Picking up directly after last month’s issue, JSA #20 throws some members of the JSA into the deeper DC Universe, and others into a pretty by-the-numbers fight with the Spectre. There are moments of excitement, intrigue, and danger but it’s not until the final page where the story really feels like it’s ratcheting up the action.
Immediately, the JSA is outmatched and overpowered by a rampaging, host-less Spectre. They decide the best thing to do is find the Spectre’s original host, Jim Corrigan and divide into two teams. One team is meant to fight and distract the Spectre long enough for the other team to find the only host who’s really shown an ability to control the vengeance of God.
So with an A story that’s built on action like fighting the Spectre, and a B story that’s built on revelations of the past, the book is constantly bouncing back and forth between high-octane fights with the Spectre and the other went to the House of Mystery, to learn what they could about the Spectre from Madame Xanadu.
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What’s most interesting about these two teams are their rosters. The surviving elder statesmen of the JSA throwing themselves at their old teammate, and the team meant to suss out an answer about how they can stop them is the younger kids on the team. It’s a fun dynamic because it makes the Spectre fight feel more personal. The younger team at the House of Mystery feels like kids in the basement going through their parents’ belongings in the attic and learning all this weird stuff about their past.
The fight with the Spectre was interesting but I feel like I’ve seen it before. Members are doing everything they can to slow the Spectre down, including taking on the role of host, which usually leads to the Spectre manipulating their powers in cool and terrifying ways. It reminds me of the embodiment entities from the Green Lantern series.
The real fun of this issue is the kids meeting Madame Xanadu at the House of Mystery. They learn the origin of Jim Corrigan, what he means to the JSA and the Spectre, and that’s all fine, but what’s really exciting is learning more about Kid Eternity. Their supernatural juju plays with Madame Xanadu’s magical juju and deepens the mystery of the character.
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Not as deep as the final page cliffhanger, which might feel really familiar to longtime readers of the JSA (check out issues #13-15 of the book from 2000 to see what I mean).
It makes some sense that Stargirl is there because, sure, next to Jay and Alan, she’s a spring chicken. That said she’s been attached to the team for so long it felt strange to have her lumped in and made to feel less old than she really is. Especially after the events of Stargirl: The Lost Children, I thought she’d be made to feel like a bigger part of the team, since she’s been on most of the modern formations of it in some way or another.
The pacing of this issue is whip fast, but everything still has enough time to breathe. My one point of contention about the handling of Courtney aside (and Jakeem for that matter, wth), I do like the way he wrote the two separate teams going through their respective trials. The action scenes were drawn exceptionally well, with a timeless quality for the heroes, but enough impressive detail packed between panels that really highlighted artist Diego Olortegui’s chops, along with some really nice gradient work on colors from Luis Guerrero.
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JSA #20 is a strange issue that’s half action and half revelation. While I was more into the revelation side of things than the familiar-feeling action, that action was nonetheless very pretty and fun to look out. The ending is, again, familiar, but it sets up a pretty exciting part 3 next month that folds the JSA into the bigger and wider DC Universe.
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