It's a JLA/JSA team-up with the Legion of Super-Heroes added in to make things spicy! We look at Justice League of America #8 & Justice Society of America #5

Justice League of America #8 

I'm reading the JLA Lightning Saga trade paperback, so if I miss anything, get anything out of order, or act generally confused because I don't know every member of these teams, I apologize.

This issue is brought to you by writer Brad Meltzer, penciller Shane Davis, and inker Matt Banning. 

We begin in three different places: The Kitchen, which is 22,300 miles above Earth, so I'm guessing this is the JLA satellite HQ. The Hall, in Washington, D.C., where Mr. Terrific is playing chess, while blindfolded, against Black Canary and Green Lantern. I'm guessing this is the JSA's HQ. I have no idea why he needs to be blindfolded... I mean, are they saying that he doesn't need to see the board but "hears" the moves... or is that how strategic he is... or... I dunno. And the third place is the Batcave, in Gotham City, of course, where Batman and Black Lightning are studying the unconscious villain Trident.

In Justice League of America #7, Trident was unmasked and revealed to be Karate Kid.

In the Kitchen, they're playing Capture the Flag - JLA vs. JSA. And yes, I'm going to start using the short forms because I don't want to have to type out "Justice League of America" again.

In the Cave, Batman explains that Karate Kid, a.k.a. Val Armorr, has been listed as a class-15 fighter by Superman. Who listed Batman as a class-12. So when Val wakes up, smashes Black Lightning in the back of neck, and attacks Batman, Bruce can't wait to prove Clark wrong. No, no reason to care about the safety and well-being of a teammate when you can prove your manhood by beating up a super-hero who's suffering from some kind of mind control.

Back to Capture the Flag, where Wildcat, Geo-Force, and Red Arrow talk about what Hawkgirl has planned to get them to make a mistake. Red Arrow sprints into the open, dashing for the flag. Hawkgirl immediately shows, flying over him.

Karate Kid and Batman pose, ready to fight, and Val argues that he's Trident and no one else.

Red Arrow grabs the flag, knowing that he's out thought Hawkgirl's strategy. What strategy? To fly around and wait?

Val tells Batman that not only did he grab Bruce's belt, he also gave him a hernia... I'm guessing this was written by someone who's never had a hernia. A friend of mine did, and he didn't move for a loooong time. He didn't keep fighting a martial arts master. But it's Batman, so who cares?

Oh, and Val also split Batman's helmet. 

Batman says he didn't shift to the left because of a hernia. He shifted... to kick Val in the nuts. Wow - Batman cheats too?

Red Arrow wraps the flag around an arrow and fires it into the air. Hawkgirl claims he can't do that, but Roy doesn't agree. Suddenly, Red Tornado shows up, spinning like a... well... tornado, and takes the flag out.

As both Black Canary and Mr. Terrific announce "Checkmate," Batman and Black Lighting teleport into the room, Bruce with an unconscious Val over his shoulder, looking for Superman.

Batman looks down at the two chess boards and tells them that Mr. Terrific was playing Black Canary and Green Lantern against each other. He's impressed with Terrific's test, saying that he stole it from The Amazing Kreskin. And yes, I'm old enough to remember who that was. I wonder how many kids in 2007 got it.

In case you thought we hadn't had enough action yet, Red Tornado attacks Red Arrow with a super-powered tornado blast. On the JSA mission monitor board (I think), Vixen sees what happens, and before Red Arrow is hit with the blast, flies through a teleportation circle to try to help. So she has super speed, as does the JSA tech?

Red Arrow is thrown directly towards a tree and Vixen tries to grab him. She can't stop him in time, so Hawkgirl gets between him and the tree and flexes her wings. 

Geo-Force uses his powers, making Red Arrow completely weightless and saving him. Not sure how weightless means no momentum, but I'm not a physicist. And I don't know what Geo-Force's powers are since my only memory of him is from The Outsiders... and it's been a loooong time since I read that book. I miss Jim Aparo's artwork...

Vixen asks what's wrong with Red Tornado and Wildcat defends him, saying Red Arrow shot first. What? He shot an arrow into the air, aimed at no one, and he deserved to almost die for that?

We go back to Val, who's still speaking even thought they gave him "enough Clonazepam to slow Diana." As Black Lightning talks about how he figures anyone claiming to be from the future should get checked for mental illnesses, Mr. Terrific mentions the JSA's newest member, a person from the future named "Starman."

Oh, in case you didn't know, or don't remember, Thom Kallor's been back in the 21st Century for a while now, suffering from a load of mental illnesses. I remember when he first showed up in the Jack Knight version of Starman comics, but I had always thought he was from OG Legion continuity. Or is he reboot? He can't be Threeboot because he's obsessed with Dream Girl. Maybe that's why he's suffering from schizophrenia - he doesn't know what reboot he is.

Val suddenly blurts out, "His name's Thom Kallor. Mine's Val Armorr. How the sprock do I know that?"

So Mr. Terrific calls Power Girl, saying, "Get me our boy from the looney bin." Ah, the early 2000's, when we still treated the mentally ill with scorn and contempt. 

Next we jump back in time, to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City in 1948. Two unknown people, happy to be wearing working transuits, visit the Ultra Humanite, who's about to die from cancer. They offer her, Dolores Winters, a chance to survive if she comes with them. Why did I think the Ultra-Humanite was a man? Is this another reboot change?

Back to the present - they've placed Wonder Woman's golden lasso around Karate Kid to see what he can remember. But his memory is still a blank until Starman enters, talking about the White Angel screaming.

They stare at each other and Starman says, in Interlac, "Lightning Lad." Then he's back talking about the Angel screaming in C-Sharp and the Wolf howling as Karate Kid collapses.

Val whispers something and then repeats it for everyone. Seven are stuck in this time, scattered, and that's all he knows. When someone compares the Legion to the Teen Titans, Val corrects them: "We're like the Justice League."

Power Girl tells Black Canary to call her team and, nineteen minutes later, we have the JLA/JSA team up that we all love. We get a great two-page spread of everyone chatting with each other, some excited, some feeling out-of-place, and some using bad pick up lines. And no, it wasn't Roy Harper!

More importantly to the story, they're able to track the other Legion flight rings and have found the other five members. Starman knows where they've placed "his Dream Girl": Arkham Asylum. The rest are scattered around the world.

What does all this lead to? Splitting the JLA and JSA into two teams. Which, when you think of it, they already are. Shouldn't they be splitting them into five teams?

And, thankfully, they've finally placed a Roll Call for the teams... so know I know that there are two Wildcats... 

 

 

  

Justice Society of America #5

Chapter Two of the Lightning Saga is brought to you by writer Geoff Johns and artist Fernando Pasarin.

We start at Arkham Asylum, where Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock are waiting for Batman to arrive. Our narrator is the new Sandman. Sorry to admit this, but I have no idea who this character is. I guess Wesley Dodds (whose stories I did read) has passed and we have a new version of the character.

Here's my JSA rant: At what point will DC finally stop using characters from World War II in modern day comics? Still having the JSA around in the 80's kinda made sense... if you ignored that there were 60-plus-year-old heroes fighting crime. And I think some of them got trapped in another dimension so they didn't age, right? But in 2007 when this happened? Or even now, with the new re-writing of DC history? At what point do they need to stop this and either move the JSA formation into some time that makes more sense? We're rapidly getting to the "my great-great-grandfather was an original member of the JSA and that's why, even though I never met him or his son, I've decided to become a super-hero."

Batman, Geo-Force, Sandman (Sandy Hawkins), and Starman have arrived. We learn that the Legion flight rings are made from Valorium, the Nth Metal Alloy that allows them to fly. Nice touch on the name.

We also learn that there's a riot in Arkham... again... and someone is bringing nightmares to life... temporarily.

More fun - the new Sandman can also see the future. And last night, he dreamed of Arkham... and a laughing skeleton, a girl with a star-shaped birthmark, and Batman torn to shreds.

Starman suddenly shouts out that there's a doctor with no face within. And Dream Girl. Batman figures that's Doctor Destiny, with a new dreamstone, since his original was destroyed in a series we can't talk about anymore because it's creator turned out to be a piece of human garbage.

We also have Starman calling Batman "Bruce" in the middle of all the police officers. Have we given up on secret identities post-Identity Crisis? I know Thom's suffering, and doesn't know who or where he is, but you'd think Batman would be far more concerned about this.

They all talk about powers, comparing Dream Girl, Starman, Sandman, and Geo-Force before Thom tells Geo-Force he smells like mud. As Batman talks about how they can defeat Doctor Destiny, Starman just walks into the asylum, wondering more about lunch than how to stop the bad guy.

Since Doctor Destiny is creating living manifestations of the inmates greatest nightmares, they're soon attacked by different versions of Batman. Starman pulls down a wall and finds Dream Girl, chained to a wall like she's back in medieval times.

I think we now know why no one ever gets better at Arkham.

Doctor Destiny is with her and he uses his powers to mess up Thom. His nightmare come to life? Dream Girl's old boyfriend, Kenz Nuhor, who Thom killed in self defense waaaaay back in Adventure Comics #342. As he's fighting the "ghost", Thom remembers the "wake up word." It's Lightning Lad in Interlac, same as last issue.

Dream Girl snaps awake and tells Doctor Destiny his future... which won't be good. Somehow she breaks the chains on the wall and throws the villain against another wall, breaking his illusions. Every threat disappears and there are no more Batmans to fight.

Dream Girl gives Starman a hug, telling him she's missed him so much. And then says this:

...but the nightmares are just the beginning for the Legion. I saw a vision, and by coming here... one of us is going to die.

Well that's not good, is it?

Instead of spending more time on this reunion, we head to the Fortress of Solitude. Superman, Stargirl, Cyclone, and Red Tornado are flying through Superman's safe space but Cyclone's more focused on what to say to the new Red Tornado. After all, she's the granddaughter of the first Red Tornado, so they should be friends or something, right?

They have an awkward conversation that would probably mean more to me if I knew who either of them were right now... but I'd by lying if it didn't feel a bit like first season Data talking to Wesley.

They go to Superman's trophy room (at least I think that's what it is) and he pulls out his Legion flight ring. Red Tornado is picking up another ring in the fortress, which means the next missing Legionnaire is somewhere around.

Stargirl's never heard of the Legion before, so Red Tornado gives her the encyclopedia explanation and Superman simply says that they were his friends.

They're standing in front of his Legion statues - every Legionnaire who was a member at that time is visible.

I have many questions:

• So let's assume that this is a collection of every Legionnaire of all time (because we have both Invisible Kids) and not just the ones that were team members the last time Superman(boy) saw them. Where's Quislet? Or Tellus? Or Tyroc?
• Why is Projectra Sensor Girl if Karate Kid is still alive?
• Why is Shrinking Violet on Colossal Boy's shoulder? Why doesn't she get her own spot? 
• Did anyone notice that it's written as "Ultra-Boy," the way his name was written in the 60's?
• Did anyone notice the duplicate before the big reveal that's coming?

Superman then gives them the history, explaining how he met the team and what they meant to him. How they allowed him to be himself and hang out with a team where every member could fly. He was no longer alone.

According to Superman, Starman stopped being a Legionnaire when he killed Kent Nuhor in self defense. So he never rejoined? And he did this after he got the new costume in the early 70's and grew a beard in the 80's? Does this mean Dream Girl quit at the same time? Or didn't quit?

He also says that each Legionnaire picked the costumes from an adventure they wanted Superman to remember them by. This is why they're all from different eras. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out which adventures they'd be referring to, but it honestly makes no sense. Anyone want to take a guess?

The final reveal? Superman hasn't seen them since the first Crisis and doesn't know what's happened to the team. He comments that even Karate Kid has a certain sadness to him... which would make sense if the statues were placed there after the Crisis... or if Superman hadn't seen them for a while... or... never mind. This just doesn't make sense.

Cyclone spots the duplicate: "How come there's two of the orange guy?" So Superman says the magic words and Wildfire comes alive and promptly collapses. He stumbles over his words, Wildfire trying to explain how he's been trapped there, unable to move. Wait... so Dream Girl's been awake, trapped in an insane asylum, the whole time she's been in the 21st Century?

Wildfire says he's got to hit something and then a blast comes out of his face... I think.. not a clear panel. But Batman's belt suddenly appears and we're all left wondering one thing:

"Why are the Legion here?"

These two issues are kind of a mixed bag for me. There are things I really like, such as any time the JLA and JSA come together, or how they actually treat the Legion with respect. Superman considering Karate Kid a better fighter than Batman really stood out, as did the fact that Batman had to cheat to beat him.

Also, that collection of statues hit me harder than I thought it was going to. That wave of nostalgia was strong and seeing the Legionnaires that made up my favorite version of the team again was great. I've long complained that so many Legion writers worship the Silver Age and ignore the Bronze Age, so it was nice to see the 70's costumes back, even if it was for just a panel.

On the other hand, this was one of those stories that fell apart completely the moment you thought about it for even a second. Why did Brainiac 5 send them back to the past with no memories and being unable to move? How long have they been there? More specifically, how long has Dream Girl been chained to the wall in Arkham Asylum? How did Superman not notice a new statue that wasn't a statue in his own Fortress of Solitude? Doesn't he have a better security system?

The art was hit-and-miss as well. Some pages looked great, some looked weak, and some looked like they just wanted to have the best poses possible, no matter whether it worked for the story or not.

But I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy this far more than most of the Legion stories I've been reading for these reviews in 2025.

What do you think? Please share your comments here or on Reddit.

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