The JSA and JLA continue to team up and stop the corrupted Alan Scott.
The Good
I'm not the biggest jla/jsa crossover fan Sure, the Lightning Saga was pretty entertaining, but for the most part, I like having these two teams separated. With the crossover, both teams work together well. As weird as it is to see one of my favorite characters, Alan Scott, as the main baddie in the run, the story makes sense and doesn't feel forced. James Robinson does a nice job here of telling an entertaining story here between both teams, and even though it is a crossover, it still feels like a JSA book, which it should be. I'm really enjoying Mark Bagley's art on this run as well. It's straight to the point and tells the story. It has a classic, welcoming feel to it while still remaining contemporary.
The Bad
One thing I'm really not liking is the Obsidian/Jade hybrid character. Amalgam characters never really intrigue me, and they always feel like a gimmick. I also would enjoy this much more if it was its own four part mini-series and not part of either JSA or JLA. It bums me out a bit that this story interrupts the main JSA comic which really hasn't had time to find its own place since Johns left the series.
The Verdict 3.5/5
Although this book was quite entertaining and had a lot of great elements to it, I can't get over the fact that I'd much rather see this as it's own mini-series. As I stated before, JSA hasn't had time to establish itself again since Johns left the book and what it really needs is a creative team that's willing to stick with the book for a good 12 issues at least. If you're interested in this storyline, wait until it comes out in trade, since it may be hard to pick up the single issues now.
Worrying over the story "interrupting" the JSA comic seems like a bit of meta-thinking to me. Kinda like when I see a review where one of the "bad" point is if a story isn't a good starting point for new readers. A story should be judged on its own merits and sometimes a good story needs be off the beaten path for a bit or require some prior knowledge.
I'm enjoying this arc through the JLA/JSA books and I'm enjoying the writing and the art. However it isn't perfect in any of these respects (some panels look less good than others and some bits of dialog seem off). I'm more of a JLA fan than a JSA fan but I do enjoy this book. I just hope that at the end of the story both books can go on to more contained and consistent stories/writing/artwork as you sugest. And if you think the JSA is in need of establishing itself again then the JLA is most definitely in need of it.
I just hope that we can get a solid fixed team of heroes together. Batman, Donna Troy, Congorilla and Starman are great and i was loving their interactions before this arc started. What I'm looking forward to now is having Supergirl and (hopefully) Kyle Rayner added to that mix as a proper team.
Still, I agree with the review although I might be tempted to give it a 4 rather than a 3.5.
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