Justice Society of America #33

Other than one big reveal, there isn't really a lot laid out for us in this conclusion to the first story arc. Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges bring back the hordes of flunkies to take on the team, but the JSA is more prepared this time. I really like Blue Moon as a villain, her boast about Superman followed by Power Girl's takedown was very cool. The big reveal is that as we all suspected, Willingham creation Kid Karneval has been masquerading as the new All-American Kid. He's a devious little jerk. He seemed a bit less maniacal and cleverer than I remember him from Shadowpact, but he's still enraging to read about. I'm very pleased that Mr. Terrific got to take the punk down. You don't fool Mr. Terrific! I was amused that Sturges used the new Dr. Polaris so prominently here, knowing he gets killed in the Blackest Night mini. Oh well! It is interesting that Karneval and the villain mob weren't related; there are a lot of seeds for future stories here.

The big closing is the split of the team into two factions. The legacy "teacher" faction and the "extreme" military crew. I'm not sure the split makes total sense to me, especially with Power Girl, Cyclone, and Star Girl ending up on the military team. I actually think Wildcat makes more sense with the proactive team, but his loyalty to his buddies and his dislike of Magog would keep him away. There isn't really much to know about the new Mr. America yet, but I guess he likes the laid back attitude of the oldsters.

Jesus Merino is darn good. His action panels look tremendous, and that Power Girl takedown of Blue Moon was really fun. He handles all the devastation nicely too. He's a great fit for this book. I'm concerned sales have plummeted so much on this, I'm still really enjoying this series.

Good