JSA #4, by DC Comics on 2/5/25, finds Dr. Mid-Nite loose inside the Injustice Society's underground lair. What secrets will she uncover before she's caught?
When last we left the fractured first team of superheroes in JSA #3, Hawkman survived his lethal stabbing after he was captured by a trio of demons who intended to offer the Thanagarian as a sacrifice to free their master, Surtur. Meanwhile, Dr. Mid-Nite discovered the turncoat behind Jakeem's coma, Dr. Fate received a pep talk from WildCat to help the team, and Carter Hall may receive a helping hand from Kid Eternity.
Plot Synopsis
In JSA #4, the battle between the light and the dark continues, but not in the way you think. Dr. Mid-Nite wakes up in the underground base of the Injustice Society, guarded by Solomon Grundy. She uses a few escape tricks she learned from Mister Miracle to uno her ropes and hit Grundy with a secretly stashed blackout bomb, giving her a chance to escape through the underground tunnels.
After a quick tussle with guards and several twists and turns, Dr. Mid-Nite stumbles upon the meeting room of the Injustice Society. She overhears the members talking about the artifacts they need to enact their plan, including the Helm of Fate and the Spear of Destiny. Hawkman is crucial because he's the only one who knows where to find the Spear. Unfortunately, Hawkman escaped Wotan and the Demons Three in the last issue (the escape occurred off-panel, apparently).
Meanwhile, Obsidian wakes up in a sunny hospital room., The attendant tells him he's been in a terrible car accident and needs rest. Obsidian tries to leave, but every time he comes close, the attendant injects him with drugs and knocks him out. One morning, Obsidian manages to gather enough power from a shadow in the room to escape. He runs down the hospital corridors and finds Jakeem in a locked room. When Obsidian frees Jakeem, the latter summons Thunderbolt, but nothing happens.
The issue concludes with Dr. Mid-Nit finding an unconscious Obsidian hooked up to a machine in the Injustice Society's lair, but she's attacked by Scandal before she can do anything about it.
First Impressions
Overall, JSA #4 is pretty okay. That sounds like faint praise for Jeff Lemire, but you can't fault the guy for keeping the JSA front and center. Sure, the plot is a bit frazzled, and Scandal's depiction is less than ideal, but it's a decent enough issue.
How’s the Art?
Joey Vazquez steps in as guest artist for Diego Olortegui, and the results are... better. Vazquez's style is cleaner, sharper, and more refined than Olortegui's work on the first three issues, so the overall visual aesthetic is an improvement.
What’s great about JSA #4?
More JSA is a good thing. Jeff Lemire's tale combines mystery, suspense, action, and a few surprises. If you enjoyed what Geoff Johns did with the Star Girl television show (guilty as charged), you'll like what's happening here, even if the character work is not the same.
What’s not great about JSA #4?
The plot feels scattered. To give the major plot threads their due, Lemire gets tripped up on the continuity from one issue to the next.
How, why, and when did Hawkman escape? A version of Kid Eternity approached him at the end of the last issue, but the actual escape, and anything connected to it, happens between issues.
What's happening with Dr. Fate and the team members trapped in a demon dimension?
What happened to Hawkgirl after she flew off to rescue Hawkman?
The danger of having too many characters and giving them too much to do is what you get here - whole chunks of the story get dropped or placed on the back burner, so the continuity from one issue to the next feels disjointed.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
JSA #4 is a serviceable issue that showcases Dr. Mid-Nite's talents as a hero. Jeff Lemire's script gives Mid-Nite plenty to do while explaining (sort of) what happened to Obsidian and Jakeem, which is a positive. However, cliffhangers and twists from the last issue get placed on the back burner, so the story's flow comes off as disjointed and clunky.
6/10
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