"The Lightning Saga Pt 1"
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artists: Shane Davis (p), Matt Banning (i), Alex Sinclair (color)
Publisher: DC Comics
One of the coolest things from the 60 and 70s were the JSoA/JLoA team-ups. They were always interesting, great character driven stories that showed that both teams were the best of the best as well as good friends. With the relaunches of both DC titles, they recreated the concept with a five issue crossover event that gave me high hopes for the flagging JLoA series. So how'd it go over?
Let's see. Boring Justice League? Check. Mind numbingly boring inner monologues? Check. Boring Justice Society? That's a new one, but check as well.
The premise of the crossover is rather interesting. While tying up loose ends from the first arc, Batman unmasks Trident to find none other then Val Armorr, the Karate Kid of the Legion of Superheroes. After meeting with the Justice Society's Starman, Thom Kallor of the Legion, the amnesiac Armorr gets his memories back, and we learn that there are seven total members of the Legion stranded in the past. Great premise, terrible execution on Meltzer's part.
Rather than really focusing on the Legion plot, most of the story is pointless little character bits. There's a waste of a training scene in the Danger Room-like "Kitchen" at the JLoA's headquarters where Arsenal and Geo-Force take on Hawkgirl and Red Tornado. Meanwhile, Mr. Terrific plays chess with Hal Jordan and Black Canary. Meltzer continues to stress the human side of the characters, but his execution still seems off. From constantly going on a secret identity first name basis to the overlapping monologues of cliches, to treating the characters as one note stereotypes, it just doesn't work. He also brings back the arrogant Batman proving Superman wrong bit that was thankfully done away with in Infinite Crisis.
When the Justice Society finally shows up to deal with the Legion of Superheroes crisis, it's pushed back for (wait for it) ....tea! No, I'm not kidding. Considering this is a teamup arc, it's interesting to see how Meltzer handles the JSoA, the original superteam. It's just not so good. He makes Hawkman the mystically based stereotype, puts Hourman into the ex-addict approach he's using for Arsenal, and has Liberty Belle and Damage question if they are even worthy of being there. Then he has Hawkgirl say the same thing, even saying "being a member is different from being part of the team." Hmm, wasn't she a founder of the reformed JSoA, been with them through most of their adventures in the present time, and been welcomed again and again? Meltzer also mishandles Stargirl, seemingly replacing her personality with the uber-hyper fangirl personality of Cyclone, who's noticably absent from the issue.
Shane Davis fills in for Ed Benes this issue, and to be honest, DC did a great move by chosing him to fill in. His style is near identical to that of Benes. I honestly was questioning whether or not it was Davis on art. The similarity was so strong. He has a very strong handling of movement and action, but sadly the format of Meltzer's script keeps him from fully busting loose. The best glimpse we have of his talent for action is the short fight between Batman and Karate Kid, most of which is off panel. He also draws an amazing Sandman. Honestly, I haven't seen Sandman's distinctive mask handled so perfectly, not even by JSoA's cover artist, Alex Ross. Hopefully he gets a chance to draw more action in the later issues.
So far, the crossover is off to an unbelievably slow start. This issue is par for the course for this series: a mediocre story with a poor attempt at characterization. However, the premise is strong enough to hold my interest, even though I have no knowledge of the Legion at all. Shane Davis proves to be an equal to Benes, possibly better even in terms of action. Sadly, the slow script means this issue drags along slowly. Hopefully, the Justice Society of America issue will be more promising.
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