Is it Magog's end? (I hope so) The Justice Society of America comes back together in order to stop Magog.
The Good
While I loved the character Gog during the Kingdom Come run of JSA, I found myself despising David Reid who later became someone I despised even more: Magog. From the looks of the solicit, it sounded like they're killing off this character, so I was intrigued. It was also drawn and written by Scott Kolins, a writer and artist I admire. I love Kolins' heavy line work on some of these characters. It's a style he's known for and the reason I started following him. Overall, I do think this is a great tie-up to the Kingdom Come storyline, and a great way to bring the JSA back together, without Magog screwing everything up.
The Bad
Here we go... I hate doing this because it is my favorite team, but man, this was not a fun read. It's a bunch of pages of Magog and his army fighting the JSA as he loses control over himself and become possessed with Gog. First, I got so excited at the prospect of Gog coming back, and only later did I realize that Gog isn't coming back. Towards the end of this story, again, I was getting extremely excited at the prospect of Magog dying a horrible HORRIBLE death only later to realize he's not going to die. The actual writing and dialogue in this issue is great, but the actual overall story I just can't get into.
The Verdict - 2.5/5
It's nice to see things tied-up, but at what cost? Magog still exists, Gog is still dead, and a new creative team is taking over JSA. Unless you're a die-hard JSA fan, you're going to want to pass this one up. If you're a die-hard JSA AND Scott Kolins fan like myself, pick it up since Scott's work is great on this issue. Otherwise, wait for the next run of JSA to come out and Praise be to Gog... but not Magog.
" Magog's character in Kingdom Come was to represent a hero who crossed the line, and in reality was to represent the new superhero comics where heroes were more dark and killed and weren't too different from the bad guys they fought. COUGH! Cable! COUGH! So, does he work in regular continuity? "
He worked extremely well when Johns was writing him, but after Johns left, he became what he parodied.
Is this book relevant to Magog's role in Generation Lost? I don't really understand why DC decided to release this as a special instead of two more numbers in the Magog series. I'll pick this up, because I love Scott Kolins art, but I don't expect much from it...
Magog's character in Kingdom Come was to represent a hero who crossed the line, and in reality was to represent the new superhero comics where heroes were more dark and killed and weren't too different from the bad guys they fought. COUGH! Cable! COUGH! So, does he work in regular continuity?
" Hate to admit but I stopped picking up JSA because the book was getting inconsistent PLUS I also hate Magog and honestly, really didn't care much for Gog. I don't know, the whole injection of characters from the KINGDOM COME story was a bit too out of place for me although I did like the KINGDOM COME Superman. Maybe things will change for the better after this issue? "
I hope so. I love Willingham's run on the book, but it was so short. I'm hoping the next run with Guggenheim will be good, especially with Scott Kolins on art
" @inferiorego: So for a Die-Hard JSA All-stars fan, yay or nay? Nice review, btw :) "
I have a feeling you may be as disappointed as I was "
Damn, JSA AS has been my favourite book since Magog left. I was really hoping they were turning the neglected family of the DCU around. That's a real shame :(
Hate to admit but I stopped picking up JSA because the book was getting inconsistent PLUS I also hate Magog and honestly, really didn't care much for Gog.
I don't know, the whole injection of characters from the KINGDOM COME story was a bit too out of place for me although I did like the KINGDOM COME Superman.
Maybe things will change for the better after this issue?
I'm picking this up tomorrow but, wow, 2.5 ? I was expecting this issue to be something of epicness considering its JSA and a Special issue. But no sweat. My guess is Magog's future is not gonna be that bright in the end, with Max Lord on his side. ( even though I pretty much liked the character).
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