If not for Blackest Night, this book would have been my pick of the week. I am a big fan of the JSA, but never read Checkmate, where Trautmann wrote Mr. Terrific and Alan Scott before. Reading this issue made me want to go back and read the Checkmate trades.

This issue continues the caption boxes from last issue, where we “hear” the thoughts of both Mr. Terrific and the Kobra agent as they react to events. It’s not like this has never been before, but it is a simple and elegant way to show the cat-and-mouse game between the two sides.  The only JSA members in this issue are Mr. Terrific, Alan Scott and Power Girl. This narrowed focus really allows these characters to shine (I love the main JSA book, but the number of characters almost inevitably means not all the characters get highlighted).

Also, Don Kramer has really stepped up his game. This feels a little rougher than I’ve seen him look before (maybe someone new is inking him?), and it really suits the story. I particularly enjoyed the page with the extremely well-rendered super collider.  Speaking of the super collider, Trautmann brings in real world science with the discussion of quantum physics and strangelets. Very interesting stuff. Anyway, a great second issues, very intrigued to see where Trautmann takes us.