I have to confess that though I'm a super-hero fan, I've come to enjoy the "between arc" quiet issues more than the all-star super-hero slugfests. Thus this issue is more enjoyable to me than the last few, which were good examples of a super-hero vs. super-villain arc but weren't as focused on characterization as some of the best issues of the JSA. This issue also sees the return of Stephen Sadowksi, and I really enjoyed seeing some of his artwork again.
Some of my favorite issues of this series have been the ones that focus on one or two characters, and in this issue, Johns and Goyer examine one new member of the team and one of the members who is still coming into its own. There's also a clever method used to tie these two unlikely characters together and give their stories a reason to conclude in the same place. It doesn't hurt that the two characters are a couple of my favorites: the surprisingly likable young hero Jakeem Thunder and the new/old/new again Hourman, who has one of the coolest power concepts to come out of the Golden Age.
What has made JSA stand out is that Johns and Goyer have focused as much on the private lives of the heroes as on their outlandish exploits. While I'm as distant from the idea of an estranged father as I am from the idea of having a super-powerful genie, it's easier to connect to someone who has more human problems to go with their superhuman abilities. Johns and Goyer do a really nice job of conveying Jakeem's loneliness and worry, a natural teenage sense of uncertainty, and playing the encounter with his father to resolve those feelings to some degree. The talk between Rick Tyler and his father is equally good, as I found Rex Tyler's talk to his son about being proud of him regardless to be very uplifting.
Leonard Kirk has taken over as regular artist of this book, and he's doing a fine job, but Sadowski was a big part of what drew me to the book in the first place, and it was nice to see him again. I particularly enjoyed his take on Johnny, who is clearly enjoying his new non-corporeal form, and I thought that the emotion he gave to the fathers and sons had a lot to do with why the story worked as well as it did.
There are any number of super-team comics on the market, both new every month and in trade paperback forms. JSA stands out as one of the good ones because it mixes history with accessibility, action with characterization and traditional favorites with new characters.
