In this review of JSA #3, with the JSA divided, the Injustice Society starts conquering…
JSA #3
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by DIEGO OLORTEGUI
Main Cover by CULLY HAMNER
Variant Covers: SWEENEY BOO, DUSTIN NGUYEN, GUILLEM MARCH
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: January 1, 2025
This review contain spoilers
JSA #3 begins with Hawkman, thought dead, tied up. Though we saw Hawkman apparently killed last issue, he is alive and a prisoner of the Demons Three, longtime Justice League foes.
Meanwhile, Jade is fretting about her missing father when Sand thinks this might be a good time to hit on her.
Also meanwhile, Dr. Mid-Nite II has figured out that Osidian’s powers are keeping Jakeem in his coma. Before she can tell anyone, “Obsidian” (we’ve known he’s really Johnny Sorrow in disguise since #1, so this isn’t much of a spoiler anymore) appears and attacks her.
Also also meanwhile, Hawkman is taken before Wotan, who, instead of villain monologing, decides to… mock Hawkman and make him feel bad?
Also also also meanwhile, Solomon Grundy is holding Flash I a prisoner, but Dr. Fate is one good pep talk from Wildcat I away from saving him…
Analysis
This has not been a good title for new JSA fans. The same applies to JSA #3. The rosters on both sides of this JSA/Injustice Society storyline have deep benches and we continue to have little or no introduction or explanation to who people are and the places they are visiting. A gatefold cover summarizing the story so far, like some Marvel titles had in the 1990s, would really help here. I feel, though, that new readers are being expected to do Internet searches on every proper name dropped on them.
In JSA #3 there is a little improvement on that, as some characters are getting very brief introductions from the narrator. Hawkman is “The Man of a Thousand Lives,” and that’s actually a pretty good one-sentence summary of Hawkman. Jade, Sand, and Dr. Mid-Nite II are introduced as simply “Infinity, Inc.” with no explanation as to what that means or what its context is within the Justice Society (and Sand wasn’t a member).
The segment dealing with Flash I, Wildcat I, Green Lantern I, Hawkgirl, and Dr. Fate (in my review of JSA #1 I called him Dr. Fate V, but this might be Dr. Fate VI already) calls them “The Mystery Men” – though that is more accurate for Wildcat I than any other character in that sub-roster, who are more accurately called superheroes or magicians.
JSA #3 has a grating imbalance between the good guys and the bad guys in this storyline so far. The Injustice Society is shown to have not only recruited the Demons Three to help them, but it is hinted that they serve some major bad guy who is able to imprison Surtur in chains – Surtur, one of the DC Universe’s biggest, baddest bad guys. Meanwhile, for reasons that can only serve stretching out the story, the JSA continues to keep their most powerful reservists out of the fight.
Nowhere is their omission more curious than in the subplot about trying to solve what is keeping Jakeem Thunder (Johnny Thunder III) in a coma. Despite how important everyone agrees this is, Dr. Mid-Nite III has still not been called in to lend Dr. Mid-Nite II a hand, and Mr. Terrific II – the ‘Reed Richards’ of the DC Universe – is too busy with the Justice League these days to lend a hand.
Perhaps explaining this omission is how much time has passed. Despite how important time stamps were to understanding the flow of issue #2, we still have no clue how much time has passed since the start of issue #1 to the end of JSA #3. Days? Hours? If hours, maybe there just hasn’t been time to bring in back-up yet.
I am starting to wonder if Jeff Lemire actually wanted to write an Infinity Inc title, was told he had to write the Justice Society of America instead, and is still a bit miffed and taking it out on the older team. Very much of JSA #3 is devoted to making Hawman look weak, helpless, and dumb. At least he’s not dead, as he appeared to be last issue, but as I alluded to in my last review, this is Ragnarok – it’s been established in the past that you can’t die during Ragnarok, you just keep coming back and fighting the same battle between good and evil.
In JSA #3, Hawkman is a prisoner the entire time and his entire strategy for freeing himself is constantly trying, in vain, to break his bonds. Wotan even calls him out on this – “You’ve lived how many lives and you can’t figure a way out of this trap?” Hawkman is depicted as a rage machine who only knows violence, when longtime Hawman fans know he’s a master tactician with a brilliant mind. Surely he would have figured out a way to pit Ghast and Rath – the comic relief members of the Demons Three – against each other to his advantage by now.
My hope is that this seemingly dumb rage is going to turn out to be a brilliant strategy, that Hawkman is pulling a “Captain Pike in The Cage” routine to keep Wotan out of his head. Why might Hawkman suspect some mind games are at play? Because there’s things he’s being told that don’t make sense, like Rath telling him their wizards healed him, when Hawkman knows how Ragnarok works (the JSA was trapped here for years, fighting this battle over and over again).
To be fair, speedsters always get short shrift in a team book. Otherwise, the superhero who can take one hundred actions before the rest of the heroes can take one steals the show away from the rest of the team. So every writer has to find someway to sideline the speedster. For the first two issues, that was convincing us it was really important for Flash I to race around and check a seemingly infinite number of doors. Then, Grundy surprised Flash I – surprised him so much that Flash I wasn’t fast enough to move away when Grundy reached out to grab him. With JSA #3, Grundy is still holding onto Flash I so he can’t get away, with no explanation given for why Flash I doesn’t simply vibrate out of his grip, which is something Flashes can do. Is Flash I just biding his time, waiting for the villain monolog that never comes?
Green Lantern I has done little for three issues other than stand around and talk to people. He even tells Hawkgirl that if she wants to leave and search the entire Inferno of Ragnarok for Hawkman, he can’t stop her. Well…technically, yes you can, Green Lantern. You can create an energy construct of a big wall in front of her, you can conjure up a giant catchers mitt and pluck her out of the sky – you could even fly and go with her! You don’t have to let her do this alone unless it somehow serves the plot for issue #4.
Meanwhile, let’s check in on our three Infinity Inc members. Jade is still showing no leadership skills other than worrying and looking at pictures, but she is definitely beautiful, as drawn by Diego Olortegui, and Sand (Sandman II) is just drawn to her like a magnet. He makes a fair point – the JSA get very few downtime issues, so there’s probably going to be no slow day to ask her out, and he comes across as fairly decent and not a horndog in his request for her attention. Jade makes no mention of “You know, dating your coworkers just isn’t a good idea in any industry, plus I have a history of dating superheroes that hasn’t worked out for me.” She more tactfully just tables the discussion without any strong declaration of intent. Sand then promises to do more to help her – and then walks out of the room without telling her why or what he plans to do to help.
Obsidian’s powers are shown to be devastatingly effective, again, as happens every time Obsidian is flipped from good guy to bad guy. At least it’s Johnny Sorrow using them this time, though we don’t know how he’s doing it other than, eh, Johnny’s magic! Since Johnny Sorrow was created by Johns to be a threat for the whole team, it seems grossly unfair to ask Dr. Mid-Nite II to fight him alone, though I suspect she will use her blindness to her advantage, canceling out his greatest power.
As JSA #3 ends, we’ve seen little resolved. Dr. Fate VI seems to have rallied his confidence with Wildcat I’s help. The arrival of the surprise cameo hero at the end of this issue could be responsible for the JSA getting a lot of back-up help (expect Hawkman being “the man of a thousand lives” to be relevant next issue). And Dr. Mid-Nite II might be about to get her moment to shine.
Final Thoughts
Pacing continues to be slow, but things are setting up to maybe be big happenings next issue.
