DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA #29

The Bad Seed, Part One: Fresh Meat

September 2009

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges

Pencils by Jesus Merino

Inks by Jesus Merino

Cover by Jesus Merino

Synopsis

At the Justice Society headquarters, Jay Garrick finds a black egg.  When Alan Scott asks Obsidian about the egg, there is no answer.  Elsewhere, Mr. America introduces another legacy hero, the All-American Kid, to the team.  The Kid is given a room with another new member, King Chimera.  Meanwhile, the team determines that the egg is Obsidian.  Before they can find out more, however, the alarm rings.  The entire team rushes to the rescue while Mr. Terrific stays behind to inspect the egg.  The team arrives on the scene, only to realize the bad guys are waiting for them.  And they have brought the right people to match up perfectly with the JSA.  Soon, the JSA are losing.  At headquarters, the All-American kid suddenly goes into a trance.  He must obey.  He finds Mr. Terrific and stabs him in the back.  He falls to the ground, bleeding profusely.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This was a good issue, very enjoyable.  My problem with this opening salvo from the new creative team is that it feels a little stale.  The “villains team up to defeat the heroes” thing has been done before.  Granted, it is usually done in Justice League of America (such as this story), but it still feels like an overdone plot element.  Moreover, the way the fight as presented is slightly insulting because the JSA are shown to be unable to work effectively together.  How in the world does the JSA fail in the fight?  What, did Blue Moon scare them or something?  We see a capable team respond to the crisis and arrive en masse, but then they completely and utterly breakdown.  The team leader, Power Girl, is right in the middle of things, but doesn’t do anything.  She should have the wherewithal to start gathering the troops and figure out how to defeat them.  Hell, are you telling me no one thought to switch fighting partners?  But we don’t see it here.  We will see it next issue, however, which is just as bad because it shows the writers are crafting story based on structure rather than natural events (if that makes sense).  And, finally, a large fight seems like a strange opening for the new creative team, as the characters get swallowed up and disappear.  Except for the two new characters, there really isn’t much here to flesh out these characters under the new writers.  There isn’t much here in this issue to suggest where these characters might be headed or what the writers want to do with them, except perhaps put them in the middle of a slobberknocker.  And while it may have been enjoyable this issue, doesn’t mean it can sustain it for too long. 

Having said all that, there was a lot to like about this issue, from the appearance of the mysterious egg, to the introduction of two new legacy heroes (although I am not sure what legacy King Chimera has) and to the cliffhanger of Mr. Terrific in a pool of blood.  It is enough to come back for more to see where it all leads. 

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