One of the weaker JSA (Justice Society of America) graphic novels, but still an enjoyable read. The graphic novel like many is basically a bundle of the individual comics in a particular story arc placed together. The JSA a super hero crime fighting team has many DC characters that DC fans will be familiar with such as Hawkman, the original flash, Wildcat etc and many others.
You don’t need to have picked up a JSA comic to enjoy this, but it will make a difference to the enjoyment. Having said that you need to jump in sometime if new to JSA comics, so why not start here?
This 2001 graphic novel has the mixture of older JSA members and the new younger generations working together, or trying to at the very least. That being a theme throughout especially with Black Adam teaming up with the JSA, which not all agree with.
Batman at the end makes an appearance to work with the JSA. A clever tie-in that allows the readers to rank the JSA through Batman’s eyes and work out their place in the DC world. At the other end of the scale it shows two young junior members of the team fighting with each other and then against Solomon Grundy.
The core story of this graphic novel is a competition venue where JSA members are forced to compete against each other. Be it fighting, a game of lethal chess or fight to survive a poison, they all were pretty interesting, just not gripping. Did I wonder how they would get out of a situation? Sure, was it as interesting as some of the other JSA story lines? Not as much.
This is still a good addition to my collection and being a fan of the JSA a good read. I’ve read this graphic novel three or four times at least and I’m sure I will revisit it again one day.
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