JSA, Vol. 9: Lost

JSA (1999)

by Geoff Johns (Writer), Sean Phillips (Artist), Tom Mandrake (Artist)

Featuring a thrilling story arc and a tie-in to Identity Crisis! The JSA visit old friends and new as they rectify injustices, aware that as they fix one problem, an even larger one is brewing in the timestream!

collecting: JSA 59-67

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Geoff Johns originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Media Arts and Film. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s in search of work within the film industry. Through perseverance, Geoff ended up as the assistant to Richard Donner, working on Conspiracy Theory and Lethal Weapon 4. During that time, he also began his comics career writing Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and JSA (co-written with David S. Goyer) for DC Comics. He worked with Richard Donner for four years, leaving the company to pursue writing full-time.

His first comics assignments led to a critically acclaimed five-year run on the The Flash. Since then, he has quickly become one of the most popular and prolific comics writers today, working on such titles including a highly successful re-imagining of Green Lantern, Action Comics (co-written with Richard Donner), Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, Infinite Crisis and the experimental breakout hit series 52 for DC with Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Geoff received the Wizard Fan Award for Breakout Talent of 2002 and Writer of the Year for 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 as well as the CBG Writer of the Year 2003 thru 2005, 2007 and CBG Best Comic Book Series for JSA 2001 thru 2005. Geoff also developed BLADE: THE SERIES with David S. Goyer, as well as penned the acclaimed “Legion” episode of SMALLVILLE. He also served as staff writer for the fourth season of ROBOT CHICKEN.

Geoff recently became a New York Times Bestselling author with the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac with art by Gary Frank.

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a collection of many short stories and I loved it!

It has the story with Spectre and the return of "Spirit king" and whats going on with Hal and I love how it involves different members and the big story with the return of Hourman and I won't lie that one almost made me tear up, that maybe one of Johns best stories in the book and I just loved it and then I love the way Johns ties in Identity crisis and what happens there plus the drama of it all and then the big storyline to come with "Per degaton" next and yeah its gonna be epic! Also the return of
Sand" and that one <3! So yeah i definitely recommend this one! Johns epic saga continues!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of comic book history first. The JSA are superheroes best known from the Silver Age (1956 to 1970 traditionally) though they go back further and many of them were earlier models of the current superheroes (compare the flashes, for instance). When they were reinvented it was decided these superheroes existed on Earth Two. Traditionally the JSA have been more about the “moral right” than the JLA “greater good” approach.

Anyway . . . this graphic novel is about the many sacrifices made by the JSA. There are a lot of stories in this tale and the creative team does a good job of juggling the many characters in this tale.

There's a lot to say about this graphic novel and rather than giving spoilers I will list some tidbits and focuses (spoilers below): (1) recovering Sandman; (2) tie ins to “Infinite Crisis” (though it's nothing big); (3) HourMan (father & son); (4) Dealing with the somewhat out of control Spectre; (5) Old Flash versus the Spirit King and the fallout; (6) Dead Before Dawn JSA Style; (heh); and (7) Mr. Terrific's small story.

Writing by Geoff Johns. Artwork by a ton of people. Here are but a few randomly: Dave Gibbons, Jared K. Fletcher nad John Kalisz.

ARTISTIC PRESENTATION: B to B plus; CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE (includes juggling a huge ensemble): B plus; STORY/PLOTTING/PANELS: B to B plus; ACTIONS SCENES: B; JSA MYTHOLOGY: B plus; OVERALL GRADE: B to B plus; WHEN READ: mid to late November 2012.

SPOILERS: The journey to recover Sandman was the most interesting overall travel to other worlds. Note that Sand became one with the Earth to maintain it whole during a previous crisis.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read JSA I sometimes wish it was the only comic being published about the DC universe, because it's here that it all makes sense. The characters have a past, present and a future, into which they are moving, rather than being stuck in an eternal present.

[Evan]

I've caught up on the published compendiums on Johns' JSA run - Book Five only just came out this past March, but I've got 30 or so issues left, and the Omnibus editions collect a bunch of stuff that I'm not sure I want to read just yet, so... onto the trade paperbacks it is! It's going to inflate my reading challenge numbers more than I'd like, which is annoying. But here's the thing: if the Omnibuses weren't like $100 apiece, I'd buy them all and read the complete editions. But I can't get my hands on them.

Anyway. This volume is about sacrifice. It's really dense with dialogue, but I loved all the intimate character focused stuff - P.G. and Wildcat’s banter, Terrific and Mid-Nite’s musings on faith, Rick and Rex Tyler’s family-focused travails through time... I'll lap it all up. Per Degaton hangs out in the background the entire time, presumably leading up to the next major arc (it's great foreshadowing, considering it doesn't pay off this entire volume). I did have to google why Hal Jordan was Spectre though - someday I'll catch up on Green Lantern but for now I'm mostly confused. I liked the Sandman dreamworld stuff, too. God, I love these characters so much.

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu queria gostar mais da Sociedade da Justiça, eu acho a ideia interessante, mas sei lá, não consigo me prender nas histórias deste grupo, mesmo com o bom roteiro de Geoff Johns trazendo eles para a era moderna de uma forma inteligente. De qualquer forma, de todos os compilados, este foi o que mais me prendeu até o momento, junto com o capítulo #54.

Aqui há 3 mini histórias:

Redemption Lost
Eventos do passado e presente envolvendo Hal Jordan/Jim Corrigan/Espectro enquanto enfrenta dificuldade em manter a entidade do Espectro.
Walking the Sandman
Essa história envolve o novo Sandman (Sanderson Hawkins), e aqui menciona timidamente eventos que ocorreram no Sandman do Neil Gaiman envolvendo a Hypolita Hall, Hector Hall e os pesadelos Bruto e Glob que tentavam dominar o Sonhar usando um herói criado por eles chamado Sandman após o Sonho dos Perpétuos ser encarcerado. Aqui, Bruto e Glob tentam fazer algo parecido com o novo Sandman (Hawkins). Obs: Senti falta de algum "easter egg", nem que fosse tímido, da Hypolita Hall com Daniel Hall.
Out of Time
Essa história envolve o Homem Hora, que apesar de ser bem escrito e muito bom, não conseguiu me prender ao ponto de me interessar em ler mais histórias do Homem Hora no futuro.

[Raul Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 as a whole but here’s the rating for each arc

Redemption:
3
It was pretty overstuffed with storylines, which at points made the book confusing. I also don’t understand why Mr. Terrific accepting faith is seen as character growth. Especially since it’s never followed up on.
Waking the Sandman:
I don’t really know why they brought him back if he hasn’t done anything since, and the Doctor Fate connections didn’t really work for me.
Out of Time: 3.5
Very happy that we have a storyline that just focuses on one character since Rex and Rick’s relationships is very interesting. I hope we have more storylines like this in the future that just hone down on one character.
The Autopsy: 4
I’m shocked that I liked it as much as I did since it was just an Identity Crisis tie-in but every mostly vignette really told you a lot about each character’s psyche which is what I like.

Overall, I think that I’ll enjoy Geoff John’s solo time more than the David S Goyer stuff that he was cowriting since we really focused in on the characters this volume.

[Duncan]

A decent enough storyline throughout much of the book, but Johns reminds us once again, that he cannot POSSIBLY write a story ALL the way through without killing something - in this case, the ORIGINAL Justice Society of America.
Waay back in the 1960s, a half-a-hundred years ago and more, DC brought BACK the Justice Society, in a way nobody had anticipated: They were inhabitants of another Earth, a scientifically plausible explanation that covered all the bases. Why Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and their sidekicks had not aged, why there were different Flashes, Green Lanterns, Hawkmen, Atoms, all with slightly to vastly different powers, how one hero could be inspired by a comic book he himself had read about another hero, to take up his mantle, and, of course the absence of certain heroes from mainstream continuity who nonetheless managed occasional adventures.
Then Marv Wolfman's Folly happened, because Jenette Kahn, in her infinite senility, had decided that it would be an official GREAT idea to wipe out half of the heroes in their lineup, and WE got landed with, well, Giffen and Johns. PROBLEM: Wolfman hadn't managed to actually murder anyone from Earth-2. Solution: Johns and Giffen got to start murdering them and shitting all over their memories, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. The final scenes in the last pages of this collection bear this out, and THAT'S why this gets NO stars from me.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contains JSA 59-67

Consisting of Redemption Lost, Waking the Sandman, and Out of Time, as well as a tie-in to Identity Crisis, the major theme of this volume is sacrifice. A lot of it focuses on Hourman (both father and son), and Sandman, both characters who have given their lives to help save the planet, in some form or another. The father/son Hourman dynamic continues to be a compelling one, and the time paradox stuff is all par for the course. I think that after the epics of Black Reign and Princes of Darkness, Johns wanted to go for some shorter arcs, but, although each story is shorter, they’re still fairly wide in scope. But that’s not to say they aren’t character-focused as well; one of the things that makes Geoff Johns a truly great comic writer is his ability to center universe spanning stories around believable personalities who grow with time. This volume is no exception.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume had just too many stories thrown together. It starts out with a Spectre story that is somewhat of a prequel to Green Lantern: Rebirth, which mostly through around the words redemption and vengeance. Then, Sand came back--for some reason the JSA had to rescue him from both the earth and his own mind. The third storyline wraps up what happens with all the Hourmen (though I was disappointed with which Hourman ends up sacrificing himself for the other two). There's also an Identity Crisis tie in, that puts a damper on the fun of the JSA's superheroics.
So, some of the stories (especially the Hourmen one) were hits, but others (I'm looking at you, Spirit of Vengeance) were misses.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice to have some shorter character pieces. The Per Degaton one-off is absolutely great [8/10]. The 3-part Spectre story doesn’t grab me as much, perhaps because I’ve never been that fond of the Jordan Spectre. There’s just too much whining and whinging going on [6.5/10]. The Sand story is nice for its connections to Gaiman’s Sandman and for its focus on Power Girl [7.5/10]. The Hourman story is another strong one, thanks to its solid basis in continuity and its moving storyline [8/10]. The final, Identity Crisis story is a bit fragmentary, but another nice character piece [8/10].

[Kevin Findley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid stories for the most part, but the Identity Crisis tie-in really brought down the average. I also did not like how the events of Zero Hour were side-stepped with the Android Hour-man so Rex Tyler could return.

Still better than much of what is being published today.

Find it. Buy it. Read it!

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was probably inevitable that, with Geoff John's as sole writer, the book would continue to drift toward darkness. Still, at this point he's doing a great job with the characters, and the stories are still good.

[Stephen Olley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Mr Terrific and his big shiny T-spheres! Can anyone recommend amy stories/books featuring him?
The stories on this book are a mixed bag: I am a sucker for Spectre-centric tales and so really enjoyed that, but I didn't understand any of the Hourman stuff in the slightest.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the golden age superheroes from DC and the new JSA brings these original heroes back into the modern age along with their legacy namesakes. Well above average art and plot keep these 70 year old comic characters interesting and entertaining. Very recommended

[Z.S. Diamanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a short encounter with The Spectre, the focus turns toward recovering lost teammates. The stories in "Lost" are well written and the art is done by various artists, giving the reader a bunch of different flavors. If you are a fan of superheroes, make sure you don't miss this one.

[Warren]

Identity Crisis