DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #2

The New Age, Chapter 2

March 2007

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Dale Eaglesham

Inks by Art Thibert

Covers by Alex Ross & Dale Eaglesham

Synopsis

In Ohio, Nathan Heywood, the grandson of the first Commander Steel, prepares himself for his family reunion.  In Brooklyn, Wildcat meets his grown-up son for the first time.  At JSA headquarters, the team investigates the death of Trey Thompson (aka Mr. America).  A preliminary autopsy reveals Mr. America was beaten viciously.  An x-ray also reveals something in his lung.  Meanwhile, the Heywood reunion is interrupted by the arrival of Hawkman, who is on the trail of the Fourth Reich who in turn on the trail of the Heywood family.  Meanwhile, Starman senses the Great Disaster is coming.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Johns continues to knock this series out of the ballpark; there was a lot of great stuff.  I am not that big of a fan of the Legion of Super Heroes, so the final revelation at the end did not do much for me in terms of his identity, but the Kingdom Come reference is certainly intriguing.  Hawkman’s return was also handled; how else to show except swinging his mace at some poor villain.  The scenes between Ted and his son and between Courtney and Maxine were wonderful.  It is amazing how much Courtney has grown since her first appearance in the pages of JSA. 

Sadly, the cover to the first issue of the series reveals that there will indeed be a new Commander Steel and that it will most likely will be Nathan Heywood.  While the path to get that point is still not quite clear, it does remove any possibility Nathan will be killed.  With the death of Mr. America, I would have though Nathan’s death would be possible, but knowing there is a new Commander Steel, it now makes it unlikely. 

The conversation between Wildcat and his son was well done.  There are a number of different angles such a first encounter can go towards and I am glad that Johns decided not to go the soap opera direction and attempt to put the relationship into theatrics.   Yet, Johns just didn’t toss this new character into Wildcat’s history only to have him disappear again.  There is something else going on, yet to be revealed.  The levelheadedness of the characters makes me intrigued to see what will happen next.  I really think that if Tom or Ted were more emotional about the reunion, I think

The final page reveals that Starman is Thom Kallor, Starboy from the 31st century Legion of Super Heroes.  In Starman, Thom was told by Shade that he was destined to travel back in time to the 21st century and become the eighth Starman under the name Danny Blaine.  Based on his comments, it looks like he took a detour via Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come Universe.  Also, “Kenz Nuhor” appeared in Adventure Comics, issue #342, in which Thom Kallor as Star Boy kills Nuhor to keep Nuhor for killing other people.  Afterwards, the Legion kicks Thom out by a 10 to 9 vote.

Why Nazis?  This is such a shorthand for “evil” (and a lazy writer’s crutch for an easy villain) that it is becoming a really bad cliché.  Isn’t there some other group of villains Johns could have used? 

This may be backward thinking, but... Jay states Mr. America was able to fall through the skylight because the DNA scanners noted, “it was one of us.”  Yet, he states that Mr. America was only a “potential new recruit.”  Does that mean all new recruits are to provide a blood sample for DNA testing so they can be allowed access to the brownstone before they are officially allowed on the team?  As I said, this seems like backward thinking.  Or is the “one of us” statement just referring to heroes in general and not necessarily members of the JSA. 

Why didn’t Obsidian get a name plate on the splash page with the rest of the JSA?  His absence was really pronounced when Mr. Terrific mentions his name on the very next page.

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