JSA, Vol. 6: Savage Times

JSA (1999)

by Geoff Johns (Writer), David S. Goyer (Co-Writer), Leonard Kirk (Illustrator)

The JSA is divided through space and time, handling multiple matters in different eras. Several heroes find themselves in Ancient Egypt, fighting the immortal villain Vandal Savage and an earlier incarnation of the powerful Black Adam. However, they must go it alone as Power Girl and Dr. Mid-Nite have their hands full with a separate evil. And, in the background, forces are moving, as several champions begin questioning where they stand on the cause of justice.

Collecting: JSA 39-45

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

168 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

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

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the focus on just a couple of team members at a time over this arc. The longer arc with Mr. Terrific, Hawkgirl and Shazam travelling through time was the best. Loved getting to see the original Mr. Terrific and the Freedom Fighters. Then heading back to Egypt and seeing the Justice Society B.C. was great. I loved the Shazam and Black Adam moments in that one. It is odd that that DC put the prologue for Princes of Darkness in this volume when it's the main focus of the next arc.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was so good wow like this is the volume where the whole series becomes so good!

We get to see whats going on with different members like Power girl vs some villain whose obsessed with her which was weird then a story with Dr Mid-nite vs "The shadower" and its an interesting story and one of the greatest Shazam moments and I love it and then the attack by "Black Barax" and the team travelling in time again which seems to be a pattern with Johns stories bbut its still fun especially when they have to fight Vandal savage along with Khufu and Chay-ara which makes for such an awesome read with one of the best conclusions which kicks the whole series into high gear and a solid ending which results in a new status quo!

This is one of those volume which really makes you love the whole series like I said but what I like is how each member is highlighted or given a good moment and the way Johns writes villains is second to none and this again like I said was awesome, can't wait to see whats up next with "Princes of darkness"!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Power Crush”, the one-off about Power Girl tries to introduce an interesting hero/villain dynamic but ends up pretty dull [4/10]. “... Do No Harm” puts the focus on Captain Marvel, but offers pretty much the same messaging, and works better [6/10]. The Black Barax two-parter is a nice action-adventure that gets especially good when we meet the original Mr. Terrific in the second part [7.5/10]. The Egyptian two-parter is a really nice resolution to the Egyptian plots thus far and offers some great contrasts between this JSA of the past and the present [8/10]. “Peacemaker” is a big plotty story that should have gone in the next volume [7/10].

[Gary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and completely middle-of-the-road.

[Harley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this.

Pros
Good artwork and outline of characters.
Good story with some interesting twits here and there
Even know it's not suppose to be a comedy book it has small amounts in there
Cons
I only got this because of Power-Girl, yay there wasn't enough for me to say 5 stars but had enough in there for me to enjoy it.
In Conclusion

I enjoyed this very much i would recommend it for any fans of JSA, or DC Comics, just needs to have more Power-Girl in there for me only showing her in 2 out of the other reads isn't enough.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was raw enjoyment, with a time-hopping adventure on the heels of a villian-centered one-shot that brings credibility to Power Girl, who is sometimes a hard sell (rip her outfit some more, guys). Doctor Fate's journey continues, hindered by his past, and all of the reincarnations start dogpiling to make life really difficult for JSAers. Better teaming in this one, and the ending is the classic down-note: Kobra's trial ends in a farce and an escape, and Atom-Smasher & Black Adam leave the team for harder forms of "justice."

[roberto ortiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Viajes en el tiempo, Egipto, decada del 40, Vandal Savage y sin descuidar las relaciones entre los integrantes del grupo. Los autores siguen demostrando porque este es uno de los mejores cómics de superhéroes de ese momento y para la posteridad. Muy disfrutable.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is at least the second time I’ve read the back in time story line. It’s not interesting enough to read more than once honestly.

[William Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read about comics' first superhero team. Time travel, a good dose of both Mr. Terrifics! Loved the WWII era story, the rest of it was good, not great.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains JSA 39-45

Consisting of: single issues about Power Girl and the superpowered con who is infatuated with her, Shazam and Stargirl taking care of a hostage situation in a school, and a multi issue arc that involves Vandal Savage, Mordru, and a whole bunch of time travel. It ends with a prologue to the next (great) arc, Princes of Darkness. This last issue, about the (attempted) trial of Kobra is probably my favorite here.
I give this volume 4 out of 5 stars because it’s all good fun but it’s not exactly breaking new ground. We’ve seen the JSA time travel before and we will see them do it again; and the two one shots at the start are nice character explorations, but they both feel slightly grating in their cuteness/humor.
So while this volume is still important to the longer run and enjoyable in its own right, it’s one of the less exciting and essential trades.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

JSA, like its pre-Crisis counterpart the All-Star Squadron, is a title that operates along the seams of DC's damaged continuity, stitching it up and adding new pieces to complete the patchwork. But where All-Star Squadron, though always a good read, often brought the story to a halt to fix minor continuity issues, JSA never lets up on the action, while still sorting out some pretty huge problems - Hawkman, for one. It does a marvellous job of bringing together characters and storylines from all eras - members of the original 1940s team such as Wildcat and Green Lantern, Atom Smasher from Infinity Inc, elements from Gaiman's Sandman and John Wagner's Sandman Mystery Theatre, as well as introducing new characters like Mister Terrific. This story gets a bit bogged down in the Shazam/Hawkman shared history, but is still a good read, if only to sympathise with Captain Marvel's crush on the Star-Spangled Kid! Poor guy - if he says anything she'll think he's a perv - it's not always easy being a kid in an adult's body!

[James Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, if fairly straightforward, time-travel story. The Captain Marvel-Black Adam dynamic worked really well here, particularly the reversal at the end. Vandal Savage looks way more neanderthal-like here than he has elsewhere- not sure if that's an artist choice or if his getting "reset" at the end also makes him more cro-magnon. The Power Girl one-shot, while amusing, definitely fit better after JSA, Vol 7: Princes of Darkness.

I'd like to see more of Black Barax, he seemed like a much more practical time-traveling despot than others I've seen. And the original Mr. Terrific is just as cool- if crazier- than the present-day one. I also got a weird feeling of reversal- like seeing those Golden Age/Silver Age stories where a future version of the hero pops up, but backwards, seeing it from the "future" perspective.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This trade is "filling in the gaps" between bigger stories. It starts out with an amusing story about Power Girl's crazed admirer Da' Bomb, and ends with a prologue to the next trade, Princes of Darkness. In between, there's an Hourman-fueled time travel story that has the return of the original Mr. Terrific, stupid "fair play" shield and all. Various members of the team bounce around the 1940s, then ancient Egypt. An early Vandal Savage makes an appearance, but he's not nearly as threatening as in later times, like DC One Million.
If you're hooked onto the characters, you'll probably enjoy the book, but these aren't their more memorable adventures.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one time, Vandal Savage has been underused or overused. Not here though. Here, Johns and company put together a set of tales that makes for what (IMHO) is the best use of Savage in the comics. The second-best tale with Savage might actually be his death in Legends of Tomorrow, but I digress.

The wrap up was just a little bit of a let down, but still satisfactory. DC was setting up for the next storyline, and a bit too much was spent on that. Still, a great tales for JSA fans and for comic fans in general.

Find it! Buy it! READ IT!

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to beat any super hero comic that involves time travel. The JSA ends up back in ancient Egypt, where they meet ancient version of both some allies and enemies.
Great adventure story, clever use of time travel and a couple smaller, solo adventures added on to up the page count of this collection.
Good stuff.

[Z.S. Diamanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off slowly, but picked up the pace half-way through. The interactions between Captain Marvel and Black Adam in this adventure are particularly good. Some of the art is fantastically done, but the story in this one was a little bit lackluster. Is it worth a read? Certainly, but JSA fans will enjoy it more than the casual reader.

[Jdetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

These tales tend to focus on smaller groups of heroes, which I'm not always as fond of, but they do give us a chance to delve deeper into certain personalities. It really gets five stars though for the Power Girl solo story, which is wonderful.

[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

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 3 out of 5]

review to come... a lot of character development and plot set up, so need to press on to the next volume.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good issue.
Better set-up for things to come.