Customer Reviews

JSA: Black Vengeance

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Who is Per Degaton? A tin-pot Napolean? A second rate fascist with a stolen time machine and dreams of world conquest? A feeble mortal who laughs at gods? However you define Degaton he is arguably the most dangerous foe the Justice Society has ever faced. A man who can kill a hero before he is even born. There was a reason Roy Thomas used Degaton to inaugurate the All-Star Squadron series.

With his time machine and gift of knowing key events in history Degaton can acquire weapons of the future to conquer the past in order to manipulate the present. Degaton has been unique among villains in that that his crimes, when unsuccessful, would fade away, forgotten even by Degaton himself who would return to his position as a lowly lab assistant cleaning beakers. In time Degaton broke free of his crime loop and became more of a pedestrian menace albeit one with a penchant for disappearing into the past or future. Nowadays Degaton whiles away his days observing events like the future deaths of JSA members while remaining just outside the time stream. His latest scheme is to bring a close to the days of super heroes starting in 1951 and it's up to the modern day JSA to bring the Golden Age heroes back together again. The new Mr. Terrific finds 1951 less than hospitable to a black man as he attempts to make contact with Terry Sloan. Meanwhile Stargirl ends up in a rubber room after trying to convince Ted "Starman" Knight that the future is in peril. The most poignant is Sand who finds the Golden Age Sandman watching over his own paralyzed body as the Creature in the Velvet Cage.

The focus of the story is on the interaction of the modern and golden age heroes. In fact the final confrontation with Per Degaton and his bio engineered killers from the future (The Red Morgue) is a bit of a letdown. I like the new Degaton. He reminds me of Metron except that instead of traveling through space he moves back and forward through the time stream. His latest scheme on the other hand is lacking a bit of finesse.

The second half of the book is a lead-up to the Infinite Crisis mini-series. The Specter attacks Black Adam's country of Khandaq as revenge for Adam's manipulation of Eclipso (which doesn't really make sense). It turns into a free for all with the Justice Society attacking The Specter, Black Adam attacking the Justice Society and The Specter attacking everyone. Watching more heroes throw themselves upon the Specter like waves on a break wall gets tiresome after awhile. I wasn't a fan of Day of Vengeance and this is more of the same. I think we've all concluded the Specter is invincible.

JSA continues to impress with challenging stories that develop the characters. This one is about crossing the "line" and redemption after one has crossed that line. It closes alot of open storyline and prepares all for the "Infinite Crisis"
Artwise, very good. They have Keith Champange and Leonard Kirk doing a wonderful job with the golden age heroes. Champange I like more because of his detail but all the art is good. Make sure you pick it up