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Column:
Variant Coverage
"One Year Longer"
By Adam White
Published: 15 June 2006
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Like most comicbook readers, I have been following DC’s 52 this first month or so just to see where it is
going. When I reviewed 52 #1 I was pretty much of a
middling opinion of this mega-maxi-series and now that we are five weeks in I’m still on the fence about it. I know I
should just drop it but I still feel like Rucka, Johns, and Co. are on the cusp of actually getting to the story they want to
tell, so I hate to quit and then regret missing issues later. And yes, that is a cheap cop-out on my part, but #5
finally got to the missing characters that I actually care about (mainly Animal Man and Adam Strange) and if nothing else I
want to make sure DC doesn’t “Ted Kord” them and then replace them with their “Minority of the
Week” strategy just for the sake of doing it. Plus, I’ve dropped every DC title except the truly excellent
Manhunter, Jonah Hex, and Catwoman, so I have a few DC bucks left over to waste.
The Montoya story, likely written by Greg Rucka, features The Question and details Montoya’s downward spiral
following the tragedies in her life. I was enjoying this arc the best of any in the book, yet as of #5 I have to question
the direction. What has always made Montoya a great
Buddy Baker comes off as the most well-written of the bunch, which is nice since he hasn’t
been properly used since pre-Crisis Grant Morrison’s run on Animal Man.
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character is that she is firmly grounded in reality amidst a world of superheroes and has to face human problems without the
benefit of superpowers; yet now she is involved in a story featuring some type of alien-like thing and laser guns, which kind
of defeats the purpose of the character. I know Infinite Crisis royally screwed up everything and everyone in the
DCU, but to take Montoya down a path so out of character would truly be the biggest tragedy she has faced. In short:
interesting character, good writer, but dangerous direction. Hopefully this phase of the story will pass and Montoya will
move back into a more realistic direction.
The most recently introduced story in the series is that of Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange stranded on an unknown
planet. Considering the limited space devoted to them so far it’s hard to say much about it, but I’m glad to see
they didn’t just kill off these characters because someone needed to die. Buddy Baker comes off as the most
well-written of the bunch, which is nice since he hasn’t been properly used since pre-Crisis Grant Morrison’s run
on Animal Man. I hope there is more to come with this storyline, and hopefully nothing that will really hack me off.
The Ralph Dibney subplot (likely Waid on this one) was initially somewhat interesting, yet they have pretty muched
dropped it after the first issue. And what’s with Wonder Girl and the Krypton Cult? And what do these two stories
have to do with each other? I ask these questions not out of interest but dismay, because neither serve much purpose and
waste pages that could be better used with other characters.
I love Booster Gold, but he does pretty much the same thing in every issue. I assume Johns writes this one, and for some
reason he has made Booster a whiny tool with no direction in life. Booster should mourn his lost friend (Ted Kord),
yet he seems to have moved on from “Bwa-Ha-Ha” to “Boo-ooor-iing” and been left to languish in his
own whining for the rest of the series. DC has a real opportunity to turn Booster Gold into a viable solo hero so I hope
they get on track and make the most of it soon.
Black Adam could be the break-out character of the series if handled properly, and he could
possibly sustain his own series afterwards.
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The Black Adam arc is fairly entertaining, if one note, and has been given the short shrift as far as page count goes.
Black Adam could be the break-out character of the series if handled properly, and he could possibly sustain his own series
(which is more than I can say for the Marvel Family at DC). Think about it: leader of a nation, short temper, Superman-level
power, supposedly going to find love with another lunatic — all the makings of a truly interesting series with loads of
potential. But only if he gets more spotlight soon and has more to do than be a big jerk.
The last storyline is that of John Henry Irons, a character I rather like, yet his arc must be written by post-Crisis
Grant Morrison because reading it feels like dropping acid (or so I imagine). Every entry with Irons feels randomly
unconnected, as sometimes he lectures his niece like a boring parent and others he trips out in a futuristic bathroom for no
apparent reason — this has post-Crisis Morrison written all over it. Like the truly confounding Seven Soldiers
group of books, Steel has become a tangled mess of unsubstantiated nonsense better left unread.
I’m not sure how long these stories will run considering all the hype surrounding the upcoming Batlesbian story (and that is a slam at the Hype, not the character)
that is sure to be focused upon as part of DC’s affirmative action program, but they all have potential as yet not even
hinted at within 52. And don’t get me wrong — I think that there should be, that there needs to be
more diversity among comicbook characters, but shoehorning old costumes onto new stereotypes is not the way to go about it.
Giffen thankfully avoided doing so with Blue Beetle, but that’s more due to his ability than DC’s mandate;
others will not be so lucky.
52 is definitely NOT the event DC would like it to be, at least not yet.
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So if you have already been following 52 and haven’t given up yet, go ahead and give it a few more weeks
before you do. Otherwise, I can safely say you can wait for the trade (which I normally abhor) or just skip it entirely
because 52 is definitely not the event DC would like it to be, at least not yet.
—CCdC—
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