February’s still a ways away, dear readers, but we figured it’d be a good time to give you an inside look at the covers of some of the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA family of titles hitting that month — and there’s a ton of hitting happening in these pages. Check out the covers for the February issues of MAGOG, POWER GIRL, JSA ALL STARS and the JSA ANNUAL below.

The rift tearing into the Justice Society continues to deepen due to the strange actions of several new team members as well as the eruption of some long-seeded conflicts. It all leaves the team dangerously weak and vulnerable as their home base comes under attack from an army of bounty hunters bent on collecting the price on the head of each and every member of the Society. Brought to you by the usual team of Sturges, Willingham and Merino, JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #32 hits 10/28.

…But a thousand words ain’t too shabby, either!

Don’t get me wrong… words AND pictures are where it’s at fer me… but reading ANYTHING these days puts us all in a very, very elite club. But if you find yourself liking the work of the writers– nay, AUTHORS– who pen DC Comics these days, there is a veritable library of OTHER material available to you these days written by the very same people.

Used ta be that a comic book writer “escaped” the four-color and “pulp” ghetto and went on to become Mickey Spillane or Mario Puzo… and never looked back (except maybe to write a SUPERMAN movie or two, I guess… ).

Nowadays we have novelists (and television and screen writers, for that matter—but that’s another blog) coming to comics to DO comics. Because they LOVE comics!

Brad Meltzer’s one fellow who’s had plenty of success BEFORE he wrote some GREEN ARROW comics and JLA comics and IDENTITY CRISIS for us! Check out his “Book of Lies” for a nice literary world meets comic book history mash-up!

You’ve also probably read Greg Rucka’s work for DC and Oni Press on series like 52, GOTHAM CENTRAL and DETECTIVE COMICS and White Out… but you really should get a look at one of Greg’s coolest creations– Atticus Kodiak– in one of the seven novels Greg’s written that chronicle the adventures of this hard-as-nails BG (body guard). Start with “Keeper” and don’t stop!

Jodi Picoult, author of “Nineteen Minutes”, “Change of Heart” and thirteen other novels did a nice run on WONDER WOMAN (collected in WONDER WOMAN: LOVE & MURDER thank you very much). Hope she’ll do more someday.

And we’ve even got people doing both comics and prose at the same time! Working with Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham on JSA titles currently sets me up for reading their recent novels. Matt’s started a series for Pyr titled “Midwinter” and it’s an excellent fantasy set in an intriguing world that’s ripe for sequels for sure. And Bill W.’s just seen “Peter & Max: A Fables Novel” published—this is an all new all original story set in Vertigo’s FABLES Universe… not a novelization (though we’ve seen our share of those over the years and Marvel’s still working with Stephen King on his “Dark Tower” series)!

And willya look at THIS?! Bill’s novel was published BY Vertigo! Way to go “funny” book publisher!

And outside of our universe, writers like “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” author Michael Chabon have seen their characters come to new life in comic books for Dark Horse even… Peter David still works in both media… and scores of other examples of the back and forth between words & pictures and just words are out there… as I run out of room here.

Anyone you’d like to see us hunt down? I know I’d love to see the Batman villain “Fight Club”’s Chuck Palahniuk has in him.

Great time to be reading… anything!

Yesterday, we took a minute to show you a few JUSTICE LEAGUE covers hitting in the month of January. Well, why not do the same for the JUSTICE SOCIETY titles? Exactly. So, to help make your last day of the work week slightly more bearable, here’s a look at January’s covers for JSA ALL-STARS #2 and JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #35.

Writers Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges continue their first arc on the series with artist Jesus Merino as a traitor is revealed and Wildcat throws down against Magog. Who’s responsible for tearing the team apart from within, and is the danger greater than anyone on the team expects? We don’t have all the answers, but we have a few pages below that can give you some clues.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #31 hits 9/30.

Nice way to kick off Bill Willingham’s first solo issue as writer, no?

The writing team of Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham continue their inaugural arc on JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA with part two of “Bad Seed,” pairing them with up-and-comer Jesus Merino. The JSA begins to feel some wear and tear as the team battles a monstrous collection of villains who’ve mounted an all-out war on the team in an effort to collect a bounty on the head of everyone except Stargirl. What compromises will the group make to chase the enemies? Why have Mr. Terrific’s communications stopped? Oh yeah, and Dr. Fate comes back. Check out a few pages below. JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #30 hits 8/26.

The Justice Society has always been about legacy. Young and old. Legends and rookies. Together to protect Earth from any kind of villain.

But what happens when the generations disagree?

After writers Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges conclude their first arc on JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, the team splits – creatively and literally, with Willingham holding the fort and Sturges moving over to a new ongoing series, JSA ALL STARS, with artist Freddie E. Williams III.

And what’s the high concept? Taking a cue from Magog, a new JSA team forms, choosing a more proactive approach to handling the villains populating the planet, in defiance of some of the JSA’s most stalwart members.

But that’s not all. We cornered JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA and JSA ALL STARS editor Mike Carlin for a tad more info, out here in the wilds of San Diego. Take it away, Mike:

“The differences in styles on how to approach the mounting problems before them have grown too intense to ignore…Hence the splitting of the team. Oh, and the JSA is torn into two groups, as well!”

And what a coincidence – we’re announcing the new series just in time for our “Great Society” panel, which is slated to cover all things relating to the JSA, including the newly-announced MAGOG, POWER GIRL, JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, JSA ALL STARS and more, with comments from Carlin, Willingham, Sturges, Williams, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and more.

For those reading from home, here’s a first look at art from JSA ALL STARS, plus some other panel goodies.

This is it, folks. The new creative team of writers Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges, along with exceptional artist Jesus Merino unite to herald a new era for the Justice Society of America.

Strange things start to happen at JSA headquarters just as two new recruits join the fold, all which point to an all-out assault on the team. And what do new members King Chimera and All-American Kid have to do with it?

Join a team of legends and up-and-coming heroes as the critically acclaimed writers behind FABLES and JACK OF FABLES unite to kick off the latest chapter for the team, which is sure to have people talking for some time.

Oh, and did we mention we have preview pages? Well, we do.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #29 hits on 7/29.

In about a month or two Justice will be served up fresh and furious by a brand new team starting with JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #29! That’s right, fabled writers Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges will join phenom artist Jesus Merino just as several new members join the storied super-hero team itself in a story arc that’s sure to shake the JSA and the group’s Mansion headquarters to its very core!

Almost every villain available AND their brother have joined the bounty hunt for almost every single member of the JSA… while a murderous mystery takes hold at their home base—with two new legacy members at the center of the storm!

That’s the general pitch—but so you don’t think this is just another biased load of hype you really DO have to take a look at the attached bunch of pages from the first couple of issues of this storyline—called THE BAD SEED! These pictures by amazing artist Jesus Merino really ARE worth a thousand words so I will basically shut up from here on!

I did say basically… because I don’t want to sell the writers and their contributions short either… bringing a fresh—if skewed look to the show, Willingham & Sturges are outdoing themselves. And while I can’t speak to their day-in-and-day-out interaction/collaboration… they seem to be on the same page—though something tells me that the JSA might not be the only team shaken up by this lead off adventure!

Oh… and some folks will be returning to the JSA, too… so the fate of this series really IS in good hands!