James Robinson picks up the thread from his Blackest Night: Superman mini by putting the bodies of Kal-L and Psycho Pirate in the JSA brownstone. It makes a lot of sense, Power Girl's presence is a great tie to that previous series. By keeping the bodies relevant, it makes that older series seem more important too.The JSA seemed like a huge team for a long time, so big that I never really worried about them winning. But factor in some Black Lantern rings, and suddenly the team is overwhelmed. It was interesting seeing the team rocked back on their heels like this. I really enjoyed the heroes shifting back and forth between trying to protect civilians and trying to research the Black Lanterns.
Robinson spends too many pages giving us the history of some of the raised zombies. If these guys aren't coming back at the end of this story, I'm just not sure that most readers need to know this level of detail about Sandman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and Mr. Terrific. Especially since Johnny Quick's appearance is much more emotionally resonant. I am enjoying the team's struggles, as I said, so I'll stick around to see how this turns out. I will go on record that I'm still unhappy that Damage is dead.
Eddy Barrows is good at the dead folks' gristle, but his living faces aren't quite as good. Libery Belle looks kind of puffy and Hourman actually looks like a monster in one panel. Barrows has a nice sense for the dramatic splash, though. He uses them a little more than is necessary, but they are exciting shots.
Fair
2 comments:
This was very competent but I think saturation point has been reached as this didn't add anything to the bigger picture. It doesn't help that heroic predecessors are such a big part of the JSA book anyway - people are forever confronting the ghosts of heroes past.
And am I the only person irritated by dual tier narratives teased out over several pages? I give in and read all of one, then go back for another, and another . . .
I'm right there with you. There is very little to make all these different BL's unique. As I said, for me, I was just happy seeing the JSA outnumbered for once!
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