Justice Society, Volume 1

This one's a reprint volume collecting a number of issues of the All-Star Comics revival in the mid-1970s. I had purchased the first couple of issues back in the day, then went on to other things. After falling in love with Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron in the 1980s, I picked up a few more back issues. I discovered that this version of the Justice Society was, well, lacking. The plotting was awkward and artificial, with characters arriving and leaving seemingly at random. The writers just plop some angst in your lap, expecting you to care about the characters. Instead, I found myself wondering how the editors let this get printed in the first place. Of course, then I look again at the art by Wally Wood and Keith Giffen and understand. show more I'd be inclined to keep the book for that reason alone, even if I didn't still have some of the comic book fanboy's collector mentality.
--J. show less

Interesting. These early JSA stories are a bit annoying - the (frequently-mimicked) overblown speeches (from both heroes and villains) and static action are not particularly enjoyable to read. And Wildcat's persistent sexism is...well, boring. He's really not that dumb.... And Power Girl's reflexive reverse sexism is equally boring. As Superman says - 'You've won, cousin. Stop fighting.' As an avid fan of the All-Star Squadron, the first story was neat. Brainwave - I knew his secret when he first showed up, remembering what his son said in A-S S (gotta be careful of that acronym!). And I know a lot about the other villain too (trying not to say who it is, since it's a late reveal in the story). The next set of stories interlink - poor show more Vulcan. Though it's kind of a good thing for the world that the alien didn't get to help him - since there's no indication that it would have improved his sanity! Then Fate, and Zanadu, and the interlinks there. The Injustice Society shows up - and takes further action two or three issues later, with an intervening appearance by Vandal Savage (and the Shining Knight, who I love). The IS has several prongs to their assault - the direct attack doesn't do much, it seems, but brings up some odd reactions from the members - there's a reason for GL's actions, not so sure about the others! And Bruce Wayne takes action a different way. The next issue(s) must have been interesting - have to see if I can track them down somewhere. Then a final story - the origin of the JSA, written some time after they actually showed up. It was interesting to read it immediately after the Spear of Destiny story in JLA Classified: Honor Among Thieves - this is when/how they first encountered the Spear. That always struck me as a very clever way of explaining why superheroes had little effect on WWII. show less

That was a fun read. It tales off at the end but that's alright. The thing to remember is these stories were written in an era where campy dialogue was the norm in comics. It does come across as cheesy but that's only part of the charm.