JUSTICE SOCIETY versus SANDMAN
Waking the Sandman Part Two: Night Terrors (DC)
Where: JSA #64 When: October 2004
Why: Geoff Johns How: Jerry Ordway

The Story So Far...
In the 1940s Sanderson Hawkins was adopted by wealthy socialite Wesley Dodds; also known to citizens of New York City as the crime-fighting mystery man, the Sandman! Hawkins would soon find himself involved in Dodds' clandestine operation, eventually leading to accident that would turn him into a horrible silicon monster! Dodds placed his ward in suspended animation in an effort to protect both Sandy and the world from his mistake.

Resurrected in the modern era, Hawkins is cured, and inherits the JSA Brownstone and leadership of the team in a new age. Alas, Hawkins' time for this world was brief, and when the forces of Mordru, Obisidian and Eclipso unite their powers, Sand perishes in a heroic sacrifice to protect the Earth from multiple earthquakes -- or so it seemed! Forces far beyond this dimension had other ideas, and so, Sandy Hawkins enters a state of suspend animation once more, waiting to be woken from his nightmarish dreamstate...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Brute 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Dr. Fate 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Flash 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Sand 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Sand 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Hawkgirl 6 (Warrior)
Energy Power: Dr. Fate 7 (Cosmic Power)


- The Justice Society of America are: Dr. Fate, Lyta, Flash, Stargirl, Hawkgirl, and Brainwave.

During the Golden Age of superheroes in the forties, many of the heaviest hitting heroes united to form a powerful syndicate of heroism called the Justice Society.
Among the well-known founding members were; Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Sandman, The Spectre, Dr. Fate, Hourman, and the Atom.

Despite an ebb and flow through time that has seen the team maintain varying degrees of activity, they have endured to the modern day. Extending the JSA's lifespan is a new "legacy" policy which allows the inclusion of new members related to former members, by blood, or by inheretence of power.

- In the 1940s Sanderson Hawkins finds himself orphaned, his only living relative, a well-to-do woman about town, Dian Belmont. Eventually Hawkins finds himself adopted by Belmont's boyfriend, Wesley Dodds, a wealthy sociallite who secret prowls the streets as the clandestine mystery man - the Sandman!

Sandy joins Dodds in his war against crime as "the golden boy," but in an accident involving one of Dodds' experimental weapons, Sandy finds himself transformed into a horrible silicon beast after being bombarded with radioactive silica particles. Hawkins lay in stasis for decades until, in the modern era, his humanity was restored by his ward, but not without a strange twist. As a result of his ordeal Hawkins could now manipulate silicon matter, and transform his physical form into sand particles. He adds these fantastic new powers to the arsenal left to him by his mentor, adopting the crime-fighting handle: Sand!

The Math: Sand (Avg) Justice Society (Ttl) Ranking: Hawkgirl (#86)

What Went Down...
While one-half of the Justice Society makes the arduous trek deep into the Earth to find the lost body of Sand; the other half of the team, by means provided by Dr. Fate, travel into Sand's psyche, where they find themselves trapped in the plane of the Dream Dimension!

Sand attacks the Society with no apparent recollection of their identity, using his influence over the Dimension to divide the team through savage sandstorms!
Dr. Fate and Lyta find themselves unable to help their fellows as the all-too-familiar reveals the machinations at work.

The Flash finds himself separated with Brainwave, who had recently recovered from possession at the hands of Mr. Mind. The pair find themselves the first target in Sandman's strategic assault, but Brainwave is able to use his mentallist abilities to freeze the confused hero in his tracks.

Believing the JSA to be another of a series of absurd obstacle thrown against him in the Dreaming; Sand exerts his will over the dimension to overpower Brainwave's commands, summoning enough will to reach for a tiny whistle...

The whistle beckons the true architects of the Dream Dimension - Brute and Grom! The pair of creatures, known well to Dr. Fate and Lyta, have been responsible before for the imprisonment of Sandmen, all a part of their scheme to control their own piece of the Dreaming as a means of creating their own Dream King! They gladly lend their assistance to the beseiged Hawkins, who remains thoroughly under their spell.

His hand forced, the Flash is the first to retaliate, but his super-speeding efforts are for naught as the Sandman shifts his body to a particle array. He reforms, unleashing a devestating attack on the elder statesman, who he instead beleives to be little more than a villain-of-the-week!

Grom launches his disgusting body at a slightly bewildered Hector Hall, confused by the familiarity expressed by the creature. His partner, Lyta, however, remembers their ordeal in the Dream Realm quite well, as she finds herself beseiged by Brute, who also remembers. Lyta exerts her strength on the aptly named creature, while Hall blasts his opponent with magical energy, and begins to slowly recall the memories of another life.

Stargirl and Hawkgirl double team Sand with a diving assault, giving Brainwave another opportunity to sift through the fog of Hawkins' manipulated mind. While they hold him down, Hawkgirl removes her cowl in a bid to appeal to romantic feelings Sand developed during his tenure as JSA chairman. The gambit pays off.

Meanwhile, Glob recalls the tortures of the last time they programmed a hero as their own personal Sandman. Hector Hall's inherited cycle of reincarnation proved to be their undoing, earning the attention of cosmic entities like Death!
The nightmare creature enforces it's sorrow with suffocating results, as Fate succumbs to Glob's aptly oozing body.

A surprise ambush from Lyta sees Glob torn asunder!
She then turns her Amazonian fury to Brute, whose strength proves futile beneath the heel of the powerful Fury. Freed, Dr. Fate is finally able to stamp his will on the battle, condemning the two imps to a lifetime of torture in a prison of children's dreams. In doing so; Sand is freed!

The Hammer...
Brainwave is able to untangle Sandy Hawkins' mind from the web of deceit spun by Glob and Brute, putting the finishing touches on a nice Justice Society victory! For you fantasy leaguers, make a note: Flash, mostly ineffective, only picks up the assist. Awww.

Backstory: Last month we had a poll to let you choose between movies and teams. You chose movies, and we took a look at some of the characters who'll be hitting screens in feature films. With that out of the way, we're jumping into team talk! We already talked a bit about the Invaders in a sorry excuse to talk about one of my favourite books of the past few years [New Invaders #1]; and now, to balance the books, the JSA!

You might be wondering what possessed me to pick this issue as our JSA spotlight. Honestly, I was asking myself the same question when it dawned on me just how much baggage comes along with this story. See, if you somehow missed it, this isn't the first time Glob and Brute have pulled a stunt like this.
Before his most recent resurrection, Hector Hall was the manipulated guest in the Dream World, where the nightmare creatures hoped to foster their own Dream King. All of this stuff, which happened in Infinity Inc, but ties directly into Neil Gaiman's work with Morpheus, and other characters in that tangentially related mythos of the other Sandman. The goth one. Yeah...

Frankly, it's all a bit too garbled for my liking, but I foolishly thought I could combine this fight with the battle to rescue Sand's physical form, to make for a rankings super-spectacular. A double feature, however, was not to be, and you'll have to wait a while to see what happened to Powergirl, Green Lantern, and the rest of the gang.

I started by complaining about the history associated with this otherwise simple issue. I mean, really, it's a two-parter about Kirby-inspired camp in a pocket dimension. It might be a mouthful to describe, but it's a pretty simple scenario of biff, pow, and thwarting evil! Of course, here in lies the brilliance of Geoff Johns and the inherent charm of the Justice Society's far reaching history in the DC Universe.

One can almost imagine Johns holding his breath as he maticulously performs micro-surgery on the convolutions of the DC characters. He makes it look easy, as he deftly streamlines Hawkman's many histories, passes this definition on to the mortally damned Hector Hall, and skims across the surface to finish it off with a seemingly throwaway allusion to Hall's fatal past. All in a day's work, and satisfying sequential story, for Geoff Johns, master of all he surveys!

For those of you who keep tabs on the site, you'll already know he's been on top of the creator top ten for quite some time. It's a position that will only further with this review as his unassuming dominance of the site, and comics, continues.

Johns' legacy is seemingly already secured. With defining runs with Flash, JSA, Hawkman, and in particular, Green Lantern; his mark on history is secured.
Just as he has provided [re]defining moments in the lives of characters, so too has Johns had an influence over the DC Universe as a whole, putting his best foot foward with intense involvement in projects like; Infinite Crisis and 52.

This was supposed to be a discussion about the Justice Society, but with Johns, it's just so hard not to spiral off into so much more. It's this penchant for association and unfolding story that makes Johns, and DC comics right now, so very involving. As much as Countdown to Final Crisis has earnt it's share of detractors; I think we will one day look back on this era of the weekly series and regard DC's display of editorial cohesion with awe. Johns has been key to that, being perhaps the most immediately influential member of the 52-four [w/ Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid].

As a guy who's been around reading comics for a fair while, one of the most fascinating elements of this evolution has been the reversal of roles.
While writers like Johns have spent the last decade and a half crafting a more engaging sense of the DC Universe, the folks across the street, who were once far better known for the Stan Lee model of asterix marketing [why was it always Thor flying overhead?..], seemed to crumble to the demands of individualized stories.

By now the horse has to be well and truly dead, but the message I constantly find myself coming back to is what I regard as perhaps the single most valuable asset of comics as a medium: the implications of longevity -- continuity!

JSA provides not only contemporary reference for the work of writers like Geoff Johns; but the very spirit of what it means to have history in the fictional realm. So few other mediums can claim to have the depth of fiction that comics do, with some of these characters' histories spanning the full sixty years!
I can understand and empathise with the negative association some have come to have about so-called "continuity," but all too often this replaces the cold indifference of fact. Absurdist theories, particularly those surrounding DC comics for some reason, have a way of permeating through the fanboy culture, and yet, even the most chic of geek finds himself ultimately counter intuitively going down a path to loving their own piece of history.

I can't pretend I'm making any kind of profound statement here, or even something you haven't heard time and time before. I just hope that this, the 400th official post on the Infinite Wars, can be one staunchly advocating the value of persistence and history.

When I started reading comics, I was looking back as much as I was looking forward. Maybe societal changes have made us lazy, but there's no reason to see the back issues as a chore. Why, a back issue is just a comic you didn't buy!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4.5

Boy! If that last paragraph wasn't fifties enough for you, how about a little product placement? Yes, you too can check-out the "Waking the Sandman" two-parter, as well as a whole lot more the "Lost" TPB collection. By starting your back issue journey on Amazon with the purchase links provided, you help sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars! Which is good, because then you can sign-up to the Fantasy League, browse through the Secret Archives, and maybe make some more purchases from the Amazonian Gift Shop! Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: Cures tired blood!

QUICK FIX DOUBLE FEATURE: Harsh Vintage Justice
HAWKMAN versus MATTER MASTER
Black Reign: Part Two (DC)
Where: Hawkman #23 When: Early March 2004
Why: Geoff Johns How: Rags Morales

Quick Fix...
Lately we've been talking a bit about harsh justice, and it's application to the superhero world, and this entry gives us the opportunity to take a look at that theory in practise.

It's a particularly interesting topic, given all the different angles. Generally speaking, the sacred cows [like Wonder Woman] are protected from the moral ambiguity of lethal justice, yet, oft times it's these vintage characters that are more likely to be identified with harsh enforcement reflective of the war-torn times they were created in.

The debate rages on between the two schools of thought. For many the definition of a superhero is to be above the moral ambiguity average humans, soldiers, or heroes are regularly faced with. It means not being forced to pull the trigger to save innocent lives, instead using the fantastic to end danger.
We recently discussed a similar argument of whether or not Captain America ever used lethal force during his times in the frontline of the Second World War [Captain America #405].

The morally ambiguous hero got a bit of a tarnished reputation, passing through the eighties and nineties with the baggage of excess, and poor interpretation. The posterboy becomes characters like The Punisher, who more overtly straddle the line of what's right and wrong with a stonecold attitude toward life and death. For the most part these characters do good, eliminating the evils that evade justice by conventional law, but there is always that underlying negative of what we know in reality of the vigilante.

It's almost a funny sort of thing, that "vigilante" takes on such a distinctly different feel across the major spectrum of superhero comic books. Never would any of us truly look twice at a Batman, or Captain America, no matter how rebellious they may be to an administration of excessive order. Yet, in the real world, I struggle to think of many examples of positive vigilante activity.

Sure, there's those cases of a liquor store clerk fighting back, or even a community under siege taking action to patrol the streets, but those stories are either short lived, or mild mannered deterents for relatively simple problems.
What I associate with broad coverage of vigilantes is men and/or women who kick back at personal injustice, flagrantly ignoring what is universally just, and often running the risk of making a greivous error, or crossing an invisible line.

It's a line that seems to seperate the golden arches of true superheroes, and the guys who undermine what that means in a fictionalized society. Characters who in some ways reflect that real-world vigilante scenario, and face that kind of scrutiny, but ultimately have the roll of protagonist, and live decades beyond those characters that would briefly hound them.

What about the other characters, though? Wonder Woman inevitably finds herself reset to a mould more appropriate for a family, cartoon viewing audience; but what about those characters who can drift closer to the line, longer?

Hawkman represents just such an example. A character, who from his beginnings in the early 1940s, he has held memberships with both the Justice Society and Justice League, but has still grown into one of the many violent characters of today's comics landscape. Few stories highlighted Hawkman's violent nature than Black Reign, where he wages his forces against Black Adam in a battle that pits them against one another, but also shows the destructive similarities.

In his new home of St. Roch, the villain called Matter Master seeks a means of retribution against a foe who has defeated him time and again. Using his matter manipulating wand to take a gala of the wealthy hostage, he eagerly awaits the arrival of his alien-winged rival.

Hawkman bursts into the arena through large glass windows, only to have the shards of glass hurled at him as a weapon by the villainous Master. Tiny slithers of glass bury themselves in Hawkman's only partially armoured body, but do little to slow his wrath.

The Matter Master elaborately announces the abilities granted by his matter manipulating wand, delighting in the battle that will ensue. He is a steady contrast to the stoic Hawkman, whose demeanour is of one no longer willing to indulge the fancys of colourfully dressed criminals.

Possessing both fixed mace and battle axe, he hurls the latter in the direction of the Matter Master. The blade slices through the Master's arm with ease, burying itself in the wall adjacent.

Having successfully seperated the villain from his weapon, the silent Hawkman pulls his axe from the wall and coldly remarks, "Fight's over."

Harsh justice is something, I think, Hawkman wears very well, and Geoff Johns does well to reinvigorate the character with everything that makes him familiar, but with a confident new edge. This story steers Hawkman toward another character we're about to talk about, bouncing off one of the past lives established as part of the streamlining reveal that both Hawkman and Hawkgirl are caught in a perpetual cycle of resurrection.

I wouldn't be confident in saying where the line lies for Hawkman, but as a character so thoroughly connected to the various houses of the DC heirarchy, I think it's great to have this interpretation of justice among them. It might never be the prevailing argument, but in a medium often gagging on it's own tail, it's characters of diverse opinions on issues important to the fictionali world that will always be a saving grace.

The Fix:5.5 The Issue: 5
Winner: Hawkman

[Without a doubt one of the greatest crossovers of recent times, all crucial to the reinvention of not only the Justice Society of America, but more importantly, Hawkman. Hawkfans should definitely track down the trade of these issues, and maybe anyone else looking to get their feet wet, particularly post 52/World War III.]

---

BLACK ADAM versus KOBRA
Prince of Darkness Coda: Justice Eternity (DC)
Where: JSA #51 When: October 2003
Why: David Goyer & Geoff Johns How: Leonard Kirk

Quick Fix...
This quite naturally leads us to cross that invisible line that seperates the right from the wrong, and the justified from the murderers.

In Black Reign it was Hawkman that, in many ways, walked away the bad guy. Teth-Adam, having invaded his homeland of Khandaq, is revered as a hero by the Khandaqi people, while Hawkman is decryed by both the liberated, and the Justice Society themselves, who were led by the usurping Chairman into a joyless bloodbath.

Even so, it is Black Adam who has more traditionally walked the path of villain, recast in that role during a genocidal rampage coming out of the pages of 52.

We can make no bones about sponsoring Black Adam throughout 2007.
It's arguably this moral ambiguity that has propelled Black Adam to the status of the most enjoyable of rising stars to be pushed by DC all year. Dealing with a role as ruler of a nation, Adam has been the slate for reflecting the responsibility and potential carnage incurred by a superpower unchecked.

Like many great villains, Adam is essentially a well intending individual, marred by his regular association with death and bloodshed. The descent into madness began long before 52, starting in the pages of JSA where, having broken away from the group that agreed to take him in, Adam is leading a small group of soldier against those who have escaped justice as they see it.

One such example is the terrorist cult leader, Kobra.
Having launched attacks across the globe, Kobra was responsible for the death of the mother of one of Black Adam's pliant recruits, Atom Smasher.

Both left the Society over Kobra's subsequent trial and escape, disillusioned by the JSA's archaic notions of legality. With the aid of Brainwave, the group of super-militants track Kobra to his hidden lair in the Himalayas, where they exact the only suitable punishment for a mass murdering menace such as he: death.

With Brainwave confirming claims of a network of explosives beneath New York are false, Adam plunges his fist through Kobra's chest, ripping his heart out.
With that, justice is served, and the cult of Kobra is left to legend, or methods supernatural.

Much like Hawkman, Geoff Johns earns his stripes as a major comics writer perfecting his skills with the reinvigoration of classic properties. These events have been referenced many times [Hawkman #24] on the site, already described in this very entry for their role as the first action in the spiral that has led to today, where Black Adam is a mass murderer himself, and a broken man.

I've seen relatively recently a Hawkman referring casually to killing a villain, and in much the same way, I would express some disappointment for how frivilously the characters have been allowed to cross that invisible line. For Hawkman, it is obviously a scenario rarely fulfilled, but for Black Adam, it has again been a fullblown devolution into villainy.

Putting a character to blows with the Justice League is almost always going to cast them as villain, but when the motives involve genocide, it's hard to argue.
Perhaps it's the inevitability of so-called "harsh justice" that these characters slip into ill-defined rampages, or off-the-cuff murders, but I've got to wonder.

Just like iconic superheroes define themselves in fiction as characters capable of handing out justice without the cost of human life, so too can't we suggest that super warriors can live by the sword, without impaling their sanity upon it?

In a world where law enforcement still hands down sentences of death, and where wars are waged over just causts, is it so inevitable that those that battle these evils become them? Or is there a school of thought to say controlled lethality is a requirement of an efficient system of justice? Does their come a time when a cheek must demand a cheek in turn, or is simply invite corruption as another symptom of decadence and war?

Can anyone begrudge a police officer that draws a weapon in confirmed self-defense, or is the threat of an error of judgment too great and too common?

Maybe someone like Hawkman, or even Wonder Woman, will be the character to eventually answer the question: Can a hero kill responsibly?

The Fix: 5 The Issue: 4.5
Winner: Black Adam & Atom Smash (w/ Brainwave)

[This issue marks the end of David Goyer's tenure on the relaunched JSA title. In the main feature, the story features a big ol' magical throwdown between Mordru and Dr. Fate, which will inevitably turn up in a future entry of the Infinite Wars.]

BLACK ADAM versus CAPTAIN MARVEL
Black Reign (DC comics)
Where: Hawkman #24 When: Late March 2004
Why: Geoff Johns How: Rags Morales

The story so far...
Having attempted to prove his redemption through serving with the Justice Society of America; Black Adam soon comes to realise that the effective betterment of the persecuted will not be achieved through the good intentions of the Golden Age heroes.

Gathering a band of the willing and likeminded, Adam sets about righting the wrongs of his time with the JSA, fighting and executing his way to his homeland of Kahndaq.

With the aid of his fellows; many connected to the Justice Society themselves; Adam wages a coup against the oppresive rulers of the once proud and ancient Middle Easter country. Their militia no match for brute super strength, Adam liberates the Kahndaqi people, who are none too happy when the JSA, led by Hawkman, come to interfere in the rule of their new hero.

Previous Form:
Black Adam (#13): Undefeated over Four Horseman of Apokalips, Freedom Force & Psycho-Pirate.
Captain Marvel (#201): Mixed results in battles with Thor, and an Eclipso posessed Superman.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Captain Marvel 5 (Professor)
Speed: Draw 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Draw 6 (Generator)
Agility: Black Adam 3 (Athlete)
Fighting Ability: Black Adam 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Draw 3 (Explosives)


Most recently it was Sabretooth/Wolverine [Wolverine #50], and arguably again with Batman/Ra's Al Ghul [Batman Begins]. The clash of arch-nemesis'. The inevitable blows waged by hero and villain, described-so conversely through the perspective of each character's eyes, a thin line seperating their differences.

While Black Adam has shot to the top as one of the most improved players to come out of DC's year-long 52, his heroic counterpart, Captain Marvel, has suffered the squalor of low priority mini-series, and loyalist interests. Not even the lofty intervention of Bone's Jeff Smith was enough to breathe the life that Judd Winick's contemporary revamp probably should have.

So, what does any of this have to do with the fighting potential and prospective chances of winning a battle? Well, if that's all this section were about, we'd run even shorter on discussion than we ordinarily do; but of course, it also does have a lot to do with our protagonist's predicament -- for you see!...

Yes! Captain Marvel, despite a massive power boost and long overdue starring role in a mini-series, struggles to endure in the contemporary market in the way his elf-eared, windows peaked, black and gold counterpart does.

There are a lot of fair theories about why that is. They do, afterall, describe luck as the process of motivation meeting opportunity, but then again, how many on-going series have They starred in recently? I think there's a direct link with the character's distinct potentials that has contributed to one success: The killer instinct and drama of good pathos.

Black Adam beats out his SHAZAM-ing sucessor in the tape for the simple reason that he has evolved to be a fully realised warrior, with no qualms about turning his strength to tasks such as face removal, one-way heart transplants, and drawing and halving of evil doers.

Captain Marvel; a character who reached even greater heights in his time than the massively successful Superman, in many ways, represents the Golden Age more than any other character. I mean, you've got old timers who had an edge that made their transition into the more violent and conflicted contemporary landscape simple. Batman, The Phantom, Hawkman... The list is much longer than I would have you believe, here.

Other characters were fantastical enough, or had enduring successors that allowed their torch to be carried to a time where they were out of the picture long enough to be interesting prospects again. Many of the JSA elite fall under that category, and it's to an extent applicable to Adam cum Captain Marvel.

[Captain] Marvel; despite the best efforts of a Winick or an Ostrander; cannot seem to escape the obscured view of his squinted eyes. Eyes that view the world through the refracted rosie glow of his big red chest.
He's a character that represents what is referred to as a "simpler" time, and therefore suffers the characterization of grinning, dim-witted stupidity -- despite possessing the mighty wisdom of Solomon.

Black Adam has the killer instinct, and he knows how to use it, and despite hovering above and blow the strength level of Cap, is the safe bet that reflects the times in which we live.

The Math: Black Adam (Super Class)
The Pick: Black Adam (Because it isn't forty years ago...)

What went down...
Upon entering Kahndaq airspace, the JSA find themselves in a freefall as their plane is ripped asunder by a sneak attack launched by Black Adam! Most of the super powered heroes find ways to land, each finding their own antagonised welcome at the hands of the Kahndaqi people, but Captain Marvel stays behind with an injured Wildcat to search for survivors in trouble.

Black Adam, orchestrating the containment of those he has dubbed invader, employs the aid of Brainwave to prepare to face his Shazam powered counterpart, Captain Marvel.

Content to find no bodies amongst the wreckage, Marvel is shocked when Wildcat is knocked out with a piece of the plane. He becomes aware of the unceremonious entrance of his fallen arch-nemesis, suffering a similar fate as he's swatted acrosh the crash site by Black Adam.

The Captain recovers with the stamina of Atlas, striking Adam furiously with a solid left. Black Adam, with his own impressive strengths, returns the favour with an uppercut that tosses Marvel airborne until he lands in nearby ruins.

Marvel joins Black Adam in the sky, the two coming to blows with explosive results. Every strike echoes with thundering booms no doubt heard across the land, the magical energies bursting from their bodies in sparks of lightning.

Marvel presses the advantage, riding Black Adam through rubble and wreckage face-first into the ground he so viciously claimed as his own.

Having mocked Marvel's perception of the modern world, Adam rises from the crater created by their impact to taunts concerning his strategic alliances.
With bitter efficiency, Adam makes psychic contact with the waiting Brainwave, giving the order to act upon his "lock" on Captain Marvel.

Having telepathically maneuvered his way around Solomon and the other influences in Marvel's mind; Brainwave forces the hero to utter the magic keyword that calls down the lightning of the wizard Shazam, and transforms him back into his pubescent alter-ego, Billy Batson!

With the cold determination to do whatever is necessary to pursue his goals, Black Adam raises his hand in the air and strikes Batson with a swift backhand. The boy is knocked through the air, helpless against the super strength provided by the sun god, Amon.

Adam's attack not only puts the punctuation on a strategic assault on one of the JSA's most powerful allies, but also comes with the bitter verbal slap to the Wizard from whom each man derives his fantastic power. Adam declaring, "The wizard abandons you, Billy. Just as he did me."

Victorious, Adam learns from the psychic of Batson's growing affections for Stargirl. As a future contingency, he orders the capture of the girl, playing a card all too personally recognisable to the dark monarch, whose own beloved was once lost in battle.

The hammer...
Your win, and still undefeated 2007 MVP -- Black Adam!

I mention MVP, because if you've been with us over the past eight months, you'll be familiar with the previous entries that have sponsored Black Adam into our 2007 top five rankings.

With the last entry [Marvel Zombies #5] looking to turn the top rankings into a Civil War promotional shot, it seemed like as good a time as any to revisit the slowly fading anti-hero, whose recent rise to prominence has been pretty well documented, with the exclusion of the beginning of that path.

To really get the full picture we should ideally go further back still, to earlier in the rebooted JSA series where Black Adam made his return, and gained membership to the Justice Society, before slipping from their views. It was in tiny background scenes that Adam's indescretions were detailed, as he gathered and led his band of allies against foes like Kobra.

These actions culminate in full-fledged war waged on Kahndaq in the pages of the Hawkman/JSA crossover - Black Reign. It's here, as already described in the recap, that Adam swiftly takes control of the nation, and as we would see through the end of this story, remains in power to the chagrin of the JSA.

Through Infinite Crisis we then saw Adam's story continue, as he threw in with the mounting powers of the Secret Society of Supervillains. Much like a Dr. Doom styled figure, his motives were largely in the interests of the betterment and protection of his nation. He proves an unwitting pawn in Alexander Luthor's plot to power a device that will allow him to control and reshape the multiverse as he desires it.

Adam aids in the defeat of vital characters like The Ray [Infinite Crisis #1], but is eventually revealed as a potential target himself. When The Society betray him, needing a Shazam powered here, Black Adam turns readily on the mob of evil, brutally defying the empathic influence of Psycho-Pirate [Infinite Crisis #6].
Black Adam continues to battle on the side of angels until the ultimate defeat of the alternate Luthor, before returning to his duties in Kahndaq.

Resuming his political duties, Adam swiftly deals with villainous elements attempting to trade through Kahndaq. His public execution of villains becomes the international catalyst of fear and loathing, while prompting criminal element Intergang to attempt to buy his favour with a female offering.
Adam deals with Intergang harshly, while becoming romantically involved with the girl, who is eventually slain by the incursion of a new Monster Society [52 #44], funded by the neighbouring nation of Bialya, and created by Dr. Sivana and the Intergang employed scientists of Oolong Island.

Azraeuz, the only surviving horseman of the Monster Society, escapes to Bialya, where the government is abandoned by their villainous allies in the wake of Black Adam's arrival.

Furious and suspicious of everyone, Adam devolves into a rage that sees him slaughtering Bialya's government, and millions of their innocent citizens in the pursuit of Azraeuz. Though the mass casualties empower the horseman of death further, Azraeuz is ultimately defeated and tortured by Adam [52 #45].

Methodically pursuing those responsible for the deaths of his adopted family, Adam immediately travels to Oolong Island off of the intelligence gained from Azraeuz. There, he is surprisingly defeated by the super-sciences of the sinister thinktank. Before he can be auctioned off as a living weapon, the Justice Society are able to intervene, freeing him with the unsuccesful intent to take him into custody.

With Adam's bloodlust explicitly crossing the line from harsh justice, to intolerable genocide; the heroes and political powers of various nations are maneuvered into position for the events of World War III. Though inter-political turmoil slows the process, the American heroes of the Justice League and Society eventually defeat Black Adam. Though unable to strip Adam of his powers, it is with the aid of several other mystics that Captain Marvel returns Adam to his human alter-ego of Teth-Adam, and changes his magic trigger word before he can again utter the cry of "Shazam!"

If you're reading Countdown or the just released mini-series, Black Adam: Dark Age, you'll know that he has since discovered his new word - sorry - and has taken refuge in the Kahndaq embassy in Gotham City, where he has corrupted Mary Marvel.

It looks like post-52 Black Adam's path is more explicitly evil, which I think is a real shame. The character, whose bitter pathos made him one of the most exciting new stars of DC's lineup, was something I regard as quite refreshing and global, responsible for pushing him away from the stagnant disappointments of the developing Shazam branding [discussed in the tape].

As a Sub-Mariner/Dr. Doom style monarch, Black Adam had the opportunity to stand out as something more than many other heroes or villains in the DC Universe. Keeping his motivations more ambiguous and personalized (like the best Dr. Doom stories) meant the character could become broadly relevent, interacting with political agencies like the currently superb Checkmate, but also other superheroic and villainous elements that would cross his path.

Projecting their solicitations quite far into the future, we can see DC comics alluding to a return to more straight evil for Black Adam in the pages of JLA. The cover to issue #13 suggests a renewed association with much the same collective that turned against him in the Society, this time operating under the branding of a new Injustice League.

It's too soon to scowl the turn of events too certainly, but it seems like a potentially disappointing downward turn for the character in the final quarter of 2007. A bitter conclusion to what has otherwise been the culmination of a story that began small, but was brilliantly steered into the spotlight and beyond, largely by original contributor Geoff Johns, who made his name on titles like JSA and Hawkman, and with this story, Black Reign.

It was here, having received this issues personally from Johns, that I certainly became hooked as a fan not only of these characters in the modern age, but of his competence as a writer accepting of things oft dismissed. A writer who brought Black Adam to the prominence he now seems to be leaving behind.

With that, we wrap up our informative slant on this particular conclusion.
The DC Nation, whom I know is still watching, should take some faith out of this. It seemes, dare I speak too soon, that there are a couple of DC entries coming our way in the Infinite Wars, as our discussion spins out of the Batman Begins review. I'll probably see you again Friday, before the September punch-up.

Remember to check out the smashing review of The Kirby Martin Inquest at the reputable review site, BrokenFrontier.com. If you haven't already, you should think about heading over to Nite Lite Theatre, and picking yourself up a copy via online purchase through the good people at ComixPress! Cheers!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 6
[An absolutely brilliant storyarc, best read in it's entirety. Hardcore superhero fun filtered through the pastiche of contemporary political concepts. The first major step into the modern rise of Black Adam as a neo-political conqueror. A must-read for fans of the character, particularly out of the pages of fifty-two.]