Why I'm Enjoying JSA Right Now.

You know, it's funny, a while back I stumbled onto a criticism of JSA that basically had to do with all the Kingdom Come love. I didn't save the link, but I'm sure you get the jist and it's really not a criticism that I can argue with. It IS very Kingdom Come heavy right now. It did get me thinking because well, I've never been all that interested in Kingdom Come myself and I'm really rather antagonistic toward the multiverse aspect in general, and particularly I've never liked Superman as a member of the JSA. Oh, and considering my favorite character has very little panel time, I SHOULD be frustrated by the inclusion of more characters.

But I'm really enjoying JSA and honestly, I suspect that it's the comic I look forward to most every month. Well. At least until Ice proposes to Guy. (Hope-hope-hope it's not a trick. <3)

It's just weird. I should hate this arc, but I'm really enjoying it. I suppose that's down to a few factors.

1) Sand actually has panel time. I'm shallow, but there was a good portion of two or three YEARS when he got nothing but a throwaway mention! Here he might be asleep, but that's actually significant to the plot! And really, they didn't need to waste a panel showing him asleep at the manor, but they did. And I'm glad. I'm looking forward to seeing if his little present has some backfiring elements like Mid-Nite's and Starman's so far. It'd be nice if Obsidian had more of a role, but considering he's had a nice liplock with Damon in Manhunter, I can't get too irate on his behalf.

2) I like the new members. Cyclone and Wiley-Kat (I'm sorry, I never remember Wildcat's kid's real code name and I watched way too much Thundercats as a wee one) are very likeable, though I don't think the latter's done much lately. I like the Cyclone-Damage-Judomaster thing going on. I'm leery about Judomaster herself, but I'm willing to give Johns a chance. I like Citizen Steel a LOT. And I also enjoy Lance Corporal Reid and his giant pink ray of doom. The Roosevelt connection always felt a bit tacked on for me, as there are plenty of unused All Star Squadron members to connect him to if one must, and I'm leery about basing characters as relatives of actual people. But I suppose if the Roosevelt family doesn't mind, *I* am certainly being over-sensitive.

3) In retrospect what happened to Reid was incredibly predictable. But at the time I was genuinely surprised. I like this sort of thing. I SHOULD have seen it coming, but I didn't. :-)

4) Much to my UTTER shock, I LIKE Kingdom Come Superman. As I said, I never really liked the idea of the big three in the JSA. That always seemed like a very Silver Age revision, when the original JSA barely featured them at all. Moreover, I liked the way the post-Crisis revamp forced them to feature new/lesser known characters where they would have just gone with the standard three. I've always thought Sandy in Young All-Stars probably would have been Robin before the Crisis, since the important aspects to his use there was being the most established member of the group as well as being the doubter/racist. (Though to give Thomas credit, when he wasn't being the tacked on racist, his personality was probably the most developed of the group and was the very loyal to the original Kirby/Simon incarnation.)

I don't think Arn Munro would be used so well in Manhunter right now if Superman were still in JSA-era continuity. Alan Scott, Wes Dodds, Jay Garrick and Ted Grant all had stronger roles I think as the most senior members without Batman and Superman there, while Hippolyta filled the Wonder Woman role nicely.

(Dumb question: Why, instead of all the stupid time travel stuff, didn't they just retcon Hippolyta as having left Themyscira briefly during WWII and fought with the JSA. It wouldn't retcon Diana's early post-Crisis appearances any MORE than the time travel had done, and it would have given Donna Troy back her original origin.)

Anyway, I've always been antagonistic to the notion of putting the big three back in there because I felt it would take away from all the creative and interesting developments of post Crisis. But I think that the Kingdom Come Superman is actually a brilliant compromise.

I LIKE KC Superman as a character and what they've been doing with his past. I like the interactions between KC Superman and our Superman and the sympathy our Clark has for him. Also his interactions with Power Girl. I like how he generally seems to fit with the JSA crowd, and lets them have a Superman while still keeping to the post-Crisis history I like so much. I don't think I'd even be adverse to an AU Batman, though I'm not sure he wouldn't be redundant with Mr. Terrific, Wildcat and Sandy around.

It does bring us some interesting options with regards to bringing back some version of Earth 2 characters that people love and miss, even if they're not ACTUALLY Earth-2 characters. Huntress for example. I know a lot of folks who'd be thrilled to see a Helena Wayne in an ongoing again.

5) Focus on Power Girl is very good. And I like the way they're dealing with her origin. I'd imagine some people are frustrated by the Annual, but I enjoyed it. (Obviously there had to be SOME catch, or we would lose us a Power Girl.)

6) I think they're doing a good job with Gog. The storyline is a bit too stretched out, which is a problem I've always had a bit with Geoff Johns. I like his work a lot, but I've often thought most of his storylines could be told in far fewer issues. The whole nine-issue Hal-is-back set up arc for Green Lantern, I honestly felt, could have been pared down to four or five fairly easily. Infinite Crisis itself probably didn't need to be more than three or four. (With a fourth or fifth for the kind of neglected superheroes vs. escaped criminal stuff and the fight against Superboy.) I THINK the problem is that Johns is so busy adding cool character moments and subplots that the main story tends to get a bit out of control.

But I am enjoying it. We all know Gog is bad. But the process of getting there is pretty interesting. And I always like seeing the JSA ram up against high-powered or godlike villains. They do it a lot and they're good at it. And I think they're doing a good job of differentiating things FROM Kingdom Come even while paying homage to it. We know things are going to end differently. It'll be fun to see how.

(Speaking of God-like villains, can we have a Johnny Sorrow story again soon? I miss that sick sick bastard.)

7) Mr. Terrific's atheism. I know they're not really doing this part well. But I do like that they're TRYING.

8) I'm not actually finding Starman tedious. I'm sure I will again when this is all over and he's likely absurdly insane again. But then I'm also hypocritical there too. Really though, between this and the Legion story, I'd imagine he can be placed on the back burner for a little while after this.

9) Sand had panel time! And actually a monologue an issue or so ago! I hope somehow he ends up flying. I know he's kind of overpowered already and it doesn't really make sense with the rest of his nature/powers but...um...his life really sucks and I'd like to see him get something nice for once.

10) Um. I dunno. Naked pink-themed people with horns amuse me?

But anyway. Those are things I'm enjoying about JSA right now, even if it is very very much a Kingdom Come wankfest. :-) It's still a lot of fun.

And my favorite character gets panel time. I don't think I mentioned that factor previously. :-P