52 - week 3 - DC Comics

This is a new series by DC, and an experiment really. In the recent Infinite Crisis mini series, fantastic by the way, Superman Batman and Wonder Woman all dissapear at the end. The following month all the DC titles picked up 1year later. With the 1 year jump in the continuity, all the books have different characters at the least, and some with a completely different feel. This series "52" is going to attempt to tell the story of what transpired in the DC Universe during those 52 weeks of absence. Hence the name. The focus is really on a handful of characters, and through them all the other DC characters that revolve around them. Booster Gold, Black Adam, Lex Luthor and John Henry Irons (Steel) are the focal points of the story. First of all it's a noble experiment. Second, they have an exemplary staff of creators with their fingers in the pie. Writing is Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid. Those 4 alone make it a must read. Then you have Keith Giffen, Joe Bennett, Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert involved. Which is really just icing on the cake. With the writers alone, you just know that there are going to be some fantastic story lines and ideas that come out of this. We've seen a little preview in the 1 year later titles - how come Black Canary and Shiva switched places, how was Two-Face cured and rehabilitated and given control to watch over Gotham for a year by Batman, why did Green Arrow dissapear for a year to train and what did he learn and accomplish, how did the Titan lineup change so much, how did Superman lose his powers, how did the Outsiders become a vigilante black ops group, how did Alan Scott become the white king of Checkmate not to mention Mr. Terrific and Amanda Waller, what happened to Wonder Woman during that year, what happened to Wally West and Bart Allen, and that's just the tip of the iceburg. Then on top of that, as a backup, they're doing an updated "History of the DC Universe" story. It's only about 4 pages at a time, but you get it every week so who cares. And the covers by J.G.Jones have been incredible. The little nuances they're putting into the story are great. But then, I would expect nothing less from these 4 fantastic writers. Booster Gold looks like a NASCAR driver with all of his endorsements on his uniform, Skeets is back and helping Booster with historical facts (even though he seems to have a glitch, I'm sure to be explained later, because some things he says are dead on, and others aren't even close), Black Adam seems to be on the side of angels but with a drive to "be a hero who doesn't just patrol the world, they change it!" as he rips Terra-Man in half. Also John Henry seems to be on a mission to keep his neice Natasha out of the super-hero game, or at least out until she decides to work smarter not harder. And that's just in the first 3 issues. If you haven't picked this up yet, now is the time to do it, while you can still find the first 3 issues. This is a title that is definitely going to pick up steam as it goes along. It is a title that just by definition is going to create and herald change all across the face of the DC Universe. I love titles that shake things up. My biggest pet peeve about mini series is the number of them that don't create any signifigant change. They seem to be a good story, but by the end the conflict is resolved and nothing in the title characters life or personality has changed. So if you were to read the regular continuity without that story, you would never know it was even there. This is definitely not going to be one of those stories. We're in for a very bumpy ride for the course of the next 52 weeks, actually 49 left now. Can't wait to see it play out. Go out and get it!!