:jsa_book_club: It was a Dark & Stormy Night :jsa_book_club:

[JasonTodd428]

Hello again members of the JSABC and here is our second session for August 2021. This session we will be taking a look at the six issue mini JSA Strange Adventures.Johnny wants to be a writer and there’s a most unusual villain in this one folks. So let get going!

JSA BOOK CLUB ROLL CALL

JSA BOOK CLUB ROLL CALL

Club Leaders
@JasonTodd428 & @Aurora

Standing Members
Abrax, AggressiveIntellectual219, Alec.Holland, anthony.javier3, Applejack, Azrael_Jean-PaulValley14, BatgirlsAndSignalBookWhenDC, BBlake, bbzo24, bigblock66, Blueandred BlueBeetlesAssistant, BobbinIrving, Boswell99, Brenticus_Rex, CaptainYesterday, CassTheStreet, CrazyQuilt, Daffern, Darkstarz, dave7atgosky, dave_worrell, DC_Community, Deathstroke’sPunisher, december360, djganon, Doctor075, DocterFate1, Don-El, fawsid, frankie.lacy79, Flynn.P.Campbell, Frostbite30, ganaoque, harrist, HombreDeMaiz, hotstufflouie, Jay_Kay, Jflow, jlevin, Jurisdiction, kaliym73, lunalane, MatthewHecht, mbpbinder, _meegs, Meisaj, mgeiler, Midnitehour, MiscellaneousSoup,MisfitCMJ, mitchellbpearson, MPMCN86, msgtv, Odbo255, PaintEater, parzival27, ProActress, QuadPen, ralphsix, Ravenrifft, ReaganFan78, Remember5NovEveyHammond, RexRebel, RickTylerHourman, rlynchfamily, ROMANLEGION rspezzano, rwm, Ryan22, scoop001, Sinestro1,slowp0Ketail, Smallengineerings, SuperBlue Grodd, TheCosmicMoth, TK52, Tommyskindlefire, TurokSonOfStone, YolandaMontezz, ZacharyLee1995

THE JSABC WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS

• None this session

To join the JSABC just click on the link

What to Read

* JSA Strange Adventures #1-6

Discussion Questions

1. So Johnny Thunder wants to be a writer? What do you think of this idea?

2. Lord Dynamo will cure all the world’s ills for the simple price of one GL ring and one gravity rod. Seems to good to be true. How do you feel about that trade?

3. What did you think of Johnny’s speech?

4. The JSA and Lord Dynamo clashed several times in the story. What did you think of the fights?

5. Several non powered JSA members try to convince Johnny that he can be a hero even without Thunderbolt. What would you say to him to help convince him of the validity of that?

6. What did you think of Lord Dynamo’s life story?

And that’s all for this session @JSABookClub. Coming up for September we have “America vs the Justice Society” and “Constellations” from the JSA All Stars series. Hope to see you there.

[Don-El]

Feels like I just read this just yesterday, but bookmarked for Saturday!

[scoop001]

1. I think Johnny doesn’t have the right gifts to be a writer. Lots of enthusiasm, though.
2. I don’t think Lord Dynamo was actually able to do all of those things he promised.
3. Johnny gave a great speech! Very inspiring!
4. The fights with Lord Dynamo were ok. I think they should have been able to defeat him with less difficulty.
5. Heroism is not defined by powers but by a person’s willingness to fight for what is right. Johnny has this willingness.

[JasonTodd428]

@scoop001

I think Johnny doesn’t have the right gifts to be a writer. Lots of enthusiasm, though

I have to agree with you on both counts. He does have lots of enthusiasm and probably has lots of experiences with the JSA that would make for good stories. He’s just not a good writer.

@scoop001

I don’t think Lord Dynamo was actually able to do all of those things he promised.

Yeah, I didn’t believe him either but as we see in the story there are plenty of people who at least want to believe he can do all the things he promised for such a ‘small’ price. I think that’s even true in real life as well. Things get bad and people want to believe that their problems can just vanish if someone says they can make it happen.

@scoop001

Johnny gave a great speech! Very inspiring!

I really loved his speech here. As you say it was inspiring.

@scoop001

The fights with Lord Dynamo were ok. I think they should have been able to defeat him with less difficulty

I agree with you there. He should have been easier to defeat.

@scoop001

Heroism is not defined by powers but by a person’s willingness to fight for what is right. Johnny has this willingness.

He does indeed.

[Don-El]

Better late than never I say!

It’s hard for me to dig in on this simply because it was less than 20 years ago which to me is like yesterday in comic book world time, it’s like I just read this yesterday.

I forgot that one of my favorite science fiction writers Kevin J Anderson stepped down from the science fiction famous writer clouds to humbly write a comic book. I read his Saga of the Seven Suns and then the sequel to it. His original science fiction is clever stuff, it definitely has a pulpy feel to it. He’s not the most hard science fiction writer out there, but he is a fun read. He envisions stuff like sentient trees that can fly through space, so writing that tries to be science fiction that’s actually more fantasy / Tolkien leading.

(from Wikipedia)

Anderson has published over 140 books, over 50 of which have been on US and international bestseller lists, and he has more than 23 million books in print worldwide.

He’s also done novels on Batman and Superman excetera.

JSA Strange Adventures #1 - a nice reflection on how the science fiction pulp industry of the early 40s would have been affected If there really were superheroes. Nice art, very acceptable writing. The constant irony here is normally Mr. Anderson is exactly a “pulp” writer, doing things like helping the son of the original writer of Dune continue to create new Dune novels.

Looking forward to reading issue #2, but the excitement is mounting! Will Don-el find time to complete this before the new JSA reading is posted that he’s been looking forward to as well? And how is his pal @Aurora holding up, also a fantasy writer? How is her cool new novel coming along with great illustrations ??? Stay tuned!

[MatthewHecht]

Anderson also wrote several Star Wars books, back when they were good.

[Aurora]

I am hanging in there, even though I haven’t been given the all-clear just yet. (Who knew that the Covid vaccine could mess with PET scan results? I didn’t until my radiologist told me) I’ll need further testing in November, but the good news is the original tumor itself seems to be gone. Overall, I still get tired easily, but I am doing much better than I was even weeks ago. I am still around, reading, and keeping an eye on things, even if I don’t speak up often.

I’m trying to get back to work on getting that novel finished @Don-El but it’s been slow going. I was too tired during chemo to work at all, and just when I hoped to get back into the swing of things, my laptop gave up the ghost on me. It may be a while before I can get a new one. I will keep you posted though…

[Don-El]

Thanks for checking in, Aurora. Will keep praying.

I hope you had everything on the cloud and didn’t lose your writing on that laptop, or at least the hard drive can be salvaged from the laptop.

[Aurora]

Yep, it’s all in the cloud, thankfully. A laptop just makes it easier to work in a more comfortable place than my desk. For several months I couldn’t sit at my desk long without pain. It’s improved, but it’s still uncomfortable to do for more than a short while. My desktop is still operational, just quite old, and sometimes I wonder just how much longer it’s going to last.