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Aug 18, 2010 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

Masked superheroes taking on a secret society bent on bringing on the apocalypse? Throw in a healthy dose of espionage, crazy sci-fi style hi-tech, and ancient magics, and you have the recipe for JSA vs. Kobra, one of the standout miniseries from the past year that’s now been collected in trade.

The JSA—that is, the Justice Society of America—is most noteworthy for three things: 1) It’s a team largely comprising legacy characters; that is, characters that either hail from DC’s Golden Age (the original Green Lantern, the original Flash, Wildcat), or are based on them (Star Girl, Jakeem Thunder, Hourman, Liberty Belle). 2) Its roster is HUGE (20+ characters). 3) Geoff Johns, who’s been responsible for a lot of the best superhero writing at DC for the past decade or so, put this team on the map and established a method by which such a large list of perhaps partly corny characters could be intriguing and downright awesome.

So, basically, Eric Trautmann had his work cut out for him in writing this—big shoes to fill as it were. But fill them he did, and with a flavor all his own.

JSA vs. Kobra puts the spotlight squarely on Michael Holt, aka Mr. Terrific, whose gimmick stems from the fact that he’s more or less the world’s smartest man, and very good at everything you can think of (former athlete, tech wiz, and head of DC’s premier espionage outfit, Checkmate). He leads the JSA against Kobra’s zealous brand of techno/magic terrorism.

The art by Don Kramer is stunning, and goes together perfectly with the script, adding to the feeling of urgency and intrigue. Every JSA-er gets at least a moment in the spotlight, which is nice (even if some of these moments are just a prominent punch to a Kobra agent’s head in the foreground, sans dialog).

If I had one complaint, it’s too much beating up thugs; I think the story could have fit in a slightly more “super” opponent at some point. Nonetheless, this is a pretty darned fun read that shows the great, varied stories you can tell in the DC Universe. (www.dccomics.com)

Author rating: 8/10