JSA #36

Stealing Thunder Part 4 of 5: Time-Bound

David Goyer & Geoff Johns Writers
Leonard Kirk Penciller
Keith Champagne Inker
John Kalisz Colorist
Heroic Age Separations
Ken Lopez Letterer
Stephen Wacker Associate Editor
Peter Tomasi Editor

The cover by Rags Morales shows Doctor Fate holding Hakwgirl's mask. With a little bit of blood on it. It is rather odd, but no odder than the cover boasting of being Wizard Magazine's best comic of 2001.

We resume our story in the alternate timeline created by the Ultra-Humanite, who has possessed Johnny Thunder's body and used the Thunderbolt genie to conquer Earth. Our ragtag team of heroes have fried the mind-control devices placed on most of Earth's most powerful heroes and villains, but said frying has momentarily knocked them unconscious. So now our little team is left to fight the Ultra-Humanite and his army of white gorillas on their own.

Meanwhile, Doctor Fate and Wildcat must defeat Hawkman and Hawkgirl (hence the cover) to rescue  Sentinel, who was being used to power the Ultra-Humanite's palace. Once freed, Alan Scott unleashes a powerful attack against the Ultra-Humanite and his gorillas. The rest of the heroes then begin to wake up and join the fight. Impulse, Jesse Quick, Jay Garrick and the Flash run together to form a whirlwind that pulls Ultra-Humanite off balance and leaves him open for attacks from some heavy-hitters, such as Black Adam, Superman, Power Girl and Steel.

Ultimately, it is Captain Marvel who delivers the final blow, stabbing Ultra-Humanite in the chest with a lightning rod to ground the Thunderbolt. There's a big explosion, and when the smoke clears, we see the frail body of Johnny Thunder at the bottom of a huge crater.


I don't have much to say about this issue. Just a big, straightforward fight with tons and tons of characters. As we saw in the fights against Bedlam, one way to win was to essentially find a loophole in the supreme power's scheme. This story went the other way, choosing to simply overwhelm the supreme power with every hero imaginable. And that works, too. Impulse was only a tiny blob in this issue, but at least he got to participate.

Next time, we'll see how Bart handles having so much power himself in Impulse #86.