JP On Gaming

Friday, January 22, 2021

[Kinda Book Review] 52 - Vol. 1

Santa was kind enough to bring me a few comic books, including this 52 Vol 1, that gathers 13 issues of the 52 series. One of the shtick is that they were published, one per week for a year. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earth where DC cleaned out a lot of its duplicated characters and timelines, 52 was a bold idea.

Imagine the DC Universe without Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman for a year... The characters are not gone (Clark Kent still works at the Daily Planet, Bruce Wayne is off training in the recesses of the world, and Wonder Woman is off somewhere).

Now through the first few issues, I wondered where this was going as we are presented with many subplots that don't mingle: Booster Gold, Elastic Man, Black Adam, Wonder girl, Steel, Renee Montoya (a cop from the Animated Series), the Question, TO Morrow. This reads more like a novel than a classic comic book as the good guys vs villains brawls are rare. The next question, who is the main character and who is the main villain is up in the air. Black Adam being the most powerful, but is he the main villain? Unclear yet.

As this is the first of 4 tomes, the story remains engaging and I found myself immediately picking up the second tome as soon as I completed this one.

The art is of the highest quality with no let down, increasing my enjoyment. The plot moves a little slowly sometimes but not enough to ruin the enjoyment. As an omnibus, I thought it was very good. I doubt I would've purchased them one at a time.

So, a rating? I enjoyed it, good writing, good art, I would've liked to have a clearer endgoal - which I may get later in the series. Settling for a 4/5 was easy. I look forward to the next chapter/trade paperback.

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