Justice Society of America

The second part Justice Society of America/ Justice League of America crossover. This issue is set at the same time as the previous part (Justice League 46) and basically covers what the JSA were up to whilst the JLA were doing there thing last issue. This shows the story from a different perspective. 
 
The Good: 
This issue was very similar to the Justice League issue that was out last month in that it covers the same(or at least and overlapping) period of time. What we see is more of what we saw in JLA 46 as the JSA members fight in small groups around the globe to neutralise the threats from elemental and magic users turned mad by the chaos magic of the Starheart (the source of Alan Scott, Green Lantern's powers) that fell from space. Whilst the reason of the JSA are fighting these mad metas the leaders of the team (Wildcat and Flash (accompanied by Faust)) try to find a link to Obsidian's shadow powers. This all leads to some new developments in the story which may turn out to be quite interesting. All this is very solid and the artwork is good throughout but what is really nice about this issue is that it could so easily have given you no new information after the cliff hanger at the end of JLA 46. Instead it gives you just enough information to put a new spin on the ending without really addressing it directly. This makes for a really interesting read that doesn't feel like it goes nowhere but also keeps you in suspense for the next issue (JLA 47). All in all very tight and well written story with well rendered art that shows all(or at least a good number) of the JSA members fighting around the world. 
 
The Bad: 
There are only a couple of minor issues I have with this part of The Dark Things. One of which is that whilst it offers a slightly different perspective on the events and makes them feel more grand in scale the story doesn't progress very far and we are getting more of the same. My other chief concern which may or may not be well founded is that this issue requires you to have been reading Justice League of America for at least the last 3 issues for you to truly follow the story. For example, if you hadn't read the previous issue of The Dark things you would have no idea why Jade is now hanging out with the JLA and what Power Girl is refering to when she says "Was I like that?". This is fine for me because I'v been following this JLA run but I feel if you are picking this issue up as part of you Justice Society of America series you might feel a tad lost at points. Otherwise this issue ticks all the boxes even if it isn't spectacular. 
 
The Verdict: 4/5 
When I started writing this review I was going to give this issue a 3.5 but the more I think about it the less I can see thats wrong with it. The story and art are both very solid and the action is fun to read and clearly rendered, and the cover is really nice. (I look forward to having all 5 parts next to one another to see the image in all it's glory). I worry that this is more an issue for Justice League of America readers than Justice Society readers but the ending is good and the amount of information given is just enough to make you feel that you know more without giving away the totality of the story. Definitely worth a read if you are a following the JLA series and whilst you may need to read up on what has happened in previous JLA issues JSA fans should enjoy seeing all their characters facing off against multiple foes. 4/5 A good solid read which makes me want to read the next part.

Story: Dark things continues into JSA. Jay Garrick, Wild Cat, Faust, and Dr. Mid-Nite are searching the Shade's mansion. They are searching for Obsidian because he has gone missing. Obsidian and Shade share the same power. They see a light up ahead wich is unusual because why would Shade have light. They see what it is and it's Dr. Fate and Obsidian under some sort of spell. They attack them and win. Obsidian and Dr. Fate leave in a dark vortex and Dr. Mid-Nite jumps in after them. All at the same time the JSA All-Stars are trying to stop these crazy crimes across the country. Mr America and Lightning are fighting a meta human on Alkatraz. Batman tells him that meta humans who have any power will be hypnotized by the Star heart and it will make them go crazy. They stop him. The teams send Starman to go and get Alan but Alan rips Starman's gem right out of his chest. Miss Martian starts acting funny and turns into a white martian. Power Girl punches her to knock her out. At the end Mr. Miracle arrives to help.
Writing: I did like the writing in this issue. I thought it was entertaining.
Characters: This is where I have a problem. In this first issue of the Dark Things arc in JSA, JSA had the JSA as a guest appearance and some JSA characters were used a lot, but in this issue the JSA characters barely got any parts.
Dialogue: This dialogue really didn't interest me because it was coming from characters I don't really care about.
 
Art: The art is okay.
Cover: Well I can tell that the Dark Things issues are all gonna make one cover so I do like that.
Penciling: I really don't like the character penciling. Some times it lacks a lot of detail.
Colors: I do really like the coloring though.
 
Favorite pages and why.
4-9: The whole Obsidian scene was really cool.
20: Seeing Miss Martian turn into a White Martian was really cool.
 
Reasons to and not to pick up.
Reasons to pick up: If you want to see what's happening. If you are a very big fan of the JSA then I think this is the perfect issue for that. I think the story was pretty good in this issue as well.
Reasons not to pick up: The cross over was not handled properly because the JLA did not get enough parts. Also I am not too crazy about this art. 
Verdict: BARELY Pick it up. 3.5 out of 5.

So if I told you 5 years ago that James Robinson and Mark Bagley would create a  modern era JLA/JSA cross over you'd pretty excited. But this is 2010 and the JLA consists of the Teen Titans all grown up, the disco era Starman, and large talking Ape...not exactly not what Bags thought he signed up exclusively with DC  way back when. 
 
But in any case the big story here is a the Justice League of America /Justice Society of America team-up. Since it's inception I have always been a fan of these stories. It really would have been a big kick for me to see the classic roll call page. For those who don't recall there was a face shot of the each teams roster on the left and right side of the page. And as a added bonuses you might have space for the guest stars on the bottom of the page as well...say Infintiy Inc for example. 
 
So their is plenty of history behind the two teams..um...well teaming up. But this particular pairing is tied to the Brightest Day story arc. Brightest Day is a storyline about resurrections if nothing else, And here we have a character coming back with roots to both teams. 
And with most team up stories their is some cool scenes where members square off and throw down, and fight side by side. 
The highlight of course was the brief skirmish between a Crazed JSA Power Girl confronted by the JLA's Super Girl 
I will let you read it to see if your favorite "Girl won or lost.  
 
Story: A character who was former JLAer and Legacy JSA member long thought dead returns, but her joyous return is short lived, as her appearance brings about a member from the JSA to go into a coma, and meta humans around the world to behave in bizarre and violent ways. With the JLA first on the scene to investigate a disturbance, however once the problem was revealed they quickly called in the JSA for some much needed assistance. 
Add in some key cameos from some of DC deep roster of characters, as well as providing possible a link to a popular storyline from years past, this surely proves to be  fun ride. 
 
Overview: This tie seems to be a bit forced as opposed to the stories from the past that seemed fun, or important enough like Virtue/Vice. Robinson seemed to give a loud voice to the JSA in this issue as it is their part of the tale in their own book. Overall the characters seem to be all acting natural and no signs of "hometown" advantages in regards to one characters shining more then another. So while I do find Bill to be more interesting then I have ever would have guessed, save his big moments for the JLA end of the tale. 
 
ART: THIS IS THE MARK BAGLEY I wished showed up from the start way back when Trinity kicked off. All his stuff just seemed "off while he was at DC. But with the help of super inker Norm Rapmund, a certain redhead on the splash page never looked better.  The main gripe I have with Bags's JLA run is the excessive use of ink blotches to convey smoke, blood trails  or energy flares it just takes away from the panels and BAG's normally tight line work. I can only assume this is Rob Hunter's natural style 
and I need to see more work to know if I like or dislike him yet. Just know I don't like his style on JLA as much. Perhaps this is why we see Rapmund in the credits? 
 
 
Overall: A decent read if you are a fan of any of the parties involved creator s and the characters themselves. While no one characters shines, all characters are portrayed in a solid and consistent manner. This book is a worthy addition to a great tradition between these two teams, but nothing about this makes it a instant classic however.  In regards to the art personally feel this is the best Bagley has been at DC and look forward to seeing what he gets to pencil in future stories

   

Speedy review: 
 
This issue really feels like the first time that Robinson really wrote the JLA the way I had been hoping for. Number 45 was the best prior to this but this one seemed to be the whole package.  Well paced, good dialogue, and flowing action sequences.   
 
Bagley's art was also top notch.  The bad panel or two was the exception verses JLA #46 where the good panel was.  I like the team of Bagley and Rapmund.  I just wish that this was the art team every issue.   
 
The issue does rewind a bit to give those who may only buy this book a taste of what they missed in JLA #46 or maybe it was to correct how poorly (my opinion)  that issue came off.  I nearly canceled both JLA and JSA because of how bad #46 of JLA was.  However, I am happy to report I did not and this issue was a welcome breath of fresh air for this creative team. 
 
4 stars from me and I can say that I am excited about JLA #47.  Hey did you all hear about the creative changes coming to JSA in November? 

Story:The JSA and JLA still stopping crazy heroes and villains possesed by the Starheart.
 
The Good
This issue's spotlight goed for the JSA and how they are handling the problem with the Starheart.I liked that even Dr. Fate goed crazy and with Obsidian killed Shade and taked Wildcat,Jay and Faust.The story is doing better than the first issue becasue these days the JSA is a better team than the JLA and have interesting stories.Mister Miracle is going to help them and the JSA All-Satrs also help.We also get that Miss Martian will also help.Alan Scott ripped off the gem of Satrman out of his chest and the image was really terryfying and scary.
 
The artwork is from Mark Bagley and you know my thoughts of his style,great with more details.
 
The Bad
As last issue this one's story jumps out of nowhere and starts talking about Wildcat,Jay and Faust going to Shade,what happened to Starman and his story.It doesn't have much development because it only shows how are the JSA doing and the only development is that there is a rescue mission for Starman.And the other thing I didn't like was how Jade doesn't want her father to die and Donna says,nobody is going to die,not with this team.
 
Overall:A little better thanlast issue with a little setup finally.
4/5