Justice Society of America #18 (DC – Johns / Ross / Eaglesham / Gray / Justice / Massengill)

Magog is introduced into the DC Universe in “Gog” part 3! The last god of the Third World has walked the Earth delivering good will to men wherever he goes. But out of a violent confrontation comes the birth of the one being the Kingdom Come Superman must stop: Magog! Meanwhile, Starman struggles with his new role on the team and Damage celebrates his. Plus, Power Girl’s strange ordeal on Earth-2 leads her to seek out help from an unlikely source.

For me, this was a huge turn around from the let down that was the JSA Annual. Gog continues his war on war and we see the true origin of Magog.

The story-telling combination Geoff Johns and Alex Ross continues the “One World Under Gog” story arc.  Gog shows off a little bit more of his power as he transforms a bunch of militant terrorist into trees… yup, into trees.  This is the first Gog-event, from many to come it seems from previews, that splits the JSA on moral grounds.  Many of the “old guard” see turning the bad guys into life-giving tree the same as killing them and out of the question, while many of the new guard, led by Hawkman, think this is just and Gog might be the being to turn the tide on evil.  This continuing split will go on to define this book for the upcoming year.  This is highlighted by a very scary Hawkman moment dirrect at Jay Garrick.

Dale Eaglesham’s pencils are moments are not up to his usual standard, but you bareley notice as plot barrels along.  Overall, this is a pretty intense bottleneck issue, almost to a fault.  The issue ends much quicker than any reader would like.

And as a sidenote, I can’t believe how much I couldn’t care about Powergirl’s nightmare adventures on Earth-2.

Issue Grade: B+