Publisher: DC comics
Reprinting stories from:
Superman: The Man of Steel #97
(Mark Schultz/Doug Mahnke/Tom Nguyen)
Detective Comics #350
(Gardner Fox/Carmine Infantino)
Secret Origins #35
(Dan Jurgens/Tim Dzon)
Rip Hunter: Time Master #6
(Jack Miller/Alex Toth)
Gotham Central #40
(Greg Rucka/Kano/StefanoGaudino)
Mysterious Suspense #1
(Steve Ditko)
Animal Man #16
(Grant Morrison/Chas Truog/Doug Hazelwood)
Strange Adventure #226
(Gardner Fox/Murphy Anderson)
Metal Men #45
(Steve Gerber/Walt Simonson)
JSA #43-44
(Geoff Johns & David Goyer/Leonard Kirk/Keith Champagne)
This book collects 10 stories featuring the stars of the weekly series 52--including Silver Age adventures of The Question and Rip Hunter, the war that darkened the spirit of Black Adam, the case that drove Renee Montoya to quit Gotham City PD, the origin of Booster Gold, the battle between the Metal Men and the Plutonium Man, Elongated Man getting a new costume and helping Green Lantern recover his memory, Animal Man fighting the good intentions of the Time Commander, and Steel cleaning up after a fight between Superman and The Eradicator.
As a companion to 52, this book is mostly a success. Many of the stories provide insight into the characters. The story from Gotham Central #40 explains why Montoya is destroying herself at the series’ beginning.
JSA #43-44 reveals how Black Adam’s loss and desire for revenge have hardened his heart and clouded his judgment. The Metal Men story shows an insane Dr. Magnus building his first Plutonium Man, an event often referenced in 52. Booster Gold’s “secret origin”explains why he became a corporate-sponsored superhero, and how the best of intentions can go terribly wrong.
The stories featuring Elongated Man, Adam Strange, and Animal Man have nothing to do with the events in 52. They are great stories though, (especially the Adam Strange prose story), and they may inspire readers to buy the TPB collections of these characters.
However, considering the 52 theme, I’d have chosen stories more closely related to the series--such as an Animal Man story that featured the yellow aliens that gave him his powers and monitored his continuity, an Elongated Man story that featured his wife, Sue Dibny, in a larger role, and an Adam Strange story that had the hero blinded or forced to travel through space without a Zeta beam.
Two of these stories don’t belong here at all.
The Question story by Steve Ditko from Mysterious Suspense #1 features the original version of the character. However, The Question underwent a major revision in personality and origin in his 1986 series. I’d have preferred an issue from that series--perhaps his origin from the 1988 annual, or the issue with The Riddler (#26). I don’t fault Ditko’s story on quality. It’s excellent. I just don’t think it’s appropriate for this collection.
Superman: The Man of Steel #97 completely fails to show us anything about John Irons. This story is mostly a redefining of The Eradicator. Steel just keeps prisoners from escaping a wrecked jail, and he waits for cops to arrive in armor he designed. We see some of the tension between Irons and a bitchy Natasha, but we get very little sense of who Irons is as a person. Surely book editor Anton Kawasaki could have found a Steel solo story. The character had his own series for 52 issues!
I also can’t help wondering if this book might have included more characters. More than these 10 heroes drove the stories in 52. What if the book featured 13 characters from 52? Thirteen is one-fourth of 52, so it has a nice numerical relationship. And who are those three additional characters?
Lex Luthor--His “Everyman Project” ran through the entire series and inspired the new Infinity Inc.
Starfire--Adam and Buddy’s companion on their journey through space.
Lobo--His return after a long absence from comics was one of the highlights of 52.
Hell, I’d even pay money for a collection of all the comics that inspired and introduced the minor characters in 52: Veronica Cale, Egg-Fu, Dr. Sivana, and all the scientists of Oolong Island; The Ten-Eyed Man, (inspiration for the ten-eyed monks Batman visited); Mannheim and his first dealings with Darkseid; the Silver Age Batwoman; and maybe a long-forgotten comic where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have all disappeared.
So what we get here is a pretty good collection of DC comics from the last 40 years. We get samples of comics’ greatest writers and artists. The production values are higher than you’d expect for a low-priced TPB. It has smooth magazine-style pages instead of newsprint. This collections isn’t a necessary part of the 52 saga, but it is a handy companion.
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!