Justice Society of America #17 Review

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #17
Written by Geoff Johns and Alex Ross
Art by Dale Eaglesham and Prentis Rollins

This is another "Gog shows how great he is and proves he's not evil" issue and is, for all intents and purposes, another setup issue that seems to be what every issue of JSA has been since Thy Kingdom Come started, but I can't help but enjoy it when Johns puts out a book as good as this one was.

The best thing about this issue has to be the character moments.  

The best thing about this issue has to be the character moments. Whether it was Damage and Cyclone's chat, which featured a very cute Cyclone who seemed tongue tied around Damage, who's all smiles after his face was restored by Gog last issue, or Mr Terrific confronting his own lack of faith or just the small things and one line sentences that seemed to capture the essence of every character in this issue, such as Stargirl lamenting about how she used to feel useless when she first started or Gog's "gifts" to the heroes, where Sandman was given a good night's sleep or Wonder Woman's confronting of Gog, they were all excellent scenes and Johns managed to make me feel like I know every single character featured in this issue. And that's quite a feat when the cast is as large as this book's and that's before we count the guest starring Justice League.

The character moments weren't the only things that happened in this issue. Gog's so-called gifts to the heroes could easily be miscontrued as simply eliminating the stronger characters, such as taking Sandman out of action for the next 24 hours with his "good night's sleep" or the spiriting away of Power Girl to Earth-2, which she apparently has always wished for. These gifts could easily cause rifts in the team with those, like Damage, that love what Gog has done for them more than likely siding with Gog in any future events.

There was one thing I wasn't happy with and that was the restoring of Starman's mind, which even he says is "a bad thing". Not sure why he would say that, but I'm going to miss his hilarious rambling. Sloppy Joe Wednesdays will never be the same.

The ending to this issue promises some conflict in the next issue with Gog enraged and screaming he will eradicate war after he senses some violence near by. Will he resolve this peacefully or will it lead to bloodshed and divisions within the JSA and JLA over what to do about Gog?

Verdict - Must Read. It took a while, but JSA seems to be back on track after the slow and filler-like Thy Kingdom Come issues and Gog's creepy smile still gives me nightmares. Can't wait to see where this goes in upcoming issues.

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