Before Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges begin their run on Justice Society of America, we get a two-part filler story by Jerry Ordway, the co-creator of Infinity, Inc., creator of The Power of Shazam!, and artist for parts of Geoff Johns’ run. As such, the story is, by its very nature, inconsequential. Now, I’m normally a fan of stories like this. However, I’m not liking this one so much. Atom Smasher chit-chats with Mister Bones, and we find out that Obsidian has sealed off the JSA headquarters because of something dangerous he senses. Hourman freaks out and tries to get in, and Stargirl gets possessed by some ghostly energy and forces her way through Obsidian’s barrier. Then, the danger Obsidian sensed, Kung, kidnaps Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Flash (Jay Garrick), Hourman, Wildcat, and Liberty Belle.
First of all, this issue has pretty horrible dialogue. You can just see how antiquated it is with every page. For example, Power Girl’s line to Atom Smasher: “That’s the wrong way to curl your hair, ‘Romeo!” BLECH! Juxtapose that with Ordway’s attempt to appeal to modern audiences with a reference to the popular manga/anime Death Note, and you know you’re in trouble. There’s nothing wrong with the plot itself, as it’s unimportant. I’m not a big fan of the character of Kung, especially considering the fact that no Japanese character would have that name. If you don’t know why, it’s because Japanese doesn’t have the sound “ng.” Kung is somewhat a product of Orientalism, a kind of Western prejudice towards Asia and the Middle East. So I don’t like that either. As for the art, Ordway’s work isn’t as bad as it was during the Black Adam storyline. It’s actually quite good most of the time, barring a few odd, eyeball-bulging faces. I guess all I can say is that you shouldn’t expect too much of filler. It’s not bad, but it’s not exciting. It is the very definition of meh.
Plot: 7.2 Art: 8.4 Dialogue: 4.5 Overall: 6.9
