JLA/JSA Virtue and Vice

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 'JLA/JSA - Virtue and Vice' was a 2002 story involving the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America, and was written by Geoff Johns and David Goyer, ( before Johns was given creative room to develop his habit of having characters killed off and limbs ripped off ). The story involves a scheme of JLA foe Despero, and JSA foe Johnny Sorrow unleashing the trapped seven sins ( embodiments of avarice, gluttony, envy, pride, wrath, lust, and sloth ) onto the world with members of both teams acting as the conduits for the seven entities. Who all bow before ( a peculiarly calm about the situation ) President Luthor.

With the heavy hitters of the JLA and JSA ( Superman, Flashes, Wonderwoman, etc ) trapped in limbo or the tower of Fate, or incapacitated by the assault of their possessed comrades, it falls to several less powerful or reserve members ( such as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna or Dr Midnight ) to uncover the true cause of the problems. The choices of the sins for host bodies included Batman being possessed by Wrath, Mr Terrific by Pride, Captain Marvel by Gluttony, Plastic Man by Avarice, Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern by Envy, Powergirl by Lust ( nearly as lazy as Batman being possessed by Wrath ), and Dr Fate by Sloth. Each one then fans the flame of discord and chaos wherever they go, inciting riots and destruction in their own particular fashion.

Can the trapped JLA and JSA members escape their mystical prisons ?, can the remaining members face the upcoming threat behind the Sins ? Will Powergirl ever be able to live down licking Supermans face, along with her telling a mass of rioting men that there is plenty of her to go around ? And why didn't Captain Marvel start breaking into fast food outlets and gorge himself on food ? Some of these questions will be answered by the end of the book.

The story is good, lacking a lot of the mean spirited brutality that rises too often to the surface in John's more recent work and i find it much more classically DC and satisfying to read with good artwork throughout. Funny thing is the plot could have easily have been used to good effect in a longer story arc, with the Sins influence gradually taking effect ( so Batman could have been getting overly violent with criminals over time for example ). Yet as it is the pace is good and when i think about it, it would have made a decent animated movie.

Additionally, it was nice to see Captain Atom actually make a cameo appearance, even if he had little to do except briefly come face to face with Johnny Sorrow ( not a good idea, to look at Sorrows face will kill most individuals ) get sent forward in time by the stress of accessing too much of his own energies, and then accidentally knock Despero away from the White House when he reappears ( which is the full interaction he has ever had with Despero, i'm not even sure Despero knows his name or that he is a Justice League member ) during the stories big brawl at the end.

Virtue and Vice is also something of a prequel, of sorts, to the 2003 Batman/Superman Public Enemies story ( which was turned into an animated film that pretty much improved on the comic, making for a much tighter story, i might give that movie a proper review at some point ) since it was after this that Captain Atom would have had a chance to recruit Powergirl from the JSA into his government backed team that would try to arrest Superman and Batman.

Anyhow, for any fan of the JSA, the JLA, or just a reader looking for a relatively self contained story set in the classic DC Universe, it's worth having a look.
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Randommode's avatar
Great work Adam :)