In this review of JSA #16, everything’s coming together. But does that mean everybody wants to work together?
JSA #16
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by GAVIN GUIDRY
Main Cover: DAVE JOHNSON
Variant Cover: MATT TAYLOR
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 2/4/26
This review contains spoilers
JSA #16 opens with Dr. Fate still trying to get through to Corrigan about the Spectre. All Corrigan’s gotten from his time with Spectre is a front-row seat to the worst of humanity. But Fate assures him that humanity is so much more than its worst.
Segue to the Gotham Airstrip. After their encounter with Tigress in the past issue, Hippolyta and Atom have found out that Sportsmaster was involved with everything and have come there to stake the place out. As they keep an eye on the situation, Hawkman and Hawkgirl turn up and the beatdown begins. Hippolyta and Atom go to join in. On the side of the Nazi-friendly faction (albeit somewhat reluctantly) is Cyclotron.
Meanwhile, Alan goes to speak with William Baze, wondering if he’d noticed how paranoid Gordon seemed to be pre-murder. Baze acts shocked at first, and offers him a drink…a drink that he’s drugged, all but confirming that he’s part of this conspiracy.
In the subway, Johnny’s trying to get Flash to team up, but Flash still isn’t quite sure…After a bit more conversation, Thunderbolt teleports all of them to the Airstrip. Johnny and Flash bring up the possibility of the team-up, but the accusations soon come up about getting in the way, stepping on toes, and the groups split (for now).
Under Starco Labs, Hourman and Sandman realize they’d seen this experiment before: he’d been an Olympic gold medalist. He recounts how he got to the position they found him in, and the two heroes assume that it was Cyclotron behind it all…but no.
Going back to Alan, he learns that the man he’d been speaking with wasn’t William Baze at all. Rather, he was the Ultra-Humanite (and the mastermind behind everything happening here).
Here it is. It’s the chapter of this story where everything clicks together. While I’ve been enjoying this plotline so far, JSA #16 may be the best installment yet.
And even though it does bring the threads together, it’s clearly not over yet. It’s clear that the characters would all form the JSA at some point, yes. But it’s not something that happens immediately upon punching Nazis together (though that’s always a good first step). It’s more of a process, and I can definitely appreciate that. The fact that their opponents got away probably doesn’t help matters, of course.
I do wonder how long the process would take, though, given how the team-up spectrum ranges from “Let’s do this!” (courtesy of Johnny and Thunderbolt) to “Just get the hell outta my way…” (Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Hippolyta, Atom). Flash is somewhere more in the middle, but probably a bit closer to the “Let’s do this!” end than the other.
The reveal of the Ultra-Humanite was nicely done. During the meeting between Alan and “Baze”, he’s doing an excellent job of playing innocent. But the insistence on Alan having a drink made me a little suspicious. A suspicion that paid off soon enough. .
With the pieces of the main plan put together, I’m looking forward to seeing where things go from here.
In terms of art in JSA #16, I’m loving some of the facial expressions again. When Baze is denying any knowledge of Gordon’s murder, he looks appropriately shocked and horrified. As his true nature seeps in, his face slowly changes, and that’s rendered quite well, I think.
I’m also a fan of the fight scenes, and how the poses flow across the page. It’s a consistent joy in this series, and I’m always appreciative of it. And when someone lands a punch, it looks like it’d hurt without going too over the top about it.
Final Thoughts
We may not have all of the pieces in place just yet, but JSA #16 gives us the best look at the full picture yet.
