"BOCEPHEUS" |
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 DC
STORY REVIEW:
52 (half-way in)
Comic Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Writer: Various, Artist: Various
We are passing the halfway point of the very
risky weekly DC title 52 so lets look and see what we have
learned and whether the concept was a good idea or not.
At the end of Infinite Crisis the big three (Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman) decided it was time to take a break which set
up the DC event One Year Later. All DC titles jumped ahead
one year and comic fans being the obsessive types they are
wanted to know what happened during that missing year. That
led to the decision to create a weekly series that told
different stories of what happened while the big three were
off recharging their batteries. The series would be written
by four of DC’s top writers-Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison,
Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. We don’t know who writes what
since it is supposed to be a collaborative effort but you
can sort of guess at times who is doing the tales we see.
The book is laid out by Keith Giffen and finished by many
artists and we will get to the pros and cons of that
situation later. Every issue has a cover by JG Jones and
each issue has a back up 2 page origin story done by star
creators that showcases one of the characters seen within
the issue.
The early star of the first issues was the now deceased Dan Jurgens
created character Booster Gold. Since Booster was from the
future he figured he knew what was going to happen but at
the end of the first issue he realized that things had
changed when the big three were nowhere to be seen at the
dedication of a memorial. Thru Booster (and his robotic
sidekick Skeets) the creators were able to show us that
something was terribly wrong with the new Earth that the DCU
found itself in and that has been a thread that the team has
brought in from time to time to keep the series moving (and
believe me the series has needed that in the early stages of
the game).
Other threads that have been the mainstays of the first half of the
project involve the Question’s arrival in Gotham to save
Gotham Central’s Renee Montoya from herself, the appearance
of a new hero named Supernova (who may be the deceased Kon-El),
the unearthing of Sue Dibny and an actual attempt to place
flesh on the thin character of Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibny,
the return of Lex Luthor and him creating new superheroes,
showing us what Black Adam is doing, seeing what happened to
Adam Strange, Starfire and Animal Man after the
Rann-Thanagar War and the Metal Men’s Doc Magnus being
placed on an island with other geniuses.
Of the various storylines the most successful has been the
Question/Montoya relationship which has tied into the Black
Adam arc. The creators have a nice handle on Vic Sage and
have made Black Adam even more interesting than he has been.
This section has also been the one in which DC gained
mainstream interest because it was there that the new (and
lesbian) Batwoman was introduced. The second most
interesting section has been the Ralph Dibny one. We went
from him discovering that his wife had been dug up (by the
hands of acolytes from a cult based on Superman) to ending
up with the helmet of Fate trying to see who would be the
next bearer of the helmet. The Luthor arc came off as an out
allowing him to get out of being locked up but did lead to
the resurrection of Infinity Inc. The cosmic section is just
okay and the Doc Magnus section is just getting into gear so
it’s too early to like or dislike. As for the mystery
surrounding the identity of Supernova I, like most of fandom
could care less who he/she is. There is little attention
paid to it in most of the issues so mark it up to a lost
opportunity.
As was mentioned before the four writers blend so well together
that at times it is hard to figure out which person is
writing what but you can tell sometimes. It seems obvious
that Rucka is doing the Question sections but giving way to
Johns once they started mixing it up with Black Adam.
Morrison is likely behind the Dibny sections once the helmet
of Fate became involved and is probably driving the car when
we see Doc Magnus. Waid is probably behind the Luthor arc
and the overall mystery about the numbers 52.
Where the book suffers most is in the art department. Giffen is
doing the layouts but with the number of people assigned to
the book you can’t tell anything. When the project was
announced only about four artists were named to work on the
breakdowns but as the book has progressed we have seen many
more than that come in to keep the book on schedule. Stan
Lee came up with the phrase ‘the illusion of change’ which
as far as art was concerned meant that if an artist left a
title the inker remained so that in some cases you never
noticed the difference. Here the art changes are somewhat
jarring at times and that changes the momentum of the title.
The second problem is that at least during the early issues there didn’t
seem to be anything going on. A long series needs a long set
up and most of the first half was laying out what we should
be seeing if we were interested enough in sticking with the
series. The creators that are working on the book promise
that the pieces will start to be put together and then major
changes in the DCU will take place but by then some fans
will have checked out to follow something else.
One problem that hasn’t surfaced yet is the effect of Editor Steve
Wacker leaving for Marvel in the middle of the damn thing.
He along with Giffen was keeping the book on track and his
departure may mean delays somewhere near the end of the run.
All in all I have liked most of what I have seen so far but
if you pushed me to give the series a rating then the best I
could do is give the book a B-minus. Rumors have DC doing a
bi-weekly series in 2007 and Marvel taking a shot at a
weekly as well.
AVERAGE MSRP: $2.50 per issue,
Alternate Reality Price: $2.12 (That's 15% OFF, All
This Week!) |
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MARVEL ROUND UP…
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #12 involves a contest
and interviews with Harry Osborn and MJ over who is the biggest flirt. There is
a larger story here about perception being reality but if your kid reads this
they will enjoy the story anyway…Marvel Spotlight this time around interviews
Brain Bendis and Mark Bagley about Ultimate Spider-Man…Runaways #22 begins the
last arc by the creative team of Brian Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. We start with
the team battling a strange group of cowboy werewolves before a discussion about
whether certain people should be on the team due to a variety of issues. The
resurrection offer to Chase to bring back Gert from the dead is still on the
table and the fast paced (character development wise) issue ends with a
situation that we will have to wait until next issue to figure out the major
reason for…New Excalibur begins the Juggernaut arc that writer Frank Tieri says
will make him closer to the badass he is supposed to be. Beginning with
Juggernaut getting his ass kicked by the Wrecking Crew and ending at the place
where he gained his powers we see here that Tieri will leave the title (Chris
Claremont is healthy enough to take over now) after changing a few
perceptions…Heroes For Hire #4 begins after the destruction of their office by
the not dead at all Ricadonna. The perfectly drawn Bill Tucci issue then
proceeds to turn what some could perceive as a 70’s villain knock off into a
major league villain. There are three attacks on team members that keep the
action quotient high and we see the strangest informant ever within the pages of
the issue before seeing that someone went to the power factory…Daredevil #91
clears up a few things such as how Matt learned how to deal with his heightened
senses after he got his radar sense as we barrel headlong further into ‘The
Devil Takes A Ride’. We get a well choreographed fight between Daredevil,
Tombstone and the Matador on the waterfront and also learn how Lily has been
able to fool Matt before he learns something that Brubaker is keeping to himself
until next issue. I hate it when he does that…Wolverine #48 is an epilogue to
Vendetta by Mark Guggenheim and Humberto Ramos. Logan finally gets to Nitro and
we see Logan get blown up then slowly recover doe to his healing factor.
Guggenheim adds a missing piece to what we didn’t know about what goes on inside
Logan’s head as he heals after a major physical attack. He also teases that
Logan has another huge secret to be revealed but wont get to that until he
returns to the book at some point in the future…X-Factor #13 is a sequel to X-Aminations,
a story done in the first incarnation of the title by Peter David and then just
regular artist type guy Joe Quesada. There, as is the case here the team sat
down with Doc Samson to talk about their lives. In this issue Guido talks about
his issues with being mind controlled (with the larger issue of his childhood
brought in), Layla Miller does her annoying act during a game of chess that
reveals more than you would think. Rictor argues about his lack of powers, Siryn
is still on another plane of reality over accepting that her father is dead,
Monet shows her real personality, we learn that Jamie is doing something he
really shouldn’t and would like life to be simpler. Rahne discusses her internal
beast and then Quicksilver pops up offering pastries and offers up a chilling
world view that makes him even more dangerous than we thought. It’s a single
issue that actually nails down more than some books do in long arcs.
IMAGE ROUND UP…
Image had a lot to offer this week so lets get to it…Hatter M #4 (of 4) finally
ended this week (but they promise another limited series) and the offshoot of
Alice In Wonderland is a much more violent one that what we read to the kids at
night. Out big hated hero does a lot of slicing and dicing in this issue but
overall the limited series from Ben Templesmith left me a bit cold…Pirates of
Coney Island 2 #2 (of 8) isn’t any better than last issue. I never had an
interest in the punk movement and this book has some of the crudest art I have
seen since the last issue of The Next. If there is a following for this book its
news to me…Impaler #2 is just as murky cool as the first issue. We get more
death and blood which should go over well after eating lots of turkey on
Thanksgiving. This book has a chance of developing a cult like following such as
the one that follows the next book on the review trail Noble Causes #25. The
issue is double sized and has a variety of artists working with writer Jay
Faerber. Each section has Liz Noble entering into different realities and seeing
the differences between each group of Noble’s she sees. One of the realities she
enters has her encounter the character Venture who had his own book a long while
ago. She does finally get back to where she is supposed to be but when she does
things aren’t much better…Godland #14 continues the Jack Kirby inspired title
and I have a passing interest in the book but that’s about it…Walking Dead #32
starts us back where the last issue left off with a prison break in the making
but here Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard slow it down a bit because the task
is more complicated than it seems to be. We do add more participants to the band
(and get a cool two page spread showing them crossing the yard) and at the end
we see that next issue there is going to be a major fight between the Governor
and the now free Michonne…Casanova #8 is more fun from Matt Fraction and Gabriel
Ba. Here we get more nudity, green toned art and questions about what to do with
a suddenly reactivated giant robot…Drain #1 arrives from Marvel editor CB
Cebluski and Sana Takeda. The new series mixes up samurais and vampires. The
issue opens with a guy in an alley thinking he’s going to get lucky before he
suddenly finds himself without a head (and not the one you were thinking, get
your mind out of the gutter). Our sexy lead is the last of her clan and the
mission statement for the series is for her to get revenge on those that have
done her wrong and look hot while doing it. We spend some time in a
psychiatrist’s office where she explains herself but the rest of the issue also
lays out what we should expect in future offerings. The blend of genres works
well here and I will add this to my pull list and expect others to follow as
well.
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"See, I told you I'd be
down here. We've got a bunch of SNEAKY PEEKIES of future
MARVEL, DC and IMAGE titles right
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All
Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2006
by their respective owners. No rights given or implied
by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2006 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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