Thibert

Cover by Alex Ross

Synopsis

At the Dugan household, Courtney (aka Stargirl) and her stepfather Pat (aka S.T.R.I.P.E.) prepare to help the JSA with the current crisis.  In Philadelphia, the team encounters Liberty Belle, whose powers are out of control, creating sonic booms coming from the Liberty Bell.  However, Stargirl is able to get in close enough to Liberty Belle and convince her to let go.  Later, Shade visits Stargirl to tell her that her father was killed in Opal City. 

Review

It has got to be difficult at this stage of the Crisis to write compelling stories without getting in the way of the main mini-series while at the same time knowing that the title is going to jump ahead One Year Later so that any dangling plot threads need to be tidied up.  For Johns this might not be such a problem, since he is writing the main mini-series, and it shows with a small touch to one of the earlier issues.  Yet this moment is small and Johns is able to craft a story that rewards long time readers as well as appeal to newer readers.  Stories that deal with fathers and their children are universal and Courtney’s story holds an emotional wallop considering her relationship with her stepfather and the recent storyline with Per Degaton where she saw her family killed.

Even though the crisis tie-in was small, almost the entire roster of JSA appear to help with Liberty Belle.  It is the one drawback to this issue; Flash and Sand occupy some panel time that might’ve been better served to underscore the relationship between Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E.  But, as I said, these were only a few panels, but still a distraction from the main story.-- Review by MRB 

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