Justice League #15 vs Justice Society #11

Heh. This really is no contest, Justice Society #11 wins on all counts. Nice Alex Ross cover, in which they are actually flying around instead of just standing there, utterly beautiful artwork by Dale Eaglesham, and a pretty decent and fun story by Geoff Johns. Compared to the Justice League of America, with abysmal art by Ed Benes and a fair story by Dwayne McDuffie.

There were some pretty good moments in JLA, I liked Firestorm turning Lex's Kryptonite knife into a butter knife. The look on Lex's face was priceless. And of course, all the Leaguers manage to get free, thanks to Batman and his ballpoint pen of JUSTICE! But all the butt cheeks and thrusting bosoms are starting to get annoying. The only thing that Black Canary seems capable of doing is posing. Certainly nobody takes her orders seriously. Batman just flat out disobeys her, and even Wonder Woman is questioning her decisions.

There is a strange disconnect between the dialogue and the action, which I think must be laid at Mr. Benes feet. Hawkgirl grabs a couple of arrow from Roy, and then is never shown actually DOING anything with them. Cheshire escapes, while Roy says "..really?" and I turn the page thinking that he's just shot her in the ass, only to find Roy looking confused and saying "...must have missed her." What? I honestly thought that there was a page missing or something.

Roy shoots Fatality in the hand, which causes her pain, but doesn't slow her down. He continues to shoot arrows into her arm with NO effect, until John finally tells him that it is a prosthetic arm. Maybe he could have shot her in the OTHER arm, or possibly the leg? If something isn't working, maybe try changing your tactics!

Red Tornado, Vulcan and Firestorm all have plenty of time to stand around and have a discourse, while the battle rages apparently. Wonder Woman is shown fighting Grodd, but doens't do a very good job, since he's free to attack the aforesaid Reddy, Vulcan and Firestorm. However, Geoforce actually DOES something, dropping Grodd into a pit and closing it up again. It doesn't seem to bother anybody.

Cheetah wakes up Dr. Light, just so that she can kill him, which rather surprises him for some reason. Then Wonder Woman stops her, which seems odd. Considering what he did to Sue Dibney, you'd think she'd be perfectly happy to let Cheetah take out the trash, but no, Firestorm blasts Cheetah. Considering he was in a hospital an issue ago, he's doing pretty well.

Hal shows up which is nice. I did like the bit where John snarks at him for taking his time, and Hal replies that he was in another Solar System, and by the way, where's the Flash. Heh. Then they both pin down Lex, while Superman beats him up, which seems oddly unsporting.

So, they end up beating up all the bad guys...except Slade of course. And lo and behold Amanda Waller shows up with the Suicide Squad and hauls them all away. Oddly enough, they all show up in the Wedding Special as well. Those Suicide Squad guys get around! Oh, and Batman says that Firestorm is too powerful to run around on his own, so he's now a Justice Leaguer...whether he wants to or not.


Contrast all of this with the Justice Society.

Wally and Jay are pedalling away on the Cosmic Treadmill, trying to see if there really ARE other universes out there...a concept that is just so Silver Age, that it delights me. The Justice League shows up, to check out Kingdom Come Superman, and they all look GREAT! I can't even see Black Canary's butt. AND, there is a tea tray on the floor next to old Superman's feet, complete with a cosy on the teapot, which is just perfect. Obsidian is even there, although he doesn't get to say anything. this round. Hal and John get to check out old Superman with their rings, which is nice and Thom gets to be his usual self.

Poor Peej is getting a little bit creepy at the cemetery, but hey, she's been having a tough time lately. Old Superman gets to wander around and be amazed that people aren't screaming and running in fear when the JSA flies overhead. There's a nice fight with JudoMaster and some bad guys, and old Superman and Power Girl have a bonding moment, which is rather sweet. Oh, and some other interesting plot moments, but you'll have to read it for yourselves.

I guess it comes down to the fact that reading Justice Society makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, while reading Justice League is a little on the annoying side. I like Mr. McDuffie very much, and I know that he's capable of hitting it out of the park, so I'm blaming my malaise on the crappy artwork.