Comic Info
Comic Name: Justice Society of America (Volume 3)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Scott Kolins/Mike Norton
# of Issues: 6
Release Date: 2011
Justice Society of America (3) #44
Reprints Justice Society of America (3) #44-49 (December 2010-May 2011). When the Justice Society of America battles a superhuman terrorist named Scythe, half of the town of Monument Point is destroyed. Amiss the controversy, Jay Garrick decides to do something radicle…he decides to stay and fix the problem that the JSA caused in Monument City. Unfortunately, something else is happening in Monument City, and the JSA cannot find the truth…leading to a man named Dr. Chaos to bring his own brand of madness to Monument Point.
Written by Marc Guggenheim, Justice Society of America: Supertown collects the six issue storyline. Following the events of the crossover collection Justice League of America: Dark Things, this volume features art by Scott Kolins and Mike Norton.
I really like the JSA. I like its history and characters’ depths…but the JSA has always had a problem. It is almost too deep and too expansive. Even a veteran reader like myself finds it sometimes is so bogged down that the writers struggle. While Justice Society of America: Supertown keeps moving, it also feels half-baked.
There are a ton of storylines being developed in this volume. You have stuff that ties to James Robinson’s (sometimes) Elseworld story The Golden Age, Mr. Terrific’s failing mental ability, the secret of Scythe, and Monument Point’s secret…the actual storyline involving Dr. Chaos and Scythe seems incidental. It feels like everything needed to be scaled back a bit and that the story was both rushed and chock full of events.
Justice Society of America (3) #46
The other problem is the villains. Dr. Chaos is too strong (for a newbie on the scene). He takes on almost the entire JSA and trashes them. It just kind of feels like a modern cliché of the supervillain that can predict every move (like Ozymandias in Watchmen). You also get Scythe who feels like a ’90s Image villain. It isn’t very inspiring.
As the story begins to wind up (with essentially timecode that the reader is supposed to keep track of to keep events in order), you don’t really get any answers to the questions that are set-up. I know the goal is to keep readers reading, but here, it almost seems more frustrating. You don’t know why anyone did anything…I hope that the answers are provided in the next storyline because it feels rather unfair here.
JSA is a tough comic to write and not everyone can do it. This is a so-so outing into the team and as a fan, I have a hard time saying I wouldn’t keep reading…but I could see how this would knock the interest out of a new reader or a fair weather reader. Justice Society of America: Supertown is followed by the final volume of the series Justice Society of America: Monument Point.
Related Links:
Justice Society of America: The Next Age
