In honor of my daughter’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Punkin’!), I converted a YouTube only video for the podcast feed where I talk about the following comic books that came out in March 1990:
By Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid, Giffen, Bennett, Jadson, Brabo, Baron, Leigh, Richards, Schaefer, and Siglain. Cover by Jones and Sinclair.
52 was a weekly series published by DC Comics starting in May, 2006. Because I had my 52nd birthday in late 2020, I thought it might be interesting (fun?) to examine this series for its 15th anniversary. I plan to post once a week about each issue. To read previous posts, click the link (52!).
Synopsis
“Homecoming”
Week 51, Day 1
Animal Man arrives on Earth and reunites with his wife and kids.
Week 51, Day 2
People gather at Superboy’s memorial to commemorate his sacrifice a year earlier. Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, and Clark Kent are in attendance, as well as a number of superheroes.
Week 51, Day 3
On Rann, Adam Strange’s sight has returned. Some Green Lanterns question him about what he saw and what happened to the Emerald Eye of Ekron. But Adam leaves to be reunited with his family and the Green Lanterns go off to deal with the fire creatures plaguing Ranagar.
Week 51, Day 4
Lobo returns to the Thrice-Perfected One to offer it the Emerald Eye as requested. Lobo asks the Fish God to release him from his pacifist vows and why it wanted the Eye. The Fish God tells him that the Eye “is the only weapon in the universe which can kill me”. Lobo says, “Ya don’t say…” and the Eye fires on the Fish God.
Week 51, Day 6
The Bakers are having a get-together with friends when aliens arrive at the front door, yelling, “Bounty for Lady Styx! Die! Die! Die!” Starfire arrives, blasting them. She offers Ellen Buddy’s jacket and then collapses.
Week 51, Day 7
Skeets arrives at T. O. Morrow’s Rocky Mountain complex wanting the map that Red Tornado created when he saw “the garden”. Rip Hunter thanks Morrow for luring Skeets there. Skeets explains that he isn’t “Skeets”, but a transformed Mr. Mind who is “so hungry [he] could eat a universe!”
Rip commands Booster to grab what’s left of Skeets while he grabs Red Tornado’s head, and they leave in the time sphere, going “Back to where it all started”.
Thoughts
The ticker on the cover returns and breaks the fourth wall by declaring “51 issues down and one more to go”. Was that really necessary? Also, I love how the gears “falling” out of Red Tornado’s head represent different Earths — it’s a good visual and great coloring.
I like how Buddy is literally glowing with sun energy when he appears in front of Ellen, but is there radiation to be concerned about? It’s certainly a reason to not see them embrace, and I find that curious. Is this supposed to represent the distance still present in their relationship? Buddy seems uncharacteristically confident in this scene, and I wonder if that continues elsewhere.
The DC Database website points out that the Superboy memorial occurs before the one-year mark (as shown in issue 1). Considering that World War III just occurred, and I’m sure many more people were killed or affected in some way, this memorial doesn’t seem like it would be as important as shown? I know it’s a device to circle us back to the beginning and to establish the return of the Trinity, but it lessons the authenticity of the universe we’ve seen thus far. Another thing that doesn’t quite work for me is the scene between Ravager and Kid Devil. I know it’s to provide some explanation as to why those characters had been in the Teen Titans during the year, but it just seemed shoe-horned in. However, this scene reminded me that I need to seek out the issues in which Donna Troy has taken on the Wonder Woman mantle. Also, we are explicitly told why Tim Drake’s Robin costume is now red and black: he looks up at Superboy’s statue and says, “They were his colors”. I really like that tribute and had forgotten it for the last 15 years!
I know this is just a timing thing, but having just finished the Gerads/Shaner/King Strange Adventures series and seeing the reunion of Adam with Alanna and Aleea in this issue is … bittersweet?
So what does Lobo do with the Emerald Eye of Ekron after this series?
Finally, I had forgotten that we got the Mr. Mind reveal in this issue, so this surprised me. And boy were they channeling the ending of Back to the Future with this cliffhanger, huh? I’m really looking forward to the conclusion of this story and the revelations within!
The Origin of the Justice League of America
By Waid, Reis, Albert, Sinclair, Leigh, Richards, Schaefer, and Siglain
Reis/Albert do a great job of making the Appellaxians look menacing (but Superman’s legs look a little wonky in panel 3). I always liked the idea that it was a honor for a hero to be invited to join the League, but the ones who aren’t invited have to be a little upset by not getting an invitation, right? And what is the criteria for being offered membership? Has the League in the comic books ever done a Justice League Unlimited-type approach where every hero is a member and are called on when those powers or skills are required for a mission? That could make for an interesting set of stories over time….
By Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid, Giffen, Camuncoli, Ruggiero, Pantazis, Leigh, Richards, Schaeffer, and Siglain. Cover by Jones and Sinclair.
52 was a weekly series published by DC Comics starting in May, 2006. Because I had my 52nd birthday in late 2020, I thought it might be interesting (fun?) to examine this series for its 15th anniversary. I plan to post once a week about each issue. To read previous posts, click the link (52!).
Synopsis
“Revelations”
Week 47, Day 1
Tim Drake waits outside a cave in Nanda Parbat for Bruce Wayne and is challenged by a monk to solve this riddle:
There’s a goose inside a bottle. … How do you get the goose out without injuring it or breaking the bottle?
Week 47, Day 2
Diana and Tim discuss Bruce’s undertaking of his “spiritual purification”. She tells Tim, “Something vast and grand is happening and it brought us all here. I hope he finds what he’s looking for. And you, Tim”.
In Gotham City, Whisper A’Dair sacrifices a man trying to divine who Batwoman is. Later, she and Bruno Mannheim discuss the failure, and Brother Abbott criticizes Mannheim’s interpretation of the Crime Bible. They fight, and Whisper comes to a realization: the twice-named daughter of Cain can be found because her name is “Cain”.
Week 47, Day 3
Dr. Magnus works on his new Metal Man as he listens to the tortured screams of Black Adam. When he activates the golem’s responsometer, it calls out, “Crush. Raze. Trample.” His mini Metal Men implore him to switch it off.
Week 47, Day 4
Animal Man travels to Space B and converses with the aliens who created and have since upgraded him. They tell him that he can access any “point in space or in time”. To illustrate, they show Buddy a point one month ahead in his personal timeline where Ellen is being comforted by another man.
Week 47, Day 5
Beast Boy can’t believe Natasha has turned down his offer to join the Teen Titans. He discovers that she is joining her uncle’s new Steelworks facility. Dr. Avasti tells John she quit her job at STAR Labs and wants to know if he’s hiring. She then kisses him.
Week 47, Day 6
The Question visits Kate Kane’s apartment to find it in shambles. Nightwing arrives to tell Renee that “they took her. We’re going to get her back.”
Week 47, Day 7
Diana converses with Rama Kushna, asking the deity, “What have I become?” Rama Kushna answers with,
When did you, in all your perfection, ever share the pains mortals feel each day of their lives? Until now. Welcome to the world, Wonder Woman. Here is wisdom.
The monk returns to offer Tim more soup, and Tim wonders if Bruce should have returned by now. He also tells the monk he realized that “there’s only a goose in the bottle because you said so,” to which the monk responds, “You are correct. The goose and the bottle are only words”. Then, Bruce emerges from the cave, smiling.
Thoughts
This is probably my least favorite issue of the series thus far, both in terms of the art and the vignettes. Specifically, the Batman and Wonder Woman segments feel disjointed from the rest of the series, and my major issue with the art is that everybody looks similar, like the artist had one male and female template.
Regardless, there are some interesting things in this issue:
The dissent in Bruno Mannheim’s organization is interesting (and expected), so I hope we see that play out more.
I’m more interested in Space B in regards to Animal Man than I am in the issue with “future” Ellen. Does Space B play into what’s coming at the end of this series? Is it played with anywhere after this?
It was nice to see Natasha’s and John’s story come to a close (I assume), especially given it’s been my least favorite of the series. I was also glad to see John and Dr. Avasti moving on with their relationship.
What is the “wisdom” that Rama Kushna shows Diana?
The Origin of the Teen Titans
By Waid, Kerschl, Peru, Lopez, Richards, Schaefer, and Siglain
I like how they focused on Cyborg as the central figure of this incarnation of the Teen Titans. What I intensely disliked about the Teen Titans title is the one year jump that occurred during 52. Up to that point, this was one of my favorite titles at the time.
By Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid, Giffen, Jurgens, Rapmund, Hi-Fi, Lopez, Schaeffer, and Siglain. Cover by Jones and Sinclair.
52 was a weekly series published by DC Comics starting in May, 2006. Because I had my 52nd birthday in late 2020, I thought it might be interesting (fun?) to examine this series for its 15th anniversary. I plan to post once a week about each issue. To read previous posts, click the link (52!).
Synopsis
“Family Matters”
Week 43, Day 1
Osiris and Sobek travel to the Rock of Eternity so that Osiris can ask Captain Marvel to make him part of the Marvel family, ridding him and Kahndaq of the curse, but Black Adam and Isis arrive to convince him otherwise. There is a brief struggle between Osiris and Black Adam, with the former accidentally hitting Isis. Osiris stops and apologizes, and she convinces him to stay with her and Adam.
Week 43, Day 4
The aliens who first granted Animal Man his powers reset the morphogenetic graft and return him to the asteroid where he was left for dead. He begs them to not leave him here and that he will die there without any animal ability to keep him alive. With seconds before he suffocates, and looking at a picture of his family, Animal Man reaches out with his powers and comes into contact with sun-eaters. Now smiling, Animal says, “Migration maps. Homing abilities. Oh, yes.”
Elsewhere, a pregnant alien’s baby violently extracts itself, and it is Lady Styx reborn.
Week 43, Day 5
Back in Kahndaq, Osiris reveals that he only told his sister that he’d stay with them because that’s what they wanted to hear, and he plans instead to leave Kahndaq: “As long as I have these powers I need to be far away from anyone–“. Sobek then tells him that he can rid himself of the curse by renouncing his powers, returning to his broken human body as Amon. Orisis agrees, “That must be my penance!”
After Osiris changes, he tells Sobek, “Perhaps I will be happy again and all of Kahdaq will be as well.” Then Sobek chomps down on Amon’s torso. Amon tries to speak Black Adam’s name, but Sobek bites his head off, announcing, “I’m not so hungry anymore.”
Thoughts
I like the double play of the title, “Family Matters”: it can be things a family deals with together and that family is important, both of which are at play here for the Black Adam family and for Animal Man. And like all families, they now have a death to deal with…
When I would think of this series over the years, I would remember very distinctly a few scenes, and Osiris’ grisly death at the mouth of Sobek was one of them. So was this justice for Osiris the murderer? At the very least, it was the end of the Black Adam family, a concept from this series that I liked.
Speaking of Sobek, I was hoping to see his physical transformation over the course of this issue and not just at the big reveal/chomp. On the final page, his mouth is more extended and his teeth look longer and with sharper points. Given that Sobek urged Osiris to change to his human form in that last scene, I wonder if he would have taken a bite out of his “friend” when they were about to enter the Rock of Eternity earlier?
That scene is where I also had trouble with the presentation of the book. What we were seeing didn’t match the dialog. When Osiris and Sobek reach the inner chamber, he says, “Who is down there?” Yet, there is no “down” and the Marvel family are clearly lit and only a few feet away. Later, after Osiris has struck his sister, he says she was bleeding, but we don’t see that.
As for Animal Man, I’m curious how far away were those sun-eaters? Can he reach out for light-years? For example, could he take on aspects of animal life on Rann when he’s on Earth? My recollection of Animal Man after this series was that the writers focused instead on the relationship between him and Starfire, creating a “romantic” triangle with them and Animal Man’s wife. Ugh.
Finally, Dan DiDio announced in the DC Nation entry in this issue that the follow-up to 52 would be another weekly series, Countdown, with Paul Dini as head writer and Keith Giffen again breaking down the art. DiDio said, “Countdown … will act as the spine of the DCU for the next year”. While I read Countdown, I don’t recall it having any real impact on the DCU until the end, which was merely a lead-in to the next event. In fact, I had a feeling before the first issue had shipped that it would not be as good as its predecessor, and I was right. Don’t expect weekly posts about Countdown, dear reader….
The Origin of Plastic Man
By Waid, Van Sciver, Sinclair, Lopez, Richards, Schaefer, and Siglain
Plastic Man has never interested me. I think it was the cartoon series in the 80s that prejudiced me against the character (not to mention the following season where they gave him a son — wait! Was that the first appearance of Offspring?!). However, I like the promise of his origin told here, specifically, how he uses his real identity to infiltrate criminal organizations and takes them down as Plas.
By Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid, Giffen, Olliffe, Geraci, SInclair, Lanham, Richards, Schaefer, and Siglain. Cover by Jones and Sinclair.
52 was a weekly series published by DC Comics starting in May, 2006. Because I had my 52nd birthday in late 2020, I thought it might be interesting (fun?) to examine this series for its 15th anniversary. I plan to post once a week about each issue. To read previous posts, click the link (52!).
Synopsis
“Secret Identities”
Week 37, Day 1
Skeets threatens the bottled city of Kandor demanding that Rip Hunter and Supernova surrender themselves to it. Rip tells Supernova to stall Skeets while he reassembles the circuitry of Supernova’s costume. Supernova exits Kandor and he is revealed to be Booster Gold. Rip tells Booster to tell Skeets everything to buy them more time.
Booster tells Skeets, “I’ve known what’s up with you for weeks now”. When Booster visited Rip’s lab, Hunter appeared and told Booster the truth about Skeets and they formulated a plan: Booster would gather weapons after faking his death and assuming the role of Supernova, whose abilities were the result of the Atom’s size-changing belt and the circuitry of the Phantom Zone projector in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
Rip joins Booster in the Fortress and activates the projector on Skeets. However, as Booster observes, Skeets has “eaten the Phantom Zone…!” Rip makes a hasty retreat with Booster, but Skeets follows.
Week 37, Day 4
While Green Lantern helps repair Star City’s electrical grid, Oliver Queen talks with Black Canary about Ralph Dibny, telling her that he’s unstable in trying to bring back his dead wife.
Week 37, Day 5
Lobo presides over Animal Man’s funeral, and then Adam Strange and Starfire head back to Earth. However, Animal Man wakes up, calling out to his comrades, “Don’t leave me!!!” Then the aliens that gave Buddy his powers appear saying, “And so it begins.”
Thoughts
What were they thinking, spoiling the reveal on page 4 on the cover?! That was quite the reveal, though, which can only be overshadowed by the upcoming one regarding Skeets. I like the whole bit about Booster’s dead body being from his future — I wonder if that was ever dealt with in any way in his solo series that followed this?
This issue, with the exception of the Star City interlude, was chock full of revelations: 1) Animal Man didn’t actually die and 2) his alien benefactors appear with an ominous sounding proclamation. Could you imagine the dread Buddy is feeling in that moment when he awakens, thinking he was abandoned light years from home and no way to get there? Alas, he has no time to ponder his predicament. Is there a connection to these aliens and what Rip Hunter is dealing with regarding the timeline and what Skeets has become?
But wait! They’re not done with us yet! This issue also features Dan DiDio’s DC Nation column that proclaims “This column is a clue!” under the 52 banner. I remember the message boards being abuzz about the secret code that, as I recall, I found out some months after this. I’ve never been one to try and figure out stuff like this*, content to let others with more time and inclination to do the legwork. What I don’t recall is if I found out the reveal at the end of the series first or this secret message — I think it was the former. I even went on one of those boards and proclaimed my appreciation for the new paradigm, something I don’t think I repeated.
In case you’re curious, the message was “The secret of fifty-two is that the multiverse still exists.”
The Origin of Firestorm
By Waid, Igle, Champagne, Sinclair, Lanham, Richards, Schaefer, and Siglain
Was fusing with multiple people a new thing with Jason as Firestorm? I only read a few appearances of this version of the character, and I know his series was a favorite of one of my friends, but I’ve yet to read it. I liked this time at DC Comics when the successors to these characters were younger and not another white dude (like Blue Beetle and not like Kyle Green Lantern).
Longbox Review 