It's always discouraging when a comic book you like doesn't live up to its potential.The Justice Society comic has been one of DC's best for years, but it had a problem - it had become top-heavy, with too many characters on the roster.
Instead of thinning out the ranks, DC's solution was to split the team and start a second title, but so far my feelings are mixed on JSA All-Stars.
It's not a bad comic, but so far it's not living up to the original. This comic centers around a strike force - the team that hits first and asks questions later.
The problem is, so far hitting is all the team has done. The first two issues have been all about big battles with teams of super-villains, so you need a scorecard to keep up with the characters.
Team books are fun for the characters interaction, but here we just get lots of scenes of people yelling at each other. Is this a team you'd want to join? Hopefully writer Matthew Sturges can give us some more character time in future issues.
My feelings are mixed about the art by Freddie Williams II. Some pages have powerful shots and some have awkward layouts and anatomy. And there are way too many splash scenes of heroes or villains posing in mid-air, about to attack. It's all very Image-y, I suppose.
For our extra buck (the issue costs $3.99) we get a back-up story with Liberty Belle and Hourman, two characters I like a lot - but the story is the worst kind of mystery, because it makes no sense (or at least doesn't make you care). The two heroes find two super-villains at a murder scene, and then take their word that they didn't do it.
I was looking forward to having two different comics starring the JSA, but if this one doesn't get its act together, I'll soon be back to buying just one issue a month.
Grade: C-
No comments:
Post a Comment