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52 Week #1
Book Released: 10 May 2006
Review posted: 14 May 2006
Writer: Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, and Mark Waid
Artist: Keith Giffen (Breakdowns) & Joe Bennett
Publisher: DC Comics
3.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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After all the endless hype, 52 is finally here. And after reading it I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a
doubt and with absolute certainty: it was okay, I guess.
The writing team of Rucka, Johns, Morrison and Waid have obviously put some work into constructing this massive story,
but the first issue was too piecemeal to really grab my interest. I understand that you have to set up such a large story,
but I would have preferred four weeks with four different main characters instead of chunks involving six characters crammed
into twenty-two pages.
52 #1 was too piecemeal to really grab my interest.
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I like the mix of characters chosen to tell this story, especially Booster Gold and the rock-bottom Rene Montoya, but I hope
that the series will focus on one character per issue from here on out; otherwise the amount of jumping around will be a
detriment to the flow of the story as a whole. However, each character had his or her own voice and the writers gave insight
into each one’s situation as the series begins, so there is potential if taken in the right direction. Booster
Gold’s story works well as a metaphor for the series (as I’m sure was the intention), because the future of the
DC Universe is as uncertain as it has ever been, so it’s up to these writers to fill in the gaps and make some sense of
the complete mess known as Infinite Crisis.
Keith Giffen, Mr. Renaissance himself, provides story guidance for the writers and breakdowns for the artists and does
his usual stellar work. I don’t know how Giffen manages to do all the work he does, being only one man — unless
of course he is more than one man and part of some vast conspiracy, but I doubt it.
Giffen provides breakdowns to add consistency to the series, and Bennett leads off on #1 doing
justice to every character.
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Joe Bennett finishes off the art, more than holding up his end and proving he has the goods to be a superstar. Giffen provides breakdowns to add consistency to the series, and Bennett leads off on #1 doing justice to every character,
capturing various personalities and locales while maintaining a good, consistent pace. Only time will tell if the other
artists selected for this book can continue the pace and visual storytelling set up by Giffen and Bennett, because if even one artist diverts too much from
the style set up in #1 then the whole series could be thrown out of whack. But no pressure.
Having skipped Infinite Crisis and all its innumerable tie-ins I wasn’t necessarily biting my nails in
anticipation of 52, but I do think the format is interesting and well worth the attempt.
One question that arose is that DC’s website states that #1 includes a backup feature by Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert, yet
there was no backup feature in the copy of #1 that I read. So in the words of a great superhero: Whassup wit dat? I really
just feel hyped half to death by DC over the whole thing, hence my lack of enthusiasm for this event, but I still felt
compelled to give 52 three stars — a middle-of-the-road rating for a middle-of-the-road book.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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