JSA, Vol. 5: Stealing Thunder
Story:
Art:

Written by Geoff Johns & David Goyer
Pencils by Leonard Kirk, Stephen Sadowski, Peter Snejbjerg & Keith Giffen
Inks by Keith Champagne, Peter Snejbjerg, Andrew Pepoy & Al Milgrom
Colors by John Kalisz
Letters by Ken Lopez

Published by DC Comics.
Contents: Collects issues 32-38.
Price: $14.95

My Verdict: It's not Rock of Ages, but it's pretty damn good.

It's no secret that the Justice Society of America has more members than the Red Hot Chili Peppers have had guitarists. Their youngest member is Jakeem Thunder, a kid who basically lucked out by receiving (by mistake) the pen in which Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt now resides. However, Jakeem's dreams of becoming a full-on superhero get thrown by the wayside when Johnny himself shows back up and wants his Thunderbolt back. And since the back of the trade paperback gives it away, I'll go ahead and tell you--it ain't Johnny. It's really the Ultra-Humanite, and if you're familiar at all with this particular JSA villain, you can just imagine what almost unlimited power via the 5th Dimension would wreak in his hands.

This is a fascinating story arc. What I find most about Johns' work is that he's a lot like the Dean Koontz of comics: his concepts are bizarre and original and wonderful, it's just that his execution suffers. Normally, it's just holes--lapses in the brilliant concept as it plays out in full story form--that get me with his stuff. Here it's fairly solid from end to end, and perhaps I feel better because I know what's going on. I remember picking up an issue in the middle of this and having no clue what in the hell was happening--another of one my attempts to get into the regular title. Here, though, the things that normally turn me off--the massive and unwieldy cast and the holes--seem to be under control. Even some of the concepts that could be cheeseball--the Hourman's "gifts" from his android predecessor, the Icicle finding himself thrown in with the good guys, and the final fate of Johnny Thunder--are handled quite deftly.

I was impressed. The pencils, the majority of which was provided by Kirk, is good and solid (although at one point Hector Hall grows an entire beard between issues--eh?). Giffen's aping (no pun intended) of Kirby, was a little jarring, but it was short and easy enough to get through.

All in all, perhaps these things are better suited to trade length stories, so that way your brain (or at least my brain) doesn't get lost in all the characters and subplots and stuff while waiting thirty days between episodes. That's an experiment I'll be trying further. In the meantime, though, this is recommended as a great read--it's worthy of what we wish the JLA book would get up to...ah, but maybe someday.

Quote: "Whoa. Let me get this straight, Webster. You gave a genie of unlimited power to the Ultra-Humanite? Hh. And you call me a 'bad guy'."