Science's Less Accurate Grandmother: Review: Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice by Len Strazewski, Grant Miehm, Mike Parobeck, Tom Artis, Rick Burchett, et al.

06 September 2021

Review: Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice by Len Strazewski, Grant Miehm, Mike Parobeck, Tom Artis, Rick Burchett, et al.

Collection published: 2020
Contents originally published: 1951-91
Acquired: January 2021
Read: June 2021

Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice

Written by Len Strazewski, John Broome, and Paul Levitz

Pencils by Rick Burchett, Grant Miehm, Mike Parobeck, Tom Artis, Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy, and Joe Staton

Inks by Rick Burchett, Grant Miehm, Frank McLaughlin, Frank Giacoia, Bernard Sachs, and Joe Staton

Colored by Tom Ziuko, Robbie Busch, and Adrienne Roy

Lettered by Janice Chiang and Ben Oda

Roy Thomas's work in the DC universe came to an end in 1989, with the publication of the final issue of The Young All-Stars. (On a regular basis, anyway; he would return for one-offs like All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman over the years.) Less than two years later, one of his long-term dreams would finally come to fruition: fifty years after their debut, the Justice Society of America received a self-titled comic!

Justice Society of America vol. 1 was an eight-issue miniseries consisting of Vengeance from the Stars!, a story set during the Golden Age. Just this year, in a bit of fortuitous timing for me, it was collected in a nice hardcover edition under the title The Demise of Justice, along with two extra stories, both "final" adventures for the JSA: their last Golden Age appearance from 1951's All Star Comics #57 and the retconned story of their disbanding from 1979's Adventure Comics #466. Justice Society #8 actually sets up Adventure #466, and Adventure #466 mentions All Star #57, so the whole thing reads pretty well. (The book also contains a foreword by Mark Waid, where he gives exposition on ten JSA members... six of whom do not actually appear in the main story... but doesn't give any background on one who does... the woman one... hmmmm...)

A writer who has Black Canary rock up to a crime scene on her motorcyle is a writer who gets it.
from Justice Society of America vol. 1 #2 (script by Len Strazewski, art by Grant Miehm)

Vengeance from the Stars! is a great little story, using its somewhat broader canvas to good effect. The first four issues focus on, in turn, the Flash, Black Canary, Green Lantern, and Hawkman, each reacting to a crisis as America's power grid is dismantled by a shadowy figure, and as they come under attack by living constellations. Then #5 is a Flash and Hawkman team-up, #6 is a Black Canary and Green Lantern team-up, and #7-8 bring together all four characters along with Starman. It's a really pleasing structure, ensuring that each JSA member gets some great moments in the spotlight, and also giving you the fun of them teaming up together; it feels triumphant when all five of them come together at the end because the anticipation has been building for six issues.

This artist is good at giving the Flash those heroic eyebrows.
from Justice Society of America vol. 1 #1 (script by Len Strazewski, art by Rick Burchett)

I didn't think I'd ever read anything by Len Strazewski before (I just checked, and it looks like only his Phantom Lady feature in Action Comics Weekly), but this shows him to be a solid, un-pretentious writer. The story takes the sensibilities of the Golden Age JSA and updates them without losing what made them charming to begin with. There are a lot of fight scenes, which in the hands of a lesser writer would annoy me, but each issue's fight is distinct, and there's a lot of focus on how each member of the JSA thinks their way out of the problem using their unique abilities. The eight issues give each encounter space to breathe. There are a lot of nice touches here, like Hawkman's Native American archaeologist friend or the way Solomon Grundy is woven into the story. Strazewski has a great handle on Black Canary, who's my favorite of the five characters spotlighted here.

Sorry for the gutter loss.
from Justice Society of America vol. 1 #4 (script by Len Strazewski, art by Tom Artis & Frank McLaughlin)

I was a bit worried by the fact that the eight issues feature four different pencillers and three different inkers, but there are no hasty fill-ins here. Each artist does a great job of capturing character and action, and the style is the late 1980s/early 1990s, pre-computer coloring one that is my favorite. If all comics looked like this I wouldn't complain!

This comic might contain the only appearance of Doiby Dickles I haven't hated.
from Justice Society of America vol. 1 #6 (script by Len Strazewski, art by Tom Artis & Frank McLaughlin)

After this, Strazewksi, along with Parobeck (who pencilled #3 and 5), put out a short-lived Justice Society ongoing, and on the basis of this, I am looking forward to reading it. It did strike me that I don't think there are any references to any post-Crisis retcons; this could be set on pre-Crisis Earth-Two without any issues.

I know I'm putting too much thought into it, but surely the criminals would expect "English [detective] methods," and so it would make more sense for the JSA to use methods that don't match the countries they've been assigned to?
from All Star Comics #57 (script by John Broome, art by Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs)

The bonus issues are nice. All Star #57 is dumb, of course, like most Golden Age JSA stories, but I appreciate its inclusion. The JSA put on a detective exhibition (!?) featuring the world's four greatest detectives; a villain kidnaps them right from under the JSA's noses, and so the JSA has to substitute for them back in their home countries. Adventure #466 has a frame set in the then-present featuring Huntress and Power Girl; I skipped the frame (I had read it before, in Only Legends Live Forever) so that I was immersed in the 1950s for my reading experience.

This post is twentieth in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers Armageddon: Inferno. Previous installments are listed below:

All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)

The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)

All-Star Squadron (1981-87)

Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)

Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)

Showcase Presents... Power Girl (1978)

America vs. the Justice Society (1985)

Jonni Thunder, a.k.a. Thunderbolt (1985)

Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 7 (1983-85)

Infinity, Inc. #11-53 (1985-88) [reading order]

Last Days of the Justice Society of America (1986-88)

All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant (1999)