Picking back up from issue #4 after skipping the pointless Frembia arc.

For part 1 of the House of Brainiac tie-in we get the following from Leah Williams: Slice of life skate-boarding with cheesy boob jokes, Omen invading privacy being used as a comedic effect, and two pages of the guest star of the issue (Crush) with a tease of what’s to come in the future issues.

If you’re pulling just for House of Brainiac, honestly skip. It’s clear that this tie-in is irrelevant. more

Action oriented with a promising beginning. This just needed more of Deadpool’s personality, kinda reads like a generic mercenary character rather than Deadpool.

Not ranking this issue, because I haven’t read it. I’m genuinely curious on who is interested in this plot and new version of Power Girl?

Mia!

Should’ve just been a Red Lantern mini.

We get it Tom Taylor; Nightwing is a pure person who will do anything to protect a child. Get on with the real story (Heartless) already.

This week marked a turning point in Hal’s story as Jeremy Adams (@spacekicker) began solidifying the foundation he’s been setting up since the series debuted, setting up a ton excitement for the next arc.

Hal’s journey to discovering a previously unknown power source has been hidden on Earth was a well-executed plot device that also gave someone from Hal’s past a nice cameo. Hal is now in possession of three things he’s been sorely lacking: 1) confidence in himself; 2) the courage to leave those he loves on Earth behind; & perhaps most importantly, 3) a fully functioning ring. To say I’m excited for what comes next is an understatement & seeing Jo appear at the end has me anxious for the next issue. This continues to be one of my favorite DC books right now.

It was AWESOME to have both Xermánico (@xermanico) & Romulo Fajardo Jr. (@evergreenfajardo) together again, & their combined art was nothing short of phenomenal. From the breathtaking landscapes surrounding the newly discovered power source to the awe-inspiring vistas of space travel, my jaw was firmly on the ground. Look at the shot of Earth from space!

The backup story by Sam Humphries (@samhumphries) featuring Jessica Cruz tied in nicely w/ the larger GL vs UP plot & I can’t wait to see how her infiltration plan unfolds in the grand scheme of things. more

Look at my previous reviews when I say this. This has gotten worse. I will defend Williams when I think it is just terrible editors ruining her. This seems random and totally pointless. Also no offence to the artist but this is such a step down from issues 1-4 which were not great to start with. The animal issue worked but this looks like it was written for kids. Nothing about this issue feels right. The story itself isnt terrible but feels like pointless. The only plus it has is it at least ties into the previous issue which I thought was a one off. That was nice for some continuity.

Going to stay with this one and see if it picks up for the Superman event but if not... then I dont see how this isnt cancelled by issue 12. more

Nice continuous flow from a quality standpoint. A JSA member makes a surprise appearance, and the father-daughter bonding of Jay / Judy continues. The plot doesn’t move much, but this was a solid read.

Once again this isnt really a PG comic, but not a terrible comic nonetheless. I dont know why editorial isnt helping Leah. It baffles me how incompetent the editors are. Leah clearly has some fun idea (the cat adventure is cute, but would be better as a shorty story in one of those silent one shots DC does), but no one is helping her form them.

All in all its a cute book but not a PG book. Editors are out to lunch and Leah is left to do her own thing. Which honestly isnt terrible but if you are looking for PG... she is only here in her weird new iteration for like 5% of the time. more

i'm sorry, i was looking for the human comics..?

Only praise I can give this issue is that the Red Lantern was interesting, and it builds off of what Geoff Johns introduced in the 2022 New Golden Age book. Everything else is boring, mainly Alan Scott. You can have gay characters with personality DC Comics, it’s not that hard.

Trinity punching Diana reminded me of that one issue in Batman / Catwoman where Helena fought Selina. Didn’t like this new story, and I stand by my theory that the Super Sons were the real stars of the backup not Trinity. $6 for essentially an extra backup is not worth it. Don’t know how you make the daughter of Wonder Woman uninteresting and unlikable, but King found a way.

Certainly the strongest tie-in for the Beast World event. All stories hit the right beats, and brought fun character interactions. The stand out story for me was Venditti’s “Jungle Society of America”.

Ugh. Seeing Eiko and Daario again was a downer, hearing "mama cat" and all the other cheesy lines again was a downer, the surprise guest appearance at the end was a downer.

Beautiful artwork, plot builds up steady. Characterization shines through for Wonder Woman and the other Wonder Girls this issue, but the dialogue was not good.

A very underwhelming issue. What was the point of spending half of this issue on the mystery box story villain only to have said villain get promptly beaten by the supporting character and not the hero of the story??? Williams, please, why are you writing a comic named POWER GIRL and making Omen such an major part of her story? Omen is a supporting character who shouldn't take up the spot of the hero from the title character.

The good art can't save this comic and unfortunately I don't think Pansica is going to be on this comic much longer and the boring art of Sauvage will be back in the near future. Blah. This whole reboot of Karen Starr has been a bad experiment and it should just end on issue 6. Renumber it to #1 with a new writer and direction. Say the entire "paige" arc was some weird fever dream that Omen was playing on Karen. more

Hands down the best issue of the series and one of the best single issues I've had the pleasure of reading this year, JSA #8 is something that calls back to a better time in comics through a combination of mature, complex writing and dynamic, dazzling art. Mikel Janin might very well be putting out some of the best work of his career in these pages -- astounding, expressive, and amazingly capable of capturing minute details & emotions. Geoff Johns' JSA has always felt like a passion project, and this issue definitely emphasizes that passion and the writer's long association and familiarity with these characters.

In many ways, it feels like coming home for any longtime JSA fan. Alan Scott, in particular, is the heart of this story and his picture-perfect characterisation is both a triumph and a relief. He's the same man he's always been: cold, angry, blunt, and secretive but always willing to try to understand, to sympathize, to work to be a better hero. His past and his struggle with his sexuality are both hinted at masterfully, solidly there but never taking focus away from the story being told.

Ruby Sokov's introduction is also immensely exciting and definite proof of Johns' uncanny ability to make a new character fit right in. A fantastic breath of fresh air. more

Questioning if this series is even a Power Girl series with the amount of plot relevance Omen has. The depression and overall miserableness from Power Girl is toned down, but she’s still incompetent and relies on Omen to save the day. Holzherr has failed this title, the amount of inconsistencies from the first issue to this one is jarring, something an editor is supposed to prevent. Kaminski allowing Williams to overhaul Power Girl into a worse imbecile of a character is ridiculous. What an overall bad title for Power Girl. more

The spark for the series is still there, this issue proves it. Ruby is a dynamic character that brings necessary conflicts to the JSA and Huntress. Helena has been the primary character of this team book, I see why Johns chose her over many others too and that’s because of her compassion and empathy. This issue has a good mix of deep diving into the character’s thoughts and feelings, while also being very action oriented. more

It would be nice if Alan could do something other than standing around moping. Spectre and the Flash’s appearances added way more excitement for the story to me than Alan Scott.. the titular character.

I do feel rather mean-spirited leaving consistently bad reviews for this series, but I cannot get over how much of a poor writer Tini Howard is. Catwoman is my favorite character - it was really a revelation to read her Volume III run where she was complicated, competent and creative, and it was so much fun to read her Volume II run where she was FUN and smart and independent, to say nothing of her portrayal in adaptation. It hurts A LOT to consistently have to endure Howard's current take on this character, who Howard thinks is a dumb, shallow, STUPID, romantically obsessed immature dumb-dumb cat chick, who talks in banal purple prose. Also, why is Selina killing people in this?

The recent announcement that Howard will get to drag this character down further into the mud with her upcoming Gotham City Sirens book is incredibly discouraging. more

Wretched narration. Crazy that this writer is being given more work, much less the GCS.

If you can find it for 25 cents, it's worth it.

Edit: I've read the backup now. Fun, good surprise. But it's Damian's, I don't buy Nightwing to see Tom Taylor putting more effort into Damian's backup.
It's long past time for a new creative team, I hope this terrible "pirates" arc is the equivalent of King's Batman nightmares arc, and that this run never recovers. I can't stand reading Nightwing written by Taylor anymore, he's terrible.
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