[JSA Book Club] Week Six: Stormy Weather [5/1-5/15}

Welcome to another meeting of the JSA Book Club! This week we’ll be taking another look back at Infinity Inc. Ah, the 80s! The fashion, the music, the questionable haircuts!

Club Leaders:

@JasonTodd428 and @Aurora

Standing Members:

bigblock66, CassTheStreet, CrazyQuilt, Daffern, december360, Don-El, frankie.lacy79.24651, Frostbite30, hotstufflouieb, Jay_Kay, Flow, Jlevin1225.16434, jonpretwee, Kon-El, lulalane, Meisaj, MisfitCMJ, ProActress20, ralphsix, Ravenrifft, rlynch.family, rwm2020.4865, TurokSonOfStone1950

This Week’s Reading:

Infinity Inc (1984)

Issues #19-20
Annual #1
Issues #21-25

Discussion questions to consider

1: Do you think the Infinitors were naive to put their trust in the word of Commander Steel without asking further questions? What would you have done in a similar situation?

2: What do you think of the new powers that Nuklon seems to be developing?

3: We also see the early days of Rick Tyler becoming Hourman. What do you think of the relationship between Rex and Rick, and how Rick’s desire to follow in his father’s footsteps as a hero, instead of taking the path his father wants for him complicates their relationship?

4: The truth about Rose and Thorn is finally revealed. How do you think learning the truth about their past will affect Jade and Obsidian, and their relationship with Green Lantern…and their new stepmother Harlequin?

5: Do you think Rick Tyler helped Beth Chapel to accept her newfound powers and limitations? How did her outlook change once she realized there were important new abilities only she was capable of? How have you or someone in your life adapted to a difficult or life-altering situation?

Any questions? Comments? Contact @JasonTodd428 or @Aurora

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Hey now I grew up in the 80s! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(The haircuts were questionable though.)

Looking forward to reading these issues. I’ve been enjoying them a lot.

I grew up in the 80s too ya know :stuck_out_tongue:

But of course. Great times even with all the weird hair cuts and styles. :grin:

After reading I believe the first two issues (the Annual with the reveal about the Mommie of Jade and Obsidian are next to read), here’s some initial 10,000 foot reactions, and an answer or two with the Discussion Q’s.

  1. Infinitors naive: only some went on the dimension-hopping trip, so half were naive- I would say the ones who left were more on the “impulsive” youth side- “hey, checking out a parallel world sounds cool, sure.” (issue 19)

Historically, in issue 20, it’s interesting seeing the quality of Todd McFarlene’s earlier work. It’s acceptable, occasionally bodies are drawn out of proper proportion (Nuklon on the hospital examination table looks oddly elongated and too thin at times), so a “work” in progress compared to the wild and exciting Spider-man work McFarlene did a handful of years later that set the industry on fire.

Of course, it’s kind of hard to see his artwork with such dialogue-heavy stories. Issue 20 in particular made me feel like the hapless third party observer to a long drawn out family group counseling session. While there were lots of scenes of “action”, it was much adieu about nothing, with plotlines only inching forward during the issue.

  1. Thoughts on Nuklon’s new powers: this was part of what actually mattered in issue 20, but it was hard to sort all that out with all the earth quakes and buildings flaking apart as the Crisis unfolded. The new powers have the potential to make for interesting future stories, we’ll see as we read I guess.

Another aside: poor Roy Thomas. He spends 10 years between the mid 70s and Crisis in the mid 80s creating this neat take on the DC Golden Age characters and their offspring, just to hear that DC Editors plan to radically change up the whole concept to freshen up the rest of the DC line up. Yikes.

Annual, check.

Wow, a lot happened in this issue. Let’s answer Q4 before I digress:

4)Truth of Rose / Thorn: affect relationship between Jade, Obsidian and dad 40s Green Lantern / step mom Harlequin? Well…honestly, they haven’t had a relationship yet with GL40, so this helps to start it up really as he finally understands yup he’s daddy. Should be fun watching this roll on out. Makes me wonder what oh what ever became of poor ol’ Obsidian the past 10 years after his unfortunate picking of the wrong side of history so to speak and even Jade, I don’t believe I’ve seen her around in the past 9 years either.

SPOILER ALER SPOILER ALERT DON’T LOOK DON’T LOOK
Overall, this Annual again felt like a firehose unleashed of too much information all at once. It was frankly indigestible at times, more like a Cliff Notes summary of what could have been a 12 issue slow reveal- I strongly suspect Roy T had to rush things along due to the fast-approaching Crisis conclusion. I dare anyone to try to summarize the story of Rose / Thorn birthing the kids in one 20 word sentence that doesn’t leave anything out, lol.,

  1. Did the new Hourman help the new Dr. Midnite adjust to her new powers? I’m going to say not particularly. The story to me is saying that she herself had the maturity and psychological health before all this happened that helped her run with the situation once she discovered she could see in the dark. Having someone else new at the superhero game like Rick helped too, but only in a general “I’m not in this alone” way.

Some final thoughts on this run: the “wedding in three days” was fun, although again like the storyline about the real parents of Jade and Obsidian, this was so rushed even the wedding attenders commented on it, and no solid reason was ever given for the mad rush of the wedding. It really put everyone in a bad spot, since they had no time to purchase giffts etc. But it was fun seeing everyone show up in of all things costumes. I’m pretty sure something similar was done with the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, but it is silly, why would you show up for a wedding dressed for battle? I kinda get it, but it did feel unnatural. The actual party afterwards and the dialogue were fun.

Final thoughts on this one: the changes to Infinity Inc and the JSA from the original '80s Crisis stuck for over a decade.

When we see the JSA start up again in 1999, there is no mention of Infinity Inc, and the three new heroes revealed in these issues as “post crisis” new heroes are gone except the new Hourman. I recall I especially enjoyed the interplay between the female Wildcat and her Uncle back in the day.

Apparently the JSA of 1999-2006 does have, along with the new Hourman, also Obsidian, Nuklon / Atom Smasher, Silver Scarab (as the new Dr. Fate by issue 4 of JSA or so), and Power Girl.

Actually Al mentions his days with Infinity Inc in one of the early JSA issues. (can’t think of which one off the top of my head) Of course in between Infinity Inc. and JSA he was with the Justice League for awhile. Unfortunately most of the issues he and Obsidian featured in during the Justice League America run haven’t been uploaded. For some reason the last several issues of that comic have never been added on DCU. (which sucks)

Oh, do you know which issue numbers and year? Do you mean the Justice League America of the 2000’s or the one that started as JSA in 1995 or so?

Ah found it @Don-El It’s JSA(99) Issue #4

The other comic I was referencing was Justice League America which ran 87-96. There were 113 issues but for some reason DCU only has the first 92 issues. (no idea why they never bothered adding the rest)

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There’s a lot of holes in the DCU Library but frankly are incomprehensible, don’t even get me started on the Silver Age Superman gaps. There may be one other reason why those issues don’t appear, but I’ll share that with you on a one-on-one conversation in Discord.

Yeah there are a lot of holes that I’ve noticed either through my own personal readings or through clubs. A fair few of them make no sense. I ran into one when planning next week’s post for this club. I wanted to include the JSA Annual #1 for the 1999 series but it’s not available here.

Also I will post my answers shortly. I don’t know why but my devices are having trouble accessing some of the issues here. (And other ones as well.)

No exactly. He was known to them as a hero, so I would have gone with him, too, I think. And they did start questioning things right away once they got to Detroit.

Interesting, however he didn’t really display them after this story in this week’s reading.

I thought it was crazy for Rex to push so hard on Rick. Who the neck is going to make through med school without being committed to it? But I wouldn’t want my son to become Hourman, either, given the whole drug addict thing.

Seems like they’ll have a fine relationship with Harlequin, but I’m not sure how they’ll process who their momma was.

I think what really helped Beth is discovering she could see again in the dark, so her life could still have purpose.

1: Do you think the Infinitors were naive to put their trust in the word of Commander Steel without asking further questions? What would you have done in a similar situation?

  • Maybe a bit naive but they are impetuous youth who where looking for the next adventure. I probably would have done the same. Plus their parents knew him and he was a known hero. There wasn’t a reason to not trust him once they verified that he was who he said he was.

2: What do you think of the new powers that Nuklon seems to be developing?

  • They were interesting if not used enough in later issues here.

3: We also see the early days of Rick Tyler becoming Hourman. What do you think of the relationship between Rex and Rick, and how Rick’s desire to follow in his father’s footsteps as a hero, instead of taking the path his father wants for him complicates their relationship?

  • It seems like a typical parent/young adult relationship with a superhero twist to me. Rex wants a life uncomplicated by superhero-ism for his son, which is why he wants him to follow the path he has laid out for him while Rick wants to follow his own path and discover who he is.

4: The truth about Rose and Thorn is finally revealed. How do you think learning the truth about their past will affect Jade and Obsidian, and their relationship with Green Lantern…and their new stepmother Harlequin?

  • I think they will be confused and maybe angry for awhile and that their relationship with Green Lantern and Harlequin will initially be awkward. They also might wonder what their life would have been like if Alan and Rose had raised them together.

5: Do you think Rick Tyler helped Beth Chapel to accept her newfound powers and limitations?

  • Yes I do think Rick helped her a great deal. The explosion was a life changing event for her and what she needed was someone with a fresh perspective to get her to stop feeling sorry for herself and to get back to her life again.

How did her outlook change once she realized there were important new abilities only she was capable of?

  • She realized that there was still a lot of good she could do for the world and that she could still help people. She also learned that her blindness wasn’t something that defined her.

How have you or someone in your life adapted to a difficult or life-altering situation?

  • I have a cousin who was brutally assaulted in her own home by a stalker years back. At the time she was a young woman just beginning her life. She fell into a suicidal depression and her self worth was shot to pieces. She felt she could never have a good life, that she was dirty and that having a relationship was out of the question. It took years of hard work, support from family and friends, counseling and a kind and supportive boyfriend (who later became her husband) but she’s found peace with the attack, forgiven her attacker and leads a full and happy life surrounded by kids and grandkids.
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