DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA #28

Phantom Menace

August 2009

Written by Jerry Ordway

Pencils by Jerry Ordway

Inks by Bob Wiacek

Cover by Jerry Ordway

Synopsis

At the Justice Society headquarters, the Spectre appears to take Atom Smasher, Power Girl, Judomaster, and Damage to find their lost teammates.  Elsewhere, Kung has taken Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Wildcat, Liberty Belle, and Hourman back to 1945 in Japan, moments before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  Kung tells them they must offer their souls for forgiveness for the deaths of the Japanese that day.  The Spectre arrives to challenge Kung and gets him to admit that Kung’s plan was to use the 5 heroes and the spirits in a spell that would bring him back to life.  With the help of the heroes, Spectre rounds up the spirits to return them to limbo before returning the heroes back home.  The Spectre then confronts Stargirl and reveals a piece of Kung within her.  The Spectre removes it, and then leaves.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was a decent issue.  It didn’t really sizzle much, but Ordway is a good craftsman and he knows how to create competent, decent work.  I think the overall problem with the issue is the hero-to-villain ratio.  Ordway makes sure to include most of the JSA and gives a number of the characters a chance to shine.  But I think by doing that, Kung gets pushed to the background.  Once the Spectre arrives, there is very little threat and the situation is handled pretty quickly.  One could argue that the Spectre is too powerful, but I think if there was less of the JSA, then Ordway might’ve hand the chance to develop Kung into more of a bigger threat.  Having said that, I still enjoyed the issue.  Overall, I like the way Ordway handles the team and I wouldn’t mind if he returned to this title in the future. 

Was there any reason why the Spectre needed to take the rest of the team with him?  Did they do anything of note when they got there.  At best, Damage and Power Girl provide some muscle, but I don’t think the story would suffer if they weren’t there.  Judomaster tells the team of the 5 sides of the spell, but that was just a repeat of what had already been stated. 

I do quibble with the last little bit with Stargirl and the final (sixth) piece of Kung left behind.  It seemed superfluous and I wonder why Ordway added that bit in there.  It is not like it led to anything meaningful within the story, like an extra fight.  I suppose Ordway might’ve been trying for some kind of emotional scarring of Stargirl that would require some comfort, which Albert rejects, but it isn’t quite clear that is what Ordway is going for. 

I also did not like the final page, which suggests that Alan, Jay, and Ted told Albert to back away from Courtney not because of their image, but rather because they didn’t want anyone dating her.  First, they make Billy back off and now Albert.  And they way they talk about it doesn’t feel like they are being protective, so much as making sure no one is with her.  Or am I just reading too much into it.  I don’t know.  Maybe they are just dirty old men.

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