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52*

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18:13 / 12.02.07

I think John might well make himself a new suit.

Professor Silly

15:51 / 23.02.07

silly question from a silly professor:

who was the green-haired lady at the end of this last issue?

15:54 / 23.02.07

Beatriz DaCosta, aka Fire, Ralph's team-mate from the JLI days.

Haus of Mystery

15:58 / 23.02.07

How nice to have an artist with a definite style drawing the book. Darick Robertson's chunkily reliable artwork stood out from the hordes of clone artists from previous weeks.
Ish wise = a good enough episode, marred by the clunky exposition which often hamstrings my enjoyment of 52. But I'm kind of dissappointed the Helmet of Fate was a ruse. I think the continuing adventures of detective Ralph and his 'floating head of wisdom' sidekick would have been fun.

16:07 / 23.02.07

...Why the hell do I read this thread before I've read the latest issue?

Haus of Mystery

16:11 / 23.02.07

Shit. shoulda spoilerised. Sorry.

19:20 / 23.02.07

No, no, no, it's my fault.
I used to open up my Christmas gifts early, too.
Nosey little bastard.

03:16 / 24.02.07

I did the same damn thing.

04:03 / 24.02.07

SPOILERS BE AHEAD, folks....

****

****

I think Ralph is about as dead as Buddy Baker and Booster Gold.

rabideyemovement

14:42 / 24.02.07

Kent and Inza were resurrected by Fate before. I don't see why Ralph and Sue couldn't be, especially if they perished in the tower of Fate. The fate of the helmet always seems intertwined with that of a married couple, and I see no reason it couldn't use the souls of Ralph and Sue for a bit.

ONLY NICE THINGS

23:59 / 24.02.07

Well, I certainly thought that was a satsfying and well-thought-out end to the Elongated Man's arc.

00:30 / 25.02.07

Wow. I genuinely have no idea how sarcastic that last line was.

SPOILER SPACE, I suppose:

Weird issue. Interesting. Nice to have a big everything-you-know-is-wrong reveal. Nice to be having a few of these storylines wrap up too. I'm hoping for a couple more Ralph in the Underworld issues that result in a death for him but eventual saviour of wife. Not satisfied by his motives being trap-like all along...

03:30 / 25.02.07

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Renee being built up to become the new Question.

Pros:
-The DCU needs a Question, and if Vic is dead...
-Renee Montoya is one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite cancelled DC books, so I'm glad that she's going to keep being featured in some way.

Cons:
-Montoya worked for me as a cop, a "normal" human citizen. I'm not sure if I'll still like her in a costume, even if it's a totally awesome trenchcoat and no-face mask.
-Character revamps of this style tend to be short-lived, and it'd be too bad if Montoya/Question never caught on with fans and the character slipped into obscurity altogether.

As a side-note, what do people prefer: the all-over-the-place issues (i.e., most of them) or the almost-entirely-one-plotline issues (i.e., 40 or 42)?

06:09 / 25.02.07

I'm hoping for a couple more Ralph in the Underworld issues...

Word. In any other context, it would have been a satisfying end, but these are superhero comics, dammit, and I'm told nothing ever ends in them. Still, good fun with that last one, if only because I miss the idea of the detective being intrinsically badass by virtue of being a goddamn detective. Jeez, you'd almost think comics were for kids again...

08:41 / 26.02.07

I've just read Weeks Thirty-Eight through to Forty-Two (fordeeetwoooo).

Hah! I was right, sodding Booster Gold and a little time travel. Although I didn't guess all the teleportation was Phantom Zone whackiness (a nice touch though).

I'd tend to go for Skeets being Mr Mind over him being an Apokaliptian hunger-god (although he did eat the Phantom Zone so...). Also, the Skeets/Booster story arc hasn't been linked with the Black Marvels at all.

The Question storyline has become quite dull (Montoya's done little but meditate and gloom over a dying Vic) as has the Space Heroes (although...MOGO!).

The Steel arc seems to have resolved. Basic punch-up super-heroics with a bog-standard bit of techno-babble to save the day. I'm presuming that Steel is going to discover that the therapy has permanantly activated his metagene (the Steel origin waaaay back said he could transform into organic metal). It would explain why he wasn't incinerated by Luthor's eye-beams (well that or Lex was toying with him).

Liked Ralph's trap at the end there (although that Wishing Gun stuff is a bit too convienient for my taste). I suppose the idea of this story arc was to give us a bit of a grounding in how DC-verse magic is going to work from now on. I did twig he was glugging gingold seconds before he did his stretcho-punch.

10:22 / 26.02.07

the Steel origin waaaay back said he could transform into organic metal

I'm a hell of a lot less interested in why he wasn't incinerated by Lex's eyebeams than I am in why they would want to throw away a much better character concept than the stock metagene solution. I couldn't care less whether Steel was originally intended to be a knocked off Colossus, the origin we've been working with - that he's a self made legend - that he ascended into the superheroic pantheon thanks to his genius and crucially his hard work - is far, far more interesting. It offers far more in terms of character and storytelling potential, and works to make Steel stand out from the crowd.

Metal skin=bo-ring

None of that directed to you, Evil. Just sayin'!

10:57 / 26.02.07

You're right though Boboss, it's unnecessary to give Steel the kewl metal powers (I did quite like the extremely nasty concept of him chucking molten metal at people though, %tres heroic%). I agree that he doesn't need meta-powers to be a good character.

The Origins pages are a little odd that way though (what with them saying he's got control of it an what have you). The Red Tornado one mentions he gets turned human (which either hasn't happened yet or got retconned away).

11:31 / 26.02.07

The Red Tornado became human in JLA #1 (latest series). I assume he still is, tho I haven't been reading it.

11:39 / 26.02.07

Metal skin=bo-ring

I think both of Steel's looks are incredibly iconic - and in terms of the steelskin, a bit sexy. The armour has the hardness contrasting with soft/billowyness of the cape.

The metal skin, the way it was presented on that 52 cover really seemed to suit him, though. He'd gone further along the ladder of Man of Iron. Hoom. Perhaps combine the steelskin with the red S cape?

But, yes, John Henry should never be given anything. Like Luthor, especially Luthor, John is the ultimate self-made man. He should be inventing nanosteelskin or knocking heads with Alix Harrower for a cure/adaptation of smartskin or any number of plotlines that uses the fact that John is a big brain whether he's in the suit or not.

12:32 / 26.02.07

To be fair though, the representation of Irons in 52 has been that he doesn't seem to want/need the groovy metal powers. He's much more comfortable smacking the badguys around with a big ol' hammer.

12:39 / 26.02.07

Which is good.

I meant that metal skin is boring if it brings with it a stock origin and little else.

06:55 / 27.02.07

Out of interest did anyone recognise the woman Renee was talking with outside the temple? I thought it might be Huntress but (aside from the fact that she and the Question had a brief relationship) couldn't work out why she'd be there.

It certainly wasn't supposed to be Sue Dibny in ghostform...was it? Nah.

Just a random person?

07:21 / 27.02.07

I'm sure they weren't random, but I have absolutely no idea beyond that.

Haus of Mystery

11:05 / 27.02.07

I actually resent the death of Vic Sage somewhat.
a)speed-cancer in superhero comics kind of pisses me off.
b)he's a great character, who hadn't really had another serious attempt at revitalisation after O'Neil's somewhat po-faced 80's series.
It's not that I think Montoya's a bad choice for a replacement, but I like Sage. An ambivalent vaguely motivated hero with a slightly different agenda beyond righteous justice.
Plus he looked fucking cool (not in 52, wherein he looked like a generic buffed bimboid), with his ace fedora and raincoat look. (A style I hope they retain for Renee, although judging by some recent character revamps, I have low expectations)
I dunno - I'm no rabid fanboy, but some of my favourite DC characters have been really dicked around recently - Blue Beetle, Question...hey waitaminute! Why are they messing with Ditko's babies?

Anyway, just saying.

11:15 / 27.02.07

a)speed-cancer in superhero comics kind of pisses me off.

Well to be fair there are types of cancer which do suddenly shift gear and kill someone within a matter of months. Obviously they were using it for dramatic effect rather than anything else but my no-prize explanation was that the stress of the past months (being beaten by Intergang ani-goons, tortured in a Khandaqi prison, etc) was what stetched his body beyond the point where it could fight back.

As they mention, he was already so far gone that not even Isis could cure him (although it adds a moment of dark humour to his "Shazam! Black Adam!" comments after Osiris gets his powers).

I'm quietly looking forward to Renee as the all-new Question (anyone know if she's getting her own book or just supporting on a Batman title?).

Haus of Mystery

12:14 / 27.02.07

I'm aware of how cancer works. I just don't like it being crowbarred into the world of evil scientists, supernatural shenanigans and giant floating spaceheads that makes up most of '52'.

12:20 / 27.02.07

Out of interest did anyone recognise the woman Renee was talking with outside the temple?

Don't qask me where (becuase I can't remember), but I seem to remember someone saying it was Diana at Nanda Parbat, on her quest of self-discovery. Now, I only read a couple of 52 blogs, so it was most likely 52 Pickup or the Newsarama Michael Siglain interviews. Hope that helps/confuses.

13:25 / 27.02.07

Ahh, one quick dash over to the Renee Montoya wiki reveals that the woman was indeed Wonder Woman.

Phex: Dorset Doom

15:54 / 27.02.07

Gotham Central was one of the best police-procedural comics out there. Maybe the best. It's a damn, damn shame that Crispy-Crispy-Crispus* Allen became the Specter in the god-awful Specter series (once Dr.13 wraps up I'm off Tales of the Unexpected for life), but Renee as the Question? There's a little potential there. Perhaps. The worst thing they could do is use her as a supporting character/love interest in a Batwoman ongoing series (Kate wouldn't know it was Renee etc.). The best thing, but totally out of character for Renee, is to do the Justice League Unlimited interpretation of The Question: the paranoid conspiracy nut. Maybe with a touch of Zen thrown in and that psychadelic binary gas or whatever.

*=Weird reference to the song 'Chemo Limo' by Regina Spektor. See what I did there?

Haus of Mystery

13:35 / 01.03.07

That was a nasty end to the book, eh?

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S

A
H
O
Y

With cuddly ol' Sobek gettin his munch on with poor crippled Black Adam Jr. Maybe I'm turning soft but the sudden swings towards gut-ripping bone-splintering intestine displaying violence in 52 leaves me feeling queasy. Kind of the way that cheap lurid gore in an Italian splatter movie makes you feel.
It always stems back to Uncle Geoff I reckon. Mand needs to get something out of his system.

But the issue was worth it (of course) for Buddy the Sun-Eater.
Go Buddy!

21:58 / 02.03.07

Yeah Buddy the Sun-Eater is one of the only genuinely "Oh, wow, shit, whoa" moments 52 has given me. There's been some neat stuff, but that's a cut above.

ONLY NICE THINGS

23:03 / 02.03.07

Grim and gritty talking crocodile.

Geoff.

Johns.

GEOFF.

JOHNS.

23:27 / 02.03.07

Yeah I actually feel particularly betrayed (how melodramatic) by that Sobek business. The parts of 52 I always assumed were either Waid's or GM's have been the ones that manage to use completely canon DC continuity in interesting ways while still being fun and kind of carefree, especially the Island of Mad Scientists, which is consistently my favorite thread. Sobek used to fit into that, and I kind of was getting into the goofy croco-sidekick, but this ending simply SCREAMS "Hey, comic book fans, remember those silly goofy things from old comics? Well they're back, but now... THEY'RE SERIOUS". It's the same reason that, despite how much I want to like Meltzer's new JLA, I can't stand the whole, "Remember this thing from the Silver Age? Well, it's not what you thought it was!!"

But that's a rant for a different thread.

03:12 / 03.03.07

From Newsarama:

A new Metal Men miniseries will be coming, written and drawn by Duncan Roleau.

To which my response is EEEEEEEEEE!

It is an EEEEEEEEEE of delight.

Rachel Evil McCall

03:43 / 03.03.07

I guess I'm in the minority in that I actually liked the Sobek reveal. I mean, a) You can't have possibly expected things to end well for *anyone* in the Black Adam plot, b) It was telegraphed pretty well. The missing horseman is hunger, Sobek keeps complaining of being hungry, and/or eating everything in sight, c) Everybody knows Osiris got at least one bit of him eaten by a croc, and d) Having a character go from really bad comic relief ("Oh, Sobek!") to red-eyed, scaley, amphibious green people eater in the space of one issue? It makes me giggle.

...

Perhaps I'm not well.

I do, however, think the "chomp chomp" sequence didn't need more than one page devoted to it...

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