In this review of JSA #17, the prospect of a multi-hero team-up is raised yet again. And this time, it might stick!
JSA #17
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by GAVIN GUIDRY
Main Cover: DAVE JOHNSON
Variant Covers: MATT TAYLOR, DIEGO OLORTEGUI
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 3/4/26
This review contains spoilers
JSA #17 picks up right where number sixteen left off: Ultra-Humanite and Alan facing off. Alan breaks out his Green Lantern powers, and Ultra-Humanite tells him about how he’d killed Gordon. He describes his motivations behind trying to collapse the Gotham subways…He wants to get into Hitler’s good graces before assuming his identity and all that’d come with it. But soon, two more join the fray: Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
Hippolyta and Atom, meanwhile, get to Starco and discuss the Hawks and their own team-up, before finding that someone else has dealt with the guards. Flash and Johnny are already there…but knocking out the guards isn’t their doing, either. Since all four of them are on the same side, they decide to cooperate.
The villains, for their part, decide that they need to pack up their experiments and get the hell to Germany NOW, because of the sheer number of people out to stop them. Cyclotron’s having second thoughts about his role, having only gone along with the whole thing in the first place to get funding for his research. They’re planning to blow the lab up on their way out, as well.
Back with Hourman and Sandman, Hourman takes a second dose of Miraclo in a relatively short time and manages to free Everett. As they’re looking for the exit, they find Flash and the others, who are eventually joined by the Hawks and Alan.
After a little bit of bickering between Atom and Hawkman, the whole group is filled in on the plan. But then they hear the beeping…BOOM!
We then get a brief present day scene, where Flash has been, well, flashing back to those days. He and Alan talk, wondering if it’s time for the JSA to end. But then Jade and Obsidian show up to remind them that the world does still need them. Yes, there’ve been a few setbacks and roster changes. But some that had left might one day return, some that’d wanted to leave stayed on, and Atom Smasher and Stargirl are ready to rejoin the team.
Loved seeing things come together this time around: both the full plan and the first iteration of the JSA itself. There were more and more pieces of Ultra-Humanite’s plot revealed throughout this storyline, and now the full picture is there.
His plan being “impress then become the leader of the Reich” is definitely a bit warped. The part about impressing one’s horrible idol is bad enough. But when someone wants to replace him—not for sabotage purposes, but because they want that power, it speaks to a special level of moral bankruptcy that makes one look forward to their eventual, inevitable defeat.
And I definitely look forward to seeing that, now that the whole band’s gotten together. In terms of the heroes of this story, we’ve got some nice character moments going on. Like when Johnny compliments Atom on his costume, and Atom pauses for a moment before explaining that his mom made it.
That pause can be interpreted in a few different ways (particularly if someone’s not as well-versed in this particular set of characters): either as “Well, that wasn’t a question I expected”, “a case of “I already get enough crap about my height, and if I cop to my mom having made it, that could make it worse”, or it being a keepsake from her after an untimely passing. Either way, that little moment right there is an indication that he and his mom have a solid relationship.
I also enjoy that scene where they all ultimately decide to work together. The writing feels right for the characters, and it’s got some solid visuals. A favorite panel of mine is that confrontation between Hawkman and Atom, where the artist got to play with the height difference between them. And in the background, we see Hippolyta and Hawkgirl both looking quite unimpressed at the male posturing, each in her own way (one with an eye roll and a dismissive sort of “Whoop-de-freaking-do” hand gesture, the other apparently wondering if she’s dealing with her husband or an overgrown child).
And then we get that scene at the very end, after the chapter-ending explosion that I anticipate seeing the aftermath of next month. On the one hand, it’s great seeing the present day crew again, and the re-additions to the team. On the other, it’s making me wonder if the next set of issues will be split between the two timelines as the Spectre’s brought more fully into the story.
Final Thoughts
Welp, we’ve finally got the team together, and with a couple of former members rejoining the fold in the present day, I’d say things with the JSA run are going well so far. Some entertaining character moments, the completed puzzle of the villain’s plan, and a cliffhanger that’s got me eager for issue 18.
