MichaelDoran
10-30-2002, 02:06 AM
<a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/DC/RRP/JSAS1_08_09.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://classic.newsarama.com/DC/RRP/JSAS1_08_09_t.jpg" width="225" height="175" border="0" alt="JSA: ALL-STARS by Sal Velluto & Bob Almond" align="right"></a>DC’s JSA is slated for the All-Star treatment next year in two ways – JSA: All Stars, an eight issue mini-series will kick off around May, while “all-star” is a very apt description of the creators coming on board to tell the stories.
The main storyline of the miniseries is written by Geoff Johns and David Goyer, with former Black Panther art team Sal Velluto and Bob Almond providing art on the first and last issues. For the issues in between…well, there are a lot of names, including one Pulitzer Prize winner making his comics debut.
“It’s called JSA All-Stars, together, it’s one adventure, but issues #2 though #7 are stand-alones,” Johns told Newsarama. “#1 and #8 feature the entire team, and each issue spotlights a single character in #2 through #7.”
As Golden Age fans can clearly see, the title of the miniseries isn’t a coincidence – the upcoming mini follows the classic format established by the JSA’s original home, All-Star Comics. Often, the JSA would assemble as a team, identify the threat, and then go off singly or in pairs on separate missions, only to reunite at the end of the adventure to tackle the villain together. It’s a pattern that has been emulated countless times over the years.
This time around, according to Johns, the format is updated somewhat, and the stories focus on characters, rather than the slam-bang action of the stories in the ‘40s. “It’s very heavily character-based,” Johns said. “Once you read the story with Ric Tyler as Hourman, you’ll know what makes him tick, a hint of some things that might be coming up in the future, and a sense of what the team, is about – legacy, and using your past to move yourself into the future.”
Along with a story set in the present day with the most recent inheritor of a JSA mantle, each issue of JSA: All-Stars will feature a back-up story starring the original hero, written and drawn by a bevy of guest creators.
“All the back up stories take place in the ‘40s,” JSA editor Peter Tomasi said. “It’s playing off the legacy aspect of the team, kind of saying, ‘Here’s the present day, but don’t forget, this all stems from the original character who existed.’ For example, the second issue has a lead story of the current Mr. Terrific, with a back up of the original Mr. Terrific by Michael (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) Chabon and Michael Lark, and not to mention Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale on a Golden Age Hawkman story.
“Tim is so particular about what he likes, I never thought he'd go for it,” Loeb told Newsarama when asked about he and his frequent collaborator joined in. “But, when I explained that Hawkman, especially back then, was sort of a modern day Conan on wings, busting heads with a mace, he was up for it. I just loved how Hawkman would get pissed off and whack some bad guys off a building, not really caring where they landed. Tim loves Conan, so I guess it all fits. It's a six pager with a love story twist at the end. Tim draws a bad ass Hawkman, so it'll be fun.”
Tomasi provided Newsarama with the full creative listing for the miniseries – Johns and Goyer will write all the present-day heroes’ adventures as well as the full first and last issues. The remainder of the creative teams line up as follows:
#1 – JSA – Geoff Johns/David Goyer (w), Sal Velluto/Bob Almond (p/i)
#2 – Mr. Terrific – Johns/Goyer, Dave Ross; Michael Chabon, Michael Lark
#3 – Dr. Fate – Johns/Goyer, Barry Kitson; Darwyn Cooke (w/a)
#4 – Stargirl – Johns/Goyer, Mike McKone; James Robinson, Tony Harris
#5 – Hourman – Adam DeKraker; Howard Chaykin (w/a)
#6 – Hawkgirl – Johns/Goyer, Phil Winslade; Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale
#7 – Dr. Midnight – Johns/Goyer, Steve Sadowski; Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Rizzo
#8 – JSA – Johns/Goyer (w), Sal Velluto, Bob Almond
The cover artist is TBD.
According to Tomasi, the stories focusing on the solo characters are more than just “what makes ____ tick?” “They’re also pieces of puzzles in each – every character comes to one revelation within the story. Most of the revelations are very, very personal stuff.”
In typical Johns-fashion, the co-writer of the miniseries offered no hints as to the specifics, only revealing that the Injustice Society, sporting some new members, would appear in issue #1. “They get attacked by somebody in the beginning, and to prepare themselves for battling the guy again, they each have to revisit their pasts and hear any emotional wounds they might have, or take a look at themselves and try to make peace with whatever they haven’t made peace with in their lives,” Johns said.
At the same time though, Johns stressed that the issues are perfect introductions to the characters for anyone unfamiliar with the members of the JSA. “The cool thing is that I can take the Hourman issue, and hand it to somebody to read – it’s very entry-level stuff – they’ll know who Hourman is, where he comes from, what he does, how he thinks, and why he does what he does - the same with Dr; Fate, Stargirl, Dr. Midnight, and everybody else.”
“At the same time, every single character issue has a revelation about who they are and what they’re doing, along with a better understanding of what their past is, and where they’re headed in the future. That will fold over into the monthly book – it’s designed in a way where you can pick up any one of these issues alone, and understand who this character is, or you can pick up all eight, and read the bigger story. All the characters, and the choice of characters tie in thematically to what the story is, and I don’t want to get into that too much, but these are the characters following a legacy, whereas Jay Garrick and Sentinel each started one.”
For Johns, the miniseries is a realization of sorts, of his views of the team and the heroes therein, teaming stellar talent with the heroes who started it all for the DC Universe. “It’s always nice to have a Pulitzer Prize winner writing a story for you,” Johns said. “Actually, Michael Chabon loves the original Mr. Terrific, so getting him to write a story wasn’t too hard. But it’s great to see all these big names that are pretty closely identified with other characters or books come and work on characters like Hourman or Dr. Midnight and Hawkman – it’s really cool to see. These characters are getting the royal treatment – it’s the treatment they deserve.”
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The main storyline of the miniseries is written by Geoff Johns and David Goyer, with former Black Panther art team Sal Velluto and Bob Almond providing art on the first and last issues. For the issues in between…well, there are a lot of names, including one Pulitzer Prize winner making his comics debut.
“It’s called JSA All-Stars, together, it’s one adventure, but issues #2 though #7 are stand-alones,” Johns told Newsarama. “#1 and #8 feature the entire team, and each issue spotlights a single character in #2 through #7.”
As Golden Age fans can clearly see, the title of the miniseries isn’t a coincidence – the upcoming mini follows the classic format established by the JSA’s original home, All-Star Comics. Often, the JSA would assemble as a team, identify the threat, and then go off singly or in pairs on separate missions, only to reunite at the end of the adventure to tackle the villain together. It’s a pattern that has been emulated countless times over the years.
This time around, according to Johns, the format is updated somewhat, and the stories focus on characters, rather than the slam-bang action of the stories in the ‘40s. “It’s very heavily character-based,” Johns said. “Once you read the story with Ric Tyler as Hourman, you’ll know what makes him tick, a hint of some things that might be coming up in the future, and a sense of what the team, is about – legacy, and using your past to move yourself into the future.”
Along with a story set in the present day with the most recent inheritor of a JSA mantle, each issue of JSA: All-Stars will feature a back-up story starring the original hero, written and drawn by a bevy of guest creators.
“All the back up stories take place in the ‘40s,” JSA editor Peter Tomasi said. “It’s playing off the legacy aspect of the team, kind of saying, ‘Here’s the present day, but don’t forget, this all stems from the original character who existed.’ For example, the second issue has a lead story of the current Mr. Terrific, with a back up of the original Mr. Terrific by Michael (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) Chabon and Michael Lark, and not to mention Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale on a Golden Age Hawkman story.
“Tim is so particular about what he likes, I never thought he'd go for it,” Loeb told Newsarama when asked about he and his frequent collaborator joined in. “But, when I explained that Hawkman, especially back then, was sort of a modern day Conan on wings, busting heads with a mace, he was up for it. I just loved how Hawkman would get pissed off and whack some bad guys off a building, not really caring where they landed. Tim loves Conan, so I guess it all fits. It's a six pager with a love story twist at the end. Tim draws a bad ass Hawkman, so it'll be fun.”
Tomasi provided Newsarama with the full creative listing for the miniseries – Johns and Goyer will write all the present-day heroes’ adventures as well as the full first and last issues. The remainder of the creative teams line up as follows:
#1 – JSA – Geoff Johns/David Goyer (w), Sal Velluto/Bob Almond (p/i)
#2 – Mr. Terrific – Johns/Goyer, Dave Ross; Michael Chabon, Michael Lark
#3 – Dr. Fate – Johns/Goyer, Barry Kitson; Darwyn Cooke (w/a)
#4 – Stargirl – Johns/Goyer, Mike McKone; James Robinson, Tony Harris
#5 – Hourman – Adam DeKraker; Howard Chaykin (w/a)
#6 – Hawkgirl – Johns/Goyer, Phil Winslade; Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale
#7 – Dr. Midnight – Johns/Goyer, Steve Sadowski; Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Rizzo
#8 – JSA – Johns/Goyer (w), Sal Velluto, Bob Almond
The cover artist is TBD.
According to Tomasi, the stories focusing on the solo characters are more than just “what makes ____ tick?” “They’re also pieces of puzzles in each – every character comes to one revelation within the story. Most of the revelations are very, very personal stuff.”
In typical Johns-fashion, the co-writer of the miniseries offered no hints as to the specifics, only revealing that the Injustice Society, sporting some new members, would appear in issue #1. “They get attacked by somebody in the beginning, and to prepare themselves for battling the guy again, they each have to revisit their pasts and hear any emotional wounds they might have, or take a look at themselves and try to make peace with whatever they haven’t made peace with in their lives,” Johns said.
At the same time though, Johns stressed that the issues are perfect introductions to the characters for anyone unfamiliar with the members of the JSA. “The cool thing is that I can take the Hourman issue, and hand it to somebody to read – it’s very entry-level stuff – they’ll know who Hourman is, where he comes from, what he does, how he thinks, and why he does what he does - the same with Dr; Fate, Stargirl, Dr. Midnight, and everybody else.”
“At the same time, every single character issue has a revelation about who they are and what they’re doing, along with a better understanding of what their past is, and where they’re headed in the future. That will fold over into the monthly book – it’s designed in a way where you can pick up any one of these issues alone, and understand who this character is, or you can pick up all eight, and read the bigger story. All the characters, and the choice of characters tie in thematically to what the story is, and I don’t want to get into that too much, but these are the characters following a legacy, whereas Jay Garrick and Sentinel each started one.”
For Johns, the miniseries is a realization of sorts, of his views of the team and the heroes therein, teaming stellar talent with the heroes who started it all for the DC Universe. “It’s always nice to have a Pulitzer Prize winner writing a story for you,” Johns said. “Actually, Michael Chabon loves the original Mr. Terrific, so getting him to write a story wasn’t too hard. But it’s great to see all these big names that are pretty closely identified with other characters or books come and work on characters like Hourman or Dr. Midnight and Hawkman – it’s really cool to see. These characters are getting the royal treatment – it’s the treatment they deserve.”
<a href=http://classic.newsarama.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000039>CLICK HERE</a> to return to the main menu to read about more of DC’s upcoming projects.
Got something to say about this? <a href=http://classic.newsarama.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=agree>CLICK HERE</a> to register and join one of comics' most active online communities. Registration is fast and easy. </font>