REVIEW: ‘Justice Society Of America,’ Issue #5

Justice Society Of America #5 from DC ends the Degaton/Huntress temporal war with a bang. Geoff Johns pens the tale, with Mikel Janin delivering the expected thunderous pencils. Jordie Bellaire and John Kalisz enhance all of it with vivacious coloring, and the lettering is perfectly rendered by the one and only Rob Leigh. Huntress has met the Batman. The JSA has won the battle against Degaton, but not the war. Now, everything comes to a head.

We begin with the Huntress and Batman in a conversation that, considering the guy involved, is mostly one-sided. I appreciate Huntress’ straightforward approach, telling him he’s her dad and giving her mission statement. Naturally (for Batman), he responds she should have kept quiet about it, but then cue the feels for a second as she hugs him.

Enter the Justice Society, plus Deadman, Madame Xanadu, and Detective Chimp (who needs a bonus star just for his appearance.) They’ve got the snow globe, so prevalent to this story’s beginning, but also key to Flashpoint and Batman’s ability to see how personal this is. 

The issue quickly gets to messing around with time. Stargirl, Jakeem Thunder, and the Thunderbolt search Degaton’s old lab to find something the villain touched that they can use in the next fight. Unfortunately, they get accosted by Degaton himself. Sort of.

Boom. Degaton is right there, and before Deadman can possess him, Degaton multiplies and the combat begins. The bulk of this issue rushes into a frantic melee that grows in propensity. However, it moves with the quickness. Quite a few heroes get moments to shine. Degaton definitely has a new trick up his sleeve. But this issue truly represents the JSA, and by the time it’s all said and done, the story revolves back to them.

So a few thoughts on the current team. One, while the Huntress from the New 52 (we’ve had two before this one) is cool and all, I do like this one. It revives (sort of) an old Earth Two vibe. I love Khalid, the new Dr. Fate, as we get to witness the power and mysticism through his geeky eyes is great.

Janin’s art is inspiring, especially during the climactic battle. And in step with him again is Ordway, who pencils those alternate history scenes so well. I do believe this is their best work. The colors from Bellaire and Kalisz are so bold, maybe it’s not an exaggeration to call them heroic to see the four-color funny pages look so clean. And despite Johns throwing down a lot of narration boxes, Leigh staggers them to make it appealing and let the art behind glow. This is a beautiful book to lay your eyeballs on. Classic superheroing. At first I sighed over yet another time travel story. But this one worked, didn’t take forever, and will have lasting impact.

Definitely pick this up, plus the previous four if you’ve slept on the title. I also highly recommend getting the Stargirl: The Lost Children at the same time. Justice Society Of America #5 is solid in its delivery, with peeks at members of the ensemble cast I can’t wait to see get detailed. The fantastic artwork by legends in the field takes the four-color trope to the limit and sets the stage for the next era of JSA inspiration.

Buy this. Read this. Spread the word. The world’s first superhero team can never die.

Justice Society Of America #5 is available wherever comic books are sold.