Comic Book Resources

I;m not clicking that, (It's negative isn't it?)

Wow. Didn't expect that. Smart guy and a professional.

So... you clicked it, then, didn't you?

My eyes burn from the LIE

Also, I loved the review. Fraction did a great job of explaining why he liked the series while pointing out where he thought it faltered.

I didn't think it possible, but I like Fraction even more now than I did before reading that review. Thanks for the link.

52 can be described in one word:

Crap.

Reason? Because it solidified DC's new "EXTREME!!" approach to all of their characters. EVERYONE must be involved with death in some way- either have enemies who kill viciously, or kill themselves, or get killed in the end. That was the one unifying theme, in the Elongated Man, Black Adam, Question, Booster Gold and Animal Man plotlines. Only the Doctor Magnus one was relatively free of it, unless you count his killing Egg Fu, who may not have been human. Or alive. Who knows? IT WAS A FREAKING EGG!

I could also point out how 52 failed to do what it set to do (no, focusing on several minor heroes is NOT the same as "exploring the DC Universe during its lost year"- Hell, they had to add extra issues to do so right at the end! (the World War III mini.) But that bothers me less than the HBO/Showtime-ization of DC Comics.

Good thing I dropped it early (only bought the issues with the new History of the DC Universe... not much good, either.)

Trinity is good, definitely readable, Countdown I gave up on early, but 52 was excellent in a lot of ways. For one it felt IMPORTANT, which is something Trinity is lacking. 52 had some epic moments, the Sobek/Osiris scene was one of my most favorite things I had read all year.

52 can be described in one word:

Good thing I dropped it early

So it was crap, but you didn't actually read the whole thing. Gotcha.

I, OTOH, ignored 52 until it was finished, and then checked all four volumes out of the library and read it in a week.

And it was wonderful. Probably the single best "big two" superhero miniseries I've read in years. I was set to be bored to tears and utterly disappointed by it because I'd just read Infinite Crisis (which earns its moniker of Crap by being, well, crap). After Infinite Crisis, 52 was a palate cleanser. Certainly better than Marvel's Civil War (which I also checked out of the library in the same week and was, like Infinite Crisis, utter crap).

Yes, "Infinite Crisis" and "Civil War" were crap. However, I'm more disappointed in myself for buying the collected editions of "52" than those. "52" did NOT hang together and it WAS too obviously written by committee. I don't at all agree that it achieved what it was meant to.

Sorry it's not 1962, Sijo. Maybe we don't need the DCU to be super serious, but as an adult, how can you keep believing that in a world of humans and superhumans coexisting, there are no tragic consequences?

I loved the hell out of 52. While Trinity is enjoyable, DC has yet to come up with a weekly series that can do what 52 did for me. It was well written and well coordinated. I think that even though I loved what directions the characters were taken in, I loved that this group of writers were taking their pieces of the puzzle and making them fit.

Yes, whoever hated 52, screw off. I can agree that the History of the DCU was pretty lame. In a lot of opinion, I can see where people are coming from, but 52 is one of the rare few things I can't take negative opinion on.

I sort of wish that they could take the scripts/story of 52 now that it's all done and over with, do (at least) one big rewrite/edit of the whole thing to tighten it up in about sixty ways, and then have it all drawn again. It's probably the only comic work I feel that way about.

--So it was crap, but you didn’t actually read the whole thing. Gotcha.

I, OTOH, ignored 52 until it was finished, and then checked all four volumes out of the library and read it in a week--

I didn't buy the rest of the series BUT I did follow the weekly CBR reviews. Believe it or not I wanted it to get better; I love the DC Universe, I only hate what it's being done to it. Sadly, the whole thing turned out to be crap from beginning to end. At least I was spared the pain of reading it myself.

--Sorry it’s not 1962, Sijo. Maybe we don’t need the DCU to be super serious, but as an adult, how can you keep believing that in a world of humans and superhumans coexisting, there are no tragic consequences?---

And who said that? DC had a pretty good balance of stories, from the silliness of the Bwahaha League to some intense BATMAN stories, since the 80s up to about 2004. But then Identity Crisis came out, and all of a sudden EVERYBODY had to be deadly serious, and any even halfway funny characters have to die or be turned dark? Even relatively tame series like Blue Beetle are not safe for buying, because you never know when they might decide to kill off the main character or his family or his whole blasted city just to "boost sales." How come Marvel doesn't feel that unsafe yet still sells pretty good?

Hey Brian, could you give some warning about the language in Matt's review? i work in a teenage group home for addicts, so there is no combo of curse words that i have not heard. However, when i click on a link to something, i would appriciate a warning if there is adult language or images. i agree that the review was really a good read, but the lack of warning bothered me. Thanks for all the great stuff that you put out for us!

Boy, Sijo, that Ambush Bug sure was serious in his issue of 52. Also, I heard quite a few Batman fans angry that Bruce Wayne was getting less serious with his appearance in 52. I can name even more fun moments in 52, with Booster Gold, the question, Animal Man, etc.

Maybe you might be blanketing every character with the serious brush?

Vichus: I tend to have a hard time laughing when characters get KILLED. Especially in disgusting ways. Seriously, the Ambush Bug episode of 52 was the final proof that the current DC regime wouldn't know how to *be* funny even IF they were really trying. Booster Gold was pathetic for most of 52. And "curing" Batman's darkness via the Ten-Eyed Man?? Please. Sounds more like you blanketed all the disgusting stuff because you liked the series too much. I'll bet you were laughing aloud when the Everyman project heroes rained from the sky or when Sobek ate Isis' brother. But hey, if you did, more power to you. But I sure didn't find it funny, and would never spend my money on such stuff.

If you don't like death, OK. But this whole "darker" edge to comics didn't start with 52. I would think you'd be long gone from DC proper before 52 if you're so adamant against it.

BTW, Booster Gold ended up being a big hero of 52 (even if the actual people who were being saved were unaware). I also thought that Animal Man's kid saying "Can we keep her [Starfire]?" was hilarious. It wasn't this sad, nasty hellish series constantly as you say. They had moments where crazy blood and guts action wasn't going on. Yes, BTW, I did find Ambush Bug to be funny. Sobeck chomping on Osiris? Not exactly a chuckle.

You had moments where the Question and Montoya were learning about each other, you had Black Adam putting together a family of his own. Do we just disregard moments like these and say that mainstream comics are all about this completely serious tone?

We get it, everything was better and simpler in the past. That one decade when you were maturing was fantastic, and all the young punks now don't know what they're doing.

52 was fantastic, the end. I win! Bwa-ha-ha! etc