JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice

    (DC, 2003)
™ and © DC Comics, Inc.

The Justice League/Justice Society team-ups used to be epic events. Significant occurrences included the introduction of the evil Earth-3, the return of The Seven Soldiers of Victory, and the first meeting of Superman and Captain Marvel. By the time the first Justice League series was canceled, the team–ups were a joke, a shadow of their former glory.

DC has wisely paired the latest incarnations of the two teams sparingly. This hardcover restores the team–ups to their former glory. The story involves the Seven Deadly Sins (of Shazam! fame), with Lust reassuming his traditional role. (Until recently, Injustice took his place in the comics roster of the Seven Sins.) Operating behind the scenes are a classic JLA villain and a modern enemy of The JSA. While there are any number of classic JSA villains that could have been used (Degaton, Brainwave, Vandal Savage), they have been overused in such stories. If we must have a modern JSA nemesis, they picked wisely.

Guest stars galore pop up throughout, adding to the story as an event rather than making gratuitous cameos. While it is obvious why some of the heroes have been possessed by certain sins (ex-thief Plastic Man by Greed, for example), other selections are not so apparent. Some of the possessions are hammered home so bluntly that the absence of any rationale for others is glaring. That notwithstanding, David S. Goyer, Geoff Jones, and company have crafted a volume that does for JLA/JSA team-ups what the Earth-2 hardcover did for The Crime Syndicate.

— Jack Abramowitz
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#1 Hardcover (Wraparound cover by Carlos Pacheco)

January, 2003
Cover Price: $24.95
3 copies available from $9.98 		David Goyer, Geoff JohnsCarlos Pacheco