Writers: Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns
Artists: Ed Benes, Fernando Pasarin and Shane Davis
Publisher: DC Comics
Good old fashioned cross-overs aren’t easy to come by nowadays. Sure, we get the massively lumbering Infinite Crisis and the too-cool-for-school Civil War, but what about a proper cross-over, where two disparate books (however similar looking) become so intertwined that it’s almost impossible to determine what is actually happening in the story without reading both of them? Luckily for us, The Lightning Saga is one of those stories that are so good it takes two comics to tell! Coming straight after the initial opening arcs of both titles, this cross-over has all of the characteristics that DC are famous for using in their ‘big stories’: loads of characters, overly complicated clues and plot devices, time-travel and the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (though of course the real heroes are Starman, Jay Garrick and Wildcat). It might seem like an odd time to do a cross-over, so soon after the titles have re-started, but I guess it was more than just an exercise in boosting flagging sales, it might have actually had something to do with getting the great writing duo of Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns to work together on a complete story on the titles they helped revitalize, before they move on to other projects.
The story follows the standard set-up procedure for a cross-over featuring the JSA: a ‘new’ team (this time the JLA, full of experienced yet ‘green’ heroes like Vixen, Geo-Force and Red Arrow) brings in the old guys to teach them a few things. In this case Mr Terrific teaches tactics, whilst Wildcat teaches teamwork. Meanwhile Batman and Black Lightning examine an unconscious member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, who has travelled back in time from the 31st Century with Six others, one of whom might just be the JSA’s resident Psych. patient, Starman. After the usual hero on hero smackdown, the Worlds Greatest and Worlds First Super-Heroes decide to work together to solve the mystery of the missing future heroes. Superman knows who the Legion of Super-Heroes are, after meeting them as a boy in Smallville and becoming an honorary member of their ‘club’. But the others don’t really know what they’re letting themselves in for…
Each issue after the first focuses on the two teams tracking down these lost time-travellers and uttering a ’secret-word’ that seems to unlock their jumbled memories and allow them to remember the real reason that they’ve travelled back through time. Of course, this reason remains hidden from us until the last issue- as things are very rarely what they seem, especially when team-ups are concerned- as Red Arrow says in the second part: “Whenever scary superteams show up from the future, there’s always an initial fistfight, followed by the obvious misunderstanding. In this case, we all started out shaking hands with everyone as friends. That means there’s only one thing for us to do later.” Spot on the money there, Roy.
The actual story here is both confusing and interesting- without knowing much about the Legion of Supoerheroes and their five million members, it’s hard to really care if they are found or not, or what their mission might be. It’s hinted at that they’ve come to our time to resurrect a fallen member-Lightning Lad- but why they’d travel a thousand years into the past to do so is unfathomable and never really explained or questioned. The JSA and JLA just seem happy to be working together tracking down these weirdos and checking out each others teammates. However, it’s the little touches in both series that makes the story worth reading. I don’t care if Timber Wolf is hiding out in Gorilla City or not, but I do like the sight of fifty Apes racing Velociraptors through the jungle! It’s visually stunning and unique scenes like this that, along with the trademark dialogue of Meltzer and Johns, makes this a series worth digging into- especially when you factor in the pay-off in the final issue. Here we have great characters interacting in ways more realistic than just throwing punches- Kara and Connor discuss their interest in the Hawks, Superman lets slip a little of the humanity he hides behind the big red ‘S’ and Starman tells Geo-Force he smells of mud.
On the whole, a great series that makes up for it’s confusing plot by pulling together all of the best things about both comics and making a thoroughly entertaining hybrid- part action, part characterization, part super-hero drama, part examination of ‘What makes a hero a hero?”. Plus, a hint at who some of the villains of the coming months might be, shown all to briefly in a single panel…
Adam is the Manager of the Travelling Man Comic Book and Hobby Games Store in Leeds, UK. He’s a self-confessed über-fanboy and loves nothing more than chatting about the obvious superiority of the old-skool JSA over “Those damn glory-hogging kids, the Justice League”. He’s also a massive fan of small press indie comics, and loves reading new and exciting books that haven’t had all of the soul sucked out of them by the mainstream (yet). He also over-uses parentheses and hyphens, but likes the attention it gets him.