Justice Society of America The New Age T. 1 – By Geoff Johns (…)

Let’s first remember that this release follows a news item: the return of the Justice Society of America (JSA for insiders) in Infinite Frontier and his presence in the film Black Adamwith Dwayne Johnson, scheduled for this summer. Moreover, for this purpose, Urban Comics has already published the cover of the future volume two of the series: we see a Black Adam alone in the warrior posture. But let’s not go too fast and come back to the subject that interests us: the first volume of this new age [1].

This is the series for the period 2006-2011, launched following the event Infinite Crisisand which is in direct line with JSA (1999-2006) from James Robinson and David S. Goyer. This had brought up to date, and with great success, these somewhat outdated superheroes. Moreover, we find over these two periods a common author, Geoff Johnswho set out, with Robinson and Goyer, to redefine the mission of the JSA: to make the link between the heroes of the golden age and a new generation taking up their heritage.

If we briefly do some history, the JSA made its first appearance in 1940-1941 in All-Star Comics #3. It is actually a cross-over characters from National Allied Publications (Hourman, Spectre, Doctor Fate and Sandman) with those from All American Comics (Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern and Atom). It’s a great success, but All-Star Comics stops in 1951, with the rest of the comics production, as we have already mentioned. The JSA would return later through Earth-2 and new adventures, but after the 1986 editorial reboot, it would take until 1999 to truly witness its rebirth.

© DC Comics / Urban Comics

And here we are in 2006 with this new age which begins with the trio of veterans Alan Scott (1st Green Lantern), Jay Garrick (1st Flash) and Ted Grant (Wildcat). They decide to reassemble the famous team to form a new generation of heroes and more particularly those who have inherited in one way or another the powers or the name of the heroes of the golden age. In this sense, we remain in the theme established in 1999. We will therefore find many characters from the previous series, but also a certain number of original and new heroes, who therefore have everything to learn.

This first volume offers the first three narrative arcs: first of all a phase of reconstitution of the JSA and recruitment, with a group of villains who track down the descendants of former heroes, then a cross-over with The Justice League and The Legion of Super-Heroes and finally a great adventure tribute to Kingdom Come inviting both old Superman and Alex Ross who signs for this new JSA a series of covers of which he has secret, and obviously absolutely magnificent.

© DC Comics / Urban Comics

Beyond the dimension of the heritage and the references to the history of DC, what marks in these episodes is the size of the JSA: we are no longer talking about a team but rather about a society ! This grows over the course of his adventures, which offer him the opportunity to meet heirs and recruit them in stride. A mechanism that remains even after the first narrative arc. It’s very simple, this recruitment never stops and at the end of this volume, we are already at more than twenty members.

It is ultimately this aspect that most distinguishes this iteration of the JSA: the huge panel of characters and the attention given to them. We are more on a story of characters, around their doubts and their hopes, rather than in the register of great adventures, which here remain simple and are most often resolved quickly. And despite overcrowding, everyone gets their time, with duos and subgroups working well. In the same way, there is something for everyone and it is in an almost playful way that the authors make us revisit previous ages, sometimes without even seeming to.

An astonishing and inspiring tale of heroism, self-discovery and legacy, this Justice Society of America The New Age leads us into a large fresco with an effective structure despite its density. Geoff Johns appears undeniably inspired, offering us many endearing characters (Cyclone, Starman, Damage or even Citizen Steel) and Dale Eaglesham signs complex and readable boards, for a result that we can sum up in one word: epic.

© DC Comics / Urban Comics

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