#JSApril: Superman, Kingdom Come and, oh yeah, the JSA

Justice Society of America (Vol. 2) #10
“What a Wonderful World”
Story: Geoff Johns & Alex Ross
Writer: Johns
Penciler: Dale Eaglesham
Painted Pages: Ross
Inkers: Ruy Jose & Drew Geraci
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor: Harvey Richards
Editor: Michael Siglain
Cover: Ross
Released: Oct. 31, 2007

(The comic discussed in this post includes a scene of attempted suicide. Just a heads up, in case anybody finds that – triggering sounds odd, but whatever you call it, I don't want this troubling you.)

After not just one but two detours into moviedom, we're back to comics and participating in #JSApril, a celebration of the Justice Society of America featuring dozens of podcasters and bloggers marking the 85^th anniversary of the first super-team. And somehow they let me participate, even though I was pretty late to the JSA party.

I had heard of the team and many of the characters, of course, but my first exposure to them in more than passing was when Grant Morrison brought them back into the spotlight during his magnificent JLA run. That led to the launch of a new JSA series, initially co-written by James Robinson, who you might remember from a whole lot of comics like “Starman,” and David S. Goyer, who you might remember from both comics and movies including many big screen DC efforts. By issue 6, Robinson was replaced by an up-and-coming fella named Geoff Johns, who went on to write a few more DC comics.

Morrison's JLA was my first time regularly collecting a DC title. While I didn't immediately jump on board with JSA, I picked up the initial trade eventually. And then the one after that and the one after that. My purchasing trailed off but by then, libraries were not only stocking trades and graphic novels but sharing them with others, broadening my horizons. Thanks to Ollie's, I've filled in most of the trades from that run.

I enjoyed getting to know the sprawling cast of characters, including legacy versions of the Flash and Green Lantern and new incarnations of characters I didn't know the first time around. My particular favorites were Mister Terrific and Doctor Mid-Nite, and I would still love to see a series focused on this pairing, as well as a Heroclix duo figure.

When the series relaunched as the unabbreviated Justice Society of America in 2007, with Johns still at the helm and covers by the one and only Alex Ross, I stopped waiting for trades. I collected the series for about two years, but gradually lost interest after Johns' departure.

In addition to those magnificent Ross covers, usually featuring a single member of the team, I followed along as he collaborated with Johns to deliver a sequel to “Kingdom Come,” the landmark Elseworlds limited series Ross and Mark Waid unleashed in 1996. It's a series that was hyped to death but somehow managed to live up to the hype.

This was actually the second sequel and intriguing to me because this wasn't an Elseworlds tale. The events of Kingdom Come were interacting with the prime Earth, after “Infinite Crisis” had rewritten DC's history for the second or 439^th time. Of course, a quick memory jog via Google confirms the 1999 sequel “The Kingom” also crossed over with the main DC Earth but... well, it was in a series of one-shots and a limited series, while this was in an ongoing title,* so that's... kind of different, right?

Anyway, I remember three things in particular about the Justice Society arc, “Thy Kingdom Come:” It was really long, Magog turned out to be Franklin Roosevelt's great-grandson, and the issue this post, despite the meandering intro, is actually focused on, “Justice Society of America” #10.

It opens with Ma Hunkel, the Golden Age Red Tornado now serving as the JSA's lady Jarvis, holding up the KC Superman's distinctive shirt with the red S-shield backed by black instead of yellow, declaring that whoever their visitor is, he's not Power Girl's cousin. And she doesn't mean Prime Earth Superman, but Kal-L, the Superman from Power Girl's Earth, who died in Infinite Crisis.

The visitor in question is drinking coffee at the JSA's meeting table, in a robe, as the longest-tenured members of the team – Wildcat, Hawkman, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Flash (Jay Garrick) – try to decide what to do about him. Eventually the then-current Starman (Thom Kallor, formerly Star Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes), Stargirl, Cyclone and Ma Hunkel come in, curious to see what's going on. Starman, who was a bit loopy due to time and multiverse travel says he met this Superman, apparently during the events of Kingdom Come, and that he hails from Earth-22. This is news to the JSAers, who don't think there are any parallel universes anymore, even though I thought maybe there were?**

Superman is at first evasive about what things were like on his Earth, but we're treated to some Ross-painted flashbacks, which are striking for his art, of course, but also the apparent presence of the Mandalorian?

Fighting side-by-side with FDR's great-grandson.

Actually, Dave of Dave's Comic Heroes Blog clarified for me that this was Kingdom Come Peacemaker, although the resemblance to a certain armored-culture-appropriating bounty hunter from a galaxy far, far away was not coincidental.

Focusing on the actual story instead of Easter eggs, the team gives Superman the room and locks him in it as members debate whether he can be trusted and what his arrival means. Wildcat points out that the subject of their conversation is probably listening to them with his super hearing.

Inside the room, Obsidian emerges from a shadow and chats up Superman, who shares more about his world. It seems like he was somehow transported to this Earth during the nuclear climax of Kingdom Come. He theorizes perhaps the heroes of this Earth haven't spiraled into chaos like his because of the presence of the JSA.

After an all-too brief interlude as Terrific and Mid-Nite investigate the death of a murderous villain claiming godhood that will be important in future issues, Superman abruptly ends his conversation with Obsidian when he hears a voice saying “This world doesn't need me … I don't belong here.” He bursts through the reinforced door of the room and recovers his costume as the JSA scrambles to stop him.

Incidentally, all you need to know about Jay Garrick's heroic nature is displayed here as he's right in the thick of tackling a Superman who maybe isn't the kind and gentle version. Jay, buddy, your power is super speed, not strength.

But it turns out neither Jay, the team's heavier hitters, nor Starman's gravity powers can keep the Man of Steel down, as he busts a hole in the roof and rockets through the streets of New York to the source of the voice: a 15-year-old girl trying to end her life by stepping off a rooftop. Superman catches her, and most doubts about his identity and heroic nature are gone.

The issue ends with a montage of Jay Garrick and then-also-Flash Wally West dusting off the Cosmic Treadmill and another godhood-claiming villain, Chroma, on the run from an unseen assailant. Power Girl is seen at the grave of Kal-L and the Justice League of America, including Prime Earth Superman, arrives to consult on the JSA's guest.

When we were discussing topics for #JSApril, I immediately claimed this one and described it as my favorite JSA issue and one of my favorite Superman stories. And it does have the elements I love but... not as much as I remembered?

In my mind, the voice Superman heard was building in its despair throughout the issue and could have been mistaken for his own internal monologue. That is not what happened. His rescue of the girl and willingness to fight the JSA to save one life rather than rank the plight of a single person from a world not his own below a potential multiversal problem endangering countless others on his home Earth is nevertheless a magnificent way to prove his Superman bonafides. But the part I remembered so fondly and still appreciate was a great moment, rather than a great issue.

Not that there are any problems with this issue. It's part of the story, and a good chapter, teasing just enough of the anticipated hero-on-hero brawling before delivering a signature Superman moment via some sleight of hand. It reminds us what kind of hero he is, despite being beaten down even further than he was at the beginning of Kingdom Come.

I did wonder if this was an intentional homage to a similar moment in Morrison's “All-Star Superman,” in which Superman also saves a suicidal young woman in issue 10. But even though All-Star Superman debuted in November 2005, that issue didn't release until March 2008. So it's conceivable it was a coincidence because, although a striking moment, it is a very Superman thing to do. J. Michael Straczynski had another, longer version in 2010's “Superman” #701. It also reminds me of a twist on this scenario that played out in a Deadpool comic I actually do like.***

I'm not sure how much of this story still is canon after Waid recently delivered another sequel to Kingdom Come that apparently retconned Magog out of the Roosevelt family line, which on the one hand makes sense but on the other deprives me of the opportunity to tell people FDR's great-grandson was a suped-up Punisher type who nearly broke Superman's spirit. I don't know if Waid's forthcoming history of the DC uni/multi/metaverse will clarify that, but this issue will remain a fond recollection and enjoyable read, whether in #JSApril or any other time of the year.

* - Although it eventually spilled into some one-shots as well.

** - I need to go back and read Infinite Crisis again, if not for blogging purposes, then for historical reference.

*** - There are more Deadpool comics I like than movies.