52 Volume One Graphic Novel Review By Guest Reviewer Ben Sweetser

52: Volume One

Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid
Art Breakdowns: Keith Giffen
Publisher :DC Comics
Vitals: Trade Paperback - 295 pages - $19.99 Content: Violence

Introduction:

In the wake of Infinite Crisis, Superman is left powerless, Batman goes on sabbatical to rediscover his motivations and further refine his skills, and Wonder Woman takes some time to do some soul-searching before returning to her heroic role. This sets the precedent for 52 and prompts DC’s description:

"Imagine a world without Superman, a Gotham City with no Batman; a universe where Wonder Woman is nowhere to be found. In a world without these icons, who will stand up for what’s right?

52: Volume One collects the first thirteen issues of this unprecedented comics event, including the first appearance of the new Batwoman which received national press attention, and a host of bonus material, including creator commentaries, breakdown sketches, character designs, script excerpts, a cover gallery, and much more."

52 is presented in a “real-time” format, where the events in each issue take place in that particular week, and follows several different, (sometimes loosely) connected storylines.

Review:

Several storylines in 52 have made permanent changes to the DC Universe, or clarified the repercussions from Infinite Crisis. I followed all the stories with great interest throughout the year. Volume One of the collected series sets up the stories for the remainder of the year.

One of my favorite storylines was the Renee Montoya/The Question storyline, which followed their investigation of Intergang activities in Gotham. This storyline is presented in a detective noir format, but with Renee in the role of the “hard-boiled” detective typically held by a male. The authors weave humor into the cleverly gender-juxtaposed roles, as Charlie (The Question) and Renee commence their professional partnership.

The John Henry Irons (Steel) storyline takes a bit of a clichéd parent/child strained relationship as he struggles with niece, Natasha, and her desire to be a superhero. As is usually the case in these situations, communication is the issue, but not every relationship has the added influence of Lex Luthor’s devious plans contributing to the problems. Reading the story, you just want to tell Natasha to stop and listen to her uncle, or to tell John Henry to tell her what is going on. In some ways, the results are predictable, but still enjoyable, as Lex introduces the “Everyman Program” and gives Natasha opportunities that her uncle denied.

Black Adam takes the world by storm by creating a new coalition of countries that want a new approach for dealing with criminals – kill them. He introduces his methods when he rips a villain in half on national television. Later he learns there are other means for effecting change in the world as he begins a relationship with Andrea, a woman who was given to him as an offering from Intergang to allow them to conduct business within Kahndaq’s borders. Adam’s relationship with Andrea (later Isis, when she is introduced to the Marvel Family), has some of the typical plot of a ruler falling in love with a defiant subordinate, but sets up some very important pieces that fall into place later in 52.

The first volume of the collected series has extras where the contributors write about their experiences in penning 52. It also has some sketches of the original art and costume designs, and a cover gallery at the back. At the same time, it loses some of the extras contained in the original comics that had an abbreviated history of the DC Universe and the origins of many heroes. I would have liked to have seen some better histories of the characters highlighted in the series in the extras, as they were never very well covered in the backup features of the original comics. Do the extras warrant going out and buying the collected version if you already have the comics? In my personal opinion, they do not.

52 presents surprises in the other storylines that are set up in Volume One of the collected set. Who is Supernova? What is happening with Booster Gold’s trusted robot companion Skeets? Will Ralph Dibny lose his sanity? What will become of Animal Man, Adam Strange, and Starfire? If you do not have the original comics, this is a great way to get caught up on what happened in the DC Universe after Infinite Crisis.

Conclusion:

When 52 started a little over a year ago, DC had the intent to show how the DC Universe gets along without the “big three”, to fill in the gap between Infinite Crisis and the “One Year Later” stories in all the titles, and to elevate some of the “B-list” characters to a more prominent level. While they did not succeed in all of their intended goals, they did create an entertaining weekly series that introduced me to characters with which I was not overly familiar. Each week when I picked up my comics for the week, it was one of the first comics I would read to see what happens next in the series. I looked at the opportunity to review the first collected volume as an opportunity to see what I might have missed the first time through and to clarify some items that were confusing to me the first time through. I was not disappointed, but if you already have the comics, the extras do not warrant going out and purchasing the collected volume.

About the reviewer:

Ben Sweetser is a guest reviewer for about.com. He doesn’t blog or have a website on the topic of comics. He is just your average, everyday avid comic reader and collector.