Justice Society of America, Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns

The first chapter brings us the origins of the new Citizen Steel, as the other heroes assume Steel will become a hero even before he himself knows. What I like so much about Johns's Justice Society is how unabashedly the book embraces superhero culture. The whole point of chasing off the Golden Age Superman in the first place was so that new readers wouldn't wonder why there were all these Supermen running around having an 'older' Superman around, in my opinion, makes the younger Superman less special. I like the post- Infinite Crisis attempt to bring the DC Universe more in line with its history, putting a Superman into the Justice Society case in point, though I worry about the effects it has on the DC Universe overall.

Johns obviously tries to have his cake and eat it too here, having killed off the Golden Age Superman but still returning an 'older' Superman to the Justice Society. Other books have referred to Infinite Crisis, but the way the characters recall both Kal-L and Superboy-Prime make this a natural follow to that story.

Power Girl recalls the death of the Golden Age Superman Kal-L in that tale, tying his dying words to her new chairmanship of the Justice Society, just as a new Superman who strongly resembles Kal-L makes the scene. The 'Thy Kingdom Come' storyline that begins in the third chapter of this book stands as a sequel of sorts to the Johns-penned Infinite Crisis. Geoff Johns brings his usual level of excellence to Justice Society, making even the tiredest comic book cliches new again in a blast of costume-wearing superhero greatness, and if part one is this good, I can't imagine how rock solid part two will be. The only bad thing about Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come Volume One is how long we have to wait, as they say, for the next exciting episode.

Justice Society of America, Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns