JUSTICE SOCEITY OF AMERICA: THY KINGDOM COME – PART ONE
June 28th 2009 23:33
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher; DC Comics
Production Team: Geoff Johns – story/writer, Alex Ross – story/painted Kingdom Come sequence, Dale Eaglesham et al – pencilers, Ruy Jose et al – inkers, Jeremy Cox et al – colours & Rob Leigh - letters
Cost: US$19.99
Imagine a DC universe where the three iconic DC characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are all older and somewhat more wiser; then imagine this world being filled with a multitude of superhumans who are the children of other superhumans and have scant regard for the society in which they live. A world full of mega powered teenagers and young adults who think they know best but at the end of the day know very little and have no real sense of responsibility to others, to society, to the universe at large or even themselves. This is the world that was the backdrop for the Kingdom Come graphic novel release by DC a while back; it was a truly impressive work of the comic genre, truly stunning artwork and an epic tale that combined elements of the Book of Revelations with the superhero genre in a tight taut tale. So why mention this here? Ah well it seems that even though Kingdom Come is a story that has been told it isn’t over.
If you are a big fan of the various US based comic giants such as DC and Marvel you’ll notice that over the last few years there has been a distinct tendency to go over the top with things. It seems that it’s no longer cool for superheroes to battle supervillains or solve mysterious crimes or even just prevent an entire city’s population from being severely depleted due to a manmade catastrophe. Nope a story in comics nowadays has to have some event of truly cosmically catastrophic proportions; at least that seems to be the way things have been going. In DC you had the entire 52 saga whilst over at Marvel they had Civil War then the Skrull Invasion and now Dark Reign. So you wonder if the publishers of comics are so locked into the over the top drama phenomena and don’t realise that maybe the audience are getting a tad sick of things? It certainly seems that way.
Still in its defence, even though this particular tale looks like it is following the cosmic catastrophe of the week vein, it does have enough mystery and freshness to it to make it all worthwhile. The focus here is on the Justice Society of America, a team of mystery men that was originally formed by Franklin D Roosevelt way back in the nineteen forties at the time of the Second World War, well before there was ever a Justice League of America. This is the original superhero team who sought to defend truth justice and well I think you can guess the rest. Now most of these people who comprise the line up of the JSA are characters that I have never come across, although I do recognise the classic Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, the others such as Wildcat, Hourman, Liberty Belle, Damage, Stargirl, Power Girl etc are completely new to me.
It’s also interesting to see that the JSA are based out of an actual bona fide city, the reside in New York City which is a contrast to the various other iconic DC characters who all make their homes in various fictional cities such as Metropolis or Gotham City. Essentially the story that we see in the pages of this work is one of consolidation and recovery, the world and the JSA are getting over one of the frequent disasters that occur in comics, specifically the rearrangement of reality into a single strand universe. No longer are there all those problematic alternate realities and parallel universe, there is just the one – or so we are told.
After a super villain known as Goth is found dead amidst the blazing inferno of a fire in a paint factory in downtown New York City things take a turn for the bizarre. Goth is discovered by Damage, Power Girl, Starman and Liberty Belle who find that his body has a large hole in his chest where his heart would have been, someone obviously took umbrage to him in a most terminal way. Meanwhile the JSA realises that pondering this particular mystery at this point in time is not the immediate concern, the primary issues is doing something about the fire and the fact that because Goth’s powers are leaking from his body are making matters worse. Starman volunteers to do something about the situation by using his gravity powers to create a black hole to suck out the energy and fire. It works, tremendously well but there is an unforseen complication.
Emerging from the carnage of the fire, carrying a worn out Starman is none other than Superman – but it is the Superman of Kingdom Come, not the Superman of this world, the ‘real’ universe. This is the Superman who saw a world torn about by those with super powers and who effectively ran riot creating all manner of havoc and misery for the ordinary inhabitants of the world until at last the ordinary inhabitants lashed back out at the very beings that for many years had defended them and were now running riot. They dropped a nuclear warhead on the sight of the confrontation between those who used their powers and abilities responsibly and those who were little better than super powered hoons and right at the epicentre of the blast was Superman.
Of course it seems that Superman is not the only thing that has slipped through from the Kingdom Come universe, although the JSA have no idea that this has happened and neither does this new, more mature Superman. The murder of Goth, villain that he was, is but a harbinger of things to come and it seems that this particular aspect is peripheral to the Society’s recruitment drive and adapting now to the enlistment of Superman into their ranks. But the murders still continue, various superhumans end up with large holes in their chests where their hearts once were, the wound caused by some kind of energy weapon. There is someone with some real power out there stalking super powered beings and removing them from the picture big time – those who have read Kingdom Come will no doubt swiftly guess who this character is doing all the slaying, although what this individuals appearance portends is something to still be revealed. Harbinger of Doom or something else entirely?
Justice Society of America – Thy Kingdom Come Part 1 works well, probably because the story is not entirely dominated by a potential biblical crisis but gradually unfolds and weaves its tale. Apparently the JSA get billing as the world’s first superhero team and they seem to be a change from the usual superhero combos you see nowadays in the comic media. Definitely worth reading, I picked up this particular volume at my local library, it’s a very slick hardcover volume and as with Kingdom Come the artwork involved in its telling is something to be seen.
Production Team: Geoff Johns – story/writer, Alex Ross – story/painted Kingdom Come sequence, Dale Eaglesham et al – pencilers, Ruy Jose et al – inkers, Jeremy Cox et al – colours & Rob Leigh - letters
Cost: US$19.99
Imagine a DC universe where the three iconic DC characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are all older and somewhat more wiser; then imagine this world being filled with a multitude of superhumans who are the children of other superhumans and have scant regard for the society in which they live. A world full of mega powered teenagers and young adults who think they know best but at the end of the day know very little and have no real sense of responsibility to others, to society, to the universe at large or even themselves. This is the world that was the backdrop for the Kingdom Come graphic novel release by DC a while back; it was a truly impressive work of the comic genre, truly stunning artwork and an epic tale that combined elements of the Book of Revelations with the superhero genre in a tight taut tale. So why mention this here? Ah well it seems that even though Kingdom Come is a story that has been told it isn’t over.
It’s also interesting to see that the JSA are based out of an actual bona fide city, the reside in New York City which is a contrast to the various other iconic DC characters who all make their homes in various fictional cities such as Metropolis or Gotham City. Essentially the story that we see in the pages of this work is one of consolidation and recovery, the world and the JSA are getting over one of the frequent disasters that occur in comics, specifically the rearrangement of reality into a single strand universe. No longer are there all those problematic alternate realities and parallel universe, there is just the one – or so we are told.
After a super villain known as Goth is found dead amidst the blazing inferno of a fire in a paint factory in downtown New York City things take a turn for the bizarre. Goth is discovered by Damage, Power Girl, Starman and Liberty Belle who find that his body has a large hole in his chest where his heart would have been, someone obviously took umbrage to him in a most terminal way. Meanwhile the JSA realises that pondering this particular mystery at this point in time is not the immediate concern, the primary issues is doing something about the fire and the fact that because Goth’s powers are leaking from his body are making matters worse. Starman volunteers to do something about the situation by using his gravity powers to create a black hole to suck out the energy and fire. It works, tremendously well but there is an unforseen complication.
Emerging from the carnage of the fire, carrying a worn out Starman is none other than Superman – but it is the Superman of Kingdom Come, not the Superman of this world, the ‘real’ universe. This is the Superman who saw a world torn about by those with super powers and who effectively ran riot creating all manner of havoc and misery for the ordinary inhabitants of the world until at last the ordinary inhabitants lashed back out at the very beings that for many years had defended them and were now running riot. They dropped a nuclear warhead on the sight of the confrontation between those who used their powers and abilities responsibly and those who were little better than super powered hoons and right at the epicentre of the blast was Superman.
Of course it seems that Superman is not the only thing that has slipped through from the Kingdom Come universe, although the JSA have no idea that this has happened and neither does this new, more mature Superman. The murder of Goth, villain that he was, is but a harbinger of things to come and it seems that this particular aspect is peripheral to the Society’s recruitment drive and adapting now to the enlistment of Superman into their ranks. But the murders still continue, various superhumans end up with large holes in their chests where their hearts once were, the wound caused by some kind of energy weapon. There is someone with some real power out there stalking super powered beings and removing them from the picture big time – those who have read Kingdom Come will no doubt swiftly guess who this character is doing all the slaying, although what this individuals appearance portends is something to still be revealed. Harbinger of Doom or something else entirely?
Justice Society of America – Thy Kingdom Come Part 1 works well, probably because the story is not entirely dominated by a potential biblical crisis but gradually unfolds and weaves its tale. Apparently the JSA get billing as the world’s first superhero team and they seem to be a change from the usual superhero combos you see nowadays in the comic media. Definitely worth reading, I picked up this particular volume at my local library, it’s a very slick hardcover volume and as with Kingdom Come the artwork involved in its telling is something to be seen.
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