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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As I slog thru Gog and Magog..., December 18, 2008
3.5 stars for this one.
SPOILERS alert, alerting you to SPOILERS.
Okay, this Kingdom Come arc is taking its sweeeeet time ending, with this trade being only the middle part of the thing. JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: THY KINGDOM COME Part 2 collects issues #13-18 and JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA Annual #1. There's some good stuff in here, and also some dull stuff. But if you're a JSA fan, you can't really pass this up.
The previous trade (Justice Society of America Vol. 2: Thy Kingdom Come, Part 1) told of the Kingdom Come Superman's shocking emergence from Starman's creation of a black hole. Naturally, this caused an instant uproar, upsetting the Justice Society, and, even more personally, JSA's chairwoman Power Girl. Power Girl had just had her closest tie to her original world vanish, with the death of the Earth-2 Superman (Infinite Crisis). The Kingdom Come (or Earth-22) Kal-El resembles Earth-2's version quite a bit, and Kara is shaken to the core.
Meanwhile, the JSA had begun a recruiting drive, fattening its ranks with an assortment of legacy heroes: from Black Lightning's daughter, unimaginatively codenamed "Lightning"; the new Amazing Man, grandson and heir to the original's self-transmutating abilities, the new Mr. America (an ex-FBI agent and profiler) and, most boringly, FDR's grandson Lance Corporal David Reid (FDR founded the JSA during WWII). And, of course, Jakeem Thunder would pick this time to come back to the JSA (good luck trying to get a room at the crowded JSA brownstone, buddy). Other than FDR's grandson, this glut of new people seems interesting. But *aargh* this means less camera time for my favorites, Jay Garrick, Stargirl, the schizophrenic Starman, and Cyclone.
Much of the focus in the prior trade was on the weathered, soul-beaten Kingdom Come Superman, who found a smidgen of hope in the JSA's still being active. He prayed that the JSA may help avert the same bleak future his own world had brought about. Old Supes would be pretty friggin' peeved off if he cracked open this trade.
We finally learn what the deal-io is with the serial killer going around incinerating the hearts of superbeings claiming god-like origins. The worrisome news is that this godslayer calls himself Gog, which reminds the suddenly even more concerned Kingdom Come Supes of Magog, who started the domino effect which tragically ended with a devastated Earth-22. Old Kal-El learns that the native Superman had been attacked by Gog more than a year ago. He flies to Metropolis to confer with his younger doppelganger, but before that he chances on Perry White conversing with Jimmy Olsen, and, soon after, Lois Lane. We then become witness to a splash page featuring a mild but pretty cool confrontation between the two Men of Steel ("Excuse me. Are you spying on my wife?"). Their talk (no, they don't mix it up) is cut off when old Supes hears nefarious doings up in Gotham City, and off the two streak away. In Gotham, they catch the last act of the Greek demigod Hercules getting his you-know-what handed to him by an off-screen Gog, who soon teleports away. The two Supes check on Hercules. He scoffs at them. Bring on the fighty fight.
One of the neat things we discover is the disparity in power between the two Supermen. This is demonstrated when Hercules sends our Superman hurtling into a building with one blow, and yet Hercules's same attack barely registers on the Kingdom Come Superman (dude doesn't even budge). The old Superman then calmly traps Hercules's next punch in his hand and proceeds to smite him a bit.
The story then goes Gog-heavy. It turns out this Gog walking around, committing murders, is just a precursor to the real thing, which is an honest-to-gosh god. But before that real thing, this Gog picks a fight with the JSA. Normally not a smart thing, but, apparently, this dude is a bad mutha. The last few pages of issue #14 and all of #15 are devoted to an extended brawl, as Gog pretty much pounds on the entire JSA (and this includes the heavy hitters). It ends in the Congo, as the real Gog erupts from the ground, a colossal deity sporting a damn creeepy grin. He announces to one and all that he means well, he comes in peace, blah blah blah. All the usual hooey which sends the superhero radar a-beeping.
Except that it seems Gog might actually mean it. He strolls thru Africa, eradicating disease and starvation. The JSA works in shifts, trailing Gog as he does his good works. And then Gog turns his gaze on the JSA and begins to cure what ails 'em. You can probably guess who he focuses on, but one in particular has immediate bearing. Gog says to Power Girl, "You are lost. You want to go home." He opens a whirlpool of space-time thingamafluffy and sends Power Girl thru it. Incrementally, Gog's miracles begin to create a divide between the JSA - those for Gog, those not.
This leads us to the Annual, as we find out that the almighty Gog has transported Power Girl to Earth-2, her home world. Except that I thought Earth-2 had stopped existing way back in Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the multiverse merged into one universe. Except that, now, after the events in 52, Vol. 4, we're back to having 52 parallel universes in DC. But is Earth-2 one of those 52 universes? The Annual doesn't enlighten us, although the first Crisis is acknowledged somewhat with a brief mention of "red skies." Power Girl, who's got to have the most convoluted origin ever, is at first disbelieving but is happy enough to find herself back home and back with her old friends, who should've been erased from history in the first Crisis. But Power Girl's best friend, Helena Wayne, the Huntress, is here and Power Girl helps her take down the Joker, who in this incarnation is old, be-wheelchaired, and wheezing into an oxygen mask, and still Evil with a capital E. The story ends with a twist. As we suspected, something is screwy with this Earth-2.
Elsewhere, two graverobbers enter a tomb, only to stumble onto Black Adam, who goes into his "Krrakooomm!" act. This is only a three page snippet, but it foreshadows the next story arc, should the present story arc actually finish up.
There's some good stuff in JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: THY KINGDOM COME Part 2. The Justice Society contains some of my favorite characters ever, and writer Geoff Johns introduces some intriguing newcomers (for some reason, I'm digging Mr. America, maybe because he doesn't have superpowers). If there's a superhero team who could out-family the Fantastic Four, it's the JSA, of which genealogy spans three generations. I also like the scale of the story, with the JSA taking on an all-powerful god and his ever freaky grin. And the awesome Kingdom Come Superman doing his thing in DC's mainstream continuity is a stroke of smarts.
But I do think there's fat in this grip of issues. In particular, issues #16, 17 and 18 are exercises in not much going on, a series of running-in-place interludes. Mostly, the JSA members follow Gog as he traipses thru Africa, waiting for him to transform into someone they could righteously stomp on. Issue #18 at least features a growling, nasty-tempered Hawkman and ends on a promising beat, as something ominous finally happens to solidify the old Superman's fears.
Even though I don't think writer Geoff Johns brings out his best stuff here, I'm bummed that he's leaving the title after issue #26. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any worthy replacement (maybe James Robinson? Kurt Busiek? Er... Roy Thomas?) Dale Eaglesham turns in his usual very solid artwork, until guest artist Fernando Pasarin steps in and provides stuff that is passable but not as satisfying as Dale's. Even Jerry Ordway, whose pencils I normally like, seems to be off his game (he draws the Annual and the last 2 pages of issue #18). What's more, Alex Ross's occasional painted interiors (a few panels here and there) continue to provide a jarring effect (but his covers remain earth-shatteringly good). But I'm starting to think of Eaglesham as the definitive JSA illustrator. He just brings these old- and new timers to vivid life.
As a bonus, there's Dale Eaglesham's two-paged splash of the entire JSA roster sitting for a Norman Rockwell painting. Pretty nifty.
Bring on Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come, Part 3. But, by Gog, let's get the conflict going already!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Story for America's First Superteam, April 15, 2009
I won't go into much detail about the "Thy Kingdom Come" story, but I am going to say that it is a great story. It suffers a little ending fatigue, but all in all, it's good. A problem arises concerning the Earth 22 Superman and his backstory. Although it is given in this storyline, one cannot fully appreciate this storyline without reading "Kingdom Come". And despite what others have said, this isn't so much a sequel to KC as it is a.... midquel, taking place during the events of KC as we see later.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable read, but I look forward to the last installment, January 3, 2009
Justice Society of America Thy Kingdom Come, Part Two was an enjoyable read, but I will be happy when the final installment comes out. DC is reestablishing its hero teams with brand new rosters. JSA is full to the brim with superheroes descended from classic characters. The team is way too big. Judging from the storyline, the team will become divided and a final lineup will be established. They are also playing around with Earth 2 and Kingdom Come story lines, which I fear will muddle the DC Universe. Too many characters, too many different coexisting universes. Yet I digress; the story behind this series of graphic novels is Kingdom Come a ground breaking graphic novel by Alex Ross. In the fore mentioned comic it is years in the future and the original superheroes have left the Earth in the hands of their children who are led by Magog. They are unruly and instead of helping humans they cause damage. In this graphic novel, Superman from the Kingdom Come world, is in the JSA world to help prevent Magog from becoming all powerful.
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