So to be clear, the real JSA stories wrapped up last issue (11 was the real end), so I had to go back and adjust down that last issue. It was super rushed and weak. So the score for this issue is based upon this one-shot alone.

I will say, as the final story Johns did before he wrapped up at DC this was wonderful. I think it was a beautiful wrap up, honestly coming full circle with his time at DC. He started with Stargirl and ended with her. If I was a writer, I am not sure a better way I could go out.

As for the art... it was 10/10. Those splash pages by Todd Nauck... man they got me. Breath taking, and just seeing the JSA through the eras (and the one of this last series), was a real nostalgia trip. Considering how much Johns has written for JSA it makes sense. This was honestly an excellent wrap up for Johns. A shame the scheduling issues totally ruined this series. Truly a trades only type situation with this one unless like myself, you were willing to do re-reading and be patient.

Tl, dr: This was a beautiful send off for Johns as he moved Stargirl onto the next phase of her life (Graduating high school/moving on to being an adult). Considering what Stargirl means to her, I can only imagine the emotional impact this must have had on him. more

Excellent final issue

Good read and some nice payoffs. First half was the strongest half with a solid opening fight, the big twist reveal ect. Things get a bit weaker in the second half but we start to get a resolution to John's run and how things are going to end. While I go like it, I will echo others sentiments that this could have been stronger if it was 18 issues instead. Give it another 'trade' worth of chapters (add in a side story or two), have the team solve stuff more together first, have them have to work after that vote a bit more together first and I think it would have been an all-star story. However we all know with the delays and other issues this series was plagued with, that would never happen sadly.

Solid read, but I am a bit saddened by what could have been. Great art though.

Edited: I had to go back and lower this score after realizing this was the final issue of the story and issue 12 is an unrelated one-shot. This really tanked it. The story was just too rushed to end well. Shame. more

The Justice Society of America by Geoff Johns, at least the most recent series, is strong if not marred by it's constant delays.

The comic has a great mix up of dozens of heroes from both the JSA and Legion of Super-Heroes. This issue is DENSE with previous layers of storytelling and if you stepped into this randomly you wouldn't find this a worthwhile read. Eclipso is a good reveal but it's ultimately weak because the Legionnaire who was introduced 2 issues ago is being shoved off into another super team. Like Kneel Before Zod, this series needed room to continue the story and with a new writer taking over after issue 12 (plus all the delays), this issue will read a lot better in trade format. more

Nice to see the Spectre chuck the villain into the centre of the sun.

Spectre? Please also do this to ball bag critic Gabe Hernandez.

Cheers

4 stars

Solid end to the story, but it wasn't Waid's best. Pacing was ok, and not much more you could do with the story, but to get it above and 8 for me the art would have had to be better. It was good, but it is still taking me a bit to get use to the loss of Mora. He was perfect for these stories. My main story gripe is what some of the members were doing- like really? Using Atom to keep a single person a live? I am sure there were things that he could have been doing that would have been saving a lot more people. That just felt a... well lowers of the stakes when the entire world is in danger but some of the heroes are helping with smaller stuff.

All in all though it had creativity, good character writing, good fights, and a general fun time all around. more

Had some strong points, like giving batman PTSD (I say that jokingly they did something like that...), but also some weaker parts like throwing Superman into the Sun (felt like Eclipso could have just turned around/avoided it if he wanted to keep controlling Superman), and the art once again has some really weird facial features for some of the characters making their emotions kind of odd.

That being said, the insane laughing face of Exlipso is kind of chilling, so that was cool.

Good story, but with some odd writing and questionable art panels, it isnt the strongest.
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This is a pretty nice banger of an opening issue. Makes sense, wipes out the Justice League in a logical way, and I honestly laughed out loud at Red Tornado being a jobber again (that being said, he actually did something this time, but the shout out to that was nice).

So Waid, despite being a disliked human, wrote another good opening.

As for the art, Gutierrez art is ok, but a step down from Mora. Mora is like the premier artist at DC so anything is a step down for the most part. It is going to take some getting use to. That being said, it isnt bad, but some facial expressions of some of the heroes like Superman or Green Arrow are kind of funny in the 'wow that was not drawn well' kind of way. more

This is a good solid read. Story starts off strong and I like the way Batman 'solves' the locked room murdered. Also the different ways Batman and Superman solve the mystery was quite nice.

Only complain is the fight near the end, 1 or two pages are kind of just 'ok'. Could have been more creative or interesting but that is my only gripe. Everything else is fun and a nice oneshot.

Art is nice, legs on some of the characters are occasionally questionable. I do enjoy Melnikov's art though. more

I am a huge fan of Power Girl. To me, she's one of the most underutilized characters in the Super-Family (sadly overshadowed by Supergirl). She’s a more mature and assertive version of Supergirl, who also doesn’t take herself too seriously. The series by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner is a real delight and deserves more recognition. This series, however, is written by an author who doesn’t know Power Girl, doesn’t like her defining traits, and has no interest in writing about Power Girl. So, they create their own character, who just carries the name for clout. It's the kind of mediocre series published without anyone really knowing why. (And besides me, for morbid curiosity, people really read it ?) more

So Ejecta's backstory was a whole lot of 'meh'. Not the worst ever but not good by any means. Leah is leaning really hard onto the only interesting villain she has created. Like many modern day writers, they can come up with one good villain then ruin them but rapid overuse. This is what is happening here.

PG herself is terribly written. Her crying and calling Symbio an abuser is... wildly out of character for her. This PG continues to be some sort of pathetic version of Supergirl who cannot seem to find herself. She get too angry way to quickly (PG is somewhat hot headed but Leah takes this up a notch), and is wildly moody. Like she is either crying or raging or partying.... those are her three moods.

After this arc I think I am dropping this series. Even as my 'shame read of the month' this is getting a bit much. more

Ok so for full disclosure this got a +1 because Omen apparently died at the end. I cannot wait to be done with that character.

Also Ejecta seems like meh character that came out of nowhere but she is outsmarting PG and Omen and making their lives hard so that is great. I dislike PG and despise Omen so much at this point, any challenges they face at this point are good.

I think I got a small chuckle out of the shower scene, and that was probably the highlight because Omeans apparent death. Axel continues to be the best part of this issue (he is like a 6.5/10 the rest bring it down).

Art is good. more

What the bleep was this issue? It was just a really really boring Omen issue. The Axel date was way more exciting than this and even that was pretty boring.

Honestly ask yourself, what are you still doing buying this book? If you say art, well sure. Its good but not amazing and you would need some breathtaking art to overcome the drivel that is the writing. I assuming you are like me and just buying this as it is your 'Shame read of the month'.

TD DR, This is a trash issue, you got to be a massive masochist or making incredibly poor comic buying choices (like myself), to still be reading this. more

This series needs to be put out of its misery. How this survived going into DC All In is an absolute mystery to me. The writing is bad, the focus isn’t even on the titled character and most of the issue is spent with Omen doing nothing but texting, choosing a dress and then going to a ball where we then get a page or two of the only thing of consequence to happen in this issue.

The art is the only redeeming factor in this issue and it’s a shame it’s wasted on another Leah Williams pile of hot garbage.

I’m done with with this book now. I want it to be good but it’s just not and I would recommend anyone parting with money for this not to encourage what Leah Williams is serving up. more

Axel's backstory is the one cool part of this book. I really like his role as an archivist for the tools and weapons of Asgard. Some Valhalla background was ok otherwise as others have said this is really going through the motions. Boring overall and PG is still way too emotional.

Art is good but jarring from Melo's work. Very very different looking. There seems to be so little PG art constancy in this series. Shame.

All in all, PG is boring, Axel is a lot more interesting than I expected. more

The romance between Peeg and Axel is paper thin and is just an OK paced issue on her date in Valhalla (though a few of the warriors look they're from India, hmm). Travis Moore returns to pencil work, the art is good but I feel like the story is kind of just going through the motions. Power Girl learns that Axel is essentially a custodian of the gods; documenting and protecting rare artifacts, cool. When she asks a scrying mirror what is happening with her BFF Omen, it shows her that Omen is in some state of duress.

If you're still reading Power Girl at issue 12, congrats, looks like we both made some poor comic by decisions. more

This was a complete waste of time. This book reiterates that there are far too many members of the Super-family. Do we really need two Superwomen? I had even forgotten the stupid idea of Lana Lang having powers. We learn absolutely nothing new here outside of the last page. The idea that the suit gave her powers is completely ludicrous. The entire idea behind Absolute Power was so bad, I didn't even read it.

The reveal could have been just two pages in Superman and done.$6.99 for this is a complete cash grab. I'm glad Williamson got paid for something this bad.

My comic review channel - https://youtu.be/-aYykMrjGZk more

GA is back to being self-righteous taking down A-holes. What is not to like? A sort of back to the basics for GA which is a good place to go after all the madness he has been through and the repairs Williamson did on his run.

I was impressed on how definitive of an ending this really felt to the entire Green Arrow run by Williamson. If issue 350 was an excellent transition issue, this was an excellent end cap. I mean it was a time skip forward (I am assuming many years given all these grand kids), and it was a simple re-telling of the case where he always fell short. Sure it resolved in a cheesy way (power of family! in a sense), but it felt like an ending. Not only to Williamson's run, but in a way to Green Arrow (if you wanted to put a cap on the character in the future this wouldnt be a bad way). All and all quite an enjoyable run. more

I will admit, this is one of the better (one of the best?) transition issues I have seen. The reason to wind down Williamson's arc and start Condon's makes logical sense, the pacing was there, everything was wrapped up nicely and very in character. Green Arrow has been through a lot of Bs the past few years and this kind of fixed that all up. Williamson did a good job getting GA into a better place and now Condon is taking him over with a logical and fresh start. Again the transition was smooth and both their stories feel like one story. That is an excellent sign. Although I realized I am not the biggest GA fan after reading all of these issue, I will say the Williamson arc was a good one overall. more

As much as I loved the Williamson run, we all knew that he would be handleing Ollie over as soon as he could find someone worthy of running this title. This is one of those books that you just got to read and enjoy. The aftermath of Absolute Power is something I am very interested in. You really get a look inside Olivers head in this issue. I am a big fan of the conversation that he has with Bats. This issue ended the way a new start for Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow should with an amazing splash page, that I want tattooed, and Ollie saying, "...I"m coming for you." I can't wait to see where this will go! more

I just dont buy this traitor thing. It feels forced for this story. Absolute Power while itself is ok, the majority of the tie ins are poor or like in this case, are a lesser version of the run. It is not terrible by any means, but it just feels like I am reading it to go through the motions.

It was ok, good action and I fine enough story. I just dont feel all that drawn into it. Nothing wrong with it though, I think people who like Green Arrow more than I might like this.

Very enjoyable first issue with a wholesome family. Excellent art. Several plot hooks left in their to get things moving so that was nice. Also man the quality of the paper in this book... so much better than the Marvel or DC stuff. +.5 for that

As others have said, it is a good idea but forceful and too on the nose to be effective. Which I find really odd because Prince has done this concept before with extreme effectiveness. This time it felt like he needed to inform people of what is going on in the world but like... dont most of us know it? We use books to escape all the crap he brings up. I do not want to be reminded of reality in this way when I read an ICM book. This might be one of his biggest 'miss' issues. more

I liked the idea of the book, I just felt the execution was a little off and the message was a little too forceful.

'We drown on earth' was doing heavy lifting this issue. My goodness was that a fun story. Aqua horror is something I really enjoy so it was an easy win for me 9/10.

Behave was interesting and I didnt know how to rate it, but I did enjoy it, a bit of an anti-climatic but feel good ending. 7.5/10

Automated felt...weaker? Not sure how to even explain that. Just the weakest of the bunch. 6.5/10

Deleted Man was kind of horror but I found it rather funny instead. I mean dude was screwed but as the reader it was an fun story. 7/10 more

Not as good as the first issue by any means. Still enjoyable though.

Story 1) Sick twist at the end. Really the entire story was building up to it so far enough. 8/10
Story 2) Very short but classic. Enjoy it and it did feel rather 'ECish' 8.5/10
Story 3) It was really great and I enjoyed the forsight concept. Fell apart at the end though. Like the didnt know where to go with it which was a shame. 7/10
Story 4) Another with a sort of classic feel. Great for people who like conspiracies. 8/10.

Stories were a bit more consistent this time but note one that stood out like the first story of issue 1. more

I am an avid EC comics reader, I have a decent amount of the deluxe editions with mostly a focus on the old Weird Fantasy and Weird Science. I just say this to give you an idea of how I am judging these. I am comparing them to the legendary classics.

First story: 10/10. What more do I need to say? This was true EC comics. To Matt Kindt and Kanto the artist I say thank you. It was wonderful, I love the twist at the end and the art was perfect for it. I loved every panel. It had that impactful and meaningful message and it wasnt heavy handed. It felt like that was the conclusion I should come to regardless. Honestly almost teared up from it. A perfect story to respect EC and what it stood for.

Story 2 and 3. Not great or terrible. Just meh and standard. 7/10. They kept me going and the ends were twisted but I saw them coming. Not bad but I wish they were more like the first story.

Story 4. Now this one was a bit hard to judge as I really enjoyed the concept but for most the story I was just plodding along. However it really comes together at the end. That final panel. The brutal darkness and cruelty somehow framed in a positive way (but that just made it all the worse), was what I loved to see. While it isnt exactly what I think of when I think EC comics, it was a great story nonetheless. 9/10.

Oni Press did this one right. So much better than their horror line. That first story, Kindt and Kanto need to do more stories. It was epic. So very perfectly EC. more

I'm not usually big on anthology books like this. I always feel disappointed the stories are so short. This book still left me wanting more, but in a good way. All the stories had value and my favorite was the Space Ship one and the Fountain of Youth one. I really enjoyed this.