All's Fair in Love and Hate and Life and Death; JSA: All Stars 7 Review

 

Well this certainly is interesting. Michael Holt, inheritor of the Mr. Terrific moniker is a man without faith. Bored and suicidal, he is confronted by The Spectre, once an agent of wrath and vengeance but now the spirit of redemption. The Spectre tells Holt of Terry Sloane, the original Mr. Terrific. Holt takes up the challenge to equal or surpass Sloane's accomplishments. The reason Holt is lost and faithless is that he lost his wife. He's alone now. He doesn't believe in an afterlife or a future. 

After visiting her grave, Holt is confronted by a pair of DEO agents. He overpowers them. Then he visits Mr. Bones at his DEO office. What ensues is nothing more than a heated argument. What comes out of the argument is that Bones has been aware that Holt's wife was pregnant. Michael didn't know. Now he believes that wherever his wife is, she's not alone. It's a sweet and touching sentiment. Going for the feelz.

This issue is extra-sized. It seems split between Michael Holt and Terry Sloane. 

The second story is not so much about Terry Sloane, or his exploits as Mr. Terrific, but the impact he has on his ne'er-do-well brother, Ned. Brother Ned is a drunk and gambler. Not very successful at either. He's somewhat bitter toward the more ambitious, focused and successful Terry. Until a Christmas party, where Ned encounters a former employee bent on murdering Terry.

There really is very little action. It's more conversation... arguing. Avoiding things until they can't avoid them any longer. Push coming to shove. Still, the only connection among these character profiles in The Spectre. Which is weird, because he's supposed to be captive of Legacy with Jay, Alan, Carter and Ted. There's nothing connecting these stories back to the introduction in the first issue. No mention of the rest of the team. That's the disconnect. Even more odd, this is an extra-sized issue to accommodate a story by fan-favorite and award-winning author Michael Chabon. So, these stories feel more like padding and filler and fluff. As stand-alone stories, they're enjoyable. However, the pretense and pretext that they're pieces of a larger picture just doesn't seem to hold up to basic scrutiny.

JSA: All Stars 7, "Fair Enough" and "The Strange Case of Mr. Terrific and Doctor Nil" earns three stars.   

Kneel Before This Man of Steel! JSA: The Unholy Three

Elseworlds. A Jolley Roger Production. Sequel to The Liberty File.

Clark Kent reveals his true identity. As he murders Shiera Sanders. What's mind-blowing is that he turns out to be Zod! Not Kal-El. As a reckless youth on Krypton, he is about to be sentenced to The Phantom Zone, when an American scientific wormhole project draws him to Earth. Realizing his potential, he is placed with Jonathan and Martha Kent and, as he put it, indoctrinated.

Not sure if this is a continuity error or a plot hole, but in The Liberty File, it appeared as if Hitler had a Superman. Not just J'onn J'onzz drawn through a similar means as Zod was drawn to the Allies. Perhaps that was a red herring. It is an interesting turn of events. Hitler tries to use an Übermensch in world domination. The Martian Manhunter turns out to be more altruistic. The United States attempts something similar, and the tables seem to turn - the Übermensch attempts world domination! It's somewhat unclear it Zod is working alone, or if he was working with The Parasite and Steelwolf. The work seems to be similar. Zod is killing meta-human agents!

It isn't until Bruce and Rex connect with another agent, Wesley Dodds, The Sandman, and Alan Scott, The Green Lantern, that "Kent" tips his hand.

The Trigger turns out to be in Chernobyl. Realizing that Kent, The Super-Man has gone rogue, Bruce makes an emergency call: The Atom, The Hawk (Hawkman), The Huntress, Mercury (The Flash), The Tornado (The Red Tornado) and The Star (Starman). Each one relinquishes their cover to answer the summons.

What follows is a glorious, spectacular blowout mother-of-all slugfests! The Atom and Hawkman are early casualties.

Dan Jolley brings the goods as far as story. Tony Harris, Ray Snyder and JD Mettler bring all the blood and guts and gore in the art. From Zod's subtle murder of Shiera at the top, to Alan Scott, Al Pratt, Carter Hall and all the injuries that pile up with Theo Knight, Wes, Helena, Jay and the rest. It seems that superhero Ragnarok involves all the capes and cowls mounting against Kryptonians.

JSA: The Unholy Three earns four stars.