"Eclipse"
Writers: David Goyer & Geoff Johns
Artists: Leonard Kirk(p), Keith Champagne(i), John Kalisz(c)
Publisher: DC
David Goyer and Geoff Johns broadcast JSA at a frequency only dogs can hear. If the pre-Crisis was so complicated, why is it during that era I never had to do any research to find out about events and characters? Puzzled I was at Eclipso's bizarre low budget Jack the Ripper behavior--"I love playing with beautiful girls"--as well as the boasts that he killed Wildcat II and Dr. Mid-Nite II, both incidentally women. Five independent sources confirmed these wasteful deaths. I knew they were dead, but I did not know that Eclipso did the deed, nor did I know that the villain had his own short-lived comic book in the nineties. I'm sure many people shelled out their cash to purchase these must-have issues.
The murder of Wildcat and Dr. Mid-Nite does explain why Jay is so infuriated, and after researching, his dialogue which states both heroes were "good," "strong women" became amusing. Anybody remotely familiar with the post-Crisis universe should know such qualities in a female character guarantee at least life-long paralysis. However, Goyer and Johns act as if Eclipso's post-Crisis history happened a week ago, and the technique damages the pace of the story. I don't believe you should have to stop reading, head to the computer and spend a half-hour confirming the facts before continuing reading. This counters the alleged simplicity of the post-Crisis DCU and doesn't make the story very inviting.
Further confusion arises when Eclipso smashes Dove through a wall and then against another wall. First, Eclipso never should have been able to touch her because of her ability to see practically everything and predict every move a foe can make before he or she makes it. Second, Dove never had the power of invulnerability. If she did, she wouldn't have been killed in the first place. After Eclipso pounds her through the wall, she should be unconscious, bloody and beaten and quite possibly dead again. Don't worry; I'm sure she'll wind up a corpse by the adventure's end. Remember, she's a "good," "strong" woman.
Another enigma occurred as I was reading. Based on Eclipso's appearance last issue, I thought Alex, Wildcat II's brother, was the new Eclipso, but in this issue of JSA Eclipso plunges through three stories of floor, and about a second or two later, the Flash sees Alex, pulped and puffy, crawling up to the third floor. Eclipso may be powerful--and this is purely a post-Crisis derivation, but he cannot be in two places at once.
In Goyer's and Johns' favor and the only reason why the book earns a third silver bullet, Power Girl finally gets some respect. You'll notice on the cover that Flash, Wildcat and Hawkman all look tough and dangerous. Power Girl of course looks like she wants to sex you up. The cover artist no doubt was taking a page from Patrick Gleason's hooker version of the character.
The hero is far better represented inside the book. Leonard Kirk actualizes an awesome fight between Kara and Mordru that explains why she carries the name Power Girl. He gives her muscle and proportion. He instead of spotlighting her headlights exemplifies her strength and stamina.
Goyer and Johns give her dialogue worthy of the character, and it's about bloody time. Rather than prattle as if she had just come off the lobotomy table, she speaks as if she has had an education. In terms of payback, Power Girl's treatment this issue is a mere penny in a ten-gallon jar of post-Crisis emptiness, but it's a genuine start: especially given the vile mistreatment these writers showed to the character during that "I never knew much about computers" debacle.
Leftover unanswered questions from last issue still plague this one. Dove is still characterized as being in love with Hawk: never suggested. Her hatred for Mordru remains unexplained. They never met until these two issues. Nobody has thought to call in the JLA, yet the city is in ruins: something the Watchtower's monitors certainly should register. A scene where the JSA speak to the JLA on vidphone should have at least been included. The reservist members of the JSA, mentioned last issue, such as Air-Wave who is bound to strike terror in the hearts of criminals with his horrid, dreaded power of being able to travel on radio signals never arrives.
Goyer and Johns once again attempt to define Kobra as a Bin Laden type terrorist which is like equivocating a beagle with a Rotweiller, and his cohorts do not seem any better. The trio of main villains--our Princes of Darkness--seems rather shoddy with their ill-defined plans. They combine their awesome powers to move the moon before the sun. Oh, horrors. Now, surely this would grab the attention of the JLA since their headquarters sprawl across the lunar landscape. The continuity complaint would have been rendered moot in the good old days of multiple earths, but DC continues to try to assure us that we still live in an age of grandeur but with the added bonus of "simplicity." JSA is so simple it gave me a headache.
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