JSA Omnibus 1

Ah yes, the Justice Society of America (JSA). The first superhero team in comics since its inception in the Golden Age of comic in 1940 ushered in a whole new wave of storytelling and future generations to follow and take note from. Even if the JSA are the originators, they fell behind the pack once the Justice League of America (JLA) came about in the 1950s. Since then, the JSA has woven in-and-out of DC's pantheon never hitting the same level as its offspring, the JLA. But in 1997, when Grant Morrison jump started the JLA, it became one of the must read comics at the time, and the fact the JSA were in issues #27-31 that really pushed more attention for the JSA. So because of the success of Morrison's JLA, DC decided to strike the fire while it was hot and make an offshoot series, that being the JSA. And here is when comic really got great.With writers James Robinson (a avid fan of the Golden Age heroes) and Blade/Man of Steel/Batman Begins writer David Goyer, who was a fresh face at the time, started on JSA. And yes, superstar writer Geoff Johns got some of his earliest work on this series makes for a fitting collection for fans of both writers and good ol' fashioned characters in the modern day.Originally this collection was to be called Geoff Johns JSA Omnibus, featuring only the material Johns did on the series starting at issue 5. This left many fans angry with DC since it meant cutting out the first arc by Robinson and Goyer and many other aspects of the JSA. Thankfully, due to massive out cries by fans, DC took notice and re-solicited this Omnibus featuring all aspects of the JSA, even if this large book is mostly Johns heavy. So although DC still has old problems that their omnibi still linger, this is still an awesome tome.The JSA OMNIBUS VOL.1 collects the following in order:All Star Comics #1All-American Comics #1Adventure Comics #1National Comics #1Sensation Comics #1Smash Comics #1Star Spangled Comics #1Thrilling Comics #1All Star Comic #2 *All the issues above are collected here in Justice Society Returns (Justice Society of America) JSA Secret Files #1, JSA #1-5  Justice Be Done (JSA: Justice Society of America, Book 1) JSA #6-15  JSA: Darkness Falls JSA #16-25  JSA: The Return of Hawkman - Book 03 (Justice Society of America (Numbered)) JSA Our Worlds at War #1JLA/JSA Secret Files #1JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice  JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice (JLA (DC Comics Unnumbered Paperback)) JSA All-Stars #1-8  JSA: All Stars (Justice Society of America (DC Comics)) [Since this omnibus has way too much to discuss, I will only give a general idea of these stories. Please click on the links for far superior reviews and information.]Starting out with the JUSTICE SOCIETY RETURNS story, all the stories are individual pieces of golden age superheroes who fight their own battles, then come to find out are all part of a master plan against an alien bent on taking over the world. After that, we finally dive into the modern day JSA stories, which involve a series of mysterious murders to Golden Age characters, time and space collapsing under the power of one heroes own son, and the return of a certain Thangarian that was long dead in comics makes a grand entrance. With a series of stand-alone issues of Golden Age characters written and drawn by all star writers and artist.That's the gist of this massive tome and it's as simple as that without giving anything away. This series was all about using the theme of legacies as its core example, as well as using a Silver-Age sense of action with a touch of modern day storytelling to make these characters likable and never delves too deep on darker subject material as some comics did at the time period. Having traditional Golden Age characters like The Flash Jay Garrick, Green Lantern Alan Scott, and Wildcat Ted Grant stay as lead members of the team to reform the JSA bringing in new characters to fill out old ranks like Dinah Lance, daughter to the original Black Canary, and Jack Knight, taking over for his father's role of Starman, make for a series that shows readers just why these characters still do mean a lot for comic fans. So even if teams like the Teen Titans, Birds of Prey, and Outsiders look up to the Justice League...it's the Justice League that looks up to the Justice Society.Aside from Johns writing a good majority here with Goyer and Robinson as well, there is a vast array of writers who did the one-shots and artist that, for reasons of length, are too large to name off (there's 20+ artist from the contents page). The art is solid for the late 90's, with majority of the art being handled by Stephen Sadowski.As for this 2014 Omnibus, it's massive. As the Amazon picture shows is the dust jacket on the front, with another picture of the group on the spine big and clearly. On the inner flaps, has a small biography of a good majority of the members through the series is pretty neat as well. In terms of the board underneath the dust jacket, sadly, it's just a flat black board with the JSA symbols. Something this big I wish DC would add a little more effort on their omnibi collections instead of the typical black board, but it is what it is. Speaking of old DC habits, the bind is still glued/sewn (I know many people will hate that part). It's still sturdy, but since this is a 1000+ page book, it gets tight. In fact, for me, this is one of the tighter bindings I've had from this collection. I really had to stretch the book to keep it open on the ends. Since I read all books at 90 degree angles, this is fine by me and I am not picky about it, but it will drive some people nuts. Which in turn leads to numerous splash pages having gutter loss, which thankfully, there isn't too many of those in this series as I read most of the book fine. It's only when those splash pages came up I have trouble. The pages are think and non-glossy and are all crisp layouts. I didn't see any fuzzy art productions or errors in this collection, so there's that. And lastly, this collection has practically zero extras, sadly. It has no introductions, sketches, or afterwords. It only has the covers to the trade paperbacks.So, JSA OMNIBUS VOL.1 shows that Johns, Goyer, and Robinson's earliest work holds up amazingly well for being 15 years old and focuses on Golden Age characters. It's a ton of content for the price like most omnibus should do, but some of the production work hurts the book. It's a 4 ½ star review, but I still enjoyed what's here and for the price.Let's see how well  JSA Omnibus Vol. 2  holds up by comparison.

Amazing characters, great stories, great art. The only minor complaint I would have is some of the story jumps around a bit without much context for the changes in the story/characters. Other than that, a must read for DC fans

A massive ode to the Justice Society of America and the legacy of the team in the modern age. This huge first volume (one of three) complies the kick off to Geoff Johns' run on the title and mostly focuses on the the opening JSA arcs: Justice Be Done, Darkness Falls, the Return of Hawkman before featuring a team up with the JLA (Virtue and Vice) and a legacy story (JSA All Stars) wherein the new members of the team must save the original members from a villain using the unsubtle name of Legacy. The collection also opens with a throwback series of one-shots featuring the original JSA team in the 1940's taking down a god-like villain. The opening is a great introduction (or reintroduction for fans) to the original golden age lineup of the team before the collection jumps into the ongoing modern story. The artwork is terrific throughout (with only the World at War tie-in lacking) and is especially strong when the modern writers revisit the golden age setting and characters. Even though this collection is massive it is not all encompassing as there is a bit of jumping around at the time of the Our World at War tie-in. The overarching story of the JSA skips a bit there and does leave out some intriguing major developments such as Jack Knight passing on the mantle of Starman to Courtney Whitmore (making her officially Stargirl) as well as the resurrection of Oliver Queen interrupting the blossoming romance between Black Canary and Dr. Mid-nite. Those two major hiccups aside the collection is quite easy to follow. I do actually wish the Our World at War tie-in had been left out; while it is a great look at the full team's lineup in action it comes out of nowhere in this collection and will make zero sense to anyone who hasn't read the actual event (and considering it is a weaker DC crossover you shouldn't bother). All in all, this mammoth collection is a great buy for fans of the original DC super team and for fans of Johns' writing.

I've been a fan of the DC Omnibus series from the beginning. I appreciate that they are compact, yet contain a whole lot of comics for the price. So far, I've never had any of the binding problems that people complain about. But even I had to balk at the size of the JSA Omnibus Vol. 1. At 1280 pages, it is ridiculously huge even compared to other omnibi, which tend to average around 800 pages. In the end, though, the size is manageable.While I am thankful for all the material included, it really would have made sense for some of it to be saved for a later edition. For instance, there is a time-jump going from JSA #25 to the "Our Worlds At War" tie-in (which felt very forced when pulled away from the rest of the event). Suddenly, and without explanation, Mr. Terrific is chairman and Captain Marvel, Hourman II, and Power Girl have joined the team. I would have preferred a few more issues from the regular series, so that these changes could be introduced in chronological order.On that note, this book pulls from no fewer than 15 distinct titles. Despite the inclusion of two superfluous title pages per issue (yes, TWO!), we are never informed which issue of which title we are reading. (Unlike in other omnibi, the covers are printed as art only, with no indication of what you are reading.) If they had cut out all those title pages, they could have slimmed the book by 96 pages!Really, these are minor complaints. This series is a must-own for any DC fan. Robinson and Johns are masters of celebrating the history of the DC Universe, and what better vehicle for that celebration than the Justice Society? The content gets an easy five stars. But as presented, this book is the first time I have felt disappointed by a DC Omnibus. Nonetheless, I eagerly await the December release of Vol. 2.

Geoff Johns estava em seu ápice! ✌🏼

This is one of Uncanny Omar's top 10 favorite omnibus, and it's easy to see why. So much passion and dedication, also my favorite James Robinson (Starman, Leave it to Chance) has the opening arc here. So it doesn't really get much better than this for me.

It arrived earlier than expected and in perfect condition ... I really enjoyed it and devoured it, a must-read!

Não é excepcional, mas é muito bom. Bela série de heróis. Não há só histórias da revista mensal da JSA, mas algumas mini-series dos personagens individuais. Geoff Johns entra na metade do volume, mais ou menos, e aí sim as histórias melhoram bem.

Um épico dos quadrinhos. Arte fabulosa e histórias com profundidade típica da DC. Obra de arte.