Sometimes a short review is a good thing
I wasn’t too keen on spinning the “Kingdom Come has come to Earth Prime†story line out of the JSA title and into one-shots and specials just to get more money out of readers. However, in the case of Kingdom Come Special: Magog, it was the best decision.
In a nutshell, this one-shot is a flashback story that tells the back story of Lance Corporal David Reid, where he came from, what motivates him, and more importantly, why his turning in Magog is a way of dealing with his past mistakes. That’s it. It’s the origin story of the origin story.
And it’s very powerful. From the moment the members of the JSA who are following Gog realize the river is being poisoned by rebels, to Magog becoming a vengeful hero to avenge his fallen army buddies, the horrors of war are seen through the eyes of an average Joe, who has been given the power of a god – granted it’s a third world god, but a god nonetheless.
If you don’t want to purchase this issue, you don’t have to, as no important plot point about the Gog story in JSA is revealed. You probably will want to purchase the issue as there is a back up story featuring Starman as he begins to reveal the huge secret that caused him to go crazy. Let’s just say there is a definite Legion of Three Worlds moment featuring all the Brainiacs building Starman’s suit, and Brainiac setting up the mission that sends them back in time during the Lightning Saga. Fortunately, the editors wisely decided not to name the issue Final Crisis: Justice Society of America: Kingdom Come Special: Magog One-Shot as that many colons would probably cause heads to explode.
Peter Tomasi does a great job of telling a story outside of the Johns JSA, and it reads quite well. The art by Fernando Pasarin is good too – although if you don’t like blood and guts splattered about, consider this your warning.
Overall, this is a nice addition to everything going on in JSA. If this one-shot had been rolled into the JSA title, reviewers would have been grousing that the story was dragging the story out too long. As a one-shot, I liked it. The writing is solid, the art is good, and kept me entertained for 20 minutes. I’m giving Kingdom Come Special: Magog, 3 out of 5 Stars.
48/48
1 Comment
You’re right.. that was a LOT of colons….