This is one of those between the epics stories, dealing with fallout from past stories and setting up the next big multi-part tale. That does mean that storywise, it's a little unfocused, jumping around from character to character and largely dealing with setup and fallout, but there are some big developments here in the overall story of the JSA. The crux of the conflict this issue is that old chestnut, "should heroes kill," and I'm surprised to find that Johns and Goyer have a take that I find a little simplistic and idealistic, which fits with the ethos of the title but leaves me more than a little unsatisfied with the issue as a whole.
Plenty of big plot developments this issue, and it sure looks like big things are coming up for the JSA. The return of a dangerous foe is presented in a surprising cliffhanger, and I'm anxious to find out the true story behind that, and what he actually has to do with the return of Dove. If nothing else, it serves to move the largely-ignored Dr. Fate to the fore once again. There are also some interesting hints regarding the JSA's curator, dealing with old continuity that comes out of the ill-advised Eclipso series of the mid-90s. While I'm a little uneasy to see stories based on such shaky foundations, there are certainly some interesting notions in the treatment of Eclipso as a real threat and the tie-in to the JSA because of Wildcat makes him a natural villain. There's also a quick visual check-in on the running subplot of the Crimson Avenger, nicely done by Kirk and Champagne.
Johns has a reputation for good villains, resting largely on the amazing revitalization of Flash's Rogues' Gallery, and his JSA villains have been no exception. Eclipso, Mordru, the Injustice Gang and of course Kobra are the big names. Kobra gets his day in court this issue, going back to the now hauntingly resonant terrorist actions he took in an earlier story, and Johns and Goyer portray Kobra as the scary smart villain that I remember from his time in Ostrander's Suicide Squad.
Where I had problems were not in the portrayal of Kobra, but in the reactions of the court and the JSA. I understand the heroic code is sometimes a little generous, but it seems to me like letting a mass-murderer escape rather than letting his fanatical followers burn themselves to death in his name is overly kind-hearted in light of the 9-11 parallels being made to Kobra's level of danger and previous actions. Basically, I would have liked the threat to be more to innocents than to other dangerous, and probably murderous, criminals.
There's a lot going on in this issue, setting up future stories and introducing new characters in the mix, just the kind of thing you'd expect right before a big multi-part story. Though the central story features a super-hero cliche played out in a way that I don't find all that new, there's enough going on that I enjoyed the issue overall, and I'm still most certainly looking forward to the next story.
