JSA #77 Review

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Reviewer: Jesse Baker
Story Title: Mixed Signals

Written by: Geoff Johns
Penciled by: Jim Fern
Inked by: Mick Gray
Colored by: John Kalisz
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Publisher: DC Comics

What to say about this issue? On one hand, it reads like an unused Green Lantern script Geoff Johns churned out at 3 AM involving Geoff deciding to finally have Hal Jordan and Airwave Jr. meet after all this time and Hal’s assorted problems with the suits at DC. On the other hand, it’s an Infinite Crisis tie-in that actually matters! So for those non-regular JSA readers, this is a IC tie-in that you should actually buy since itactually makes an impact on advancing the plot.

Airwave Jr’s powers are going crazy, as he’s receiving radio wave messages from outer space and earth, which are overloading not only his powers but his brains. Alan Scott and Hal Jordan team up to find out what’s going on, and their quest leads them to Donna Troy, who brings news of a coming apocalypse brewing at the center of the universe. So the four decide to team up and go to the center of the universe to stop the impending crisis. Oh, and Fury and Dr. Fate wake up in the snow covered mountains, unsure of where they are or why they are where they are.

We also get a nice scene where the JSA talk about how 2/3rds the team is either injured, missing, or in a co-ed jail with Amanda Waller as their cellmate, and given how every other team in the DCU is a pathetic joke right now (especially the Titans and JLA) is a scary thing to think about.. The JSA has done more to save Earth from evil than any super-hero team since their reformation, and with the team at 1/3rd strength, that’s also a scary thing to think about. Especially when the only remaining members are mostly non-super powered beings whose only powers are turning into sand and having one’s eyes suddenly work in pitch black darkness.