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Mild Mannered Reviews - JSA Comics

Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Magog #1 Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Magog #1

Justice Society of America Kingdom Come Special: Magog #1

Scheduled to arrive in stores: November 19, 2008

Cover date: January 2009

"Thy Kingdom Come: Magog the Real Me" (sic)

Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller: Fernando Pasarin
Inker: Mick Gray

Neal Bailey Reviewed by: Neal Bailey

Click to enlarge



Magog and Gog leads the JSA that stands with Gog toward Khandaq. As they do, they see bodies in the river, poisoned by the local militiamen.

They work to divert the course of the river and succeed, with Gog's help, after attempting to do it on their own.

They find the militiamen and attack them, taking out a semi filled with pills they're using to poison the water.

Magog readies himself to kill two of the villains, but is stopped by his teammates. They begin to debate, but Gog turns the men into water, purifying the stream with them and ending the poison.

Magog hears a transmission from his old unit. Learning that they are in trouble, he runs to their aid, to Gog's pleasure. He finds them dead, and he takes them down, thinking of the things that motivated him to be a soldier and how these men helped him when he was originally infected.

Magog hunts down his other teammates, and attacks their captors by shooting out their knees. One of his teammates initially thinks him the devil, until he reveals his identity. Magog orders all of the men with injured legs into a pit and leaves them to die, taking dogtags.

Gog changes the river's course one last time to a safer path, and Magog washes away the blood, having learned a lesson about war.

5Story - 5: Awesome character work in the latter half, and a great character piece for Magog. A fine example of human brutality, straight down to skeleton hand guy. Well worth the price of admission, and a good companion piece for the JSA story.

It can be argued that these aren't necessary to understand the larger story. This is true. They're still really great character work, at least so far, and I'm enjoying the heck out of them.

5Art - 5: It's darned hard to convey just how creepy the man with the skeleton arm was to me, but it's one of those panels you just remember. Absolutely creepy. Beyond that, it follows the thematic, epic bent of the entire Gog story so far, and all of the characters and action are distinct and strong. Very enjoyable work.

4Cover Art - 4: The character is very well done, but the lighting is very pink, it throws off the work, unfortunately. But not enough to take its exemplary work from it, quite a good cover.

5Cover Art (Alternate) - 5: Now THAT is a cool image. Magog stepping from the fires of the destruction he's just sown. It's a statement about the story, and a compelling piece of imagery. Really cool.



BACK-UP STORY: "The Secret Origin of Starman"

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Scott Kolins

We see the origin of Starman, how he grew up schizophrenic and with gravity powers and entered the Legion. We learn that he killed a man in self-defense and was voted out of the Legion, and joined them in the Legion of Three Worlds adventure, where his suit was turned into a map of the multiverse, given that he can open up portals between universes.

He tells his doctor that he needs to do something he doesn't want to, and asks her for a shovel and a job recommendation.

4Story - 4: Despite the fact that this is a rehash of all the information we already know and a small history, it still pops with character. That's what's cool about Geoff Johns. He can tell a story that's already been told and still make it pop, adding in his own coolness. Other artists would do well to learn from that, honestly.

Starman is a compelling figure as Johns has presented him, and this builds my anticipation for just what the heck it is he has to do, along with making him sympathetic in his insanity.

3Art - 3: Good, and it accomplishes the story, but there were times that I didn't know which Legion was which, and other times where things were a bit rough hewn. I'm not sure if it's the artist's style or if it was rushed. Too small a sample to be sure though, honestly.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2009

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2009

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