DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #19

Out Of Place

November 2008

Written by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross

Pencils by Dale Eaglesham and Jerry Ordway

Inks by Nathan Massengill and Jerry Ordway

Covers by Alex Ross & Dale Eaglesham

Synopsis

On Earth-2, Power Girl tries to convince Professor Michael Holt to find a way to get her back to New Earth.  At Justice Society Headquarters, Starman’s sanity has been restored by Gog.  However, the clarity it provides also gives Starman knowledge on why he was sent back in time and he is not sure he can handle it unless he was crazy.  Meanwhile, William Matthews (aka Magog) tries to convince his teammates that he is better than ever.  Superman, however, is concerned based on what Magog did to his own world.  Elsewhere, Black Adam continues to follow signs that lead to Isis.  In Africa, Gog continues his path to help the people of Earth.  Some of the JSA have reservations.  They feel Gog is doing more harm than good.  Others in the JSA believe whole heartedly in Gog.  The two sides come to blows.  Then, Gog sends the ones who oppose him back to JSA headquarters.  Suddenly, Starman screams and a black hole appears.  Power Girl comes through it.  She is followed by the Justice Society Infinity of Earth-2.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There is a strong part of me that wants to make a cynical remark about how, finally, the plot seems to have kicked into gear.  We have heroes fighting heroes, a sure sign of the events that led to Kingdom Come.  Yet, I can’t really because despite the slowness of the plot, Johns and Ross have had a sure hand in the story, guiding the reader to where they need to go.  Yes, some of the earlier parts probably lingered too long, but at this point, the story is moving forward at the pace it needs to go before the resolution.  And it is good stuff.  I really enjoyed this issue.  The central conflict was handled well and the ending has a great sense of foreboding, even if we don’t quite know how this will impact the JSA, let alone Gog.  I can’t wait for the next issue. 

The core of this issue is the argument between the heroes.  Johns and Ross have managed to make that argument compelling from both points of view; both are reasonable and both makes sense.  I did not find myself scoffing at one side or another.  Because of the balanced arguments, it really helps to make the conflict seem a natural extension of the story rather than being forced by the writer.  And since it feels natural, it makes the story that much better. 

I liked the explanation behind Starman’s madness.  It makes sense.  The only way Starman could possibly succeed in his mission, and to keep others from learning what his mission is about, is to jumble the mind to the point of incoherency.  Plus, by not being able to focus on the mission, he doesn’t have to think about what he needs to do, which sounds to be pretty bad based on his reaction.  Regardless, the madness idea is pure genius.  If I were a Hollywood producer, I would steal this idea for a movie.  It is a great concept and the idea is easy enough to grasp that it would play to the summer crowd. 

The brief scene with Black Adam felt out of place.  Not only has it been a couple of months since Adam first reappeared in the book, but these scenes are not connected to the man plot of Gog in any way.  So, there is a big disconnect for a couple of pages.  I understand that Johns is setting up the next big story, a kind of teaser of the next story in the future, but given the focus on Gog for all of the characters (and the fact that Black Adam is not even part of the JSA or the book), the brief scene seems completely out of place.  Well, okay, maybe not too out of place since Gog is heading towards Khandaq, but still, it read very weird.

It is probably just me, but I really felt that a lot more could’ve been done with Power Girl on the run on Earth-2.  It just seems like Johns brought her back to New Earth rather quickly.  I suppose he didn’t really have much of choice.  Even by putting the Power Girl sequences in a mini-series, away from the main title, Johns would have to stretch out the main story a little bit to accommodate the time it would take to tell PG’s story.  And what this story doesn’t need at this point is to stretch it out even more than it already has. 

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