Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Gavin Guidry & Joey Vazquez
Colorist: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover Artists: Dave Johnson, Matt Taylor & Diego Olortegui
Editors: Marquis Draper, Andrew Marino & Katie Kubert
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99/$5.99 Card Stock
Release Date: March 4, 2026
In the summer of 1940, someone is inciting unrest and arming Nazi sympathizers. Hippolyta and Atom track the supply of guns and explosives to a private airstrip outside Gotham. But before they can spring into action, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Flash, Johnny Thunder, and his genie join the party.
In the city and beneath it, Green Lantern, Hourman, and Sandman are investigating the Starco Corporation’s bizarre experiments and a defective subway expansion. Can all these heroes work together to solve this web of intrigue spanning continents? And why is Starco interring a former Olympic Gold Medalist and storing people in chemical vats? Let’s leap into JSA #17 and see!
Year One Chapter Five: Story
Alan Scott's university chum Gordon Degroot won a contract from the Starco Corporation to expand Gotham's subway system. After Gordon's murder, Alan investigates the subway and wonders why the capable engineer would perform substandard work. Remembering his friend's behavior the last time he saw him, Alan visits Walter Baze at Starco. But when Walter drugs him, Alan discovers that the Ultra-Humanite is possessing the executive’s body.
The Atom was investigating Nazi sympathizers in Gotham until Hippolyta joined him. After Hawkman and Hawkgirl swoop in on their prey, Atom resists befriending the interlopers. At Starco, Hourman and Sandman have begun working together. But in JSA #17, Jay Garrick makes a surprising transformation. It takes a lot to impress the Flash. Still, Johnny Thunder's genie manages it. Suddenly, the teacher’s assistant who moonlights as Keystone City’s protector realizes the benefits of forming a club of “mystery men.”
As all the separate plots intertwine, the villains also converge. With Hitler tearing Europe apart, most Americans see the dictator as a villain. But those who crave power over others see him as a hero. While Jeff Lemire sprinkles his story with humor and humanity, JSA #17 is a tragedy. The Ultra-Humanite is highly intelligent and capable of medical marvels. But by focusing on what he doesn’t have, he steals and discards bodies while destroying people’s lives in his insatiable hunger for power.
Year One Chapter Five: Art
The Ultra-Humanite's stitched-up head evokes Frankenstein's monster as he attacks Alan Scott. But when green energy billows from Alan's eyes and his ring, he hurls the villain into the drinks cart used to dope him. Both men levitate as they unleash their unique abilities in the glass-walled office. But the Ultra-Human hunches and grins like a simian, while Alan stands tall with features taut, when discussing Gordon Degroot’s death.
As Gavin Guidry fills pages with old-school layouts and occasionally spreads the action across two pages, Luis Guerrero lavishes a nuanced palette on JSA #17. Like Green Lantern, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are resplendent in red, green, and gold. But gold, red, and blue adorn Atom, Hippolyta, and the Flash as they seek to protect their country from the American Nazi Party. Beyond the golden Art Deco sign welcoming visitors, heroes gather amid brown wooden crates that recall how Hourman and Sandman first braved the Ultra-Humanite’s lair.
The Search for the Spectre Prelude Part One: Story
Everyone seems happy as they sit around the team's table. But that's just a photo hanging in the JSA Brownstone Trophy Room. In the present, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott ponder their recent trials. While both men are still capable heroes, experience has taught them that everything comes to an end. Perhaps the JSA's best days are behind them.
In his short, follow-up story, Jeff Lemire returns readers to the present. The Flash and Green Lantern link this contemporary JSA story with its predecessor. While Doctor Fate doesn't appear in JSA #17, his admonition to Jim Corrigan echoes through this tale about the power of hope and inclusion.
The Search for the Spectre Prelude Part One: Art
Joey Vazquez's layouts and inset panels enhance the energy as Jay Garrick and Alan Scott confront the tragedy of the recent past. The bookshelves in the team photo recall the bookshelves in the Ultra-Humanite's office. The team's distressed table evokes the round table in Camelot. Luis Guerrero's colors shine brightly in this stronghold of power, where the heroes celebrate their past and contemplate their future with holographic displays that hover before wood-paneled walls.
Lettering
Steve Wands fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase letters and red narrative boxes with yellow letters. Words grow bold for inflection and never shrink. Sound effects enhance the battles at Starco and the pain of a recent loss. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
When civilization reaches a crossroads, weak leaders seek strength by adopting a divide-and-conquer strategy, while heroes find it by overcoming their differences. An ever-changing world forces heroes to adapt to overcome the threats facing them in JSA #17.
Rating 9.5/10
To look inside see my preview of JSA #17.
No comments:
Post a Comment