Board Review of JSA #14

DC Comics and Jeff Lemire are in the process of rewriting the beginning of the Justice Society and we have the charter members gradually meeting each othre for the first time. Hawkman and Hawkgirl are already together, with Shiera already Carter's equal partner as an archaeologist and a superhero. This review will focus on their part of the story. Spoilers everywhere so turn away if you haven't read it yet. 

In Issue No. 13, Carter and Shiera are a married couple, archaeologists who are somewhere in South America looking for the Temple of Feithera. While they setting up camp, Carter is shot in the arm with an arrow by Sportsmaster. Shiera suits up as Hawkgirl but is captured by Sportsmaster and Satanna. That is where we pick up the story in issue No. 14. 

Satanna threatens Hawkgirl and appears to know about their reincarnation. This surprises Shiera but I'm not sure why. Surely Carter and Shiera know about their reincarnation cycle and past lives as Prince Khufu and Chay-ara by this time. Is she surprised that some one else knows about their reincarnation? He hasn't appeared in the story yet, but it could be that Anton Hastor (the reincarnated Hath-Set) is also involved? 

Carter is running through the jungle when he hears gunshots. He arrives to find Shiera standing over three unconscious goons, while Sportsmaster and Satanna have escaped. Shiera already seems very capable as Hawkgirl. Even though she was all entangled in a net and had a gun pointed at her face, she managed to overcome her captors and take charge. I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to see that action scene. They go ahead the villains and find them loading up animals into a plane. Satanna's specialty is putting human brains into the bodies of animals, so perhaps that is what they are doing. We don't have all the pieces yet so we'll have to wait and see. 

The other JSA members are also running into each other, Hourman and Sandman appear to be friends or avquaintances, Atom comes across Wonder Woman, and Flash and Green Lantern meet for the first time. I'm enjoying this version of the JSA, especially with Hawkgirl as an equal partner of Hawkman. Jeff Lemire seems to like to write Hawkman as not too exceptionally intelligent. If the Metal/Venditti version of Carter Hall III still stands, then this Hawkman is the same Hawkman as the present day version. Shiera will eventually die in some way and she is split into two versions of herself, Shayera Thal-Hol and Kendra Saunders. In bothe the current JSA and in this issue, Shiera and Kendra seem to be the smarter of the two and not as impulsive as Carter. Carter wants to attack, but Shiera tells him to wait and see where they are headed. And that's where issue 14 ends for the Hawks. 

This is another attempt by DC to rewrite the Justice Society's history, so we'll just have to hope they don't destroy too much. It would be reassuring to know that this story is just filling in some of the areas that the Golden Age version never explained, but we'll have to wait and see. 

The art in the issue is not the greatest, but it's not horrible either. Gavin Guidry does okay but the Hawks' wings for example could have used more work. There isn't much detail in the art of this issue. 

Right off the top of my head, Lemire has written Hawkman in a few series; Justice League United (2014-2016), Hawkman Found (2018), JSA (2024-present), and The New 52: Futures End. Hawkman Found was okay but the others pretty much made Hawkman seem like a meathead, a bit of a buffoon, and not too bright. This is very disappointing but it's his style. I hope he gives Hawkman a chance to show off his skills, without Hawkgirl telling him what to do, in the near future. 

JSA #14 comes out on Janaury 7! 

JSA #13
Script: Jeff Lemire
Pencils/Inks: Gavin Guidry 
Colors: Luis Guerrero 
Letters: Steve Wands 

Cover: Dave Johnson
Editing: Marquis Draper, Andrew Marino, Katie Kubert