Sunday, April 5, 2009

Justice Society of America #25

If you need proof that Mary Marvel has gone bad, just check out this excellent cover by Alex Ross - her knickers are showing!

The Marvel Family (and here we're talking about the original Fawcett heroes, of course) have really been through the mill in recent years. Billy Batson stopped being Captain Marvel, and instead took the wizard Shazam's place - and then he had all his powers stolen. Mary Marvel became evil, lost her powers, got them back when she joined Black Adam's family, and is evil again (although for some reason her costume inside the comic is completely different from the one she's wearing on the cover). Freddie Freeman is no longer Captain Marvel, Jr. - now he's known as Captain Marvel.

So it's all very confusing. I had high hopes for this story in Justice Society of America, because it's written by Geoff Johns and Jerry Ordway (who also supplies the art). Both are good writers and are adept at untangling gnarly stories like this.

But if you expect a pat ending that returns everything to the status quo, you might be surprised at what happens here. There are lots of twists and turns, and some new story elements are set up which will hopefully play out in the near future.

I love Ordway's art, and it's a cool burst of nostalgia to have him drawing the adventures of the JSA.

We can only hope that the Marvel Family will continue to move forward, and ultimately take their place among comic book royalty. The foundation is in place - but where do they go from here?

Hopefully we'll get an answer in the near future.

Grade: B+

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