DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #12

Thy Kingdom Come:  New Recruits

March 2007

Written by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross

Pencils by Dale Eaglesham

Inks by Ruy Jose and Drew Geraci

Covers by Alex Ross & Dale Eaglesham

Synopsis

At the headquarters for the Justice Society of America, Jakeem Thunder returns to the team to find Wildcat about to fight new recruit Judomaster in a training exercise.  Meanwhile, Power Girl and Earth-22 Superman travel to New Orleans to recruit Markus Clay (aka Amazing Man).  Elsewhere, Jeffrey Graves (aka Mr. America) investigates the murder of demigods at the hands of the “Heartbreak Slayer.”  In Chicago, Mr. Terrific, Stargirl, and Cyclone visit the home of Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning), who asks if the JSA will train his younger daughter, Jennifer.  In Northern Afghanistan, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Hawkman recruit Lance Corporal Lance Reid, the great-grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the man who brought the JSA together in the first place.  At JSA headquarters, Mr. America stumbles in and asks if they have ever heard of Gog.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

As much as I enjoyed this issue, and I thought it was very good, I think Johns is reaching a dangerous point with this book:  too many characters and not enough plot.  What keeps this issue from being awful is the fact that Johns and Eaglesham are gifted storytellers with the ability to bring you into these personalities, not matter how many there are. 

First, the characters.  On the credit page, I counted 18 characters, which doesn’t include the three new recruits and Mr. America.  That would be 22 characters.  I like the idea of the JSA going out to recruit new team members and I like the idea of the JSA using its resources and its connection to legacy heroes to train them.  The concept fits within the DC universe.  But as the foundation for a book, it is too cluttered.  Characters are going to fall by the wayside.  Hell, this is issue #12 and it features the first appearance of Jakeem.  Granted, I have to give Johns credit; so far, he has been able to handle all of these characters.  And each of these characters has something to give in terms of who they are and the stories that can be told with them.  Sad part is that one or two pages just doesn’t do enough for me.  I want more.  So either we get snippets of all of the characters or we get more depth with a few and leave others on the outside, unused and forgotten. 

Second, the plot.  Actually, there is none.  Remember, this is the story of Earth-22 Superman somehow coming to our Earth.  At the end of this issue, only one page really, we learn that Gog has probably followed him.  The rest of the issue is focused on other matters.  Hell, KC Superman barely appears.  You could easily skip this issue and pick up the next one and not miss anything in terms of the plot of this storyline.  I applaud Johns decision to focus on the characters rather than just bounce from plot point to fight scene to plot point to fight scene, but sometimes just focusing on character moments can be just as detrimental as not doing it.  And in this case, by showcasing various other characters, we are left with very little of KC Superman.  Hopefully, next issue we’ll see more of him and more of the plot.