Justice Society of America (vol.3) #43 (2010)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #43 (November, 2010)
"Emerald City, a Dark Things Epilogue"
Writer - James Robinson
Penciller - Jesus Merino
Inker - Jesse Delperdang
Colorist - Allen Passalaqua
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Rachel Gluckstern
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $2.99

Well folks, we finally did it... "The Dark Things" ends today!

... and we shall never speak of it again.  Okay okay, the next time we cover a book that is this mindbogglingly dull, I might mention it.

Worth noting, and I'm not sure why anyone would (I am my own best promoter), you could check out all eight-parts of "The Dark Things" at the Collected Editions page.

Let's put this bugger to bed.

--

We open with Alan Scott and Obsidian having a chat.  Alan tries to convince his boy that everything's going to be a-okay... by showing him what the Starheart has become.  What it's become is a sprawling magical mosaic megalopolis which will house all of the mystical, spiritual, and chaotic folks of the DC Universe on the dark side of the Moon.  The first of those folks that we meet are the "Fae"... who are overly pompous in their manner of speak.

Todd is incredulous that all of these disparate mystical races will be able to coexist... to which Alan informs him that they'll all have their own "areas" which will best suit their lifestyles and customs.  So yeah, not entirely different from the Mosaic world.  Curiously, Alan also mentions that Monolith is here.  I'd forgotten that this short-lived series/character was actually part of the DC Universe (and not just published by DC).  The rights to the character have since reverted back to creators Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, and I wanna say it's been reprinted in the years since.

Alan continues his tour, and reveals that he's basically the lynchpin of this Starheart construct.  It's left to him to hold it all together... and requires his full and complete focus.  Also that it will spread to accommodate every group that takes up residence. He refers to himself as the "Sentinel" of the Starheart, which I suppose is cute considering.

Todd then figures, if his Pop controls the Starheart... then maybe he can be "fixed".  If you recall, he had that weird "wanna be one with" moment with his sister earlier in the arc.  Well, he still feels that way... though, I'd imagine he'd prefer not to.  Alan tells him there's nothing he can do to "fix" that.  Todd and Jennie will just have to stay as far away from each other as possible... forever.

Todd's all "screw that noise"... and so, Alan shows him a few possible futures should "Jadesidian" re-merge.  They use really cute "dates" here "One year from now, on a Thursday", because it being "on a Thursday" is vital.  Yeesh.  Anyhoo, if they merge on that Thursday, the Fae of the Starheart civilization will go crazy... and a war will break out between the heroes and vampires or some crap.  I think this was just a way for Robinson to mention I, Vampire.  Remember this was pre-The New 52! so nobody gave that character a second thought.

If Todd and Jennie meet up in three weeks... all of those characters with Earth-powers will go mad, and destroy the planet.  Of those characters is Geo Force, Sandman, the (other) fake Terra, and... Daredevil in his motocross outfit.

If Obsidian and Jade merge in two years... they will try and kill Alan Scott.  They will fail, forcing Alan to murder his merged children.

Todd finally gets the point... and then Alan awkwardly changes the subject to awkwardly chat about Todd's boyfriend.

We wrap up the issue with a nonsensical reveal that the Justice Society is also hanging out in the Starheart City.  The end?  Okay.

--

You ever come to the conclusion that... outside of maybe one really good work, you don't really care for a particular writer?  This adventure through "The Dark Things" has been... ironically, illuminating for me.  I've had the opportunity to reflect on the works of James Robinson, and realize that... for the most part, it's just not for me.  Outside of Starman (vol.2) and the early JSA (for which he had a co-writer), I can't think of much from the man that I actually dug.

I feel like that's something that happens a lot in comics.  A writer has themselves one amazing critical (like reader-critical, not 10/10 shill factory-critical) success, they garner something of a cult of personality around them... and kinda just coast.  I'm having a Vision of something similar going down right now.  Was that too mean?  Probably.  That's what we in the blog business call "writing backwards from a punchline", and it works about 30% of the time.

Onto the issue... it, really wasn't all that bad.  It wasn't "great" and it most certainly wasn't a story that needed twenty-pages to be told... but it was probably the strongest "chapter" of this awful "event".

This was, of course, a book-length chat between a sorta-estranged father and son.  I guess that might make a good story, if only I could muster up the interest.  I wasn't kidding yesterday when I said I never needed to see Obsidian again.

As for his "need" to be merged with his sister.  Well... okay.  I suppose we're going to have to discuss this.  I want to include a panel here where I feel like we (as the collective "reader") are being nudged in the ribs by Robinson.

Ya see that?  This comes before several double-page spreads which will show just how terrible things might go should Jade and Obsidian re-merge... and we get a "ewwww, creepy" line from Alan Scott?!  So, is this serious... or not?  Is this Robinson just having a reader-aimed-chuckle due to the ridiculous nature of this "bond"... is he just telling us "I know this is gross, you guys... let's laugh at it".  Whatever the reason, it just doesn't work.

You can't expect us to take any of this seriously (or much less even give half a damn) if we open by playing up the "eww, creepiness" of the situation rather than the danger.  Isn't Alan trying to make Todd feel... I dunno, like less of a freak here?  What a rotten, useless, "omg, for the laughs" panel.  Suddenly The New-52! doesn't seem like it was all that bad an idea.

I can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't hate this the first time around.  All I can guess is that I just stopped reading it when it got boring... ya know, like any normal human would do.  I really need to practice at being a "normal human" again.

Overall... this event was bloated, bland and boring (a real BBB!).  The Brightest Day tie-in was tenuous at best, and I can't think of a single (non-art related) reason for you or I to spend another moment on it.  You really don't need this.

On that note though... I wanna letcha know that there is some good out there, including................

--

Reign of the Super-Blogs:


Y'all remember #SuperBlogTeamUp, right?  That group of fine content creators who would come together on a semi-regular basis and share posts with a common theme.  Y'all True Believers might recall that we all "died" last Summer.

Well, we're still "dead"... but there is definitely something strange going on.  Who are these... four blogs?  They... they look like #SBTU members... heck, I've seen reports that they are #SBTU members.

Who can they be?  Are any of them the Real #SBTU Deal?  I guess we're going to have to visit their sites to find out! (Click the covers or links below)

Back in the Bronze Age

Bronze Age Babies

Chasing Amazing

I'm the Gun

And the good news continues, folks... in the time you were checking out the four above blogs, it seems as though the rest of us Super Bloggers... well, we might've found a pulse.

C'mon... nobody saw any bodies, you knew we weren't gonna be staying down forever.  And so...

Super-Blog Team Up returns in full-force the Summer!

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Justice Society of America (vol.3) #42 (2010)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #42 (October, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part Four"
Writer - James Robinson
Penciller - Mark Bagley
Inker - Norm Rapmund
Colorist - Allen Passalaqua
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Rachel Gluckstern
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $2.99

Gather 'round friends, it's time for a scary story.  Picture it, there's a young-ish man who makes daily "discussion and review" posts about some silly thing or another... and lately, it would appear that he's been trapped in within the dullest of subjects.

With sweat on his brow, he thinks to himself, "it's okay... there are only two days left."  Slump-shouldered, he reluctantly ventures into the cardboard metropolis that he'd allowed his front room to become... and reaches in for his next taste of his medicine, which would be bitter... if it weren't so dull.

The number 42 flashes before him... but that's not the story.  Behind #42 features a familiar "brand"... the Brightest Day continues?

Curious.

Fingers trembling, he gets a closer look at #43... and sees the four words that will forever be imprinted on his soul...

The

Dark

Things

Epilogue

So yeah... we went from a five-part story... to a seven-part one, counting the prelude issues... to now, an eight-part story!  Remember, that "decompressed" storytelling?  All in our heads, friends.  Doesn't exist.

--

We open with Kyle Rayner... and he's already singing a very different tune.  Remember how we wrapped up with him saying he was there to kill Alan Scott?  Well, now he's claiming that that's only a "last measure".  That's how real people talk, right?  Fly in, threaten to kill a guy... then be all "whoa, whoa... why are you all freaking out?".  Panicked, Jennie decides to take Obsidian's hand... and really, at this point, can we even blame her?

The heroes are suddenly surrounded by constructs... and then, well...

From here, (stop me if you heard this one) there are several pages of heroes fighting constructs.  Worth noting, Kyle's ring seems to be getting sapped of energy with the quickness.

We shift scenes to rejoin Dr. Mid-Nite and Mikaal.  They get a page of hot walking-down-a-hallway action, before the former leaves the latter in order to find help.

Next stop, the throne room.  Faust continues to prove that he's one of the more annoying characters around as he prods Starheart about his powers.  It's riveting stuff.  It's confirmed that Dr. Fate is the one keeping them bound, which I thought we'd already known.  Anyhoo, Dr. Mid-Nite sneaks up behind Fate, and removes his helmet.  This frees the captives.  In the confusion, Jay nyoinks the Starheart from Alan's hand.  Wildcat hauls off and socks Alan... causing him to shatter into teeny tiny green pieces.

So, where's the real Alan Scott?  Well, he's on Earth fighting Girls' Super and Power.  He's having a great time experiencing pain for the first time.  It's a twisted idea, that would be fun... if it wasn't wrapped in so much boredom.  Power Girl is then "affected" again... and starts to fight Supergirl... again.  Is Vince Russo booking this?  Do we really need to waste more pages at this point?!  Karen manages to fight off the possession... and Alan Scott vamooses.

We shift scenes back to the big ol' group of heroes... and they're, c'mon... fighting an army of constructs.  Still... for pages and pages.  Kyle's ring is still being sapped.  They are eventually joined by Dr. Fate and the formerly captive heroes (and Faust).  We wrap up with Alan Scott arriving... again.

--

You guys.

I haven't felt like this since we covered Millennium all those months ago.  This is just such a boring story... and, if we look at it... it has no right to be!  I mean, by all accounts this ought to be an action-packed JLA/JSA romp.  Instead we get a story that would struggle to stay interesting if it were only an over-sized Annual.

To be honest, if I realized this was going to be an eight-part "epic", and that it was going to be this aggressively dull, I wouldn't have started it.  Negativity isn't what this blog is all about and I really mean that... I'm not just saying that in order to keep getting free swag from DC (and no, I don't get any free swag from DC).

We find out last issue's cliffhanger was a bit of a bait-and-switch.  Nothing really new about something like that, I guess.  You'd figure with Jennie and Kyle's (and Donna's, even) past, there'd be a bit more drama here... but no, it's all very surface level.  Just a couple of "I loved you"s... which is kinda lame... and kind of a missed opportunity.

I guess I'll just put it plainly.  This arc is unfun, and if not for the Bagley art... I'd tell ya it has no reason to exist... or occupy any space in your comics library.  It's repetitive... the pacing (and stakes) are all over the place.  Just a mess that insists on taking up as much space as possible.

I feel like we've reached the point of no return... so, we kinda have to finish it up... right?  I mean, we've come so far.  Ehh, I guess we'll see how I'm feeling after I read the next chapter.

--

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Justice Society of America (vol.3) #41 (2010)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #41 (September, 2010)
"The Dark Things, Part Two"
Writer - James Robinson
Penciller - Mark Bagley
Inker - Norm Rapmund
Colorist - Allen Passalaqua
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Associate Editor - Rachel Gluckstern
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $2.99

The Dark Things rolls on... and, well... that's about all we can really say.

How many days does May have in it?

--

We open with... Miss Martian reporting in that she doesn't think she'll live much longer.  Hmm... well, that's random.  Don't worry it'll all make sense soon enough... I can't promise it'll be interesting, but we will wrap back around.  We then shift to Dr. Mid-Nite, Sebastian Faust and Jay Garrick in Opal City.  Ya know, since this is a James Robinson comic.  They're here to chat up the Shade... again, since this is a James Robinson comic.  What they find instead, however, is the corrupted pair of Dr. Fate and Obsidian!

After four pages of fighting, the heroes are abducted and taken into a portal.  Dr. Mid-Nite, who managed to sidestep the fracas voluntarily hops into the black portal.

From here we get a few more vignettes of our heroes combating corrupted magis and elementals... including Devastation, JSA All-Star Cyclone, Livewire, and... Yellow Peri?!  How 'bout that!  I've missed her.  Another great pull from the past!

We shift over to Alcatraz, which has apparently been reopened in order to contain super-powered baddies.  Not sure when that happened... and, I'm not sure it matters.  Anyhoo, inside... several more JSA All-Stars Lightning and Mr. America (and no, that's not me sarcastically referring to them as "All-Stars", that was the name of their team) are fighting off a prison guard named Burke.  Just an ordinary dude who has been corrupted by the Starheart situation.  This serves to illustrate that it isn't only a "meta problem".

Anyhoo, they fight off this prison guard for four pages before being jettisoned from "the Rock".  Lightning grabs Mr. America and helps him safely land on a chunk of rock jutting out of the bay.  It would appear that there might be some romance a'brewin'.

We jump ahead to the demolished Justice League Watchtower, where the amalgamated League plans their next move.  Turns out Miss Martian was enlisted in order to telepathically relay Mikaal's thoughts to the group.  This is where they learn about our gem-nyoinking cliffhanger. 

And so, Miss Martian continues to relay Starman's thoughts... and this is where we circle back to the open, where she says "I don't think I'll live much longer".  See, told ya it'd make sense... I didn't promise it would be interesting or satisfying... just that it would make sense.  Suddenly, Miss Martian transforms into a terrible beast, who threatens the heroes... for a single panel before being kayoed by Power Girl.  Why was she corrupted?  Is Mars an element now?

Anyhoo, as we draw to a close, Dick then splits the group assembling a team of six heroes who are the least likely to fall to the Starheart's corruption... Donna Troy, Jade, Mr. America, Jesse Quick, Hourman, and himself... Batman.  They'll be the ones headed to the other side of the Moon.

Well, you know as well as I do that you can't march into danger with only SIX soldiers... and so, we close out with the introduction of our Seventh... Mister Miracle, Shiloh Norman.  Because... ya know, Seven Soldiers... that was a clear reference, no?

--

Not gonna lie... this is pretty dull.  In fairness (I guess), this is very clearly being written "for the trade", which means... we've got pages to kill!

We get not one, but two four-page fight scenes... which really, we could've done in one.  If the Stargirl/Yellow Peri fight only gets a single panel, Mr. America and Lightning fighting a possessed prison guard didn't require much more than that.

Robinson, like many writers, has his habits... some, I love... like digging up and utilizing obscure characters (Yellow Peri!).  Others, I tolerate... like over-using The Shade.  We get it, the Robinson run on Starman (vol.2) is legendary.  Ask any DC Comics fan to name some of their favorite all-time runs, Starman will very likely be on it.  But dude, enough with the Shade.  Especially if you're only using him to job him out.

Now some important (and progression-facilitating) things did happen here.  We learned that humans (or lower-metas) can be corrupted by the Starheart, which raises the stakes exponentially.  It's still not interesting, but it is more dangerous.  We learned that Mikaal Tomas can survive having his gem forcibly removed from his chest.  And we introduced Shiloh Norman as the Seventh Soldier of Starheartory.

Overall... well, it still looks pretty great.  The story, however, is moving way too slowly to keep my interest... and we still have three more chapters to go!  Love Robinson as a writer, but I'm thinking that he and the Justice League just weren't a good fit.

--

DC Nation:

Hints about "what the future holds for the DCU"
Conspicuous by their absence... Fifty-Two new #1's!

--

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For once the poor focus isn't my fault!

841

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #22 (2009)

Justice Society of America (vol.3) #22 (February, 2009)
"One World, Under Gog, Part VII: Thy Will Be Done"
Story/Script - Geoff Johns
Story/Painted Pages - Alex Ross
Penciller - Dale Eaglesham
Inker - Nathan Massengill
Colorist - Hi-Fi
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Harvey Richards
Editor - Michael Siglain
Special Thanks - Mark Waid
Cover Price: $2.99

"Thy Will Be Done"  Okay, folks who had the bet that they'd use that title for this issue?  Oh, all of us?  Well, fair enough.

That's right... after a very long time, we're finally going to wrap up the Justice Society of America spectacular Thy Kingdom Come!

If you need/want to be caught up... maybe use the handy-dandy Search Box to the right that I'd forgotten was even there!  Here's a quick link: Thy Kingdom Come Search.  Hopefully that worked!

--

We pick up right where we left off last issue... Gog's ticked, and is in the middle of taking back all the gifts he'd given.  He decides, however, to give his herald Magog, one more chance to "come around".  He doesn't... but thankfully, by this point the cavalry has arrived!

Gog fights through the onslaught... and proceeds to mocks those he'd just taken from, including Damage.  Remember, he made Damage handsome again... well, not anymore.  At this point, poor begotten Citizen Steel steps to the plate...

... and punches Gog square in the shin!

This is, surprisingly, enough to get the big man off his feet.  The Society swarms!  Cyclone whips up a... er, cyclone to cover the baddie in rocks.  Alan ties him down with green energy, then Magog... er, decapitates him!  Looking at it quickly, I thought for a moment Alan had garroted him with a green-beam! 

Superman-22 hoists the severed head over his, um, head (picture included, because this is a pretty awesome shot).

Then, he and Starman take the head of Gog on a one way trip... to the Source Wall!  All the while, Gog lambastes Superman for leaving his Earth... and dooming it to die.

This makes Superman realize that... Gog's right!  He needs to return to Earth-22... he has to try and make things right.  He has to try and stop the bomb.  And so, using the Multiversal Map on Starman's costume... does just that.

He arrives on the battlefield, just after the United Nations' nuclear strike.  He sees the bodies strewn before him, including that of Kara.

Back on Earth, the Justice Society reconnoiters and licks their wounds.  It looks like most of Gog's "gifts" have been rescinded... Damage is ugly, Dr. Mid-Nite is blind... strangely, however... David Reid is still Magog!

On Earth-22, Superman heads to the United Nations building, and welds all of the exits shut... and he looks to be getting ready to topple the building with all the Delegates inside!  He is stopped by Norman McCay... you know, that old guy from Kingdom Come.  He appeals to Clark... telling him if he goes through with this act, he'll only be proving the U.N. right.  Further, he tells him he must first forgive himself if he has any hope of moving forward.

Superman thinks on it a bit... and realizes the old feller is right.  Just as he comes to this decision, he is reunited with the superheroes who did survive the bomb.

We wrap up our Earth section with Starman returning to the Justice Society and informing them that Superman decided to head back to his own Earth.  But not to worry for him, because Starman already knows that Clark Kent's future... and in just a matter of moments, we will too!

One year later, Earth-22 time, Clark turns Kansas into a memorial for all those lost.  He is joined by Wonder Woman, who gives him a pair of glasses to improve his sight.

Ten years later, the next generation is born.

Twenty years later, his best friend Bruce Wayne passes away.

One Hundred years later, Clark and Diana ship their son off Earth as civilization undergoes something of a... great disaster?  A hundred years after that... it's beginning to look a lot like Kamandi.  And finally... One Thousand years later, the Legion of Super-Heroes takes flight... and they appear to have one very special fan.

--

Now that's one heckuvan ending!  I apologize for being so picture-heavy toward the end there, but, c'mon... not only is it some beautiful work by Alex Ross, it also gives us over a millennia worth of story for the Superman of Earth-22.  It ties just a perfect bow on that timeline/Earth... and is a great way to let us just put it back onto the shelf.

I've said throughout our reread of Thy Kingdom Come that it felt like "decompression done right".  That is to say, there were chapters in which very little seemed to happen, however at the end of each one, I walked away satisfied.  I feel the same way here... and was beyond happy that the ending and epilogue were fit into a single issue.

So often these days we fill an entire extra issue with epilogue-matter.  Sometimes that's the right thing to do... but often it results in some sparse and empty-feeling issues.  I think of recent "epilogue" issues, and remember thinking that the first 2-3 pages were pretty spectacular... but the rest kinda just "happened".  I think if this were to come out today (or from Marvel) the Alex Ross bits would have been a standalone book... with a price tag of at least $4.99.

Enough about that... what of the story?  Well, Gog was dispatched with the quickness.  I feel like maybe they took him down a little too easily.  The entire fight only lasted a handful of pages... which after nearly a year's worth of build-up feels kind of weak.  Not that I wanted this entire book to be a giant (pun!) fight scene or anything... just expected a bit more than this.  Perhaps some emphasis on brains over brawn... ya know?

The real "meat" of the story is the second half though.  We were given some brief scenes of the Justice Society licking their wounds... which is fine, because they'll actually be coming back next issue.  The main focus is squarely put on Earth-22... and it's pretty great.  As mentioned above, this really feels like an Earth that can just be put back up on the shelf and left alone.  If a writer really wanted to revisit it... well, there are a thousand years worth of stories they could tell.  If nobody ever decides to?  Well, that's fine too.

Overall... brevity of fight aside, this was a pretty spectacular issue.  Excellent writing from Johns... and wonderful art from Eaglesham and Ross.  This is the kind of "single issue" I look at and become even more annoyed when I see people dismissively refer to them as "floppies" (can we please stop that?).  Highly recommended... Thy Kingdom Come is must-reading.

--

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