Just Stay at Home

Are the rest of y'all reading JSA All-Stars? I like the book well enough, but... It seems kind off off at times. Like, take the most recent issue. The team was having some serious troubles with the King of Tears, King Chimera was almost dead, and things didn't look good. Then Anna Fortune showed up to save the day.

Wait, Anna who? I assume this is a new character; I've never heard of her before. But here she comes out of nowhere to save the day. Deus Ex Machina, anyone?

Really, I was completely flabbergasted. I didn't know how to react to this sudden appearance of a character I've never heard of doing things I've never seen before. I mean, magic spells in bullets? Ankhs on her eyes? Are we really supposed to believe that Doctor Fate sent here?

And yet... Despite it all I think I like Anna Fortune. Don't ask me why; it's one of those irrational things you sometimes get about certain characters. Will she be joining the team? I certainly don't know. I'm not sure I want her to. But I do hope I see her again. If the team survives the mess she's gotten them into...

Doing my Friday post early today so that I don't forget to actually do it. I have a bad tendency to get busy on Friday nights and not post at all. I'm going to try to avoid that in this exciting new universe.

Anyway, the covers for the JSA family (wow, there's a JSA family now) have been posted over on the DCU Blog Let's see what's coming up, shall we?

Justice Society of America: Looks like we're getting a whole lotta Nazi in the main book. This isn't unprecedented, of course. The JSA has a long history of beating the crap out of Nazis. They make for easy villains as the only people who defend Nazis are Nazis themselves.

That said, if you take a look at the cover you'll see that it's missing something. Namely all the swastikas. I assume, of course, that they'll be added on for release in countries that don't have a ban on the symbol. I mean, it's not particularly effective with just circles. And if you take a close look you can see that they missed the on on Kid Karnevil's knife.

JSA All-Stars: I'm really excited to see Sand getting some face time again. Especially if it means he's going up against one of the best Golden Age villains not actually created in the Golden Age. Johnny Sorrow may be a modern invention, but he feels like he was created in the 1940's.

He's also really f%&#ing creepy. Now that we know he's been the villain behind things Icicle's remarks about meeting his boss being "the worst thing that ever happened to him" make perfect sense. Nobody wants to meet Johnny Sorrow. Ever.

Power Girl: I really like this cover. I especially like the fact that one of the guys is holding a copy of Jonah Hex. I wonder if (like in the Watchmen universe) non-superhero comics are the most popular in the DCU. If that's the case, I bet Jonah Hex is the number one seller.

Magog: Go away! Go away Magog! Go away and never come back!

Art sure is pretty, though.

Y'know, I'm starting to dig where the whole JSA All-Stars. I don't know exactly why. I should be mortified by any team that includes Magog. But there really are things about the previews (and the concept) that I really like. Here they are:

Cadre of mystery villains: I like superhero comics. I like mysteries. Ergo, I like superhero comics with mysteries. So far the mystery of who is out the kill the JSA is intriguing me. It's made even more intriguing by the fact that for some reason they want Stargirl to stay alive. I must read to find out why.

Communists androids: "Fourth Reich" has been done (and is being done again over in the main Justice Society of America book). But when was the last time you saw Neo-Soviets? They've got crazy high technology but they still use AK-47s! That's so adorable!

King Chimera: I guess I'm supposed to hate King Chimera, right? He's got that whole "I'm a cocky bastard so go ahead and hate me" thing going on. But I don't hate him for some reason. In fact, I think there's more to him that we see...

Matthew Sturges and artist Freddie E. Williams II: I've loved pretty much everything Matt Sturges has written. So that's a selling point there. As for Freddie Williams, his stuff has been hit or miss. JSA All-Stars? Big hit. I don't know what it is, but he's either really improved or he's doing something else. That art is fantastic.

Here's a few of the things I'm not so keen on:

Characters I don't care for: There are a number of characters on this team that I don't really like. Such as Wildcat II and Cyclone's damn monkey. But mostly Magog.

General confusion: When is this set? If you've been reading Blackest Night you know that one of those characters should have a smoking hole in his/her chest.

Magog: Look, I don't care what you do. I'm not going to like the guy.

Let's see if the good outweighs the bad when the book comes out. Is anybody else planning on picking it up?