Justice Society Of America #1 explodes across the DC Comics timeline with the opening salvo of one great storyline. Geoff Johns pens the issue with Mikel Janin as the leading artist. Guest artists include Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins, Steve Lieber, and Brandon Peterson. Jordie Bellaire is the colorist with guests John Kalisz, Jordan Boyd, and Brandon Peterson, with lettering handled by Rob Leigh.
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This issue kicks off from Johns’s story in The New Golden Age #1. Similar to his take on Doomsday Clock, Johns jumps around from past, present, and future. But here, he confines the timeline mainly to that of the Justice Society, the world’s (and comics’) first superhero team. But unlike the plot in Stargirl The Lost Children #1, this storyline takes us 26 years into the future and the heroic career of the Huntress.
Helena Wayne is the daughter of the murdered Batman and Catwoman. She took up a superhero mantle and formed a new Justice Society with some somewhat surprising members, all interested in finding out who killed the latest incarnation of Dr. Fate. My favorite parts of this issue came early on. The Huntress is complicated; she is very Batman-oriented but without overt grimness. She outwardly portrays a rugged individual but has a heart of gold. The use of Solomon Grundy was unexpected, as was the choice of future JSA members. I did a double take seeing them. But I have to say, it worked. There isn’t anything original here, just excellent comic book storytelling seeking to respect old material while giving it some new wrinkles. The villain was made apparent in The New Golden Age and is long established in the lore.
What makes this excellence is the characterization of Huntress, her risks, the futility of her mission, and the respect (at last!) DC places on its first team and its history. Even the 1976 Earth-2 JSA/JSI stories are canon now. There are some fine details to work out there, but good on them. DC’s most significant error was knocking the JSA out of existence. New ideas are needed. A blind eye to the past is not.
Johns pens this issue straightforward. There are lots of temporal one-panel blips roaming about. Janin’s artwork is smooth as polished glass. Huntress looks amazing. Grundy is a zombified heap of glorious line work. The rest of the JSA are well rendered. Even we are hit with a change of art style and color, and nothing gets dim or faded. Everything is crystal clear. I understand fans were weirded by Doomsday Clock’s big promises and uneventful end. But I feel like what they wanted from that was the JSA back. This is where that story needs to play out. Classic heroes are getting reinvigorated for today.
I love the story. I don’t mind Huntress being the focal point for now. Hopefully, soon enough, we will see the entire team in action in various eras. I have no idea how she will deliver the team from the hands of destruction, but it looks to be a fantastic ride into action, lore, and personal struggle. If you have never read the Justice Society’s previous comics, now’s the time to learn about them. Time travel stories make that easier, and we get an interesting old/new character to take us on that tour.
Justice Society Of America #1 is available now wherever comic books are sold.
Justice Society of America #1
TL;DR
I love the story. I don’t mind Huntress being the focal point for now. Hopefully, soon enough, we will see the entire team in action in various eras. I have no idea how she will deliver the team from the hands of destruction, but it looks to be a fantastic ride into action, lore, and personal struggle. If you have never read the Justice Society’s previous comics, now’s the time to learn about them. Time travel stories make that easier, and we get an interesting old/new character to take us on that tour.
