By Taylor Pechter — Justice is a word that can be defined and analyzed in many ways. In the broad definition, it is the quality of being just or righteous, or moral rightness. It’s this conflict of moral righteousness that is the focus of JSA: Black Reign. Written by Geoff Johns, penciled by Don Kramer and Rags Morales, inked by Keith Champagne and Michael Bair, and colored by John Kalisz, Black Reign focuses on the ideological conflict of action versus reaction in terms of justice and how it is served.

In this 2005 story, the action side of this dichotomy is represented by Black Adam, who has formed his own group of anti-heroes to help control his country of Kahndaq. On the other side of the divide is the Justice Society of America themselves, always striving to protect the world, rather than to change it. To what lengths will our heroes go to prove Adam wrong? To what lengths will Adam himself take to keep control of his country? And which side is taking the correct approach to forging a just world? These are the central questions of one of the best modern Justice Society of America stories.

JSA: Black Reign - Black Adam’s Side

As the story commences, we start with a monologue: “Men became gods overnight,” it reads. “It is time they start acting that way.” These are the thoughts of the corrupted Champion of Shazam, Black Adam.

As a leader, he has been a hero to his home country of Kahndaq for centuries. However, his land is now under the reign of another ruler. As they infiltrate the palace, Adam introduces his compatriots: Northwind, a hybrid of human and a race called the Feitherians; Soseh Mykros aka Nemesis, a genetically engineered killing machine; Henry King, Jr. aka Brainwave, telepath and son of the JSA adversary of the same name; Alex Montez, former curator of the JSA museum and current holder of the Eclipso diamond; and finally, disgraced JSAer Al Rotherstein aka Atom Smasher, Godson of the original Atom, Al Pratt.

This group of people were brought together by Adam because they shared one uniting belief — that the truest form of heroism is sacrifice. As they go through the palace, they dispatch the guards using lethal force, leading up to a confrontation with the new ruler of Kahndaq, Asim Muhennad. After Atom Smasher takes the final blow, Adam now rules his country once again while Atom Smasher has blood on his hands. How will this affect his relationship with his fellow members of the Justice Society?

Enter the JSA

After this, we cut back to the JSA, and we find the prime members enjoying a vacation in the city of St. Roch, courtesy of Hawkman. This fun will be short-lived, though. No surprise there — this is superhero comics, after all. As the JSA returns to its headquarters in Pourtsmouth, the news is broken to the team — they watch on TV as Adam and his companions take control of Kahndaq.

They also watch as the methods of his group directly contradict the Society’s ideals. Hawkman decides to take action. He readily takes control of the situation and appoints himself chairman, much to the chagrin of his fellow teammates, specifically Jay Garrick (Flash) and Stargirl. Carter is known to be hotheaded and temperamental. He does have an edge on the other members, though, with that being a personal connection to Adam. Leadership somewhat settled, they head off for Kahndaq.

Seeds of Doubt

It is here that the plot kicks into gear, and Johns starts seeding more doubt in Atom Smasher with the Society going head to head with Black Adam and his Black Reign Group. As the fight starts drawing blood, Adam questions the motives of Hawkman. He thinks to himself that Hawkman would have been a valuable, if volatile, contributor to his own cause. The battle hits a boiling point as Alex loses control of his Eclipso power. As a result, Nemesis is killed. Blaming himself, he decides to jump of the building to his death.

This brings the fight to standstill. Adam regroups with his remaining allies while the JSA assess the damage, lamenting the loss of life. Jay blames Carter for his recklessness; one of their principal objectives, along with deposing Adam, was to bring their corrupted teammates home, and now there has been a loss of life. With two dead and Atom Smasher in the wind, they question whether this was a success. While the JSA prevail in the end, it is not without sacrifice, and as Adam stated, that is the greatest form of heroism.

JSA: Black Reign - The Art

As this is a crossover between two different titles, those being JSA and Hawkman, Johns is joined by two different art teams. For the JSA issues, the art is provided by the team of Don Kramer and Keith Champagne, while the team of Rags Morales and Michael Bair join in the art duties for the Hawkman issues. These teams have similar styles, which helps with visual continuity. Their styles are a great mix of slight retro throwback with modern sensibilities. Heavy inks help ground the story, while also adding little nuances to the characters. The panel layouts are also great, deploying a mix of big splashes and intimate character moments. This is all brought together by the vibrant colors of John Kalisz. Kalisz drenches the book in deep blues, but also sharp reds and oranges. These stark color changes help convey both the somberness and the aggression within this story.

In conclusion, Black Reign is a fantastic story and one of the high points of Johns’ JSA run. It has a power focus on the definition of justice, conveying this through two different points of view — Black Adam and his group and the JSA themselves. It is also a great character piece on Adam himself, focusing on his dichotomy as a hero to his people while being an extremist villain to the world. What are the moral, and sometimes political, ramifications of these methods? It all comes down to one thing, sacrifice. What would you sacrifice for your form of justice? Your sanity? Your relationships? Your morals? These are questions only you can answer, and that is a hard pill to swallow.

Taylor Pechter is a passionate comic book fan and nerd. Find him on Twitter @TheInspecter.