JSA: Fair Play (Book 4) [Paperback]

David S. Goyer (Author), Geoff Johns (Author), Stephen Sadowski (Illustrator), Rags Morales (Illustrator), Derec Aucoin (Illustrator), Derec Donovan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2003

Before the JLA, the Justice Society of America was Earth's mightiest defender, and now - revived and rejuvenated, featuring a dynamic roster of superheroes including The Flash, Hawkgirl, Starman, Wildcat and Black Canary - they are once more ready to stand and fight against the forces of destruction. It's all change for the JSA in this thrilling collection, as new heroes are added to their roster - and even a reformed villain! But the team are going to need all the heroes they can get, because they've been targeted by a mysterious power-broker and game-player named Roulette! The JSA are awesomely powerful when battling villains...but how will they do when they're pitted against each other?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Goyer is the screenwriter of the international hit movies Blade and Blade 2 He has also worked on DC's acclaimed Starman. Geoff Johns is the regular JSA writer; his other work includes Flash and Hawkman. Stephen Sadowski is the regular penciller of JSA, and has also worked on Mystery Men and Starman.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Titan (May 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840236280
• ISBN-13: 978-1840236286
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,635,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He began his comics career creating and writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. for DC Comics.

His first comic assignment led to a critically acclaimed run on the The Flash and JSA for DC Comics. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and imaginative writers in comic books today, working on titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, The Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin, Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005 and 2007 and 2008 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff penned the acclaimed "Legion" episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as a writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN. Geoff is currently working on film projects with Warner Brothers to be announced soon.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank among many others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fair Play More Than Fair!, August 4, 2003

By 

TheIntruder - See all my reviews

This review is from: JSA: Fair Play (Book 4) (Paperback)

JSA Fair Play maintains the high standards of the previous three collections in the series. In my oppionion its better than the last two but not quite as good as the first. This trade resolves, at least for now, the issue of Black Adam, a former villain, being on the team. It also features the introduction of a major new villain (Roulette), the deaths of one or two minor DC characters, a new JSA member and a new JSA chairman.

Roulette runs a modern-day version of a Roman gladiator arena in which superheroes are forced to kill each othher for the plesure of paying customers (mainly supervillains). JSA members are placed in difficult circumstances and I must commend Johnss on thinking up some truly original ways of getting them out.

The relationships between Star and JJ Thunder is also developed here but much more central to the story is Hawkman and Hawkgirl's relationship, which also goes through some changes.

My only complaint is that didn't like the way that Batman was handled in this book. Just like James Robinson's handling of him in Starman, Batman comes off as immature, which is inconsistent of his handling in other comics such as JLA where he is a bad {guy}. Batman is protective of his city and has trouble letting people get close to him, but he has many times in the past worked perfectly well with other characters and teams. The Batman here is closer to the Batman we saw in Giffen's Justice League, which was more or less a parady of superhero teams and was done for laughs more than anything else. It short: it worked there, but it doesn't work here. Also, his appearance doesn't seem necessary with him doing very little against that issue's main antagonist. I got to admit that it does answer the question of what Batman's oppinion is of the new JSA being based in Gotham, which I myself have been wondering, but so far at least, nothing significant has come of it.

I liked Captain Marvel's appearance much better although he didn't seem as innocent as he did in the past. Got to admit though that I haven't followed his adventures in years and it may be that he was developed this way.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!!, August 9, 2003

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JSA: Fair Play (Book 4) (Paperback)

DC is successfully revitalizing the classic super-hero team, the JSA, the Justice Society of America. With a mixture of classic heroes and renewed characters, the team has all of the flash (no pun intended) and excitement of modern heroes, plus all of the character and appeal of the Golden Age heroes!

This book contains JSA issues 26-31 plus JSA SECRET FILES #2. In the desert of Nevada, Roulette runs a secret gambling den for super-villains, where superheroes are brought and forced to fight to the death. When she kidnaps the bulk of the JSA, they must use their talents and teamwork to overthrow this evil. But, for those left behind, there is no time to rest, when Solomon Grundy shows up looking for some more people to kill!

I must admit that I loved this book. I have always loved the Golden Age comics, and felt that no one knew how to write stories like that any more. Well, I have been proved wrong. This is a great graphic novel, one that you will love to read, and love handing off to your children (like my own ten-year-old). My son and I both highly recommend this book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Return of classic superheroes along with some young guns!, January 18, 2009

By 

W. Rabeneck "billyrayhombre09" (Arkansas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: JSA: Fair Play (Book 4) (Paperback)

I've been a fan of Justice Society since the mid-1970s when All-Star Comics 3 was re-released.

They've been updated and brought into modern times. But it's still a talented group of writers and artists that are doing today's stories.

Great heroes! Great series!